It's getting a bit sketchy in here... [Manarelle]

[Manarelle]

For the most part, this will be a typical challenge. I've got my life in a good place, and just plugging away at keeping it there. My four main hobbies haven't changed, but I am going to cheat on one of them a little bit this time:

 

• Languages: Keep up French and Russian study.
• Exercise: M/W/F lift weights, Tu/Th/Su cardio and PT. I actually haven't done cardio on Sundays, but it wouldn't hurt to add it in.
• Crafting: Finish the work pants so I can play with cosplay stuff when it arrives.
• Learning: Drawing class starting 8/14.

 

I've been really going after academic learning for about the last 6 years or so, when I stumbled across a "drawing for the absolute beginner" class offered online (!!) through the local community college. My schedule is pretty set, so squeezing in a physical classroom type class would be more chaos than I want; online is definitely best so I can squeeze in bits and pieces around other things. I guess with scanners and drawing tablets being more common, though, there's no reason not to offer art online. So yeah, cheating a little bit and calling art "learning." I did little stick figure sketches for an online journal a while back, but I don't consider myself to have any drawing skill outside of that; would be nice to at least get some basics down. 

 

For as much as I love having tailored, super comfy work pants, it takes forever to get myself motivated to make them.The difficult part (the zipper) is already done, so it's just the boring construction, fitting, and finishing parts that are left; I just need to actually do them. Hopefully, the fact that I've ordered bits for a new cosplay will motivate me to finish, as I refuse to have two projects going at once. We shall see. 

 

Finally, I have one new, traditional-style goal: 

 

• Eat one banana or one vegetable every day.

 

Why? I haven't eaten vegetables more than once every few months for 21 years, and I recognize that would be helpful to hitting my "be active to/past age 100" goal. I got a head of cauliflower last weekend and have been slooooooowly nibbling on it off and on, but I suspect it will go bad long before I eat it all. The few veggies I don't absolutely gag at are: carrots, cauliflower, artichoke (heavily disguised in cheese dip only), and zucchini (heavily disguised in zucchini bread only). Obviously, the last two are pretty overall unhealthy, and every time I read up on carrots, it includes "this is the veggie with the highest sugar content so don't eat lots" so it feels pointless. BUT.... it's still a veggie and I'm sure it's better than nothing, so I'm going to try. I stopped eating bananas a while back because a) calorie-heavy, and b) not filling, but a recent doctor's visit showed my potassium as being a bit low. I know there are other things that are also potassium-heavy, but most of them are either disgusting, high-sugar fruits, or potatoes, and I know I'd wuss out of veggies and just eat those instead. So again, we shall see. 

[ohlemontine]

Have you ever tried making a spinach and artichoke dip with zucchini? I have a cheese-less version I made once for a bunch of friends, and they never even knew it was healthy, or cheese-less. If I recall correctly, the recipe may have been completely vegan, but sure didnt taste like it. I'm lactose intolerant so finding creative non-cheesy ways to choke down veggies tends to be a forte of mine. 

[Elennare]

Have you tried roasting broccoli?  It's super easy, you can change up the seasoning you use depending on your mood, and is way tasty!  Just coat broccoli with oil (you can be lazy and spray liberally with cooking spray once it's on the cookie sheet, or actually toss it with oil in a bowl), dump whatever spices sound good on it (italian mix is one of the favorites in my household, but there's tons of options), and bake at 425 until the edges are a bit crispy.  Takes 20-30 minutes if using fresh, 45-60 if frozen.  Some parchment paper on the cookie sheet makes clean up easier and makes sure nothing will stick, but if you really want to cook things faster, skip the parchment paper and increase the oven temp.

[WhiteGhost]

Following along for the sketchiness.   Maybe you can give me some inspiration to do some more myself

[raptron]

WHOEVER SAYS CARROTS ARE UNHEALTHY SHOULD BURN IN A FIRE.

