Well, well; what in the world could I have in store for this mailbox post? I declare I just don’t know…

Don’t believe me?  Head on down to Hyde Park and see for yourself.

I have this problem.  I see something in a store and I think “I can totally make that” or “that’s pretty tacky.  I could make something better,” so I don’t buy it.  Then I go home and proceed to NOT make that thing, and then I just live without it.  I did that with curtain rings for about 3 or 4 months.  Consequently, I didn’t have a shower curtain.  I went to the gym to shower—a lot.

Having a roommate meant I sort of needed to get at least one shower curtain up in one bathroom, and so I did a rather make-shifty thing, which ultimately worked pretty well.  I just threaded about 5 yards of spooled grosgrain ribbon through the shower curtain holes and around the shower rod.  Voila.  It was girlie, but my roommate (a dude) weathered on.  Hey, it matches at least!  Eh… it was a happy accident that it did match.  I won’t take credit; anyone who knows me knows matching stuff just isn’t in my DNA.

So skip ahead about 10 lost pounds, the result of being forced to at least show up at the gym, which in turn forced me to at least get on the treadmill, which… you see the spiral:  I finally sat down to make the stupid shower curtain rings I’d been swearing to make.  Here’s what I did:

Gather ye mats:
16-gauge wire
Needle-nose pliers
Beads

1)  First, I cut a length of wire to start my little hook.

I didn’t worry too much about accuracy, but they were all about 18-inches long.  I cut them one at a time in case I found they were too long or short as I went.  I’m making this stuff up, here.  I think too long would be better.

2) Next, I bent that length in half.

The loop/bend part of the wire will become the hook end.  You can see in the finished photo above there’s a little tiny wire loop at the end of each hook.

3) Then I bent a hook in the wire. (Pictured)

I had varying success with this.  The smoothest bends were attained by holding the loop in the pliers, then guiding the bend in the wire with my other hand, all in one slow motion.  Stopping the motion is bad.  If the bend was too sharp, I fixed it afterwards.  If I tried to bend a little, move the pliers, bend a little, move the pliers, I had a really jerky-looking hook.  I didn’t like those as much, although my pictured hook is just that.  Oh well.

4)  Make 90-degree bends in the wire tail. (Pictured)

This is the one place I made sure things were uniform.  Since the shower curtain would hang on these little 90-degree shoulders, these shoulder-bends should be the same distance from the hooks.  To keep this consistent from hook to hook (and because I hate measuring),  I decided my first hook would be the master hook.  Any time I bent a new hook, I’d hang the master hook and the new hook off my finger.  I marked where the new hook’s 90-degree bend should go when it hung by the master hook.  Bingo.

5) Go crazy with bending and beading.

This is the part where anything goes.  Skip ahead to see how I’d bend things differently, but for the most part, I just grabbed the wire with the pliers and twisted, curled, bent, and whatever else.  For some hooks, I would determine they should have beads on them, so after a couple of preliminary bends close to the 90-degree shoulders,  I’d thread some beads onto the wire, then continue bending out to the ends.  Sadly, most of the beads I had on hand didn’t fit over the wire.  Again, skippy to see how I’d fix that next time (aside from NOT overlooking my large-holed beads sitting happily in my precious craft box, smiling at me well after the project was finished.  The bastards).

That’s it.  Thread the hooks into your shower curtain’s holes and go take a shower, man.

Things I’d do differently next time:

1. Smaller gauge wire.  The wire was bigger than I’d've liked, actually.  None of my beads fit it, except for like 6 of the really huge ones.  If I had had even one size smaller wire (a bigger number, like 20 gauge, which I’m not sure actually exists), I would have had some seriously fancy rings.  Maybe I could have reinforced the rings for stability by wrapping another wire after the fact, after the beads were strung.
2. I would have made some sort of jig to bend the hooks around.  I just sort of guessed how much of a curve to put on the rings, which turned out “meh”, but ok for a first project.
3. I would have made fewer (or no) upwards or sideways curlies and more downward curlies.  One issue is that they can tangle.  It’s infrequent, but still.  Another issue is that I don’t like how they stick up above the curtain.  If I’d stuck to downward-pointing frou-frou, that would’ve solved those problems.

Well, so far I’ve hit the Oktoberfests I wanted to this year.  Up next: Wurstfest and possibly the Roman Baachanal at TexRenFest.  I’m sensing a theme.  Hmmmm.

