#nerd – AJ Mullican, Author

Pleather problems

Anime, Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Exercise, Fitness, games, Geek, Hair, Sewing

So I didn’t realize the pleather would stretch so much when I started sewing it to the interfacing I have. Like, a lot. I wanted to use the stronger sew-on interfacing that I had left over from the jacket I made for my husband, but it’s clear now that I need to use the fusible interfacing that the pattern suggests. When I find it, that is…it is most likely underneath a huge pile of fabric, so I need to straighten up in the craft room a bit. I should be straightening up right now…but I don’t feel like it lol I’m frustrated by this development, thus I am taking a break before I take my frustration out on my fabric.

Now I know how the pleather reacts, though, and the leather needles I bought to sew it with seem to work really well for it. Clean punches through the pleather, no jamming. So that’s good.

In other news, the Pokémon Go exercise is still in full swing. I think I’ve missed only two or three days since I started playing two weeks ago, which for me is fantastic. That’s 2 1/2 miles a day on average, not counting missed days. Not bad for a couch potato. Bed potato? Regardless, I have the shape and mannerisms of a potato. Minus the extra eyes. Or something. I haven’t lost much weight–mere ounces, if the scale at my work is any indication–but I’m still proud of myself for getting the exercise. And hey, it keeps me off drugs. (Okay, so I never did drugs anyway…what was my point again?) I even got to hang out with a friend that I hadn’t seen in a few months.

I’m tempted to go on a Poké-walk when the sun comes up, regardless of whether or not my husband is awake. He’s three levels ahead of me; I need to step up my game. Maybe I’ll mess around with strengthening the gym that we (the blue team) hold down the street. I’m not 100% sure on how to do that, but from what I understand it’s just like taking control of a gym except you’re fighting your own guys? I don’t know. I only just fought in a gym for the first time last night. Not the most thrilling thing, but it was cool taking down Pokémons stronger than mine. Yes, I know that’s not the plural. I’m still calling them Pokémons.

Let’s see, what else has happened in the two days I missed posting? Uh…nothing much, really.

Oh! I am seriously considering dyeing my hair, if I can find a person that can do what I want.

fire hair

I would rock this. I just can’t do it myself, and I don’t know anyone in town here that I would trust to do it. I know a great stylist in Phoenix, but not only is she expensive (for my budget) but she’s usually pretty booked, and for good reason. She’s had two local artist showcases of her clients’ hair up in Phoenix, which is pretty cool. It helps that she’s also incredibly friendly and personable. The bubbly type, at least the one time I met her in person. I’ve known her for a year through Facebook, but only met her once at Phoenix Comicon. Anyway, sidetracked–I want that hair pictured above. A lot. I want to flip my hair and have it look like flickering fire. And I can pull off red tones–I’ve done it plenty of times before. Maybe after Dragon Con? But I don’t know that I want to wait that long. I’m really digging this look.

Lost momentum

Comic books, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek

I’ve been trying to figure out why I can’t seem to get anything done in the mornings before work (which used to be my most productive time of day), and then it hit me: without cosplays to work on nonstop, I’ve lost steam.

With so many mornings of gogogogogo in preparation for Phoenix Comicon, my brain doesn’t know what to do with nothing to do. Well, I guess I don’t have nothing to do. I could write, draw, read, color in my coloring books…so there are things that can keep my mind occupied–I just don’t have the drive to do any of them. My inspiration on my new novel has evaporated, so until that comes back to me I’m a little at a loss there.

Once we get some fabric for my husband’s coat and pants for his next cosplay, I can get back to spending all my free time in the craft room frantically cutting, pinning, and sewing.

Well, maybe not frantically. I have three months, give or take a week or so, and I got the Naruto cosplays finished in a month. So one could theorize that I have some breathing room here. I’ve already used the pattern for my husband’s pants once, so I know how everything goes together; I just have to do some mockup work to get the color blocking I’ll need to do. That’s going to be the interesting part of making these–his costume has some cool color blocking, and mine will have a lot of modifications to the designs of the patterns I’ve purchased for it.

The good news is that I found several pairs of boots that might work for my cosplay, so that’s one less thing to worry about. I think those boots are pretty much the only things (aside from my husband’s boots as well) that we won’t have to make from scratch. This should be fun.

Now if I could just find something to do until we get that fabric….

A good day for a Song

Celebrity, Convention, Cosplay, Fandom, Geek, Sci-fi

Today will be Day 3 of Phoenix Comicon for me, and I’m most excited for today. Why, you ask? Because I have my first ever official con photo op (not just a selfie at the guest’s booth), and it’s with the one, the only River Song (aka Alex Kingston)!

River Song is my favorite Doctor Who companion, hands down. I cosplayed her as my first cosplay, and ever since they announced that Alex would be at the con I’ve been eager to get a photo op. I’m debating having her sign the photograph later in the day, because sometimes you get a little bit of time to chat with the guest at the autograph table (as opposed to the photo ops, where they have you move right along to keep the line under control).

