Halloween is upon us!

How dare Halloween fall on a Monday. Instead of dressing up as a ghostly bride or fiendish vampire, it's a Monday. There are no parties tonight. Everyone has to beware the upcoming work week. As the year rolls into it's final quarter deadlines are approaching and my fun is being spoiled. All the parties have come early, however a few new children have come into the world early as well leading to some cancellations. So in the spirit of not being a grump, I shall spend the day in class, baking, and working. Unfortunately I will be unable to romp around as a moogle. However if  you see an adult themed red riding hood in a black corset, well then, maybe you found me! Hehe. Though more likely you are harassing an innocent bystander.

Now for a bite of history,

Did you know that Halloween comes from All Hallow's Eve and is followed by All Saints day. Now what this means is that all through the year, the influence of evil rises up in the world and it hits a pentacle on all Hallows eve. The day where devils roam the earth and spirits rise up. Then on all Saints day, the Saints come forth to smite the evil and return the world to the way it should be. Now this is the little bit I was taught as a youngun while I begged my neighborhood for candy.  Being deprived of my favorite holiday activities, I am hoping to hear from you. What were you taught? What's your Halloween like?

Hoping to hear some interesting Halloween bites of knowledge,
Corset signing off.

The Colony

So, Netflix watch instant has come out with something of an entertaining prospect. A show that aired in 2009 called The Colony. It is a show that takes a group of ten strangers and deprives them of sleep and food for thirty hours to simulate the stress associated with a natural disaster then makes them walk eight miles to an abandoned factory that will be their sanctuary for the next ten weeks. The point? They are trying to simulate if a group of survivors in the apocalypse could actually withstand threat and rebuild. It has some entertaining qualities about it. It's nice how they have overlapping professionals studying them like rats in a box. So why don't you go watch them get harassed by raiders, scavenge food, make bad choices, get robbed, and decide they need a shower more than fresh food. What you weren't expecting spoilers where you? Go watch it. I'm always telling you guys my opinion. Why doesn't someone go watch an episode and tell me what you think for a change of pace.

Hoping to see an elusive comment,
Corset signing off.

Pumpkins!

Yes THIS is why you don't get an intelligent blog today. Stay tuned tomorrow for something post apocalyptic. 

Corset signing off. 

Ah Absurdity, my good friend.

So in quoting one of my professors did you wake up today go to leave the house and say "Better take my umbrella in case a whale tries to explode on me today!"  Sounds pretty absurd right? Well let us take a moment to define absurd and we will be quoting Thomas Nagel on this one. "In ordinary life a situations is absurb when it includes a conspicuous discrepancy between pretension or aspiration and reality." Or As he later trims down to, "Some respect in which pretension and reality clash or collide."

Bearing that in mind I am going to start a few day process of trying to take the absurd seriously based off four strategy that I am in the process studying using the following in no particular order::

Schopenhauer- The great turning
Camus - The Embrace
William James- Logotherapy
Herman Melville- being Melville...

All of these will accomplish taking absurdity seriously by combining the meaning or life + Courage.

You know just for absurdity's sake let's start with Melville. Many of you will know him as the man who wrote Moby Dick. Recently he has come into my world as the man who Bartleby the Scrivener. The man who preferred not to. I'm not going to re account the story. It's widely available on the net for free if you want to pause here and go read it, it is fairly short and highly absurd. The real question I want to explore is whether Bartleby is courageous or cowardly and I'm not sure its that simple. You see on the one hand he was defying social norms which does take a great deal of courage but on the other apathy towards the situation can also lead to defying norms.  I'll be honest, everything about this is shaky to me. Trying to put a clear cut line on a vast combination of emotions doesn't lead to the best results. If you think you caught me rambling trying to get you to read a good piece of lit then you caught me. I like reading Melville. Bartleby is by far his best and worst work all rolled into one. I find the story to be one of a man grown apathetic and simple would prefer not to do something more than he would prefer to do it. I find the concept of him wanting to sit on his rump at work doing nothing and getting paid to be absurd but that is social norms talking, or is it survival instinct? If everyone gets something for nothing and no one is doing any work then how do we have anything. Well we don't. So is there a situation where someone who has been working a job for the past 30 years should get to just take the last few off and still show up to work and get paid? If so then who do you expect to pick up their slack? Where is a situation where you can look at your boss or professor and say "I prefer not to." and that be ok?

