EHyde

Halloween is coming up pretty soon and I think I've made too many Mistborn costumes. Being Halloween, a costume ought to be at least somewhat scary--last year, I had metal spikes through my eyes and I made a freshman scream This year I'll tone it down a little...zombie makeup! Sort of. I'm going to make an Elantris costume. Specifically, Sarene's "New Elantris" garb where she describes herself as looking like an insane rainbow. Now, I grew up wearing tie-dye, so to me, a skirt and shirt in solid-colored fabric do not an insane rainbow make, no matter how bright and clashing. So I'm probably going to have some fun with patchwork. It will be interesting to see what people think I'm dressed as. I suspect few, if any, will get the reference. Does anyone else have costume plans for this year?

Those are awesome. I wish I knew how to work with leather.

Cars: useful for transportation even when you don't drive...

Here's another fried thing--a dessert this time. Banana egg rolls, aka Thai-ish fried bananas Slice a banana down the middle like for a banana split, then cut each piece in half the other direction (you can just cut them into shorter chunks without splitting the banana, but I find that the thinner pieces cook better). Wrap each piece in an egg roll wrapper. In a big frying pan filled with a couple of inches of oil, fry the wrapped bananas until golden. Serve with honey and/or powdered sugar. These are quite filling even if you don't care how unhealthy they are, and they don't keep all that well, so don't make a lot unless you've got a big crowd.

This particular one was Song in the Silence by Elizabeth Kerner. Interestingly, it was originally published as adult fantasy, then some time later was slightly abridged and republished as YA. I'm not sure it should have been abridged, but I think it probably fits better as YA. I think some of it, too, is there are some books that work well as introductions to the genre, but once you've read a lot of sci-fi or fantasy, just don't seem that great anymore. Dragonriders of Pern was kind of like that for me, though I do still enjoy them.

Why is she holding a rapier like that I don't even... Also, I did not realize that was Orlando Bloom until now. Huh. (also, to clarify: I very much enjoyed Cowboys & Aliens, it just wasn't a movie that lent itself much to be being taken seriously)

I decided to try my hand at writing one, and kind of failed at being serious and poetic, so here's one about my cat. It doesn't quite work out perfectly--perhaps I'll try more sometime. Shadow attacks! She chases all she sees. I watch. I see all she chases: she attacks shadows.

I would like to announce that we have a fully functional washer and dryer in our apartment now!

Here's a simple method for delicious fried potatoes, originally from my mom. Wash a few potatoes and cut them into bite-size cubes (if you use red or yellow potatoes with thinner skins, you don't have to peel them). Put a few tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan (I like to use a strong-flavored olive oil) and heat on medium. Once the oil is hot add the potatoes and spread them evenly in the pan. Don't stir, except to make sure that they've all got some oil on them (stirring too much will make the final product too mushy). Let cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes turn golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over as best you can (it is near impossible to flip all of them over...). At this point add some salt and onion powder and continue to cook, flipping them again after another 5-10 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Cook for about half an hour all together but it may depend on exactly how hot your stove is and how big your potato cubes are, so test them. Add more salt and onion powder if desired. I had not tried sweet tea until about a month ago when we moved to Tennessee. I was surprised how much I liked it, seeing as I don't like sugar in my hot tea at all. I will have to try making it.

If she likes fantasy, I'd recommend Diana Wynne Jones, especially the Chrestomanci series or The Ogre Downstairs for that age. *tries to think what non-fantasy I read at that age, and fails* Also Pamela Service has a bunch of shorter fantasy and scifi novels for around that age. I don't know if they're still in print though.

Have you ever re-read a book you loved and found it didn't live up to your memories of it? That's what's happening to me right now. I'm reading a fantasy novel that I first read in early high school, and it's...well, I've certainly read much worse, but it's not the work of art I thought it was. The story is pretty cliche, the main character is very much a mary-sue, and the writing sounded a lot more poetic at 14 than it does at 23. I guess it's a sign that I've developed more as a reader and my tastes have changed but...there are some books I read at that age and I re-read them and they're still wonderful, which is awesome, and it's disappointing when it doesn't work out that way.

Could you mix metallic powders with casting resin, if you wanted a metallic look?

Looks great! I like the silver trim. Have fun doing the action shots!

I like it! I'm not usually a fan of stories written in present tense, but you've made it work quite well.

Oh, I hope the fight scenes are good! A lot of recent movies have had them cut such that you can't see what's actually going on, mixed with random bits of slow motion. Seriously, if the fight is actually relevant to the plot it's nice to be able to tell who's doing well and why. The costumes look awesome. Of course that's already one of my favorite periods, costume-wise. Judging by the poster, accuracy isn't what they're going for, but I am completely ok with that. We saw this trailer in front of Cowboys & Aliens and thought, it can't be any more ridiculous than the movie we're about to see.

Oh, that's pretty awesome looking! I don't have any suggestions for it, but I wanted to say I also liked your Hunger Games trailer.

ooh, the Dr Who scarf is how I learned to knit It's a great beginners project because once you are finished you will be so sick of garter stitch you just have to learn more complicated techniques The sweatervest I'm wearing in that photo was my second project.

Yes please enter me in the contest!

Thanks for sharing! I've entered now.

I'm not sure how to place my vote. I read WoT many years ago (after CoT was published but before New Spring) but sort of gave up on it. Then I was introduced to Brandon's books, and I started WoT again because I wanted to see what he did with the series. So I guess I'd say I was a RJ fan first, but I didn't read Brandon's books because of RJ.

Not spammed, more like stalked ... j/k it's all good. Most of what you get from me will be costumes or crafts though--I'm really not much for drawing and painting.

I've read 44 on the list (several others on my to-read list), but the ones I voted for didn't seem to be all that popular.

This is me if anyone wants to add me

Thanks for the invite! I should have more costume photos to post in a couple of weeks after Dragon*Con is over.