I’ll be dressed in my Star Wars/Doctor Who mashup cosplay today, complete with Ultrasabers lightsaber:

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I got a lot of compliments on my costume Thursday evening when I wore it, and I’m hoping Alex likes it. (Of course, being an actress and all she’ll probably say she loves it regardless of her personal opinion on it haha). I could have done a River Song cosplay again, but I don’t have a good wig for it anymore and my hair is shock-straight no matter what I do with it.

If you’re at Phoenix Comicon today and see me, feel free to ask for a photo if you like my costume. If you don’t like it or don’t want a photo, just wave and say “hi” 🙂

T-minus one day, 8 hours

Convention, Cosplay, Geek, Interview, Sci-fi, Social Media

It’s almost that time of year! Phoenix Comicon begins tomorrow, and while I won’t be able to get there until the festivities are already in full swing (have to wait for my husband to get off work at 1pm) I’m sure I’ll have the time of my life. 🙂 My cosplays are complete–I even got the 4ft fighting fan prop in for my Temari cosplay–and most of what we’re taking is already packed and ready to be loaded into the car tomorrow.

I have three interviews set up so far, and though I’m not overly optimistic at getting more I’m happy that at least a few people wanted to talk to me. I have my questions all ready on little 3×5 note cards that I’ll have handy in my cosplay pocket or purse. My phone has a decent voice recorder app that I’ve tested myself, so that’s taken care of. All I’ll need to do is transcribe and post at the end of each day. Each long day.

This year will be my first attending as media/press, so it will be interesting to see what kinds of things I can do. I know I can’t take photos of the guests without permission, but I plan on taking lots of cosplay photos and Periscoping in the hallways as I go to and fro. Probably won’t be able to Periscope any panels, but maybe I can manage live tweeting a few. And of course, I’ll be on the Talk Nerdy With Us Instagram to document the fun I’m having.

I have a ton of panels that I want to see. Cosplay panels, writing panels, sci-fi panels…things that will help with various different interests I have. I may even go to some of the panels that my sister wants to see. It will be her first Comicon, so I want her to have as much fun as possible. She’s chosen some interesting panels, but there are a few that conflict with panels that I want to see. She doesn’t seem to mind, though, and seems genuinely excited to be going. She’s a bit of a hermit (stays at home when she’s not working & only really leaves the house to go shopping with Mom or to go to Pet Smart) so I’m glad she’s getting excited about going to a big, crowded place full of strangers.

The countdown continues! I may even Periscope or live tweet from the car on the drive up (lol) but not for more than a few minutes. I’m sure no one wants to see 3 hours of interstate. Or 3 hours of me chattering away.

See y’all tomorrow and all weekend on the Talk Nerdy With Us Twitter and Instagram feeds!

T-minus 8 days

Anime, Celebrity, Convention, Cosplay, Fandom, Geek

That’s right, just a little over a week until Phoenix Comicon! I am almost completely done with cosplays…one little strap to do, but I need a buckle for it so it’ll have to wait until Friday when I can get to the craft store.

There will be much ironing and helping each other into our costumes when we get to my in-laws’ house. We’ve done what we can, but considering it all has to get smooshed into one garment bag there’s going to be some wrinkling. Going to pack safety pins and possibly bring along my craft/sewing bin in case of cosplay emergency that needs to be handled before we get to the con.

I’m of course excited for Comicon, but I’m also excited that I get to introduce my sister to this wonderful world. I know she doesn’t get out much and doesn’t like crowds, but neither did I when I went to my first con, and that first con got me hooked. She needs to get out more and meet new people, so hopefully she enjoys this experience and opens up a bit…plus, there’s the added bonus of being able to potentially meet some celebs that interest her. I know there are usually a lot of voice actors and artists from different animes and mangas she likes, and there are usually panels about manga and anime art that I know she’ll have fun with….it’s just a matter of getting her to go to them.

I’ve been practicing Periscoping so I can get a few live feed shots of the con for Talk Nerdy With Us. I keep forgetting to look at the camera–and when I do, I keep looking back at the screen to see how I look. Derp! Oh, well, I still hope people will enjoy my tweets and Periscopes.

Off to get ready for work!

May the Fourth Be with You

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Fandom, Geek, Holiday, Movies, Sci-fi, Tattoo

Yes, it’s that day again: the day when the nerds come out of the woodwork to proclaim their love for Star Wars.

I’m one of those nerds. I love the movies (well, most of them), and if I wasn’t a bigger Doctor Who fan I would probably have been getting a Jedi Order tattoo yesterday instead of a TARDIS.

I guess I’ll let my Star Wars/Doctor Who mashup cosplay make up for it. I have less than a month to lose enough weight to comfortably squeeze into it, though I can still fit it. I’d just like the corset a little less…tight. Like, really tight. I mean, I know corsets are supposed to be tight, but this one is homemade, not professionally made. So I’m hoping there aren’t any wardrobe malfunctions at Phoenix Comicon.