 

Eat your carrots! Bananas are also great! They have so much going on for them. Just because you aren't munching on raw kale like some kind of psycho doesn't mean these other options don't have value. 

[Manarelle]

On 7/30/2019 at 12:49 PM, ohlemontine said:

I'm lactose intolerant so finding creative non-cheesy ways to choke down veggies tends to be a forte of mine. 

I hear you on this. Also lactose-intolerant, but fortunately I can eat most things with enough lactase pills. Alas, fettucini alfredo is just too much for my system. I'd love the recipe, if you still have it. I can do a little bit of spinach artichoke, but the green builds up too fast.

 

22 hours ago, Elennare said:

Have you tried roasting broccoli?

I have not, but I will say that broccoli is way, way down on my list o' veggies. All those little florets get every-dang-where in your mouth and just when you think you've exorcised the last one... NOPE! Little burst of chlorophyll to ruin your day again. 

 

My biggest problem with veggies is the green, followed by the texture. Anything green just tastes of chlorophyll - trust me, I've tried many, they all taste like green. Even cucumbers, which smell delicious, I can get one or two bites out of them and the green just becomes overwhelming. So many people, so many recipes say "try this, you'll never be able to tell!" Yes, I can, there's chlorophyll in that. I can do a little bit of red/orange/yellow peppers, but the texture isn't the best, so... cauliflower. 

 

1 hour ago, raptron said:

WHOEVER SAYS CARROTS ARE UNHEALTHY SHOULD BURN IN A FIRE.

 

Eat your carrots! Bananas are also great! They have so much going on for them. Just because you aren't munching on raw kale like some kind of psycho doesn't mean these other options don't have value. 

Yeah.... I love you. Just putting that out there.

 

I deeply appreciate the Subway across the street from my work. I go there maybe 1ce a month (for the past 5 years), and they know when I say 5 pieces of baby spinach on, I mean literally 5 pieces. And I still have to open it up and pinch the stems off. Bleah. But nevertheless, I did it. And I have another half a sandwich to eat another 2.5 pieces of spinach tomorrow, so yay.

 

7 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Following along for the sketchiness.   Maybe you can give me some inspiration to do some more myself

Shall I poke you for more drawings on a regular basis?  

 

For those of you who read the last challenge, the unexpected presentation today went (I feel) pretty solidly. We have to wait a week or so to find out if they'll accept our proposal, and if I thought waiting for the presentation was bad... At least that I could obsessively prepare for; now it's just a waiting game. Cross fingers. 

[Elennare]

1 hour ago, Manarelle said:

I have not, but I will say that broccoli is way, way down on my list o' veggies. All those little florets get every-dang-where in your mouth and just when you think you've exorcised the last one... NOPE! Little burst of chlorophyll to ruin your day again. 

 

My biggest problem with veggies is the green, followed by the texture. Anything green just tastes of chlorophyll - trust me, I've tried many, they all taste like green. Even cucumbers, which smell delicious, I can get one or two bites out of them and the green just becomes overwhelming. So many people, so many recipes say "try this, you'll never be able to tell!" Yes, I can, there's chlorophyll in that. I can do a little bit of red/orange/yellow peppers, but the texture isn't the best, so... cauliflower. 

 

Interesting.  The roasting thing works with pretty much any vegetable you want, not just broccoli, just need to watch it and adjust the cooking time.  It changes the texture, too, so maybe that'll help?  Good luck!

[Renate]

You are awesome for still giving veggies a chance. And carrots are fine, jeez.... I second the kale-nommig psycho sentiment.

 

It does not always help, but when I do not want to eat vegetables (esp in the winter) I imagine losing the freedom of not thinking about many many pills all the time. And eating when I want to eat. Bc many times medicines dictate you have to eat smth with them. Stuff like that. Choose the shitty stuff NOW  with my own free will instead of being ruled by (much more costly) doctors prescriptions later.

