Commuter Coffee Cup Holder

Finally! A way to carry my morning cup a joe to work while keeping both hands on the "wheel".

This combines two small and one large expandable pipe straps with an old bike tire (to keep the fittings from scratching the handle bars and also for supporting the mug in the holder). I threaded the fittings through the old tube and made sure it interlocked to prevent water from getting in, and Voila! Coffee on my commute!

Total Cost:

Two 1 3/4" straps: $1.75 each

One 4" strap: $2.50 each

Old tube: zero baby

Coffee: $5.25 (on sale, mmm....)

"Will You Wrap Me in Cellophane, Cover Me In Duct Tape?"

I can see this being a country song. Or maybe a good techno rant about fetishes or something. But really it's just a question from a girl who likes to make things. It never comes off well though --if I can stop laughing long enough to actually ask it, and the response is not quite as accepting as the response from asking a favor like "will you loan me that book?"

Although I can't say, if asked, I would respond much differently. Stripping yourself down and asking somebody to cover you in plastic and line you with tape is somewhat of a personal matter. It gets especially real when you tell them to "shape the boob" or "really get in there." This is certainly a job for a good long-term friend who has already seen you at your worst and a sister who isn't allowed to stop loving you.

Also, this is certainly a job for multi-colored duct tape, as you will feel like Super Woman, Iron Man and McDonald's all in one moment. It's a magical feeling.

At the end of the day, this is just a dress form. Something I can fill with newspaper or batting and use as a form to shape and tailor my own clothing. To me, the making of your own clothing seems like such a romantic notion. Old school and simple. (Although actually making your own clothing well is crazy hard. Crazy.) The pasties and the landing strip give it a nice touch though; they sort of bring me back to the present, right?

Some thoughts upon finishing my dress form:

1. I first covered myself in a layer of cellophane. I should have put baby powder or gauze or something thin underneath. An old t-shirt maybe. It got a little hot and sweaty under there (so exciting and all), and cutting me out wasn't so easy. I got a few cuts to show for it, oh, but it's worth it. :)
2. I used two rolls (one red, one yellow) to cover a short sleeved/panted suit area. After cutting myself out, I kind of wished we had done a second layer to make it a little more solid. I haven't stuffed it yet, and this may not matter once I do, but cutting it off, it's very flimsy. I would think it's possible to over stuff it as well. Any given cross section of my mid-section may be ovular, but overstuffing may make it circular. This isn't a problem if cutting for size, but it doesn't really help when you're worried about fit, right?
3. Don't get any tape on your skin. Just don't. The hard parts are the arm pits and the chub-rub area. Take some time to make sure these are covered completely. You'll be thanking yourself later. Nobody needs a duct tape "waxing," if you know what I mean.
4. Use shorter strips of tape for the curvier areas. For shorter radius curves, lay strips across the valley (i.e. cleavage), then pinch and fold the extra tape down and cover again tightly with a thin tape strip laid down along the divot to help shape a little boob valley. I don't have much to work with here anyway, but I'd think this carries over from fried eggs up to melons.
5. Cut slow. Make sure your skin is out of the way first. Seems intuitive enough, but just remind yourself. Trust me.
6. Come up with a strategy for getting yourself out of it before you get yourself in it.
7. Take a leak first.

So many ideas running through my mind right now...

Wow.

Crash Data Mod Dress

Currently, I'm in a course in which I'm learning R, a statistically programing language used to analyze and interpret data. It's rad. For data junkies and graphic nerds, it's like a big jigsaw puzzle that ends in art truly representing the real world.

After viewing numerous graphic examples during one of the lecture, Dr. Monsere introduced me to the following plot of transportation collision data, charting the type of graph (y-axis) by the function class of the road (x-axis, meaning rural or urban, collector and arterial, etc).

Cut to two weeks later: 2:30AM, waking up from an interesting dream in which I don this plot in the form of a mod dress. Or a mod dress COVERED in this print. The best example of the dress I'm thinking of, is as seen below and here.

HOW MS. FRIZZLE IS THAT!?

Game Plan:

Get fabric printed

Wrap myself in cellophane and get somebody to cover myself in duck tape (DONE)

Find pattern

Make dress

Rock out the Frizzle in me

Book Concept: These Are The Things I Do Not Need

Keep is simple. Little black book. White lettering. Or website with shared thoughts.

Title: These Are The Things I Do Not Need

Subtitle: A Working Manual For Men Everywhere

Tagline: Woe is the woman who falls for the man whom asks her to foot the bill after a roofie joke.

Concept:

Massive list of items collected from bad dates or just failed interactions with men. Could maybe carry a copy around to the bars to use as paper to write my number in to prospective dates: "Call me only if you understand where I'm coming from..."

Sample:

• I do not need to hear a play-by-play of your tee-ball game from preschool.
• I do not need to hear you rant about how terrible drinking is while I savor my IPA.
• I do not need a back rub from someone I just met.
• I do not need to hear about a "comedic" story of brutal murder and rape.
• I do not need to "be impressed" by your ability to locate states geographically (i.e. I'm not).
• I do not need to be told how many cars/boats you have. This includes listings of the types of motors, how many wheels of drive they have or where you can take me in them. I don't follow any of that information, and quite frankly, if you have more than one, I don't understand you either.
• I do not need to be surprised to learn that I'm on a date in the middle of a date.
• I do not need date rape jokes.
• I do not need to foot your bill every time.
• I do not need to be called "sweet-ums", "honey-bun", "sexy-eyes" or "sugar-lips" by an employeer, nor by somebody I just met at a party. These titles do not flatter or make up for the fact you forgot my name. These titles must be earned, and in some cases, will always receive darts from the eyes.
• I do not need (nor am I turned on) by your knowledge of basketball player names and stats. Really, I'm not listening. Sorry.

Thoughts?