So here’s how the 2 fests shook out this year:

1) Flying Saucer Fall Beer Festival.  This started at noon but I didn’t get there until 2:30 or so, just as my friends were leaving.  They said that the lines at noon were great for about 20 minutes, and then it became annoying.  Like me, they simply filled their 4 ounce taster glass, then stood in line for the next fill-up while they drank.  No problem there.  But for my timeslot, the lines were to the fences, and even conservative sipping finished my taster about halfway through the line.  The Texas beers were great, of course, and I recommend hitting the limited edition and cask-conditioned beers when the opportunity arises.  I didn’t even try the 512 Pecan Porter since I feel like I can have that any time (and I do). I tried a West-Coast beer, but ultimately I just went for the shortest line.  Not the best way to sample beers, and I wasn’t a fan of the line organization this time around: by location rather than style.  I loved trying all the Belgium-style beers in one line last year, for instance.

The $15 for the 10 tasters was an ok buy, but it means you have to stand in line for all 10 of those beers.  Even if you have zero lines for the first 20 minutes, then a short couple of lines, then long lines, you’re still looking at a good two hours, just standing in lines.  We got through 5 testers of our 10 in about 1.5 hours, then sold the second half of the voucher for $5 and split.

Bottom line: come early to not waste your time in lines, buy a pint to drink in line while you wait for your testers.

2) North by Northwest Oktoberfest.  This is a two-day affair, so if you miss the first day—perhaps you spent too long in the Saucer’s lines, let’s say—you’ve always got a back-up plan.  Last year I didn’t enjoy the dog portion of the fest so much.  Something about it didn’t sit right with me.  However, this year I really liked that folks had their dogs with them.  I just really dug the laid back family atmosphere under the big tent.  The oompah band was especially chatty and family-themed (a mom and her sons, it seemed) and everyone really felt like they were hanging out in someone’s back  yard.  Cool vibe. I could probably do without the jousting and bungee-running and rock-climbing wall at a beer event, but I still found myself jousting anyway and eyeing the wall thoughtfully.

There were only 4 beers to try, all made onsite at NXNW.  Their hefeweizen is always good, and I thought the Oktoberfest was delish this year.  I was really knocked out by the Northern Light, though.  I usually don’t go for lighter beers, but dang it was nice.  Having a warm pretzel, corn dog, and cobbler was super choice.  It was awesome to not have to worry about standing in lines in the sun or finding my friends in the crowd.

I’m just happy we have an event in Austin that combines the weirdnesses of dogs, kids, strange pedo-bears, meat on the bone and in the bun, and of course beer.  I’m so glad my drinking buddies (whom I ran into at the fest, despite the quick-change in our schedule du jour) introduced me to good beer.  I thought everything was the nasty watery stuff college kids drink.  Not so! The Oktoberfest and Northern Light they make at NXNW was really good.  I’m no expert, but as a note to self or anyone else who visits Austin, try some!  Of course, if you’re at North by Northwest and they have their homemade Black Jack on tap, do that instead.  OMG, wow.

Bottom line: come early for a table and parking, but no worries if not.  There’s plenty of beer you can fill in your own mugs and plenty of time to enjoy slowly with friends.

Can you think of a nicer day to drink beer in Austin?

Ah, Austin.

Wonderland: Folksy: space invader scarf.

Reminder to self: finish the damn mailbox.

Prost! Slainte! Salud! Or whatever!

Lines!

I am, despite the void of my great drinking buddy. I’ll muddle on, and hope someday soon he tolerates me again. Ironically, I dick-moved him while I was drunk. Yeah, life is funny. So on to beerfest!

Pins from top left: girl scouts, a letter A I have at least back to fifth grade school pictures, LCRA, zztop, (next row) my Unity wings, Disney magic music days (go band, yay band, rah), mock trial (lol), sigma tau delta, and hidden in the hatband are honor society and student council pins (luh-hawl). My USVBA pin wouldn’t stay on. Yeah, I’m kicking it nerd-school. Maybe someday I’ll get big-boy pins! Fingers crossed!

My mom is amazing. I’ve known this. But here is proof of her prowess and awesomeness: a hooked rug made for me from wool scraps (“that wool there is from a suit your great aunt made for your grandmother” *boggle*) and depicting my favorite things: stars and oak trees and the great outdoors. (sorry, WoW; you didn’t make the mom-cut.)

In the close-up: a mountain with the sun rising over it while the moon sets under Orion (complete with a slightly reddish Betelguese), beside a stately oak with the morning star shining through its branches. Wow!! She even put in a pond with swans and flowers.

You rule, mom.

Happy birthday to me! Yesterday, I acquired a 1977 VW Westfalia camper van. OMG, I’m so very very excited. And it’s orange!