Bathwater Blog

End of Watch 1/17/16

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 21:44:00 +0000

Last week I wrote two posts on Imgur.com about my brother-in-law Doug's death. I'm glad I posted them there, but it's been difficult to link to them as I have to explain how to display them properly and then link to both individually. So I decided to combine them here for ease of sharing or referring to later. You can still visit the Imgur pages to see the amazing comments from over a thousand strangers. Here is what I wrote when I linked to them on Facebook:

Last night I wrote two posts about my experience with Doug's passing. I didn't realize this would happen, but there was a big response and there have been over 18,000 likes on the posts, and over a thousand really sweet comments. Erika suggested I post them to her wall so others could see.

This is the first post:
http://imgur.com/gallery/C6t9t
*When you get to the bottom of the pictures you have to click on "load remaining 14 images" to see the full post.

This is the second post:
http://imgur.com/gallery/07X4r
*At the bottom of the pictures you'll want to click on "load remaining 7 images" to see the end.

Here are the posts as the appear on imgur.com:

Last month on a Sunday morning, my brother in law, Doug Barney, was shot while responding to the scene of an accident. He died a few hours later in the hospital. Another police office was shot in the leg and survived.

I'm writing this because I want to talk about it. I guess I'm still processing what happened. Honestly it's really hard to believe he's really gone. I also want to talk about what kind of man Doug was.

Doug had been a cop for 18 years and was a credit to his profession. I realize that there are a lot of serious issues right now with law enforcement, and I have to say that Doug embodied exactly what a police officer should be.

There have been so many amazing tributes from fellow police officers and law enforcement around the country, but I just want to talk for a moment about the man that I knew as a family member.

The best way I think I can describe Doug is that he was a lot like Steve Irwin. He was passionate about his career, he was excellent at what he did, and he was probably the most charismatic person I've ever met. I mentioned this to my sister and a few friends a few nights after his death and we laughed so hard we cried while we did impressions of the "American Cop" Steve Irwin. "Crikey! Look at the size of this perp! He had a rap sheet THIS long!"

Doug was a gifted storyteller and his job gave him endless material to talk about at family parties or even just driving together in the car. Everyone sort of stopped what they were doing when he started a story so we could listen and laugh our heads off.

Back in the day we had some Ghost Recon LAN parties with Doug. Such good memories. Pretty much if you were in a room with Doug, you were laughing at something he said.

Doug was amazing with kids. He had a genuine love for them and an ability to make them feel like they were the coolest and most special person in the room, even when 15 other kids were running around. I was 12 years old when Doug married my sister and I got to experience this first hand. Doug was an instant hero.

More than anything, Doug loved to hold babies. If there was a baby in the room, he begged to hold it. If he went to church he'd ask any family with a new baby if he could hold it. You can imagine how magical having his own children was/having a dad like that was.

This is Doug getting a hug from his shy niece Ella. He had begged her for a half hour, and finally started offering her money to give him a hug! We were all in tears laughing by the time he got to five dollars and she ran up and gave him a big hug! She's 11 years old now, and still has that five dollar bill.

This is Doug holding my baby girl when she was one month old in 2010.

Doug was a car guy. A passionate car guy. His father was a mechanic and Doug picked up a lot from him growing up. He had a magical ability to be able to tell the make and model and year number of almost any car from even long distances. He helped everyone in the family go car shopping (two of my three cars he went with me to get, including my first car).

My son, who is three years old now, is also a passionate car guy. He loves cars more than anything in the world, and at family parties he would run to Doug and sit on his lap to show him whatever Hot Wheels car he happened to be holding at the time. Of course Doug knew exactly what kind of car it was and they would talk about how fast it could go! Being a police officer, Doug naturally hooked my son up with awesome police car action! He did this for all the nieces and nephews but for my son it was better than a trip to Disneyland.

More than anything, Doug loved his family.

And oh boy, did he love my sister. Through their whole marriage, no one ever doubted his love for her. You could be as sure of it as the sun rising in the east. Erika matched him in her love back.

Doug also struggled with bladder cancer for over a decade. Several years ago he had to have his bladder completely removed and a "neobladder" was made from part of his lower intestine. We all hoped this was the end, but after awhile he developed pain in his bladder that was so bad he couldn't function anymore. They had to remove it and he had a bag that hung on the outside of his stomach to collect urine.

He hated that bag. It was a pain in the ass, it grossed him out, and he couldn't whip his gun out from his hip like the other cops! He wanted to look cool! As much as he hated it he wouldn't hesitate to yell at me, "Come look at the hole into my stomach!!!" if I ever asked about it.

Doug had a lot of close calls with his life through the years with cancer, many surgeries, and frequent infections that were serious enough to be life threatening. This is a post he put on Facebook after the neobladder was removed. It's a bit heart wrenching to read now.

A lot of the newspaper headlines claimed he was shot while "working overtime to pay off medical bills." This really bothered my sister because it wasn't quite accurate. He had worked overtime the day before - an 18 hour day, actually, but the shift he was working that morning was his regular shift. She also felt bad that they were exploiting the medical bill angle. "Everyone has medical bills," she said. We told her that ours were nothing compared to hers. She told us she had been paying $6000 every six months to pay off their deductible. After being horrified into silence for a moment, we told her that was not a normal expense at all. She shrugged and said, "That's weird. It was just normal for us." At the time Doug died he was working consistent 80 hour weeks.

Like I said before, Doug was a credit to his profession and everything that police officers stand for. He also loved what he did!!

I remember Cops being his favorite show for the first two years of their marriage, until he became a police officer and could experience it all for real.

This was a comment we found on one of the news articles about Doug's death. It's from someone who Doug arrested, and I think it's a good representation of the kind of man Doug was.

The thing that pains me the most, and strikes me as incredibly ironic, is that if this man who shot Doug had instead turned around and spoken to him, that Doug could have helped him change his life. Doug wasn't the pig enemy that this guy thought he was shooting. He was compassionate and could relate to anyone, no matter their circumstances.

My sister spoke at the funeral. Unusual for the widow to speak, but we were all blown away by what she said. It was one of the most profound moments of my life listening to her. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube if you search for Erika Barney, but these quotes were my very favorite.

Erika spoke mostly to the law enforcement officers gathered. Within two days of Doug's death, she accepted friend requests from over 400 people on Facebook (pretty much all law enforcement), and the messages of love and support poured in. She said their words were the most comforting thing to her during that time, I think because she felt like they understood this risk that Doug had taken more than anyone else.

Part 2

I took a screen shot of these texts because the time stamps kind of amazed me. Erika's five siblings and mom all arrived at the hospital within minutes of each other. My brother and I were the last to arrive and when we approached the group, they told us we were going up to say goodbye. We hadn't even known how bad it was beyond that he was shot in the head. I know that's pretty much a death sentence, but sometimes people do survive it and the whole drive there we were hoping, hoping, hoping.

My sister Erika worked as a 911 Dispatch operator for two years. I think working so closely with emergencies for so long helped to prepare her a little bit for this. She has been very collected and level headed through everything, including those minutes in the hospital. I'm so grateful to everyone who helped to keep Doug's heart beating so that we could get there and he could be surrounded by family when he died. If anyone reading this was involved, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

After the hospital we took the kids home and sat together to see the press conference about the shooting. We still didn't have a great idea of what the hell had happened. It's very weird, though, to get updates about a situation like this from the news. You can see everyone on their phones in this picture.

They told Erika that she couldn't have the funeral in a church building as is normal for our family. They said we'd probably have to have it in an arena and we were all astounded. Erika shouted, "None of us is ever going to go out this big!!" We all laughed. Laughter is a big part of our family dynamic and part of what brings us all together.

Having such a big profile funeral was really weird. It was also overwhelming, in a good way. There were benefits and drawbacks. Overwhelming support and love from the community, but almost no opportunity to feel anything privately.

Still, our family is so, so grateful for the outpouring of love, for all the officers who came and showed support. Thank you, thank you for being there.

