LEGO Garrett from Thief

One of K's favorite games is the Thief trilogy, where you play Garrett, a thief (of course) with supernatural stealth capabilities who lives in a Late Middle Ages/steampunk world.


One of my close girlfriends in high school also played Thief. I remember staring at her computer screen and being in awe of all the different kinds of arrows and actions you could use. Garrett has so many hidden gadgets that even his LEGO minifig can't stand up on his own without a little stand.


(click to enlarge)

Fwd: How-to Instructions for Mario Room Mural

A lot of you have asked questions about how to create your own Mario-themed room, and I came across these instructions that Nathan Roberts was kind enough to post. This ones specifically geared toward wall paintings and would be suitable for older children too!


(click to enlarge)

Kitten Mittens Pattern

K absolutely loves his new company. At his previous job, he got maybe 10 emails a day, all very serious and work-related. Nowadays, his inbox has 25 emails by 10 am, usually long threads about pregnant Batman (please don't look that up) and what time is pantsless o'clock.

Anyway, one woman always likes sending out silly cat links, and K about bust a gut when he saw that Kitten Mittons commercial from the TV show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Here's how our chat conversation went:

K: http://youtu.be/5fP4emqw7O4
K: MAKE SOME OF THESE
K: MAKE THEM NOW
K: WE HAVE SLIPPERY FLOORING
Me: lol
Me: oh my...
K: YOU MUST MAKE SOME
Me: are you serious?? O_O
K: Jolly, festive red ones
Me: uhhhh, ok
K: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Me: you're funny *hug*
K: Less hugging, more crocheting

So a few design attemps later, I had a finished product and sent K the photographic evidence. That cat-loving coworker of K's found out and requested a set too. Here's a short clip of Chairman Meow in her new outfit:


If you'd like to bless your kitty with such accessories, the free pattern is downloadable at Ravelry. Send me your photos and videos and I'll post them here!

Why Aren't There More Female Engineers?

My 6-year-old nephew Obi has a huge crush on a fellow female classmate because she likes, you guessed it, LEGOs. It's like a match made in heaven. It reminded me of this survey I received recently from my alma mater. They're doing research on:

1. why there aren't that many women majoring in engineering (10% in my particular specialization).
2. why women who majored in engineering leave their engineering careers.

I fill out their long, 20-page survey, answering questions about the importance of work vs. life balance, treatment of female engineers in the workplace, etc. However, none of them really addressed what I felt was the main issue.

I rarely think about engineering and technology in my free time, even though I am mentally competent at it. While I like using technology like computers, I rarely think about the guts of the equipment I'm using and how it works. I don't read technical articles/blogs, tinker with machines, or watch TV shows like How It's Made. I am more interested in crocheting and knitting, reading fiction books, blogging, and hanging out with friends.

The most successful careers are ones that match your passions in life, and I think women leave engineering because it does not align with their personal interests. (In fact, 3 female engineers I worked with all left to go into teaching.) Some people will say, "That's because girls are raised to play with dolls, not cars." Well, I was given access to both LEGOs and My Little Ponies when I was a kid, but even when I played with LEGOs, I built houses with kitchens and bedrooms, instead of robots and jets like my brother LDK.


A childhood creation I re-made at the LEGO store

I went into engineering originally because I was good at math and science in school, and therefore everyone around me encouraged me to enter engineering as a stable career that fit my strengths. Then I found out that I don't really care about developing and designing new technology products; I was just good at taking tests. After college, I did tech support for test and measurement systems and then moved into business management of industrial automation products. Nowadays, I work for a marketing firm that targets engineering and science companies, but I wouldn't say I'm in the engineering field anymore. I like working with engineers because I get them and understand what they're trying to do, but I'm just not naturally drawn to technical details like they are. ::shrug:: For women who are true techies, power to them. For women who aren't, why try to force them into a career just to bump the percentage numbers?

P.S. I always wanted to be a vet, but my mom told me in 4th grade that it was a bad idea because every little girl wants to be a vet so it's a really competitive field where I'd only get a job treating livestock. Click here to see if she was right.

The Allure of LEGO

Since moving to the new state, my primary friends have all been K's family. We're living with K's parents, Mom and Dad, so it's great actually getting to know them for the first time in our 3 years of marriage. Plus, I get to hang out with my two nephews (K's younger brother Steve's kids). The older boy Obi just started first grade and then Mom takes care of 4-year-old Oscar when he's not in preschool.

Obi has been absolutely obsessed with LEGOs, especially after watching his mom Polly play LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Batman on the Wii. For his birthday last month, he received no less than 5 LEGO sets. The funny thing is that K, an adult almost 3 decades older than Obi, is equally as fascinated with tiny plastic blocks. We visited one of his friends at a LEGO video game studio, and they just have bins and bins full of every block ever made, even the specialty sets. Check out his Minifig creations:

Mortal Kombat set


Street Fighter set


Can you tell who all the characters are? Click to enlarge for more detail. I personally think the four-armed characters like Goro are the most impressive.