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EL Wired

Last September, Jason and I took a Salt Lake Comic Con cosplay class: Adding Light to Cosplay. There we learned how to make hoods accented with EL wire but we didn’t finish our course projects for months. Now they have finally been masterfully completed so allow me to masterfully tell you all about it…or tell you about it as masterfully as someone who keeps using the word “masterfully” like they don’t know any other adverbs can.

Do your eyes deceive you? No, this manly specimen is stitching away.
Do your eyes deceive you? No, this manly specimen is stitching away.

Adding Light to Cosplay was an interesting class. It demonstrated that EL wires really aren’t too tricky to sew with. Plus, as an added bonus, it included an Arduino lecture with programming techniques for those nifty microcontrollers. Although sewing machines and supplies were prepped so attendees could theoretically take home a completed hood at the end of the evening, I didn’t want to wait in line to share a machine when I could hog my own luxurious appliance at home. Consequently, instead of being stitched that night, our hoods waited in pieces near my elegantly-needled contraption for months. After the fog of Halloween and Christmas http://nygoodhealth.com distractions dissipated, I remembered that we still needed to complete those glowing cowls and was shocked to hear that Jason actually wanted to assemble his himself.

Jason was going for more of a sinister looks with his color selection. I, on the other hand, was not about to join the dark side.
Jason was going for more of a sinister looks with his color selection. I, on the other hand, was not about to join the dark side.

While tutoring Jason was nearly as time-consuming as just making his myself, I appreciated that he didn’t simply expect me to assemble it for him, which is what I expected. Despite Jason’s supervision needs, the hardest thing about fashioning our hoods at home wasn’t my apprentice, it was my memory. Since the instructions were given to us orally months ago, I couldn’t recall their exact details. Luckily, thanks to years of fumbling with threads, my adlibbing resulted in items perceivable as hoods to the naked eye.

Jason and I are both satisfied with our EL experiments. I am particularly pleased that Jason’s didn’t turn into a luminescent blob. Nicely done hubby! Interested in EL attire? If Jason can sew with EL, anyone can. I mean that literally.

Rachel February 11, 2015 3 Comments

A Race Case

Despite what they tell you, slow and steady doesn’t usually win the race. With that in mind, I present to you the strange case of my rise from the dregs of race mediocrity. I will share last summer’s asphalt battles, their outcomes, and the perplexing questions that they leave unanswered. Then, perhaps, you will fare better than I at unraveling the mysteries of this counterintuitive tale.

The first race of the 2014 season, for Jason and me, was the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival 5K. This event took place at the end of April but the weather felt more like February. Unusual chilliness combined with relentless moisture to create a vortex of sopping unpleasantness along its entire path. I dripped through the finish line at 29:39, coming 6th in my category, an unimpressively run-of the-mill conclusion to be sure. Jason placed 5th in his group at 23:14.

Although it was almost May, the Thanksgiving Point 5K was quite cold and wet.
Although it was almost May, the Thanksgiving Point 5K was quite cold and wet.

Color Me Rad was our next 5K but it wasn’t timed so we’ll never know if we sprinted or sauntered through it, though I suspect the later. Then, we ran the Lehi Roundup 5-Mile in June. We both somehow managed to rank 2nd in our respective Roundup divisions with a time of 48:41 for me and 37:59 for Jason. Sadly, they only gave out medals to the 1st-place winners so I got no bling for what I thought might be my only victory forevermore.

In August, we did the Midnight Moon 5K in Sandy. I sped it up to 29:18 for this race and Jason slowed it down to 23:32. These times were good enough for 2nd place in my division and 1st in Jason’s. Another 2nd place for me? How was that possible?

The crowning achievement of our 2014 racing careers transpired in October. I guess I dash better deceased because I booked it during the Night of the Running Dead 5K, dressed as a zombie, and finished in 26:33. Jason crossed the line at 21:32, 5 minutes before me. In full disclosure, our reanimated muscles weren’t the only reason for these curiously-quick outcomes, the course was slightly shorter than a true 5K. Undersized route or not, our paces secured us both 1st place in our categories.

