Nooooooo!

Whelp, I smacked my hand into the corner of a bar fridge, gaining some bone bruising and upsetting a nerve.
Into a brace to help it heal

*sigh*

This is a good time to remind everyone to be kind to your bodies.
If you get hurt, give yourself the time and resources to heal properly.
You only have one body, be nice to it :)

So forgive me for a few days of no posts D:

Travel - Germany

I call the teddy 'Bucky'.

So as many of you may have guessed, I went to Germany!

My friend and I saw Rammstein at Waldbühne! <3 
I was really close to the stage and lost my voice (because when someone plays music that you like, the logical response is to scream at them)

We also saw the Brandenburg Gate, Victory Column, Schloss Charlottenburg, Sachsenhausen, the Berlin Wall memorial, the Bodyworks museum, and an underground bunker. 
I highly recommend all of these things.

And we went in 'The World' balloon! It's full of helium!

Then S flew home (because of her stupid job making her do things) and I went on to see some friends and family.

My friend Pumpking (who very kindly let me come bug him) has two young children, one of which had made a gift for me <3

It is mostly a collection of magazine clippings, but I love it!

The daughter is (in my mind's narrative) a sorcerer-to-be. 
I will henceforth call her Pumpkin le Fay.

A nod to Morgan le Fay.

She was always combining things, looking for plants, and making new creations.

Exhibit A.

I do not doubt she will grow up to be a strong and powerful sorceress.

The son is FAR to good at archery!
I will call him Robin Gourd.

A nod to Robin Hood.

If there is ever a zombie apocalypse, I know who's company I want to be in!

And of course, I saw the famous pumpkin patch!

Sorry about all the censorship, but a man has to have his secrets.
Plus it adds a nice air of mystery.

Pumpking and his family took such great care of me, I am forever thankful and hope to return the favour one day.

Then there was all the great food:

Drinks:

Schnapps!

Subatomic particles:

And sights:

I cannot wait to return to Germany!

Lacura - Organic Argan Oil For Nourishment Night Cream

Yay cruddy photo!

Another Aldi product!

This is a very heavy cream. I started using it in the summer and that was a bad idea. 
It was so heavy on my skin it made me sweat.
So if you want to use this, use it in winter!

It has a clean, kind of clinical, slightly nutty scent.
It really didn't absorb well, it felt almost more like a barrier cream than a moisturiser.

The packaging is nice though, it feels sturdy and has a cool 'double wall' look.

Price: 5/5 ($8-ish for 50mL)
Scent: 1/5
Effectiveness: 1/5

Look at this! - HI Brit by Gal Volinez

If you need cheering up, this is amazing!

He reminds me a little of Bob Fossil from 'The Mighty Boosh'.

Podcast Review - Blurry Photos

This is a well researched, informative, and funny podcast about the supernatural, paranormal, and mysterious.

Some of the topics covered are lesser known things like the Yokai and Gobekli Tepe.

I bet you haven't even heard of Gobekli Tepe.

The hosts are captivating and end each show with puns.

One of the true delights I find is the 'Candy Chat' episodes with Tabitha and Betty.

I am quickly devouring the archive of episodes and cannot recommend it highly enough!

Category: Supernatural/Paranormal/Comedy
Rating: 5/5
Website: Blurry Photos

Nerve Root Injection

So we left off on my arm story when I found out I surgery wasn't an option for me. 
I had cruddy Lyrica, Valium, and various topical creams.

The neurologist did not advise I go down the path of a nerve root injection.
It is when they inject a steroid/anesthetic combo into the fat surrounding the nerve root.
One of the possible side effects is nerve damage and pain. 
I laugh at your possible side effects! I already have them!

"All I have now is pain in a cup."

So I went ahead and organised the procedure. 
I had to stop taking any NSAIDs (to limit bleeding).

During the procedure, the site of the needle injection was determined using a CT scan and special grid, which was then replaced with a sharpie mark on my neck.
There wasn't anything to hold my head in place, I just had to keep still o.O 
It's a good thing I don't mind needles, can keep still, and have a high pain threshold (for the anesthetic they inject first).
They inserted the needle a bit, scanned to see where it was, then pushed it in a bit further. 
When it was in place, the steroid/anesthetic bolus was injected.

Afterwards, I could feel a little pressure where the bolus was injected but nothing too bad.

It has been ~3 weeks since the injection and I have experienced a notable improvement.
I have explicitly documented it, so I'm not just guessing.

