Today I had some time and I wanted to train for my upcoming challenge. So I grabbed some wool and started to make a small crochet piece.
tool and wool
I also tried a new technique for me - namely embroidery (well it was two points stitched onto the piece but still) - and I have to say this will require more practice than I thought. Especially when placing it on a crochet work of mine, with its rather uneven underground made of holes and supertight knots.
But all in all it took me not more than maybe an hour. Ok, given that it was a rather small piece today (an apple-slice - see the finished work on Beatritsche's kreAKTIVität) I will need considerable more time each day during my challenge since most of the pieces I will make are larger than this one. So it will be a month full of sleep deprivation I guess, but without sacrifice there is no victory.
For my september review I wanted to review the Kindle 3 from amazon but I postpone that for next month and rather share my experience at the Aninite 2011 convention in Vienna.
This year I visited the Aninite 2011, which is basically a convention for anime fans. First of all I have to say that I am no anime fan nor do I even recognize 99% of the characters or know anything related to this genre.
Well, why did I go there then? Basically because Doug Walker from ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com was there and I am a huge fan of his work. As a bonus Noah Antwiler aka Spoony was at the convention too, so I decided that it might be worth going there. Since I live in Austria and it isn’t very likely that I will see these guys any time soon, it was an opportunity not to be missed.
So what were my impressions? Well, at the beginning of my visit I was rather bored, because I came to the convention on saturday afternoon right when Doug and Spoony left for lunch. So I wandered about the different rooms with merchant booths, artists selling their pictures and stuff, looking at an enormous amount of merchandise I’m not really interested in and seeing dozens of cosplay people. The cosplay seemed to be the major part of the whole convention because everywhere people were posing and taking pictures of each other.
I’m not so much into that stuff but I had to admit that the whole atmosphere was rather relaxed and friendly. People were having fun, the whole convention crew was extremely friendly and helpful and so it was a rather enjoyable afternoon. The prices for food and drink were also more than reasonable for such an event so all in all I must say that I didn’t feel in the least bit cheated, even though I didn’t care for the main theme of the convention.
Another observation I made was that this whole anime and cosplay thing is a rather clever thing for nerds to get to see some half naked girls. In my youth I was more of the Star Trek nerd and if you look at Trek-related conventions they are packed with overweight guys and if you get to see an occasional girl there you are rather lucky. But this whole anime thing with its art, costumes, glittery stuff and so on seems to attract quite a lot of girls, many of them even very pretty. And best of all many of the costumes leave very little to the imagination or rather they are directly derived from somebody’s wet dreams. Many classic anime costumes are centered around school-girl outfits, french maids, nurses and wearing stuff that you would usually only find in an adult store. So looking back I must say maybe I should have gotten more into anime than into Star Trek.
In the late afternoon a Q&A was appointed for the ThatGuyWithTheGlasses crew and I had to stand in line for over an hour to get a good seat (or rather a good place on the floor in front of the stage). I have to tell you that I really hate to stand in line and usually avoid it whenever possible, so halfway through the waiting process I seriously considered if all this was worth the effort. But in retrospect the hour long Q&A was very enjoyable and after another standing in line for about half an hour I also got my autograph, dvds and picture from Doug and Spoony. This was definitely a highlight for me.
From left to right: Myself, Doug Walker, Noah Antwiler
So summarizing the event I would say that even if you are not a big anime fan it might be an experience to go to such an event once and let the whole atmosphere sink in, but probably if you don’t have any additional reasons to go there, then you probably won’t make the effort because physically it is rather exhausting pushing and shoving through hundreds of people all day long. But if Doug will be attending next year as well, then I will probably go there again.
By the way, if you are interested in the Q&A, it is already online on youtube:
So the first challenge is about to start soon. The schedule of the last few weeks was crammed full with work and other stuff, and in the remaining spare time I was too tired to get anything done. Time and again I started to doubt if I will seriously reach my goal, if I can really finish the challenge and not fail after the first three pieces.
Since so many projects before failed right at the start, the fear of adding yet another one to the list of unfinished tasks is overwhelming at times. So far I have laid out the plan for daily goals but my experience in crochet work is not that big and I have no idea if my goals are easy or over the top.
To really achieve something I will have to make myself the rule, that I will not go to sleep unless I have finished my daily task. We'll see if that works out.
While planning my next few weeks of making crochet projects I realized that not only the project itself takes up time but also the blogging about my experiences.
So in reality blogging every day, if possible with a picture to make it more interesting is a challenge in itself. At least while I was researching for new 30 Day challenges I stumbled more than once over the „Write a blog-entry every day“ and „Take a picture every day“ Challenges.
Well so much for pushing my ego - now I continue with planning.
My first challenge will be about dedicating time to a hobby. I have tons of interests but barely find the time to really get anything done. So the next month I will dedicate my time to crochet one (or at least one half of a) piece of my choice every day and see if I can get as many items finished as I planned.
I started crochet because I stumbled across a book with patterns for sweets and candy. I’m not so much into making clothes or doily but little pieces of fruit, vegetables and sweets are the things I like. These pieces are mostly small and made relatively fast (for someone not so good at crochet as I am) and you get nice results.
Only problem is, that my life is not boring enough to find the time to do such things as sit around for hours making needlework. To really get several pieces together I will have to plan my next 30 days very carefully and really find the time to finish them in order to complete this challenge.
Right now I’m planning which pieces I want to make, what colors of wool I will need and how much time each piece will take. The minimum will be 15 pieces in 30 days but maybe I can cram in some more.
What do I expect as a result?
Well, for once I will have at least 15 finished pieces I always wanted to make which is surely a whole lot more than I would have ever made otherwise. But more importantly, I will have to use my daily time more efficiently to make room for a hobby. This time it may be crochet, but the principle is universal. My day consists largely of work and in my spare time I’m rarely at home. Either I work out, go shopping, meet friends or have any other obligations, so making room for a hobby will be the most difficult part.
If I master the challenge I will know how hard it is to realize this. Is it easy for someone with a full schedule to squeeze in one more hobby or isn’t it worth the effort to try? So bare with me and maybe this helps you decide if you would try something similar yourself.
For those of you who have wondered why a Review of Super 8 appeared on my blog since this has nothing to do with 30 Day Challenges - here is the answer.
I like to review stuff but doing this is really time consuming and I will not get enough content together to make a separate blog about reviews alone. So I decided to make it a 12 months a year challenge to make at least one review a month starting with the one already posted.
So bear with me. The next one will be about the Kindle 3.
