Tomato Soup

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Tuesday, September 30, 2003

More fun with poses...

Corrigan: Are you sure you can run in that?
Shay: Oh, I'll manage.

Shay Petrassen has come along way since she last appeared in my blog, and I like to think that my doll-making skills have done likewise.

The previous dolls were all still-in-training versions of these characters. This is official-appearance-to-attract-attention Shay. Not so much a kid playing games anymore. I'm not sure what she was thinking with those boots, though. (Probably an attempt to use her powers of influence for the forces of good, and also to see just how far they go.)

The contest ends tomorrow. No, Salli, I'm not talking about you. Why would that deadline apply to you?
Sarah - 3:59 PM - 0 comment(s)

Friday, September 26, 2003

I hurt my toe.
I did it on my guitar case this morning. I accidentally hit it with my foot as I was walking by and managed to get my little toe on one of the latches. Ouch. I just took off my glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter band-aid (camp leftovers) and applied Doctor Burt's Comfrey Ointment.

I'm not sure if that stuff actually helps or if it's just in my head, but it smells very pleasant and besides, it's green.

Okay, the tutorial series is pretty much finished. (I at least hit the major points.) There should eventually be some more specific tutorials using the GIMP (though it's stuff that'll theoretically work in any "serious" graphics program). That means that you need to tell me if there is anything in particular you would like to learn. ;)

I put up two new entries for the base edit contest (GO CHECK THEM OUT!) and decided I couldn't wait any longer on the next one, the theme of which is...red. (Surprise!)

In other news, I'm having serious thoughts involving physics grad school and not going.
Sarah - 8:14 PM - 0 comment(s)

Thursday, September 25, 2003

It's still Thursday!
Because I say so. I love that.
Sarah - 11:59 PM - 0 comment(s)

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

Oh, yay.
I wrote two whole tutorials (I didn't update the index page, though - didn't have time), but you can't see them yet (or at least I can't) because the server has moved and I don't think the DNS is caught up. Or something. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.

There's a contest here that is voting and I want anyone reading this to go there and vote for the doll you think is best. The results at the moment are decidedly skewed and that's really not cool, so please go there and vote honestly. There's a pirate contest here that you can vote in which I entered pretty much just because it entertained me.

Actually, the new control center is really spiffy and I'm sure I'll appreciate it more when I've had some sleep and I don't have physics homework that I really should be doing. ;)

Sarah - 11:17 PM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Mwahahaha!
I am all powerful! I make Blogger say that this was posted on Tuesday, even though I'm typing after midnight! I can shout at my computer, and make it obey me!

Well, at least that second one is exciting. Though actually, it's more like I clap really loud until my hands hurt and LabView goes "huh"? I clap once, the light goes on. I clap twice, the light goes off (though I need to set it up to do that instead of turning a second light on). I clap three times, the computer plays a sound (any ideas for a clear sound clip? I do have a mic to record). Actually, it's more like, I clap a whole bunch and pray that it'll pick up enough of the claps to do what I want it to do. But the fact remains that if I keep clapping long enough, I can get the darned thing to do whatever I like.

Except turn the little motor. I don't think LabView is outputting enough current. I'm really hoping that my independent study advisor will agree with me that it's just not worth the trouble to work up a triggering system (which would, after all, be more of an electronics problem).

My special project is working, I don't have to get up early to work on it before I have my weekly check-up meeting about it, my lab report is ready to turn in, I'm on schedule for the next one, and I'm clean and my hair is brushed. ::happy sigh:: Oh, and my first contest has a decent number of entries and I've got a new doll that is just about ready. :)

Edit: The base for Salli, and that doll I was talking about ("Senior Lab Sarah").

Yes, I do normally walk around the physics building without any shoes.
Sarah - 11:59 PM - 0 comment(s)

I got another contest entry.
That makes five for the base edit. And none of them are from Salli. (Hint, hint.) And how come nobody commented on the really spiffy new doll I posted?

Kat, I'm been thinking about making a new tutorial on dolling on a budget. How to get the most ouf of MSPaint, how to find what else your computer can already do for you, and where to get and how to use freeware programs that are worth the effort. This may take some time. Heh.

Started a new lab today. Oh, joy. I always feel like I'm running behind in my independent study—it's a question of how much time I can put in on LabView at the moment, and I can't do it while the sophomores are in lab...

