Design Detours: Tentacles are for Everyone

Guys, it's $950.00, but I want one. I want one SO BAD. I NEED A WALL TENTACLE!

Shoe Grab-Bag: Riding Crop Blues

Today I thought I'd go back to my space-cowboy roots with some riding boot-style fancy footwear. First, a Frye boot--I keep hearing all these good things about Frye but I've never owned a pair, maybe I should check them out sometime.

These boots are both wildly impractical and seriously cute.

And these boots just look like they're waiting for an excuse to draw their phaser.

Edibly Etsy: Lady in the Tower

I've decided on my Halloween costume, assuming I actually have somewhere to wear it, which is not at this point at all assured. I bought five yards of burlap, and with my fairly decent sewing skills I plan to turn it into a Scarecrow-from-Batman costume. Movie, not animated series. I think it's creepier in the movie. (Cilian Murphy makes everything creepy. Good job on being sympathetic in Inception, though! Speaking of which, if you like sci-fi and haven't seen that movie yet, you should. It's good.)

But when I do think about masks, I always sadly ponder my glasses. I'm functionally blind without them, as in can't-be-trusted-to-cross-streets-safely blind, so I can't exactly give them up for a day to look cool. I tried contacts once and I gave up on them after three excruciating months of trying to poke myself in the eye and flinching for an hour or so every single morning. So I'm always on the lookout for masks that work with glasses, and what do you know? That crazy apocalyptic creation up there totally does. I almost bought it last Friday or so, when I got hammered while watching "The Sentinel," a 90's show more notorious for the slash fanfic based on it than any merit of its own... with good reason. It is both a) extraordinarily and apparently unintentionally gaaaaaaaay, and b) a horrible travesty of what I can only call in quotes "writing." My boyfriend knows of my love of slash, so when we were watching it, there came some remark or other where he was all, "Wow, this is pretty homosexual," and I said, "And they haven't even moved in together yet." He stared at me and then said, "They do that?" like he didn't quite believe it. By the end of the episode, they had.

It's that gay.

What was I talking about? Right. Masks. Halloween. Go as good writing, the Sentinel writers won't even be able to see you.

Or go as this creepy as all hell spider!

I've always wished I had forehead hardware. I don't know precisely what you'd go as with this mask, but I bet you'd think of something.

Modcloth: It's a Gray World

As I've repeatedly noted, I live in the Pacific Northwest. This is a charming region noted for its bizarre, courtly rituals of you-go-no-you-go at four-way stops or uncontrolled intersections, the populace's deep and utterly uninhibited love of coffee and more importantly of talking about coffee which I swear to God everyone does to the point where I once threatened to kill a man with a paperclip if he said one more word about his shade-grown, free-trade, locally-roasted, utterly morally superior in every way coffee (I'm actually not kidding even a little bit on that one), and rain. Rain, rain, and more rain. We look like Britain even though we're at roughly the same latitude as the south of France. Thank God we escaped the boiled cabbage.

Anyway, the point is, I know good gray when I see it. And this is good gray: this Trekky sweater.

These shoes, which, with extra buckles, nonfunctional straps, and a cute little heel, are both futuristic and impractical on slippery pavement.

And this zippered, pocketed, slightly bell sleeved, and vaguely Mandarin collared beauty.

Edibly Etsy: Fable and Fury

Man, I have really been feeling the Etsy love lately. I bought some stuff, about which you will probably hear more later, as I'm currently waiting for some of it to arrive. What I like about the shop I'm featuring today is that the pieces are really off the beaten path. First example: that Cthulu-loving Lovecraft pendant up there. These pieces look like black acrylic, which is ALL. THE. RAGE. these days, but is actually laser-cut blackened steel. So. Pretty cool.