The procession to the graveside was one of the best parts of the day. Every single overpass was crowded with fire trucks and men and women in uniform, saluting the casket as it went by. Even people on the other side of the freeway pulled over to watch us go by. I saw trucks stopped and their drivers standing outside, saluting. So many civilians also came out and lined the streets, thousands of people, many holding signs saying Thank you to Doug.

They told us that the procession stretched over 50 miles and took over an hour to pass.

The other office who was shot, John Richey, carried the Honor Flag to the graveside and held it as all the ceremonial stuff took way. He was an incredibly sweet man and a real comfort to all of us.The other office who was shot, John Richey, carried the Honor Flag to the graveside and held it as all the ceremonial stuff took way. He is an incredibly sweet man and a real comfort to all of us.

This will go on Doug's headstone sometime in May.

"How's your sister doing?"

I get this question several times a day. Erika is a rock. Through all of this she has been graceful, poised, elegant, and composed. She spent the days immediately after Doug's death greeting a million visitors in her home, including the governor and several mayors and police chiefs (the senator got stuck on the east coast due to a storm). She went to dispatch to speak with the workers who were on duty when Doug was shot. Then she went to the Huntsman Cancer Institute to speak with the doctors who have spent over a decade trying to keep Doug alive. She said, "I figure they feel like they got pretty jipped." Yup.

She even went to see this sweet woman whose photo went viral.

And she got a commendation from the governor this week. She's been told by the widows of two other police officers who were killed in the line of duty that big things like this happen at least once a week for about a year, so she's preparing herself for the long haul.

This has all been so public - and she's a figure in the community now. She gets calls from the press wanting her opinion on things in the news. There aren't a lot of moments to be alone and process what happened.

But there is a bright side to having so many people want to help

A few days after Doug's death Erika asked on Facebook if any officers would want to come to Jack's (Doug's 13 year old son) next hockey game. They showed up in the hundreds. It was a wonderful, positive experience.

And nobody loved it more than Jack.

Today is one month from the day Doug was shot, and also Doug and Erika's 20th wedding anniversary. Despite being so busy, I know she is sad, I know she is feeling this.

Our whole family is feeling this. We are close, and we are heartbroken to have lost Doug. He leaves such a huge hole in our family.

But I'm so grateful that Doug was in our lives. That's what I whispered to him at the side of his hospital bed, "Thank you, thank you." Thank you for loving my sister. Thank you for being amazing to my children. Thank you for all the joy and laughter over the years. Thank you for teaching me so much. I love you and I'll miss you, Doug.

15 Best Books of 2013: Reading Review

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 22:21:00 +0000

In 2013 I read 57 books and a total of 16,920 pages. Not quite as much as 2012, but I don't feel bad about it. I think 57 books is still pretty cool in one year, and it's more than any other year besides 2012. Plus I raised a couple of beautiful kids, worked about 1200 hours, built a couple of Tron costumes, wrote 50,720 words in November, and made no small number of pies. I'm declaring 2013 the "Year of New Experiences." It feels like I tried a lot of new things like sewing, soldering, marathon writing, and also playing the ukelele for the first and possibly only time ever.

I don't think I mentioned it on this blog, but I participated in NaNoWriMo in November, which is a 30-day effort to write 50,000 words of a novel. It's an ambitious undertaking, but I did it! I'm happy that I did and I plan to do more in the future.

Books read in 2013:

Pages read in 2013:

But this post is supposed to be about books! So here are my favorites from 2013 (specifically, books that I read in 2013, not necessarily published in 2013).

15 Favorites From 2013

15. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
It kind of goes without saying that Brandon Sanderson will be on my list. Steelheart is brilliantly imagined, turning the notion of superheroes on its head and imagining what a world would be like if people who got super powers turned evil. Featuring a likable main character who just can't make a good metaphor to save his life, and a team of normal people who are trying to take the "Epics" down, the ending of this book just might blow your mind.

14. Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia Macneal
This goes on the list because it's a mystery that I really liked, and I don't like mysteries! Set in WWII London, Maggie Hope takes a job as a secretary for Winston Churchill. But as she tries to navigate her new position, a conspiracy is closing in on London. There are now three books in the series that I have read, and the story keeps getting better.

13. The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
I mentioned this book last year on my blog. It's sort of achingly beautiful, good for fans of literary fiction. I don't think I'd rank this in my top 5 anymore, but it definitely deserves recognition.

12. Longbourn by Jo Baker
This book is getting a lot of buzz right now. It takes place in the Longbourn household during the events of Pride and Prejudice, but is from the point of view of the staff. It's sort of a downstairs version of Pride and Prejudice, and has a lot going for it. It's sort of irresistible to see bits and pieces of P&P, and also the description of life for the lower classes in that era is fascinating. It definitely pulls back the curtain from our idealized notions of idyllic English countrysides and society. This book doesn't quite hit it out of the park for P&P lovers, but is a substantial contribution to Austen spinoff literature.

11. Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown
I keep telling people about this book and I get blank stares, and I don't get it! This book was awesome, full of swashbuckling adventure, romance, and adventure. Here is the synopsis I wrote for my library's staff blog:

Owen Wedgwood, famed chef, has been kidnapped and is being held aboard the Flying Rose, captive of the notorious captain Mad Hannah Mabbot. Mabbot informs him that he will cook a sumptuous meal for her each Sunday or he will be killed, a dismaying challenge considering the pirate ship's meager, weevil-infested stores. Dreaming up ways to escape, Wedgwood works wonders in the kitchen while the ship hunts for the notorious Brass Fox and flees from a deadly privateer. Wedgwood comes to rely on the gruff crew he once feared and begins to see something softer behind Mabbot's swagger and threatening power.

I loved this book. It's a swashbuckling adventure that doesn't gloss over the grim reality of life on a pirate ship. Told from Wedgwood's perspective, the story is sprinkled with delectable descriptions and metaphors drawn from his culinary experience; food is the dialect by which he speaks. The plot is fast-paced and action packed, and you come to love some and fear other characters through the course of their adventures. The real star is Wedgwood himself, a likable and talented fellow whose expertise and lifetime of experience still hasn't quite prepared him for all that he is about to face.

10. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Elevator Pitch: Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory falls in love. (Okay, it's not really Sheldon Cooper, but Don Tillman is his doppelganger).

9. Requiem by Lauren Oliver
This is the final book in the Delirium series, and I have to say, it's how I wish the Hunger Games series would have ended. If you were dissatisfied with Mockingjay, reading this series might be therapeutic for you. It's also one of the rare series where I thought the second book was better than the first. There is a bit of fan anger at some plot threads left untied at the end of the third book, but I think that doing so would have left a too-perfect bow on the end of everything. Many things in life don't have resolution. The author gave an interview where she said this:

Part of what adults have to live with is ambiguity. It's not like you make a choice and find happiness hiding behind one of three doors looking like Kim Kardashian. You have to choose what you want every day. There is no one point at which you get your happy ending.

That may sound like nothing good comes of the ending, but Oliver weaves redemption into her final chapters that, in my opinion, will leave many readers more satisfied than they were at the end of Mockingjay.

8. and 7. Etiquette & Espionage/Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
This is a fun YA steampunk series that mostly shines for the likable, clever main character, Sophronia. Sophronia is sent to a "finishing" school for young ladies where she will learn dance, dress, and etiquette, as well as deceipt, diversion, and espionage. A fun concept and an entertaining if simple YA series.

6. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Another rare instance of a second book in a series outshining the first. This is the second book in Marissa Meyer's science-fiction series retelling classic fairy tales. The first book was Cinder, the cyborg Cinderella of her time who is caught up in a conspiracy relevant to the entire kingdom. Book two follows Scarlet, whose grandmother has gone missing and the only person who seems willing to help her is an enigmatic street fighter named Wolf. The relationship between these two was absolutely mesmerizing for me, and I honestly didn't know how to peg Wolf for most of the book. Their story also interweaves with Cinder's continuing story from book 1, and we are introduced to a few new characters who I loved.

