You are Smithington and I claim my five pounds

Part Two-

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:33:16 GMT

http://cephalopug.blogspot.com/

I don't know if anyone's reading this story or not, but I'm still posting the rest of the parts. Keep in mind you're reading this story AS it's being made and all parts are subject to change. In other words, I JUST made part two up. right now. and i have no clue what happens in part three yet.

Two-Thousand and Nine Ashvillian Nights

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:29:05 GMT

a lot of people have been cursing 2009... and if i remember right they cursed 2008 too, "so long crappy year, hello new shiny year!" .... what happened?? year not good to you?? i predict come next december you'll curse 2010 as well.... perhaps you overlook all the good things and focus on the fact that your sick of the this year and want a fresh one when it didn't really treat you so bad after all.
Or maybe it really was a bad year for you and i'm just rubbing it in....
who knows...
it was pretty good for me!
For 15 years i had no "best friends" just those people you know but never talk to/hangout with. Last year i made some friends to talk to, but they were all... well, i say "famous" but anyway, yes I talk to them from time to time and through them, this year, i made "Best Friends" I see them that way i sure hope they see me that way <3

apart from that i got a new violin, i escaped a soul-draining job, i discovered the college course i'll be taking this year (a-b tech's ass. in fine arts .... HAHAHA!! ass.....) me and my dad organized a Lemming Malloy/Hellblinki concert and a Stempunk festival complete with fashion show, costume contest, jewelry vendors, Hellblinki and pole dancers.
My brother got engaged, started a-b tech's medical lab tech. course, and just today got approved for an apartment.

Of course dragon*con this year was one of the greatest weekends ever. Met some strangers at the concerts who, for a couple hours, were lovely dance partners, even the drunk ones were nice! (and was once again 'hit-on' by Voltaire, even after congradulating him on engagement ;)
No major illness, no injuries, no cancer returns in this family.
We may have lost our german shepherd mix of 13 years, but we gained a steampug by the name of Tesla (you know, the curly tail being the tesla coil =D )

not a lot goes on in my life... so this is a LOT.
Hope you have a fantabulous '10~

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:46:14 GMT

josh got an apartment his fiance will move into with him when they get married in may, but the part i'm excited about is that he can't take his tekken tag tournament arcade game or his crested gecko with him!!

Tekken tournament at my place!... you can pet my brother's lizard. =O

You love criticizing me, dontcha?

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:37:00 GMT

Than do it here:
http://cephalopug.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-awful-writing-continues.html

I've been working on a story and while the opening line itself might be alright the opening as a whole kinda rushes in to what happen, very little is explained and... I'm not sure if that makes it good and suspenseful or lame and boring...
mind telling me the truth?? :)

because a lot of it is to be answered and sorted out soon after, but we all know if you're annoyed by a story toward the start there's less of a chance you'll want to finish it... you know?

Merry Cthulhumas!

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:02:53 GMT

Who wants a morbid christmas card?? msg me your address! (and I can give you mine too, if you wanna send me one.) <3

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:20:22 GMT

oh yeah... i have a livejournal....
hummmmmm......
uh...

...

I found this on ebay:

and uh...

nope, that's it.

bye.

oh noes, she's been "thinking" again...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:31:53 GMT

on days like this i have a lot of free time.
which means i have time to think.
usually i'll think of something like philosophy, life, death, all that boring crap.
which is also usually defeated by blasting a little Dr Steel an then I can get back to being fun!
today I've had free time to think about goth.
I wish I could share all my recent discoveries and epiphanies, but that'd take days to type up (I'm a fast thinker) and I'd probably forget the majority of it
anyway, the one thought that stood out to me today is "there are the goths that wear ankhs and then there are the goths who know what they are" </only half metaphorical>
basically branching off of "people that say "I'll wear this, it looks cool, it's goth, what fun!" and the people that care a bit less about the fashion and appearance and more about the mindset and meanings of things. Especially things considered classically goth"
or maybe even the things that aren't considered goth but probably should be? things that are influences and meaningful that have gone overlooked or forgotten...
Maybe that doesn't make sense to you, you might have to know all the other thoughts that buzzed around in order for it to.

