• I resolve to learn Mig welding. And then make a Goodness Gracious Adequate Ball of Fire.
• I resolve to get that room in DC, starting in Feburary.
• I resolve to clean up the lingering paperwork with the ex to make our split official. 
• I resolve to remodel the downstairs powder room.

Stretch goal : Murphy bed in guest room

Stretch goal 2: have more stretch goals 

I want to build a spiral lift for balls, that, as it spins, lifts the balls to higher heights, from whence they can roll down a track or tracks of yet to be rube-goldberg inspired loveliness.

How to build the spiral? How to turn it? 

Actually first, what balls? I have pingpongs around. And marbles. (cue the "don't lose your marbles" quip)

Plan A: Pingpong Lift from stacked discs of carboard. I have a kid-free and party-free Friday & Saturday on tap. And lots of amazon shipped boxes.

Still drawing a blank on turn mechanism. I'm sure something will turn up.

Kid plans to be a fairy princess. So I'm planning to be a fairy queen while chaperoning. And thus, I'm making a staff fit for a Queen. WIP pics:

Note, she demanded I remove the snowman. (My argument that the snowman would like to go for a walk did not impress.) So I did, and added more skulls. 

People are fundementally tribal.

Tribe goals should be

1. Protect your tribe

2. Grow your tribe

Why do so many forget the second goal? Or think pro-creation is the winningest strategy? Because it's not. (Although it can put into context institutional objection to birth control)

What's your tribe?

The kid wants green lipstick. So far coming up with nothing at local drug stores. And I'm not paying $20+ at Sephora for green lipstick! 

I attempted to make some from crayons+olive oil just now. The trial on my lips gave just a vague green tint. Although on my skin it is a nice strong green. We'll see how it does on the kids rosebud lips tomorrow. I can report it moisturizers very well.

Aside: how is it possible that I can only find 7 crayons in this house -- only 1 green (well,none now) -- I have a 3 yr old !

My doorbell rang at 10:37AM. It was my cousin from Germany who apparently arrived yesterday. He needed to borrow a drill to fix my neighbor's door. I couldn't find the drill in the garage, as it is still burried in the camping gear (I hope), which is not triaged yet from last weekend's fest. But I found my disco ball, so it is now rehung in my office.  Working from home life is awesome (& a bit weird) 

This one's for you, Sean.  (I can't figure out how to link to you so hopefully you see it.) A shot of parts of my burn necklace collection. 

About 40 minutes north of me, twice a year there is a 3.5 day event called Playa del Fuego - PDF for short. It's part of the network of events that have come into being in the shadow of the awesomeness that is burning man. About 1200 people attend, many call themselves "Burners", and there is much effort into supporting the 10 principles of burning man (oh, google it if you want to know what they are). And yeah, we build art, drink, & burn things.

Anyhooo, this past weekend was my 6th (?) time at PDF, and my first time in a theme camp. Along with a few other locals, I founded Balls Camp. I had 150 pendants made and they were quite popular gifts.

I made a bar, and it was quite popular for drinks.  Here's a 3AM carnage shot.

And I made a hanging ball sculpture art piece of sorts. Which was more awesome in real life than in this photo. People loved to play with the balls - see their reflections, swing them around. It was very cool.

And a few more photos, since I'm very proud and satisfied (and still recovering) on how my first theme camp turned out. 

I just got back to work from a 6 week (paid!) sabbatical. Yes, I work for a company that, while not generous in vacation, does give us a 6 week sabbatical every 4 years. Yay, left coast values!

And by yay-left-coast-values, I mean a real intent to support work-life balance and egalitarianism. Not the tiresomeness of constant consensus building and non-commital hedging that comes with it.

Anyway, sabbatical. I dragged my feet for many months scheduling it, as I had relationship issues to sort. And I didn't want to burn my sabattical time balancing his needs. Which is one of the many straws that help show me it was time to break up. But break up we did. Schedule sabbitical I did - 17 days on the left coast for burningman, then the balance home in Delaware recovering.

I'm working on a video which I may never finish entitled "What I did on my sabattical".  Here's the outline:

• Attended Burning Man (with early entry for build time : 13 days)
• Helped build burning man art - Pyramid of Possibilities.
• Burnt down said Pyramid.
• Knit 3 Barbie doll dresses, though one did not fit (too large).
• Built a Bar.
• Built some Ball Art
• Saw a Drag show (in the middle of slower lower Delaware). Drank too much.
• Took the 3yr old to her first day of preschool.  Took her to the beach. Took her to the Air Plane museum. Took her to the Agricultural museum. Took her to Washington DC. Took her to lunch x5. Took her to dinner x3. Took her shopping.  Bought her a "big girl" bed.
• Bought a picture frame. Bought a second picture frame (for the same picture). Framed said picture in the first frame.
• Took another picture to a frame shop, awaiting its return. 
• Finished Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Got 4 chapters into the Hunger Games.  Got 4 chapters into Longitude. 
• Watched 5 episodes of Doctor Who, one which I'd already seen.
• Changed a failed ceiling lamp.
• Disconnected a different failed lamp, but unsure how to fix it.
• Got 2 massages
• Built a flower bed.
• Planted flowers (in a different flower bed)
• took out the trash x4.
• Reassembled the scribble bot for another round of scribbles.
• Designed a pendant and ordered 150 from etsy for giveaways at the next fest. Bought cord. Strung 120 of the pendants on cord. Ran out of cord.
• Ordered stuff on Amazon. Ordered stuff on Ebay. Ordered stuff on cafepress. Ordered tickets on Eventbrite. Ordered Tickets on Flavorous. 

Ok, maybe a picture - as a test. More later.  More reflections on the affects of a sabbatical. later . . .cause sabbatical is over and I should be working.