5. The Disaster Diaries by Sam Sheridan
This was a really interesting nonfiction book by writer and MMA fighter Sam Sheridan. Sam takes one question: "How would I survive the apocalypse?" and trains for various life-threatening scenarios. Need to outrun the aliens? Better take a course on stunt car driving. Need to hijack a car first? Better train on hot-wiring with an ex-con from south central LA. Running low on ammunition? Better train in knife fighting. One of your crew has been injured? Better brush up on emergency medicine.

This was fascinating, and was woven together with a hypothetical narrative of things that could happen in an end-of-the-world situation. Fun reading.

4. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
If you needed any inspiration for putting all of those apocalyptic skills to good use, you will find it in this book. This is a great read for fans of Divergent, The Hunger Games, basically anything exciting. Here's a quick summary:

Cassie Sullivan is trying to survive after crippling attacks have wiped out the majority of humanity, and she's not sure if she can trust anyone still left alive. Great tension and a quick moving plot keep you turning pages, but the vulnerability and humanity of the characters really make this novel hit home.

3. Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini
This book is an easy one to recommend to anyone in your Relief Society! And by that I mean it's 1. squeaky clean, 2. historically significant, and 3. inspiring for women. This is about Elizabeth Keckley, a black woman who was born a slave but bought her freedom and built a successful business as a dressmaker, with her crowning achievement being her time working for Mrs. Lincoln and also acting as her confidant during all of the drama and heartbreak of her years in the white house. Keckley was present during intimate moments of triumph and grief for both Mrs. and Mr. Lincoln. Later in her life, she wrote a book describing her time working there, which led to an estrangement of her friendship with Mrs. Lincoln. I need some friends to read this so we can discuss whether it was right for Keckley to write such a book, and if Mrs. Lincoln's reaction was called for. This was a really good book, interesting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable.

2. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
A haunting true life dystopia describing the situation in North Korea from the perspectives of six people who lived most of their lives there. Pieced together from many interviews, this is a glimpse into a world that I can hardly believe exists on our planet today. I read this almost a year ago and I am still haunted by it. But rather than leaving you feeling bereaved, Demick renders these peoples' lives in not a tragic light but one that is meaningful, vibrant, showing you their passion and purpose. A full 5 stars for this one.

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
This is a love story that will make you remember your first love and all of the little moments from it that you may have forgotten, all wrapped up in a surprisingly engrossing story. This is set in 1986, and brings to life the agony of having to wait whole weekends before you could see or talk to that person again (kids today and their cell phones... grumble grumble). The real magic of this story was how it made me feel. The first time they talk on the phone my heart was pounding, and the first time they touched I couldn't breathe. I also listened to the audiobook, and the performance of the two people reading for Eleanor and Park was stellar. Seriously, it's won awards. All in all, this is my #1 favorite from 2013. I've read one other book by this author and I'm excited to see more from her in the future.

So how was your 2013? What would you classify it as "The Year Of..."?
Do you have any favorite books from 2013?

Early Literacy

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 18:46:00 +0000

Jane has always had books around. Before she was born Michael and I went to the store and picked up a few of our favorite baby books to prepare for her arrival. It was a fun activity that I still think about. It was the beginning of her childhood library that has since grown by leaps and bounds thanks to helpful donations from family members and the inevitable gifts from holidays. Now Jane has a plethora of books. She's "lousy" with books. Books are coming out her ears. Her room looks like a book explosion! And I'm okay with that.

It seems like only in the last few months Jane has really started picking up on the fact that Mommy works in a library, aka a place with lots of books. Sometimes she asks if she can come to work with me, which is adorable, and she never seems undeterred by the fact that I have never taken her before (at least, not when I was on the clock). When I tell her no, she is disappointed, of course. Usually the only way I can help her feel better is to ask her if she would like me to bring home some books. She always says yes!

So lately I have been picking up two or three books and bringing them home after work. If Jane is still awake, we sit on the couch and read all of the books immediately after I walk in the door. She enjoys hearing the stories once or twice, and then she's okay with me taking them back. She's gotten used to the fact that they have to go back to the library now. New books are exciting to her, and she will always, always say yes to a book.

Obviously, Jane has a love of reading. And I have to say, I love that she has a love of reading.

Michael and I have read so many books to her. A few years ago I came across a study that said children - even babies - who are read to daily, even if it's just one book, are much more likely to become readers later on and subsequently do better in school and lots of other things. So we read to Jane everyday. Reading is part of the bedtime routine, even though usually we have already read a few books by then. We are also starting to read to Colin everyday and I see him go to the bookshelf now to pull down a book, sit with his little legs sticking out, lay the book in his lap and flip through the pages. It's adorable, and I'm proud that he is learning the logistics of how to move through the pages of a book and that each page has something different and interesting.

Today I came across a cute article called "10 Tips for Reading With Baby." All of the suggestions are good, especially the last one, "Start as early as you want." Seriously. There is no "too early" when it comes to reading to children. The tone of your voice and the rhythm of the words are soothing and even at birth you are starting to build pathways in their brain with everything you do (studies show that newborns are capable of learning even immediately after birth!). Not to mention all of the quality time and snuggles. :)

So, how you do like to read to your kids? Before bed? Do you read to them all at once or just one at a time? Do your kids have any favorite books?

Links

Here is a link to a library site that talks about the importance of 0-3 reading aloud every day.

This is a site that talks about similar things, but it looks fancier and has sources cited and other cool stuff.

Tron Costumes Part 4: Identity Discs

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 22:15:00 +0000

Part 1: Concept

Part 2: Garment Construction

Part 3: Electronics

So all of the credit for the amazing discs goes to our Dad, who made them completely from scratch and did an incredible job.

Initially, we had looked into buying discs, but the only things we could find online were flimsy foam things that didn't light up and were only painted on one side anyway. Our Dad is a very talented wood turner and it struck me that the discs were something he might be able to help us with.

What followed was a LOT of emails that went back and forth as we all discussed how these things should be designed and how to make them functional. Really, Dad is the one who should narrate this process, which I would be happy to add to this post, Dad, if you want to write anything. But for the time being I have lots of pictures that Dad sent us during the process!

It looks like he's making the groove for the LED lights to go here

See? There they are

It seems like to took forever for the LED lights to come

He colored epoxy with blue paint pearls and poured it
into the groove and wrapped it all with duct (duck?) tape

Here are the interior grooves with epoxy poured in.

Making the inside bevel

And the outside bevel

Look at those beautiful angles

Adding the beautiful detailing

The back of the discs are removable, and you can see inside he has 8 AA batteries lined up providing power to the LED lights. You can see the switch below.

Beautiful

Here are some different views and lightings as Dad was playing around with his amazing creations. You can see that even outdoors you can still see that they're lit up.

Here's the back of the disc after being painted black

One concern was how long would these last being lit up? Dad did some trials to see how long they could stay on and still offer a glow. I think he gave up around 32 hours when they were still going strong (is that right, Dad?). Anyway, ridiculously long. Adam and I haven't even changed the batteries yet and we wore these around all day and night.

At this point in the disc process we started trying to figure out a good way to get these on our backs. Many more emails went back and forth, and we decided that we wanted an actual piece to mount these on. Dad came up with a really beautiful design, and the part that I really like is how ingeniously simple they go together. Dad used rare earth magnets - four on the back of the disc, and four in the "back rack." Rare earth magnets work really well until you slide them away from each other, then they come apart really easily. We didn't want gravity to do the sliding for us, so the back rack holds the disc in place and prevents gravity from making the disc slide down. Then we just twist the disc a little on the rack and -poof- off it comes. Fabulous.

Dad created this pocket in the back of the back rack where I put the 8 AA batteries that lit up our whole costumes. I had the entire costumes - jackets and pants/skirt wired into this battery pack. I kind of like that the identity disc sort of powers us.

Here's how the disc and back rack fit together

Dad glued velcro onto the back of the back racks, and then I glued and stitched (mostly around the edges) the matching velcro onto the back of our costumes.