 

Good luck

 

ps - I realise it is likely you are doing smth similar but still cannot get over the taste and thats ok too. If my suggestion isnt useful, ignore it.

[KB Girl]

On 7/30/2019 at 6:01 PM, Manarelle said:

So yeah, cheating a little bit and calling art "learning."

That's not cheating  

 

17 hours ago, Manarelle said:

For those of you who read the last challenge, the unexpected presentation today went (I feel) pretty solidly. We have to wait a week or so to find out if they'll accept our proposal, and if I thought waiting for the presentation was bad... At least that I could obsessively prepare for; now it's just a waiting game. Cross fingers. 

That's great! How you felt about it was really the most important part- the eventual outcome is not 100% in your hands. Crossing fingers with you. 

[WhiteGhost]

21 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Shall I poke you for more drawings on a regular basis?

Maybe next challenge,  not much sketching is going to happen during this one for me 

 

[Manarelle]

On 7/31/2019 at 7:22 PM, analoggirl said:

It does not always help, but when I do not want to eat vegetables (esp in the winter) I imagine losing the freedom of not thinking about many many pills all the time. And eating when I want to eat. Bc many times medicines dictate you have to eat smth with them. Stuff like that. Choose the shitty stuff NOW  with my own free will instead of being ruled by (much more costly) doctors prescriptions later.

 

Ehhhhhhh haven't really found any long-term effects of not eating veggies as supported by actual scientific studies, though... Heck it's only been in the last year that there have been any semi-decent articles online about not eating veggies for adults, so can't say for sure that not eating them is a bad thing right?  Logic!

 

In other news....

 

Guys...

 

(and gals) (and etc)....

 

Serious faces now...

 

I have been following the development of alternative meat for a long. Dang. Time. Because I do not like what the meat industry does to animals or the environment, but... well, they're tasty, and vegetables are evil incarnate, and a woman's gotta live, eh? So yeah, about a decade ago, I heard they were trying to come up with real meat alternatives from plant matter that didn't taste like, well, veggies. Or compost. Or both. Been watching the news over the years as they made breakthroughs in taste... then texture.... then production so the price wouldn't have to be sky-high... and finally, this past week, the FDA approved Impossible Meat for commercial distribution (there's also a company called Beyond Burger, which uses rice instead of soy, but taste tests have been less promising). It was debuted in a couple major cities recently and the demand has been very positive, so my gentleman and I went to >twitch< Burger King >twitch< today and ordered an Impossible Burger. 

 

It.

 

Was.

 

DELICIOUS.

 

It was also a dollar or two more expensive than their other burgers, but the difference in taste was just magical. It looked a bit... processed... like a frozen beef patty with flat edges instead of a hand-shaped patty out of actual ground beef, but it tasted just like beef. It chewed like beef. It gave that wonderful, full, satisfied feeling like beef. And I realize as I'm sitting here, 5 hours later, only now starting to get hungry (I usually eat small meals several times a day), it clearly keeps you full like meat protein does. No stomach issues (so far, but 5 hours is a pretty good sign), no weird aftertaste or funky burps or anything... I am...

 

 

 

I usually try to remain pretty staid and stoic, but the ramifications of a viable plant-based, meaty protein source are huge. Obviously, it's gonna take a while to seriously disrupt the meat industry's impact on animal suffering and the environment, and I'm sure there will be setbacks and competition and possible down side-effect discoveries, BUT. It's happening. And I'm so glad for it.

 

(Also it means I totally ate my veggies for today, in delicious burger form. No shame.)

[Snickie]

carrots, cauliflower, artichoke (heavily disguised in cheese dip only), and zucchini

 

What kind of spices do you like in your foods?

 

Carrots are good for you. Just don't go too overboard with them or else you'll turn orange. It is not a myth. My mother has turned orange in the past. lol

If you put cauliflower in a food processor, you can make cauli rice or something that more resembles couscous depending on which blade you use. And then smother it in some kind of delicious topping like a tomato-based curry sauce for example.

