I've accomplished another lap around the sun, and the children have kept with tradition by writing and singing my annual birthday song.

Every year since they were in the third grade my kids (more accurately, my daughters with some help from my sons) write a parody song making fun of me and how old/gray/geeky I am. It is referred to as my "birthday song". Every year my daughters perform it in front of everyone at the church Youth Group meeting that week and a written transcript of the lyrics is part of my birthday card. It's probably because of too much Smothers Brothers and Weird Al in the playlists while they were growing up or something.

Here's a short but memorable example of what I'm talking about from many years ago (sung to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic):

Mine eyes have seen the glory of Mom's hair turning gray
We have scraped at every nerve and put them on display
We've stomped on all her Halo skills and fragged her every day
and her hair's still turning gray....

It can seem mean written out like that but it's all in good fun, and they work on it for a good couple months leading up my birthday. They take it seriously and they all work together. I love that they make the effort and how creative they are with it. I do my part by pretending to be stung a bit because they'd be disappointed if I didn't, but it's really hard to hide the smiles.

Mostly they're from Disney songs or classic musicals like "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Life", "At the Desk Where You Live", or a remake of the "Part of Your World" song from The Little Mermaid detailing all the computer crap I own and how I should go out to mall. There's a Muppets song in there, too.

This year was a tear jerker, full stop. I'm so incredibly grateful for all of my kids. No matter how little I think I deserve it, they love me and that is a gift I treasure above all others.  

The title of the song is a Firefly reference combined with a sly commentary on how one of the main parameters of this one was to make me cry in front of people. Which it did.

Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal
Sung to the tune of James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go"

You took us to the park,
tucked us in bed.
Pulled up the covers, gave a kiss on the head.
Sweet dreams turned night to day,
and it starts again.
I smile remembering it every now and then.

We were always driving you crazy.
You'd be dead if we weren's so lazy.
We've put your patience to the test.
Even if you're memory's hazy,
we've been thinking about it lately.
We know you always tried your best.

We still remember them,
The rules you made.
Don't pet the pizza and no homemade grenades.
Although those times have gone,
and reasons fade,
Those stories stay with us like they were yesterday.

I've never felt alone...
I've never felt alone...

Fast forward to the years,
we lost our minds.
Pressure to be someone that wouldn't be left behind.
You told us we should just,
give it some time.
Ourselves are something that everyone has to find.

Sometimes I think it's better,
to treasure the things we remember.
Even things we wanted to forget.
But I know time spent together,
won't always last forever.
So I won't bother to regret.

When we were young we thought,
the world revolved,
around our problems that were typical and small.
The mountains that we made,
of molehills gone,
all I can say is that I'm glad we've all moved on.

I've never felt alone...
I've never felt alone...

Thank you for being there.
We could never know,
How hard it was for you, not to let it show.
Frustrating as we were,
you helped us grow.
And we'll be here for your until we're gray and old.

You took us to the park,
tucked us in bed.
Pulled up the covers, gave a kiss on the head.
I've never felt alone....
I've never felt alone....

I know I'm not alone....
We've never felt alone....

They're back at their own homes and it's quiet here. I've been typing this in with a dewy smile on my face and I really don't mind. Now I'm a year older in the only way I want to measure it.

I've been making art for years and my friends and family have finally convinced me to start selling some of it. Here are some examples of some of the ceramics I've done. I'm open to any commissions -- just let me know what kind of piece you're interested in, and your budget.

These are not just painted with acrylics.  They're painted with glazes, over-glazed with a clear coat and then fired.  Once they're fired they're microwave and top-rack dishwasher safe.  I've attached some examples here in a gallery, but the sky's the limit.

I have my first project off at the kiln right now, and I have a 6" steampunk compass rose tile trivet and a very large coffee cup with moose on it already lined up. 

If you want a piece for holiday gifting, let me know. The more lead time I have on a given piece the more open  I can be to really intricate projects.

I've been working hard on a new design for this site.  Not just the code, but the way I'm doing this and what exactly am I trying to accomplish.

