Spirograph -- Having fun

I had fun with spirograph as a child.  So, it was fun to find a kit.  I bought it because I knew I would use it.  I didn't expected to have some pens in the kit but it is a good thing.  I will be able to find similart pens later on.  There is also sheets (but I didn't used them right away).   What I like the most is the manual.  I will use it to get ideas.  Guide like that manual is always helpful to get most of the kits.

barettes

It was time to do new barettes.  I used a new glue for those ones.  I will experiement on how good and durable is this new glue.  It is Gorilla Clear Glue and it is a new one.  For now, it is holding on very well.  I will see if is hold up the test of time.

I also found new thread.  It is small spool but there is a variety of colour:

I found them in a Michaels store.  At least, I have now choice of colours.  Before, I bought similar (bit a bit bigger) white spool at the hardware store (Canadian Tire to be exact.  I like to go there for my hardwayre supply of jewelry component)

Pearl Buck

As a child, I tried to read books authored by Pearl Buck (1892-1973, an american writer).  I really tried to read them.  I didn't got hocked even if I tried numerous time with numerous books, in the hope to read at least one.  I tried hard but I was not able to read more than a few lines or a few pages. I was always hitting a passage that ruined everything.  It was like hitting a wall.  I was becoming upset when I hit some passage.  I was also frustrating over those passages, for a reason or another.  Everything was fictional. I guess I was not ready for fiction that was based on real life.

It was not a total waste.  At the time, I pick up a few elements that was prevalent in Pearl Buck's fictional world: China seems to be one of her interest.  I learned about the tradition of the small feet in women and how to do it.  There was also some stories about homeless children that doesn't knew that ice scream would melt in their pocket.  They were trying to save ice scream for later and it all melted.  At the time, I was thinking it was scandalous and a waste to put ice scream in pocket.

NOw that I am an adult, I know that I wouldn't be able to read her again.  I was not able at the time and it still hold true.  I tried too hard as a child.  It ruined everything for me.  The themes were more aimed for an adult.  Maturity and knowledge about the hardship of the world is needed to read Pearl Buck.  On the other hand, I am more curious about the author, the person behind the book.  I don't know anything about Pearl Buck.  I don't know about her life experiences.  I only know she is an author and that she write books where China have a big place.  It is mysterious for me.  I can't resist that kind of mystery, especially about an author.  I wonder about her creativity, her motivation to write and if her life had an impact on her writing.  Maybe that Pearl Buck is more interesting than her litterary work.

The archetype of the comic

Last week end, I saw the movie on the life of Charlie Chaplin.  I knew a few facts about his past, especially his first stage experience and with his mother.   I also vaguely knew about his numerous wives.  I knew there was some scandals in his life.  I guess that for the time, scandals were to be expected with rich people.  Well, I have the impression that rich people were more free to do outrageous things.  Today, we seems to get more use to outrageous things done by rich peoples and it seems a bit more tame.

I include Charlie Chaplin in the archetype of the tragic comic with Robin Williams.  Charlie Chaplin had very tragic origins.  His father was not around and was deceased when Charlie was young.  Charlie's mother had trouble with her mental health.  I guess that Charlie Chaplin had to mature really quickly.  On the other hand, it is quite amazing that Charlie Chaplin ended up being a comic.  An successful one.  He had gift and talent.  He had the chance to express his talent and people laugh.

I wonder if comedy was a defence mechanism from his life experiences.  His inspiration seems to spring from his life and mind, becoming concrete and manifested themselves.  In the movie, it all seems so easy.  for example, the scene with the big ball, in The Dictator, had a counterpart in Charlie's real life: at the beach with two of his children.  Even the counterpart, the Tramp, seems so easy to create.  Charlie Chaplin created his screen counterpart on the fly, picking up the items that would become iconic.

The movie was based on his autobiography.  I haven't read this autobiography.  Now, I wonder if he tell mopre about his creative process in his book.  How does he came up with his ideas, where did he find his inspiration?  I agree with Charlie Chaplin: I would not have seen his character talk on the screen.  The Tramp was comic in a physical way.  He could not have done verbal jokes as good as his physical funny pirouettes.

It is just sad that the bec comedic talent had parts in the shadow.  Maybe their dark parts nourrish their brillant comic art but it is sad anyway.  It set them appart and it usually set them in danger.   It would be nice to have an system, for them, to get out of harm way but still be funny.  It would be a kind of lifeline that would be a check for the dark side of them.