Shiiiny

Here's how they looked on the costumes:

Sorry the disc is sideways, Dad.

And here's us at the convention:

These discs got a LOT of attention at the convention, everyone wanted to look at them and hold them, and most people assumed we had bought them. You should have seen the looks I got from people when I told them our Dad had made them from epoxy and wood. They are pretty amazing, and the whole time I was working on the costumes I was motivated to try to make the costumes live up to how great the discs were! I think they turned out pretty awesome.

Thanks, Dad!! You're the best.

P.S. I might do one more post where I talk about some of the smaller details and about the cool stuff the costumes can do, and about how the day went when we actually wore the costumes.

Tron Costumes Part 3: Electronics, or how Adam and I learn a marketable skill that we never want to use ever again

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:59:00 +0000

Here's part 1.
And part 2.

*This part gets really detailed because I'm putting everything I learned out there for anyone who comes along in the future wanting to do this. I saw some Tron costume guides online that I sure wish had been more detailed. If you're not here to learn how to do this, just read on and be in awe of how much work we had to do! ;)

So let me do a little 'splaining about this EL tape we were using. It didn't come in custom pieces. They only sold it to us in three-foot strips, so if I only needed a piece that was six inches long, I had to cut it off of a long strip and then create a custom connection on the ends. Below is a picture of the back of an EL strip. You can see there is a large gray section - that gray stuff is the material that lights up. On the right you can see there is a tiiiiny strip of gray that runs down the entire right side, and they are separated by a white line. It might be easier to see lower down. In order for the strip to light up, both the large and the small gray strips need to have power running to them, and they need to stay separated!

I read online that we could connect two cut pieces of EL tape by taping copper tape along the gray areas. This turned out to be a really weak connection. If you waved the strip back and forth the connection would short out - and it's probably because the EL tape we were using had such a tiny strip of gray to work with. Copper tape probably works great with split EL tape which has two equal sized gray strips to work with, but we were using parallel EL tape which has that tiny gray strip on one side. (The piece that is pictured above actually works great, but it's the only strip we were ever successful with using the copper tape, and we experimented a lot.)

So we needed an alternative to copper tape. I went to our EL supplier's website and it turns out they have these "connectors" you can use. There's a fuzzy video of a guy working at a table showing you how to do this, but because you can't really see what he's doing you sort of just have to go off of what he's saying. Also I'm pretty sure he's using split EL tape so it's probably easier. Anyway, I'll show you below how we did our connections and if there's anyone out there who knows a better way of doing it please feel free to comment.

Okay, so these are crimp connectors:

And this is a female "EZ" connector on the right (the boxy black thing) and the two open wires on the left:

Adam would cut away some of the black stuff so he had more wire to work with

You have to solder the crimp connectors to the wires of the EZ connector. It ends up looking something like this:

See how there's silver gunk on the left side now? That's the crimp connector attached.

Soldering was Adam's job.

There's a little groove on the back of a crimp connector. You lay the wire down in the groove, and then melt solder over them both to connect them. It sounds much easier than it is, Adam can tell you. He probably soldered around 200 of these little connections.

Once things were soldered, then it was my job to clamp the connections. The sharp pointy parts of the crimp connector have to go through the EL tape, specifically making contact with the gray stuff that lights up (so that electricity can pass from one through to the other).

The instructions on the left are supposed to be done first. Then top to bottom.

This is all harder than it looks. The crimp connectors are actually slightly wider than the thin gray strip on the right (I know it looks green in this picture. I'm calling it gray), so when I tried to clamp the connector through, sometimes I'd miss the strip completely. It became an art nailing that tiny sliver right on the money.

This is where the biggest problems came for us on the day we wore our costumes. You'll noticed in the photos, small sections of our costume weren't lit up. It's because of these little guys right here. Sometimes the crimp connectors just disconnected from the gray stuff, even underneath all of the hot glue.

We went back to our hotel in the afternoon after wearing our costumes around for most of the morning. When I took off our jackets, I noticed that some of the wires had just been bent so many times from us walking around that they snapped. If you look in the picture above, I should have actually taken the hot glue up higher, right onto the black covering of the wires. Where the black covering stopped and the bare wires begin is where we had a lot of breaks. We broke out the ol' soldering iron right there in the hotel room and fixed a lot of this stuff, and we were back on our way that night with almost everything restored. But it was pretty stressful.

Anyway, most of the time I'd do a female wire in one end and a male wire going out the other end, and my lines ended up looking like this (except usually much longer):

I cut slits in the jackets and pushed the wires through, so all of the wiring (and connectors and hot glue and stuff) are on the inside of the costume, the uninterrupted EL tape is the only thing on the outside of the costumes. This technique gave me a little trouble later on, I'll talk more about it later.

So once we got all of this figured out, I realized that I needed to map out the wiring on the entire costumes, so I would know how many connectors we would need to solder and supplies to order and all those details. Here's what that looked like:

I know most of it probably doesn't make sense, but all of the Ms are where I figured I would need a Male connector, the Fs are all female connectors, and Xs are where the lines end.

I also realized that I needed to know how long each strip of EL tape needed to be, so I measured all of the masking tape on our costumes and marked it down, and then tried to map all of those measurements out on 3-foot strips so I would know how many strips to order from the website (we inevitably needed to order more, but it was good to have an idea of what we needed to begin with):

You can see that I needed to label each individual strip of EL tape, I started with A and went all the way through the alphabet, finally ending with HH I think. Then when we got the tape I had to cut all of those pieces and label them, which you can see below:

Then I had the lengthy job of clamping in all of those connectors we had soldered and hot gluing and taping and testing. Sometimes they didn't work, most of the time they did. We got better at it, too.

Once that I was done I started gluing the pieces to the costumes. (The EL tape comes with an adhesive backing, but it's not quite enough when you're putting this on a costume that is going to flex a lot.) We used E6000, which is an industrial-grade glue and needs a couple of days to cure completely. The glue is supposed to be placed on a surface that has been roughed up, so most of the time I took a microplane or grater to the areas that I was going to glue first. Then after I glued down the strips I put masking tape over it at intervals while it cured just to make sure that there wasn't any sliding out of the right position.

I ran into one problem at joints where I had a narrow angle, like on the chest of Adam's jacket in the picture below:

Because I had wiring coming out of both ends of the EL tape, I had to overlap the two pieces and run one strip over the other and then into a slight slit to the side of the EL tape underneath. If that doesn't make sense, I don't blame you because I could barely grasp what I was doing even with the pieces in my hands. Anyway, I didn't like it because it didn't provide a good crisp line where the joint is. So I pulled it off and came up with the following solution:

Rather than have one wire in at the top of the tape and one wire out at the bottom of the tape, I moved the wiring much closer together so that I had a long strip of EL tape with no wiring! I was amazed that it still lit up the entire EL strip but it did. So I used these pieces on the jackets where I had the slight angle - I just ran these pieces out to where the joint was and cut them off at the right angle and glued them down. It looked much sharper and I was happy with it.

So then came gluing. Lots of gluing. I only glued one area at a time and then waited the full two days for it to cure so that I wouldn't mess up the glue while working on a new section. It took me a few weeks to get everything glued.

But we were still missing something! Something very important.

Part 4: Identity Discs.

Tron Costumes Part 2: Garment Construction

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 18:48:00 +0000

Here's a link to part 1

I knew that sewing my costume from scratch would be really time consuming, so it's one of the first things I started on. (We also ordered a few supplies from our EL tape website and started experimenting with how it worked and how we could manipulate it early on).

I needed a cheap fabric because I didn't want to pay for real leather, so I asked around at sewing stores and landed on vinyl. Vinyl is like what you use to cover tables when you need something waterproof. It had the firmness that I was hoping for, color and texture were good, the biggest downside is that it's not very breathable but since it was only a vest I figured I'd be okay.

The inside of the vinyl fabric is this yucky gray scratchy stuff, so I also bought a nice, silky black lining fabric and each piece that I cut out of vinyl had an identical piece cut out of the lining fabric and they were sewn together before I started combining any of the actual garment pieces.

