gfish: (sketch)
gfish ([personal profile] gfish) wrote2014-10-02 01:39 am

2013-2014

I can't believe I've been making these birthday posts for 11 years now!

From September 4, 2013 to September 4, 2014 I...
...finally got a real lathe and a good horizontal bandsaw, completing this round of major shop upgrades.
...was the Ignition Northwest Pratt Scholar, and joined the INW Arts Council.
...made a (tiny) steam engine, a deadly tricycle, and many other silly things.
...entered and won the Longitude Punk'd competition, with my piece currently on display at Greenwich Observatory.
...started actively working on R&D stuff at work, signed my first patent application as a result.
...attended a Royal Society lecture, saw half of Babbage's brain, visited a new country (Iceland).
...designed and built my second large-scale art installation, GMBLMZ. And it didn't collapse and kill someone.

Compared to last year, with its European sojourn, this year felt very normal. I did some great stuff, but it all followed more or less naturally from the initial conditions. Part of me feels very comfortable where I am, and part of me feels like it's an unstable balance -- can I keep doing bigger and better projects like this indefinitely, or is some sudden phase shift going to hit? I still like my day job, but I can't pretend it entirely holds my interest most of the time. There are some big opportunities coming up for the next year I'm already working on, and maybe I need to start actively looking for more as well.

[identity profile] randomdreams.livejournal.com 2014-10-02 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy Birthday! I'd overlooked that.
Remind me: deadly tricycle?

[identity profile] vixyish.livejournal.com 2014-10-08 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Trike race down Queen Anne Hill (https://www.facebook.com/events/576575999040556).

Fishy's trike's-eye-view video is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1RQM4NjNFg). :D

[identity profile] randomdreams.livejournal.com 2014-10-09 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
I love this so much.
Now I have an excuse to copy a Lotus 119: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_119

[identity profile] randomdreams.livejournal.com 2014-10-09 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
Third-favorite Lotus after the models 108 and 110, natch, and veeeeeerrrrry high on the list of things to build, although now a death trike has climbed up that list.

[identity profile] corivax.livejournal.com 2014-10-02 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy birthday! Sounds like it was a good year.
solarbird: (shego-cosplay)

[personal profile] solarbird 2014-10-02 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy birthday! And don't worry about GMBLMZ. There's always next year for killing someone. But the rest sounds great!

I can't imagine what day job would entirely capture my interest, even most of the time. I think there are reasons the saying "everybody has to have a hobby" exists. And at least for me, I consider that a good thing. So. ^_^