Once Upon a Time. . .

Once upon a time Jeremy and I were perusing the latest Doctor Who news online.  "The Ponds" had recently made their exit, and Amy Pond and Rory Williams would no longer be traveling companions of the Doctor. 

We watched some interviews of Arthur Darvill, the actor who played Rory, explain his next plans.  Apparently he was to be performing in the cast of a musical on Broadway through the end of the year. 

We found a video of him performing a popular song from the show and I realized it was a song I loved from my Pandora Radio "lullaby" station, but never knew what it was from.

So I called my mom (whom we had successfully converted to a "Whovian" Who-fan over the last year in particular) and proposed my plan: 

You kinda feel like things suck in your life and you have nothing good to look forward to right now, and I kinda feel like my life sucks right now and I have nothing good to look forward to. . .

Lets go on a trip!

Then we'll have something great and exciting to think about and to look forward to!

My mom's such a good sport. . . she was all in. Mom, of course, raised us on musical theater, both on screen and on stage.

And in fact it was going to mark the tenth anniversary of the trip my mom and I took to NYC Right before Jeremy and I got married, and coincided with my 21st birthday as well.  We decided to invite my sister along this time for good measure as well. 

We planned a fun trip and actually tried not to think too much about seeing Arthur Darvill.  The thing is, it could always be an understudy.  We tried to think about which night of our trip would be better to see the show?  Which night would he be least-likely to have an understudy?

There's no way to know.

So we decided we just needed to go and if we ended up seeing him it would just be a bonus.  So we didn't talk about it didn't dwell on it, and just went to NYC.

Baby Rory came along with me--my little nursling.  Through a long, twisted, and lot's of stressing (on my part) series of communication, we found a babysitter for when we would be at the show.  In the end she was a wonderful girl and I felt 100% blessed and confident and happy to leave Rory with her.

We took the subway and walked a few blocks to the theater.  

Out in front was a massive poster for the musical, and right there gigantic on the wall was Arthur Darvil.

And it was all over.

I could no longer pretend that I didn't really, really hope it was him performing!  But it was him performing that night. It was a great show--unique in the fact that the cast is it's own orchestra, and just about everybody is on stage at all times, they just sit off on the side when their characters are not up.  Mom had great seats for us, and we were totally spoiled.

Afterwards there were these cattleguards out along the side of the building, and my sister--whose been to NYC herself a few times--said that she was pretty sure that this was where the cast would come out afterwards, and they often sign autographs and things.

Should we stay?

We texted the babysitter, who said Rory was up and "looking for Mom."

Ohh, pressure, stress!

Cast members started coming out, but not Arthur.  Maybe he takes forever on purpose, maybe he doesn't really like all the fans out there waiting?

We should go. . . It's getting late.

Finally he came out!  And he was smiling and giving autographs, and posing for pictures with people--totally nice and not rushing through or anything.  I still was totally stressed about the baby though.  "Two more minutes baby, just hold on!"

Then it was our turn.  Arthur signed our Playbills, and thanked us for coming.  And we thanked him.

Then he looked at me and I said, "My six month-old Rory is home with a babysitter."

He got a totally awesome look on his face, and said, "Oh, that's wonderful.  That's just really wonderful!"

And he gave me a hug.

Best birthday present ever!

It was awesome.  The point is, I didn't say, "Oh Aurthur, I love you, I named my baby after you!" --I'm not a freaky fangirl.

I'm the level-headed fangirl that says, "We named our baby Rory, because we liked the name, and your portrayal of the character by that name is one of the big reasons why we had positive associations with that name, and chose it for our baby.  (My husband was in on the decision of course.)

As he continued down the line he passed my mom and complimented her earmuffs (notice them up in the first picture?) and she complimented him as being a fine entertainer. 

And that is the story of how once upon a time I went to the musical Once, staring Arthur Darvill, and scored the best birthday hug ever.

We Love Who?

  Geek baby.  Such a cutie.

We really love Doctor Who. 
In case you've never checked it out --the older episodes are all available to watch instantly on Netflix.  The new seasons are available to subscribe to on i-tunes.

Jeremy and I started originally with the 2005 episodes.  They are a bit old school but improve in quality quickly.   My sister started with the 2010 episodes and suggests that route to avoid being turned away by cheesy special effects. 

But the story lines are creative, and clever.  The characters are interesting and (surprisingly) change every season or two which keeps things extra interesting. And the show is inter-generationally-family-friendly.  (Just ask my mom.)

Geeky Macbook Air Sleeve Tutorial

Jeremy got a Macbook this fall to help facilitate working on his dissertation. I'm a little slow out of the gate so I decided the sleeve I promised to sew Jeremy would become his Christmas present from me.

It's super light and compact so Jeremy just wanted a simple felt sleeve to protect it in his bag. I remembered some sort of reverse applique technique (no idea what it's really called)  for felt that I decided to use to make it a little more fun.  Basically you cut out a design in the top layer of felt and so the inner layer shows through.   

