Daily Awesome - Painting a Water Color

Here's a painting of a Bunfish. 

Pencil Drawing with initial orange water color on the belly.

Added in the yellow and orange fins.

Blues and greens on the body and ears.

Blended the body colors and finished the back fin.

Added in the background water. 

Finishing details applied with markers. 

In Which Polyurethane is Applied.

Here's a look at the original drawer front and the refinished drawer with the first layer of polyurethane.I need to sand it and apply the second coat before I replace the handle. This was what I completed a few days ago, before the job search binge.

Pretty Awesome
Great news on the Awesome Front - one of  my friends just got a job using a resume which I formatted for her. Obviously, it was her great history and work ethic that actually landed her the job, but it's very satisfying to know I'm providing something valuable.

Fitness
I ran 45 minutes on a treadmill yesterday. I think the longest I've tried before was 25. As usual, the day after working out, I gained 4 pounds which stuck around most of the week. (No, you do not gain four pounds of muscle in one workout.) The Internet says I'm either eating more OR retaining water due to not drinking enough as a rule. I have a calorie tracker that assures me I'm not eating more calories than prior to the I was prior toning class and elliptical running. So, retention it is. I've started drinking a big bottle of water each day. This should convince my body to stop retaining water after work outs. Today, I'm down 2 pounds. Maybe next week, I'll manage a pound less. This time, I won't freak out and quit before the exercise and diet has a chance to work.

I don't really feel like doing much more than cleaning my house today. Maybe I'll put something on the television and finish my pattern today. That would be Awesome.

The Serious Topic of Internet Hygiene

I'm happy to be judged by the content of this blog. I have an intense work ethic, and believe in using idle time to create beautiful and useful things. I want to inspire others and motivate myself. I feel it my duty to remain outwardly positive, even while facing challenges in my life. These are the qualities that I bring to work; any employer should be happy to have such qualities in an employee.

I bring this up because the past few days have been taken up by job searching instead of making. Part of looking for work is making sure one has a positive web-presence. Therefore, I'm conducting the arduous task of scrubbing my timeline on Facebook.

Recently, Facebook started the practice of linking "likes" on pages to articles that the person may not have read, then posting them to friends' pages with the "liker's" name above it. The site is also generating likes for mentions in comments. Potentially, I could end up seeming to "like" something that goes completely against my principles or those of a company that might hire me.

Here's the full story.

Facebook also removed the ability to disallow sharing of photos by friends from my account, a measure I used to prevent photos of me from being seen by others outside my personal network. While I'm not the kind of person who indulges in beer bongs or naked bike rides, I do feel that people should not be judged on what they share with people who know them in context; nor should people be judged by their profile picture, as it reveals your relative age, race, gender and attractiveness. Employers who "check up" on potential job candidates on such sites need a lesson in ethics and law.

So why do I still use it? I enjoy connecting with my far-flung friends and family. I appreciate the ability to create and be invited to events. I like seeing the news of the world in aggregated form. I have troves of wedding pictures that I would otherwise have missed but for my friends sharing on the site. (I download them and remove the tags.) I love following George Takei. It's nice to "crowd source" when I need help on a project. In other words, Facebook is a tool, and it still has some use when used properly.

I'm happy to share the automated techniques I use with anyone who wants to keep their personal life private while not losing the ability to connect. My advice if you use Facebook mainly as a way to connect with your work network; make sure you take precautions. Always be positive. Never complain about work openly. Keep your politics and religion to yourself. Don't assume that "Groups" or limited posts will always be that way. Be professional, because that is the face you are required to put forward.

Back to work.




 

A Watchmaker's Desk

My new acquisition! It's a watchmaker's desk, and it is beautiful! It needs a gentle refinish and some work on the drawers, but is otherwise in great shape. I've passed by this piece many times, and was surprised with an email asking if I'd like to have it to refinish and sell. What luck!

Other than that, I've installed AutoCAD on the freshly partitioned MacBook and all is well. Now to learn how to draw earrings with it. There is a skill worth mastering. Not bad for a day of doing pretty much nothing.

Progress on the Nightstand and Costumes.

Nightstand
Today, we started applying the stain and fixing the bumps in the paint on the nightstand. I'm sanding out the drips, then applying the paint one layer at a time, one side at a time. It's slow progress, but the end should be a laquer-like finish.

This is what the walnut stain looks like. It really brought out the grain of the wood. I got some of the stain on the new drawer side, but it won't be visible so I'll probably leave it.

I'd just started the staining of the bottom while waiting for the inside to dry. This was not a good idea, as stain takes a long time to dry and the white paint dust from sanding kept getting on my hands and its legs.

Costume Pattern
In between coats, I started creating the pattern for my catsuit. The 2 costumes I am making will be modifications of the basic pattern. Hopefully, I'll want to head downstairs to the workshop again tomorrow.

Sort of Awesome
Yesterday, I partitioned the hard drive on a MacBook Pro. I don't recommend trying this if you want to keep your sanity. I pulled it off eventually, but the entire project was horribly complex - not just partitioning, but downloading Windows from the school store, moving things to discs, backing things up, creating the partition and finally installing CAD. This is actually the tail-end of a months long project intended to make our lives easier. It was a total headache. I wish I could feel accomplished, but really, I just feel relieved.

Fitness
I found an app for my phone that tracks calories for the day and tells me how many I have left. It even gives me more if I exercise. It's called MyFitnessPal, and I like it so far. My goal is to have my costumes be too big by the time I wear them. We'll see if it works.

That's all for today. I'm off to eat some injera.

The Daily Awesome - The Store Exists and Contains Items

My cold seems to be almost gone.

The Store
Behold! Konkolova Etsy Store! 

Since the pricing is all done on the cardboard versions, I've posted them to the Etsy store. If you are interested in the acrylic or wood versions, they will be up as soon as we make a batch and I photograph the results. I already have the prices for these if my fair readers are interested.

Health
Jon and I signed up for "Total Toning" classes today and will start next week. Goals, we have them.

Costumes/Sewing
I sent a panel request to a local convention to force a deadline for a costume. I've wanted to make this for awhile:

I believe I could take the same pattern and make some nice work shirts, one of the goals I've made for the year. I've been looking for some inspiration that I could turn into a concept. I believe I'll try this. Pattern for this and the bunny suit to follow. 

That's all for today. 

The Daily Awesome - Yesterday, a Cat Suit.

Yesterday, I helped a friend convert a standard body suit pattern into a great imitation of Black Widow's (Avengers). The project will be completed by the friend. Still, the test fit made it clear the pattern was successfully altered, so I call that an awesome. I didn't take a progress photo, but will post the finished costume once it's done.