You Are Not So Smart

I love You Are Not So Smart!  It's a fabulous look at the trappings of our human minds  I'm excited to read David McRaney's new book.  I feel like his writing is geared for the geeky among us who are not psychologists but who like to examine our lives, reality, and the universe of which we are a part.  As the mother of a child with Aspergers, understanding and examining our own behavior is part of daily life.  I have spent years trying to teach my kids how to function within the perplexing human condition that still confounds me on a daily basis.  It's great to have help.

Retro Futuristic Alien Antennae

My daughter insisted I use this shadowy photograph.

These alien antennae feature moving parabolic dishes which swing around as the wearer is grooving during Ludo's Summer Concert Tour, Space Dracula's Basketball Expo.

These space-themed accessories were built from polymer clay over bamboo skewers and attached to a headband.  I really enjoyed making them!  The hardest part were the parabolic dishes which I formed around the concave base of a shot glass which was liberally dusted with cornstarch.

I liked the idea of a retro futuristic scheme so I pulled the colors from 1950's cafes.

Vintage Console Stereo Revamp: So It Begins

My husband, the vinyl geek, has been searching for a console stereo for quite some time. He has hundreds of albums and wanted to be able to play them in a dedicated system. About 5 years ago, he acquired one that was in really rough shape and eventually decided against fixing it up, as almost every component needed replaced and the structure also needed some work.

After looking hard for a while, this is the one he finally found to fulfill his console dreams. Most of it works and the furniture itself is in really good shape. He has plans to hook-up a laptop, allowing our digital music to be played over the vintage speakers. We ended our Thursday with its delivery and the weekend is being planned around the beginning of its revamp.

 Here it is:

You Know You're a Geek When...

Elvish Elvis

You know you're a geek when you are in a coffee shop, Willie Nelson's "You're Always On My Mind" starts playing, and your husband says to you, "I always liked the Elvis version" but you heard: "I always liked the Elvish version."

Now I can't think of Elvis without imagining him being anything but Elvish.  Elvish Elvis, Elvish Elvis...

Geek Love: RPG Comes to Life

A geek relationship is a funny thing.  My husband and I have been together for over 20 years and married for slightly less.  At first, I think we were kind of obsessed with each other--it's a geek thing.  We emerged into adulthood together and started dating while attending college.

We tended to intellectualize a lot of relationship concepts.  Again, this is common with geeks.  We weren't particularly smart about what we wanted or expected from each other and ourselves initially.  While we discussed social politics from time to time, we didn't turn everything into some psychological exposition of motives and backstory, or create formulas to determine our compatibility.  If we had, we would have crashed and burned.  Finding our common goals is something that happened over time.

We were not drawn together and repelled in the cycle of dramatic upheavals that I often see in young relationships.  Co-geeks tend to converge their interests, rather than combat each other.  That's for the MMORPG, thanks.  Sure, there were a few times, at first, when we each dug in our heels as we tested the waters.  We'd both been in previous relationships where a certain amount of manipulation had been at play and were both armed with some sense of self-preservation.  Before long, we realized that it was pretty stupid to always be on the defensive.  We loved each other and we enjoyed each other.  It was just a matter of wants and needs--something our generation grew up being told were the same thing, but which were not.  Once clarified, we found that our needs were identical and our wants were compatible.

The fact that we both gravitate toward those things which are absurd or silly, means we have fun having fun.  We especially like having fun together.  We agree politically and spiritually on most things and would not begrudge the other a contrary opinion.

Today, our relationship is about keeping things steady and sure, not testing each other or checking boundaries.  After all, there are no saving throws.  Like a boss fight, we are "all in"; there is no other way.  The emotional connectedness isn't the only--or even the primary--thing going on.  It's about teamwork.  We can't always be in 100% agreement so there are compromises to be made.  We share a lot of likes but we also share very similar dislikes which means the compromises have been relatively small.  We protect each other from their own pet peeves wherever possible, rather than focusing exclusively on ourselves.  If we both want the very best for the other person, our own backs are covered in a very non-self-centered way.  The foremost priority is the relationship.

Star Trek Love Song

My husband wrote me this Star Trek Love Song about ten years ago...

Across the convention, our eyes met and locked.
In the starbase of your love my heart was docked.
Your full, pouty lips, your green, pointy ears;
There's no love like ours for a million light years.
To my Worf, you're a Dax; to my Riker, a Troi.
My scanners are reading anomalous joy.
My phasers are ready, my probe is deployed;
I know what you're feeling--I'm your love-slave Betazoid.

Chorus:
It's a Star Trek love song,
It's Warp Love.2.
Across this galaxy,
I Pon-Farr for you.

Your globular clusters are both class 6 types.
Like a Bolian plumber, you clear out my pipes.
Your love leaves me feelin' all spacesick and woozy;
I'm warm for your form like a holodeck floozy.