Liking William James better than Melville,
Corset signing off.

No! Life is not fair.

You will have to forgive corset today. She is in the mood to rant.

So, I have having a dialogue and the topic of unemployment came up between I and another person. They were complaining they had done everything and could not find a job. Fair enough this economy is tough cookie and everyone wants a piece. Well she started talking and I asked for her to clarify something she said. What I had heard was she had only been looking for jobs that paid over $12 an hour. She could live off min wage but didn't want to, she liked her designer clothes. I knew I must have heard her wrong. Well another chimes in, a man this time, he wanted $10/hour because the insurance was so high on his pimped out Mustang.

I just stared for a moment when I heard this and to give benefit of the doubt, I asked, "So you won't even apply for anything less than $10-12/hour despite the fact neither of you have a college degree because you think you deserve the money for your unsupported lifestyle?" The answer was no. How were they paying rent? They didn't know, they expected family to support the essentials.

A bit rude granted but I was having a jaw drop moment. I knew for fact at least one of the two was on unemployment. So I was prompted to ask if they had ever applied to fast food joints, Wal-Mart, retail. They looked back like I had sprouted a third head and I had enough when the man who is on unemployment looks at me and says those jobs are for the poor people.

Granted I know it's hard to swallow your pride when you've had a good paying job. I had one that was 10.5/hourly and I loved it. Living on my own I scraped by but it was what I was trained to do. I didn't wake up one morning and decide I wanted life handed to me so I could wear designer jeans. I still don't wear designer jeans unless they show up in Good Will.

Well to get back on topic, I left. I was going to get nasty if I stayed near them but they did raise some interesting questions. I have heard so many excuses as to why people can't and won't get jobs. Now granted some are valid. There are people who can not work but I don't think it's that simple. I think society is running around with rose coloured glasses on!

I'll never forget the day when a 40 year old man stomped his foot and said "It's just not fair!" Trust me! I know. Life isn't fair. Life requires work. Relationships require work! When you get hired to do a job they expect you to work! They won't hire you because you were prom queen five years ago. They want people who know the meaning of a hard days work or at least willing to accept it as part of life to earn a paycheck. I don't know what happened in history. This concept is really getting under my skin. I can't seem to go a day without running into someone who seems to think they should get things because they want it. Or who don't understand that when mommy and daddy cut them off, they have to balance a bank account. I really don't get it. And! As if that isn't bad enough, it goes the other way too! I have  met people who lived in poverty who thought they should get hand outs just because they perceive life as being rougher for them than everyone else.  So obviously they should get a job despite not having the experience and being unwilling to work as hard as the next guy.

What happened to good old fashioned work ethic? What happened to society that didn't need to lean on one another in  a pity party? Where did the people go who would see they were in a bad place and pull themselves out of it? Where there is a will there is a way and apparently now also an excuse. It may be easier said than done but if you are willing to work for it there are ways to improve your station in life. There are ways to rise above what you were.

I've been in poverty. I've lost my home before. I've been part of the middle class with more toys as a kid than I had any right to own. Coming from someone who lives on the financial rollarcoaster bouncing between poverty and the middle class, suck it up. It won't be easy it won't be fun. Apply for the jobs you are too good to take. Say no when someone offers you a bad choice. If you don't like where you are, find a way to change it or let it go. Nothing is permanent.

Cooling off, a lot of people also don't realize that you can't just submit the application and be done anymore.
You need to do follow up calls. Shine your resume and write a cover letter. If you don't have work experience, volunteer, it looks good on a resume. Don't think cause you take a min wage job you are stuck there. Take the job and keep applying elsewhere. You can gain some money and life experience while working on the next upgrade. Whoever told you life was easy was a liar, but that doesn't mean you have to give up. I at least, believe in you. In the good that resides in everyone.

Corset feeling like ranting,
Signing off.

Filler Art!

I am proud of her expression and her hair though. I think it turned out nice. 

Corset signing off.

Don't Rest Your Head

Well guys, it has been a bit since I have done a RPG so today I will do a quick run down of one I just finished reading. Now if you want a twenty page break down of every little detail, I'll save you the effort, I write these game blurbs so people can say 'huh I'll look into that' or 'no thanks' not to nit pick.

