Unity

I got to take a stain glass class this academic school year. We learned many different techniques, but I think my favorite was what the professor called "fuse glass" projects. It was amazing to me that with heat and proximity, someone could take multiple pieces of glass and make them one. I guess I got the feeling that it could be true for more than just inanimate objects. It got me hopeful and sentimental; there was more to the importance of my project than visual beauty.

I sandblasted the hammer away from the rainbow glaze. In the corner, you can see the necklace my friend loaned me for the design. 

There are 15 pieces of glass in total, and all are touching each other, but are individual pieces.

Here it is in the kiln, surrounded by ceramic blocks that will help it keep it's shape. When the heat is turned up, all the parts will melt together and become one flat plate. 

Complete in all it's glory!

There's extra brilliance because of how smooth the glass became.

You can see where the edges kept their individuality. 

Some of you might recognize the center's design as Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor. Just for you comic/Super Hero movie nerds (I am one of them!), here's something a little more familiar:

"Am I saying that I'm stronger than the average lady?... Am I saying that I might be slightly epic?... Screw it,: I *am* Lady Thor." :p

A Gift

Precious Presentation

 Yesterday afternoon my mom decided to buy me a gift, just because. She noticed three summers ago that I had been eyeing a wrap-around watch. I had stopped thinking about it, but she found one that was a little different, but very sophisticated, if you ask me.

 Today I saw that some of my readers are as far north on the planet as Russia, and as far east as Indonesia! Privet! and Apa Kabar? to you all!

Black and White Shirt: Worthington, White Capris: White Stag

Nails by Wet'n'Wild: Blue Visionary over I need a Refresh-Mint

My lipstick is two purple eye shadows over lip gloss. (Crazy, I know...)

Fancy or sleepy? Haha

Thanks to Yvonne for being my photographer (and awesome sister).
That's all for this week! :)

Thinking about Beauty

When was the last time you allowed yourself to stare at something beautiful? Not something dark, violent, sad or angering, but beautiful. How did it make you feel?

I have found that it elevates my mind and increases as sense of expectation for good things. Human beings have been known to find a world view and then go about, looking for evidence that their world view is true. So why not look about for things that warm your heart and make you hope for great things? I've noticed of myself that being surrounded by people who are beautiful on the inside has changed me for the better rather quickly.

Besides this, when one views beautiful things (or actions) one gets lost in the moment, transfixed. More and more behaviorists are seeing the benefits of being completely absorbed in your work/play/moment. Better concentration, increased immune systems, relaxed muscles as well as many other benefits are the outcomes of getting "in the zone" as some call it.

I could tell you about all the sources I've read, seen and listened to.

But why not try it yourself?

 What do you think?

A Well-Dressed Man

What's not hot about a well-dressed man? I don't believe clothes make the man. But if men are anything like me, the right outfit can give a little boost of confidence that makes a person feel like they're firing all cylinders.

Guy Ritchie's short film/commerical for Dior Homme has been a favorite of mine since I first watched it. Actor Jude Law is opposite model Michaela Kocianova, each of them playing dangerous-playful, and it's all set to the swank musical stylings of Muse, the first movement of the Exogenesis symphony.

I love the part where she helps him put on the cuff links and holds the telephone for him. I guess that's my inner desire to find a man of such confidence and not catch him, but be caught by him. (Yeah, I'm old-fashioned like that!)



So what do you think?

Star Wars Fashion Show

After the show.

Boba Fett

 Boba Fett's costume, displayed on a rack that had the symbol of the Empire.

 Does anyone know about the arm patch that Boba Fett wears?

 I'm told these braids were taken from Wookies... that he beat in hand-to-hand combat!

 Kim Mah's C3P0 in front of the poster.

C3P0

"Earth below us/ Drifting, Falling!"

Skywalker's Helmet

 Everyone's favorite R2 Unit. (A friend of mine asked if she was looking for Obi-Wan Kimono!)

Boba Fett

Boba Fett on the Runway

C3P0

R2D2 stepping out

The group including designer Kim Mah

She borrowed my sunglasses for this photo! :D

Darth Vader

Skywalker on Runway

Mistress Vader

 Ruffled Sweetheart collar, a velvet cape, and a metal chain to keep it in place.

 Yes, I photo-shopped that helmet, a little. I had to make the lens flare look purposeful!

Kim Even painted the surrounding wall and put up Death Star-esque decorations to make it all come together.

This is not, I believe,  the exact remix, but the blaring music went a little something like this:

#JohnWilliamsIsTheMan 

Towards the end of the 2012-2013 academic school year, Kim Mah presented a cosplay-styled fashion show as her senior thesis project for an art degree. She chose a Star Wars theme, which made me oh-so-interested (read: "completely geek out"). Some of the girls had never modeled before, and were nervous. The model for the Darth Vader dress walked out on the runway shaking, but it came across as seething anger, according people who talked to the make-up artist, Nathaniel O.  At one point she even put up the infamous choke-hold hand... and five men in the audience stood on their tip-toes and began coughing!

Kim Mah dressed as a character and looked stunning. She looked powerful and precise, and with smiles, and peace signs for every photo, she was as charismatic as her fashion show. I definitely appreciated it, and she said I could share it with you guys, so I'm grateful for that as well. It was a really rockin' evening. 

LBD

With good posture and a great attitude, I bet you can conquer the world! :)My trusty purse.

Letting my hur down!

How would you wear yours?

Long before I was aware of the simple beauty and even power of it, I had a fascination with the little black dress (and the long black dress and everything in between!)My photographer (read 'sister') makes me laugh a lot.

When I wear this dress like this, I feel like some mix between Audrey Hepburn, a Kenedy and some French bombshell artiste type.

Long live the Little Black Dress!

There Will Come Soft Rains...

The first days of spring found me in Central California in a more rural state of being. I was more than happy to see flowers bursting into being! I read a fortune cookie this January that said "When the flowers bloom, so will great joy in your life." It's true; they always cheered up my days, even when everything else about those days (including the sky) seemed boring and dark.

I never missed a chance to snatch those lovely little babies off their sweet little hedges and throw them in my hair! Haha!

Thank you, spring, for the memories (and photos). We'll see you next year!