but it never fails, i always return to the same thought, no matter the subject (steampunk, goth, even "art" sometimes) it's just a word.
what does it do? well like all words it has a meaning, a definition, and like some words that meaning or definition is arguable. Or there are multiple that can coexist and it can be many things at once and still fit in. 10 pounds can be £10, 10 hits, 10 lb, etc. but what is all of this doing relying on a word. You don't build a mansion on an old, rotting pier. Maybe the pier is called "foundation" or you were told it was a strong foundation or maybe you just like the way the pier looked, a lot of other people like that pier, but would you really live in that heavy mansion?? It's not right. You would build it on a strong foundation, where maybe the foundation isn't as popular as the pier, it's stronger, it can be put where you want it, you can make it your own, and you have nothing to fear, no worry of fitting into the pier. </full on metaphorical>
figure it out? the mansion is your goth (steampunk, artistic, etc.) lifestyle. The pier is the word goth (steampunk, art, etc) Maybe your house is small enough to fit on he pier. go for it. it's a lovely view. but the larger and more hardcore your lifestyle the more dangerous it is to try to fit on the pier.
it's cool. you can name your foundation "Goffy" if you wish, you can name it whatever you want. and hey, you can still visit the pier and hangout with the other goth kids there, but what's the use of a word if it's going to be so shaky?

(a friend sent me these pics, said they're from http://www.blackwaterfall.com/viewall.php )

Now, boys and girls, it's time to go get "What is Goth?" by Voltaire and "Gothic Charm School" by Jillian Venters (?)
Both amazing and if you're still shaky about the meaning of Goth, Voltaire's book CAN help! and i understand this post CAN sound a little bit anti-goth (the word "goth" that is) and it ISN'T please, know that! I will continue to use the word goth, even to define myself as I do steampunk, too. this is an observation of a simple "word" meaning so much more than what it defines, and that maybe that's wrong, that we rely too much on the words and labels and forget what it is sometimes.

VGCats. They has it right again. Gamers.

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:09:48 GMT

the truth!
Clicky clicky! make big!
Gamers! I remember being a gamer! i remember paying real games. then.... I'm not sure what a viva pinata is, or who cooking mama is, but it doesn't look... like real games...

just rambling...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:56:29 GMT

I've spammed my usual sites enough today and yesterday, I thought I'd take it out on LJ
so these are just things.
My friends = amazing (that's you guys, too)
i must never ever again underestimate free middle eastern music! \m/ er... *shimmy* er, something....
we have the blog up for SPATS, but not much on it
yesterday REPO! turned 1 year old! (hence the celebratory userpic)
we're meeting next week to discuss Firestorm cafe and books (@ firestorm) wanting to redecorate "Victorian fairytale" style- in other words... you guessed it. and they want our help- they said something about the Asheville skyline with airships docked to monuments and such.
Fun fun!
we met last night at chameleon's, got some planning and job-assigning done for SPATSFEST 2011 (yes it's over a year away, in January)
I'm in charge of (but not soloing I hope) decor and con-stuff: badges, handouts, lanyards, swag, etc.
I'm also leading the Dr Steel Toy Soldier Recruitment then, too
We want Abney Park to play, we do not know how possible that is, given all other specs of the event I'd say not very.
we will almost DEFFINATELY have Hellblinki, we can't not have them and aether knows they love the crap outta our events we pull together.

OH!

speaking of Hellblinki!!
Wednesday is Hellblinki's 10th birthday! There's an ALL AGES show at Rocket Club at 7 or 7:30 i forget.... with PUPPETS!!!!
I am SO there!

good bye.

