A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Yay, it's fall! (Shh, I know it's already fall according to the calendar, but the weather hasn't been cooperating.) October's probably my favorite month of the year; I love the autumn. It's about 60 degrees currently, and the humidity's finally gone, along with the rain. Not that I mind rain a lot, but that was a lot of rain...somebody left a cooler on our back deck, and the rain in the past couple of days completely filled it up. Not a little tiny cooler, either. O_o.

Tomorrow's TCNJ's Homecoming football game, and I'm going up with some friends. Not that we care about the game, but we want to see each other and walk around the campus. And tailgate. Supposed to be about 70 degrees, no rain. I love fall!

Here, have a couple pictures of TCNJ in the fall. I took them last October, I think...



Maybe this nice weather can somehow instill some motivation into me... I haven't been working on much of anything, sewing-wise, and I have neglected my guitar completely, two days in a row, now. Bad me. If I don't get my butt in gear, there's no way I'll finish the Black Diamonds costume in a month. Have I lost motivation to care about this? Perhaps.

With all my undergrad stuff. Except for the one summer class I have to take. But we aren't talking about that right now. Wooooo. Graduation's next Friday, and senior week, where we all get to stay in the freshman dorms, go out to clubs and things at night, hang out, drink ourselves stupid and enjoy our last couple days with our college friends, starts Tuesday.

Until then, MORE IMPORTANT THINGS. Like sewing, duhhhhh. So much I could sew, I don't even know what to start with. *is gleeful*

Well, except, not really, 'cause I still gotta finish the Damn Quilt, make the belt for the bridesmaid dress, and figure out which dress I want to make for graduation -- and make it, of course. Not too worried about any of that, though. After that, the fun starts! Sewing fun, not job-finding fun. Because that's not fucking fun. Hmmmmm...I guess I should start with the 1780s stays, because I can't make any 1780s dresses without them, can I? ...I could, actually, but me wants new stays! Watched The Duchess tonight while sewing quilt squares to inspire myself. Seems to have worked; now I want to make the stays, not the stupid quilt. Ahh well.

We shall see! Hopefully I'll be posting more often in the next few days, because I will have time to sew -- and right now I've got the motivation! ...Um, as soon as I can drag myself away from LJ. Heh.

Sandals, technically. They're getting old, but I love them, and refuse to throw them away until I have to. (I am sensing a theme here. It will be repeated. Often. I realize this may be why I have so many shoes...) Target, I think.



You also get a bonus (?) shot of the skirt I wore today, because people seem to love it so much. Really. Whenever I wear it, at least one person tells me how much they love it. Plus the first time I wore it, senior year in high school (yes, it's that old), was when I heard I'd got the lead in the school play, so it's got positive associations! My thesis adviser, one of the people who told me she liked my skirt today, also told me that she'll miss me when I graduate because she always likes to see what I'll wear to class!



I'm pretty sure this means I can never wear sweatpants to her class now. Or a t-shirt and jeans, for that matter. :)

Too early, in my opinion. Especially as I'm up here with only a certain bit of sewing to keep me company - the damn quilt. Shouldn't really complain, though...fall classes start tomorrow (well, today, technically), but I have no classes Tuesdays or Fridays, and I'm pretty happy about that! (All fellow college students, feel free to hate me now...;D )

I think I will bring the Tudor up to work on (well, I'm going to have to if I want it finished by October, duh), I just could not handle packing that along with all the other crap I had to bring up here as well. I'm going home Labor Day weekend, so I'll get it then. (If I have to stuff that monstrosity in a bag to bring back on the train...oy. The velveteen weighs a ton) Until then, please to not be expecting any earth-shattering sewing updates!

I just wanted to note that it seems I've chosen wisely in deciding to make the peach stripe poloniase; I keep seeing my f-list making and trimming their own froofy polonaises, and it makes me want one! And then I get to remember that I actually will be making one of my own, woot woot. Of course I won't be able to work on it for another month...*sad face*...but I'll be at home this weekend to see my little sister's play (Annie Jr, ugh ugh ugh), so...we'll see. I can at least dig out the peach petticoat to fix that up. *squee* Froofy polonaise-land, here I come!

Oh, and I almost forgot; another anecdote about the Cleverness of College Students. This time it was in my class about England, where two giggly girls sit directly behind me, to my chagrin. Before class started today, they managed to be especially giggly and irritating, engaging in what was clearly a meaningful and profound conversation, punctuated with exclamations like, "OMG, no he DIDN'T!" and "LOL, seriously?!"