First I found the image I wanted to use--this is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy logo.  For some reason it was the first idea that came to me to use, and it just stuck with me.  So after finding the image I wanted I enlarged it until it was the size I wanted and traced it from the monitor onto trace paper.  (You could actually print it if you're the type that has a printer that hasn't been destroyed by the little sticky fingers that can't leave electronic devices alone--but that's not me, so I traced it old-school style.)

I pinned the trace paper to what would be the top layer of felt and used small sewing scissors and an Exacto to cut out the design. 

All done.  This picture only had two inner "island pieces."  This is a factor to consider when deciding on an image to use.  The island pieces are harder to work with along with any smaller details. 

I sewed about 1/8th of an inch from the edge of the design on all sides to attach it to the inside layer of felt.  (And I sewed one time around the whole lettering section--I can't decide if I like that extra stitching or not. )

Then I just sewed up one side, beveled the corner of the flap, and measured  how wide to make it. 

Then I sewed up the other side, beveled that corner of the flap as well, and slid in the Macbook.  I'm still trying to decide on a closure for it.  Maybe one of those old-fashioned button and string closures?  Anyhow, I'm kind of slow--but I hope that it's coolness will make up for that fact on Christmas morning. 

Amy and Rory

Jeremy was explaining our Halloween costumes to someone, classifying them under three levels of geekiness:  That the personae were from a science fiction TV show.  That they aren't the main character (title character) of the show, and that the costumes were from a specific episode.  I would also add that it's a British science fiction tv show.  Though really--the American fan-base is growing.

I've already discussed my love of Doctor Who, and I've succeeded over the last year in getting quite a few of my family members interested in the show as well.  Our characters were in the most recent season.  Amy and Rory--the doctors traveling companions.

Here we are doing the classic "Season 6 Stance" that was on almost all of the promotional materials.  I was telling a friend that our costumes were actually very "good", that every single piece of our outfits was chosen for a reason--however most people looking at us wouldn't think they were much of a costume.

It's only because they didn't know what they were looking for.

Here's what they were looking for.  Here's one of the official posters for season six.  (I know they aren't actually in the "Season 6 Stance" here but you're just going to have to trust me on this one.)

So with this reference picture you can see that Jeremy and I did a pretty good job on our costumes-eh? (I even dyed my hair red, but my hair is so dark that no one noticed.)  And yeah, I carried this picture with me so I could show the three people who asked what our costumes were. 

Here Amy is running through the desert, so you can see her capris and hiking boots.  And you can see her pen swinging around her neck. 

Yes, the Sharpies, Jeremy and I are wearing them around our necks on lanyards.  They explain the marks on our faces and arms and hands.

See the problem is Doctor Who and his companions are trying to track these aliens, who use a sort of post-hypnotic suggestion to make you forget about them when you aren't looking at them.  So Doctor Who devises this system where they mark themselves when they see the alien so that they can track their sightings, even though they don't remember seeing them and don't know what it is that they've seen--just that it's an enemy.

The fun (or scary) thing about the episode is that you are following along from the characters' perspective, so Amy is exploring this room and looking around not seeing anything, but then she looks out the window and lightning flashes and she and you see her reflection and she has these marks all over her, and they keep multiplying but you aren't actually seeing the aliens!  Ahhg!

Such a fun concept for a show. 

Agh!  There one is.  River Song pulls off her pen and marks on her skin saying, "I see you, and I see you."

Here's the one person at our church party who we knew would "get" our costumes.  It's Doctor Who!  (From a different season.)  Thanks Doctor--you made all our hard work costume-hunting worth it.

All I Need to Know I Learned from Video Games

Back in the year 1989 my older brother (of the young and nerdy brainy type) wanted a Nintendo Entertainment System. My parents--sure that only bad could come of such a device--vowed that they would never purchase one for us children.  However, my crafty brother found the loophole in that statement and called a sibling meeting.

If Mom and Dad wouldn't buy us one then we would pool our collective resources and buy our own!  He started a revolution.

Over the course of weeks and months we saved our money--waiting to reach that magic number of One Hundred Dollars.  I was only 7 at the time and while I think at one point I had $15 in the pot--I pulled some of it out for some other fickle desire and in the end I made a grand contribution of $5 towards our NES. 

And boy did we love those Super Mario Brothers.  But y'know, just one game gets boring after a while.

At Christmas that year Mom shocked and surprised us all (though technically still standing by her declaration of not buying a "Nintendo" for us) by buying us a game for our Nintendo. . . TETRIS.  "It makes you use your brain." Mom said, and no one complained. 

As it turns out, the principles I learned playing TETRIS at seven years old give great perspective on how to deal with life having kids. 

 In TETRIS you work with random pieces trying to fit them into holes to make nice smooth lines (Which then clear up to leave more free space for you to work in.)  Level one you try and work quickly and eventually get into a nice stride until you complete the level.

