Geeky Cute Crochet

Cutest little electric rat pocket monster ever!

What do you make?
I mostly make amigurumi. That’s the Japanese term for a crocheted or knitted stuffed toy. I’m pretty terrible at knitting, so all of my toys are crocheted. I’m also a digital artist, so I sell printed charms of my artwork.

Who are you and/or how did you get started?
I’m a 26 year old college graduate who wanted something fun and relaxing to do after work. I was a Flash animator at the time, so all day I was glued to a computer screen. I felt like after a long day at work I needed a craft project I could work on in the evenings, something to keep me from getting bored. So after browsing the internet for ideas I discovered the world of amigurumi. I asked my mom to show me the basics of crochet, and after that I read books, online tutorials, and just experimented with yarn. Once I amassed a pile of plush I realized that I might have to start selling them and share my cute creations with the world.

Gir! Only, cute and squishy!

What do you geek out about?
There are so many things! I love video games, anime, manga, cartoons, toys, board games, and cute things. Specifically I love Portal 1 and 2, Pokemon, anything by Hayao Miyazaki, Nintendo in general, and old Disney movies. I’m a general kind of geek, so I have a love for Android, Adobe, classic cars, sc-fi and fantasy movies, craft beers (we’re brewing some right now!), culinary arts, Star Trek, Star Wars, playing cool indie games (BattleBlock Theater!), and lots more I’m sure! I’m also a cosplayer, so I love going to conventions and hanging out with geeks like me.

Well, there you have it. Real geeks making cute, plush toys. This is why we love Etsy, right? Here, have a companion cube.

Fly away little Companion Cube; you were a good friend.

As you can see, it’s not just an amazing collection, it’s amazing nostalgia. I know that I played many of these NES games as a kid (and well into high school) and it’s fun to watch these reviews and remember playing these games.

Why It’s Fun

He’s literally going through every game. Every. Game. That means that he’s got a review for the unquestionably awesome Bad Dudes (The President has been kidnapped by ninjas!) and also Barbie. I don’t think I even knew there was a Barbie NES game! The reviews are pretty quick, which I appreciate being awfully busy most of the time. If you just want a quick burst of nostalgia or a rapid decision while wandering through a flea market or garage sale as to whether you should pick up a particular NES game, you can get it from Heavy Metal Gaming.

How To Follow

Heavy Metal Gaming is mainly the YouTube channel that you can subscribe to. He’s working his way through alphabetically and we’re only in the B’s, so there is plenty of entertainment to come. There’s also a Facebook page to check out for updates.

I leave you with Battletoads.

Sherbet. Photo by gohomekiki.

I’m sure you are familiar with these terms and have seen a variety of cold, summer items that seem to fall under the definition of at least one of these two items. They are usually fruity, icy, and smooth. The question here, though, is what’s the difference?

The difference is legend … wait for it … dairy! That’s right, milk, cream, cow stuff. That’s what really matters. Both items contain fruit or other flavors, they contain ice, they contain sugar. However, sherbet contains dairy and sorbet does not.

Mmmm, strawberry sorbet. Photo by Ben Brophy

Some other interesting notes: sorbet can also be made with alcohol as the flavoring instead of fruit juice. I may be testing out bourbon sorbet this summer. Sorbet is similar to Italian ice, but Italian ice is typically whipped to contain more air. Sherbet (which is almost always pronounced sherbert and can technically be spelled that way as well) contains 1-3% dairy, which is far less than ice cream, but enough to make a for a smooth, creamy texture. It’s also a North American term, because in the UK sherbet is a fizzy drink.

I know it’s been pretty hot in some parts of the country (though not by me, but I’m totally cool with that!), so go enjoy some sherbet or sorbet, and now you’ll be certain of what you’re eating!

Biggest tomato tree (yes, I said tree) ever. Photo by Joel Kramer

Well, it turned out that Disney not only had greenhouses in which they grew food, food that was actually served in the restaurants in The Land Pavilion and in EPCOT, but that they gave behind the scenes tours of them. When I was about twelve (if I remember correctly), we first found out about the Behind the Seeds tour, although back then I don’t think it even had such a fancy name. You had to go to the shop and ask about it, all hidden and sneaky-like. Very few people knew about the tours and I believe most of the ones I went on only had 3-5 people.