Sidenote: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "not at all pathetic" and 10 being "so pathetic you should be an anti-masturbation member of the Tea Party," how pathetic is it that I have never in my life read Lovecraft? My sister is so into it I'm afraid to tell her I've never actually read any of it. What I HAVE done is watch Cast a Deadly Spell, which is just a thoroughly enjoyable movie. (Warning: I also love Second Sight Detective Agency. Few people have ever called that movie "good," but every time I watch it--on VHS, because no one has yet put it on DVD--I just laugh my ass off for an hour and a half and end up feeling much better about the universe. Oh, man, the first thirty seconds of that movie alone is worth it. Let me see if I can find it on YouTube. I... wow. It's not even on YouTube. It... I didn't know that was possible.)

And a little of the ol' Clockwork Orange reference! Clever! Also, lovely text. Clearly referencing the movie more than the book, but I don't blame people for that.

And, in good Halloween style, Bride of Frankenstein.

So.

I'm going to be posting less frequently for a while. Possibly forever. I love my blog, but I work seven hours a day, commute for three, volunteer on the weekend, and am about to start evening classes in organic chemistry. By the time I get home, I'm out of energy and my arms hurt.

And I always hate it when I go to a blog and the last post is all like, "Sorry about the hiatus! I'm totally back now!" and it's dated a year and a half ago. So. Heads up, is all I'm saying.

Fluevog: Space Pirates, Etc.

So today I bought an iPhone. I've been a Verizon person since I was eighteen and got my first cellphone, but I wanted a smartphone, and I'd played with iPods on a research study I'd worked on--the lead researcher was using them to gather survey information from respondents. It was an experience sampling kind of deal. So. I'm spending a lot of quality time with Vera [ETA: I originally wrote "Velma" there, but no, Vera as in "my favorite gun" Vera], as I've just named her. (My car is Elvira, so it makes sense.) Anyway, shoes! Fluevog is no longer my favorite shoe company, since the last three pairs I bought from them were so uncomfortable, but I do still like their unique designs. Take, for example, the Rubens.

I like the design on these Dohjes, but the coloration is a liiiiittle bit elf-like.

And these boots are just gorgeously worked. Mmmm.

Modcloth: Sherlockian Outerwear

Whoops--sorry about the missed day there. Not on purpose, but an unfortunate side-effect of operating in a perpetual state of exhaustion. Today's treasures are coats that make me feel all warmly wintery, particularly in light of the blustery weather we've been having around here lately. First up is a lovely pocketed number.

Next, something that owes as much to The Avengers as it does my beloved Holmes.

And finally, this saucy little military-themed number.

Etsy Appreciation Week: Margaux Lange

Today I'm going to keep it short and sweet: Hear no evil.

See no evil.

Speak no evil.

Etsy Appreciation Week: Youth Diaspora

This post is going to be extra-awesome. Just look at that posture collar: brown crocodile-print leather with huge gold grommets and lacing. I like Etsy in large part because it exposes me to things I would never even see otherwise--I would have no idea what was passing me by, what creative ideas I'd miss entirely.

And never seeing this corset would be pretty tragic. It's underbust--the breasts in this photo are covered by a bra, not part of the corset--and check out the arrangement on those straps. Look at the visual punch of the unusual lacing. It's a whole different take on the concept, and I love it.

Meanwhile, this cage dress is to my attempts at home-made harnesses what Michelangelo's work is to drunken scribbles on a napkin. Or maybe Jackson Pollock. I'm not sure.

Etsy Appreciation Week: SquidPop

The stuff from SquidPop is, often as not, just plain crazy. I love it. Like this shirt, with its tubular collar, panel stitching, color block, and general shininess.

Or this shirt, with its Tears for Fears graphic and all-over holographic glitteries.

And let's not pretend this isn't totally reminding us of Kill Bill. All right. Thought so.

Etsy Appreciation Week: FamilySkiners

Straight from Moscow, these are pieces with attitude. First up, a high-necked collar with grommets and wing-like projections.

This is actually a bracelet. Don't tell Darth Vader--he'll be crushed.

