Star Wars Easter Eggs

To those who celebrate it, I hope you have a happy Easter!

Today, I'm extra happy. I've had my Easter miracle (thank you, computer, for not dying after I spilled water on you), my brother's coming over for a fancy holiday dinner, and I actually finished crafting in time! Hell yeah.

Not just regular crafting, but some super-geek crafting. I couldn't help it. I had two extra paper mache Easter eggs in the pack after I painted them for my mantle. Of course they had to be Star Wars!

The details aren't perfect, as I had a hard time wrapping my mind (heh, I'm punny) around the three-dimensional helmet designs, but they're close.





They look so cute, sitting amongst my colorful Easter decorations. They were a lot of fun to make, too. It's been too long since I've played with my paints!





Maybe next year I'll add to the collection, make some Rebel eggs to duke it out with the Imperial eggs.

Embroidered Dice Bag

I managed to squeeze in a bit of crafting before I got taken out by the double-whammy of Con and cold. The Professor’s birthday was at the end of March, and he had been dropping hints that he needed a new bag to hold his gaming dice. I was more than happy to oblige!

This was the perfect excuse to break out the brand-spankin’ new sewing machine my Mama gave me as an early birthday present. I don’t know why I hadn’t given it a run sooner! It’s truly a thing of beauty:




It’s a computerized machine, which is a light year leap from the antique Featherweight I’d been struggling with for months. Though I still love the old girl dearly, there’s really nothing like a sewing machine that is wholly and completely yours to bond with.

It only took me a couple hours to fully put together the bag, which is made from up-cycled denim from a pair of torn jeans. The embroidered emblem is the symbol of the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom, from the old Ultima computer games. It’s a game that the Professor loved as a child, and I thought it’d be appropriate for a dice bag.




He truly loved it. It was nice to finally be able to craft something just for him that he’d actually enjoy and use, as opposed to the knit scarves I keep trying to hoist off on him!

I'm really looking forward to tackling some other sewing projects, and learning some new skills. Is it too ambitious to think I can sew a sundress by summertime?

Secret Breakfast Ice Cream

What a great weekend. Got some work done on some important projects, started a new co-op video game with the Professor (yay Lego Harry Potter), and went to the first outdoor dinner party of the season. Productive, relaxing, and fun.

The food at the party was delicious: roast lamb with mint sauce, oven-roasted purple potatoes, and sauteed mustard greens. However, what keeps haunting me is the ice cream that one of the guests brought for dessert.


I'd never even heard of Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream before yesterday. This made me doubly sad since it opened just a few blocks from one of the offices I used to work for back in my nonprofit days.

We sampled two flavors, Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee and Secret Breakfast. What's so secret about this breakfast? Perhaps it's the toasted cornflakes. Or maybe it's the Jim Beam.

I am not a whiskey person at all. But the combination of creamy sweetness, crispy cereal bits, and bourbon bite had me almost swooning.I'd never had anything like it. Paired with the coffee flavor, it was the perfect decadent breakfast-themed dessert.

I think a visit to my old work-stomping grounds may be in order soon. Check out this list of flavors that Humphry Slocombe offers. I'm so very curious about the Russian Imperial Stout flavor. Or the Peanut Butter Curry. Or Government Cheese. Or...

[Photo by Krista Garcia]

WonderCon 2011

I’m still feeling a bit loopy from a cold that’s had me on the ropes for a few days, so forgive me if I don’t make much sense. Today is my first day wearing real clothes (as opposed to pajamas) since Sunday.

So, aside from sniffling and coughing, what have I been up to? A little of everything: some crafting, some writing, some gaming, some good lifestyle changes. It’s been a busy time.

The pinnacle of the past few weeks was definitely San Francisco’s WonderCon. It boasts the same geeky spectacle as the huge San Diego Comic Con, but on a slightly more manageable scale.

I spent a glorious two days networking with other filmmakers, writers, artists, and crafters. I got to see some great costumes:

Potter Puppet Pals!

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Meet some interesting people:

Lloyd "Troma" Kaufman

The Mistress of the Dark herself.

And shop for some cool stuff:

Spoiled Cherry

The highlight of it all, though, was meeting Max Brooks.



He’s the man responsible for the Zombie Survival Guide, as well as World War Z (one of my favorite books). He gave a great talk. He’s funny, intelligent, geeky, and genuine. The kind of guy you want on your team for pub trivia night.

When I went to Comic Con last year, I gave him a copy of Everything I Needed to Know About Zombies I Learned From the Movies. Honestly, I had half expected he hadn’t watched it.

Imagine my surprise when he said that he had enjoyed it very much. It had creeped him out. It reminded him of an early Romero film, and he could see the passion of the cast and crew behind it. Gathering up my courage, I then asked if he’d be willing to give me a quote for the film. Right there, on the spot, he scrawled one out on the back of the DVD jacket:



Holy crap! My little six minute zombie comedy was not only watched by the man who helped revive the zombie genre, but actually endorsed. I’m still on cloud nine over that! Perhaps it's time for a cover redesign...

It was hard to top that. The rest of the Con was just gravy. Interestingly enough, the second I got into the car to go home Saturday, my voice gave out and I got slammed with the full cold. It's like my body knew it could finally give in and be sick after holding it back for days.

I'm slowly catching up on my writing and other projects. April is officially Script Frenzy month, and I am so far behind. Wish me luck!