The FBI has just put out some of their more interesting "X-filesish" cases on-line. You can read about them here. Most are really old cases (ummm, before I was born?) but I thought it might help build the excitement for the movie.

Police: Robber Uses Worst Hold-Up Note Ever!
First Coast News … FL

Posted By: Gary Detman 6 hrs ago

MARION COUNTY, FL — Ocala police say he held up two banks in one day, but it didn’t take cops long to catch up with him.

That’s because police say the suspected double bank bandit wrote his hold-up demands on his own personal check and then left the check at the crime scene.

The check had 33-year-old Patrick Johnson’s name and address on the front and police arrested him shortly after the second bank robbery.

Police also say bank surveillance photos show a man identical to Johnson robbing the bank.

Still, he says he didn’t do it.

“You know, this is America and we are presumed innocent,” Johnson said. “Who’s to say I robbed those banks?”

Johnson could face life in prison if convicted.

Since 1998, he has been arrested several times for grand theft, drunk driving and violation of probation.

I was fooling around on LJ rather than sewing (like normal. I need to do one more roundel on the sleeves but I need to go to the store and get more gold cord.) when I went to look at my user info. I use my profile a lot as a short cut to my friends' pages at work anymore since I can't actually see my friends page at work. (The really blocked the weirdest stuff, honestly...)

Anyway, I was looking at my old LJ friend's user map that was going around last year and I added to my profile. Well, I clicked on one of the pink dots to find out it was ladyrowansplace. I didn't know her well at all but it still got me off my giggly "OMG! Chocolate!" high I was on. It didn't help that it's been almost exactly six months.

Now that I'm no longer hyper, I should give a bunch of updates. I detest the embroidery software. I want to use Adobe Photoshop to edit the image, which I have the CD for but the laptop doesn't have a CD-ROM. Using paint is just made of fail. Really. I just want to make the lines of the unicornate hippocampus thicker, which, in photoshop is super easy. In paint? no. It's just not. And when I transfer it to the embroidery software it looses lines. So, rather than a full loop in his tail, I get a C. Grr...

( Mumble mumble mumble! You're a wonderful conversational companion! )

There is something that goes on all the time in the SCA that really just makes my eye twitch. I know this doesn't bother anyone else because I've seen about half my friends in the SCA do it. This little pet peeve of mine always pops it's ugly head about around April and dies down after August.

( What is it? )

Hopefully, this really will be the forecast:

Sunday, Jul 27 Mostly cloudy with a t-storm Low: 57 °F High: 76 °F
Monday, Jul 28 shower in the morning Low: 50 °F High: 77 °F
Tuesday, Jul 29 Mostly sunny Low: 55 °F High: 79 °F
Wednesday, Jul 30 Mostly sunny Low: 58 °F High: 81 °F
Thursday, Jul 31 Sunshine and some clouds Low: 60 °F High: 83 °F
Friday, Aug 1 Partial sunshine Low: 60 °F High: 84 °F
Saturday, Aug 2 Variably cloudy, a t-storm Low: 59 °F High: 78 °F
Sunday, Aug 3 Times of clouds and sun Low: 58 °F High: 82 °F
Monday, Aug 4 Partly sunny Low: 59 °F High: 82 °F

So far, that looks pretty darn good.

I went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was really good. This movie will win every single special effects category and a few of the digital animation ones too. It was just that good.
You know how in most 3d movies, it looks like 1 2-d screen in front of another 2-d screen? This didn't do that. It looked like you were in the rooms and in the caves. The mine cart scene will leave you feeling a bit dizzy because it really looks like the railing is coming up greet you.
It was almost like one of those 3d rides at Universal studios but with far superior acting and script. This is the first movie I've been to in a long time where I felt that my money was worth it.
( More weekend stuff )

After a very long and weary day
I sat down at my computer to play
Writing and reading
While Ginsie was feeding
Never knowing of all that may

Upon the counter did I hear rustle
so I gathered up what I could muscle
sneakers and flashlight
I stood and took a look at what might
finding something small and docile

The creature was slight and brown
and looked up at me as I looked down
Happy and joyful
I closed the dog food bag forceful
but this creature I would not drown

The dog food I put in the garbage
inside a black bag outside my cottage
done and gone
the mouse will no longer roam the lawn
and all without much carnage


Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm not that great with poetry but since the first part was a poem, I figured the second part should be too.... point and laugh all you like, the point is, the mouse is no longer and will never be again, in the HOUSE.

1) There is a joke in here somewhere:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080718/D920768O0.html
( text of article )

2)Ginsie seems to be okay this morning. I called up Mom and told her about the seizure. Mom wants to take Ginsie for the week next week. As much as I hate not having my pup around, I also know that staying at home all day while I'm at work, after she's had a seizure like that isn't good either. If she has another seizure, it's typically a few days later (like 4~6 days), which would put it in the middle of next week. So, she'll probably be over at Mom & Dad's next week.

