Grad school, blogging, nerdiness, and other things

Posted on January 22, 2014
by Beth Lynn

One of the classes I’m taking this spring, Digital Humanities, has a blog posting component. Which I’m really excited about. As I’m learning while doing readings for my Digital Humanities class, blogging is a really big part of the field. A lot of information gets shared through blogs, and it’s really interesting to learn about. Not only that, but digital humanities in general. It’s got my inner art history nerd peeping out again to see what sorts of projects I could work on that tie Art History into Digital Humanities… so many things to learn this semester!

I’m also taking Gender and Computerization, which so far has proven to be an eye-opening look at how gender plays into various parts of the computing/technology field. Some of the topics discussed in the class so far have given me even more ideas for research projects. Might even talk about them here, although they’re so very nerdy and not exactly crafty. Who cares? Someone out there may find my ideas/realizations interesting! Plus, research!

Oh, and I get to make a website for Information Architecture for the web. Which is always fun.

Speaking of fun! I installed Ubuntu on my laptop last night! It’s my first experience with Linux. I’m enjoying it so far. I’ve got a bit of experience with Unix from my studies in ILS, using it when doing programming in Python and Perl, stuff like that, but this is the first time I’ve jumped in completely and devoted an entire machine to a Linux based OS. I actually enjoy the fact that sometimes it takes a little bit of tinkering to get stuff to work.

I might make some more grad-school-oriented posts this semester, not sure. I mean, most of the stuff I do in grad school is considered pretty nerdy, and I love sharing the things I learn with others, maybe getting people to discuss things on the blog…

Oh. Unrelated to anything except my previous post: I saved a pony from certain death last week. The weather here has been exceptionally chilly lately, though, so I’m going to have to get creative if I want to hit my step goal this week and save another pony. But if I do hit my goal… I GET SOCKS.

And yes, I really am excited about socks. I mean, come on, socks are awesome. Especially fun socks, like the robot-cupcake-unicorn socks I’m wearing right now. 😀

Alright, enough of my disjointed rambling. I’ll hopefully have a more well-formed blog post for everyone next week.

Getting in better shape, the nerdy way

Posted on January 15, 2014
by Beth Lynn

I’ll admit it. I’m not in the greatest shape. There are a number of things that contribute to this – some I can’t control, like health issues, and some that I can control, like being a lump parked at a desk in a cube farm for 29ish hours a week. And I know that I need to be in better shape. I want to be in better shape. I want to fit into my steampunk skirt properly, and I want to avoid having to let out all my cosplay outfits. So, I’ve found a few things to motivate myself with. Quite a few, actually, and some of them more effective than others.

The Fitbit

I’ve had a number of these awesome pedometers over the years – and recently, I got a Fitbit Flex. (In obnoxious green, like the one above.) And for some reason, not actually knowing how many steps I’ve taken strangely motivates me to move more. I want to fill up all the little lights on my tracker! I want it to vibrate with glee! AND ALL THE DATA I RECEIVE. Oh, the data. I can see when I was most active, how many steps I took throughout the day, and how well I slept the previous night. I love data. This is one of the many reasons why I’m an Information Science master’s student. Data. 😀

The Aria

The Aria is the smartest scale I’ve ever owned. It connects to the internet and funnels weight info for 8 people into their respective Fitbit accounts. I do like stepping on it and having it recognize me by name. (Most of the time.) I will admit to having a love-hate relationship with my Aria. I love that it gives me all the freaking data I could ever have on my body and weight and such, but I hate how brutally honest the damn thing is. I also hate when it confuses me with Mr. Crafty Nerd. That’s another motivating reason for me to lose some weight. (Curse you, Aria! SAY MY NAME!) But I guess having a scale that lied to you would be counterproductive, wouldn’t it?

(I swear, this article isn’t turning into an advertisement for Fitbit.)

Bribing myself

Yes, I will totally stoop to bribing myself. For every week I hit my step goal (I’m not even aiming to hit the gym at this point, I’m shooting for getting my butt out of my desk chair and walking every day), I will allow myself to buy a pair of socks from Sock Dreams. Because aside from all the other addictions I have (like My Little Ponies, video games, crafts, and Toothless the Dragon), I also am addicted to knee socks. My collection is epic… but it could be more epic. And the self-bribing isn’t limited to just socks. When I hit the “holy crap I’ve lost five pounds” point, I’m going to treat myself to a massage. Lose more weight? Get a more awesome reward. And so on. I am hoping to have all the socks on my Sock Dreams wishlist.

