Stella in Augmented Reality

I've been playing with some augmented reality (when you view something through a mobile device's camera and it adds something that isn't there in real life) to use in a scavenger-hunt-style library instruction activity. Today, I tried it out on Stella:

When I scan the "trigger" of Stella on my desk, the app adds the "overlay" of the speech bubble!

The library activity is more like scanning printed icons for databases and printers and other library services and resources, and getting information about them and answering questions about them, but this was more fun than that.

Memorial Day Weekend

What a lovely holiday weekend! A few days off was exactly what we needed to re-energize us. We did a little bit of everything...

We did a little cleaning
(the stop motion gif is an idea I stole directly
from Haylie and Anana!)

We did a little sewing
(Stella made friends with my narwhal pincushion!)

We went to a friend's birthday party and ate a little potato salad
(She wanted a "theme" of potato salad: You're seeing SEVEN different
types of potato salad, plus a pork roast and bacon beans)

We did a little gaming
(My husband won... I haven't beaten him at this game (Pandemic: Contagion) yet!)

We did a little baking...

...and a little eating!
(Those are puff pastry pinwheels that should have been more loosely rolled,
because they didn't have room to expand and got really dense. Yummy though!)

We did a little rain-watching
(Tropical Storm (or Depression, I've lost track) Bonnie
came to visit for Memorial Day)

And we did a little cosplay touch-up
(you'll see what this thing is for in a few days!)

And with that, our three-day weekend is over. But we only have a three-day work week as well, because we're taking Friday off for Awesomecon in DC (which is also three days)!

Food Truck Rodeo at Farmer's Market

I think it is just so neat that there is a Farmer's Market just up the road from where I work! Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to get into the driveway from our direction, so I don't go as often as I should. But yesterday they had a food truck rodeo, and my favorite local food truck was there. Plus, we were staying after work for book club anyway, so it was a nice little break to head over for dinner first. (Also, the rain finally stopped, so it was bright and sunny!)

Stella relaxes on the grass with our food: "Blue Ribbon Fries" (a spiralized, fried
blue potato with queso fresco, a salsa-type sauce, and cheese sauce drizzled on it)
and, the reason they're my favorite food truck, two beef empanadas!

Live music playing on the stage in the middle of the
traffic circle where all the food trucks parked

Stella on the little table next to the truck (Sofrito) while we wait for our food

Tidewater Comicon!

Not only is Tidewater Comicon the beginning of my comicon season, but it's my favorite, because it's at home. I know exactly where I'm going, where to park (and that it's free to park), where to eat... so easy. Also, I've worked with the guy who runs it, and he is very good at what he does, and all around a nice guy, so I like supporting the show.

Our friends Beth and Chris bought Munchkin: Marvel edition
on Saturday at the show, so we played it that night.
I accidentally helped Chris win the first game (oops!)
but then I won the second one. Cool!

Line of cosplayers waiting to see the judges for the second day of the cosplay contest
(first day was superheroes + judges' favorites; second day was non-comic-book).

What a crowd!

A female Deadpool with a functioning
taco truck!

Stella watches me and my friend Nicole
give a panel on Fan Fiction.

Then she joined us on the panel!

Checking out some of the many wares... the exhibit hall was HUGE! It grows every year.

A glimpse of a con to come... Hmm...

[I will add a photo of Stella with me in my Zoe Hange cosplay when I get it off the phone later...]

Library, and Finishing Touches

Last night, one of my coworkers held a program I wanted to attend in our library, so I stuck around after work. That meant I had some spare time to wander the library with Stella and show her a few highlights!

Our glass art "fireplace." It's not actually warm. And it's not Chihuly... It's a local artist
inspired by Chihuly.

The very beginning of what we call "Main Street."
The wall on the left is the public library's adult fiction,
and it stretches the entire length of the building
(which, according to reports when we opened a few years ago,
is a football field).

Then, we had this morning off, so we frantically worked on some of the finishing touches to my cosplay for this weekend, which PerfectlyBohemian correctly identified as being from Attack on Titan!

Fabric glue to fold the edges of the patches under,
and binder clips to hold the edges in place until it dries.
I would have sewn them, but I didn't plan ahead,
and sewing would have gone over some of the drawing.

And the BIG patch for the back of the jacket.

This will be one action-packed weekend! Stella is in for some treats.

Cosplay Preparations

After a whirlwind of library conferences, Stella and I are now preparing for a whirlwind of comic conventions! We have been largely unsuccessful in finishing most of my cosplay ideas, but we have at least one ready for this weekend. For logistics reasons, I need to use an older one for the other day of this con... You'll see why later...

This is the hand-drawn patch (or... going-to-be-patch-piece-of-fabric)
that we made for the back of my jacket...
I'm going to be Zoe Hange from Attack on Titan.

Crafting and Cupcakes

We are going over to a friend's house for Game of Thrones tonight, and I volunteered
to bring dessert again, so we made angel food cupcakes! Some of them aren't very pretty...

But this one is almost as cute as Stella!

We also had to take advantage of the break in the
recently rainy weather to do some spray-painting
for cosplay... But I wanted Stella to stay away for
her own safety, so she watched from inside.

Stella in Radford (and Wasserhund)

I'm pretty sure The Innovative Library Classroom at Radford University is the last library conference I'll be taking Stella to! But it was fun, and very informative, and Radford is beautiful!

This was actually at the end of our trip, but we stopped at the same scenic view
on the side of I-64 to see the Blue Ridge Mountains. (We did this on the way back
from Roanoke, as you may recall... What can I say? I don't see a lot of mountains
around Virginia Beach.)

Mountain selfie!

Pretty lawns at Radford University... Trying to get a bunch of photos
before it starts to rain! We barely made it.

Their library is so gorgeous! And big! Can you see Stella on the stairs?

We found the Alumni Gardens next to the library

Walking around the Alumni Gardens

Radford U has quite a few outdoor sculptures on campus

This sculpture and the next one were in the same
area of lawn, with a sign designating it a sculpture garden

Opening remarks at the conference

Stella got her own bed in the hotel

Getting a nice steam from the shower in the hotel

Stella, what are you doing? You aren't coffee; get out of there.

You may remember our Wasserhund Brewery growler... Right after we got home
from Radford, we took a friend to Wasserhund for Friday the 13th lunch.
She got a few flight tastes, and the glasses are just Stella's size!

Cosplay Crafting

If cosplay has taught me one thing about myself, it's that I prefer to work under pressure. It's two weeks until Tidewater Comicon, and I don't have any of my cosplays finished. So Stella stepped in to help me.

We made a stencil...

...we peeled labels off of PVC pipe pieces...

...we played with tulle...

...and we built a hammer head out of cardboard!

Still lots of work to go, but we made some significant dents already.

Free Comic Book Day

That might be a bit of a misleading title, as we didn't actually get any comic books. But a lot of places around here were celebrating, and a LOT of people showed up...

Despite the clouds in the photo, it was bright out, so I couldn't really tell that you can't see much in this photo until I got home and out of the glare... But what you're supposed to be seeing is a line that extends around the building at one of our comic shops, Trilogy. Since Stella and I hadn't eaten lunch yet, we didn't really have that kind of time, so we didn't wait around. But it was still cool to see that many people excited about Free Comic Book Day!

Star Wars Day

Stella celebrated Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you!) by watching The Force Awakens with us.