And this is just creepy zombie eyes horror movie bra. Yeah. It freaks me out, but... it's so unusual.

Etsy Appreciation Week: Janet Theresa Miller

I like this stuff. I like it despite the fact that it isn't my usual style; I like it because of its implacable, landscape-like curves. These pieces look like glaciers. They look like the Fortress of Solitude.

They're good stuff.

First up, earrings.

This ring in particular is just so architectural, but on a whole different scale than most pieces. It looks alive.

And this ring looks like it's about to kick my ass. Or eat my brain.

Etsy Appreciation Week: Love at First Blush

Today I'm liking leather. Specifically, these Wonder Woman-esque wrist pieces. First up, this long black piece.

Same piece in silver, with a silhouetted bird in flight.

And this charming smaller piece.

Etsy Appreciation Week: Mujoyas

Mannequin earrings

 Now that I have a job again, my mind has started turning to the things I can buy with money. Etsy, in particular, makes me feel simultaneously good and bad: good because there's SO MUCH COOL STUFF and I can support artists individually instead of the fashion-industrial complex, bad because I have a hard time making up my mind and if I were being reeeeeeally good I wouldn't buy anything. (I know the "-industrial complex" ending is overused, but it's reaching platitude status because it's true. The world is run by corporations, which are functionally immortal and conscienceless. Wheeeeee.)

Three Brick ring

Still, as far as vices go, this is a pretty mild one. (I've also developed a wicked fast-food habit, which is utterly without redeeming features.) I like Mujoyas because I've bought from that shop before, and the results were good: clear communication with the seller and an absolutely beautiful necklace. I gave it as a gift, and I was proud to do it, because it was so lovely.

Abacus ring

So, if you like this stuff--this slightly deranged, pretty stuff--you should check out the shop. And Etsy. The love-fest is just beginning. Feel free to point me to your favorites; there's always more good stuff out there, I know.

Rant: Hope in the Aftermath

On the eve of the anniversary of 9/11, I feel compelled to address it in some way. I don't really know how. The world has already said so much, in moving speeches and writings by eloquent and passionate people.

Hope is the force that propels us through life. I'm a functional atheist; I believe that if there is a higher power it must be so far beyond my comprehension that it's not really worth thinking about. I'm not going to understand it, it didn't leave me any clear instructions in a holy manual, and it's not going to step in and save me, or anyone, from anything we do to ourselves and each other. The world is a place we have constructed, generation by generation. Where we are now is the result of millions of years of evolution and thousands of years of human work, reshaping the world to fit us.

This puts me in something of an interesting spot, ethically. I've been thinking a lot about ethics lately. My boyfriend is a law student and he was a philosophy major when we started dating, something I never took seriously until he began to explain it to me, piecemeal. Philosophy is ultimately the study of logic, and as a scientist, I love logic. I love the idea that we can begin to make sense of things. And ethics is the logic of human interaction from the flip side of psychology: not what we do to each other, but what we should do for each other. And why.

I've been reading a lot about medicine as I prepare to do my pre-reqs for med school. I want to be prepared; I want to apply with my eyes open. And what I've been reading is horrifying. I've been reading about ethics cases where there was no good answer, or cases where there was a good answer and it was ignored. I read about the first heart transplant, and an obviously dying man who said to the psychopath who had operated on him, "No, Doc, no," when the doctor approached him with a ventilator--which the patient had clearly and in a sound mind said he did not want under any circumstances. He pulled his oxygenation tent down on himself in his distress, trying to protect himself from that doctor. The doctor said, "Yes, Louis, yes," and put him on the ventilator. I've been reading about the way health care works in the US, which is directed by a series of decisions--often made by doctors themselves, at points in history where they were a powerful lobby--that led us to a point where there are no cost controls and people who are desperately sick don't receive care. I've been reading about babies born without brains, about drunks corralled in the back hallway of a hospital to sleep off their injuries, about doctors and hospitals conspiring to commit fraud.