It's not perfect yet.  But at least it doesn't look like a refugee from GeoCities anymore, and it behaves itself on most devices.  I'll take that as a win, and build from here.

It's Quiz Night, so just a quick roundup.  

-- I'm trying to catch up with the times, user interface tools-wise, as I'm working on what I want to do with this space as I make my changes. Before I even get to actual new code, I've stumbled on a different issue. I've found I hate the "new" look & feel I'm being told is what everyone wants. I'm not talking about my personal fondness for a given color or what have you - I'm talking about functionality. They're difficult to navigate, they bury information in stupid ways, and are so information-sparse as to be useless.  I will write up my concerns in more detail as I think this through in my own-right.  There's got to be a way to design that makes a better compromise between the bigger grain of the touch-interface and the rest of the computing world.

​-- We have our first introduction class to the SnoCo Maker Space on Saturday.  We're going to get the low-down on the new large-format laser-cutter.  I've already chosen a project to print off once it's done.  I found a pattern for a small rigid-heddle table loom that looks like an awesome starting point.

We joined SnoCo Makerspace last week, and we've been in heavy planning mode ever since.

​In case you don't know what they are, a makerspace is basically a gym for crafty stuff.  Just like you join your local gym for their Nautilus equipment for you to use, we joined this because they have 3d printers, CNC machines, laser cutters, welding equipment, woodworking tools, and all manner of other useful stuff as well as a space setup to use them correctly and safely.  The community part is going to be nice, too.

​They are big on safety, and you're not allowed to use a kind of equipment until you've taken one of their classes on that particular stuff to prove you know what you're doing. I like that. 

​So I'm working with Claire to come up with some plans for a few things to start off with, and we're going to get to making!

I've been working on a new look and feel for this website, and I've finally reached a point where I'm somewhat happy about it. 

It's not perfect. There's still too much in the way of manual monkeying with it required, but at least it doesn't look like a refugee from Geocities anymore.  ;)

I'm rearranging my living space, and that means I've got everything all in a kerfubble.

​It's always the thing.  It works like one of those sliding tile puzzles.  To move the couch, I've got to move the table. To move the table, I've got to get that cabinet moved and setup.  To setup and move it, I've got to get the wall behind where it's going to be painted.... 

​It just keeps going.  

​There's a term often used for this -- yak shaving.  It comes from a comedian who described a day where he started off trying to clean his room, and ended up, step by step, shaving a yak.  

​I'll know this out.  Hopefully before I end up in Nepal.  ;)

Realism is always a struggle for me with props-making.  My philosophy has always been it's easier to actually do something than fake it.  So, for example, when I do mail I do historically accurate mail with actual metal rings as much as possible. 

​But sometimes, it's just not a thing that works in today's world. I've got some briar wood and hawthorn wood, and I was looking at making some Harry Potter wands.  They're described as a type of wood, with a core of something fantastic.  That's where it gets interesting. 

​My plan is to take whatever I choose to use for the core and cast it in resin and put that in a hole drilled into the butt of the wand. I have a bit of hawthorn stripped and I've begun planning it's ornamentation. But what to use for the core material?

Dragon's heartstring is obviously not real, but how close to it do I go?  Believe it or not, a heartstring is actually a thing.  There are tendons that help manage the valves and whatnot in a heart, and those are what we traditionally refer to has heartstrings.  If I wanted to go as realistic as possible, I could try to find a way to get my hands on the cardiac tendons of a lizard. But I'm not going to murder something just for this.  

Should I use heart strings from another animal?  I could get a beef heart at the store, butcher them out of it and dry them. Or would any tendon work?  I have some actual moose sinew from a repair project on a pair of Native Alaskan beaded mukluks. ​Or should I say bag this nonsense entirely and use a bit of stretched chamois, with some strategic dye to make it look like a hunk of tendon? 

The silly bit is no one will see this unless they break the wand. It's my own sense of aesthetics that is driving the entire internal debate. 

(I had a long post here, but my editor ate it. I'll re-write it at a sane hour. In the meantime, here's the picture.)

I'm thinking seriously about making a version of this for my office wall with a pretty monogram pattern I have.  ;)