When our professor came in, he asked if the weather was very nice out (it was and is; quite sunny!), and he asked me (I've been in his class before) if we should have class outside. Of course I said yes; who doesn't love an outside class (besides an individual with heinous allergies...)? One of the still-giggling girls then exclaimed, "Oh my god, SHUT UP!!!!" To our prof. I'm prety sure I slunk a few inches down in my seat at that point. Our professor took it in stride, because he's very awesome and laid back, saying "Oh...it's okay, I speak College Student," at which juncture I muttered, "Please don't generalize," which the kid next to me found very funny. When we sat out on the lawn I made very sure to sit far, far away from those two.

WELL THEN.

Vacation was good times, and now I'm back in Jersey, up at school, and it's cold. Even snowed today, and it's supposed to snow a bit more tomorrow. Well, that's certainly a change from Nassau, Bahamas.

No, I did not get a tan. I worship sunscreen, and hate getting roasted in the sun. Even horseback riding in the Dominican Republic for 2+ hours, I managed to avoid a tan.

Spring semester classes start tomorrow (well, my 10am is canceled; our prof refuses to have class on Inauguration Day, which is awesome), and after we got home Saturday night, I took stock of the costumes I've sewn over break.

Seem to have come up with a grand total of NOTHING. Hmm. Okay, okay, I did finish that 18thc petticoat to go over my pocket hoops, but it's too long anyway, and I really need to repleat the back half. And I made one dress for the cruise. (Looked pretty nice, if I do say so myself, which of course meant I failed completely to get any pictures of it whatsoever.*headdesk*) But that's not a costume.

There are many things I did NOT finish, which is why I left my room at home in something of a shambles. Things are piled precariously everywhere, mostly with sharp objects embedded in them, waiting to attack unwary passers-by. (Brought M.'s stays here to work on, though. A cruise is not generally a good place to find motivation for sewing. It's a good place to find motivation to drink and people-watch. And see many people in totally inappropriate swimwear, and cringe.)

Also, you're all generally unhelpful (kidding, kidding, thanks for voting!) as to choosing which fabric to use for my Bastille Day dress, as the two stripey fabrics came out in a tie. I may have to choose for myself (ohnoes, the horror!)...or ask some Real Life People here their opinions. So I don't have to choose. :D I shall let you know.

Unf. I am dead tired, but I figured I might as well report on how the late-night sewing went...

While messing about with the wool gown's sleeves, I discovered (o the cleverness of me!) that I cut out the sleeves so that the hem was on the selvage. That meant that I didn't have to hem the sleeves for today if I didn't have time. Which, no, I really didn't. (Those things have 2 yards of fabric in them!) Regardless of the sleeve hem elimination, I was still up til 3.30. It's okay, I watched Beatles movies. For a really long time.

And had to get up at 7.30 for setup for Feast at 8...then it transpired we didn't need to be there until 10, so I went back to sleep for an hour and a half. Setting up for Feast took literally all day, from 10 until I decided I needed to get dressed, around 5.10, because it started at 6. Good food, good times (when I'm slightly more coherent I may actually explain what Feast is), but then we had to clean up. Which I got back from around 11.45. Of course we had all this leftover crap that the members of OGL had to either take home or throw out, so I'm now the proud owner of three bags of almonds and a leetle tiny jack-o-lantern. He's sitting on my windowsill, and I think I shall have to name him. George, I think. Heh.

I, having no working camera, obviously did not get any pictures of myself, but I think other people did, and I'll try to steal them later if I can. If not, you'll have to wait til I take the whole getup home over winter break and I can get nice piccies then. (Except we all know I am something less than a phenomenal photographer, so they may not be so nice...)

Okay, done posting while practically not-sober from sleepiness!

And now we're back to Tudor-related unmotivation (Spell-check insists this is not a word. I say I don't care; I'm using it anyway. We agree to disagree) being up around 90%. Well, I think it's not really a lack of motivation, per se, as much as 1) schoolwork being a priority, annoying as that is, 2) my potentially joining the medieval re-enactment group on campus and all my friends being too embarrassed to be seen with me, but I've come to terms with that, which I'll need to make something for, and 3) I don't know that I'm going to end up having enough time to put the effort in the Tudor that I want. I don't want this to be one of those last-minute jobs...there's too much detail I want to put in it for that!