So Don't Rest Your Head is a RPG based around insomnia and the first thing they brought to my attention was d6 dice pools. Every PC has three dice pools labeled Discipline, Madness, and Exhaustion. You always roll your discipline, madness is optional, exhaustion is GM discretion. The GM rolls dice from a pool labeled Pain. Doesn't that sound promising? Now the reason for dice pools is because there is consequences depending on which catagory 'dominates' when you roll. So say you roll your discipline and choose to roll madness as well. Oh no! All your high dice was in Madness. Well that's not a bad thing per say. It just means that things will go your way, but now one of those madness dice is permanent.

I bet your asking why is that a bad thing. Well on your character you get x amount of exhaustion and x amount of reactions. Depending on the dominating pool, depends on what box you check off. If you collect to much madness, you go insane and become a nightmare. If you collect to  much exhaustion, well you collapse into a coma and are probably going to get eatin/left for dead, unless your party really loves you.

However that's not the only thing you have to worry about. The GM rolls dice too. If Pain dominates, first of all things don't go your way, your plan probably just got ruined, and the GM can force you to check off one of your boxes for either madness or exhaustion and if you haven't been careful this can destroy your character.

It's ok though. It's not all hopeless. There are also two bowls in the middle of the table. One labeled Despair, on labeled Hope. The characters can spend hope to reduce the amount of dice the GM roles and they can also spend Hope to unmark the boxes that will end up destroying the character. However the only way to really get Hope is by the GM doing aweful things to you. the players get Hope when the GM spends Despair to make your lives hell.

This game seems to be very much about consequence. Nothing happens without a consequence. Even winning a situation has effects on your character that may not necessarily be positive. If you want to sit down and read the rules, its less than  a hundred pages and about half way though it will just start talking about the world they have roughed out for you. So really, you are looking at 20 pages of rules. It is classified as being technically horror. Some call it adventure. I call it a game. The world is sketched out with some major players and enough fluff to hopefully spark some creativity or plot. The character sheet is half questionnaire so if that doesn't float your boat, I'd steer clear.

If you really really want to hear about some of the fluff, it gives me Neverwhere vibes mixed with the Sci Fi Alice Mini Series.

Beware the Wax King!!
Have I raised some questions? I hope so.
Corset signing off.

Apple Cider Vinegar.

So tis the season of allergies whether it be the falling leaves or pets or dust mites, for a lot of people, the allergy season never truly ends. It just goes through cycles of not so bad to worse. Well as money is a big ticket on a lot of people's minds, I started looking into options that were not prescription or OTC medicine. With Allegra at over $40 for a 45 day supply and Claritin and Singulair not far behind, I began looking into other approaches. The thing that stood out to me was apple cider vinegar. Or specifically it has to be only raw, organic vinegar. I guess the 'dead' stuff means that all of its positive effects are null and void. Now what really surprised me about the acv is that where a lot of these online stunts of pushing natural remedies is also flooded with comments about how it didn't work. With this, the worst case scenario I have found is well, it didn't cure me but it makes it so when spring rolls around I can breathe instead of suffering until winter. So what do you do with the cider?

I have found two predominating amounts you should consume. 

Either mix two table spoons with equal amounts of water, first thing in the morning before you eat, and up to three times a day. Or you mix a quarter cup with equal amounts water and drink that before you eat up to three times a day. The amounts are very close so I'd probably start with the smaller amount and work my way up if that doesn't work.

Now depending on how out of control your allergies are and how long you have suffered them uncontrolled  this changes how long it takes it to come into effect. If you catch them right off the bat, you can get rid of the symptoms theoretcially in less than three hours. For long term control you are expected to take this every day for about three days before you start seeing drastic improvement. 

Well readers, tomorrow is grocery day so I will be picking up some apple cider vinegar and we shall see if the test holds true. I'm going to give it a go until the bottle runs out then report what I have found for better or for worse.

How about you guys? How do you deal with allergies?

Corset pondering a remedy,

Signing off.

Foiled Again!

Yes. I foil pet attempts to torment poor stuffed animals. I love squid plushies and happened to be looking to own a new one. Any suggestions? As a brief heads up, Corset has been working on expressions so tomorrow I will probably be extreme faces day. Then maybe later in the week I will tell you guys about Don't Rest Your Head.  Don't hold your breath much though. Next week is test week again. We'll see what it brings.

Reminding you to stop and ogle the sunset or swing like your five years old again,

Corset signing off.