Hydroponic lettuce, also, a hidden Mickey! Another photo by Joel

I learned a ton from those tours. I learned about using natural options instead of pesticides like wasps and ladybugs to help get rid of plant-eating aphids. I learned how they make Cinderella shaped pumpkins. I learned why you plant legumes and grains together. I also learned about hydroponics, or soil-free growing. Disney has one of the most interesting hydroponics systems. They have a number of vertical growing columns with irrigation inside of them. They have systems that spray water and nutrients directly on free-hanging roots. Really, their whole hydroponics room is a young biologists dream for innovation and experimentation.

Vertical root-hanging fun! Photo by Sam Howzit

Of course, I had to stop going on the tours eventually. For one thing, they have become quite popular and can be hard to get into without planning early in the day. The second thing, however, is that as I became a more educated biologist, I started asking questions that they couldn’t answer. Now that I have a PhD, I probably should just ride the Living With the Land ride and stay out of the tours!

Rosemary is for remembrance … of my awesome Disney greenhouse tours! Photo by Benjamin Reed

It’s interesting that now I belong to a farm share program where the farm grows mostly using hydroponic methods. I went to see their farm, and was able to really intelligently talk about crop growth with the owners. Considering that botany is overall my weakest area in biology, I was pretty impressed with me. Thanks Disney!

Image from Wikipedia.

If you’ve studied medicine, the name Mikulicz-Radecki might sound familiar. Maybe that’s because you’ve heard of one of the many terms that are his namesake, such as Mikulicz Syndrome, Mikulicz Disease, Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty, or Mikulicz’s cells.

If you’re not familiar, this doctor helped to develop many great techniques used in modern surgery. Much of his work was done on digestive organs – being the first to restore part of the esophagus, and also to suture a gastric ulcer. In addition, Mikulicz-Radecki improved upon the gastroscope and esophagoscope.

A modern surgeon.
Image by VishalKapoorMD on Flickr.

The coolest thing about the 163 year-old, Polish-Austrian doctor was that he invented the gauze mask and was the first surgeon to use gloves. So not only did he add some great developments to medical procedures, but also to safety. He was a huge proponent of antiseptics.

Born Johann Freiherr von Mikulicz-Radecki in the Austrian Empire, in what is today Ukraine, the doctor wasn’t into only the medical field. In fact, he was an amateur piano player, and a good friend of composer Johannes Brahams. After his father wouldn’t support his medical dream, the doctor paid for his schooling by giving lessons on the piano and organ. Into science and music? How cool, just like our own Rosalind.

Zelda’s costume doesn’t change excessively throughout the series, with a couple exceptions. Mostly, you can find her in the same style of dress, making her fashion statements pretty easy to pick out. However, this also makes it difficult to pull inspiration from the Princess without going full out cosplay. Here’s how to make it work.

A Link to Color

Zelda’s color palette has always been in the pink and purple family. Although her dress has a few different incarnations, these colors tend to be dominant, so stick to them. White, gold, and blue occasionally show up as well but should only be accent colors.

Tribal Force

The “apron” part on the front of the Hylian’s dress is covered with tribal patterns – especially the all important Tri Force. Take a little inspiration from this by choosing one piece of clothing to wear a patterned textile.

Sacred Realms

The Princess accents certain parts of her body, most notably her waist and neck-shoulder area. Although she does this with belts and fancy jewels, you can achieve a similar effect just by picking garments that draw the eye to your choice locations.

Accessory Shards

Triangles rule in Hyrule, especially when it comes to picking out jewels inspired by Zelda. Stick to a pink and gold color scheme to be as traditional as possible. For make-up, simple is key. Zelda’s eyes always stand out, so a black liner across the top is a good idea. Otherwise, go with nudes and natural tones.

Hyrule the Runway

This dressy look fits perfectly in Zelda’s color scheme with the pink tank and skirt and purple scarf. The white jacket brings the eye upward, and golden accessories allow you to accent your waist and neck effectively.

Ocarina of Timeless

For a more simple inspiration, this cute purple skirt and pink belt pull from Zelda’s palette. The designed sleeves of the blouse accent your neck and shoulder area, and a gold cuff with a pink jewel really gives you that Zelda look.