When you hit level two suddenly the bricks are coming significantly faster.  Bricks start landing not quite where you want them to jumbling up your clean slate a little bit.  Maybe you stack up a bunch to one side in an unorganized pile just to give yourself a minute to think.  Then you get back into stride--a little bit faster of a stride than before.  You clear out the bricks in the middle and then clean up the mess on the side. and maybe--just maybe--you feel so confident in that level that you might even push the "down arrow" to make the bricks fall even faster.  Until you hit level three, of course, and the panic sweeps over you again.  But don't worry--pretty soon you'll hit your stride again, and you'll be ready for level four. 

And so it is that playing TETRIS is a lot like having kids.  When each new one comes along you're sure you'll never be able to keep up with all the demands of that "level".  The laundry itself is just building up too fast--you stack it off to the side of the laundry room hoping to get to it later--once the baby's taking a nap and the other kids settle down for a snack.  But then you realize that your six year old is now big enough to get his own drink of milk --and one for his brother too for that matter-- and so it's not quite as difficult at that speed of life as you thought.  So you think sure. . . bring on level four!

This metaphor is just one that's been on my mind lately after a discussion with a friend who just had her third baby.  So don't get any ideas--I'm not planning on having to visit to Dr. Mario any time soon.

Nerdy Cake

Jeremy designed his own birthday cake this year.  He told me all about it and I complied to the best of my abilities. 

 It's based on the video game "Portal."

The little chocolate cake is going in one portal and coming out the other. (You're going to have to just trust me on that.)

 "Portal 2" came out about a week before Jeremy's birthday, and like a good responsible father he didn't rush out and buy it the first day, but waited patiently for his birthday.

You can see the little robot on the package jumping between the two portals.  Of course I'm sure it's technically an "android" or something like that.  I never can keep up with that sort of thing. 

Jeremy blew out his candle with the help of Owen and the steampunk garden gnome. 

The mini cake is a big joke from the first "Portal" game.  Or should I just say, "The cake is a lie"?  (There are just too many layers of nerdiness to Jeremy's cake.)

The star candle doesn't really go with the cake.  It was supposed to be a plain white basic birthday cake candle, but star candles are what we had around the house leftover from Jonas' birthday cake. 

He had a video game cake this year too.  Super Mario Galaxy.  Like father like son I suppose. 

Blink

I have a serious mental condition necessitating that anytime I stay overnight in a hotel I have to stay up really late watching cable TV. It's true.

Last summer we were visiting Jeremy's family in Salt Lake City. We had come back to our hotel room and put the two boys to bed. Jeremy had even fallen to sleep, but I had to stay up and watch more tv. (It's a curse.) So I turned out the lights and turned the volume down low. 

I was flipping channels and came to this show. Sally Sparrow was getting a hidden message from the Doctor. "Beware the Weeping Angels."

These angels were showing up everywhere, and she found these hidden messages from The Doctor about them. 

The Weeping Angels were life-forms that would turn into stone when being observed as a defense mechanism.  When not being observed, they could move incredibly fast to catch their victims.

These Angels were after Sally to retrieve something she had.  And the Doctor warns her "Don't blink, whatever you do!  You blink--you're dead.  Don't blink!"

Meanwhile I was pulling the covers tighter around me whispering, "Jeremy, are you awake?  This is kind of scary. . ."

Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I changed the channel.  But there was nothing else really good on (it's part of the curse of compulsive hotel TV watching) and so I changed it back.

"Aaaak!  Who blinked?!  He told you not to blink!  They're coming to get you!"

I changed the channel again, and then back, then there was a commercial break, and then it was too scary again so I changed it.  But I had to go back and finish it, because sometimes not knowing what happened is even scarier than sitting through the suspense. 

And so it ended, and the good guys won.  but I won't spoil the ending.  Because I really recommend watching it yourself one day.  But after it ended there was a documentary about the Doctor.

Dr Who?

Exactly.

It's a British science fiction show that ran from 1963 to 1989, and was relaunched in 2005.  It has quite the following, and is the longest running science fiction television show in the world.  Guinness says so. 

Well, in the morning I told Jeremy about the scariest show ever that I had watched, and I told him a bit about the time and space-traveling Doctor Who that I learned from the documentary--asking him if he's ever heard of the show before.  He hadn't but I tucked it away as something we'd probably be interested in looking up one day. 

So a few months ago we did.  It turns out Dr. Who (2005 series) is one of the shows available for instant streaming from Netflix.  So we started watching them.  We are nerds (no explanation needed) so we love it! Some of the episodes are historical some are futuristic.  They all have some suspense and mystery--but they aren't all super-scary.  And now we are catching all these references to it among geek culture that we never noticed before.

And as fate would have it, this Halloween weekend we were cued up to watch a little episode called "Blink" the one that started it all. 

I think this was the perfect episode to introduce me to Dr. Who.  Like Sally Sparrow I'd never heard of the Doctor or all of the things he had done.  But we were able to catch the small glimpses of this man and his  potential and sheer genius.

I also think this was the perfect episode for Halloween weekend.  Halloween demands scary entertainment.  This episode has enough spookiness to make me wary of the dark for a month.  Nothing better than some of the all-time scariest TV characters to put you in the mood for Halloween.  Don't say I didn't warn you.