(p.s. the guy with the puppets has the worlds coolest shoes- patchwork boots. I need those boots. he was at victorian uprising, sadly not with puppets. We gotta him in whatever we throw next!!)

(p.p.s we're eating pancakes tonight.
pancakes made with Egg Nog instead of milk. *droooooool*

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:49:45 GMT

i know i haven't been the world's best etsy seller, and it's been foreveh since i listed anything, but I'm now taking custom hairclip orders! Leather color, styles (which I'll be making a chart of) and a small charge (50 cents!) for extra additions: ones you might have seen before on me are watch faces, zippers, feathers, clock hands, and other little random bits, really any little things I find that i think would look alright sticking out of a hairclip.

Just thought I'd let this out and when I get some time, I'll make some charts, an inventory of my supply stock, and lists of what all can be used and make the listings for hairclips, and seperate 50 cent listings for add-ons

can I ask you something??

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:01:41 GMT

I'm a bit busy with NaNoWriMo to do it this month, so it would have to wait until later...

I went a very lovely half rant/half argumentative editorial article of observations about "post-metal" just now.
It reminded me of the LOVELY articles I used to write in middle school. The school's first ever paper (i.e. newspaper with articles written by students as opposed to the one sheet "newsletter" on "recycled paper" (the stuff that got messed up in the printer so they used the other side for their newsletters)) came out about half way through my last year there. We made one a month so I only got to make like 4 or 5 papers but I made MANY more articles. My teacher loved them! I kick brass at this kind of crap! It's fiction I suck at. Anyhow, I REALLY missed doing that crap and thought "I could still write them, it'd just be pointless" well it's a little less pointless if I posted them online... I have a blogspot I've not used but on or two posts and this, which isn't doing a lot either.

So I ask you question now!! Should I post them here (and they be here together WITH any other personal/sharing posts I make) or put them on the blogspot?? (where they wouldn't bother you if you didn't care too much about them, which I don't expect you to, but if you did, they'd be far away!)

So what do you think???
It's not like I have an amazing list of friends to show off here either, just thought posting them would make the feeling of making these articles a little less pointless, you know?? I'm mainly making them for me, honing skills further; getting some writing done can't be a bad thing for my poor little minuscule hardly-existent poorly-executed skills that people inexplicably continue to compliment.

Sepiachord cd

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:10:33 GMT

This.
You need it.

http://www.sepiachord.com/cdannounce.htm

forgot all about ordering it and it arrived today.
Wonderful, pleasent surprise in a very crappy day.

I resign from Halloween!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:00:00 GMT

So if I hadn't said it already, i want you to know I hate the universe.
We're all adults here (well, except for me technically, but not my point)
Nature is always waiting until I have a nice big project to work on and BAM! Once again victim to something my male friends can't help but mock. I want them to try it out for month see how they like it. ... ANYHOOO! Since... THAT happened AND the party I was going to got canceled ~~and there was no chance in hades I was going to be able to finish my "costume"~~ I decided to resign from Halloween altogether this year. Sure, I'll wear black and listen to goth rock and eat candy, but that's not a holiday for me, that's everyday
...
(okay, did not originally mean to reference Ministry, but now that song's stuck in my head)
SO in my boredom and lack of plans I'm getting some serious movie watching out of the way before NaNoWriMo hits!
(btw I finished the outline for my story Mythopoeia! There's zombies and witch doctors and vampires and steampunk technology in an alternate 1876! Fun!)
First up for movies is Tank Girl then Time Bandits then... I don't know what after that, I'll have o see what Josh has that I haven't seen, point is I'll be catching up on the times, man! Maybe Rocky Horror if I can! =O

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:30:16 GMT

What I love about geekiness is that I can still be goth. Very few things mix with goth. It's a strange, fragrant oil, where most thinks are shallow, uinterestingly-cluttered water and geek is the worlds best emulsifier.

Surfactants = love.

