Pin-up Preview!

Recently, I had the pleasure of doing a little pregnancy pin-up shoot with the incomparable Stina Rae.

My cheesecake expression reads more like abject terror...

I haven't done pin-up like this before, so I was nervous, but it was a lot of fun, and I hope to do more.

Field Report

Sneak Peeks

Not much excitement here at Ft. McAwesome lately, but I have been working on some secret projects...intrigued? Here's a preview:

 Fun things are coming, and a couple tutorials(some burlesque-related) that I'm excited about!

In other news, I got a set of macro filters for the camera, since I'm too cheap/broke to spring for an honest-to-goodness macro lens. Essentially, the filters just decrease your depth of field, so you can get right up on your subject and be in focus, more or less.

In this shot, I have no filters, and I'm using a basic 18-55mm lens, and this is as close as I can get to my hexipuff.

Now I add the x10 close-up filter. Not bad.

For this, I added a x4 filter on top of the x10.

And now a x2 filter on top of the first two filters.

Finally a x1 filter on top of the whole shebang.

Comparison:

When stacking all four filters, I can't get the entire subject in focus, but I kind of like the effect. I've been playing around with the filters a little since I got them, and I think they'll keep me amused until I can afford a real macro lens.

On the chicken front, Marie seems to be taking a break from laying. She hasn't laid in a few weeks, but she's not sick or egg bound, so I'm too worried. Rosie has been laying consistently, Ada has been laying two days out of three, and Ruth has been laying every other day or every third day. 

Yesterday, Ruth laid an egg that was twice the size of her usual, and so big, we could barely fit it in the egg carton.

 Mr. Bear hypothesized that it was a double-yolker, and he was right!

In baby news, I am now in my third trimester! Less than three months to go, which is terrifying. We're making slow progress on the nursery, but I figure we'll pick up the pace after the baby shower when we see what we have and what we still need to get.

Obligatory bump pic! Please excuse the poor quality of my phone's camera.

I feel so big!

Pinterest and the "Anti-Feminist" Movement

I've stumbled across quite a few pins on Pinterest labeled "anti-feminist", pictures of women in aprons captioned "This is what an anti-feminist looks like. Fear us."

I don't get it. Feminism is wanting equal rights. Why wouldn't you want that?

Some of the pins conflate misandry with feminism. MISANDRY IS NOT FEMINISM. Double-standards which skew in the favor of women is also not feminism. 

The fact that more men work in dangerous jobs is part of patriarchy, feminists don't want those jobs to be exclusively male. When I was in the military, women still weren't allowed in combat zones. Patriarchal bullshit. 

I want equal pay for women because when my husband retires from the military, he wants to be a stay-at-home dad. I think that's fantastic, and I fully support him. I am more than willing to be the primary breadwinner and support us so that he can stay home and homeschool the kids. But if I'm making 23% less than my male coworkers for doing the exact same job, that affects my entire household. It's not just a "women's issue", it's a human issue. He shouldn't have to work outside the home to make up the difference in my salary if he wants to stay at home. I shouldn't have to work two jobs to make the same a man makes at one. It's about choice. For everyone.

This? Not feminism.

It is never okay to strike anyone, your spouse or otherwise. Physical violence is the last refuge of the cowardly and insecure, regardless of what genitalia they possess.

I know men who have been victims of domestic abuse. Feminism is not saying that men do not suffer from domestic abuse. Real feminists(men and women) work towards making it easier to report domestic abuse, and work toward removing the social stigma of doing so, so that everyone can benefit. Female-on-male violence is horrifically under-reported, because of the extreme stigma against being beaten "by a girl". Because girls are weak and men should be able to dominate them, not get hit by them. Again, patriarchal bullshit. Domestic violence is about control, physical and psychological, and women are just as capable of men of hurting their partners.

Feminism wants equality. That means accepting that women can be bad. Just look at Margaret Thatcher. Part of what feminism is trying to accomplish is removing women from this pedestal of "can-do-no-wrong", dispelling the myth that it's okay for a women to slap a man, that women are naturally in need of protection. A pedestal is just as much a cage as any other small space.

If misandristic bullshit shows up in your Google feed when you search "feminism", that does not mean that those views are actually held by feminists. There will always be sexist assholes out there, of every gender, but actual feminism works towards equality. That's it.

I am a baking, sewing, knitting, crafting, stay-at-home wife and mother, and I am a feminist.
I do not hate men. My husband is awesome, my guy friends are super-rad. I do not walk down the street and assume every man I see is a sexist rapist-in-waiting. I hold doors open for others, and I've had doors held open for me. That's just being polite. Sometimes I make my husband a sandwich. Sometimes he makes me one.

I'll leave you with this talk by Tony Porter, in which he explains what the "man box" is, and why feminism helps men as much as it does women.

Pinterest Challenge: Bottle Vases

So...there have been lots of tutorials on Pinterest on how to turn wine bottles into vases or tumblers. Some of our dear friends are getting married, and wanted to try it, so we volunteered our space. Turns out it works pretty well!

What you need:

Bottles

Kitchen twine

Acetone(nail polish remover)

Bucket of ice water

Lighter

What we did:

Cut a length of kitchen twine long enough to wrap around the bottle four or five times. Then soak it in acetone(nail polish remover). Wrap the twine around the bottle, tie it in place, and light. Make sure your fingers are a safe distance away from the flaming twine.

Rotate the bottle quickly and evenly, so the flames run around the length of twine. This may take a few minutes, and you should be able to turn the bottle a good half-dozen times before the flames die down. Once the flames go out, immediately immerse the bottle in the bucket of ice water, with the neck pointing down.

The bottle should separate into two pieces with a loud "crack!"

Our first couple of attempts yielded somewhat uneven and rough edges, but after a bit of practice, the bottles started separating cleanly.

Obviously the edges will need to be sanded and smoothed, but overall we were all very impressed by how well this method worked.

In between adventures with flaming bottles, a couple of my friends managed to catch Ruth and say "hello". Ruth wasn't terribly interested in making friends, though.

Mr. Bear was worried Ruth might scramble and claw at Jessie, as we have both been on the receiving end of Ruth's social anxiety.

All In a Golden Afternoon

Spring is attempting to show it's lovely face this week, and I took full advantage of it! After a lovely afternoon of window shopping with a dear friend, Mr. Bear and I took Ponyo to the park. It's been a while since either one of us has been out and about, and it was just so nice to feel the sun and watch the ducks.

Ponyo is, of course, the belle of the ball wherever she goes, and this walk was no different. Everyone wants to pet the corgi. I understand. It's her stubby legs and giant ears and little nubbin tail.

I promised new hair, and new hair there is! My awesomely talented friend Raven does the most beautiful color, and I felt like I've been stagnating all winter. I had her clean up my layers, shorten my bangs(or "fringe", if you prefer), and then throw some gorgeous pink/purple/teal ombre tips in for funsies.

I'm kind of in love with it. I feel like a magical unicorn mermaid.

(Also, Target has some ridiculously adorable pregnancy-friendly dresses right now. I bought the above dress in every print they offer.)

I've been making very slow progress on my Beekeeper's Quilt. Laying it all out lets me see how the colors are working together. I definitely need more green...

I love hexipuffs! They're soooo squishy, it's fantastic. I can't wait to have a whole blanket to snuggle with. In the meantime, they're super fun to throw at house guests.