Here's another StumbleUpon offering that simply blows my mind.
Over time, Crafting has given me a growing appreciation for the fine points in handiwork: it's technicalities, precision, and art, all blending together into a form of tangible beauty. This piece here is a fine example of what I'm talking about.
Absolute Sweet Cindy reminded me of Runo's work, but on a much more detailed and larger scale. the doll, although lacking in the facial features department, makes up for it with its joint system and its, ehem, anatomical quasi-correctness. (For some reason, the doll unclothed eerily reminds me of Chii from Chobits.)
The site features the works of other brave souls who have successfully finished a Cindy doll. It's interesting to note that the visitors' dolls have been alterations to the original design: a set of them feature fashionable boys, and another has been given adult proportions. I'd like to think that means the patterns and instructions make room for the maker's personal innovative creativity, which I think is an excellent thing.
I may still not have tried to make this beauty, but gleaning from the instructions themselves, it seems that this project is not for the faint of heart, nor for anyone who does not have the time, diligence, patience and devotion to see this doll through. Beautiful things are rarely easy or quick to make.
I'd like to think once you've finished her and propped her up to sit on your work table, you might end up feeling you suddenly and quite unknowingly acquired a daughter for yourself. People can fall in love with the things they create, and it's not going to be Pygmalion so much as it is Geppetto.
Sometimes, you just gotta love StumbleUpon for serving up unexpected squee-worthy delights, such as this:
Super Mario Mushroom Cookies! Absolutely adorable, and quite easy to make, provided you have all the ingredients (including a sizable, ready-made sponge cake), diligence and patience. I instantly thought this would make really cute and fitting favors for a gamer's wedding, down to the legendary Super Mario cake.
You can find the recipe on Snack or Die, alongside some equally amusing confections for the discerning gourmet gamer. It also features Koopa Shell Cookies, which I think might be a fitting addition to the bridal buffet -- thing is, who do you serve it to? wedding crashers?
...
in-laws? (just kidding, mom. Love you! ^_^)
The months of July and August often herald the beginning of the rainy season for us. It was still June, the last time I checked, and James went home last night just in time before the winds began to rise. It had been raining all day, and had been raining still when I went to bed. By noon, I awoke to dreary skies and even more rain -- coupled with gray rivers in place of streets in front of the complex.
Front Gate, St. Joseph Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal, 2:00pm
When you've lived in a subdivision that gets invaded by floods of this sort on a yearly basis for about the past ten years of your life, you eventually get used to it. Back when I was still a teenager, I admit I looked forward to these cold, wet episodes. These meant canceled classes and more time to read or do stuff at home, but that also meant hauling, shifting, and moving certain first-floor items to higher ground. When the flood-water began creeping in onto the pebbled Star of David on the front porch, it's time to start packing the books, DVDs, bric-a-brac, onions, garlic, and other things the water could get to. Water lapping at the front door in a heavy shower meant rolling up carpets, lifting the couches onto the sturdy dining table and fitting the other single-seaters into it like a puzzle. An inch of water indoors meant lifting the 50-pound refrigerator onto the kitchen counter, rescuing the rice, rice cooker, canned goods, pack noodles, matches and (and the dog) from the kitchen and hieing to the second floor. Half a foot of water in the house meant lights off -- and circuit breaker off.
Street where I live, St. Joseph Subdivion, Cainta, Rizal, 2:00pm
When you live in a place where it floods every year, you get used to it. The family breaks out the rags, the towels, and the alcohol, and by the time everyone's done with their baths, hot rice and tuna and sardines will be ready in the master's bedroom. You huddle together, throwing jokes and telling stories over a steaming rice and fish, and perhaps some leftovers. Meals are best eaten with fingers and stories.
Back gate and area, St. Joseph Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal, 3:00pm
Grove where "the wee ancient ones" live, St. Joseph Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal, 3:00pm
You retire for the night, taking care to put out your candle. (Careful, you don't want to turn into a lighthouse, not like the last time.) you listen to your neighbors as they parody Titanic, the dog's ribs rising and falling as she curls up to you as she thinks you to be the best thing in all the world.
Front gate and street, St. Joseph Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal, 3:00 pm
In the morning, when the flood begins to subside, someone is sent out for cleaning ware, and the soaping, the scrubbing, the exorcising begins. Your uncle handles muriatic acid in the first floor bathroom, and banishes a frightened sewer snake back to the pipes. Your mother finds two catfish, abandoned by the water and gulping for dear life in the kitchen sink. By mid-afternoon, You're sent out to buy goto for the family and you come back all smiles, your treasures of hot, saffroned rice porridge and boiled ox tripe, one bag a serving.
I once told all this to a good friend of mine, a certain Mr. Francis Martinez. He was my teacher for Poetry Writing in College, and god bless him, wherever he is now. He once wrote a warm poem about the morbid fear of sitting down, and he went on to write two more poems on the floods. It was quite sweet of him to give them to me, and I reckon it would do him great justice to show them here. Now, to remember where I last put them....
When you live in a place that floods every year, you get used to it.
First off, I would like to direct your attentions to two things.
One, if you would ever so kindly look to the right side of this blog, you will discover a bright orange balloon in the shape of a bird. Meet Winnifred Canary. She will be our delegate/contestant in Orange's first ever internet balloon race. If ever you feel so inclined to take part (either for the thrills, chills, spills, not to mention the "once-in-a-lifetime trip to Ibiza", as the website goes), feel free to sign up and choose a balloon for yourself. Dear old Winnie won't mind the competition. :)
Two, our beloved Hobby Horse blog has now been signed in to be one of the potential stop-overs for this race, as the orange raccoon balloon hovering on the lower left corner of the window will tell you so. Horray, horray!
Let the races begin!
) So, in times like this, it pays to use your imagination... and turn to the Japanese for some veritable inspiration.