DIY Moogle Costume

So. Halloween is fast approaching as I'm sure guys have noticed, if for no other reason than I am harping on it. Now either you have to worry about the kids getting all gussied up as vampires and power rangers, or you have a Halloween party coming up and have the conundrum of what to wear. There is also the issue of rising prices of costumes, and just about everything else. This leaves less money to go around. So heres one way to skimp on Halloween. Find a Do It Yourself costume concept. For this demonstration I have made a DIY of a Moogle and hope the Final Fantasy corp won't come barging down my door for doing it.

Now this worked for me but a lot depending it could always use some tweaking. Here's the low down. You attached the extra large pom to your pipe cleaner via sewing or in my case gorilla glue. Then once that is dry or attached, you want to repeat to attach that to the animal ears headband. I found a pair of bear ears at the dollar store and most Halloween shops have them on the cheap. Ta da! A third of the way done. The hard part is actually the arm and leg warmers. You want to do some measuring before you hit the fabric shop. Get enough elastic to go around the legs without cutting off circulation. Ditto with the arms. Then simple sew it in. I'll let the professionals handle how to sew elastic into fabric, I had the girl who cut the fabric do it for me. The length of the arm and leg warmers is really up to you. This concept was designed with a short strapless dress in mind and I know October in my neck of the woods gets chilly so my leg warmers hit my thighs to my shoes. The wings I found were fairly easy to hand sew. I simply bent the wire into the shape wing I wanted then hand sewed a tube in my sheer fabric to slip the wire into. Then to hold them on I just sewed on some twine hoops, much like they do for children s wings.  Now those who know what a moogle is, know it has a red nose. I don't like clown noses. I talk funny with them on so I used some costume make up. Also used a bit of costume make up to whiten my skin a bit and add whiskers. Then TA-DA! Moogle girl, corset was! The great things about moogles is the accessorizing. This is for a plain some what sexy moogle. But you can dress them up or down. Add paw gloves for effect if you want. The way I described, cost me about $10 to build the whole thing. 

snagged the moogle off here http://www.myconfinedspace.com/2006/05/17/moogle/

Corset hoping to see some more moogles on the street,

signing off.

Penguins In Sweaters!

No this is not going to be about a child's movie. I'm actually referring to the New Zealand oil spill. The poor blue penguins were caught in the mess and unfortunately they are having some trouble staying warm. As if that isn't bad enough, they can't even prune their feathers because of contamination. If I was a penguin, I'd be pissed. Well looking for solutions, the idea of penguin sweaters came up and a call was sent out the knitters of the world. Apparently it worked surprisingly well too. It's an adorable end to an awful tragedy. Though as far as the ecosystem goes, the work is far from over. Things like this make me say Go Hyundai! With there hydrogen car that made it cross country. Maybe if they make good on promises we can finally get off this fossil fuel dependency we seem to have.

Corset wishing for a safer environment,
Signing off.

Quidditch

So. Quidditch is an international sport. I mean like colleges have competitive teams of it! This was news to me. A quidditch fan told me during the match today. Perhaps later this week I will break down the experience of quidditch. 

Pumpkins!

Speaking of the art at carving Jack o Lanterns, Corset and her SO took some time to go a carving and Corset is obviously not the carving master. (It's a bat)  However due to a lost lighter delima, there was to be no candle lighting either. So Corset popped some old glow sticks and got some funky glows going on. Hey you never know, one of these days, Corset might even learn how to change the time stamp on her camera with a broken lcd screen. Fingers crossed for Christmas. Corset wants a puppy, a camera, and a drawing tablet. Come on Santa.

Any who, while carving my lantern to show the neighbors there were people here encase of something silly like a zombie apocalypse, corset started talking about Halloween itself and the loss of kids trick or treating. Having noticed a larger amount of things like Trunk or Treat where children meet in a parking lot and get candy without the work involved, it led me to ask why and with the group I was with, the answer was soon clear. It was a ramification of the shift in society where both parents work and neither actually raise the child. They rely on school, extra curricular, and sitters to instill core values and this leaves some of the finer things in life undone. No parent has time to take a child door to door and it has become unsafe for a pack of children to roam the neighborhood alone, so where does that leave everyone? Gathering in a parking lot for half an hour to get free candy. Well sigh.

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just not the same. It's all instant gratification with no work involved and there's no staying up to romp the neighborhood to see all the houses all neat with Halloween gear. No Walking for hours to make up for the pounds of candy you will eat that night. No treats with friends as you explore your stash together. 

