I know, I've been siltent for a long time.    I really haven't had much to say.  It's just been the same old crap, day after day.  I could bitch and whine abot D, but that gets old after a while.  I could go on about the fact that they've moved my boss to another location and now Spaz is in charge of things, but I'd need a good day or two to get that all out. 

But, I WILL rant about the fact that Otakon is coming!!! 

I've been putting off getting things together for my cosplay.  I will be doing Alvis again, as well as Sumomo/Plum.  But this year, for Sumomo, I'm adding a prop.  I just spent 2 hours at Home Depot getting things together.  I'm making a giant pencil so this year, hopefully I won't get "OMG!!! It's Giant Sumomo!!!"  Maybe, maybe not.  We'll see.

It took a while to figure out how to go about doing it.  At first I was just going to make it out of thick cardborad.  Inexpensive and lightweight, but not very durable.  I had many set backs and was ready to scrap the idea.  Then it hit me... what about PVC?  So, I went in search of some PVC pipe not realizing how heavy a 4" tube was.  Dad suggested ducting, but i didn't want to use anything that was metal.  Then we turned a corner, and there it was... 4" plasting tubing.  Right size, and weight was not an issue.  I also picked up a connector to serve as the part that hols the eraser, which I have a small chunk of styrofoam to use for that.

Now the only problem I have is figuring out hoe to go about doing the tip.  Originally, I was going to use a funnel.  But of course, since I have to bt way too much in to things, I wanted to find a way to put a marker in the tip so it actually writes.  The funnel idea got squashed because of stability issues.  I'm thinking maybe using a styrofoam cone and hollowing out a spot to jam a Sharpie in.

After all that, I still need to get out to the fabric store to get material to make this year's new costume. Plus, I need to find a suitable wig.   I'm down to about 2 1/2 months now, and I have 2 projects in the works.  Plus D said he might think about joining me in cosplay, and I told him that I'd make it for him.    I'm so screwed.