Author Archives: mathdreads
Special FX Makeup: Scars
As soon as I walked into the classroom, I had flashbacks of teaching HS science. On one table lie mostly edible foodstuffs I had at home: Karo syrup, food coloring, cornstarch, and vaseline. Nestled in between the groceries were various makeup products along with toilet paper, cotton balls and paper towels. Welcome to Special Effects … Continue reading
One Continuous Today
The Never-Ending Tomorrow is an insomniac’s nightmare. Tomorrow cannot begin until today ends when you finally fall asleep. Until then, it’s just one very long today, where you hope you’re not just wasting your time. Juggling projects, running from one event to the next, navigating through the challenges of life and inevitable bullshit. And it doesn’t … Continue reading
Technological Spiderweb
I NEVER upgrade anything in my technological spiderweb until I have to. Either something breaks or, as the recent case, I get upgraded against my will. Actually, that’s not exactly true. The changes my company made to our call/sales application were long overdue. Since any change in one place affects other parts of the tech … Continue reading
Cockroach Invasion
I heard the telltale signs while sitting upon my red sofa, typing away at some piece of writing or other. A part of me wanted to dismiss the flapping wing sounds since I hadn’t actually seen it. Seeing is believing, right? Reality check came soon enough when that little bastard flew straight toward me and … Continue reading
Notorious RBG
The Austin chapter of the League of Women Voters (LWV) sponsored movie night at one of my favorite theatre chains. Normally, no one is allowed to talk or even have their phones out at a certain point and the theatre becomes a quiet zone. Yet, this was a “rowdy” viewing of “RBG,” meaning we were … Continue reading
All Knowing Mother
In honor of Mother’s Day, I reflected about the unsung contributions of Black women such as the generational and social network of wisdom. To represent the Black Woman Network, I used an African paper doll template, complete with a curly afro. Taking advantage of the gift of fabric given to me by a friend, each … Continue reading
B 12
Anytime the leasing office at my apartment complex offers free food and drinks, I make sure to attend since they raise my rent every year. I figure over time, I can consume my money’s worth. This particular event centered around Bingo. Even though I’m middle aged, I feel too young for this particular game, which … Continue reading
Freedom Fighter?
When I first heard the phrase “freedom fighter,” it was used as a euphemism for a military presence in a foreign country. Yet, this time around, while I was in traffic after leaving my yoga class, I learned of a different fight for freedom. I wondered about the legality of selling these marijuana-laced sweets in … Continue reading
Dining Reviews
I’ve been an independent health insurance agent for about seven months now. Before I began, I had brunch with a former coworker, who’d left the dead end situation where we’d both worked as agents. I greatly appreciated her taking the time to meet with me, answer my questions, and encourage me to be far more … Continue reading
Randomized Headshot
I’m always impressed by the high-tech art displayed at the Interactive Installation Meetup events. Who knows if I’ll ever understand any of it on a coding level, but theoretically I know what’s going on. So, I sat in front of a laptop, which took my headshot. Then the program randomly chose pixels to recreate the headshot. I’m … Continue reading