A Beginning

The world does not need another sewing blog.  The world does not need another skating blog.  The world does not need another book review blog.  And yet, here it is.  In a world already full of the opinions and ideas from people much more experienced, opinionated, and knowledgeable than I, why would I even bother to start yet another pointless blog?

I ask myself the same thing.



If we are being honest, I suppose the real reason is mostly due to badgering by certain family members who aren't satisfied with the 10 letter text messages they regularly receive.  Apparently tiny pixilated images of completed sewing projects aren't good enough for them.  And, with a certain potential study abroad program looming in the near future, relying on the current mode of communication is just not going to cut it.  So, dear certain family member, here it is.  A blog.  About the random stuff I am doing.  Just for you.  And the other 6 billion people on the internet.

Do I really have time to maintain a good blog?  Probably not.  I don't expect to be publishing every day, So, indeed, I would not expect the idle ramblings that will be forthcoming to be read by thousands the world wide.  But, hopefully if you are reading this then at least some of the crazy randomness will amuse you.  Ah, but what sort of crazy randomness you may wonder?  Well, obviously it will pertain to sewing, skating, and reading, with perhaps some random personal and tangential thoughts and feelings.  A few ideas on what I hope to accomplish here:

My version of a "vintage" pattern.

Sewing: I am relatively new to the whole sewing thing (approximately my 2 year anniversary).  I suppose the whole story of learning to sew will be forthcoming, but suffice it to say that I really don't have any super fancy tricks up my set-in-sleeve that I learned from the mom or the grandmom or the home ec teacher.  So I am sure many of my methods and madnesses are unconventional.  I beg you forgive me now.  My sewing perspective is one that didn't exist until after the new Burda Style website was born, what couldn't be found in stores could be acquired from the internet, and I thought a vintage pattern was Butterick 5781 from the late 90s.  Although searching the internet has drastically opened my eyes to the sewing community, I would still consider myself a newbie in most respects.  Hopefully I will be posting about works in progress, finished projects, patterns reviews, stash accumulations, and UFOs (un-finished objects) soon.  Up to this point I have been rather bad about documenting my sewing progress, but increasing demands for pictures will soon put that laziness to an end.  There may be random thoughts and musings over historical, costume, or red carpet gowns as well.  What can I say?  I like the sparklies.

Skating:  I am a figure skater.  A roller figure skater.  I know, I know, everyone just went whaaaaa????  But seriously.  Roller skaters have competitions too!  We have jumps and spins and dance and speed skating and hockey just like the other guys.  Now, I don't know too much about speed or hockey (or, truth be told, how to actually jump or spin real well) but I have been involved in the artistic side or roller skating for over 13 years.  I have competed at regional and national levels, and I am working on passing my gold medal tests for dance and figures.  I have also taken written exams for various judging commissions.  So, basically, yeah, I know a little bit about skating.  Not an expert.  But a little bit.  Enough to be justifiably opinionated, I guess.  I don't really know what I will talk about with the skating - perhaps a little bit of everything?  History, event results, thoughts on equipment, costumes, and techniques?  Hopefully there will be videos to showcase the awesome that is roller figure skating.  Also, although I don't actually ice skate, I will probably post thoughts on the goings on of the top notch ice figure skaters as well since I do enjoy watching the sport.  There will be costume reviews at the very least.

And we still have figures.  The classic namesake "figure eights."

Reading:  So, I like to read.  I like to read a lot of different things.  Elementary school taught me to appreciate fun reading.  High school taught me to appreciate serious reading.  College taught me to appreciate technical reading.  So I do a little bit of everything.  Science fiction, fantasy, classic literature, history, nonfiction, technical manuals... you name it.  Well, maybe not romance.  Unless, you know, it is mashed in with the other stuff.  But other than that, yeah, I go for it.  So hopefully I will be posting non-spoilerific reviews of the books that have plots and very spoilerific reviews of the books without them.  Or perhaps I could hide spoilerifics behind jump breaks?  It remains to be seen.  In any case, book releases and author tours and other literary events that I find to be of interest are also part of the planned future blog content.

So yeah.  See certain family member?  This is what happens when you pester me.  Free time will get sucked away and be devoured by all the randomness that is fun in life.