Tangible Tidbits 2012 #30: A New Educational Goal

Hi, everybody! :) Well, we went to NJPAC on Tuesday and the "America’s Got Talent" (AGT) segment we saw aired on Wednesday. I had posted on Facebook to my sister that the show hadn’t started yet...and 28 minutes later, we were back in the car! :)) They performed one song and when it was over, my mother asked if it was a joke because it was over so quickly. We did watch AGT on Wednesday...and no, we weren’t on-screen. :P The show was interesting, as neither of us had seen it before. I’m going back for the live show on Wednesday, August 15 with a friend, so that should be a bit more exciting. ;)

Obviously, I took Tuesday off from the office to go to the taping. Unfortunately, I had to make up the time over the next few days in order to catch up on the work not done that day. Why is it I am the presumed back-up for half of the department, but no one can back me up for one morning? :(

The deadline for Lark Books’ Showcase 500 Necklaces submissions is coming up on August 1. I haven’t decided yet what necklace to submit for my second entry, but I don’t want to waste the opportunity. I will probably make a spur-of-the-moment decision when between now and Wednesday. :p

At the suggestion of a social media expert I met on Facebook, I’ve started a new awareness campaign. She suggested posting relevant quotes with photos and adding the website URL at the bottom to generate interest. I’ve posted two such pictures on Facebook and Pinterest so far...one this past Friday and one the Friday before. I don’t know if I will have enough to post every Friday, but I guess I will give it a shot. I really like the second one (the Chinese Proverb). I’ve been looking up quotations whenever I think of a topic I can use. :)

I was offered a free listing on eBay this past week, so I posted my steampunk trinket box, hoping to reach a wider audience. An internet friend saw the post on Facebook and sent me a PM...he suggested I look into becoming a vendor at Dragon*Con, "the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe." He said there are a lot of potential buyers for steampunk items there, and I have a feeling chain maille would also be popular with that crowd. The show is Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, so it’s too late to apply for this year. I have to remember to look into it next spring for 2013. :)

Earlier today, I emailed a friend from the Bead Society who was talking to me about a group that meets the first Sunday of each month to make polymer clay pieces, the New Jersey Polymer Clay Guild. I may go next Sunday if they meet in the summer. That looks like fun! ;)

Speaking of fun, I received a course catalog the other night from the Gemological Institute of America. I don’t remember signing up for it, but I must have...maybe at the MJSA Expo earlier this year? The school has facilities in New York City and Carlsbad, California, and focuses on teaching students to identify and classify different stones. I was intrigued by the three-course eLearning certification they have to become an Accredited Jewelry Professional (AJP). It’s not terribly expensive because no labs are required. I’m thinking I want to pursue that once I have my debts paid off, hopefully by the end of the year. They give you three months to finish each course, so I could get the certification in one year if I apply myself. I was getting kind of excited looking at the catalog, so I think this would be something that I might really enjoy doing. :)

The August Focal Piece of the Month is up.

I can’t believe it is practically August already, although I won’t be sorry to see the summer heat become a distant memory. :p

Take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #41: Focal Piece Flashback

Hey, everyone! I had a busy weekend -- socially, not work ;) -- and I'm still playing catch-up. As a result, I am taking the "easy way out" this week and reposting the Focal Piece of the Month from February-March 2010 instead of my usual blog post. I will update you all next week on what's been going on. Take care and have a great week! :D

You will rarely see me feature an item that was designed by someone else as a Focal Piece of the Month, simply because the purpose of this section is to highlight projects that support Something Tangible's overall mission and that showcase the work we do here. That being said, this month I am breaking that rule, and putting the spotlight on one of kits by sb designs I purchased and assembled during my Advanced Wire Jewelry class at the Madison, Chatham & Florham Park Adult School last fall.

It is the Time Is Precious Necklace, which features the inside mechanism of a vintage watch in a claw setting as the focal piece of the necklace. It is an example of Steampunk jewelry, the subject of an oral presentation I am researching for my Metalwork & Jewelry class at Montclair State University this semester. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and cover the subject here, too. I am a master at multi-tasking, you know. ;)

According to a brief description I found at Beading Daily:

"The steampunk culture takes its cues from the Victorian era, and speculates on how our world would be different if steam power had become the driving force behind our culture. Gears and watch hands are used to decorate larger pieces. Old-fashioned keys are also very popular, as are bits of antique cast-offs, such as pill cases, thread cutters and tiny knives."

