Ookings of d00m

As part of my ongoing, inevitable, regrettable hippification, I am considering buying non-boot footwear for the summer. Something possibly in the sandal family. The last time I wore sandals, they were plastic k-mart flip flops when my age was in single digits.

I am, of course, still me, and don't want something like birkenstocks. However, I'm tired of wearing hot combat boots in summer, and taking longer to do up my boots than it takes to put on the entire rest of my outfit. So, I want some kind of summer footwear that's a) fairly easy to put on and take off, b) allows for greater airflow than combat boots, and c) looks good.

I've been looking at the Vibram Five Toes with the instep strap. Anyone know of other good looking sandal relatives I should be considering? Is it, for example, worth combing the stores on Yonge for some kind of gothy sandal with spikes on or something?

Anyone know where I can buy the rings used in keychains? I don't want the fob part, just the rings. In bulk, because I frequently find I have uses for them, so if I had a bag of 100 (or 1000) I wouldn't have to worry about finding another free keychain to cannibalize.

Does anyone has an optometrist they like in the general Yonge/St. Clair or Forest Hill areas? The last eye checks I had were from a surly, unhappy guy in a closet attached to a chain optical retail store, and I'd rather not go back there.

Things learned tonight:

• If I use primer on my eyes before putting on eyeliner, it will actually not run, even with the amount I sweat when dancing!


• I can dance all night in a gi top, because it breathes well. Unlike my old Darth Maul tunic made from heavy polyester.


• I've learned a lot about sewing since I made my long Sith robe for Hallowmas. I spent some time this afternoon going over it, zigzag stitching the seams and reattaching the sleeve I put on inside out the first time. I put it back on inside out again, but now it's harder to tell since the seams are finished better.

Questions pondered:

• Is it acceptable to glowstick to Industrial/EBM if you're doing it at Dark Rave?


• If the dance floor is entirely empty, does it become acceptable to violate the normal politeness rule about not throwing high kicks on the dance floor?

I dragged myself out to DarkRave this evening, and had a pretty good time. I think a fair number of the more hard core out of high school Dark Rave crew were at BM or something similar - the crowd was a little thin, and there seemed to be fewer 20-somethings; lots of kids and a fair number of the old guard. Holy Joes was Industrial/EBM all night, so I spent most of my time up there, wandering off to glowstick occasionally in the more air-conditioned room to change muscle groups for a bit. The downstairs wasn't bad music-wise, but the crowd were not my people - I haven't seen that much white under black light since... ever.

In any case, that was a good night out. Now, I should go to bed.

Anyone know where I can get a decent holepunch? Of the sort used for fabric. I had one I got from Home Despot, and while it was okay for putting new holes in leather belts, when I was using it to punch holes in denim for my utility belt, I sheared the metal in the wheel mechanism and it blew up. I have this thoery that somewhere there are more heavy duty holepunching tools, perhaps intended for use on heavy leather or something, that can handle going through a couple layers of denim.

Of course, I eventually also need to get myself stuff for working with leather, too, but that's another expenditure.

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Also on the RFI subject; one of these days, I really want to learn basic wiring so I can build stuff with LEDs. I own a soldering iron, but have only a vague idea of how to use one.

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I also need a month off to work on my various random projects.

Anyone know where I can get lots of black flannel? I have a sewing project in mind for which I want something that will hang well, yet be warm. I've checked the Queen West fabric stores and had no luck. I'm trying to avoid dyeing white flannel or similar, since I am fairly lazy.

I've found polar fleece in black, but that's too heavy for what I have in mind.

RFI; can anyone recommend a style guide for prose writing? I know I'm doing a few things wrong (punctuation in speech, for example), and I'd like to have a reference for how to do it correctly.

How does one go about cleaning leather? I have a few leather items (bracers, a collar, etc.) that I have worn dancing a few times. Which means that I've sweat in them, a lot, to the point where they're salt-stained and, in one case, kind of smelly from the retained sweat. Are they salvagable?

The sewing class pants are almost done. I just have to sew on the button and hem them, and I will have pants! Pants that I cannot wear unless I lose 30-40 lbs (if then), but still, pants.

Speaking of pants; does anyone know where I can buy wrap pants? I'd also like to know if anyone can point me towards a pattern for wrap pants - I'd like to make my own eventually, but if I can, I'd like to get a pair sooner rather than later.

ETA: found a pattern for the wrap pants.

Time for another top five.

I don't have a lot of classical music in my collection, mainly because I'm picky about music. Specifically, I tend to pick out music I like by mood, and most classical pieces wander from mood to mood (sad -> angry ->inspirational etc.)

So, if you would, gentle readers, give me your five saddest pieces of "classical" music.