I can sit at my computer and work, I can go for long walks, I can fist pump at a Rammstein concert, heck I can even hike up a damn mountain and still be okay.

I'll still complain the entire time, but not about my arm.

I couldn't do these things before without mind-numbing pain.

I made an educated choice to have this procedure and I am SO glad I did!

I hope I'm not talking too soon, but I feel hope again :)

Art break - Pumpkin Carriage for Pumpking

Whilst on my recent travels, I went to visit my friend Pumpking (it isn't as dirty as you may think, he just really like pumpkins).
So I thought I would bring a vision I had for his home-grown pumpkins to life.

To begin this little art journey, we need some air-dry clay and clay tools.

I don't have a kiln and I don't think I want one.

The centre needed to have good structural integrity while being able to support windows and a doorway. To do this, I molded the core in two parts using yogurt containers as molds.

The bottom one has the beginnings of the seats inside the carriage.

Once dry enough, they could be freed from the molds to dry fully. One advantage of air dry clay is that it shrinks as it dries, naturally pulling away from the sides of the molds.

This time I was smart enough to put down baking paper to limit the mess I made!

Then the two parts just had to be glued together.

This one looks kind of dirty atm...

Just craft glue will do.

Together!

To create the texture of the pumpkin surface, I stuck on rolled 'worms' of clay. Like a prize ham I did not take a photo of this bit. I also added a stem and began to paint it all.
I used acrylic paint in various shades of orange and green.

See the 'worms'?

Done!

Then we have a pumpkin!
Now we need the wheels and frame. For that I used floral wire. It is green and very easy to work with.
I also used a green ribbon to make the leaves.

I put craft glue on the ribbon to make it stiffer (hur hur hur) and cut it into leaf shapes.

Big ones and little ones!

I then added a little interest by painting the centres light green...

... and adding some veins.

These leaves were then glued to the frame and the whole lot glued to the pumpkin.

Final result:

On the road!

In nature!

Verdict: I believe he really appreciated it :D

Masquerade! - The Face Shop - MasCream sheet

It was only very recently that I was able to buy anything from the Face Shop because I went to the Highpoint Shopping centre store. The Melbourne Central store is always very uninviting and hostile.
(There, I said it! I'm calling you out on your invasive and annoying staff! Deal with it!)
This mask had the most wonderful cream serum that was just divine on one of my four recent flights
The scent was fresh/soapy and the sheet mask cloth was very soft.

*Aeroplane air is recycled and very drying to the skin. I can either look a little silly wearing a mask mid flight or have haggard skin upon arrival. I choose the former.

Art break - Captain America: Civil War Scene

S and I went and saw 'Captain America: Civil War' together ages ago (pro tip: it freaking sucked!).

One of the scenes involved Rodgers and Bucky fighting in Berlin. We looked at each other, we were going to Berlin... 
This was a sign!

Dionysus: C'mon, it will be fricking sweet!

So I asked S who she wanted to be. She picked Bucky because she hates Rodgers (I don't understand this but I admire the passion).

So we needed a shield and an arm cover. I want to preface this by saying we WANTED it to look like a half-assed attempt. It's funner that way. So please don't think I suddenly got any worse at art. 
It was also fun to just slap things together with little planning, it was a bit of a novelty to not think a great deal about the order of things.

For me, being Captain America, I started with the finest base for my shield...

I love how the Frisbee says "Sports fun". So generic!

I started by spray painting it with a white base then silver.

Like the butt that I am, I didn't photograph the silver part... damn past me!

Then let's just paint on the red where the red goes...

It was too smooth for the acrylic paint, so I did it in two coats. Easy. Could I scratched it up with sand paper? Yes, but this is a lazy project, remember!

Resting on other art supplies.

Damn it, you weren't meant to go on the inside!

And a blue bit with a silver star...

I then felt I should varnish it, to protect it a little on it's journey to Berlin.

Orange felt for a handle:

Freaking done!

Why does my neck look so long?

Now on to S's Bucky arm! The initial idea was just wrapping her arm in aluminium foil... but I thought I could surprise her!
So we start with silver long gloves.

Put the left aside and paint a red star on the right one.

Then cut the right one at the hand and it can be used to extend the left one up further!

You better ask me to dance, Rodgers! XD

Verdict:

Bucky's wall eyes and Capt's mask added for privacy.

S was embarrassed but played along. 
The star started to come off the glove, so I glued it back on... and glued it to S's arm in the process.

We got it off within 25 minutes.