hazliya: (pink falls)
So, for Friday, I'm pulling together a mermaid dress. Or rather, shipwreck victim dress.

Here's the rough sketch:



It's a bikini top that the model already owns, and the halter starts at the top of the hips, exposing her navel and tying behind her neck. Couple layers of ruffled skirts, great. Awesome movement. Edges chopped up and distressed.

Except I didn't know what kind of fabric to use. Linen, which moves beautifully, can be expensive and hard to work with. And frays like crazy.

Muslin was right out. It absorbs water and doesn't float. So when she went in the water, it wouldn't billow out prettily.

So I needed an off-white, rough-textured fabric that was slightly waterproof, cheap, and fray-resistant so that I could cut designs into it.

And then it hit me.

Interfacing.

So I got three yards of interfacing and we're going with that. xD

Whole dress. Out of interfacing.

This is going to be hilarious.
hazliya: (jacket)
I love how easy it is to make friends with little boys.

I explained to the son of a client what a urine sample is, and all he got out of it was that I had to touch (albeit through three layers of sterile plastic) pee. So I chased him around the waiting room as he screamed "NOOOOOOOO PEE HANDS."

Ten minutes later, we are now best friends.
hazliya: (Default)
So, Martha's is running again at SLAW, despite my huge reservations on the idea. For one, I think it's run too many times in so short a period. Two, a lot of people who would enjoy the game have already played, and three, while it is newbie-friendly, it's not nearly interesting enough to grab a lot of new people's attention. But I was asked to run it, and it's minimal setup, so eh. It's out of my hands now.

This got me to thinking. The game is only half full. And there have been a few people expressing the desire to play again, either as their old character or a new one.

Therefore, if we still have space in the game as of 11/1 (giving me three weeks to get out questionnaires and do casting), I'm opening it to people who have played before and want to play again. Whatever that means is up to you, but if you want to, there's an option for you.

EDIT: Oops, website is here.
hazliya: (blue falls)
Let me preface this by saying that Elsa's mother was an excellent mouser.

So, within the last week, there seems to have been a return of the cabinet mice. There were two nests - one next to the stove, where we put the emitter (and they have not returned since), and one in the pantry. There seems to be only a few this time - not a whole lot of damage done, just droppings and a few nibbles. Still, nipping this in the bud.

Enter my four-month-old pup. She has a very, very strong prey drive. When she picks up her toys, the first thing she does is shake them into submission, born from an instinct where she would've been snapping the neck on a rodent. And not just the side-to-side head toss, but an actual sharp, precise snap. She also has a need to chase, which is good... except for one little thing.

Elsa absolutely sucks at being sneaky.

When she sees something she wants, she freezes and pulls her ears forward. She moves as little as possible, and her breathing quiets. So far, so good. She sinks her shoulders, and her nails don't touch the floor so as to keep her feet silent. She bolts off like a shot...

...and then gets so excited she barks repeatedly. And growlsnorts.

Stealth level? Zero.

See, this works fine on deaf things, like toys or leaves, but squirrels and bugs hear her noisy self and know enough to bugger off. So, if Elsa is to be any kind of hunter, the barking needs to stop.

Anyway, we set some traps on the shelf a few days ago. No bait eaten, no nothing. No new traces. I checked them this afternoon - nothing. I come home, settle in, check them again. Success! One dead mouse. So I get the treats and clicker and Elsa obligingly follows me into the kitchen as I warn everyone not to come into the kitchen for the next fifteen minutes or so ([livejournal.com profile] elenuial had already let me know that he supported my decision, but wanted nothing to do with the process. Squick factor.).

Step one: Free dead mouse from trap, place it on kitchen floor. Elsa comes over to sniff it.

Click. Treat. Continue until Elsa routinely taps it with her nose to indicate interest.

Step two: She picks it up in her mouth.

Yes.

Dead mouse. In the mouth.

Click. Upgrade treats to cheese.

Step three: Trade mouse for cheese, at varying distances.

When it is brought to me? Big hunk of cheese and treats.

So, after fifteen minutes of practice, she now understands that bringing me a dead mouse will earn her large rewards. I disposed of the mouse, brushed her teeth, washed my hands, and gave everyone the all-clear.

And she went back into the kitchen later on her own, sniffing around where the mouse was on the floor and looking for it.

Awesome.

Next is teaching her how to make the mouse dead, the details of which I'm not really looking forward to. I'm trying to do this as humanely as possible. Suffice to say, it will probably take a few gruesome tries.