The movement not only encompasses jewelry, but also clothing, goggles, and other fashion accessories such as boots and hats. This, I found out by conducting a search for "Steampunk" on Google.

Looking at Steampunkopedia's (Yes, there was such a site! Unfortunately, the link I had no longer works) Steampunk Chronology, the earliest images of the Steampunk culture can be traced back as early as 1962. One item on the list surprised me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense to be included: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in 1968. It was a blending of Victorian-era and modern technology for the time, was it not?

Although its roots are much older, the actual term "Steampunk" wasn't created until the late 1980s. According to Wikipedia,

"Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by the science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986) and himself (Morlock Night, 1979 and Infernal Devices, 1987) which took place in a 19th-century (usually Victorian) setting and imitated conventions of actual Victorian speculative fiction such as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. In a letter to the science fiction magazine Locus, printed in the April 1987 issue, Jeter wrote:

Dear Locus,
Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel Morlock Night; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in 'the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate' was writing in the 'gonzo-historical manner' first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering.

Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like 'steampunks', perhaps...

—K.W. Jeter[1]"

^ Sheidlower, Jesse (March 9, 2005). "Science Fiction Citations". Retrieved May 10, 2008.


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Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 22: Thank Heaven for Air Conditioning!

Hey, all! I don't know what's going on in your part of the world, but here in New Jersey it has been hot, HOT, HOT all week! I finally had to put the air conditioners in upstairs today because sleeping was so uncomfortable. Our house is more than 100 years old and very drafty, so no central air. I have to put air conditioners in the windows at the start of summer and then take them out at the end of summer. I tend to put off doing both as long as possible...there have been years I didn't put them in until July 4! :o Anyway, I'm much more comfortable now that it's done. :D

I forgot to mention it last week, but my "Steampunk" article from Factoidz was published in the Bead Society of New Jersey's (BSNJ) spring newsletter! I've submitted many of my other articles -- the ones that I thought the members would find interesting and appropriate. I also brought my final school projects to the May BSNJ meeting at the request of one of my fellow Board members. I got a lot of compliments on them! It made me feel good to know I can impress these people, many of whom have been doing this stuff for decades! :D

While I was adding my blog videos to the Something Tangible Facebook page the other day, I figured out how to save the narrated version of my Steampunk PowerPoint presentation in windows media video format, so I've finally added that to our YouTube channel and Facebook. This is the presentation I gave to my class in the Spring 2010 semester. :)

We held a Biggest Loser contest in my office -- they've been doing this off-and-on for a couple of years. I came in second the first time we did it...I think that was back in the fall of 2009?! Anyway, I came in second again this time around, losing 14.2 lbs. and winning $80! LOL I'm very proud of myself. ;) I have to decide if I want to participate in the next round...the last time, I hurt my knee and had to stop exercising in the round after my win, so I didn't do very well. I guess I should give it a go and see if I can break the bad karma, right? ;)

I've put in to take a "staycation" during the week of June 6. I really need to get some stuff around here done, and the best way to do that is to take the week and concentrate solely on that. There are a lot of things that have been on my To-Do List for ages, and I'm hoping to at least put a dent in the list that week. :)

I hope everyone in the U.S. enjoyed their three-day weekend! I kept pretty busy...Mom and I went out to dinner on Saturday night with my sister's family for Mom's upcoming birthday (next weekend), and had a great time at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant; attended a pool party at my aunt's house yesterday with most of the extended family; and checked out my nieces marching with their Girl Scout/Brownie troops in this morning's Memorial Day Parade.

