Ain't My First Dodecahedron

They did the design contest at my work that they have had the last couple years again. I had an idea to make a water dish for the cat with a pump that would activate a water stream when the cat would approach. I picked up a drill motor driven pump (because the actual full on pumps are pretty spendy) with the idea of using an old drill with a bad chuck I have. A couple weeks before, I finally got to trying putting things together, and found out it doesn't have the juice to get the water flowing with that one. OK, time for plan B...

As is well documented here, I've made a couple dodecahedrons. Making them is fairly easy, relatively speaking. Since we're kind of working on making the basement into a nerd cave, and all the light fixtures have bare bulbs, I had the idea to make up an acrylic dodecahedron. It took some doing, but the results are pretty cool!!! I'm thinking of trying a light sand blast to see if I can give it a frosted effect, as well as adding the numbers to the faces to give it a real D-12 look.

So, how did the competition stack up this year??? Considerably less so than last year!!! There was one other entrant!!!

They made up a board with the company name made of various things we sell.

My company doesn't like us saying stuff about 'em, positive of negative, on social media sites, so I don't make mention of them, and thusly I don't have a full shot of the other project, just a few of the characters.

With only two entrants, I figured my odds were better than last year. I was a lock for first or second place, I thought!!! A minor minus, they're doing a bit of construction (you can compare last year's shots with this year and see the carnage in the background) so the break room they held it in doesn't get much traffic these days from our department.

The next week they congratulated me, I got first place!!! I went to see the HR girl who was running it for my prize. She had a bag of hair products, some $10 gift cards, a pair of passes to Knotts Berry Farm (which, unposted as of yet, we've been to twice this year!!!) and this: A signed Dodgers jersey!!! She didn't know who'd signed it, but I figured it was pretty cool, and possibly worth some money (not that I'm planning on selling it). Also, I could make up a display frame for it and put it up in the basement to possibly counteract some of the geek!!!

Just one thing left to do, figure out who's signature that is!!!

Best Halloween Ever???

As usual, I've got a backlog of posts I could do, but I'll start with this one, this year's Halloween post!!!

Start off with the pumpkins. I attempted to do the Red John smiley. It kinda came out. My wife did a pretty good cat face, I think it was the best of the three. The younger did a Derpy-O-Lantern. The older, we got him a pumpkin, but he never got around to carving it up. If it hasn't started rotting from the inside, I may cut it open and harvest the seeds. I was thinking just today of cutting it in half through the middle, and that gave me an idea for next year: try and find a large, round one, cut it most the way in half with a round part on the front, paint it up like a pokeball. Find another, smaller one and carve it up as your favorite pokemon and have it inside the larger one!!! There, I typed it out so I may remember next year!!!

He had pretty ambitious plans for his costume. Vriska, another of the trolls from Homestuck. It features some rather tricky looking horns, and one rather elaborate robot arm. He got the arm together pretty good, but never got the horns made up. It also has the hair, which we found him a pretty good wig for. He made up a stencil for the shirt and did it with spray paint.

The weekend before Halloween his DJ club was spinning the platters for a school dance, where several in attendance were dressed up. His ladyfriend was dressed up as a spider witch, which he said went well with his costume, the spider bitch!!!

Halloween night, he went out with several of his friends instead of going with us. He said one of his group hugged Slenderman. He and another girl were playing catch up with with the rest of the group when a bush jumped out and says, "What's the rush???" The girl shrieks. He stands there a few seconds, then points at the guy (in a ghillie suit) and announces, "You're a BUSH!!!" From there, there was speculation as to whether he was Senior or W Bush, to which bushman responded he was neither. You could tell he enjoyed his evening.

Of course, it was a work day for me. I reprised my costume from last year, Karkat. This year, for a change, I had a picture of him pulled up on my 'pod to show people how he looks, and they all agreed it was me. Of course, we've got a LOT on new people at work these days, so a lot of 'em hadn't seen last year, so I had that going for me. Unlike last year, however, a bunch of people dressed up, so that was cool. One of my favorites was the girl who came in with a full bee outfit on!!! The cafeteria even got all decorated up with lights and everything!!!

It was full dark when I got home, and the younger was antsy to get going. He had another very geeky costume idea he wanted to do, Ruby Rose from the RWBY series (so, if you're keeping count, both my boys cross-dressed for Halloween...)

We found him a red hoodie this year, and added on a cape, and I made up a rather dissapointing gun scythe.

I'm used to my wife not doing much at all, but this year she surprised me by having cat gear on when I got home, so she got in on the act for a change. We headed out arount the neighborhood.

Usually there's not too many kids around the area trick or treating because it's mostly all steep, but there were more than I've ever seen this year!!! It's a good one to do, because even though several places don't participate, the ones who do are usually pretty generous!!! Saw a parent done up in full on old school Joker from Batman. One house we were coming up on had probably a dozen kids coming the other way. One guy, probably around 12 or 13, came up to me and asks if I'm Karkat. I fived him for knowing that, and told him of my older going as Vriska. Yeah, by degrees, the neighborhood is getting geekier!!!