Synchronicity: a video about the life of Charlie Chaplin.  A good complement on the movie I saw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbzyHaWlcHI

Thought in Fire

Last week end, there was a fire.  A house burned down completely.  This fire was out of control.  The spectrum of control over fire vary.  We are in a modern world and yet, fire is not totally under control.  It is surprising that fire is not totally mastered.  The knowledge is there.  It is just hard, in some cases, to control fire.  For me, it is something that is hard to believe.  Today technology is so advanced and there is something that is not completely under hand.

Candles is now synonymous with romantisim.  It is perceived with minimum risk when ignited.  Only ssome supervision is needed.  I wonder if it was differently perceived in older time.  The time when lighting was only with candles.  I wonder if people must had been more cautious.  Where they affraid of loosing everything?

Fire, as a technology for heat and cooking, had been with us for a long time.  It is a bit strange that we don't have total control over it.  The knowledge is pretty basic.  Fire need fuel, heat and oxigen to work.  Even if we know that, there are fire that are out of control.  It must be frustrating for firefighters not being able to struggle on a fire.

I guess this apply for fire: too much is not a good thing.  There is also some regions that have problem with water.  Rivers are getting out of their riverbed.  The weather seems more wild with the elements.  I haven't seen much thought about that in sci-fi or fantasy.  Well, it may inspire me.

What is invisible and finding role model

I know people who have Dyspraxia, officially known as Developmental Coordination Disorder.  Not visible at first sight.  Those affected seems to be clumsy.  Learning new abilities takes longer because they stay more into the manual side.  The automatic side have difficulties to get in.  There is also the verbal dyspraxia that affect the people I know.  The explanation for verbal dyspraxia was interesting: in the brain, the message was clear.  When the message goes to destination, the muscles are not efficient in decoding the message.  So, the speech is affected by the muscles.  It result in a quite different pattern of speech.  I often say, for one of the person I know who have it, that she is like Yoda doing Shatnerism.

It is an adaptation and a lot of learning while living near that kind of person.  It affect the sufferers for ttheir whole life.  No cure, not much long term services.  It demand a lot of discipline for helping those affected.  A lot of physical therapy.  By chance, it is often made by play.  Play help for so many things, not just for those with dyspraxia!

I thought that finding role model would be interesting.  Daniel Radcliffe, the famous actor of Harry Potter fame, was not successful.  He didn't bring interest.  Florence Welch, from Florence and the Machine was meet with more interests.  Well, when a person have musical interest, it is fitting to like people in that field!  It was only the two persons I knew that have this problem.  On the fictional side, there is one very recent companion of Doctor Who who have the condition (Ryan Sinclair, in 2018).  It was nice to see a fictional character being in this position.  It is just not for all audience.

Otherwise, I found another actor who have the condition (Will Poulter, The Chronicle of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Revenant, We're the Millers).  There is an UK Politician (Emma Lewell-Buck) and an rugby player (Ellis Genge).  What surprise me is model Cara Delevigne (of Luc Besson, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets).  I wonder why those success and well known people comes mainly from the UK.  Is there more ease to get the diagnosis and get better there?

It is just sad that there is no easy solution for Developmental Coordiantion Disorder.  It is not the only condition that are not really known or where there isn't much research on.  Disphasia, allergies and juvenal arthritis are other examples of conditions that would benefit from research.

A few tests and mandalas perler beads

I loved doing the mandalas with the peler beads.  I show the best ones.  The two rainbow was done on the same pegboard and I liked the idea.

Gems Show

A nice time at a gems show.  It was fruitful to go there and make some purchase:

A knitted free form project: Finished!

I decided to do a knitted project.  It was inspired by a poncho pattern that I made for children.  I decided to do it without the hood and without the buttom.  There is a hole for my head.  It is not great looking on the photo:

I did it with my favorite yarn.  It is jeans like, for the texture.  I did it in stokinette stitches, because it is the best way, in my opinion, to use that yarn.  It will be used for inside the home.  I won't go outside with it.  I just have to test it when I feel cold.  I know it fit on me.  I know that the hole for the head is rather big.  The stitches are not helping because it makes the yarn curve.  I don't mind.  Only close ones will see this project on me.

Where do I report typo?

Sometimes, there are things I see that left me in puzzlement.  I found a typo in a map in the subway:

Yes, there is a typo in there!  There is another map with the correct version:

It may be just the name of a building but it is embarassing.  This will be another reason to ask, in my testament, not to have my name used in typonymy (the naming of places and street)

Trying Bigger, getting to medium size perler project

I tried to do medium sized project with perler beads and it was a success:

So, I am amble to do more than small project.  I can make bigger project and it hold on.  I must miss something for the extra large project like the one with Wonder Woman.  I may be clueless but hopeful.    Failure must have a reason that I don't see right now.  For now, I will do a few more medium size project to built confidence.  After that, I may make another try for Wonder Woman.

Stars, flowers, animals and insects