Speaking of which...Happy Memorial Day! I'll catch you next week. :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #26: Exploring My Financial Options

Hello, everyone! I've been pretty busy this week. I finished the two Totally Twisted Pendants in the kit from Paulette Baron that I mentioned last week. One necklace has already been posted and the second one will be posted tomorrow. I have to admit, I personally prefer the second one. I had some great sea foam luster beads in my stash that perfectly complimented the colors in the pendant. I hope you all like it as much as I do! :)

On Friday, I visited the Unemployment office in East Orange to meet with a counselor. I was advised to do so after the training workshop I had attended there a few weeks ago. The goal is to obtain a Tuition Waiver (I keep thinking Inheritance Tax Waiver because of my prior job at Registrar and Transfer, and even made the mistake of referring to it in my conversation with the counselor! She looked confused and I immediately recognized and corrected my mistake. :o ) to pay for school. She seemed to think it would not be a problem to get the Waiver -- they are offered for people undergoing training for in-demand fields, as an effort to hopefully make the candidates more employable long-term. Although Metalwork & Jewelry classes are not necessarily in that category, I told her about my plans for self-employment, so she seemed to think that would be okay. At the training workshop, the counselor said that graduate applications have to be approved by Trenton. I didn't think to ask about that on Friday, but it will hopefully not be a hindrance. In any case, the sticking point seems to be getting Montclair State to accept it. Apparently, they have declined before. I sent off an email to the Financial Services Department on Friday, since they were closed, and will hopefully get a response this week. If Montclair State agrees -- and since I have already enrolled and have paid part of the semester's tuition, they may not -- I will be taken off the enrollment roster for the class I have scheduled for September and have to reapply for it in August, within 30 days before classes start. Naturally, the school has the opportunity to take paying students over Tuition Waiver students, which is why we get "last pick." However, my class has five openings left out of 13 at the moment, not including me. I doubt I will get shut out of the class in the next four or five weeks. Just in case, though, my fingers are crossed! If the school refuses to change my status, I will pay for this semester out of my pocket and go the Tuition Waiver route for the remaining six classes. I understand that once the school has money in-hand, they may not be so eager to return it. I am being philosophical about this...I can certainly use the extra money that I would have used to pay for school, as times are tight at the moment, but I am willing to pay for school if necessary. Advancing my education is too important to let red tape muck up the works. :\

In addition, I am attending a three-hour Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) workshop tomorrow morning, which I also learned about at the training workshop. I will learn about the program and see if I qualify. I will also find out how it affects my Unemployment benefits, as I do believe it does in some way. They kind of glossed over that part at the previous workshop. If I do qualify, great! If not, c'est la vie. I am exploring every avenue I can to make this transition easier, but I only have control over so much. Particularly when dealing with an academic institution and the State of New Jersey. Don't even get me started on the latter! :p

In other news (pun intended), my second article was accepted by Factoidz this week! I think I previously mentioned wanting to adapt my steampunk oral presentation from last semester. I did that and it is here for anyone who is interested in reading it or missed it on the social media sites. I have now been bumped up to the #2 expert in jewelry-making on Factoidsz! :D The two Focal Piece of the Month stories I have submitted are really the only appropriate ones for Factoidz, so I will have to come up with new topics on a semi-regular basis for future articles. If anyone has suggestions or a particular topic he or she would like to learn more about, please let me know and I will explore it for you! :) I may try to hash out one on public relations for small businesses, as that is my prior experience and not completely unrelated to what I am doing now. ;) As always, I will keep you posted on my progress.

BTW, I did take last Monday (July 5) off. I spent most of the day in bed with the air conditioner running! In case anyone hasn't heard, we had a major heat wave in New Jersey most of last week. It was brutal for a couple of days, but the humidity seems to have dropped off a bit for the weekend. 8)

I saw Toy Story 3 last night at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) Clearview Cinema. It cost $14.25 for the ticket because they charge an additional $3.50 for "the 3-D experience." Luckily, I had a gift card from a friend, so that didn't hurt my wallet too much. LOL For anyone who hasn't seen it, it was really good! Definitely as entertaining as the first one. The audience was mostly adults, and they laughed out loud quite a bit. If you have any interest, I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen. :)

I've also been watching episodes of the former NBC soap opera Another World this weekend. It's available on Hulu, but only episodes from mid-May 1991 to mid-August 1992 so far. As I was working during that time, I missed many of those episodes. Even knowing what eventually happened to the characters almost a decade later (the show went off the air in 1999) doesn't take away from my enjoyment of watching these older episodes. It's kind of like hanging out with old friends after not seeing them for ages. ;)

That's about it for me...back to Hulu! LOL Have a great week! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #13: I Used My Muse!