Giving things up if I miss my mark

Yes, this is a little bit more cruel, I guess you could say, but I think this will also keep me on track. For every week I don’t hit my step goal – and I’m gonna be reasonable, if I’m a couple hundred steps off I’ll go easy on myself, or if I’ve been sick that’s completely understandable – I will give up one pony from my My Little Pony collection. And I’ll even let Mr. Crafty Nerd pick which ones go. He’s been saying I have too many ponies anyway.

Yes, I think I just heard that collective gasp. “But Crafty Nerd, you can’t give up your ponies! You love them too much!” And that’s why I’m doing this – because I don’t want to lose any ponies. No sirree. However, if I do mess up, and a pony has to go… I’ll offer it up to you guys on Facebook first, as a sort of contest. But here’s hoping that doesn’t have to happen.

SO DETERMINED.

I’ll try and post regular updates on here or on Twitter about my progress – here’s hoping I end up with more socks, and not less ponies. I’m determined. I can do this. Oh yes.

HabitRPG: Where doing laundry gets you experience points!

Posted on December 15, 2013
by Beth Lynn

One thing that I am horrible at is building new habits – and sticking to them. Sure, I’ll wear my Fitbit for about a week, excited about all the data it provides to me about how far I’ve walked and how many times I woke up in the middle of the night, then forget it at home one day… and sure I’ll say “I’m going to read ALL THE BOOKS this year” and then, without fail, end up on the computer all weekend and watching Law and Order to fall asleep. Or I’ll start a craft project, work on it for a few weeks, and then go “oooh I should start another Doctor Who scarf” and forget about whatever it was I was working on completely.

Well, HabitRPG sets out to change that.

Yes, that’s my little tiny character, clad in leather armor, brandishing a sword. I need to keep up my good habits in order to earn a helm.

The premise is very simple – build habits and complete tasks, earn XP and gold pieces to spend on in-game goodies to keep you from losing too much health should you forget to complete a given task in a day, or to redeem for real-life privileges and treats. When you log in for the first time, you’ll see four columns – Habits, Dailies, To Do, and Rewards. You’ll also see a little pixel version of your character up in the left hand corner of the screen, which you can customize to your liking. HabitRPG will suggest some habits and daily tasks for you, as well as suggest some possible rewards you can give to yourself – the first thing I did was set up some habits that I’m working on (like wearing my Fitbit every day, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, bringing my lunch to work) and also add some daily tasks I wanted to make sure I did every day (including reading a book for at least 30 minutes, and spending an hour away from the computer – which you might think is easy, but when you work in IT, your entire life is computers!). To-do comes in handy as a reminder list that also earns me gold and XP – and the Rewards section is where you can go spend your gold.

Don’t think that it’s just a cute way to remember to walk the dog and mail out the bills, however. There are QUESTS. (Or, as HabitRPG calls them, challenges.) Yes, you can compete with/against other HabitRPG warriors for the potential to earn goodies while building good habits! Which is pretty awesome. And you can randomly get pets – I picked up a wolf egg when I checked off one of my dailies today. 😀

And so you don’t have to go it alone – you can create parties, join a guild, and more. I’m currently going it alone, as there’s no easy way to share a link to a party so others can join, but if any of you readers join up, shoot me a comment on here or on the Facebook page with your User ID (which can be found either here or here, but you must be logged in) and I’ll add you to my party!

So, for those of you who have some trouble sticking to new habits, or just want to find a new way to make doing all that laundry exciting, give HabitRPG a try! I’m enjoying the heck out of it, and may have freaked out a little when I neglected my chores for a day and though “nooo, my little warrior is going to die if I don’t clean!”, heheh.

The new scooter: a story told in photos

Posted on October 1, 2013
by Beth Lynn

For those of you who haven’t been following the Facebook page, or who haven’t had to put up with me in person the past couple of days, I’ve been sick. Not super sick, not “oh crap I should go to urgent care” sick, but sick enough to be whiny and spaced-out. BUT. I know my loyal readers are looking for something, anything, to read – so, I give you the story of my new scooter – mostly told in photos.