Well Humbug! Corset says. If it ever comes up in Corset's case, Corset will be going door to door getting candy the old school way.

Corset hoping someone will dispute her opinions in a rational well thought manner,

signing off.

Jack o Lanterns!

So have you carved your vegetable yet?

The topic of Jack O Lanterns came up for corset today while standing in line at the grocery. I hadn't bothered with a basket and had a pumpkin in each arm, the largest I could find in the bins, and they were getting heavy. So the woman in front of me moved her things up a bit since there was a stall so I could set down the pumkins. Well we got to talking. Were they for eating or for carving? Well in a sense both but that isn't the point today.

I told her I wanted to carve them and my SO had told me he would help so I bought two and she commented off hand, she wondered why they were called Jack O Lanterns and why Halloween. Well if I'm not mistaken, pumpkin carving at halloween is fairly new as far as History goes, I believe it was around the 1860's. However people have been carving pumpkins and turnips to put lights in them since about the mid 1600's. It was originally turnips too. Fun right?

Now let's get back to Halloween. We will start with fact then move on to fun. Back in the day, in the British Isles the pumpkins were carved and lit to be placed on door steps to ward off evil spirts. The families would also traditionally leave a treat at the door to appease spirits so there would be no tricks that night. Two birds one stone. Trick or Treating and Pumpkins all in one go. Of course both are more complicated so lets not loose sight of the point.  Besides it wasn't until the 1830's that these carved veggies became jack o lanterns anyway.

But lets have a bit of fun. There is a legend roaming around that goes something like this:

Once upon a time was a boy named Jack who had been stealing from the villagers. Well one day they came to get him to punish him for his crimes. Fleeing the town he ran into the devil in the road who told him it was his time to die. So the boy bargained with the devil. Turn into a coin so he could pay the villigers for his theft with it. Then the devil could disappear and have them guessing over who stole the coin. The devil saw many sins being committed in this way so he agreed and turned into a coin int he boys pocket. However the boy also had a cross in his pocket which removed the devils powers from him. Jack kept the devil until he swore he would never take his soul. Well the boy grew old over time and committed many wicked acts so when he died he was barred from heaven. However due to his deal he was barred from hell as well. Having no where to go, the boy carved out a turnip as they had been his favorite in life and crawled inside. The devil taking great pleasure in his loneliness threw him an ember from hell and the boy forever roamed the earth looking for a place to stay. He became known as the Jack of Lanterns.

Of course now days it's just not faces you see carved into your veggies. It can be celebrities and comics, to politicians and creatures of the night. A lot of places even sell stencils to help you bring your creation to life. So in spirit of a messy afternoon take up a gourd like veggie be it pumpkins or turnips and carve away! Let's see how things turn out? I know my pumpkins will be warding away evil tricks of the night. As will the bucket of candy.

Corset loving the fall season.

Signing off.

Filler Monday!

Well Corset had a handy bit o life coming in to distract her and so I didn't get as much written as I hoped over the weekend. On the upside I did finish my short story. Maybe some day I will tell you guys about it.

Hoping you had a nice weekend

Corset signing off.

SPIDER!

It was huge I swear!

The Parking Delima

If you have ever driven anywhere, you have probably seen some people gunning it for a spot or doing drive by's for half an hour to get the spot two spaces closer to the door and it prompts me to ask, what the hell?

This is prompted by I was trying to get out of a parking lot today and the lot was full, there was another one with obvious spaces right across the street. Any ways, I backed out and someone had taken up residence on either side of me with their indicator on claiming the space as their own. So I back out feeling very much like I am caught between two bears and a honey jar. No sooner than I am out of the way, they both speed forward  trying to get the spot first because they both thought they found it first. Well neither one backed down and their cars ended up bumping noses.

Feeling generous, I put my four ways on and got out of my car to make sure everyone was ok. The first thing either was had to say to me was, "Tell that person to get out of my spot." Well neither car was actually damaged and it happened in a parking lot so the police didn't care which left a matter of supreme importance undecided, Who got it first.

I didn't care. It was a spot. I had chosen it because I got there early enough in the morning where the lot looked abandoned. It's not heartbreaking to drive to the parking garage across the street. So I go to leave and then one of them calls after me, "Wait, you had to have seen who got there first." I shrugged, "Yea the blue car." I didn't know who drove which one but it became clear when the other vehicle owner declared me a liar and a whore.

