Existential Crisis or How I lost my mind on the internet

The Internet is so amazing, but then again many think the same about crack cocaine and I know enough to stay away from that . But the Internet is a socially sanctioned addiction that actually does have some redeeming value when used in moderation...a lot like food.

I am however, not a moderate person. Being aspie, moderation is actually not my forte' at all . So instead of listing all the new craft items I have been making at work so they would be there for Christmas shoppers, instead of blogging, instead of cleaning the house....I have been "researching" on the Internet . I think I added another 100 bookmarks to my current 800...and no, I can't ever find them when I am looking for something specific so the whole exercise is one in futility . Does that realization stop me....hardly . To quote an aspie friend..."I sure can be stupid for a smart person."

So what have a been researching, pray-tell....uterine tumor treatment options, lots of book binding, gold leaf gilding, tons of aspie sites, wool and felting process, art supplies, book binding supplies, pictures of Emu, Donkey pictures, alternative communities, alternative energy supplies, land sales prices, paper making, other tutorials, homeless bloggers and the correct spelling for Barada Nikto,( the command to Gort to deactivate is attack on earth..in case your wondering)...is their method in my madness . Once apon a time there was.
There was a limited amount of information that I had access to and I would seek it out, analyze the pertinent data and make a decision. But with the Internet, that supply of information is an almost unlimited and one discovery leads to a new interests, new ideas new theories and hypothesis and further research needed. Vicious cycle .

Just like food, I can not completely "cold turkey" my way out of this addiction. A brain has to eat after all and selling on line and the fact that this is my only form of socializing, requires that I maintain an Internet connection. I could? and most definitely should, learn to limit the intake however. Maybe a diet free of google like an Atkins diet free of pasta ? The very thought makes me shudder but I know if I don't do something soon...I am not going to be able to fit in my winter hat with all these pounds of added information .

I just have to go check my email and then I'm going to clean the house...maybe.

Crafting Tutorials

Only have a few minutes before I have to leave for a class but wanted to share a great new tutorial site. I love this womens writing and life philosophy and she has some simple patterns for my sewing challenged self. I had bought several yards of fabric that I was eventually going to make scoodies(hoody+scarf)...I didn't even know there was a word for these ! I don't really like tight fitting hats and am always losing things unless they are to big to lose, so this seemed like a good idea for me. She has some great pictures of the project and I learn much better from pictures then words, so I will be back eventually to show the results. In the mean time...check out her tutorials .

http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2007/09/scoodie.html

Life In The Fast Lane/sloths

I was googling giant sloths, (because I find them amazing), and came across an interesting new site that I am sure to spend much to much time perusing in the near future . It has some of the cutest pictures of modern sloths...just had to share . Although sloths don't look very cuddly, they appear to be designed to be perpetually smiling...I think they would find no problems working in the service industry where smiling appears mandatory .

Enjoy these adorable pictures...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/sloth_22sfw.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/sloths-get-bum-rap-cutest-photos-you-will-see-today/offbeat-news&usg=__pPDNgba_dONvbUkui22rRgEwNto=&h=353&w=468&sz=125&hl=en&start=308&um=1&tbnid=Y6xK_NvpvhFNqM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgiant%2Bsloth%2Bprehistoric%26start%3D306%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DHPIB,HPIB:2005-21,HPIB:en%26sa%3DN

I'm allergic to wool but I watched a cool video on felting and decided to give it a shot. I already had some felting needles that I bought to make my fur dog out of dog fur....(still haven' attempted that), and had some old wool sweaters that my bf never wears. I started by welt felting the sweaters in hot water and soap for two cycles and they came out really nice but I'm not sure how thick is "normal"...this are about the the thickness of a nickle . I cut the arms off at the shoulder, they are a bit long but can be trimmed to size since they are fully felted . I then took some wool yarns I have bought on Etsy and OnePlanet fibers and put them on the sleeves and needle felted them in place . Granted, not the most inspired design, but I just wanted to see how felting "felt" and how long it took . The answer is..a long time . I think I spent about 10 hours on the needle felting but it may have taken longer because I was working with thick yarn instead of thinner roving .

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it . Something about the sound and feel of the needle was really mesmerizing and I only lost a few drops of blood . I found the whole process enjoyable and look forward to getting some roving to felt when I can afford it . I think this has a lot of potential for further experimenting . I think I can use the yarn technique to outline designs and "write" cool messages in the fiber. I think the wet felting material would make interesting journal covers because it is so thick, I just need to figure out how to get it "book shaped" and then sew in the pages .

To many ideas, to little time .