Hey, look, it’s the scooter truck! I wonder what could be in those giant boxes that say Genuine Scooter Company on them.

Continue reading →

A letter to Scooterlou

Posted on September 19, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Dear Scooterlou,

It’s been a good nearly two years together. We’ve been through a lot of good times, a couple of bad times, and one really nasty time (I’m pretty sure I shielded you from the road that one time we were in an accident together), and rode 1,730ish miles together (give or take). You’ve taken good care of me, and I’m pretty sure I’ve taken good care of you – aside from covering you in stickers, anyway. And that nasty spill on College Ave. You’re my first scooter, and I love you to death.

But… y’see, I think I’ve outgrown you.

I know, I know, you’ll say “but come on, you haven’t gotten any taller! I’m short and dainty and perfect for you!” But over the past twoish years, I’ve been learning about what I really need in a scooter. I need something that, while being a 49cc scooter, can go up hills without sounding like it’s having an asthma attack. Something that can go from zero to useful in a short amount of time at a stop light. Something that doesn’t piss off the drivers behind me because I’m slowly making my way up to 35 miles an hour after turning onto a new road. I also want something a little bigger, something a little taller, something a little zippier, something a little more reliable. (And I’m not saying you’re not reliable! I am, however, saying that you have been in the shop a couple times over the past two years, and I’ve heard Honda Metropolitans have certain things that get problematic as they age.)

I’m getting a Buddy tomorrow, Scooterlou. And you’re going to end up finding a new home.

Continue reading →

Things that The Crafty Nerd has been up to…

Posted on September 17, 2013
by Beth Lynn

I know, sometimes I’m not very good at this “regular posting” thing. Especially during the school year. I’ve got to kick my own butt about it, and remind myself “hey, you have people actually maybe wanting to read what you write, so you have to write something”. Even if it’s just something little and silly like that pony creator I posted a few weeks ago, it shows you guys I’m still alive, right?

Well, here’s what I’ve been up to that’s keeping me from posting regularly…

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“I’m not that crafty,” he says.

Posted on September 8, 2013
by Beth Lynn

My husband, who I’ve affectionately dubbed Mr. Crafty Nerd, claims he’s not crafty.

Mister Crafty Nerd, pondering his allegedly uncrafty status…

“I’m not a designer or anything,” Bryan says. “I’m not crafty.” But as you peek into his office, you can see some evidence of his creativity. There’s a bookshelf that’s been turned into a standing desk. A Nerf gun that’s been disassembled, painted, and reworked to look very steampunky. Costume elements from his steampunk costume, worn at Gencon. A backlit monitor stand, with LEDs adding some ambient light to his computer setup. If you wake up his tablet, you’ll see a background with a space-commander-esque insignia and a widget proclaiming “Welcome Commander Hoey”.

Sure, he may not consider himself crafty in the conventional sense, but he’s definitely a creative guy.

Continue reading →

I have a t-shirt problem.

Posted on September 1, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Yes, everyone, I have a t-shirt problem. And it might be getting out of control, heh.

It hit me earlier this week, when I got this new t-shirt in the mail – found it on Ript during the last day of GenCon, ordered it when I got home, and promptly took a picture of it upon its arrival. As I was neatly arranging my new t-shirt under Toothless, I thought of the many other t-shirts I owned, and thought it might be neat to pull them all out and see just how many awesomely nerdy t-shirts I had. And so I did.

Continue reading →

Nerd world problems

Posted on August 25, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Well. Here it is, Sunday evening, and I have no idea what to write about. I don’t have a planned article that’s ready enough for the world to see, I don’t have a batch of craft projects to share with everyone – so instead, I’m going to ramble about my nerd world problems.

Grad school starts up again tomorrow. I don’t have any classes until Tuesday, but still – the school year starts anew, and I have a fresh batch of classes to work through. I’m fine with that, I’m actually rather excited about classes, but what the heck am I going to make while I’m in class? I honestly think the reason I got a 4.0 in all my classes this summer is because I had a craft project in my hands, keeping me from surfing the internet and helping me absorb all the knowledge for that day’s session. But aside from this massively massive capelet I’m making (it’s from a Game of Thrones themed pattern, and it’s going to be My Little Pony themed – the colors are black and navy blue, Princess Luna’s colors!), I don’t have anything I’m working on that’s small enough to toss into my backpack. I might work on a cowl, might work on a scarf… I dunno yet, though.