I started looking for a vest pattern, which are not too hot right now I can tell you: not a lot of patterns out there. I had to buy a vintage pattern on etsy for $4.00 (from the 60s), but it had the right kind of look that I was going for.

Here are some photos I took of the process. Mostly I took photos to send to my mom and ask her questions, because like I said I knew nothing about all of this and she had to answer a million questions for me and advised me. Thanks, Mom!

Tracing out the pattern:

Cutting (below). This hurt my knees. At this point it was still all a big secret so I couldn't complain to anyone, so you get it now! Ha! Okay, sorry.

My pattern weights are glass prep dishes. By the way: you can't iron vinyl. If the fabric came with a few creases (which happens naturally on the bolt), I used my iron without touching and steamed the heck out of them. They got a little looser and I pulled and pulled and they relaxed but I'm not sure they went completely away. It didn't end up being a big problem.

Below are all the pieces cut, lined, labeled, and laid out. You'll notice that it's much longer than the finished product so I had something to work with when I wanted to create the angled hem.

Below is me in my messy, messy office/sewing room. We'll just state here that it's very messy and you will all forgive me and we will move on, now, yes? Great, thanks.

So here is everything initially sewn but with no finishing. Mom informs me around this point that yes I have to do the facings. If you don't know what a facing is, just know that it's an invisible pain in the ass that sewers have to deal with and they have all arbitrarily agreed that facings are important and yes you have to do them. Lame. Basically a facing is like a huge (unnecessary?!) hem on the inside of a garment that adds structure and neatens out the line. And yes, I did add them.

Below: Gotta keep the baby contained somehow while Mommy is serging! Check out my awesome circa-1970's serger. I had to re-thread the needle 10 times because the thickness of the vinyl layers kept messing it up. By the way: this is the first project I've ever used my serger on.

The skirt came along in due order. Except I made an entire other skirt first, and realized that it was too small once I got it mostly put together. I had read the sizing info on the pattern wrong (rookie). Had to re-buy the vinyl and lining fabric, trace a new pattern, re-cut everything from the new fabric, re-line it, and put it all together. But the zipper turned out really nice!! It was my first zipper :)

Below: Facings are in, hemming is done, zipper is added (made a mistake that still bugs me but whatever). There's even a kick-pleat in the back. I used chalk to draw how I thought the angling of the bottom should go.

At this point I started using masking tape a LOT to mark where I thought the lighting strips would end up. I borrowed a dress form (that's like a mannequin that you put sewing projects on) from a friend (thank you, Brenda!) because it's really hard to put masking tape on your own body and get an idea of how it's looking, don't you think?

Below, I've made my initial cut and I'm trying it on to see how the length looks on my body and do some additional adjustments.

And here's the finished product:

The last step was to hang the vest and skirt on the dress form and do the cutting and angling of the skirt.

Here's an unflattering picture of me trying on the finished product along with some boots that I found at a thrift store for around $4.00. I actually went back after this picture and re-hemmed the front of the skirt so it was a bit sharper, not so rounded. It looked cool but then I ended up having to wear the damn thing backwards anyway so it's not like it really mattered in the end. Oh well.

Once my vest and skirt were ready to go, I started applying masking tape to mark the design of the lighting. Adam came over and tried everything on, and I laid out the masking tape, and then I marked the edges of the masking tape with chalk so I would know where to lay the glue down later. (I used the dress form for my stuff).

But before we could do ANY applying of the lights, we had to get them in working order first! Next post: we learn how to solder!

Part 3: Electronics

Tron'stumes, or how I made our Tron costumes for SDCC 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 17:36:00 +0000

I thought I would do a post about the creation process for our Tron costumes for San Diego Comic Con 2013. Most of you have seen our pictures already on Facebook, but for those of you not on The Social Network, here's how they turned out:

That's us on the exhibit hall floor. Adam found a picture of us on movieviral.com that was taken at night and looks pretty cool (below). We were waiting for this interminable train to pass so we could cross the street, and we thought it was such a pain but it ended up being kind of lucky!

Here's one more of us at night with an original Tron cosplayer that we found in the gas lamp district of San Diego (below). By the way, cosplay is what we are doing, it's a thing! It has it's whole own subculture that I bet you didn't even know existed. ;) (I didn't up until a couple of years ago!)

So Adam's costume was made from a leather jacket we found at a thrift store for $34. It was brown but we dyed it black and I think it turned out really good. Adam's pants were the ones he used last year for his Thor costume.

For my costume I sewed the vest, skirt, and gloves all from scratch, and it was my first time taking on my own costuming project (last year I was Padme from Episode III, but someone else made my costume, although I did make the very elaborate pin on the front of the costume). So I know where all of the little mistakes are but overall I think it turned out pretty good.

Our Dad is a wood turner, and he turned our amazing discs for us. Basically they are made of wood, epoxy, and LED lights.

Everything took us about five months from conception to finished product. When Adam first suggested Tron costumes I was like, "No way. No way I'll ever have time to do that." But the idea grew because it just sounded so cool. Early on we researched lighting possibilities, and it looked like EL wire or EL tape would be a good way to go. We decided on EL tape because it's the closest to the look in Tron: Legacy (I think it's what they actually use in the movie although they use a very sophisticated foam/latex suit that has had the EL tape custom made into it. I researched how they did it in the film).

So here are the first drawings I did of what I envisioned my costume to be like. At first I was thinking I would wear a full jacket and match Adam, but I realized that I would get too hot. You can see I was already playing with the idea of wearing a skirt. Wearing pants did not appeal to me at all, although she wears pants in the film. So I knew I wasn't going for a straight Quorra costume, it was a little bit of an elaboration on that.

This is the main image from the film that I worked off of:

Here are my second drawings where I firmed up what I was going for (below). You can see that I've decided on boots and a vest. It was hard to decide how the zipper would work down the front since there is a strip of lighting that would cross over the zipper line. The one on the left is the closest to how it turned out.

I designed the bottom hem of the jacket and the skirt to be at alternating angles, to be sort of a scalloped look. I ended up gluing the lighting to the wrong side of the skirt, so that design point went out the window and now the angles are parallel. If I could do it over again I would make the angle of the skirt more vertical, or sharper, and obviously I would glue the lighting to the right side, but I think how it ended up was fine.

For Adam's costume, we had the pants and found the jacket before I started to figure out how his lighting would be designed, so I took pictures of him, printed them out, and drew in pencil some ideas for how the lighting would go. I mostly used pictures of Sam Flynn from the movie but I also looked at how other Tron costumers had designed their Flynn costumes.

Some primary costume design concerns were: 1. We needed to be able to go to the bathroom (I didn't want a lot of wiring going between the upper and lower pieces). 2. Flexibility and sitting down: I didn't want to be sitting on lighting or wiring and I didn't want the lighting pieces to do any extreme bending. I think we did our best and we definitely learned a lot.

I'll have to break this up into multiple posts, so next will come the actual garment construction for my costume.

Part 2: Garment Construction

Just in case you thought I was kidding

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 02:43:00 +0000

Here's proof of the amorous, hilarious moments I stumble upon with Jane and the kitties.

(Her face is painted because we went to the fair)

Moar Cats

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:08:00 +0000

I've had a request for more about my cats. I decided to buckle down and do some more of my terrible illustrations. You're welcome.

Since everyone is talking about roles

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:13:00 +0000

I think roles are only okay when the people performing those roles consent to do so.

In a marriage, for instance, I think that if you're going to have roles, there needs to be a discussion about what those roles will be and both people need to agree. I think going into a marriage with an assumed role, or being told what your role is rather than choosing what it will be, becomes a breeding ground for resentment and unhappiness. And I think the roles need to be up for discussion as your lives change and times change.

I know that I want to choose what I do in my life myself. I don't want it to be told to me or chosen for me, or assumed for me - whether by a person, loved one, society or tradition. I am the master of my own fate and I get to choose. I choose to make that decision with my spouse and considering kind advice from loved ones, but ultimately, it's up to me.