Anywho, happy Star Wars Day to all, and May the Fourth be with you!

I have nearly conquered the pants

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

Just a little bit more! I have almost finished the pants that have been plaguing me for what, a week or more now? Anywho, I just need to slipstitch the waistband & then hem them & a couple buttonholes, a few buttons, and BAM! Pants.

Trying to decide which to do next: The kimono for my Temari cosplay, or continue with my husband’s stuff–the coat and vest. I think I’ll do the kimono, partly because I want to switch to something easier and less stress-inducing, and partly because I’m too lazy to change out the thread on the sewing machine. (The kimono is the same color as the pants.)

Today my husband and I started the paper mache on the gourd prop for his Gaara cosplay. It was predictably messy and slightly stressful, as he got annoyed with me trying to give instructions. I was trying to make things more clean and efficient, and I guess I didn’t take into consideration that he might just be wanting to do things his way. I suppose I just assumed I’d be taking point on the project. It’ll be okay, though. Tomorrow we’ll have some more time to work on it, and we have plenty of time before the con to get it finished.

My fighting fan prop may not happen before the con, though. We have to buy it because making it is just too time-consuming and complicated, and our budget might not allow for the purchase until after Phoenix Comicon. That’s fine, though; I mean, we’ll have plenty of time before Dragon Con, which is a bigger con anyway.

I feel good about being nearly finished with the pants. Onward to the next project!

So Close to the Finish Line…

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

Yes! I have very nearly completed my cosplay, and my husband’s isn’t much farther behind. I need to make him some hand warmers/fingerless gloves/whatever you want to call them, a pouch of some sort to carry his phone, wallet, & keys, & I need to either make or find a belt so I have a place to put my lightsaber. (Oh yeah, and we need to buy our lightsabers–but we’re doing that at the con.)

It’s the culmination of about 6 months of work (off & on), and I’m feeling very accomplished. Sadly, I need to bust my butt on losing weight because I can barely fit into the corset as I am right now. 🙁 I’ll do it, though. I have more motivation now that I’ve seen how hard it is to get into the corset right now. Luckily I made an elastic waistband for the skirt, so I should be fine if I lose weight.

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I can’t believe managed to pull this off. I really didn’t know what I was doing for the most part and patterns have been my friend, but a few things I had to pattern out myself. (Mainly the skirt, a sleeveless black tunic top I made for under the corset–which you really can’t see in these photos–and altering things for my husband’s cosplay. I also made the black belt with the tails without a pattern.) Hubby’s was much more complicated, but I managed.

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Next up? Well, after a break from making cosplay stuff, next up is a Naruto couple’s cosplay (though we’ll be cosplaying siblings–not that it really matters. It’s cosplay after all). They look like fun characters to play, and they both have large props that should be interesting to make.

Now off to be productive!

Is the Reign of the Nerds Coming to an End?

Convention, Cosplay, Diversity, Fandom, Geek, Musings, Sci-fi, Thoughts

It happens to everyone: you have your fifteen minutes of fame, your time in the spotlight, your moment as King of the Realm. Everything uncool becomes cool at some point, and nerd is no different.

In the past several years, there has been an upsurge in growth of the popularity of nerd culture. Comicons are now hot commodities, cosplay is mainstream, and movies like Star Wars and superhero films are blowing box office records out of the water. It seems like all things nerd are cool.

As happens with all things, though, popularity cycles through the cliques, and nerd is no exception. It can’t last forever. Nothing does. So when will our rise to power come crashing down?

It’s hard to say. With Star Wars and Deadpool killing box office records, Funko Pop! figures selling like hotcakes, and nerdy merchandising overflowing in almost every store, it seems that nerd culture is still on the upswing. It is now cool to admit that you’re a nerd, a geek, a dweeb, a fan. No more hiding in the shadows, no more skulking around, hoping the jocks won’t notice you and stuff you in a locker.

I don’t foresee this as lasting, though. I predict an end to the nerd reign in the next few years. I think we’ve reached a climax. We are at the orgasm of popularity, and after a little while spent in the afterglow, we’ll be left spent and sweaty as society dumps us for a new girlfriend.

Who will overtake the nerds at the top of the food chain? I have no clue. Hipsters, maybe? They’re already mocked as nerds once were. Or perhaps the jock will retake his crown once nerddom falls. The beauty queen? The burnout? Who knows.

Fellow nerds, enjoy our time at the top while we still have it. There’s not telling when we’ll be back in charge again.

Cosplaying the Day Away

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Sewing

Spent most of the day working on my husband’s cosplay cloak. It’s turning out pretty well, and I hope to have it finished by next weekend.

Once I figured out the color blocking on a mockup, the rest came fairly easily. Hubby even helped me figure out how to transfer what I’d patterned out onto the fabric I planned to use in the finished product.

After this comes the belt with the “tails” and finishing his pants and my skirt. I need to make him a bag or pouch of some sort as well, but that can wait until the end.

Getting so excited!