Hey, all! Tomorrow is the deadline for Artbeads.com's Use The Muse IV contest, so I spent most of today making my piece for it. I decided a while ago what I wanted to do, but I just never got around to it. This morning, I realized today was my last shot if I wanted to enter...and since I paid $40 for the kit, I figured I'd better get my butt in gear and do it! :p

I can't post a photo of my piece until "the big reveal" of the Muse on Artbeads.com in a few weeks, as the muse is supposed to be kept secret. It's a cuff bracelet, but a bit different than what you've seen me do before. The kit contained walnut wood components, Swarovski(R) crystals, Hybrid TOHO™ and other seed beads, brown Tiger's Eye, and blue turquoise Picasso Czech glass roundelle beads, plus I mixed gold-colored aluminum wire with bronze wire and added my own Lava Stone, some faded rose/gold square seed beads, and some large faceted round AB finish black beads. It all came together quite nicely, if I do say so myself! ;)

Aside from that, I've got one school project basically done and two others pretty close to completion. You'll be seeing a sterling silver pendant made from a cuttlebone cast very soon. I just have to decide what to hang it on and find the right bail for it. The silver that leaked out of the bottom of the cast and fused itself to some stones in the pan below will become a pin. It looks pretty kewl...I just have to figure out how to affix a back to it. And I have a brass bangle bracelet that needs some finishing touches added to it. I haven't decided just what they are yet, so that's still "in progress." Two other pendants will be done, hopefully, during next week's class. They have to be cleaned up and have stones set in them. One will have the stone set in a gear steampunk-style. The other will be set in a bezel cup made by me. As I am not such a master with the torch and solder, it's a challenge. :p The last project I am required to complete is to make a container. I've decided to make a brass box with steampunk gears, watch faces, and keys affixed to the outside with rivets. I ordered some watch faces and antique keys from eBay today. :)

Still working on earrings for a coworker and I have a couple of bracelets to do. I've ordered a few DVDs to help me advance my wire-working skills over the summer. In particular, I want to learn wire-wrapping stones, as I have a couple of stones (well, rocks, really!) here a friend sent to me months ago and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. She said she wasn't in a hurry, but I think I should probably get them back to her before the seasons change again! LOL

BSNJ has its monthly meeting on Thursday and I'm attending an all-day workshop with Linda Gettings on Saturday. I'll be learning how to make a St. Petersburg chain as a circular medallion. I believe there's sewing and seed beads involved. :o LOL

Enjoy the spring weather! I know I am! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #8: Email-hijacking Gremlins?

Just wanted to post/send a quick note (really quick this time, I promise! LOL) to let you know that the new Focal Piece of the Month is FINALLY up! Sorry it took so long to get it up this time around. I usually shoot for the updates around the 23rd-25th of the month, since the site first went up around Christmas, but due to personal issues on my end, AND the webmaster's end, AND some mysterious email-hijacking gremlins -- is Mercury in retrograde, by any chance? Just checked...no, it's not :o -- this project was just NOT destined to happen in a timely fashion! :p Therefore, this version of the Focal Piece of the Month will probably stay up through the middle of April, rather than change it again in a week or two.

Anyway, I've been super busy this weekend working on my PowerPoint presentation on Steampunk/steampunk jewelry for next Friday night's mid-term critique. Check THAT off the list of things to do! :D Cleaning up my class projects currently for the teacher to review. I felt pretty bleak after class on Friday night with everything I had to get done this week and I didn't feel my work was progressing as it should. Still have the readings to do for the quiz and my 10 weekly drawings. Everything will get done on time, as always. Hopefully, my grades and work will be to my father's standards...anything lower than a "B" may as well have been a "Q" as far as he was concerned. ;)

Back to work! Have a good week!