Ok (inhale).......(exhale) you....you really something hmmm incredible (don't think hulk hmm princess Anastasia will do) so u study a lot while working and most of all u r a active gaian player,,know different language,,travel different places,, interested in a lot of things,, a colector ,, and so on..in short ur an adventurer in real life...
Don't know what to say haha your just amazing sweatdrop
Think this was aimed at me?
I am flattered, thank you. I wouldn't say I was an adventurer in real life. More like Dora the Explorer, because of the whole teaching-a-language-as-you-go sort of thing. In my mind, something like this.
Anyhow, my life trajectory isn't at all unusual. There are a lot of Americans working their way across the globe as English teachers. Japan pays okay but it's a lot of fun (but hard to get in), South Korea pays less well but is just as fun, UAE and Saudi Arabia and Turkey pay well but are not very fun, but Spain pays well and is a LOT of fun. I'm really glad I'm here. The Spanish government paying for my healthcare is also a nice change from the USA, I admit.
Actually, the fact that my government doesn't pay for my health is a pretty big incentive to leave the country. I'm young, I don't have a cent of college debt (I realize this sounds normal for you people in sane countries, but from the US with its insane tuition fees, I am saying something absolutely wild), and the Spanish government is willing to give me a job with free healthcare and consistent good pay and other benefits as well as a visa to stay here for a year at a time, plus the opportunity to turn that into real residency status. My country has increasingly less to offer me (unless you count gun violence and Donald Trump), so I have no real reason to stay, and I'm a free woman, so I can go. And I have.
I just came back from Arabic class, so شكرا!
Haha so it was you the amazing girl...haha can't believed that Dora gets in action movie rofl ,,hmm no not dora or anyone else its just i can't compare u to someone else xd haha you really know where is your place..where you can spend your life while earning tangible and intangible things (money,happiness) @ the sametime...you are thinking before you get in to something its like you know the weather in your life that you a umbrella in a rain a coat in snow a shelter in a storm 3nodding yeah you are incredible the way you are now... Hmmm so if your going to choose Spain or your country you preferred the Spain because it fills ur needs ...hmm think again xd
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 10:27 pm
Well hi. My name is Stacie. You can call me Cell, Squid, Squidifer, Moonpie or Pie. Any of which works I answer to them all. I started Gaia offically in 2007 that account got banned, I had to make a new account and had probably a few more on the side as well. I stopped getting on once I got into high school. Marching Band, Concert band and drama theater afterschool both semesters took up a lot of my free time. I graduated and now am in my third year of college. I live in South Carolina on the East Coast of the united States. I speak and read basic French. I love to draw and read. My interests include anime, mangas, video games and collecting many different items. Snowglobes, tsum tsums, pop figures and sailor moon items. The changes to Gaia definitely shocked me and it's taking awhile to relearn everything again, not sure how I was invited to the Guild but I certainly appreciate it! Any questions for me I'll be happy to answer them!
Well hi. My name is Stacie. You can call me Cell, Squid, Squidifer, Moonpie or Pie. Any of which works I answer to them all. I started Gaia offically in 2007 that account got banned, I had to make a new account and had probably a few more on the side as well. I stopped getting on once I got into high school. Marching Band, Concert band and drama theater afterschool both semesters took up a lot of my free time. I graduated and now am in my third year of college. I live in South Carolina on the East Coast of the united States. I speak and read basic French. I love to draw and read. My interests include anime, mangas, video games and collecting many different items. Snowglobes, tsum tsums, pop figures and sailor moon items. The changes to Gaia definitely shocked me and it's taking awhile to relearn everything again, not sure how I was invited to the Guild but I certainly appreciate it! Any questions for me I'll be happy to answer them!
Welcome aboard! 'Twas me who invited you. xd It seems every time I go away I come back and something I love is gone. First it was zOMG, now it's fishing. If they take away marketplace I'd have nothing left. xp
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:34 am
Godd morning!
My name is Ida, I am 30 years old, I live in Norway with my husband and doughter.
I work for a public IT Company, and is loving it.
