still not King

[the_siobhan]

I spent the first couple of months of the pandemic getting by with bandanas because why spend money if you don't need to. (I got an enormous kick out of sporting the Red Dead Redemption look at the bank, I gotta tell yah.) But since this looks like it's going to be a long term thing, I've decided to start collecting a few masks as well. If nothing else I'm really hoping this normalizes people wearing masks when they have colds and flus so my asthmatic ass can stop getting bronchitis every winter.

This has since ramped up to treating masks like every black concert t-shirt I have ever bought and buying ones I like whether I need them or not. (Seriously, I have a cardboard box in my basement with "Siobhan has too many black t-shirts" scrawled on the side in sharpy.)

The Axe has been buying Cyberoptix gorgeous silk ties for years now. She recently started making masks so I bought the Facehugger and Pinhead designs.

Hoax Couture is a local business that normally make bespoke fashion and who have started making masks. For every one purchased they donate two to frontline workers so I bought a couple of their cammo prints and I LOVE THESE MASKS. They ear-bands are adjustable so I can get them to stop slipping off my mutant tiny ears and they are so comfy.

Now I'm just waiting on these Eat The Rich masks that some friends put together.

As a direct result of this flurry of consumer activity, Facebook is now sending me ads for masks about every third post. Some of them are advertising that they are indigenous or POC businesses, so my resolve not to click on FB ads is kind of wavering here. Maybe if I just... write down the name and look it up on a different computer? Think that would work to circumvent the Zuckerberg empire?

***

My Covid test came back negative so I scheduled my residence visit on Friday. I made arrangements with a wheelchair company rep to meet me there, notified the residence of the plan and packed a bag of thing to bring with me. I made arrangements to borrow BC's car to drive there and made an appointment to pick up my new masks on the way. And then I spent the entire drive saying, "What did I forget? I've forgotten something, haven't I? What is it?"

I hadn't forgotten anything but man. My brain is all over the place these days.

***

Work is unreal right now, which is probably contributing to my sense that I'm dropping balls all over my feet. The project team just keeps plopping new work in our collective lap, none of the reporting works right in the new system, and because we are off-our-melons busy, this is the perfect week to start interviews for a position that's been open since February.

I need a vacation so badly. I have some time booked off in September and we are planning on spending the first week repainting and rearranging the ground floor. Then the Axe is lobbying for a camping trip or something but I keep pointing at the empty bank account. I'm more inclined to just build a fire in the backyard for a few nights and call that camping.

***

Today I discovered that the Spanish word for a goth is Siniestro. I am delighted by this.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

"Today I discovered that the Spanish word for a goth is Siniestro. I am delighted by this."

That makes me think of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evwc25lo_CM

[50ftqueenie]

Oh damn you for telling me about that Pinhead mask. I am also building a collection of masks because I fully intend to wear a mask on public transit for the rest of my fucking life.

[runcible]

On the mask front, I can't possibly justify the cost of this and I haven't a clue how it would fit or feel, but: http://www.lumencouture.com/buy-led-light-up-dresses/shop-tech-warning-face-mask/

I feel you on the brain scrombulation thing. As soon as my brain realized I didn't need to be at defcon 1 for a work thing, it just turned the fog machine on. What's on the end of my feet, are they toes? I can feel them wiggling, but I keep forgetting to check.

[the_siobhan]

Oh damn, that's tempting, isn't it?

I'd be worried that the mask would be heavy enough that Mutant Tiny Ears wouldn't be able to hold it on my face.

[runcible]

I'm over here with Jumbo Novelty Oversize Head, so I have similar concerns.

I did watch a youtube video about making it (https://youtu.be/DsPnGvtVHTE), and honestly actually breathing through it sounds like hell, unless you got a smaller LED panel in there.

This is going to go on for awhile, so I'm sure we'll unfortunately have time to see refinements on the design and cheaper knockoffs. Mask couture is definitely going to be a thing - I've made my peace with it and I'm hear to get as much silver-lining-juice as I can out of all of this.

[the_siobhan]

I was highly amused by the fact that the Cyberoptix Lab masks came in two sizes; large / beard or "pretty average noggin".

[runcible]

A friend on Twitter recommended these: https://nevanude.com/collections/stud-face-masks

Apparently the studs are hollow and the whole thing is very lightweight.

[the_siobhan]

This is highly relevant to my interests.

[firecat]

I've also transferred my membership in the "too many T-shirts" club to the "too many masks" club. Thanks for enabling me! :D

I sometimes write down the name of something on a facebook ad and look it up in a different browser.

[the_siobhan]

I'm no longer sure that's enough. I went looking at a medical equipment supplier on my phone and now the ads are all over FB and I don't even have FB on my phone.