(And where the heck did the Tombola guy go?)
Sarah - 4:41 PM - 0 comment(s)

Friday, September 19, 2003

This is the part where I should be taking a shower.
And also making copies and packing.

Instead, I updated Eleni Aranelwa, got "caught up" at the Forest (Mir and Rayne, have fun), and...er...okay, I mostly poked around online and did very little.

::sigh:: I really have to go get to work now, though...gotta be ready to leave at six, which means before 4:00 if I want to make it up to the bell tower at all...

Edit: Arrrr!
Sarah - 2:04 PM - 0 comment(s)

Thursday, September 18, 2003

I have done basically nothing today.
Except go to E&M, have lunch, go to lab and process a whole bunch of data, go to dinner, prepare all the photos from the paper to go on the website, go to choir, and print off morning prayer for Saturday.

Okay, so that's not "basically nothing". But it feels like it! ARGGH! This tells you how overworked I've been, I guess. You see, what I really feel is that I have done very litte senior lab work, which is basically true. (I did put in a couple of hours preparing data. Okay, so that's not "very little", but it's not "a good, solid amount", either). I guess I'll have to get up tomorrow morning and see if I can go over it to make sure I know how to do everything. Yay. I have serious guilt issues in this class—no matter how much I do, I always feel like it's not enough!

I've noticed that doll contests come in themed spurts. The theme-of-the-moment seems to be the color pink, which is just as well, really, since it inspired me to make a proper Ellie Valentine doll.

You may recall that I tried once before. We won't talk about that.

"Ellie Valentine" is a pseudonym, of course. She's a journalist who specializes in biotech reporting. That doesn't sound very exciting or glamorous, but in a galaxy at war, with one side famous for espionage and the other for its technology, biotech is where the really exciting news can be found. And if you want to do anything in this line of work, you'd better get along with Ellie Valentine. She's the only reporter many of the top scientists will trust, and though she works freelance, audiences and news companies love her.

Ellie can control her camera with voice commands, which is why she needs a microphone (since there are other reporters around doing the same thing). The mic also filters extraneous background noise so that she can be heard even in a crowded room. The standard visual is of the reporter—once you activate that part, you close your eyes until it's time to start sending the broadcast. She can also send whatever she is looking at as an inset. Most journalists control their equipment via tiny cybernetic implants—they are quite unobtrusive and don't require any surgical procedure (it's comparable to getting your ears pierced).
Sarah - 11:41 PM - 0 comment(s)

I am such a lazy bum.
I could be done with my lab. Instead, I left class early. Probably I should go back and see if I can get my lab notebook from last week and also find out for sure what time the next lab is due.

I made this doll of Myra in a dress to for a purple-themed contest, and also just for the heck of it. I'm learning some better techniques for patterns, but it took my quite a long while to get it sorted out!

Salli will be pleased to know that I've got a new base coming along.
Sarah - 3:44 PM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Contests voting...
This one and this one.

I have to go back to the physics building soon to prepare for my help session, but we are done collecting data!!!
Sarah - 6:25 PM - 0 comment(s)

Monday, September 15, 2003

Hugs for Mir!

We love you, Mir! We think you are smart and talented and a great friend, and we will always support you! (And also we'll be sure to pray for you at senior Bible Study tonight, which I will remember to attend...)
Sarah - 8:38 PM - 0 comment(s)

Run away! Run away!
I managed to escape the physics building for a little bit. Go me!

Chicago was lots of fun and very exhausting. Very little sleep due to always arriving at hotel around 1 a.m. Fermilab was very cool but not really very exciting. (You can only look at lots and lots and lots of computers for so long and there was way too much information to assimilate. And I'm a physics senior—I feel very, very sorry for the freshmen.)

The first thing you should know about Fermilab is that it's big. Very. They've got the world's highest-energy particle accelerator, and with those things, bigger is generally better. Fermilab's is four miles in circumferance. (That means it's a big circle, four miles around, if you're not up on your geometry terms. ;) Naturally, it takes more than a couple of people to operate all this (and there is other research being done there all the time, plus they do radiation therapy for cancer because they've got stuff you just can't get elsewhere). And Buffalo. Mustn't forget the buffalo...they don't actually need all that space above ground, you see.