(a point I made on Facebook inspired by a shirt I saw that read "%20 The Final Frontier" and the fact that I GET that makes me a nerd, no? And the fact that I LOVE that makes me a geek, no??)
Oh please tell me YOU get it!
%20...
Anybody??
COME ON!
(and I chose that userpic because, well, anyone who know V knows he's a total geek!! <3 )

HA!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:37:36 GMT

Dog Tag

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:45:34 GMT

Long story short, I had a bit if a "Job Rant" on facebook.
Here's how it ended.
A happy ending! =D

"so in times like these I grasp the dog tag (and newly acquired guitar pick) hanging around my neck. What once was a reminder of a promise to learn an instrument has turned into a reminder that I can do anything.
Just *one more* reason I have to thank the amazing people of Abney Park for.
Maybe they don't know it, but the way things work, how small things affect more, bigger things, it's all their doing."

Frak, this thing is always going to be important, isn't it?? :)
probably the quickest I could sum this up is it has to do with a talk I had with Robert at D*C in 08. Oh there's much much much more to it, but we don' want to be here all day, do we??

Oh, do you not know?? Yeah, You can pick out the majority of the importance in that paragraph but (if my math is right) this is day 406 of wearing it. Don't look at me like I'm obsessed fangirl! Well, I am, but there's reason I wear it, is basically what I'm saying. =D

*Edit:
Okay, I'll throw in a couple more details, cos they're a little important
it's major that I learn violin because I give up on everything, and from my point of view suck at everything
to get mooshy and fangirly, roberts words mademe try again and I promised I wouldn't give up no matter how long it took, so I needed a reminder, so I just... chose the tag I was wearing at the time ^o^
so that's one point on how it turned into how I realized I can actually do crap!

nom nom BRAINZ!

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:05:14 GMT

You know how after a zombie starts to eat you, your corpse shambles about until you're one of them??
And you obviously don't need your brains, so the zombie that attacked you eats them??
And well, the zombie that attacked you adds you to his army and forces you to be one of them??
And according to Dana Hill (who drew the illustration of the event below) I've been attacked by nathan_fhtagnwho's currently eating my brains!!

So by halloween, Ill be another zombie in his horde!

Or for those with no imagination-
I'm going to be Nathaniel for Halloween
XD

ZOMBIE NATHANIEL!
UUURRGGGHHH!!

(also by Dana Hill! She's teh coolest! XD)

(okay so I guess you didn't need to know this right now, but it was also mainly to show you the zombie abney park. Toooooo cool!)

Steampunk Kids are funny...

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:23:26 GMT

Gin just said that a woman she was talking to about steampunk was asked by someone "what is steampunk" (I know we're all used to the question) but the woman's little girl got upset "What? You don't know steampunks?!" lol! then she said "Look, steampunk is when computers and guitars are made of brass and gears, it started when Abney Park made it in 1906! It's been around for a hundreds years! Everyone knows that!"
HAHAHA!!!

just thought I'd let you know...

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:23:18 GMT

... what I'm doing next month.

I've a got a program w/ a word counter and I'm a bit worried about that 1700 words a day business. Well, 50000 in a month, but still, same difference, yo. But frak, I'll do it! It's not like I have a life or anything! =D

The Trojan's are dead~! (Binary solo!)

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:54:41 GMT

So yeah. Subject sez it all. I'm back in my uncomfortable chair at my cluttered desk with my coffee dangerously close to my keyboard. I live on the edge. Edge of what, we don't know. srsly liek omg.

I'm so happy, I could dance...