If you get a spiralizer, you can make zoodles from the zucchini which you can do lots of stuff with. Mealime has a recipe for a zoodle chicken "salad" with spicy Thai peanut dressing that I love. Bonus, it also has carrots! If you don't have a spiralizer, you can use the food processor on this too and get short noodle pieces (using the blade thing that kind of looks like the side of a cheese box grater... I don't know the official term for it and I'm too tired to look it up). Not as useful for other dishes but it'll work for this one. I've made lo mein zoodles before. Or dump some spaghetti sauce on it.

Now, bananas are bred for sweetness (i.e. sugar). If you're watching your sugar, definitely don't overindulge on these. Otherwise do what you want.

 

I second oven-roasting vegetables. One of my favorite things is to roast vegetables and serve them in a balsamic glaze (balsamic vinegar + salt + maple syrup or honey simmered down until it coats the back of a spoon). I'm still experimenting with roasting them in the balsamic glaze. But I know it works for beets and for Brussels sprouts and for mushrooms (stovetop only). Bonus, you can marinate your meat in it too before cooking. Or mix it with a bit of oil and use it for salad dressing (but you don't even like spinach so maybe not).

 

When I was making smoothies everyday, my recipe was frozen cherries (about 10-12), a wad of spinach, a navel orange, and some almonds. Personally I think the spinach gave it an extra thing that just tied the smoothie together and kept it from being overly sweet. But it sounds like you're extra sensitive to chlorophyll so you might taste the spinach more strongly.

[WhiteGhost]

So is the plant based meat protein or carbs?  What exactly are you getting with that (taste/texture aside)? 

[Akura]

6 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Ehhhhhhh haven't really found any long-term effects of not eating veggies as supported by actual scientific studies, though... Heck it's only been in the last year that there have been any semi-decent articles online about not eating veggies for adults, so can't say for sure that not eating them is a bad thing right?  Logic!

 

I've seen several arguments made that leafy greens aren't that healthy since plants don't want to get eaten and therefore make their "body parts" slightly poisonous. But I can't remember anything on fruits and roots...

 

 

6 hours ago, Manarelle said:

alternative meat

 

What exactly are we talking about? Tofu? Or something more intricate?

[Manarelle]

9 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

So is the plant based meat protein or carbs?  What exactly are you getting with that (taste/texture aside)? 

 

5 hours ago, Akura said:

What exactly are we talking about? Tofu? Or something more intricate?

 

Wikipedia article does a decent summary (their website does too, but is biased - since their product is soy based, they argue that there's no such thing as actual soy allergies/ intolerance). Healthline did a pretty decent pros/ cons breakdown of the ingredients and nutritional value, although I do think it's a little biased that they compared it to a 90% lean ground beef patty, which is NOT what is usually sold at fast food restaurants. In a nutshell, it's same calories, 1g more fat, 9g more carbs, 10g less protein, 3g more fiber, and more added salt, vitamins, and minerals than 90% ground beef. The heme molecule used to mimic the blood look/ taste is naturally occurring in peas, but has been gengineered with yeast, as peas only produce it in small amounts. That and, I think, some of the usual fillers are what most people have against it right now.

 

I did see that they're teaming up with Tyson Foods to try to produce a chicken substitute as well; Tyson processes roughly 6 million chickens per day so that would be a huge step forward. A random side note on the impossible meat came up when I was chatting with a Jewish coworker of mine - he said it is being sold in kosher restaurants, as there are no actual meat parts, so he finally got to eat a cheeseburger for the first time in his life (mixing meat and dairy is forbidden) and was understandably thrilled. Not a pro/con argument, just amused the heck out of me.

 

11 hours ago, Snickie said:

What kind of spices do you like in your foods?