I used to watch loads of anime, but I dont really have time for that anymore, so I mostly read manga, draw, photograph and dabble with hand crafts.
This is my one and only Gaia account and it was made back in 2003.
Hello and thank you for the invitation 3nodding My name is Ayu. It's pronounced Uh-you, btw. I'm 17 years old and live in Indonesia. I speak a few different languages - though I'm not really fluent in all of them sweatdrop I like.... everything! Especially food and cake or cake and food emotion_awesome In my spare time, I enjoy blogging, making artwork, talking online, and playing video games
It's nice to meet y'all and I'm really looking forward to getting to know all of you! c:
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:08 am
Aozora ~Blue Sky~
Bubblegum Gatling Gun
Hi, I'm Percy! I live in Alabama, USA. I was born in Texas, but my family is originally from Germany. My great-grandfather was the scientist who designed the Saturn V rocket for Project Paperclip and NASA! I'm studying to be an artist, hopefully so I can be an animator for Disney one day. I love to draw, write, sing, and play video games, especially Pokemon and Legend of Zelda.
Welcome aboard! Your great grandfather is Wernher von Braun? o.o
No, my great-grandfather is Dr. Theodore Vowe, who was a close friend of von Braun's. Dr. von Braun was the head of the project, but it was my great-grandfather who designed the rockets!!
Hi, I'm Percy! I live in Alabama, USA. I was born in Texas, but my family is originally from Germany. My great-grandfather was the scientist who designed the Saturn V rocket for Project Paperclip and NASA! I'm studying to be an artist, hopefully so I can be an animator for Disney one day. I love to draw, write, sing, and play video games, especially Pokemon and Legend of Zelda.
Welcome aboard! Your great grandfather is Wernher von Braun? o.o
No, my great-grandfather is Dr. Theodore Vowe, who was a close friend of von Braun's. Dr. von Braun was the head of the project, but it was my great-grandfather who designed the rockets!!
There is no mention of him on Wikipedia and a Google search only yields an autographed envelope on eBay. . . And everything I've read about the V series rockets has credited their design to Wernher von Braun. The ironic thing is that I was actually watching a documentary about NASA when I saw your post. The video credited von Braun as designing the V series rockets and the Saturn rockets.
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:13 am
Amens
Godd morning!
My name is Ida, I am 30 years old, I live in Norway with my husband and doughter.
I work for a public IT Company, and is loving it.
I used to watch loads of anime, but I dont really have time for that anymore, so I mostly read manga, draw, photograph and dabble with hand crafts.
This is my one and only Gaia account and it was made back in 2003.
Miss 502
Hello and thank you for the invitation 3nodding My name is Ayu. It's pronounced Uh-you, btw. I'm 17 years old and live in Indonesia. I speak a few different languages - though I'm not really fluent in all of them sweatdrop I like.... everything! Especially food and cake or cake and food emotion_awesome In my spare time, I enjoy blogging, making artwork, talking online, and playing video games
It's nice to meet y'all and I'm really looking forward to getting to know all of you! c:
I'm Nani - and like 99% of the boring intro stuff about me is on my profile, but like the basics I guess (I'm sorry I suck at intros)? So I'm 23, live in the US. I'm a diehard polythesist, and I spend like 99% of my time making things (For instance right now I am drying homemade paper and working on a king sized crochet blanket.)
Incidentally I'm genderfluid - pronouns are they/them. Probably should have led with that.
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:34 am
Hi, and thank you for the invite to your guild! smile
My name is Kim (Kimberly technically, but no one has called me that in forever). I am 28 years old (almost 29), and am Canadian. I have been married since July 26, 2014, and me and my husband have been together for almost 7 years now.
I read ; right now I am reading Game of Thrones, but Harry Potter is my ultimate favourite. I play video games; mostly RPGs like Final Fantasy, Tales of Series, Assassin's Creed; that type of thing. I read and write fanfiction (again, mostly Harry Potter related, but lately its been a lot of Sherlock; and I haven't actually published any of my fanfiction online in quite some time. My favourite shows at the moment are Sherlock, Elementary, Arrow and Brooklyn nine nine. And anything related to the paranormal I absolutely love. Ghost stories, horror movies, bigfoot, you name it. I devour things like that. I prefer hearing about real experiences, but that doesn't mean I am not open to hearing a good fictional story about them either.