A bit further down, we come to a house with a lit jack-o-lantern outside and lights on, but it's down a series of steps. Obviously, they're participating, so we head down and knock and say the magic pass phrase. No one seems to be home, though, and as we're turning to go, here comes a little kid in a storm trooper outfit, minus the helmet. He's saying something about he needs his silver bowl, and we're wondering what that's about. Naturally, I had to use the line on him, "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper???" Shortly after, his mother and little brother start down the steps. Turns out they live there, and had set out a rather large silver bowl full of candy, and someone abscounded with their bowl!!!

A bit later on, we came to a house that's the most done up we've seen. We walk up, and they invite us in, ask if we want any water bottles or some of the crock pot of chili they've got made up!!! I'm there. They were having a little Halloween party, and it was pretty excellent!!! The chili was pretty decent, too!!! We were probably there for close to half an hour!!! Just a few houses further, and there's ANOTHER Halloween party going on, and they invite us to have some hot dogs or help ourselves to their libations!!! We didn't, it was getting late late, and I had work the next day. I'm thinking of taking the day off next year. Truly one of the best Halloweens I've seen in our neighborhood!!!

Crashed Star, Black Star

So last night I was going to log into Runescape for just a few minutes, to swap my 13 bones for bonemeal & ectoplasm and to do my mining for Managing Miscellania, keep my approval rating at %100, you know. When I got there, however, there was a crashed falling star!!! Size 6, and no one had found it yet!!! Tag!!! Not the first time I've tagged one, but every time I do I think to myself that I've got to get over to the observatory and get a screenshot of my name on the noticeboard... then I forget!!!

Last night was no exception. Of course, I was on a world with less than 150 players, so no one else came to help. Six layers to go through with no help. I got a good amount of experience, but it disapeared before I made it to the middle. Oh well. Stayed up a lot longer than I'd wanted to. This morning I remembered I hadn't made it over to the observatory, so I quickly did that and got my screenshot, just in time it would seem!!!

Whenever I go to do a post, I usually get distracted looking at the stats and traffic sources. Apparently having Black Star mentioned on the older's birthday post pulled in several views from Japan. Surprisingly. In a shameless bid for a few more views, here's a few more pulled directly from the WWW!!! Love to Japan, and WTF Japan!!!

One of my favorites from Soul Eater is that crazy moon!!! The sun isn't bad, either.

Never made mention of the time we were at a park, and the younger found a stick with three long branches going three different directions, and a handle branch coming out of the middle. He thought it a great Black Star throwing star!!! Should have had a camera with me... I need a pocket sized that takes good pics like the older has!!!

So, the referring site was a Yahoo image search page in Japanese. When translated, one of the lines was "Black Star do you satisfied with the sound and amplifier rattle change! The free gifts the quick fix of efficacy distinguished" I love translation software!!! An apparent refrence to Black Star tube amplifiers. Never heard of 'em, but I'll bet they sound awesome!!! Another line: "are selling now if this!"

I'll bet another show that'd get me a TON of views is "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt"!!! Not great animation, but some pretty funny lines!!! They've got a Hummer they've named See Through. The line: "See through always gets us there in style!!!" Interestingly, it seems like if you were doing an image search trying to find actual pictures of panty and stocking with garterbelt, you'd likely be disappointed!!!

A Little Random

Several things happen between posts. Here's a few!!!

My older boy had his birthday celebration. Once again, the torch has been passed, and he did his own cake. A bit thick on the lettering (he needs to do a smaller hole in the bag), but it was pretty decent.

If you don't know, it's the Black Star logo from Soul Eater.

On a slightly related topic, one of the guys at work was asking me if I was into Manga and Anime. I reply that my boys are, and he starts going on about Bleach and how he's recently gotten into it and how there's like 250 or more of them.

Also related: the boys think they should dress as the brothers from Full Metal Alchemist for Halloween this year. The size scale between them is about right. Geek it up to the max!!!

Something we got him, a pair of Fila Skele-toes. Yes, he only has four toes. Four per foot, that is, he isn't some kind of freak or anything. Well, not a four toed freak, anyway.

Took my younger boy to his first Dodger game today. It turned out to be a real good game, not a shame. They haven't been doing that great this season, but they pulled out a 5-3 win over the Cardinals. Good times!!!

This little doodle is from one of the guys at work. He did a similar one on one of my cover sheets with "EZ $" written next to him. "Easy money!!!" is one of those things I say when I get an easy batch at work (or a difficult one, in scarcasim).

SO, my younger boy had his turn to do some white board artwork. He had no idea what to do, so I showed him this one, and told him to do his rendition. Not bad, and he added a few personal touches!!!

