In the Spirit of Creativity

I started a second part-time job for a couple months working in a pop-up Spirit of Halloween Store.  I love it even though we aren't open yet.  It has my mind racing and combining things for fun effects.  My brain is adding accessories to basic costumes to Enhance them, or combing costumes in unusual ways.  For example:


1) Combine a petticoat with almost any female costume with a short skirt

It instantly adds volume and makes it look like more than just a bagged costume

2) Combine a Freddy Fazbear costume with the glasses from Fade In Fade Out Phantom.

Your Freddy will have electronically glowing eyes (extra creepy)

3) Combine a princess dress with a clown chainsaw to be Haruna from the anime "is this a zombie?"

So cute and So Deadly, works best if worn by a guy

4) and This is my Personal favorite.  Combine a Deadpool Costume with a Where's Waldo Costume.

You can call it "Where's Francis?"

A Housekeeping view on Fan Conventions

image from an article about fan destruction a good read and the fear on the face of the artwork says it all.

I love going to fan conventions, I am such a nerd I want to do it all.  Steampunk convention?  I'm right on board!  Trekkie convention?  Beam me up!  Anime convention?  OMG is that Kyo?  Kyoooo I love You!   And nothing is better than being able to stay at the same hotel that the convention is being held.  You need a nap or a quiet place for a few hours just head to your room.  Want to catch a 2:00 am panel, no problem.  It is great.  I always try and be respectful to hotel staff and try and make their lives easier.  However, I just started working as a housekeeper for a hotel and I realized how some of my actions were not as helpful as I thought they were.  And as a housekeeper I want to share the things that would make my life easier if I was cleaning up after someone like myself.

First thing is first, please let us do our job.  Before working as a housekeeper, I would leave the Do Not Disturb sign up all weekend and thought it was being nice.  Heck they didn't have to come in and look at the messy room.  However, I learned it is far easier to vacuum up a few small messes everyday than to clean up a big mess at the end of the weekend.  We promise not to touch your stuff, Which brings us to another point, we will always make the beds unless your stuff is covering it.  In order to protect your privacy we won't touch that bed.  Same thing goes for the sink if it is covered with supplies and make-up we won't wipe it down.

Which brings me to another point make-up.  I never realized how difficult it is to get make-up out of white towels and wash clothes.  Half of them have to be thrown away after being used to remove make-up.  I recommend bringing your own make-up remover and wash clothes, not only does it mean less waste but, it also means you are likely to get a better clean for yourself.

Finally check-out.  Please check out on time or if possible early, do you know how many rooms we will have to clean that day.  Most of us don't get paid by the hour but by the room.  And we are getting pressured to get it all done and spotless in time for the next round of guests which half of them want early check in.  Average room clean time is forty minutes but double or triple that if things are especially dirty or worse damaged.  Best way to make the room easy to clean is to put all the dirty towels in one spot (like the tub), gather the trash in one bag or box that's easy to toss, and don't make the beds.  We are just going to have to strip them anyways.  If you want to be especially helpful you could strip the beds and put the sheets and pillowcases in one pile and the blankets and pillows piled on the bed.

Now why would you want to be nice to the housekeepers?  I can give one reason.  It makes the hotel management happy, which leads to better deals for the convention and convention goers.  The opposite holds true as well.  If con-goers are just mean and disrespectful to hotel staff the con could get booted, and even black-listed from other venues.

Image from the movie Maid in Manhattan

Thank you for listening, and have fun at your con.

The Most Productive Lazy Woman You Will Ever Meet

The Most Productive Lazy Woman You Will Ever Meet

image from memeshappen.com

I have been feeling lazy even though I know I have been super productive.  What led to this?  Probably several things.  I recently lost my full time job and have now started working part time in a field I used to feel was beneath me (which now I realize was completely stupid).  I am over heated, and I slept in today.   I feel like I am failing my son and my husband by not being able to provide like I used too.  I may be battling depression but, honestly I'm not sure. I may just be feeling sorry for myself.

So consequently, I have decided to record things to make me feel more productive.  The first thing I did was make myself a plan.  I game myself a list of things to do on days I am not actually working.

1) apply for a full time job:

This may seem seem self explanatory but I really have trouble jumping back into things after I feel I have failed.  I am focusing on a different career path using skills that I already have.  I am also keeping track of where I applied, what position I applied for, and what day I did.  I also record if I had an interview and how I felt it went.  It's nice to open my job search file and see all these nice neat lines of data that physically show me I am not slacking off.

2)  explore an alternative sources of income:

I was reading my list out loud to my mother and she freaked out (I think she was thinking I was thinking about doing something illegal, which is far from the truth).  Things that count towards this is posting things on Ebay, donating plasma, editing my novels, researching publishing, and researching free-lance work.  

3) clean house a bit:

It doesn't matter if all I do is a bit of laundry, or wash up the ever mounting pile of dishes.  Looking around and seeing something clean and shiny lets me know I did something.

4) kiss my son and my husband and tell them I love them:

And they let me know that they love me.

The second thing that has been helping me feel productive is Pinterest.  Which I know seems counter-intuitive.  For many people Pinterest is an endless time sink of recipes never made, crafts never completed, fancy photos of people doing exercises we know we will never do.  I think what got me using Pinterest more productively is realizing how easy it is to look up stuff I already pinned.  What was that recipe for high-altitude pop-overs, oh yeah I pinned it.  I actually started a separate board for recipes I use a lot, I sorted some crafts into seasonal boards, I even created a board for books I have in a pile that I want to read, and then move them off that board once they are read.  

image from www.massplanner.com

So what exactly did I do today to be productive?  I applied to two jobs.  I made a recipe for breakfast that I found on Pinterest.  I did lots of dishes (the sink filled up over the weekend while both me and my husband worked ourselves into exhaustion).  I did lots of heavy snuggling with my son and my husband.  And I designed a logo and business cards for my husband's chainmail business.  And finally I wrote this out to prove to myself that I wasn't being lazy.