That actually got to be a bit longer then I originally intended. smile I'm looking forward to getting to know some people around here. smile
I'm Nani - and like 99% of the boring intro stuff about me is on my profile, but like the basics I guess (I'm sorry I suck at intros)? So I'm 23, live in the US. I'm a diehard polythesist, and I spend like 99% of my time making things (For instance right now I am drying homemade paper and working on a king sized crochet blanket.)
Incidentally I'm genderfluid - pronouns are they/them. Probably should have led with that.
Welcome aboard! Homemade paper? o.o How does that work? Sounds interesting.
Jasmine Snape
Hi, and thank you for the invite to your guild! smile
My name is Kim (Kimberly technically, but no one has called me that in forever). I am 28 years old (almost 29), and am Canadian. I have been married since July 26, 2014, and me and my husband have been together for almost 7 years now.
I read ; right now I am reading Game of Thrones, but Harry Potter is my ultimate favourite. I play video games; mostly RPGs like Final Fantasy, Tales of Series, Assassin's Creed; that type of thing. I read and write fanfiction (again, mostly Harry Potter related, but lately its been a lot of Sherlock; and I haven't actually published any of my fanfiction online in quite some time. My favourite shows at the moment are Sherlock, Elementary, Arrow and Brooklyn nine nine.
That actually got to be a bit longer then I originally intended. smile I'm looking forward to getting to know some people around here. smile
Welcome aboard! Fellow Canadian! Now worries about length. xd
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:13 am
Aozora ~Blue Sky~
GeekWhistle
Hi and thanks for the invite!
I'm Nani - and like 99% of the boring intro stuff about me is on my profile, but like the basics I guess (I'm sorry I suck at intros)? So I'm 23, live in the US. I'm a diehard polythesist, and I spend like 99% of my time making things (For instance right now I am drying homemade paper and working on a king sized crochet blanket.)
Incidentally I'm genderfluid - pronouns are they/them. Probably should have led with that.
Welcome aboard! Homemade paper? o.o How does that work? Sounds interesting.
IT IS INTERESTING. ( Well I think it is. I'm THAT person tho XD)
So the basics of paper making are basically taking some kind of a paper fiber (meaning a fiber than can become paper) breaking it down into pulp, shaping it, flatting it, and letting it dry - that's honestly it. The detailed explanation got a little long, so it's under the cut now XD. It's actually not hard at all.
Now mind you I do mine the SUPER old fashion way (as in I don't pulp using a blender - whatever utensils you use, they have to be for paper only after the effect unless you're ONLY using all natural completely edible fibers).
So for me first I locate my fiber - I have several different papers drying right now - several sheets of recycled newspaper, and two sheets of rose paper. You can literally make paper out of almost anything. Recycling paper or paper based items (egg cartons for example) to make new paper is pretty popular. Using plant based materials is a little more difficult, and the paper can be more delicate BUT IT IS SOO PRETTY. You can pretty much use almost any plant fiber ever - I'm about to do a batch with garlic skins as a base as soon as I'm done with the rose paper, actually. Like if it is plantly and can be flattened - it can be paper.
Basically besides that I have a pulp bucket and pulping spoon (literally just one of those wooden cooking spoons that's kind of like a spork), a canvas covered in plastic mesh instead of canvass (a lot of people will actually use an old window screen - the idea is to have a screen in a frame) and a drip pan for the fame (like a regular baking pan - it's just going to be catching water). Also a pot and a tea kettle (kettle isn't necessary but it helps.) Also towels that are about the size of your frame - so like handtowels (fleece fabric works too)
So if I'm working with recycled paper. I tear it up into tiny bits (IF YOU HAVE A PAPER SHREDDER it is helpful to shred first and then rip to bits - it saves a TON of time) - the tiny paper bits go straight into the pulp bucket - I usually fill it about halfway. Then you put about half a bucket of hot water in as well (that's where the kettle becomes useful - also more water in the bucket = thinner pulp = thinner paper.)