So far, I think this has been the fashion post closest to my own personal style, which made it a lot of fun! However, I want to write these for all of you. Tell me which geeky heroines you’d love to raid the closet of, and I’ll tell you how!

Watch out for Science! Photo by Pascal

Scientists Use Words Funny

As scientists, we’ve redefined many words that you think you know. My personal favorite is “theory”. In plain English, theory is usually an idea about how something might work. In science, however, a theory is an explanation that has been tested rigorously over time. You can see how this causes no end of confusion. “Law” is another good one, at least when talking with mathematicians or physicists, because they probably mean a fundamental rule of nature and not something that communities agree to follow. When we say “research” we probably mean experimentation, not using the library (that’s a literature search) and when we say “sources” we mean other scientists published research, and very rarely the internet. Our “Doctors” probably have PhDs and not MDs. When we say “significant” we can back that up statistically with a p-value (of 0.05 or less).

How can you handle this? Well, ask for definitions if you think there is a musunderstanding. To help you out, here is a list of even more words that scientists use funny from our friends at Southern Fried Science.

Scientists Question Everything

It’s not that we don’t trust you. Really! In fact, one of the highest compliments I can pay someone is to say, “can I see your sources” because it means that I think you are intelligent enough to have good sources. However, I still need to see them. There is no such thing as taking someone’s word in science, there is only data, experiments, and peer-reviewed literature. I may question what seems like something really simple to you. I may also try to take what seems like an obvious process and take the time to break it down into it’s component parts and be certain that I know how exactly each one works.

I had to include one of my favorite crazy scientists!

So, how can you handle this? If you are talking with a scientist, never assume something is a personal attack. Sheldon might get quite indignant with different ideas, but most of us are just out to get to the bottom of the debate and not out to destroy someone. I just want to know for certain! You can also feel okay to say, “hey, let’s look that up.” Most scientists, when presented with the evidence, will concede the point.

Scientists Get Excited About Their Research

Do not ask me a question about stream microbiology unless you want to be having a conversation for the next half hour at minimum. There’s just so much cool information and so few people know about it! As a scientists, I want to educate others; I want to disseminate the facts. When I’m on my topic, it’s something that I know a ton about and it’s often hard to filter effectively when there’s just so much great stuff to talk about.

I suppose I mention him, I should throw in a picture.

How can you handle this? Well, you could just learn what topics to avoid around your local scientist, but really, you never know what might set them off. Most of us don’t realize what we’re doing. It’s just geeking out but I know I usually get lost in the excitement and jargon without realizing it. You can just agree, nod along, and let it roll. You can also try one of my favorite lines to slow it all down: “that is beyond the scope of my understanding”. Scientists like “scope” and we don’t mean mouthwash!

Scientists Are People Too

Basically, I just want you know that even though we tend to talk funny and get excited about silly things and ask too many seemingly unimportant questions, we just want to hang out and be friends! So, thats how to talk with your friendly, local scientist. We’re not all Sheldon, I promise.

*As tends to happen in our music posts, not everything this group sings about is appropriate for either work or children. Actually, it’s mostly not, but it’s still hilarious. Please use discretion, as laughing loudly might distract co-workers.*

Images from Garfunkel and Oates official gallery.

The first song I heard by the duo was Pregnant Women Are Smug. And yes, they really are that blunt with all of their lyrics and song titles. While that should have been enough, it actually took me a little longer to discover the rest of their library.

A well-planned geeky Pandora station kept leading me back to these extremely talented women, and I’m so glad. Here’s a few songs and lyrics I think you need to be made aware of:

“You’re a sand-filled desert without a mirage
You’re a Honda Accord in a parking garage
You’re camouflage on camouflage
You’re a dumb white guy on entourage
You’ve chosen no form of expression
Yet expect to make an impression”
- I Don’t Know Who You Are

“Okay, okay, so my boyfriend’s gay
But what does it matter anyway?
He hasn’t come out of the closet yet
‘Til then, I’ll take all that I can get”
- Gay Boyfriend

Awesome, right? Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci make up this awesome duo. If you’re not already following Garfunkel and Oates, I recommed following Riki Lindholm’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. For more information, be sure to give their website a visit as well.