I'd had enough. I left. Let them duke it out. But I just couldn't shake it, what makes people so damn crazy over a parking space especially when there are usually more nearby. In this case the parking deck across the street was actually closer to the destination. Both cost the same. Why here? It can't hurt your pride that much to walk ten more feet in either direction. If you are running late you will actually save time by choosing a spot farther away and just walking than circling like a vulture. This genuinely distresses me that people would be willing to put possible life in jeopardy over a set of lines on the pavement. Alas, today I come with  no opinions or answers. Maybe someone can enlighten me?

Corset Befuddled
Signing off.

I'll Save You!

One day! I Shall live in a world where I own a pen that won't die while inking leaving me to resort to a broad tip sharpie! One day! I shall live in a world where Chomsky is considered silly for his thoughts and realize psychology already finished what he is talking about! And one day!! I shall remember to draw a comic somewhere other than during class on homework I had to turn before the day was done. XD 

Corset miraculously still getting all A's at University.

Signing off. 

Real Life Super Hero!

Ok for once, you can read this title and know I am not talking about the sane ones like firemen or soldiers. I am talking about the ones in odd spandex suits, Like Pheonix Jones who was recently arresting in Seattle for dressing up in a black suit with a yellow stripe and going to fight crime. Now if your anything like me some bat man imagery took over but let me stop you right there. The fact that he got caught means he's not exactly batman material. Pheonix was fighting crimes with mace. In Seattle this is assult and the police released a statement how crimes in the name of justice would not be tolerated. That putting on a mask does not raise you above the law.

Silly police officers. Doesn't your uniform? This isn't mean to be a dig against the police force I understand how much good they do, however having known people who died because an officer did the wrong thing and declared it for justice, it leads me to ask. Why is their uniform so special?

Since we are children we are given stories about the lone warrior, the knights in armour, the super hero's with double lives. It's a little hard to believe that people like Pheonix don't appear more often and I would be hesitant to punish them for it. He saw crime in his neighborhood so he devised a plan to fix it. People say call the police but in a lot of cases no one wants to be the boy who tattled and just turn their back and look the other way. Should he really be punished for breaking up fights in near his home? I'm sure he has family just like the rest of us. It seems to me like he is just going the extra mile to protect them.

On the flip side, say he doesn't have family and he is just a nutter seeking his ten minutes in the spotlight before fading back into the shadows. Has he still really done anything wrong? Even if he was doing it to be selfish and hunt the ellusive camera time, he was still using something fairly harmless to stop a greater crime. Mace burns like hell to get on you but you wash it off and you are ok. Someone beats on you for ten minutes, you might need a hand up if you feel up so standing.

The point I am driving at is, it seems like the police force in Seattle is treating a symptom instead of the cause by arresting this man. If someone went to a doctor with chicken pox would you only treat the itch? Instead of focusing on this man it seems like they should see this as an enlightenment. How bad has crime gotten where people feel the need to don masks and try to save their city alone?

Penny for your thoughts.
Especially from someone with criminal justice knowledge or an officer. I'd be grateful for your view on this too.
Corset signing off.

30 TBG Dare!

I dare you! Ya I said it! Now the question is what am I daring you to do? Make a difference. Not anything radical. I ran across someone today told me that three things should be strived for in the world. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. Now I don't mean Beauty like you did your make up today. I mean beauty like a mother helping her baby take its first steps or the sun setting behind a foggy ravine. Truth doesn't necessarily mean honesty. It's talking about the greater truth and No god has no business in this challenge unless you want him/her to. I don't think I have to explain goodness, deep down you all should know what it is.

Now here is what I want you to do. Take a journal, or a piece of paper and title it the commitment to change and put todays date on it. Every day I want you to either write what you did to promote these things in the world or write "I did nothing." See how many days you can keep it up. Do you even want to try? A lot of people will stop and say I don't have the kind of time. Then again its odd how people make time to watch the big game or their reality tv show but they can't make time to stop and help a girl whose dropped her books, or an old man trying to open a door and not drop his crutches.