3) I played with the embroidery program last night. That was interesting. I'm going to play with it more tonight and then attempt to sewing something else on that machine...while doing my sleeve, of course.

Why am I up? Because Ginsie had another seizure at around midnight. We were both asleep when I heard her start to have it. I think she knew this one was coming on because of how she acted before I went to bed. She kept crawling over me and then finally laid down right next to me and just wanted me to pet her. I did before getting a couple of minutes sleep.

The seizure lasted a good minute, or at least it seemed that long. I did NOT like this one at all because, as she was coming out of it, she started to cry. I think it was just because she really wanted to scratch her ear more than anything but nothing gets to me more than seeing her in pain and there in nothing I can do about it (unless she does something dumb and gets hit on the head for it. Then I admit, I giggle as long as it's not serious.)

I carried her downstairs the second it was over and let her outside. She did her normal wanting to sniff everything and make sure it's all real. (About the best way I can describe this is like Dorthy when she came back from Oz doing her "and you were there! and you were there! and you were there!". It's like she simply re-recognizes everything she's known forever...like my shoes, me, and her toys.) She recovered from this one very quickly (three minutes) which is far better than it was a year or so ago. I gave her a bit of food with some more meds and a lot more water. Ginsie is okay right now and just wants to go back up to bed (I asked. "Nigh-Night?" gets a lot of tail wagging and whining meaning that that's what she wants.)

So, I'm going to double check the house to make sure it's seizure proof when I leave her tomorrow and, hopefully, this was just one of the "a couple of times out of the year" seizures and nothing more serious than that. I really hate epilepsy...

Put up a couple of new dresses. Well, neither is "new", just old garb in really good shape that I want to get rid off. The Irish dress really is neat and I hate to get rid of it but it simply isn't my style anymore.

It started as scratching upon the wall
I turned to Ginsie, who answered my call
but it was not her claws upon the door
it was something sinister, something more.
I listened and she growled
and the scratching grew not so loud.
We had forgotten the sound in the wall
until I heard something in the kitchen fall.
I saw the dog lying on the couch
and so I did I arise from my slouch.
The light in the kitchen had long since faded
so I got a flashlight to see what had invaded.
I knew the sound had come from a bag
for I heard the crumbling that made me gag.
Looking into dog food bag so near
I did find two black eyes that looked so drear.
The mouse was brown and small
and I wondered how the heck it got into a bag so tall.
So I grabbed a small box and reached for the cup
so I could put my hand in and scoop him up.
But the plan did fail because I did not see
that he could jump right over me!
I screamed and Ginsie stood silently by
for she did not see it nor know why.
Despite my urgent pleas of "Ginsie, get the mouse!"
the dog did not see the invader of our house.
The dog has caught all manner of creatures before
but she did not see the one that hid beneath the cabinet door.
So beneath the fridge it did go
this strange and peculiar little foe.
I am assuredly to come home today
to a dead mouse with Ginsie at play.
Or so I hope, it a strange way,
for I do not want to do this another day.
So Ginsie, grand catcher of things,
from muskrats to squirrels, and creatures that sting,
to chipmunks and birds, and that elusive cat,
why can't you see the little brown rat?

It's Spike, now in four different flavors! I was testing out the embroidery machine tonight and ummm...yeah. The cute Spike came out gorgeously. I got that one from this page with tons of badges for embroidery machines. I think I might skip the blue next time and just do it in all white with a black outline.
The black thread was giving me a time on the cute Spike! On all the hippocampus Spikes? It was fine. Towards the end of the cute Spike it was breaking every 100 stitches which was not fun. I managed to get it to work and it came out perfectly so I'm not sure what the heck was going on.

My dress on my side table in the living room. I'm working on it, honest! Actually, one sleeve has now moved over to the futon pillow and has the second roundel pinned on to it. Ginsie is on the other side of the futon right now, on top of some of my garb I wanted to take upstairs so I can throw it into the suitcase.... It's a good thing she doesn't have long dog hair anymore. The problem with owning a white dog is black clothing. And the garb she's on? Navy blue.

I didn't get anything done yesterday at all. I cut out a very basic Italian chemise from my crinkle cotton and that was pretty much it.

The rest of the day was spent replying to emails that I can't see at work anymore, washing the dishes, and playing with Ginsie...oh and that run out to get some Mike's Lemonade. Mike's Lemonade and cinnamon gummy bears? yum. Also got a lotto ticket because, well, it just seemed like a good idea when you are buying a 6 pack of something alcohol. Maybe next time, I'll just get the bug zapper and a bb gun.... that will really show my roots....

I saw this one and just think it's *perfect* for an Edgar Allen Poe dress. There are a lot more gowns if anyone else wants inspiration or just wants to look at pretties. Maybe a combo of the yellow dress from yesterday's style sleeves and bodice with this linear pattern combo and skirt? Hmmmmm......