There are other things that you should know, I'm sure, but you can read about them at the Fermilab website if you're really interested.

The picture is of one end of one of the detectors—this particular unit is called D0, and the actual detector equipment is behind that wall of blocks (they're used for shielding—normally those blocks in the middle would be filling that gap in the wall). We got to go inside because they're currently in shut-down, which sounds boring, but it means that we got to see a lot more. (Normally there are some serious radiation hazards.) This thing is big. The blue structure is the "moving counting house", which houses some of the computers and such, and it's three stories tall. (They don't actually move the detector very often, but it can be done.) In that orange structure is a copper conduit containing lots and lots and lots and lots of cables—they say that the real space concern is figuring out where to put the wires and cables they need to keep everything connected!

In other news, I really don't think that this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. One option ruled out. Yay.

Four entries for my base edit contest! Yay! (Sorry, Kat, I'll get yours up sooner or later.) Assuming that Salli doesn't forget to enter, that'll give me five entries, which I think is really the minimum for a contest to make any sense at all.

This is Za'rana "Za'kishaira" Vaila'kirtani. She is very, very cool, but her hair is a royal pain. Also, she looks like a pirate. Probably my favorite character, or at least a contender for that much-coveted position. And I really shouldn't be giving even this much away, but I really, really wanted to make a doll of her, and lets be honest, it would take years for me to get the story to the point where she comes in!

"Za'kishaira" means "Ice-Queen" and is a nickname of sorts. "Vaila'kirtani" is just the title "Ravens'-Captain". Basically, after running amuck in the streets of Da'lanit for a while, Za'ra (it's properly spelled "Zara", but I usually write it "Za'ra" to indicate pronunciation, as there are different groups that pronounce it differently) and her best friend Naeona take up with the White Wolves, a group of more-or-less honorable mercenaries. The Ravens are an all-mounted special forces unit which Za'ra eventually forms—that pendant is a Raven badge, although you can't make out the symbol (it's the silhouette of a wolf with wings).

Dressed like this, it's most likely that Za'ra is about to go meet with some prince or lordling who things that the infamous Za'kishaira would make an impressive trophy. This happens occasionally and never ends well.
Sarah - 2:23 PM - 0 comment(s)

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

I don't normally post these...
...but this one is just brilliant.

Higgs Boson -- You are crazy and wacky and nobody
really understands you. Theoretically your
humor gives the universe mass and existence,
but the explanation as to how this all works is
still in the works.


What kind of subatomic particle are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Sarah - 10:07 AM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

I can't believe I'm doing this...
...but I put up a couple of contests on my doll site. :o One of them is Tolkien-themed and rather special interest (MWAHAHA!), but the other one is quite simple—just use one of those new bases of mine. :)

I was kind of hoping that those of you who make dolls might think about participating—whether you win anything or not, entering contests is a lot of fun!

And I know Salli is going to enter, 'cause she already has a whole slew of dolls on those bases...;)

I finished my physics homework tonight during the help session. (I'm sure I won't get away with that once they start doing vectors and such...) Wow. Me, finished with physics homework two days early...I should feel virtuous, and probably I will once I figure out the whole senior lab thing...I'm at least to the point where I feel comfortable starting the report and processing the data. I think. I'd really like to finish this by Thursday dinner so I can focus on getting the remainder of the paper online Thursday night before we head out to Chicago Friday afternoon!
Sarah - 10:13 PM - 0 comment(s)

Monday, September 08, 2003

ARRGGHHH!
My lab partner had better have a darned good story and it had better involve at least one ambulance.

We agreed to split up the last few data sets since it basically takes an hour and a quarter to run one set and it doesn't actually take any effort, you just have to export the data, copy it, and start the next set. We were supposed to be done by 9:30.

We're not. We have two data sets to go. I have to go deal with the last run with an actual radioactive source at 11:00. :P I'll do the background radiation check tomorrow morning, I figure - I can get to the physics building early and get it started before my 9:40 class.

Yeearrrgghhh! This requires some serious time management, and I'm never any good at that! I have to really work at it to fit everything in when I can't get any of it done over the weekend - and gee, I'll be out of town for the next two weekends, at least...STRESS, STRESS, STRESS!!!
Sarah - 10:07 PM - 0 comment(s)

I apologize for the excessively large file size.
But isn't she just plain cool?