That very day he was doing some Biology or Health homework. Beneath it he drew a pretty good rendition of the human eye!!!

Finally, a little scrap of paper that was in with some product at work. I though, when I first saw it, that it was a picture of a despondent robot!!! Don't know what it actually was, for all I know it might just have been!!!

Though The Truth May Vary

A little more than a month back I was listening to the radio while driving into work, as is my custom. As is also my custom, I was hitting the buttons whenever a station would play commercials or be talking about something of no interest to me. I switch to a station just as some upbeat, poppy sounding tune comes on. It sounded a bit familiar, like some song I liked but I couldn't place it. Then the lyrics start in. At that point I realize I'm not familiar with the song, but I'm at once hooked. I hit the button that changes the display to the artist, then to the song title. "Little Talks", by Of Monsters and Men. I like that feature on that function on that radio. If I could find that radio again, I'd buy another. (Completely related sidenote, I bought my wife a radio for her car for Mother's day, made by the same manufacturer, Dual. It has no mechanical drives, but does have the audio input jack, USB port, and an SD card. Pretty cool!!!)

Later that day I looked up the lyrics. They don't seem exactly right. More on that later. Also looked up the video and watched it a few times. It doesn't really seem to go with the lyrics, but it's an epic video nonetheless.

In the next few days, I was thinking about the line from the chorus, "Though the truth may vary, This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore". What does it mean??? Hmm, well, they are from Iceland... and the video had quite a bit of imagery from the area, ice and snow and meteors and volcanoes. I got the image of a Viking funeral ship, so I drew one on the side of my cup!!! I think it came out as some of my best cup artwork, and my co-workers all seemed impressed, too. My firstborn said, "Nice shading!!!"

In the next few days, I added that particular line to the bottom.

I would ask co-workers if they'd heard of Of Monsters & Men or the song when they would inquire. Only one had. He displayed his pony tail and said, "It's the hair!!!" He said it was one of his son's favorites.
If you've not heard the song, it's something of a duet for the first couple of verses. I have transcribed what I think are the correct lyrics here, although there seem to be a couple of versions that sound a bit different. Here's what I came up with:

Hey! Hey! Hey!

I don't like walking around this old and empty house

So hold my hand, I'll walk with you my dear

The stairs creak I should sleep, it's keeping me awake

It's the house telling you to close your eyes

Some days I can't even trust myself

It's killing me to see you this way

'Cause though the truth may vary

This ship will carry

Our bodies safe to shore

Hey! Hey! Hey!

There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back

Well tell her that I miss our little talks

Soon it will be over, and buried with our past

We used to play outside when you were young

And full of life and full of love

Some days I feel like I'm wrong when I am right

Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear

'Cause though the truth may vary

This ship will carry

Our bodies safe to shore

Hey!

Don't listen to a word I say

Hey!

The screams all sound the same

Hey!

Though the truth may vary

This ship will carry

Our bodies safe to shore

You're gone, gone, gone away

I watched you disappear

All that's left is a ghost of you

Now we're torn, torn, torn apart

There's nothing we can do

Just let me go, we'll meet again soon

Now wait, wait, wait for me

Please hang around

I see you when I fall asleep

Hey!

Don't listen to a word I say

Hey!

The screams all sound the same

Hey!

Because though the truth may vary

This ship will carry

Our bodies safe to shore

Don't listen to a word I say

Hey!

The screams all sound the same

Hey!

Though the truth may vary

This ship will carry

Our bodies safe to shore

Though the truth may vary

This ship will carry

Our bodies safe to shore

Though the truth may vary

This ship will carry

Our bodies safe to shore

Final note: A couple weeks back, the toilet started leaking from the tank junction. It's an old, OLD toilet, and one of the sides where it has the mounting holes to hold the tank on (three of 'em on this particular model) the porcelain is broken away. I tried a new tank gasket, but it didn't work, so I just bought a whole new rig. It was only $84 with tax, which works out to $1 a pound!!! Of course, it's a ultra low water usage unit, and I was skeptical about it's ability, but thus far I've been quite pleased by it!!! That's it as the backdrop.

My Nerdy Shortcoming

On my last completely random post (of which I would like to make another post like soon, this is Aye's Random Ravings, after all), I posed the question, "What are the differences between being a geek and being a dork??? Is there a quiz that you can take to determine which one you exhibit more characteristics of???" This was precipitated by my oldest sister trying to label her boyfriend during our Christmas gathering. Well, I found a site called OK Cupid that has the quiz finally!!! Turns out that I'm not really any of the above, but I do tend heavily towards nerdiness. Here's how it broke down:

Joe Normal

47 % Nerd, 34% Geek, 39% Dork

For The Record:
A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal.

This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of you--we all do, and you can see the percentages you have right above. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast.

I'd say there's a fair chance someone asked you to take this test. In any event, fairly normal.