BUT if you're starting with natural fibers (like petals or leaves or onion skin or something) you have to boil them first to get their little fibers to break down so that they can be pulped. So I boil them and the the whole pot goes into the pulp bucket - fibers and water. I add a little water if I think its necessary.
So once it's all in the pulp bucket you take the spoon and you mix, mix, mix, mix, mix (figure 8 motions tend to work best for me) very aggressively until the water and paper starts to look smooth and blended - this is pulp. If you're working with something yellow or orange it will look kind of like vomit. Pulping by hand can take about an hour or so, so I turn on some Netflix and just beat the tar out of my material.
That's honestly the hardest part. After that you take the bucket over to your frame and very carefully pour some pulp onto the screen (the drip pan will catch the water) you smooth the pulp out evenly on the frame - this is how you shape the paper. It will look really bulky and wet. You let it sit on the screen until MOST of the water has drained out of the sheet. After like 2/3's of it has dripped off, I usually take a towel and very gently press dry some of the excess water off to speed up the process - still takes a few hours in my experience. After that you take one of those frame-sized towels and lay it over the frame. Turn it over on to the flat surface you are going to be drying it on - keep it mind drying can take a few DAYS. If you're going to need to move it, turn it over onto a cookie sheet. Very carefully tap the screen until the paper is unstuck from the mesh and lays nicely on the towel. You might have little screen imprints on the paper - that's fine. Flatten it a bit with your hands. You stack all your sheets together with towels between them (SAME COLOR THO, they are well and will totally drip colors on each other if you intermix colors). Cover the stack with a towl. And then you set something heavy on top of them - I have a stack of my textbooks. This helps flatten the paper and keep it from curling as it dries. BAM. You have paper.
It's time consuming, but it's so much fun - and I find pulping to be very relaxing. Also the end product is very unique and Idk but I think it's great.
I'm Nani - and like 99% of the boring intro stuff about me is on my profile, but like the basics I guess (I'm sorry I suck at intros)? So I'm 23, live in the US. I'm a diehard polythesist, and I spend like 99% of my time making things (For instance right now I am drying homemade paper and working on a king sized crochet blanket.)
Incidentally I'm genderfluid - pronouns are they/them. Probably should have led with that.
Welcome aboard! Homemade paper? o.o How does that work? Sounds interesting.
IT IS INTERESTING. ( Well I think it is. I'm THAT person tho XD)
So the basics of paper making are basically taking some kind of a paper fiber (meaning a fiber than can become paper) breaking it down into pulp, shaping it, flatting it, and letting it dry - that's honestly it. The detailed explanation got a little long, so it's under the cut now XD. It's actually not hard at all.
Now mind you I do mine the SUPER old fashion way (as in I don't pulp using a blender - whatever utensils you use, they have to be for paper only after the effect unless you're ONLY using all natural completely edible fibers).
So for me first I locate my fiber - I have several different papers drying right now - several sheets of recycled newspaper, and two sheets of rose paper. You can literally make paper out of almost anything. Recycling paper or paper based items (egg cartons for example) to make new paper is pretty popular. Using plant based materials is a little more difficult, and the paper can be more delicate BUT IT IS SOO PRETTY. You can pretty much use almost any plant fiber ever - I'm about to do a batch with garlic skins as a base as soon as I'm done with the rose paper, actually. Like if it is plantly and can be flattened - it can be paper.
Basically besides that I have a pulp bucket and pulping spoon (literally just one of those wooden cooking spoons that's kind of like a spork), a canvas covered in plastic mesh instead of canvass (a lot of people will actually use an old window screen - the idea is to have a screen in a frame) and a drip pan for the fame (like a regular baking pan - it's just going to be catching water). Also a pot and a tea kettle (kettle isn't necessary but it helps.) Also towels that are about the size of your frame - so like handtowels (fleece fabric works too)
So if I'm working with recycled paper. I tear it up into tiny bits (IF YOU HAVE A PAPER SHREDDER it is helpful to shred first and then rip to bits - it saves a TON of time) - the tiny paper bits go straight into the pulp bucket - I usually fill it about halfway. Then you put about half a bucket of hot water in as well (that's where the kettle becomes useful - also more water in the bucket = thinner pulp = thinner paper.)
