Steampunk 8

Steampunk 8
Originally uploaded by katbret_photography.

Me + internet connection = dangerous. Looking for welding goggles ala Dr. Horrible sent me down a Steampunk bunny trail. I'm fascinated. And seriously wondering if I could pull this off. Surely it's not too soon to be thinking about Halloween?

awesomeness

edit: It's free on Hulu! Go Watch It NOW!

..stand back everyone, Nothing here to see,
Just imminent danger, In the middle of it me,

right now

I love the internet. (Thank you new neighbors for having unsecured wireless. You are welcome to my parking space until I find car. Maybe even after.) Right now I am watching Kina Grannis and David Choi play on webcam from Kina's apartment. Watching them musically bounce off of each other as well as the people watching/chat rooming from home so much better than television. My God I'm a nerd.

A nerd who WILL be buying Dr. Horrible, thankyouverymuch Mrs. J.

Summer

According to the weather widget on my Google homepage it is currently 103 degrees in Austin right now. One hundred and three. Degrees.

Ridiculousness. The city of Austin has also taken over my thermostat and decided it's stuck on 82, probably because of high energy usage throughout the city (go figure). I'm officially sick of the heat.

Labyrinth in the Park

Much like last summer, aside from having considerably better employment, I have been much too busy actually living my summer adventures to write about them. Or anything else, really.

Last night, though, was a new thing for me. As our Wednesday night Merge event the group went to see Labyrinth, hosted by a local radio station and Central Market. Outdoor movies are one of the greatest summer activities yet invented. The night was perfect for it - warm and humid with a slight breeze, a nearly full moon hanging in the sky just over the enormous blow up screen. The crowd was HUGE. Apparently most people my age grew up with this movie and have remember it with exceptional fondness. I'd never seen it, not suprising given my media-sheltered upbringing. At the age of 25, Labyrinth is kinda twisted and just bad, in a fabulous sort of way. Mrs. Juicebox, who loved it as a child looked at me and whispered, "I don't remember it being this bad! I haven't seen it since I was little, but we loved it then!" about the time the pink-orange limb-shedding creatures started dancing and singing. Like I said: twisted, but kind of fabulous. And totally entertaining for a warm July night.

Car Shopping

Since the end of April I've been without a car. There has been a rollercoaster of various frustrations. First it was figuring out whether I should just find someone to rig a "good enough" fix or just report it to my insurance. Then once I had made that decision I waited weeks for my insurance to get around to inspecting it. Apparently someone routed my claim to San Diego and no one there bothered to bounce it back. Since then I've been car shopping, dabbling at first, because the entire process intimidated the hell out of me.


Now I'm actively searching for a car and still finding myself divided on what I should do. A new car is an automotively safe decision. There's a warranty, no one else has abused the engine, they're all shiny and perfect. But they also come with car payments. Years of car payments, thousands of dollars I could be saving instead.


Used cars come with their own issues, of course. What hidden problems are there? How badly did the previous owner treat the vehicle? (Don't buy a used silver Accord in the Austin area right now, by the way - the previous owner will tell you that himself.) How much money in maintenance is this going to require? Does buying a higher mileage for cheaper balance?

I'm still as intimidated as hell, but getting more and more fed up with being carless. My bike is great, but going most places just takes so much effort compared to a car. And it's July. In Austin. I think my breaking point that will force me to just make a decision and buy a car is coming soon.

Tagged by Finding Normal

A - Attached or single: Very single.
B - Best Friend: Erica
C - Cake or Pie: Do I get graham cracker crust?
D - Day of the Week: Friday at 4:30
E - Essential Item: Bicycle
F - Favorite Color: Purple
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: I like to bite the heads off the bears
H - Home town: Frederick, MD
I - Indulgences: Grocery shopping at Central Market. Being on foot is really just an excuse.
J - January or July?: I like the beginnings of seasons better than the middle, so May AND November.
K - Kids: Please Jesus, not for a long time.
L - Life is incomplete without: Books, friends, rugby
M - Marriage Date: Much later
N - Number of Siblings: 2
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples
P - Phobias or Fears: Failure
T - Tag Three: BMW Mechanic, Brooke in Sacramento, Scrumhalf Connection
U - Unknown fact about me: The scabs on my palms itch right now
V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: *Rolls eyes*
W - Worst Habit: Being judgy-judgy
X - Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds therapy is great!
Y - Your favorite food: Shrimp, avacado, feta, steak
Z - Zodiac Sign: Libra

good to know

Interesting revalation of the weekend:

If you look cute in a mini-skirt while on a pub crawl "socially awkard dork in a bar too loud to attempt small talk" comes across as "too cool for school."

Bloodfest was good, if a bit surreal. Being one of the in charge people had me all kinds of distracted. I've never done bracketing, but that wasn't difficult. Game times were more so, but that wasn't something I was in control of. Working with the guys was a good experience, though, if not enough to convince me I should be an officer next year.

It was a day of with some great rugby and good times had, broken up by a pretty fantastic storm most of us waited out under the trees. And the Beavers took 1st place! Wendy at Scrumhalf Connection has a write up and video on her blog of both Bloodfest and the Dallas tourney.

(photo by Shalay Mefford)

overheard at work

State employee #1: "Well, I didn't know you liked mayonaise on your hotdogs."

State employee #2, in the most incredulous voice possible, "Who doesn't!?"

yuck.

Fit

Yay strong, competitive women! And yay Crossfit!


I came back from my kettlebell workout today to Katy's post about her team Crossfit training. After spending my entire bike ride back thinking how much I love being able to conquer a tough workout and how I can't imagine not having fitness always be a part of my life, no less. That her team is working out together is great idea - I wonder if the Valks would be down for it? It'd be a great way to combine two of the best things in my life.


My WOD was five rounds of:

5 Burpees
10 Snatches
10 Box Jumps
15 KB swings

I finished in 14:32 with a 12 kb Kettlebell. Not too bad.