You can love roles. You can hate roles. But I don't think anyone should be able to tell you what your role is other than yourself.

p.s. Commenting is turned off. Here's a cute polar bear.

Follow up

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 22:39:00 +0000

Well, it didn't knock Pride and Prejudice out of the top spot, but I think it's in my top five.

I listened to the audiobook, and as it is set in Australia, they had an Australian guy read the book. He sounds just like the man from Snowy River and I pretty much want to marry him now. I loved the main character, Tom, in this book. He is a Good Man, which is my favorite type of male character. There are exquisite thoughts about life and raising children and so much of it reflected how I feel about my own children and the experiences I've had with them.

This is a Sad Book. I didn't think that I could love a Sad Book so much, but I do. I think it's obvious that I am a Happy Book person and that's how I roll. But I still enjoyed every minute of this, even if so many of them had me silently weeping in the car on my way to work or while laying in bed with Colin sleeping near me. It was actually kind of cathartic.

A couple of things kept this out of the #1 spot for me, which I'd be happy to chat about with anyone who reads the book, but it's still very good. I certainly won't look at a lighthouse without a huge amount of sentiment (and maybe a little heartache) any time soon.

2012 Reading Review

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:50:00 +0000

In 2012 I read 62 books and a total of 20, 391 pages. That's a lotta meatballs. More than I have read in any past year ever. Here are the charts that Goodreads does so nicely:

Number of books read:

And pages read:

I have five favorites from the year. They are:

For Darkness Shows the Stars, which is my #1 favorite.

#2 and 3 are a tie between these two:

Ready Player One

Throne of Glass

Followed by two sequels in dystopia series, which are:

Pandemonium (Sequel to Delirium)

and Prodigy by Marie Lu (Sequel to Legend)

If I was a good blogger I would chat about why those are my favorites or whatnot.

But I'm not a good blogger.

Deal with it.

But I will say, I'm already reading a book right now that might be my very favorite for 2013 and might even knock Pride and Prejudice out of place for my Favorite Book. Basically, I'm saying that I want to put down roots in a good neighborhood with this book and read it again and again until we're old and grey/tattered and earning social security. I love it that much. But I haven't finished it yet so we'll see. (more later)

I don't have any book resolutions for 2013. Oh, wait, I do. I have a goal to read more Book Club books (because I am the head of the book club team at my library). But I don't have a number-of-books-read goal. Hitting 62 was pretty cool last year (that's about 5 per month) as well as most pages ever.

As far as general 2013 resolutions go, I resolve to keep treading water and to try to not get too dramatic about how I feel most of the time. 2012 was a very lovely year, thanks to Michael and his efforts to make it "The Year of Fun." We did have lots of fun last year. If I have anything to say about it, 2013 will be good, too. Hopefully.

Moar happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 22:30:00 +0000

Maybe this blog will just become about cats

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Watching this makes me immensely happy:

Ebony and Ivory

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:35:00 +0000

We have noticed some differences between our cats. As in: we think one is retarded, and the other isn't. Okay, retarded isn't the right word. She's just... odd.

These are our two cats:

I love both my cats. Well, I'm using the word "love" loosely here. They both have strengths and weaknesses. Abba is very well behaved. Rocky is very smart and affectionate. I wouldn't part with either of them. But as with pretty much everything, there is a flip side to the coin. Rocky is naughty, crafty, and tries to get away with drinking the milk from our cereal bowls when we're not looking. Abba is just... "special."

Take tonight, for example. We came home from a movie to find that Rocky had left us a present on the back doorstep.

This is the whole reason I got cats in the first place. As far as I'm concerned, Rocky is finally pulling his weight and earning his cat chow. Good cat.

...And then there's Abba. I was getting ready for bed and she came frantically into the room, communicating something like this:

Oh, Abba.
Abba frequently stares at the wall above my bed. There is nothing on this wall. Nothing is happening on the wall. There aren't even shadows or cobwebs on this wall. But she keeps a steady eye on it! Yes, sir. If that wall puts one toe out of line, she will be on top of it!

Sometimes Abba comes up to you, panicked, crying, "Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!" desperately trying to get your attention like someone going, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Until I finally can't take it anymore and turn to her and say, "WHAT, Abba?!!"

And then she gives me a look so confused and irritated, she could be a teenage girl who's just been interrupted in the middle of a call on her cell phone, as if to say, "What?! NOTHING. Geez."

Yes. Abba is the ditsy blonde of the family.
It's what we love about her.
Because if we didn't have her here, life would just make too much sense. We need Abba.

Day 30 of my really long book discussion

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:33:00 +0000

I think we're somewhere around 6 months for this "30 day" book discussion. Sorry. I was depressed and then I got pregnant, it's lucky I somehow came up with 29 blog posts before this.

So this post is about Your Favorite Book.

A few months ago I came up with this great idea on how to tell this post with something insightful to say, etc, etc. And then the next day I forgot what that insightful thing was supposed to be. So I kept putting it off thinking it would come back to me. It didn't, so I'm just going to tell you what my favorite book is:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

I know. It's not fantasy or sci-fi or young adult. The first time I read this was actually in college, but not for a class. I worked in a tech support office, and in between calls I took advantage of a program on the computer that had a collection of books, many of them public domain books (I also ready The Secret Garden this way). So I slowly started working my way through Pride and Prejudice in between my phone calls, and I steadily became more engrossed until I was rushing home after work and bringing up the novel online to finish my chapters and see if Mr. Darcy was going to talk to Elizabeth again.

I didn't know very much about the book before reading it, as this was 2004 and the Keira Knightley movie didn't come out until the next year. I think I had seen the BBC version but didn't remember a thing. Anyway, experiencing the twists and turns of Elizabeth's subtle relationship with Mr. Darcy (with no prior knowledge of it) had me holding my breath and staying up late. I think this is the reason that the book remains my favorite book today, because the emotions that I experienced while reading it were so captivating that they made a lasting impression on me, and I guess I am still pretty captivated (if the way I continue to seek out Jane-Austen-y movies and books is any indication).

One of the biggest impressions the book made on me was the way that Elizabeth's feelings towards Mr. Darcy slowly, slowly changed as she started to re-evaluate his behavior and realized that she had been mistaken about him in so many instances. And not only that, she also began to realize that Mr. Darcy was a good, thoughtful, breathtakingly honorable man. And she had just rejected his marriage proposal. Nice one, Elizabeth.

Anyway, like I discussed in my last blog post, everyone has different preferences, and those preferences are all okay. If you don't like Pride and Prejudice, that's fine. If you do, right on! But I think the Favorite Book is a highly personal choice that is usually shaped by our personal experiences and views, and in a way, that's really cool that we're all so unique and can enjoy so many different things.

So what is YOUR favorite book? When is the first time you read it? Do you think that seeing movies can ruin experiencing a book for the first time, or are movies beneficial for exposing a wider audience to books?

Thanks for doing the book discussion with me, everyone. I know it's been a long-haul, but it's been really fun to hear about your experiences and talk books with all of my friends and family.

30 Days of Book Discussion: Day 29

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:30:00 +0000

A book everyone hated but you liked

Alright, people. We need to talk about a little thing called Personal Preference. Frequently I have patrons who come up to me and say, "Do you have ____? My friend read it and said it was good." Usually, this is a big, big title that is checked out and we don't have on hand. Thank heavens! If I ever inquire into this friend's "recommendation," they usually admit to me that they know nothing about the book, all they know is that their friend liked it. Silly people.

Luckily, when we don't have the book checked in they usually say, "Well, can you recommend anything for me?" WHEW. Thank goodness. You made the right choice.

See, librarians are trained in this little thing called, "Reader's Advisory." That's a clunky term that's short for, "We're trained in figuring out how to recommend a book that's just right for you to read." We start by asking questions like, "What do you like to read? Do you have a favorite book? What have you read that you liked?" Some silly patrons are very resistant to these questions and just want me to pick a book off the top of my head that they will love. More helpful patrons will give me even a couple of answers to work with.