Think of it this way, if you found out that tomorrow or a year from now, you were going to die, I'm willing to bet you'd have a lot less time for TV and rudeness and a lot more time for the things you were putting off. I don't know about you, but this month I am making a commitment to make time. It doesn't have to be any grandiose scheme but hell, drop some change in a donation bucket, tell the cashier today you will pay the extra dollar for a cause. Help someone by holding a door, use your manners, helping a sibling study. Volunteer if you want to be hard core. I am dedicating myself to finding the goodness, truth, and beauty in the world. I hope you will all take the time to find it with me and together we will create some of our own.

Corset donating canned goods to the food drive,
Signing off.

For a Cause

Now don't get me wrong. I am all for making beautiful art but every now and then its fun to just sit down with some old school crayola markers and crayons and see what you get. Though word to the wise, don't do it during class. When the professor is asking about the Ojibwe tribe they probably don't want to see a doodle of a lion. 

Speaking of lions, if there happen to be any adults who take a gander at my blog, I'd like to point out a feature that is at most banks. You know how you can get pretty pictures of your pug or whatever on your debit and credit card? Well there are a lot of banks that make it so if you get one from things like....THE WORLD WILDLIFE organization or the BREAST CANCER AWARENESS.... then whenever you swipe your card, the bank will make a donation to the cause. 

Corset asking you to help save the animals and save our boobs. 

Signing off. 

Cheese!

As in cheese cake. <3 Corset is a sucker for cheese cake. This is a recipe I have had floating on my computer forever now. I got it from a friend who got it from a another. I love it because its simple and easy to modify. For example to add a flavor, just mix in a bit of coco powder or melted semi sweet and things start getting tasty. My fave mix in is to take some rasberries and put them in a pot on low heat with maybe a quarter cup of sugar water. Let them cook. Once this is done swirl it through the cheesecake with a knife. It's tasty. The internet has all sorts of nifty ways to swirl things and add flavor combo's if you are unsure of what the hell I am talking about.

New York Style Cheesecake

Ingredients
Crust:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Filling:
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eight ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Grease sides of a springform pan or use a 9-inch round pan, ungreased.

Crust Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine butter and graham cracker crumbs. Press into bottom of pan and freeze.

Filling Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.

2. Blend in cream. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg is added.

3. Mix in sour cream , flour and vanilla until smooth. Pour the filling batter over the crust.

4. Bake for one hour in preheated oven. Turn oven off and let cake cool in oven for about 5 hours.

5. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.



Corset signing off.

Oh no!

Corset for got swamped with school work and games and forgot to find filler! 

Quick! Distract them with random imagery! 

This is outside of Chicago believe it or not.

Corset running away.

Partners in crime

Well I am still working on faces and hands, but I was playing with color today. I like the left side better than the right. This one is dedicated to my partner in crime since 1990. Now that we've both had to grow up a bit and he's gone and gotten himself a wife, we get into less trouble but thankfully somethings never change. 

Corset being grateful for brothers, (even when they try and blame you)

Signing off.

Corset

So, I'm sure someone at this point has noticed that while being the Girl in a Corset, I have never acutally written about corsets. Why? You ask. Well simple. There are thousands of people that know more about the corsets than I do. However let me give you a little run down of the things I have noticed over the years.

If you are new in the field and looking for a corset, don't measure yourself. Don't buy it cause you think it may be right, find a place where you can try it on and I'll tell you why. There are three big types of corsets floating around the world I have notices.
First are the fakes. You get these at Wal-Mart or Hot Topic, whatever. Good for you these are not real corsets.
The second type are corsets however the ribbing is made out of a flexible steel so that you can maintain full flexibility while wearing it. They do function as corsets however are not my favorite. I find they do not offer the support I need.
The Third type is like my corset, it has inflexible steel ribbing in it. It is the classic corset made to resemble those made years ago out of whale bone.

These last two matter because if your corset does not fit properly or you don't know how to tie it, then several things can occur such as cutting off your circulation increasing the risk of blood clots, stomach and liver deformity, etc. Also bare in mind that a corset is like a new pair of boots, you want to break them in before you go trouncing around in them all day or you will experience some discomfort.

Ideally when buying a corset you can find a reputable vendor that has a place where you can go in and try the thing on. You want to do this because they will measure you, put a few on you and find out what is most comfortable for your particular body build, it's not all in the inches. They can also talk Show you how to tie up your new corset or have someone else tie you up. When meeting someone in person, they will show you how to get the most life out of your corset and since I have some cheap ones, cheap being $100 each, I want them to last as long as humanly possible.