Chorus

And each time we kiss, it's like the Great Link.
Like a Vulcan mind-meld, you know what I think.
I hope this is more than a 5 year love mission;
My deflector collects all the love that you're dishin'.

Chorus

Happy Captain Picard Day!

Captain Picard Day was declared on Stardate 47457.1.  Since this translates to approximately June 16th, today the geek community celebrates it.  Enjoy some French wine today but be sure to do so with an English accent.

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Geek Cupcakes: The Cupcake is Not a Lie (Portal) and Beholder Cupcakes

Sometimes an ordinary cupcake just won't do.  My family of gaming geeks needed cupcakes that reflected their interests.  So I created two elaborate geek styles to suit them.  For one of these cupcakes, I made small cakes inspired by the black forest cake from Portal.  The cake was a lie but the cupcake is not a lie!  It's more like a half-truth.  I also felt that I needed to pay homage to D&D and Magic The Gathering so I created Beholder Cupcakes  These can be any flavor but are decorated with carefully created faces and eyestalks.

The little Portal cupcakes were baked in 5 oz tins--washed and repurposed evaporated milk cans.  The tiny cherries are cherry jelly beans, sliced in half.  White birthday cake candles are the perfect center decoration.

The beholder cupcakes sport eerie fondant eyes painted with food color and black piping gel.  Notice the discolored teeth and whites of the eyes.  Each has just four eyestalks--enough to give the idea of the beholder eyes.  The full amount would just clutter the little cakes. 

Check out my step-by-step instructions for each of these, including photos, on Instructables:

The Cupcake is Not a Lie
Beholder Cupcakes

Geeking Out on Facebook

I decided to play around on Facebook and pay homage to my favorite schools of geek learning.  It turns out that I have classmates who also list these as their alma mater!  Each of these schools already existed in the school lists.  Here is how it looks from my profile:

Fly Your Freak Flag Day

May 25th is both Towel Day (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Geek Pride Day. The Los Angeles City Council declared May 25, 2007 Star Trek Day. It's pretty clear that the day is very special in the hearts of geeks. So fly your "freak flag" and celebrate your favorite icon of geek subculture, whatever it may be.

I declare May 25th to be "Fly Your Freak Flag Day."  So...

• Wear your favorite Cosplay outfit.
• Carry your magic wand.
• Attach a communicator pin to your shirt.
• Pack your sonic screwdriver in your purse.
• Bring your Dungeon Master's guide or your graphing calculator manual to work and display it proudly on your desk.
• Shout "For The Horde!" or "You Shall Not Pass!" randomly and loudly.
• Establish Reaver drill protocols.
• Write "Don't Panic" on sticky notes and distribute them everywhere.

It's time to let your inner geek shine!

How It Should Have Ended

If you haven't seen the web series, How It Should Have Ended, you should.  What geek hasn't tried to reason their way out of overly complex situations.

Building an Icosahedron (D20: 20-Sided Die)

Do you know how to build a 20-sided platonic solid?  It's not hard.
You need: 20 equilateral triangles cut out of paper or card stock and some tape.

First tape one edge of each of three triangles to the edges of another triangle to create a large triangle from three of the original pieces.  Repeat.

Next, tape a pair of triangles together, edge to edge.  Repeat five more times.
You should have 2 large triangles and 6 pairs of triangles.

* * * * *

Now, tape one pair of triangles edge-to-edge with the corresponding edge of each of the three single triangles you added in step one.  See diagram for an example.

* * * * *

Tape the edges of those triangle points to the closest edge.  Do this six times, three times on each configuration.  You'll end up with two domes that have staggered edges.

* * * * *

Finally, tape the dome-like sides together so that the points fall into the dips along the edges.

Tada!  You've done it!  Try it with paper mache, fabric, or whatever you'd like!  I plan to make an enormous throw pillow for one of my daughters who is a participant in two different D&D gaming groups.  Also, she likes squishy things.

Keep Calm and Tardis On

The Keep Calm Carry and Carry On poster was developed during WWII to boost the morale of the British people.  It featured a symbol of the crown to indicate that the king was asking for solidarity.  This poster was never distributed.  Most of them were destroyed.

A book seller from Barter Books found one of the surviving posters, had it framed, and put it up in his shop where customers admired it.

You can create your own version of the sign, as I have done here, by visiting the Keep Calm-O-Matic.

Home is Where the Hearthstone Is

I made this World of Warcraft hearthstone plaque for my husband.  It was a pretty simple project involving creating a one-time mold using modeling clay and hardware store plaster.  Once it was set, I used a blue fabric paint to color the jewel-tone engraving.  I plan to make more but each will be slightly different due to the modeling clay molding process.  Check out the instructions and make one of your very own!

Amy Lee Radigan, Nerd Girl Extraordinaire

I love this video.  It's the modern anthem of misunderstood geek girls of every era whose fandom and enthusiasm for people like famous mathematicians or obscure fantasy and sci-fi heroes completely perplexed their friends.

     

 

Nerdy Girls Need Love Too by Amy Lee Radigan