A Memory of Malice

Here is the link to the article. I put her family's GoFundMe below, they have almost reached their goal.

I don't have much to say here that hasn't been said better before, because this keeps happening.

This is not entirely unusual for me, as I have hEDS. It was, however, a bit more extreme than I am used to.

Tuesday night, I went to stand up and every muscle in my body completely noped out. I collapsed on the floor, and could not get up, as none of my muscles was working at all. I flopped and sort of inchwormed out of my room and down the hall to find Jonathan. About 60 feet of impossible movement. I'm sure I looked both alarming and comical. I'm still not sure how I made it, but the only other option was to die where I was, which seemed like an unpalatable choice. Our tenant has had nursing training, so I sent Jonathan to get her. She took one look at me and immediately called an ambulance. In the ambulance, the 3 EMTs were wonderful. They immediately started an IV and hooked me up to an EEG (EKG?)

I deal with crises through a combination of terrifying competence and humor. Samples of dialogue from the ambulance ride: EMT: I've established an IV. 22 needle in the hand. 22 in the hand. Me: ...is better than 2 in the bush. EMT: I can't find a pulse. No pulse detected. Me: I suppose this is a good time to tell you I'm an organ donor... EMT: (trying to distract me from the Unpleasant Things her colleagues were doing to me) What made you choose to become an organ donor? Me: Oh, I'm just really into recycling... We arrived at the hospital, and I spent 23 hours in a hallway, with one trip to the CT scanner. No water, no fluids, no bed pan. My muscles were still AWOL, so I was completely helpless. It was...unpleasant. When my bloodwork came back, it was determined that I had so little potassium in my body that it didn't even register on the tests. No one could explain how I was still alive. I spent a further 5 days in the hospital, and gradually regained control of my muscles. I'm now back to my normal, which isn't very, but at least I can shuffle around and wipe my own butt again. Small victories. :) Early next week, I have to see a doctor and get another blood panel done, to make sure my potassium and CK levels are stable. This is going to cost me around $350 out of pocket. I don't have anywhere near that much money. If anyone can help, I would be extremely grateful. Reblogs are a huge help! I've just listed more magnets in my Etsy store.

https://mardigoth.etsy.com

They can be buttoned together in a stack (footrest mode), buttoned together in a square (big floor cushion mode), or used individually (cushions mode).

I started off with this big 1-metre square foam floor cushion, which I liked but was hard to store when not in use.

I wanted to keep the option of a big floor cushion without it having to just lurk behind the sofa. At the same time, I wanted an extra footrest. So I decided to find a way to make the cushion convertible in some way.

For a while I toyed with having it fold up like a monopoly board. But I couldn't come up with a way to construct and secure the cover without bulky zips everywhere.

So then I considered just making four separate cushions that could be secured together in different configurations. For a while my best idea was to have something like a belt or strap, which could either go around the circumference of the 2x2 floor layout, or around the stack. But I didn't like the idea of having to deal with that band as a loose separate item.

@cassolotl had the genius idea to use loops to chain up the sides to keep the cushions together in a stack. I was doubtful at first because it didn't solve the problem of attaching them together in the floor layout. But then I figured out that adding buttons in the right place relative to the loops would make it possible to secure all three configurations. Which I'll demonstrate at the end of the post!

So the first step was cutting the big cushion down into four equal pieces. Well, the first-first step was trimming it down to clean up the section that was destroyed by my rabbit, who liked to burrow against the cushion and somehow managed to shred the foam *through* the cover.

I cut the foam with a hand saw, which was quite easy and satisfying.

Then making the cushion covers. I made strips of straight-cut binding and tucked loops into the corners while I sewed together the side pieces of the cover.

I decided to add piping to the top for aesthetics and structure. I've never done piping before but it wasn't too bad to get the hang of.

Because I dislike both zips and buttons (not specifically sewing with them, but just generally coming into contact with them in life) I decided not to bother making any closure on the underside of the cushions. Instead I just made the bottom piece of the cover in two triangles with a diagonal opening across the middle. A bit of strategic reinforcement stitching at the corners got the balance between making it possible to insert the cushions without the flaps flapping around too much.

Now for the details of the loop/button system. Each loop is positioned halfway up the height of the cover, at the corner. Each cover has two loops, at diagonally opposite corners. The loops extend 10cm, which is the exact thickness of the cushion foam.

Exactly 10cm to the right of each loop, I sewed on a big wooden button, also halfway up the height of the cushion.

For separate cushions mode, each loop is simply wrapped over its own neighbouring button to keep it from waving around or catching on things.

For big floor cushion mode, the cushions are butted together with their loop-corners touching each other around the perimeter of the square.

At each connection point, the loops from *both* cushions are wrapped around the button exposed on the perimeter. This holds all of the cushions together around the outside, and friction keeps them from slipping around in the middle.

For footrest mode, the loops are chained up through each other - the bottom cushion's loop is wrapped around the second cushion's loop, which wraps around the third cushion's loop, which wraps around the top loop.

Then, the top loop wraps around its own button to secure the chain.

ladies and gentlemen

Happy 40th Birthday to Labyrinth, a film that continues to inspire me, comfort me, and fulfil me. I have been a fan of Labyrinth for the majority of my life, but about 10 years ago specifically I was inspired to try and recreate one of the props from the film.

I wasn't setting out to find a new hobby for myself, this was just a new thing I could try. It was just me squinting at blurry screenshots and trying my best to turn what I saw into a tangible prop that I could put on my shelf. I finished that first prop and thought it was so fun and fulfilling that I soon started work on the next one...

And here I am 10 years later, and I look at my shelves full of props and I think about where I started and how far I've come. How much I've grown and come to respect not just the hobby of prop replica making, but the artistry behind Labyrinth. Every minute I pour into one of my prop replicas, I can't help but think of the amazing people behind the screen some 40 years ago who made the original props I try so hard to recreate. How did they build this prop? Did they struggle with figuring out what to do next like I am? Maybe some of the steps and techniques I'm using were the same exact ones they used 40 years ago? It makes me feel a strange sort of kinship for folks who I've never met. I hope that my replicas can do their work justice. 

It's genuinely hard to imagine where I might be in my life without Labyrinth, it's a movie that's really come to shape me as a person in surprising ways. So on Labyrinth's 40th Birthday, I wanted to share some of my favourite Labyrinth prop replica projects I've made over the years. I learned so much, and still have so much more to go.

What if I said this is relevant to my homework