I'm infected~

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:48:47 GMT

Okay this one is NOT a REPO! post (for once, but I'm still looking for that airbrush, btw)

This is a computer post.
I'm infected.
By Antivirus Pro 2010
We had antivirus pro 2009 pop its ugly head up in our business last year when we HAD Norton (which apparently no longer lets you use the protection after the year is up like they used to) D:< and we barely made it out alive. My external drive was safe and therefore my music was safe!
^_~
But we had to get a new internal hd. we rescued SOME things (some personal documents, d*c pictures and videos, afraid not much else) onto my little drive, killed the MAIN hunk of the virus and a few small trojans (GO DAD!! ^0^) but there was a little more waiting in the shadows. We were out numbered and fled. Good move actually, we snatched our files and ran like hell. *turns eye upward* I will never forget that war....
And now we got another! YAY! </kermit> this time with NO ANTIVIRUS!!!!
(╬ ಠ益ಠ)
Is this 100% fixable?? Are we screwed to hell and back?? My dad will help in the battle of course, but I fear we are alone out there...

dumb dog! XD

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:57:38 GMT

HAHA! Total doggie mid-pee face plant! That's what you get for raising your leg, Tesla! XD

A subject is a subject

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:29:27 GMT

I know what I'm doing. Trust me. And I'm still making pretty music. I need a better way to record it for you, though... Anyway. I just thought I'd let you know saving for a little phatty stage II has started (me and my parents are gunna put all our money together and see how much of a moog we can get :P ) and I'm in search of a balalaika, gopichand, akonting, a small (but not toy) accordion, mandolin, ukulele, Bosun's whistle, snake charmer, and an electric violin OR a decent pickup, probably just find a pickup, cheaper, but not as cool looking. >>
Anyhow. I don't have much to post about lately, so thought I'd pop in while I'm in the neighborhood! =D

I've been hooked on this song again lately-

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:48:37 GMT

He who denies Astro Zombies hasn't a soul.

astro zombies - misfits
(p.s.
He who thinks MCR did this song better can kiss my shiny, metal brass.)

Guitar Mod Progress - Vol. 1

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:56:35 GMT

For those who have not heard, I am modding my guitar! She, Vera (A firefly joke,) is an Ibanez EX 160 from some where betwixt 89-92, so older than me. She has a lovely sound for metal and punk, handles distortion like a mother- and best of all, has a killer wood grain and no pick guard. In other words SHE'S HOT! But she's getting a makeover!! A steampunk makeover! kinda. Brass parts and gauges and copper tubes and tribal designs and industrial pieces and Victorian hardware and- well, yeah, she'll be steampunk! I think if not for nathan_fhtagn 's suggestion I would blown throw the process and THEN wish I had taken pictures, so I thank him for reminding me to do so! :)
See her??

I was sick of the black panels on the back standing out so badly, so I painted them!

which led me to opening them, of course, to see what's inside! To my surprise- a lot less than I thought~! Go solid bodies! "The rest is just solid wood??" "Yup!" "So... you can cut through it?" "... yeah..." I think dad's a bit worried it'll bust, but we've carved our way through worse! >:D No, no, we know what we're doing, we'll take care. But I also found out the bridge has springs running from it.... and there's a hole on the front... wait... it's... it's made for a frakking whammy bar!!! XD !! So naturally I'm making one out of brass hardware!! :)

however, on the inside we noticed the ground wires were all to heck. Well, the wires were fine, but they weren't connected. Re soldering them (which we know for a fact the guy who had it last tinkered with the knobs, switched the vol. and the tone, the shop i bought it at switched em back, but either they or the guy before decided to solder the wires down. With bad solder and a weak iron.) fixed the humming and made me happier with the sound =))

That is what made me decide to mod it!! So I'm taking it step further. Here you'll see making a template, marking out where the electronics and wires run and the strings and the rest is carvable wood! I'm jamming a gauge in it and cutting this tribaly abstract thing I drew straight through the wood. Dad thinks it needs LEDs inside it. No complaints with that!! Im also going to put LEDs behind the humbucker. (and I can link you the instructable if you wish)

Temporary modifications to an amp I plan on building a new case for. But for now, this'll do. :)

Think I should make an Abney sign to go with that?? ;)