Ah, well. Time to get a second emitter to drive them into her sharp little puppy teeth.
hazliya: (sam)
So, one of the breeders I liked sent me an e-mail today saying that she'd accepted my application and that she'd had a litter of black-and-white (!!) pups born, with three (!!) males.

And it's just before summer, the optimal time to potty train outside and prime socializing time.

However, looking over her contract, there are a few things that stand out to me:
1. Her price is pretty high compared to pet-quality pups, but she doesn't specify whether or not she breeds show dogs.
2. She has a very strict neutering clause, something that is heavily atypical for a male.
3. When I asked if she had any later litters planned, she said that it "depends on when the girls come into heat," and this sounds to me like she breeds every cycle, something I really dislike.

So, thus far:

PROS:
- Perfect time of year for EVERYTHING
- Beautiful, healthy pups
- Gender I want
- Color variation I want
- Fantastic on communication
- Airtight health contract
- Very strict interview/application process

CONS:
- $1200 price tag (average for pet Papillons is 800-900)
- Possible overbreeding
- Would need to advance all the prep from November to May - a full six months ahead of schedule (including writing dog into lease, which I'd need to talk to Don about)

So I sent her an e-mail asking a few questions, and depending on how she answers, I may drop her as a breeder. The cons, looking over them, really aren't bad - I could sell a few jewelry pieces to make up the difference, and even then, I don't mind paying an extra $300 to ensure that the breeding is healthy. After all, you get what you pay for. The big thing, really, is the potentially unethical breeding practices. That's a dealbreaker for me.

I really want to have a summer to socialize and train this dog before winter hits and he becomes stir-crazy being cooped up in the house. And I don't want to have to leash train him in the snow.

Worst case scenario, I'll have to wait until next summer for a dog, and I'd be very heartbroken for a while. On the other hand, I don't want my impatience to make the decision for me.

I wish I had another month to decide, but if I want one of these pups, I need to make the decision in the next few days.

This sucks.
hazliya: (glasses)
So, with me, a large percentage of how a player gets cast is how they respond to the questionnaire.

As in, how much of an answer they give and the tone.

I am entirely serious.

I was thinking it over today as I sent out one-week reminder emails and looking over the ones I'd already gotten, as well as putting another one or two into my spreadsheet.

Actually, that's something I should mention. They way I store most of the base information I get from players is slapped into a spreadsheet with their answers in the corresponding columns. It's easier to answer big questions that way, like "Have they responded to me yet?" or "Do they want to play an E-pho?" or "Do they like romance plots?" Those are things that are simple and easy to look up. They tend to be straightforward yes/no or number value answers. Anything further than that, and we can refer back to the e-mail they sent for more details. (More details! I'll come to that later.)

This is starting to resemble the OkTrends Blog, so I'm going to cut it. )

That was longer than I expected. But at least I'm understanding my casting MO a little better now.

I'll leave it up to [livejournal.com profile] elenuial to keep me from casting the... less than informational... players as Eeyore.
hazliya: (polka dot umbrella)
The other night, [livejournal.com profile] elenuial remarked that I seemed to be bonding well with [livejournal.com profile] nightskyre and [livejournal.com profile] anitra's v2.0, Claire.

This is rather strange, considering the strong dislike I harbor for small children.

She will seek me out, let me hold her, and otherwise attempt to engage me in search of my attention. What's stranger still is that I oblige her in her interest, between making faces, playing games, and flying her around the house making various noises. (This is to differentiate being a plane from being Superman. Superman is a dick.)

Granted, she is cute, but that's not usually enough to cut it for me. Maybe she's entertaining. Maybe the novelty of getting along with a baby hasn't worn off yet. Maybe I have this idea that if she likes me enough, she'll be more likely to repeat after me when she gets to that age, and I can teach her all sorts of useful phrases to summon Elder gods and embarrass her parents.

Whatever the reason, my biological clock is not ticking. I might just be a little more tolerant than I thought, is all.

Maybe it's all the puppies.
hazliya: (solarblue)
I have this urge to do photoshoots of people after having given them a ridiculously drastic overhaul.

Basically, I want to take my models and bring them to an extreme. Like turn a grunge friend into Audrey Hepburn. That kind of thing.

Anyone willing to let me completely make them over? Hair, makeup, wardrobe, everything I tell you to? xD
hazliya: (solarblue)
So, I'm casting for Martha Stewart. Aside from the eight people who haven't returned the questionnaire to me (I already pinged them, and one got back to me ASAP), I've gotten a good chunk of it done and am rather confident in all of the casting so far (and rather amused by some; they'll know immediately when they're handed their sheets).

This is going to be ridiculous. xD
hazliya: (Default)
Does anyone have a riding crop I can borrow this weekend?

-Haz

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