 

Not much, although my gentleman is expanding my horizons. Growing up, my mom was of the "boil 'em til they're mush" generation, and didn't really use spices past salt and cinnamon, so my palette isn't used to heavy spice. The gentleman has a history of Crohn's Disease in his family, so we try to avoid spicy things, which is what triggered it in his dad and uncle.

 

11 hours ago, Snickie said:

When I was making smoothies everyday, my recipe was frozen cherries (about 10-12), a wad of spinach, a navel orange, and some almonds. Personally I think the spinach gave it an extra thing that just tied the smoothie together and kept it from being overly sweet. But it sounds like you're extra sensitive to chlorophyll so you might taste the spinach more strongly.

 

Yeah, sadly, I did try the smoothie idea, and it didn't go so well. Anything over literally one leaf of spinach was noticeable, and it felt counter-productive to have an entire smoothie (carbs, calories, sugars in fruit) just for one leaf of spinach. Pea protein powder ran into similar issues, though I can force it down if I absolutely have to. The gentleman loves the zoodle idea, and I have tried it, but the green is still way too overpowering. I try to steal one-offs off his plate on a regular basis, hoping I'll find some magical thing that will help out, but no luck yet. 

 

No worries on the "too many carrots" either, I'm literally talking like 7-8 baby carrots per day, but thanks for the warning.  Hopefully the orange went away once your mom cut back? 

 

5 hours ago, Akura said:

I've seen several arguments made that leafy greens aren't that healthy since plants don't want to get eaten and therefore make their "body parts" slightly poisonous. But I can't remember anything on fruits and roots...

 

They're also finding that yes, plants do feel pain and react to being harvested, so hmm to moral arguments, there. Fruits are literally made to be eaten (and spread seeds, but oh well). If you find anything on either side of the argument, I would love to read them.

[KB Girl]

Soy is not a vegetable

 

Also while I don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm I really don't know if this'll be great in the long run.. the mono-culture in our food production worries me as much, if not more, as the meat industry does. Though I suppose it's in the end more economic to feed the soy directly to humans instead of through cows first.. but the real solution in my opinion lies in a more holistic approach where we eat animals that ate grass from land that's not ideal to grow other crops and then we use the manure from those animals to grow a large variety of crops etc. But that would probably still mean a large decrease in meat concumption.. or at least eating other parts of the animals too. 

[Manarelle]

 

21 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Also while I don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm I really don't know if this'll be great in the long run.. the mono-culture in our food production worries me as much, if not more, as the meat industry does. Though I suppose it's in the end more economic to feed the soy directly to humans instead of through cows first.. but the real solution in my opinion lies in a more holistic approach where we eat animals that ate grass from land that's not ideal to grow other crops and then we use the manure from those animals to grow a large variety of crops etc. But that would probably still mean a large decrease in meat concumption.. or at least eating other parts of the animals too. 

 

Yeah, I'm hoping that this is just the opening sally, and other companies figure out competing ways to produce it, lessening the monoculture farming trend, and providing more nutritious options. As always, two steps forward, one back. 

 

21 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Soy is not a vegetable 

 

DANGIT.... ah, well... good try.

 

The vegetable goal will have to be modified; daily is just not feasible. The bananas available this week were less than inspiring, and my stomach rebelled at the baby carrots yesterday. I'll try again with fewer of them tomorrow. Sure enough, the cauliflower went bad before I'd even gotten a quarter of it eaten, but hey, I'm trying. 

 

Week 0:

• Languages: Yup
• Exercise: Yup, no cardio Sunday, ate too late.
• Crafting: Pants are 80% done, just need to finish hand-sewing the waistband, add a button, and hem the legs. 
• Learning: Registered for drawing class. 
• Vegetables/banana: Cauliflower 3 days, banana 2ce, carrots 1ce.

Looking forward to finishing the pants and starting on the gentleman's cosplay. Spent the weekend putting new hubcaps and floor mats in the car (do I know how to party or what); don't have anything big planned for the week, so I'm gonna enjoy the downtime. 