Playing paintball with masks and guns and way more skin showing than I would have! Picture by Michael Neel

The Maps

There are a lot of different fields on which to play paintball. Our location had a ton of different set-ups. There were ones with lots of fences of varying heights and widths to stand behind. There were ones with different sized houses with doors and windows. One had a large fort-like building in the middle of the woods. Another had a small building at one end and a whole bunch of teepees. There was a lot of mud. That’s the one thing about console/PC FPS games – way less mud.

An example of a field with little buildings to hide behind and windows to shoot through. Picture by Top Rank Online Marketing

Game Type

We mostly played team against team. For the fort in the woods and the teepee maps, we played attack and defend. There are apparently a number of ways to determine what a hit is in paintball. Some people play one-hit kills, where if you get hit anywhere, including your gun, you’re dead. We played kill shots meaning that we had to get hit in the chest, back, or head before you were dead. This makes games go a little longer, but it means that you get hit a lot more overall since you can get slammed in the leg or arm and just keep going.

Just a note – paintballs hurt. If you ever go, wear clothes, thick clothes, that cover most of your body. I did that, and I still have quite a fwe good bruised welts. Also, my fingers got hit a few times. Those are going to be pretty red, black, and blue tomorrow. However, when you get hit, you get an adrenaline rush and that often masks a lot of the pain so that you just keep going.

A welt from a paintball hit. I have about ten of these right this moment! Picture by David Haberthur

We also played a few games with a respawn element. During the teepee-attack building-defend game, the attackers were allowed to walk back and tag up on the back wall when hit and then come back into play. Although, sometimes it was hard to tell who was in or out at certain points. This type of playing was more like Halo, except instead of time, we had objectives to end the rounds, whereas the version with kills is more like Counter-Strike, where killed players simply watch the remainder of the game.

Why I’d Paintball Again

It was way more fun than you might think considering that people are shooting at your with little balls of paint that not only hurt and bruise but also leave paint all over your clothes. At our place, they called it “hurting each other safely” and I think that was about a good description. However, there’s also a lot of strategy involved. You can’t stand in one place sort of behind a barrier and shoot randomly, no one will ever get hit. Therefore, you have to make effective use of peeking and communicate with each other about where the other team is. I was pretty good at both cover fire and drawing fire. Basically, I’m a terrible shot and move too slowly, but I can totally stick my gun out and fire! Although, I had a few really good shots on people over the course of the games!

Looks like fun, right! Picture by heymarchetti

Paintball is definitely not for everyone. Unless you can invest in some serious armor or you are okay with some pretty serious pain and bruising at the end of the day, you probably should go with just watching. However, as long as you are with the right group, it can be a really fun teamwork type of experience. I describe it as FPS LARPing, and I think that’s about right, and even though I don’t play very many FPSs (even if I did grow up on the original Wolfenstiein). If you like the idea of shooting up your friends with paint, hey, give it a try! How else can you get a bunch of nerds to play in the woods together for 5-6 hours? I had a blast!

Polarizers are generally used to minimize reflections and create that gorgeous deep blue daytime sky. However, understanding what a polarizing filter actually does means that you can use one to create interesting effects to your images.

Polarizing filters block out light from certain directions. Light waves oscillate in more than one orientation, and the filter prevents some of these light waves. While this may seem counterintuitive to photography (which is literally drawing with light), it in fact works to clean up some of the extraneous light in a scene.

When I was learning microscopy, we used a technique called cross-polarization. This involved two linear polarizing filters perpendicular to one another. Alone, these would block out all light, leaving you with just a blank image. However, if you place the subject between the filters, it can create beautiful patterns and colors.

The coolest part about this technique is that it’s not totally limited to microscopy. We also used it for photomacrography, but I see no reason that with the right filters you couldn’t use the technique in any situation.

Here’s some example images utilizing polarization:

Image by Jason Dunnivant on Flickr.

Image by Imajilon on Flickr.

Image by RIT Cyber Politics on Flickr.

Image by Imajilon on Flickr.

Image by kevinzim on Flickr.

Image by Leo-Seta on Flickr.

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