Our nephew, Jadon, participated in the kids run at Thanksgiving Point, despite the rain.
Our nephew, Jadon, participated in the kids run at Thanksgiving Point, despite the rain.

Why all the wins? What’s in my secret sauce? (Jason’s sauce is no trade secret.) I’m certainly not a fast runner, as my race times verify, so I’m a little perplexed over my fresh success. I didn’t enter a new age category this year so I can’t blame the other old farts. Is the world slowing, making me seem swifter by comparison? Alas, I’m afraid my sauce will forever be spiced with enigmas.

While I’d love to be a running superstar with the trophies and medals to prove that I’m the non-rodent equivalent of Speedy Gonzales, my legs aren’t really onboard with that. Consequently, I’m not sure how to make my recent triumphs fit into my philosophy of the universe. Can slow and steady truly win the race more times than can be accounted for by flukes? Maybe when the 2015 racing starts I’ll find out.

Rachel February 3, 2015 No Comments

Big in Japan

FYI, this is a rare Jason post. Be prepared.

Earlier this month, I headed to Japan for a few days of work. I was prepared for the business and technical aspects of my journey but I wasn’t as prepared for what it would be like to actually be in Japan. There are quite a few differences between the U.S. and Japan, especially for a computer geek such as me.

Viewing the Tokyo landscape from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, all I could see was structures to the horizon and beyond.
Viewing the Tokyo landscape from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, all I could see was structures to the horizon and beyond.

Tokyo was my first stop. Tokyo is one massive city, the largest on the planet. There, the buildings sprawl out without end and the streets seem to go everywhere. You don’t really understand just how big this city is until you observe it from the top of one of its huge skyscrapers. I went to the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which has 360-degree views, and all I could see in every direction was skyscrapers, concrete, and more buildings.

Senso-ji is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, dating back to 628.
Senso-ji is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, dating back to 628.

You’d imagine that the WiFi access would be excellent in such a place, where so many people are packed into a small area. Well, there was WiFi hotspots everywhere in Tokyo. Unfortunately, I couldn’t read any of the SSIDs and had no idea which ones were safe and secure and which were fake. Working in computer security has made me very cautious/paranoid about connecting to potentially malicious hotspots. My solution was to only utilize WiFi at the hotel and use cellular data as little as possible to save on my phone bill; it still ended up being over $400.

Mt. Fuji offered the only hint of nature's presence beyond Tokyo.
Mount Fuji offered the only hint of nature’s presence beyond Tokyo.

I also traveled to Sapporo and liked it more than Tokyo. Sapporo wasn’t quite as big but it was still a massive stretch of buildings. It had a very interesting underground mall, the largest mall I’ve ever been in. The people in Sapporo were extremely friendly, although practically no one spoke English. Everyone was willing to help any way they could and you didn’t have to go far to see a lot of sights.

This was my absolutely favorite meal in Japan. Who wouldn't want delicious Sapporo Ramen for lunch?
This was my absolutely favorite meal in Japan. Who wouldn’t want delicious Sapporo Ramen for lunch?
You can tell I really did enjoy the miso ramen.
You can tell I really did enjoy the miso ramen.

Do you enjoy and eat seafood? What would you envision if you were asked this question? I thought of flakey halibut and roasted salmon. Let’s just say that “seafood” means something else in Japan. I went out with some business associates to a very nice seafood restaurant in Sapporo. The meal consisted of 10 courses of authentic Japanese-style seafood: raw fish, tentacles, octopus eggs, sea urchins, and who knows what else. I probably wasn’t the best person to take to a fancy seafood restaurant like that.

Imagine this Sapporo TV Tower as a cartoon character. That is how all the signs represent the TV towers in Japan.
Imagine this Sapporo TV Tower as a cartoon character. That is how all the signs represent the TV towers in Japan.

Overall, my business trip to Japan was interesting but I’d much rather stay in the US. Japan was a crazy and hectic place, although very welcoming even when incomprehensible. It’s a different feeling being in a city with millions of people and yet not being able to speak to a single one. If you do go to Japan, I’d recommend learning a bit more Japanese than I did before going, which was none.

jason January 28, 2015 No Comments
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