Another advantage is that they can walk you through how to repair the laces when the inevitable happens and they break.  So now that I've been a little dreary about corsets lets give a reminder of why you want to wear one.

The corset is just about an instant hourglass figure. It boosts and supports the breast making them appear fuller while trimming the waist to allow for a full hip figure. It also forces you to have proper posture which is an attractive feature in any man or woman and for me personally, the improved posture doubled to make my back stop aching from slouching all the time. Over time, the corset can act to compress the abdomen and suppress appitite so I would recommend talking to your doctor if you do plan on doing serious corset waist training. Make sure it is a healthy choice for you, know the risks. Know how you plan on getting that thing off if the worst happens.

Having asthma myself and something decreasing my lung capacity, you have to watch out, you may want to opt for a corset that can easily be removed, or perhaps keep a box cutter if legal in your area that your friends know where to get it. Last thing you need is to have an asthma attack triggered and not be able to get the thing off. This isn't meant to scare anyone but keep all your health problems in consideration when buying. While wonderful, they can pose risk to the uniformed.

Hoping to see some more girls and guys being tied up.
Corset signing off.

Always the last one.

Ok so anyone who has ever had to deal with quarter washers has probably had this happen. You have just enough change to get the wash done, you can hunt for dryer money later, then the machine refuses to take your last quarter.    Three guesses where I was when I attempted to draw this. This being an attempted to play with angles and panels. I found my first major problem. Consistently drawing the same person!
Corset signing off!

Sleep well.

Do Not Disturb.

Corset Signing off. 

<3

Descent

Descent is a dungeon crawl.
I'm just going to throw that out there so there is no  misrepresentation about where this game is going. If you take a D&D dungeon crawl remove the RP aspect and give people coloured dice instead of many sided dice, this is what you have. When you buy the game you get a booklet with a campaign and a million little pieces and cards. They all have a purpose and it's not quite as tedious as it sounds, though you do need to allot time for set up. So let's start there.

In Descent one player will be the evil overlord, GM, and everyone else will be the hero's who for some reason or another are descending down into a dungeon to kill a monster while collecting as much treasure as possible. Now just stop. You can't just flip open a board for this. You are given map pieces that the overlord has to assemble for each and every scenario, I have yet to find a map set up repeat itself. That being said it takes me a good half hour to get the board set up get everyone characters and make sure everyone is equip. Bare this in mind because it would not be unreasonable to a game to run upward of three hours. That would in fact be a little on the short side.

Now once you start, unlike a GM the overlord is actively trying to kill the players, always. You don't want them to survive on any level. You can do this by spawning extra monsters and dropping traps, etc. However it's not so simple. The overlord collects tokens equal to players per round, and every overlord card, has a cost. You draw two at random unless you play a card that let's you draw three per turn, and then enact mayhem.

The players also get points. Player points are a bit sturdier. They stay around unless you kill a player. Each character has  a cost to their death. If the players loose all of their points, they loose the game. However they can also gain them back by accomplishing goals and of course they win by surviving to kill the end boss.

It really is a neat game. I personally enjoy the social interactions from tension of the players versus the overlord.  It's a fun dynamic to watch play out as people over come trouble together and strategize about the best way to thwart the overlord. However buyer beware at this point. The original Descent cost about a hundred dollars and they are in the process of releasing a second edition where they are adding in all the rules errata and correcting typos. (hehe Ogies.)

Personally I don't mind the typo's and the game is a blast though the overlord is at an disadvantage unless you have the first expansion. Well into Darkness. Don't let play time disuade you. It's a great blast for a lot of ages though I personally would recommend 15+ unless you have a really bright ten year old it is a lot to remember and you Will lose if you play too poorly.

Wishing there were more hours in a day,
Corset signing off.

NSFW

Obviously not done yet but this is my attempt to color without a tablet. . . or a mouse. We will see where it goes. The worth looking at version of this can be found in the Erotic Manga guide. They sell it at Barnes and Noble. Don't give me that look it was on sale with pretty art and great how to guides. I don't need to justify myself. =P

Corset signing off.

Fairy Girl

She is an early attempt at some proper posing. 

The scenery is giving me hell though. 

Corset signing off. Maybe Tuesday or Wed. there will be something with Dialogue!! 

How it Felt

So you remember you're first con? I know I was walking around dumb struck. 

I even found little arrows on the floor that led me to this magical thing called DOMINION.

Corset signing off.