I still have hope. I don't believe in another life after this one, and I don't believe that this life has meaning or purpose. It's depressing. But I have hope because I believe in the unlimited possibilities of the future--a future that belongs to science, logic, ethics. Love. I believe that we can make ourselves better than we are. I can't remember who said it, but a quote I memorized a long time ago goes like this: "At any point in time we must be ready to sacrifice what we are for what we may become." Not only as individuals, but as nations, as a species, we must be ready.

We have to be ready to set aside the hate that has only made us unhappy. As a species, we have not gained from religious violence, nor from confusing religion, ethnicity, and extremism. Terrorists are terrorists, regardless of what god they espouse or what motives they claim. Religion doesn't make the terrorist; it just gives them a handy set of talking points. My boyfriend has a theory about morality. He believes that most human beings know intrinsically, and can agree on, what is right. I don't always buy it, although I do share that sense that some things simply are right and other things simply are wrong. Too many people have been too sure about what that essential, basic feeling is telling them. But I do believe that we can fumble our way forward. We are constantly struggling through the aftermath of disasters--some brightly visible, like the planes crashing into the towers; others quieter, more insidious, like the vast mess that is the health care system. In individual lives and at a societal level, we discover the nightmare, we attempt to regroup, we begin the efforts to stop, clean up, fix, rebuild.

It's what I love about science fiction. The hope. It's been nine years since I woke up, turned on the television at the foot of my bed as I did every morning to drowse through the news for a while, and saw the Pentagon in flames. I hope that we never see that kind of thing again. I have to hope. I have to work toward a better future--by donating to charities that work for human rights, by standing up for myself and for others in conversations dominated by privilege, by taking small actions to protect the environment.

I'm a left-wing bleeding-heart liberal. I always will be. It's because my heart should bleed, in a world like this. It's because, rather than suicide, or blaming whole groups for their own subjugation, or numbness, I choose hope.

Design Detours: Thinking About Halloween

So, in a Ghostbusters vein, I've been thinking about fall lately--the weather's changing, the air is getting moist and cold, I've been contemplating breaking out my silk long-johns. All that leads me naturally to Halloween, the seasonal delight where I get to goth or geek it up without repercussions. If you're looking for a little something to put around the house, allow me to suggest the following, starting with the Mortimer candles.

The Haunt candlesticks are similarly atmospheric.

And the 3-D cardboard skull is a trendy take on phantoms.

So, what are you guys thinking of going as for Halloween this year? I'm torn between trying to come up with something new and wearing my awesome Starfleet costume that I came up with last year. I do love to show off my Original Series phaser.

Outnet: Pretty Drama

Guys, I always browse Outnet knowing full well that I can't afford a damn thing on it, but there are days when I'm just blown away. Like by this Vivienne Westwood dress. Half-dragon lady, all gorgeous.

And I just love the patterns on this dress--it's like if Seven of Nine went on a seaside holiday.

I would wear that dress with these shoes--I love the detailing of the satin ribbons.

Etsy Grab-Bag: In Alien Green

Today I'm in the mood for green. Green everything--oceans, clothes, jewelry. It's that last one you'll see some of, though. First, this cuff; Arosha does a lot of work with automobile paint, which is just awesome. It gets a lot of depth and texture in the color.

This faceted ring always makes me think of alien worlds. Often of the Alien world. Who doesn't love Sigourney Weaver, honestly?

And this set isn't so much alien, but it does remind me of Rachel from Bladerunner. All classy, all the time.

LuLu's: Half and Half

LuLu's seems to have a bit of a theme going on lately--a lot of love for color blocks. Today I'm looking at three dresses, each of which has a dark half and a light half, but each tackles it very differently. First up, this BSG-esque dress with t-shirt DNA.

Next, this pieced-together strapless number with a right-down-the-middle split.

And finally, this more feminine ruffled number--nice for a night out.