And this I can do, because despite my wishful thinking in regards to studying in England at this point next year, I just don't think it'll happen. GPA, actually fulfilling graduation requirements in time to graduate in spring 2010 (I don't care what the study abroad office says; classes taken abroad hardly ever count, and the study abroad office is a LYING LIAR who LIES about EVERYTHING), and that ever-present worry for the middle class, money. If I didn't have to eat while I was there, I'd be able to afford it; as it is... 

I was also (originally, in fact) thinking about the summer study abroad program we have in England, but that's, relatively, even more expensive, and I do believe it would conflict with either working or getting an internship, either of which are a MUST for next summer.

Actual sewing? Well, I have been doing the embroidery that will eventually go round the neckline of the Tudor gown (very, very slowly and occasionally). Nothing actually to do with, you know, making the gown, because I can't finish fitting it...because I had a moment of extreme cleverness and completely forgot the kirtle at home. And I am NOT cutting the bodice out until I know it fits PERFECTLY. Always a good idea, amirite? (Another reason I'm pretty sure I won't have time to do this gown justice!)

And one more thing...In regards to my probable friend-humiliating joining of aformentioned medieval campus group..."Medieval" is completely outside of my costuming realm of knowledge. (Yeah, "medieval" is not a very specific term, I know. I'm just not sure what style I'd like to make; I don't know enough about it!) So if any of you lovely people on my f-list who actually make it to the end of reading this long-ass boringness who know anything about That General Time have any books or websites you find really useful and could tell me to go read, I'd be eternally grateful. (As for geography, I'm thinking England. Cos I lurvs my England.)

Omigod, I feel like one of those idiots who posts, "hai, can u all go out n do all my resurch 4 me cuz im to lazy to do eny f it miself? kthxbai!" *cringe cringe cringe*

I am SO bored right now...and I DON"T want to do my Latin homework. Why am I taking Latin again? Oh yeah, the classical studies concentration I thought was such a good idea last semester...bleargh. Well, I need a concentration in something, so I guess the classics are as good as anything, and rather better than environmental sciences or something.

Okay, enough complaining...maybe I'll go read for politics and leave Latin til last, like I always do.

It's okay, though; tomorrow on Facebook is International Beatles Appreciation Day, which makes me happy. I can annoy my friends by breaking into song randomly all day. Yay! Much fun!

Things like what happened at VA Tech seem so far away. You feel sympathy for them, but you can't imagine how the students on campus felt when they heard what was happening on their campus.

Yesterday morning (Sunday) at about 9.30, I was woken by my roommate's phone ringing obnoxiously loudly. As we'd been to a party the night before, neither of us especially wanted to hear that. Cursing to myself, I wondered who the hell was calling at that time of morning. After Kat hung up her phone, I mumbled that whoever that had been had better have a damn good reason for calling. It was one of our friends who lived in a different dorm, and who had a tennis match later in the morning, so he was awake. First he asked if Kat had checked her email or the school website. (Obviously not, as we were all still asleep.)  So he told us there had been an "alleged shooting" in one of the freshman dorms, Travers. Students were requested to stay where they were, so as to facilitate the police investigation.

This is one piece of news that is almost guaranteed to wake anyone completely up. It certainly did me. Kat and I checked the website for updates every ten minutes, put on the news, and sat together, wondering what was happening. The fear, even terror, we felt, wondering what had happened, can really only be imagined. The news media, of course, was all over it. And I can't even imagine how the students who were here two years ago, the ones who were here when John Fiocco Jr went missing and whose body was later foun in a PA landfill, felt, knowing that if something had happened, we'd get an unbeliveable amount of media attention. (Which TCNJ does not  need again.)Seeing your college on the news, watching the reporters grill a College rep, to try to find out just how much potential death and mayhem they can come up with, is really a surreal experience.

The shooting did turn out to be a hoax 911 call; a 19-year-old, not a student here, has been arrested and is on $25,000 bail. By noon, we were allowed to leave our dorms, though guests weren't allowed in until evening, and there were police officers all over the campus. The kid had been caught by that night, and today it seems like something that happened to someone else in another lifetime. No one thinks any sort of disaster will happen to them; not until it happens...then you're in shock. 

I thank God that the whole thing was a hoax, and that no one was actually hurt. Still, this whole experience makes me think. And I honestly don't think I've ever been more scared in my life. 

Wow...heavy stuff. Going to the ren faire weekend after this one, so there should be some nice piccies, and back to your regularly scheduled happy costuming updates!