The non-looping version is better, but then you don't get to see it if you aren't watching for it.

A very typical representation of Sasheylal ("Lady Luck") in art - and a rather clever use of the base, don't you think? ;) For the animated version, Sasheylal decides that her followers need some personal assistance...or, more likely, she just felt like showing up!

The regular versions and a bunch of bases are up on the site.

SENIOR LAB ATE MY DAY!!!!! (75 minutes a data set * 5 sets = too much time going back to the lab.)
Sarah - 5:45 PM - 0 comment(s)

Sunday, September 07, 2003

I could talk about the wedding.
But instead, I'm going to talk about this doll, 'cause she's really pretty and I did promise. Or something.

She's from that really absurdly epic storyline that's been in my head since at least seventh or eigth grade. Part of a batch of new characters I developed while in Montréal. I almost even have bad guys now! (I say "almost" because most of them are still rather ambiguously evil, to say the least.)

This is certainly a fairly young Renn Darkwood, before she became ylrannei for the Wood-Elves. (Actually, I bet she's trying to seduce the then-current ylrannei, but I digress.) She's called "Darkwood" for her signature bow, which is enormously strong and so dark it's nearly black. She is also sometimes called "Silvertongue", because she can quite literally charm the birds and the squirrels, when she so chooses. (And yes, I've very sure that she would actually dress with that while practicing archery.)

Charismatic, skilled, and beautiful, Renn is a powerful force in the politics of her people almost from childhood. When she becomes ylrannei, no one is surprised, and the other ylrannei often rely on her to sort through political messes. Her powers of persuasion are a minor legend. High-spirited and adventurous, she spends most of her life looking for new challenges.

When war becomes inevitable and information is desperately needed, Renn volunteers to go in undercover. It's risky and daring (and probably ill-advised), but Renn manages to convince everyone to give it a try. (This, perhaps, should have been the first warning sign.) And it works. Spectacularly. It's easy.

In the service of the Enemy, Renn Darkwood makes a remarkable discovery. No matter what she says, people believe her. Before, she had simply convinced people of things that she believed—she had never actually lied. It starts small, of course, but the power is incredible and I'm sure you can imagine how it spirals out of control. If even the gods (okay, they're not really gods) believed your every word, what wouldn't you say? And of course, from the beginning, Renn is adept at lying to herself.
Sarah - 3:58 PM - 0 comment(s)

Thursday, September 04, 2003

It has begun.
By which I mean senior physics lab. I'm meeting my lab partner to collect data on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.

The reason that we can't meet any earlier than that is that I'm going to be out of town all weekend. I'm going to a wedding. I'm going to be in a wedding. I haven't tried on my bridesmaid's outfit yet and I need to wrap the gift. It's a three hour drive and I have to be there for the rehearsal tomorrow at 6:00.

Newspaper meeting at 5 tonight. :P Have to go to see if I can recruit some minions for the online job. (Because, you know, it is so much work, especially with only the two of us...)

I've made some new dolls, both of them on "new" poses for that bigger base of mine ("new" meaning "Sarah hasn't gotten around to putting them on the site yet"), and using some new techniques. Both of them are of characters requiring more thorough treatment than my physics-dazed and sleep-deprived brain is currently capable of producing.

I think I'll take a (short) nap.
Sarah - 4:16 PM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, September 02, 2003

I got me a physics job.
I'm the help session "tutor" (hehe) for General Intro, which means I'll spend a couple of hours answering questions and such on Tuesday nights. If nobody comes, I can sit there and do homework or whatever.

Of course, they're out of textbooks, so I don't actually get to see the homework I'm supposed to help with in advance. Heh, it's the first week, it'll be slow, anyway. (I suspect I'll only see the really, really, really paranoid ones tonight!)
Sarah - 3:23 PM - 0 comment(s)

Monday, September 01, 2003

THE INTERNET IS BACK!!!
In the dorms, that is. And that makes me very, very happy!

For Rayne:

Do you like the eyes? ('Cause I sure do!)

And now, my current pride and joy, made entirely 100% from scratch by me:

Modeling my new base are a Blue Dragon Journeyman and an Eastern Order apprentice. (The gal in Eastern Order ceremonial robes is currently decorating my desktop.)
Sarah - 3:16 PM - 0 comment(s)

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Archive (leftovers)

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