[raptron]

Productive week 0.

[mediaguy99]

On 8/4/2019 at 12:44 PM, KB Girl said:

Soy is not a vegetable

 

Also while I don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm I really don't know if this'll be great in the long run.. the mono-culture in our food production worries me as much, if not more, as the meat industry does. Though I suppose it's in the end more economic to feed the soy directly to humans instead of through cows first.. but the real solution in my opinion lies in a more holistic approach where we eat animals that ate grass from land that's not ideal to grow other crops and then we use the manure from those animals to grow a large variety of crops etc. But that would probably still mean a large decrease in meat concumption.. or at least eating other parts of the animals too. 

 

 

Man, I gotta say am traveling in Colombia and we're eating everything but the squeal down here.  Yes, the filet and sirloin is delicious.  But tripe, organs, feet, chicken necks, all that stuff.  It's everywhere and I'm being a little brave...  

7 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Week 0:

• Languages: Yup
• Exercise: Yup, no cardio Sunday, ate too late.
• Crafting: Pants are 80% done, just need to finish hand-sewing the waistband, add a button, and hem the legs. 
• Learning: Registered for drawing class. 
• Vegetables/banana: Cauliflower 3 days, banana 2ce, carrots 1ce.

 

Way to go on all those veggies!  Personally I have a rough time with lots of cauliflower.  Do you like broccoli as well?  Have you seen the multi-colored bag of frozen cauliflower, broccoli, etc at Costco?  That stuff roasts up pretty nice.  I like to drizzle my roasted veggies with a little soy sauce and fairly mild salsa mixed together.

[WhiteGhost]

On 8/5/2019 at 11:16 PM, Manarelle said:

Yeah, I'm hoping that this is just the opening sally, and other companies figure out competing ways to produce it, lessening the monoculture farming trend, and providing more nutritious options. As always, two steps forward, one back. 

I don't have a link,  but the research I am most excited about is lab grown meat.  Supposedly it is just regular meat (not a meat substitute) but it doesn't come from a slaughtered animal.   I should probably go look it up,  but from what I have seen it seems like a better way to get meat. 

[Manarelle]

On 8/5/2019 at 11:52 AM, raptron said:

Productive week 0.

 

Continued the trend... finished the work pants! First two took over 10 hours, third one took 9.75, this one took 8.6. I'm getting better.  

And now... back to costuming. 

 

On 8/5/2019 at 7:05 PM, mediaguy99 said:

Man, I gotta say am traveling in Colombia and we're eating everything but the squeal down here.  Yes, the filet and sirloin is delicious.  But tripe, organs, feet, chicken necks, all that stuff.  It's everywhere and I'm being a little brave...  

 

Nice. I'm game to try anything (look up balut from the Philippines - got a lot of respect from my class for eating that one), but I still tend to go for the main cuts when I'm home. Lazy, probably. 

 

On 8/5/2019 at 7:05 PM, mediaguy99 said:

Way to go on all those veggies!  Personally I have a rough time with lots of cauliflower.  Do you like broccoli as well?  Have you seen the multi-colored bag of frozen cauliflower, broccoli, etc at Costco?  That stuff roasts up pretty nice.  I like to drizzle my roasted veggies with a little soy sauce and fairly mild salsa mixed together.

 

 

Broccoli can [R-rated list of verbs and adverbs here, with a few explicit additional descriptors].Leafy veggies are like eating a green crayon - nasty, but you take a bite, choke it down, and it's done. Broccoli is like taking that crayon, grating it, and then stuffing your mouth full of the billions of disparate bits of nasty, so no matter how many times you swallow, rinse, spit, etc, there will still be nasty green bombs lurking in the crevices of your mouth to jump out at your tongue and spoil your day for HOURS afterwards. I'm very glad that other people like it, but no. Also not a fan of tomato-based things, so unfortunately, salsa isn't a good "cover" condiment. 