EDIT: N'rmind. I want this one now. :-) (It's from one of the Tasha Tudor auctions)

One sleeve is done. The other has the gold edging but I have yet to do the designs. I think I need to go get more of the gold roping because, of the 25 yards I originally bought? I have two and half yards left. Now, I just need to do the sleeve but I don't think that it's enough for six roundels. I'd need at least another yard and I think I'll just drive over to G-Street and grab another three yards to be safe.

After the design is done, the rest of it is easy (well, for me it is). It's a matter of lining the sleeves, adding the bias trim to the edges, and then beading them together. Hopefully, I'll get everything done this weekend.

On the Neapolitian dress: I think i like the green linen much better than the orange linen as a lining. It just *goes* better and I can't really explain why. The colors together - the brown, green, and bright pink - just look like a flower. It's really pretty and the trim still matches. The orange just did not look right. So, the next project - probably for when I get back - will be the jacket and dress.

So, I really want to make a new 1840's dress for the Poe Event in Jan (assuming we are all still going?). I have black wool pieces to an early 1850's coat I'm going to piece back together (I'll just be a year or two fashion forward. Poe died in 1849 and the coat is from 1852~. It's just too marvelous not to put back together and wear around somewhere. It's also a perfect "mourning" 19th c coat.)

I really like this dress and think I have enough of the orange silk taffeta to put this together. I'm not sure what I really want to do with the dress (other than long sleeves!) this time around. I just want something that looks *right*. Oh well, if nothing else, I can just wear the black wool coat over the old purple dress. :-)

I went and took a look at my early 1790's bodice this morning because of all the pretty LJ Tea Party pictures. The one thing I noticed about it is that the neckline is very wide and the bodice is short, similar to the chemise dress but it's over all construction is more like the robe a la francais. Does that make sense?
It has a drawstring in the neck that goes from the shoulder to the front of the gown. However, the drawstring is in the cotton lining and not the silk facing. Based on the shoulders, I'm wondering if the bodice was actually a 1780's gown that was redesigned in the 1790's to give a more fashionable shape. The skirt fabric has long since been taken away to make something else so I only have the bodice to go off of.
Anyway, I want to make a gown based off it post Pennsic. It's currently number two on my post-Pennsic list. :-)
Did I mention that I love my blackberry?

Your parents like your persona name better than the one they gave you.

I'm very guilty of this one. :-) ( Guilty! )

As for my own, ya know you are in the SCA whens:

- When you pack for one of the big wars, load up the car, and notice that, finally, your house looks clean
- you see people and think "oh, they'd look gorgeous in a 10th c Viking!" and mean it. (I think I've convinced our office manager to go Viking at the Renn Fest. She's all about plain clothing with tons of gold and stones so what is better for her than Viking?)
- You are excited when you find out there is a hardware store in walking distance from your office because you need more costuming supplies. :-)
- When talking about various levels of users in a database, you call them "stations"

Me in my red & gold Venetian. My hair really is that color right now. It's fun when I just have barrettes on the sides to see people's reactions. It's almost as bad as wearing garb in a grocery store. :-)

EDIT: The front view is here I just don't like the underarm look there. It goes away with the sleeves on, or at least it's not noticeable. The "chemise" is a very old one but it works for seeing how things will look once I wear one of my real chemises. This one was meant to be a "pirate" shirt. :-)

One of the repairs I made to the Peacock Gown. It should hold until after Pennsic. I think, after Pennsic, I might just recut the bodice all together. I found enough scrap fabric that I can just remake it.

Ginsie helping me sew And y'all say you have problems with the cats helping? ;-) That's Shiloh in the background. Ginsie and the "orb" are in the foreground. This was a couple of weeks ago around the Fourth.

I have a few more up on my flickr account, as always. Feel free to ask questions, look around, and make silly comments (or serious ones). :-) I have finish one sleeve. Hint: Sewing while watching "The Nativity Story" (Gives new meaning to 'Christmas in July' :-) ) is extremely slow. I'm going to see about sewing during "Affair of a Necklace" tomorrow.

Novice was fun, as always. I basically sat all my stuff down at Newcomer's Point and stayed. I wore my old peacock dress given the birds theme. I think the dress has about had it. Oh the problems with polyester taffeta. ;-) I couldn't help but make a dress out of it. After all, how can anyone resist the urge of a fabric that changes color three ways? It's just not possible, I'm tellin' ya. It looks blue but has a green or purple sheen depending on the lighting.

I wore one of my old chemises and a simple veil. I was going for this look with a dress that is closer in style to this. It worked okay, I guess. It's just an old dress and I need to make a new one...well, I need to make a lot of new garb but that will happen this fall.

( all the more important stuff )