BUT if you're starting with natural fibers (like petals or leaves or onion skin or something) you have to boil them first to get their little fibers to break down so that they can be pulped. So I boil them and the the whole pot goes into the pulp bucket - fibers and water. I add a little water if I think its necessary.
So once it's all in the pulp bucket you take the spoon and you mix, mix, mix, mix, mix (figure 8 motions tend to work best for me) very aggressively until the water and paper starts to look smooth and blended - this is pulp. If you're working with something yellow or orange it will look kind of like vomit. Pulping by hand can take about an hour or so, so I turn on some Netflix and just beat the tar out of my material.
That's honestly the hardest part. After that you take the bucket over to your frame and very carefully pour some pulp onto the screen (the drip pan will catch the water) you smooth the pulp out evenly on the frame - this is how you shape the paper. It will look really bulky and wet. You let it sit on the screen until MOST of the water has drained out of the sheet. After like 2/3's of it has dripped off, I usually take a towel and very gently press dry some of the excess water off to speed up the process - still takes a few hours in my experience. After that you take one of those frame-sized towels and lay it over the frame. Turn it over on to the flat surface you are going to be drying it on - keep it mind drying can take a few DAYS. If you're going to need to move it, turn it over onto a cookie sheet. Very carefully tap the screen until the paper is unstuck from the mesh and lays nicely on the towel. You might have little screen imprints on the paper - that's fine. Flatten it a bit with your hands. You stack all your sheets together with towels between them (SAME COLOR THO, they are well and will totally drip colors on each other if you intermix colors). Cover the stack with a towl. And then you set something heavy on top of them - I have a stack of my textbooks. This helps flatten the paper and keep it from curling as it dries. BAM. You have paper.
It's time consuming, but it's so much fun - and I find pulping to be very relaxing. Also the end product is very unique and Idk but I think it's great.
I did read the spoiler. lol I don't know if I've ever read something that sounded so simple yet complicated at the same time before. o.o; It's the kind of thing that obviously requires practice to get it right.
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:46 am
Aozora ~Blue Sky~
I did read the spoiler. lol I don't know if I've ever read something that sounded so simple yet complicated at the same time before. o.o; It's the kind of thing that obviously requires practice to get it right.
Yeah. There is DEFINITELY a learning curve there. Like my issues when I first started were 1) figuring out WHEN it was pulped enough (I'm very visually orientated, so I ended up having to google pics of other people's pulp and found out that I was not being NEARLY aggressive enough in my beating of the pulp. 2) not getting the water enough. It is WAAY harder to pulp paper when the water is cool. 3) Not waiting long enough to take it off the screen, trying to move the paper too early from the drying stack. Like you really can't move the paper much until like day two of the drying process. OR it just kind of slips apart and you get to cry about the death of your paper xD
ALSO I was an idiot that tried to BAKE the paper so that it would dry faster - Don't do that. The paper gets stuck and you basically have to repulp it XD IT was awful XD.
Honestly I think being patient with it is the hardest part XD I have some awesome "Nani was not patient" stories when it comes to crafts - not just papermaking but like basically every craft I've ever done. Incidentally when dying wool - don't microwave it. I'm not sure my roommate has forgiven me for that one yet XD
GeekWhistle
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foxylocksy
Wilderness Muse
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:10 pm
Hey! I'm Anne. Currently I live near Atlanta, GA, which is my home town. However, in the past 5 years I have lived in Jamaica, Germany, New Zealand, and Canada plus multiple U.S. states.
I am a graduate student in an international nature conservation master's program. For the summer, I will be near Albuquerque, New Mexico for an internship. Then all I have left is my thesis (do not know what that will be yet). I will have limited internet over the summer, so will probably not be on for 13 weeks.