[ian_nothing]

Your FB account is tied to your e-mail address. Your e-mail address is synced to your phone. Anything you do on your phone (i.e. - anything via Google) gets shared across platforms. I've noticed this low these past few months. Run a Google search on my tablet, search history shows up on my phone.

[elusis]

I keep putting masks in carts and walking away because 1) I could sew more (my sewn masks were pretty crude to start but have gotten much better) and 2) I have several good ones, plus a few that suck in their fit but that I could fix with a little work.

Damn you and your links.

[the_siobhan]

I live to be a bad influence.

[elusis]

One of the many things I like about you.

[kalmn]

Holy crap; next time I am in Detroit I need to go to Cyberoptix. Not that I ever wear the ties I own, but apparently I need more of them. Many more.

[the_siobhan]

They are so nice. Axe has one with a kraken on it.

[greylock]

You know, I will be disappointed his he doesn't say "today I shall release the kraken" each time he decides to wear it.

[disastrid]

Ah damn, would love to buy a few Hoax Couture masks but they don't ship to Berlin. :'''''''''( I've got a few great masks and a bunch of middling ones, so I'm trying to find somewhere that makes excellent masks and buy a load from them.

Also I remarked last week that I used to laugh at them but I now appreciate that the German goths have been preparing for this pandemic since the late 90s by quietly stockpiling gas masks.

[the_siobhan]

I'd be happy to mail stuff for you.

"The cybergoths know what time it is" is not a statement I ever thought I would be making, but here we are.

[nicklausse]

There are Black and Latinx chambers of commerce, where minority business owners tend to network, if that helps at all. (I work for a minority business enterprise -- [MBE], Latinx.) Yeah, I'd totally look it up on another computer, but you know me and the as-avoidant-as-possible of Zuck.

Siniestra? Siniestrx? =D

[the_siobhan]

That is an excellent suggestion. It looks like there are few similar resources for indigenous businesses so I'm going to start there.

[greylock]

I'm really hoping this normalizes people wearing masks when they have colds and flus so my asthmatic ass can stop getting bronchitis every winter.

Same. I am (I think) closer to Asia than you, and we have a lot of them wearing masks in winter which, until a few (10?) years ago I didn't understand was to protect other people.

I wish our governments would mask mandate for a while, so it would normalise it.
I got my first masks (shitty, via eBay) last week. Still haven't worn them. They're basic black, except the skull one.

But I want stylin' masks. I would also buy an 'eat the rich' mask

The Axe has been buying Cyberoptix gorgeous silk ties for years now. She recently
started making masks so I bought the Facehugger and Pinhead designs.

The link no work.

Maybe if I just... write down the name and look it up on a different computer? Think that would work to circumvent the Zuckerberg empire?

This is the way.
If you are extra paranoid: reboot your modem.

Today I discovered that the Spanish word for a goth is Siniestro. I am delighted by this.

Yes, but yellow is the colour of fear! (I love German's Grufties!)

You've been watching the various online fests? Gothicat has been okay. Plus, cat-based shirts.

[the_siobhan]

I think I fixed the link.

I haven't been tracking the festivals, but I there are a few DJ sets I listen to when I'm doing something else.

[greylock]

I grabbed a few from YouTube to watch on my TV at the end of the day, and Gothicat's were a nice mix of quarantine at home videos and old live vids that were interesting enough. Plus they have a store with goth-styled cat t-shirts, so relevant to my interests.

I like what COVID has generated in hope recordings. I even started trying to make "mix tapes" again.

[hel_ana]

I sew, so I have been taking great delight in haunting online Canadian quilting fabric stores and buying small quantities of many different fabrics. In fact, I just bought some this morning because I found the perfect fabrics for masks that I'll give as birthday gifts to my parents and nephew.

[the_siobhan]

If you ever come across some black fabric with red anarchy symbols on it, let me know. I want an entire 3-piece suit made out of it.

[hel_ana]

Spoonflower has it in either a regular (https://www.spoonflower.com/en/fabric/9757894-one-inch-red-anarchy-symbol-on-black-by-mtothefifthpower) or irregular (https://www.spoonflower.com/en/fabric/8490102-scattered-anarchy-red-on-black-by-bigredamazon) pattern.

They also have this, which is kind of spiffy: https://www.spoonflower.com/en/fabric/3502505-gasmask-red-by-threading_needles

With that said, they just popped up in a google search and I can't vouch for them. They appear to be basically zazzle/cafepress, but for fabric and wallpaper. They do allow you to choose what fabric they print the chosen design on, and it looks like they have a variety (cotton, linen, poly satin, velvet, etc) and they'll let you order a sample.