The Efforts of a Scientist and Compulsive Crafter

Sooo…. I managed to sit on my Kindle, oddly enough, the day after I had it signed by Cory Doctorow, and destroyed the thing. Yes, I should not be trusted with technology, and went back to the proper form of books. That… didn’t last. having only one book with me at a time seems to make me a little weird now, so I got myself an early Christmas present of a Kindle Paperwhite, and immediately made a case for it. 

I am hoping that Inspector Sloth and Dr. Lemur will help me take better care of my toys. And my books, even if I can’t really touch or own them, I’ll read them until I can’t. Once again, I used the packaging from the Amazon box (See the previous Kindle post.) But this time, I made it so I can fold the cover back so I can read without the cover in the way. 

Okay, catching up on some work I’ve done since I was hospitalized. 

This is a hip purse I made out of canvas, and since I was hospitalized for bronchitis turning into pneumonia turning into and allergy/asthma aggravated crazy time.

The over-flap is a heme. This is one of my favorite molecules. I literally got giddy when we learned about this in biochemistry. The binding of Oxygen to a heme in your blood is what keeps you alive by providing O2 to the Krebs cycle which breaks down sugars and produces ATP. Seriously. Coolest thing. And that Fe2 is what turns your blood red when it is bound to Oxygen.

Also: One of the tests I went through to check my Oxygen absorption involved having me breathe a little Carbon Monoxide, because CO binds better to the heme than O2, so they tested to see if my blood was taking up Oxygen by having me inhale the CO then see how much came back out. If the same amount that went in came back out, then they could see I was not taking up enough Oxygen. Soooooo cool. 

Also, the pouch is lungs. The little specs at the end of the branches represent alveoli which are the tiny bags which actually take up the Oxygen you breathe. That’s all I really have on lungs. Once you get bigger than molecules, I get a little confused and vague. But oh man, hemes.

So… stress sends me into creative overdrive. If I am too busy to do anything, then all I can do is make stuff. I guess I decided I needed a new wallet somewhere around midnight a few nights ago. Then it needed to be painted. If you know me, you know that the cats re mine. The grey one is Dr. Patrick Fibonacci Feynman Waffles, and the grey and white one is Corporal Mollybee Yoyodyne. I’ve been wanting to do an homage to them forever, but I didn’t expect it to be a wallet…

The inside card was made by my roller derby coach Eriic Bilagody. I figure it needed a special place in my wallet, not tucked in the pocket anymore.

The only thing I need now is a good, flexible fixative. Anybody know of one?

I traded in my old iPod Nano for a new one since my old one was holding its battery for about half an hour at a time. The new one is adorable, and got me instantly concerned I would lose it. I also have a Square Reader for taking credit cards on my phone, so naturally like a normal person, I went to Amazon… no. No I made a phone case for all my needs out of canvas. 

Oh wait. Then I had to paint it.

I am actually unbelievably happy with this piece. I haven’t done any real painting since a year ago when I made the Slytherin badges for my friends. It has everything. Bees, owls, more bees, and everything fits! 

I need to paint more.

There are certain phrases or ideas which sometimes need reminding. Just to keep us sane, to remind us what is important. This is We Are Star Stuff in Amino Acids. This is a big one for me, a reminder from Carl Sagan that we are all made of the same building blocks, and the same amazing pieces. Not only are we made of the same stuff, it is particles of the universe. This is a reminder of not just how insignificant an individual is, it’s a reminder that every individual is a beautiful and brilliant thing. It’s so awesome that a person, made of the same thing as everyone else, manages to carve out a unique and original existence. This is a reminder that being is pretty much the coolest thing ever, and should never be taken for granted. 

A similar rumination which follows this has been Neutral Milk Hotel’s “How strange it is to be anything at all.”

But that’s another project.

These are the skates I made for some lovely girls on my roller derby team whose birthdays were this past week. I really like this new beading thing, so I am excited to make more!

This is under the category: San Francisco. Yes. I am a geek, and pestered my poor husband for hours about how excited I was to get a picture at the Golden Gate bridge with Starfleet insignia. I think this picture almost depicts the amount of squee, despite the sun directly in my face.

I made this purse to go with a nice dress for the night we went out on a fancy date. There is a jacket I made to go with it, but the picture isn’t uploading, so I will have to get another of that later. The material is suede, and I am really happy about the design, I made it to go with a blue dress.