 

22 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I don't have a link,  but the research I am most excited about is lab grown meat.  Supposedly it is just regular meat (not a meat substitute) but it doesn't come from a slaughtered animal.   I should probably go look it up,  but from what I have seen it seems like a better way to get meat. 

 

Oh heck yes... I'm very keen on this coming to market, but they're still working out some problems with mass production. Just a matter of time, though, and I'll be towards the front of the line when they roll that out. 

 

I did try the Qdoba (burrito bowl) version of the impossible meat, and it did not sit well with me. It might have been the (lot of) additional spices they added to it, or high amounts of sneaky onion and pepper bits they mixed in, but I am not a fan. If I'm ever out and about with limited options, I'll stick with the burger version. 

[KB Girl]

Yay on finishing the pants! That's sooner than expected?

 

[Manarelle]

On 8/10/2019 at 4:21 AM, KB Girl said:

Yay on finishing the pants! That's sooner than expected?

 

After getting started on cosplay, "normal" clothes are a bit of a slog because finishing them is... oh look, another pair of pants. Eh. Necessary, but neither a challenge nor exciting to have. 

 

Quick update; I had intended to make one or two new belt pouches, as the one I had for the jedi outfit didn't fit the jedi belt properly, and certainly wouldn't fit the Thor belt. Working on that was to be my "reward" for finishing boring work pants. Finally got everything together today to start, and realized I don't have to make a whole new pouch (closures are expensive and a pain), I just needed to put a new belt loop on the old pouch. Here's how it was rigged for the jedi belt, using braided twine:

  

 

That was one of the few instances of last-minute-ness on my behalf - the pouch came in late, and I was literally braiding twine the night before the con so I could use it. Pulled off the twine and leather loops, cut a new piece of leather, and spent two bloody hours and ten minutes hole-punching, hole widening, and still cursing up a storm trying to get the d@mn needle through the d@mn holes in cramped conditions and when you can't see what you're doing because your needles is in the bottom of the d@mn bag and you can't get the angle right. Moral of the story: sometimes repairing things is more of a pain than making new, order of operations counts.

 

 

 

But, I did it, it works on both belts (though snug on Thor), and it took way less time that making an entire new bag. Thor is now 100% ready for roll-out in October. 

 

Also got some work done on the gentleman's cosplay, so it's time to start looking at my own for next April. 

[Manarelle]

Week 1:

• Languages: Yup.
• Exercise: Yup. Didn't do Sunday cardio again because we ate late... again... I'm sensing a theme here. 
• Crafting: Pants and pouch done, the gentleman's stuff begun. 
• Learning: Class starts this week!
• Veggies: >cough< 1 day banana, 1 day carrots.

I can say I'm definitely learning about myself. The Sunday cardio might be a pipe dream, but I'll keep trying. Got lots of crafting done, and looking forward to class starting this week. I read the instructor bio, and he's designed or helped design several well-known video games, which is a bit surprising for a community college continuing ed class, but I'm not complaining. Vegetables were... lacking... last week's bananas apparently had fruit flies in them, so we tossed the bananas in an attempt to stem the tide, and nothing else seemed appetizing. Again, will keep at it. 

 

Tried a new paint/ dye for the gentleman's shoes for Backlash. It worked great on the faux leather, but just soaked into the fabric parts, so I pulled out the airbrush and acrylics. Needs a few more coats, and something to waterproof it, but I think it turned out pretty well. You can see on the toes, I'd cleaned up the shoe on the right - the one on the left was freshly un-taped, and a little rough. 

 

 

 

Next piece that I need to work on is the character's knife... haven't made a weapon other than Thor's hammer, so we'll see how this goes. 

[WhiteGhost]

On 8/12/2019 at 1:08 PM, Manarelle said:

I can say I'm definitely learning about myself.

Much better than not learning anything I guess