Nerd world problems, I know.

I did put about 30 miles on Scooterlou this weekend! And it spurred me into making a website for our scooter riding group. I spent maybe four hours cranking out the website last night – you can see it here if you’re interested. My eyes were going crossed by the end of everything, though, and I fought with phpBB for a good hour on top of that. I dunno if anyone’s even going to use it, heh, but it’s there. And it looks pretty awesome, I think.

Aside from that, there’s not much going on in my little corner of the world – just gearing up for the beginning of a new semester. I promise there’ll be more exciting things to talk about on Wednesday!

GenCon, Day 2 (Or, The Crafty Nerd battles her social anxiety)

Posted on August 16, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Today has been… a day, we’ll put it at that. There were good parts, there were bad parts, and there were absolutely exhausting parts.

It’s no secret to those who know me well, but for those who don’t know me, I deal with some bad social anxiety and can get seriously awkward as a result. For the most part, it doesn’t bother me, unless I’m in situations where there are lots of people/lots of noises or I’m an unfamiliar place. And, well, GenCon hits all three. I don’t know my way around too well, there are way too many people everywhere, and more often than not I have to REALLY work up the nerve to ask a favorite author or webcomic artist to sign something for me because I feel bad bothering them. I know, I know, they wouldn’t be here if they didn’t want their fans to talk to them or flail about in their general presence, but still. Social anxiety is irrational. And it was incredibly irrational today, that is for sure. I ended up retreating back to the hotel room mid-day to hide and recharge my batteries, so to speak.

My day was fun, though, I won’t deny it. I ended up at another instance of the Enterplay My Little Pony trading card game, and ended up with more swag – I have only bought one pony related thing so far this trip, haha. I got a trading card folio and this card:

Yes, this is one of the more rare Rainbow Dash cards for the trading card series – rumor has it that one went for $700 on eBay recently. (It’s going for around $180 at the time of this writing, which isn’t $700, but still!) I’m ridiculously lucky to have gotten this – the guys at Enterplay are amazing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll likely say it again, hah.

After the pony panel, I wandered around the exhibition hall before having a slight meltdown/freakout because I couldn’t work up the nerve to ask Jeph Jacques (of Questionable Content fame) to draw me a picture of Marigold, so I ended up going back to the room and just sat there for a while, overwhelmed and overtired. (I didn’t sleep much last night, which probably contributed to it.) Bryan, wonderful husband that he is, ended up going back and getting me the sketch. I am very thankful that he is so patient with me. Thankfully, sleep and quiet did the trick, and I braved the exhibition hall for one last round of goodies before getting dinner and camping out in front of the room where An Evening with Patrick Rothfuss was scheduled to happen.

I am ridiculously glad I got there early. Apparently the event was sold out – and since I got in line early enough, I got to sit right up front. It was amazing. Patrick is just so… I don’t know how to explain it, except it feels like he’s just one of the gang, an awesome person the likes of which I’d love to just hang out with. And it felt like we were hanging out, him and around 200 other people, myself included. He talked candidly. He cussed a lot. He talked about feminism and sexism in fantasy novels, and he read stuff to us from when he wrote a humorous advice column back in college, he told us about his writing processes, he talked about tons of other stuff which I cannot remember, and then we all sang “You Are My Sunshine” together.

And then I had him sign my iPad. Which I will post pictures of tomorrow, when I am actually near my iPad and my phone. Apparently it was not the first electronic device he had signed. Awesome. He is now, officially, my most favorite author. Not only are his books amazing, but he is frigging awesome. Sorry, Anne Bishop, but Patrick has dethroned you.

And entirely unrelated to anything – there’s a guy sitting not too far away from where I’m parked in the lobby with my laptop who has been playing the Game of Thrones theme on his guitar for, well, about an hour. I am not kidding. I’m pretty sure I never want to hear that song again.

Until tomorrow, everyone! I’ll be dressed as the 4th Doctor, which I am incredibly excited about. I am also excited about the fact that I have enough stuff to post about to fill the site for a week straight. 😀 And we’re only halfway through the con!