Usually I find that the person who had come in to ask for "The Kite Runner" (that their friend recommended) is really interested in cozy mysteries and Shannon Hale's light young adult fantasy books. Not that there's anything wrong with The Kite Runner... apart from the brutal sexual abuse, maybe. And maybe that person would like it, of course there is always a chance of that! But I will probably recommend something a little closer to their tastes... like something by Gail Carson Levine or Alexander McCall Smith.

So anyway, I have been doing this 30 "days" of books thing, and a few people have said to me, "Hey I read that book you liked. - I didn't like it." Hehehe. Well, I understand it's hard to resist when you hear a really emphatic review of something, or when you like the reviewer.

But the point of all this is to say: if you're looking for something good, something you will like, read a few reviews first (maybe one good and one sort of in the middle - Amazon and Goodreads make this so easy), or call your local library. Seriously, we do this over the phone. Just have a couple of book titles ready that you really liked and they can make some good suggestions for you. Ask different librarians, since we all have our own ideas also. There are also great websites out there that build read-alike lists (i.e. if you liked The Hunger Games they have a list of 20 other books you might enjoy), author read-alike lists, very specific genre searching, all sorts of stuff. Novelist is one of my favorites, which your library probably subscribes to. It has some great search options that let you narrow your search by crazy things like Pace, Tone, Writing Style, etc.

In case you're interested, it seems like what a book focuses on can be the real dividing line between Personal Preference. Readers usually gravitate to one of the following:

• Action-packed: Pulse-pounding, high-octane excitement is the rule in these books!
• Character-driven: The interior growth and development of the characters is an important element in these books.
• Intricately plotted: These books have intricate, complicated, or elaborate storylines, often involving multiple plots, large casts of characters, or numerous narrative twists and turns.
• Issue-oriented: Issue-oriented books explore controversial themes, which may cover a variety of emotional, ethical, or social problems.
• Plot-driven: In these books, a pivotal event or series of events move the story forward; characters often react to the events, rather than causing them.
• World-building: Almost exclusively found in works of fantasy and science fiction, these books immerse the reader in a vividly-created imaginary world that possesses such intricacies as invented histories, languages, geography, or cultures.

For instance, I am a world-building kind of gal. I really like immersive world type experiences. Historical fiction can really float my boat in addition to science fiction and fantasy, if I can experience a different world or time through the sensory experiences of the novel. However, I would never recommend a novel with world-building as it's main focus for a certain co-worker of mine (you know who you are). She is really into character-driven books - oh my goodness. If a book has believable, realistic characters who go through some kind of profound growth or development, and the book mainly focuses on them and doesn't get too waterlogged with setting descriptions and battle sequences (or preferably none of those), she's good!

Sometimes you find books that satisfy multiple kinds of people. I love the Hunger Games for the plot-driven world building. Experiencing a different world and time, the consequences of what has happened in history and how people are dealing with it, I love that. My co-worker loves the same book because of what happens with the characters - they are totally believable and she loves watching how they act and react, the choices they make, how they change, all that stuff. Other people really like the action in the books, or the plot twists, or the love triangle, or the controversiality of teens in a death battle.

So, in conclusion, this post was supposed to be about a book that "everyone hated but you liked." But I don't want this to feel like the proverbial drawing of a line in the sand between you and me, this book or that book. Everybody's different, and as far as I'm concerned as a librarian, everyone is making good choices. If you're reading a book: good for you. I will not judge you if you want another recommendation for a boddice-ripper romance. I have a couple favorites. =D

So, I would have to say for A book everyone hated but you liked, I would choose the Eragon series. This is sort of a grey area, as there are LOTS of people who really like these books. But I have also come across a LOT of people who don't like them. I've heard a lot of complaints about "the writing" (which I think is a subjective term anyway, but that's another post), or complaints about the length or tangents or whatever. Basically, all I'm hearing is: "I don't like long descriptive passages about fantasy crap." Or "I like fast-moving books and don't want to diverge on tangents again and again." Or whatever. It's all just preferences to me.

Personally, I love all the descriptive tangential fantasy crap. But that's just me enjoying the world he's created. See? So what about you? Is there a book you feel like no one liked but you? What about your reading preferences? Are you a world-building plot fanatic like me, or do you like intricately-plotted, character-driven books?

(Next up: The last post of my book discussion and my Favorite Book!)

30 days of Book Discussion: Day 28

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 04:10:00 +0000

Favorite Title(s)

I think "The Way of Kings" is one of the coolest titles ever. Don't you just want to read that? I mean, before you find out that it's 1000 pages long? I want to know what the way of kings is! Then I can be like kings... and their ways....

Other titles...
Some food-related ones we were discussing at work today:
"The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" and
"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"

More:
"5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth"
"I Was Told There'd Be Cake"
"Cry, the Beloved Country"
"Their Eyes Were Watching God"
"Ella Minnow Pea"
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

That last one is a particular favorite. I could keep going. In fact, I've erased a bunch because I didn't want it to get too long. So how about you, any titles you adore?

30 days of Book Discussion: Day 27

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:14:00 +0000

The most surprising plot twist or ending

I think this question is just asking for spoiler anger. So if you're one of the three people that hasn't read The Hunger Games yet, then read no further.

The Hunger Games was full of twists and turns, but I think my favorite was Peeta announcing he was in love with Katniss on national television. It's the kind of moment where I rub my hands together and think, "Now we're getting somewhere."

What about you? Do you know of a good book with a great twist or surprise ending?

30 Days of Book Discussion: Day 26

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:05:00 +0000

A book that changed your opinion about something

So I have this sister that's into natural birthing and midwives and such, and I always thought that stuff sounded a bit crazy. There's an episode of Frasier where Niles and Daphne hire a freaky doula who bangs on bongo drums and chants things and is basically insane. After being pushed over the edge, Daphne ejects her from the apartment saying, "I'm going to have my baby the way God intended: in a hospital, numb from the waist down."

Anyway, I didn't have a great outlook on "alternative" birthing methods - that is, alternative from what I was expecting to do myself. So when I was pregnant with Jane I started reading this fascinating book called Birth Day by Mark Sloan, a pediatrician. It was a great book to help me understand more about the birthing process, which it describes in detail, and it also discusses the history of childbirth (did you know that women used to have their babies crouching down, but when Louis XIV made his wife have a baby up on a bed so everyone could watch, doctors started making their patients do the same because it made it easier for the doctor to have access to the whole... situation. Stupid Louis XIV).

There really were a number a fascinating stories in the history of how we got to hospitalized, medicated childbirth, which he doesn't endorse one way or another. But he does discuss some interesting studies being done in the birthing world at the moment (one of my favorites talked about how men's hormones are altered permanently when they care for a pregnant partner during the entirety of her pregnancy). But the thing that really struck me the most while I was reading this book were the studies done on female companionship during birth. I ended up scanning the pages and now I email them to my friends whenever they become pregnant. Basically they had two groups of women: one group who labored alone, and a second group who had an unfamiliar, untrained woman in the room with her who basically held her hand and chatted with her. The women who were accompanied had drastically shorter labors: 8.7 hours compared with the 19.3 hours in the control group. Fewer of them also ended up needing cesarian sections: 7% compared with 17% of those who labored alone.

He goes on to talk about how further studies were done with professionally trained doulas doing continuous labor support through the entire process, and how those numbers were even better. So I finally asked, "So who are these doulas anyway?" I also asked my sister more about her natural birthing methods and started reading some materials that she gave me. My initial reactions to it all were resistant: this is crazy, I'm not into this mumbo jumbo. I even got angry at how silly it seemed at first. But as I kept investigating, I became more impressed by the methods and psychology of it all. The results from the studies I read about in Birth Day were so motivating, in fact, that I decided that I wanted a doula. 10 hours less of labor? Yes, please.

So basically, that's how the book changed my mind about something. It opened me up to a new way of thinking, and I found a wonderful doula. The concept of doula changed from a chanting, drum-banging hippie to basically a very nice registered nurse that I paid to stay with me during my entire labor and delivery, who rubbed my feet and answered medical questions in the very moment that I had them. She also coached me through Jane's birth, and stayed with me afterward when Michael and Jane went to the nursery for her bath and I would have otherwise been alone. The whole experience I've described, sincerely, as being like "unicorns jumping over rainbows," and I attribute 90% of that to my doula, Katherine.

How about you? Have you read any books that ended up changing your mind about something?

Can I complain for a minute?

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:40:00 +0000

Sorry to break up the book discussion, but I just wanted to talk a little bit about years.

Years seem to have themes for me. I started noticing this in 2008, but I've realized that the trend goes back much farther than that.

2008 is what I refer to as "The year of depression." Because that's pretty much what I experienced for the entire year. After a huge disappointment earlier in the year that lingered for about 6 months, I then experienced a miscarriage in October that took me out for the rest of the year.

2009 is "The year of illness." I'm counting a bit of December, 2008 in this, when I was in the ER 4 times for kidney stones. Then I had several illnesses throughout the winter and early spring as a consequence of all the ER visits and medication. Then I got pregnant and became unbelievably sick for the rest of the year.

2010 was "The year of joy." I had Jane and the high didn't go away for 11 months. Jane is so wonderful and sweet and amazing and every month I was incredibly happy to have her in my life. Nothing brought me down.

Until 2011. The best way I can think to describe that year is, "The Crucible." 2011 was incredibly awful. I can't even really explain because I don't want to live through it again, but I'm still feeling a bit shell-shocked and numb. The best comparison I can think of is being ground into a fine powder, slowly and excruciatingly, over a period of 1 year, until you're nothing even close to resembling what you were before.

I was telling Michael about this in January, and he said, "You know what? 2012 is going to be the year of fun! I declare it to be the year of fun!" I am trying to not tell him that they years don't really show their true colors until it's too late, but his positivity is encouraging and when I told him that I wanted to go to Comic Con in July, he said, "Yes! You are going because this is the year of fun!" You have got to love someone like that in your life.

Pessimism notwithstanding, I am sort of getting hopeful. I think this might be a good year? Do I need to run and find some wood to knock on? I found myself today contemplating making a dinner. This is big. It has been so long since I've even felt motivated to do that, as opposed to just lethargically making food out of a sense of obligation (I do feed Jane. Most days).

Is this a sign of things to come? I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope.

***
Just as a note: here is my best guess at summarizing recent years:

2001: Year of Serendipity
2002: Not good
2003: One of the best years of my life
2004: "Just keep chugging"
2005: Chugging and getting better
2006: Year of Success
2007: Year of enjoying life
2008: Year of depression
2009: Year of illness
2010: Year of joy
2011: The Crucible
2012: ???

30 Days of Book Discussion: Day 25

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:40:00 +0000

A character who you can relate to the most

The first character that comes to mind is Katniss from The Hunger Games, although we have pretty much nothing in common. But I think Suzanne Collins just wrote an amazing character. Katniss's thoughts and way of thinking feel very natural to me, and she is a character who is easy to sympathize with. I am also strongly impacted by the dystopian nature of the novel. I am instantly attracted to characters who are set in a world that is supposed to be utopian but where they have enough presence of mind to see that there could be cracks in the veneer of perfection that is supposed to be there. I find that compelling and it's what attracts me to dystopian novels in general.

I have to admit that I can't stand main characters who are very flawed. The stories that I connect to most have a protagonist who has good qualities and is essentially what I consider to be a "good person," people who have a sense of right and wrong and who try to do the right thing. Usually if I really like a movie it's because the main character was valiant in some way that I admired. I know that most people probably feel the same way... I just think that maybe the degree to which I like a movie is very heavily influenced by the admirability of the main character.

I was telling my sister the other day about an awful movie that I watched on Netflix. The main character in this movie was immature, manipulative, conceited, dishonest, and arrogant. I hated her and I hated the movie. But... I watched the whole thing because it had pretty dresses. I have a weakness, okay! I like pretty dresses, shut up. I can like those. If you're going to write a movie about abhorrent characters, you better have some good costuming.

So what about you? What characters do you relate to?

30 Days of Book Discussion: Day 24

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:53:00 +0000

A book that you wish more people would’ve read

This is an easy one. There is a good mystery that I read a few years ago, and I have kept up with each new novel in the series so far. It's called The War Against Miss Winter by Kathryn Miller Haines. It's set during WWII, and Rosie is living in New York trying to make it as an actress. She works on the side as a secretary for a detective, and when he turns up dead one of his clients enlists Rosie to finish what he started. It's a decent mystery, moving along well, and Haines has done a remarkable amount of research into WWII-era New York City. She brings the sights and sounds of it alive. Haines was a screen writer before she started working on this series, and I think she has a good sense of timing and keeping things moving.

But by far the best part of this series is Miss Winter herself. I love this character. She is sassy and witty and loyal and adventurous, and is absolute fun to read. She says quippy things like, "Her sincerity was so thin you’d be arrested for wearing it out in public." I just hear Katharine Hepburn's voice saying that, don't you?

What's sad to me is that this series isn't more popular or well known. I think the first book suffers from unfortunately bad cover art, and that can really affect readership sometimes (something that they've rectified with further books). But I think most of the check-outs of this book in my library have come from my own recommendations. I've even had people come up to me later and say, "You know that WWII mystery you recommended for me? It was really good!" Well, yeah!

This is a good pick for people who enjoy historical fiction and whodunnit mysteries, especially for those with interest in the WWII era. Book #2 in the series wasn't great, but the rest after that have been pretty good, like the first. Rosie even goes on a USO tour in the South Pacific! It's fun but still sobering at times with the war taking place all around her. Very enjoyable.

What day am I on again?

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:43:00 +0000

Oh, right.

30 days of Book Discussion: Day 23

A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t

This would be The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

More correctly, this is a book I have read half of when I was 14, and then never finished. I was reading it thinking "This is the most awesome book I have ever read," and then I saw the Wishbone* episode where they reenact the Count of Monte Cristo. After seeing it I was like, "So the first half of the book is awesome, and then the second half is just about stupid revenge? Lame." So I never finished it.

But in the back of my mind I'm hoping that perhaps if I finish reading the book, it will be more meaningful than I'm expecting and live up to the first half, so it's sort of an unfulfilled ambition thus far. There are just too many YA fantasy books out there in the meantime.

* Remember Wishbone? I loved that show. Except the one where he played Cyrano de Bergerac was a little far-fetched. Get it? Fetched? Just kidding. But seriously, I felt really bad for the actress who had to unknowingly be in love with a Jack Russel Terrier. I assume that was probably a low point in her career.

30 Days of Book Discussion: Day 22

noreply@blogger.com (Breanne) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Favorite book you own

Well that's just silly. All the books I've already been talking about I own. Anything that you see that was a favorite of mine I probably own. Except Michael loaned Mistborn to someone a couple of years ago and we can't remember who.

Anyway, working at the library gives me VERY little reason to purchase books. So if I do purchase a book, it's because I really, really loved it and must have a copy on hand for future reference and nostalgic reading whims. My Favorite Book I even buy different editions of, because I like the different look of the fonts and feel of the different papers - it's like a collection.

Michael, on the other hand, used to have dreams about owning every book he's ever read, and having an extensive library where he could gaze across the shelves and see all these things he's read.

So what's your preference? Do you like having copies of the books you've read on hand, or do you like to borrow from friends or the library?

Just as a note: if you are trying to clean house and have lots of books that you don't really want to keep around anymore, donate them to the library! Your library will be grateful for the donation, and even if they don't add your book to their collection, they can probably put it in a book sale where the proceeds will aid the library - and then your book won't lie at the bottom of a landfill! (Call your library first to ask about donation info). Also - you can get a tax deduction donation slip. Libraries can't give you a receipt showing you the value of what you donated, but they can give you a slip saying you donated something at all. I'm not sure how much it helps at tax time, but it's something, right?

So what book do you absolutely have to own?