New from Gemella Jewelry: Sweetheart Bracelet

A delicate cascade of orange sapphires & lavender tanzanites are painstakingly hand-wired to sterling chain with 18k gold and argentium silver headpins. A chubby 14 carat ametrine focal accents the fabricated argentium silver curlicue leaf toggle, which is a Gemella Jewelry design. Argentium, a relatively new product, contains more silver than sterling and is remarkably easy to work & solder. Now available at www.gemellajewelry.1000markets.com or gemellajewelry.etsy.com.

How to Avoid Computer Viruses.

I wrote this little powerpoint to help middle school-aged kids avoid computer viruses. Click on the image to view it!

Some of you may not know that I have had a somewhat eclectic career in various fields. Apart from being an art director for many years, I also have worked in computer services. In fact, I currently work at my son’s school, the Dwight-Englewood School, in their computer services department, where some of my daily routine involves helping kids (and sometimes staff) recover from the panoply of computer viruses that attack them on what seems like an hourly basis.

So I made this really cute little Powerpoint presentation, geared mostly toward Middle School kids, that lays out the high points of how to avoid computer viruses and malware. I owe special credit to Brian Eaddy from Hubpages for much of the content. He also lists several resources for recovering from viruses, which I also recommend. I love his technology blog and urge you to check it out.

Meanwhile, take a look at the presentation.  Turn up the sound, if you are so inclined. Have fun. Stay safe.

Chris Wood Guitars: Update on Build #3

Chris Wood Guitars, new 000-size acoustic guitar build in progress.

Build #3 is coming along nicely, and will be ready for finish soon. I love this guitar, because it has some graphic qualities that appeal to me: A very light Engelmann Spruce top against black walnut back and sides, with curly maple binding.  The 5 piece neck is Claro walnut with lovely violet/taupe overtones, inlaid with curly maple & ebony. The ebony fingerboard is inlaid with black pearl fretmarkers in the binding. Stay tuned for more progress shots.

Gemella Jewelry: Ditched the Copper. What do you think?

Last night, after I posted the Work in Progress, I decided to ditch the copper toggle in the Ametrine Charm Bracelet. It just didn’t feel right to me. So here is the new toggle, made from argentium silver. I like it! I think it’s a go.

I like this argentium silver toggle so much better. Never mind that it took me an hour to make it.

Gemella Jewelry: Ametrine & Tanzanite Bracelet Work In Progress for January 2010

This bracelet is taking forever to make...those tanzanites are *so* tiny...

This delicate charm bracelet is taking a very long time indeed to complete. I have finished most of the base layer of tiny tanzanites, which are wired to a silver chain with 18k gold. But I’ve run out of gold, and while I’m waiting for my shipment, I turned my attention to the clasp, a toggle composed of a tendrilled leaf shape. The base of the toggle is copper, overwired with fine silver – it will be patinated to give it a dark glow. The bar will be patinated also (it’s square silver wire).

Now that I look at the completed toggle, I’m not sure I like the round copper wire that I’ve used. Maybe I’ll redo that in the square argentium so that both parts match… but who says they have to match? Feh. Maybe I’ll just re-do it for the practice. Why not?

This bracelet is taking so long that I’ll have plenty of time to and redesign it in my head before it’s done. So stay tuned.

Keeping Up with the Guys at Bondurant. Sort of.

That's me in Car #25, doing the heel-toe thing.

Last fall, my husband and I went to Phoenix to redeem my dream gift of a one-day introduction to racing class at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. This was something we both had been looking forward to for some time. While Chris had raced often on the SCCA circuit in the midwest, and my dad had raced on the East Coast, and my brother sells Corvettes, I myself had never driven a truly fast car. And I’d always wanted to be one of the guys, so here was my opportunity.

Class started at about 8:30, in a classroom just like school. I was the only woman in a class of 6. I could sense that the guys were itching to get out on the track, but me – always a good student – I listened carefully as the instructor taught us some basic concepts. Such as heel-toe downshifting, understeer & oversteer, and trail braking. Heel-toe downshifting is a way to brake while simultaneously downshifting. Heck, that could come in real handy while driving (if you can call it that) in Northern New Jersey. You can brake to avoid smashing into the guy in front of you who suddenly slowed to 20 MPH because he’s texting, and at the same time, you can downshift to change lanes to avoid the guy behind you who’s still doing 60. Very handy skill to have.

After about 45 minutes of classroom instruction, we filed out and chose our cars. I picked #25. Yellow Corvette Z-51. I was excited! Until I got in.

First, I couldn’t get the seat close enough so I could reach the clutch. I tugged and tugged as hard as I could on the floor ratchet, but the seat wouldn’t budge. Ok, I thought. I’ll just have to stretch a little to reach the clutch. No problem. I thought I’d manage, until I pulled the safety harness over my head. That thing pinned me so tight to the seat that I couldn’t breathe. There I sat, straining to reach the clutch, unable to draw a breath, trapped by a seat belt while the other 5 manly men were revving their engines & getting the feel for the shift pattern.

That was the beginning of my “I feel like an idiot” day of performance driving.

Me, trying to be cool around the cones.

My instructor took pity on me and helped me loosen the harness enough so I wouldn’t actually die. I caught up with my class and took my place in line. We were to accelerate quickly into 2nd gear toward a pile of tires, then heel-toe downshift around the tires and gun it back to the starting point. Race and repeat. Sounds fun, right? Well, it would have been if my feet were BIG enough to actually span the gap between the brake & gas pedal. There was no way my foot made that span. I tried and tried, but all I could do was simply downshift while skidding my rear end out. Over and over. FAIL.

Never mind, on to the next technique: Trail braking. That is where you brake with just the right touch, at just the right spot on the tangent of a curve so you lose as little speed as possible.

Now was the time I discovered my problem with spatial relations. The turn is lined with cones which mark the entrance, the apex, and the exit of a curve, plus a few other things which escape my memory. All I could see on the curve were cones, going by in a blur. My instructor kept saying “Sight to that cone over there.” Me: “Which cone? There are 5 of them!” Instructor: “The one at the exit of the turn.” Me: “Where the hell is the exit of the turn?!?”  FAIL.

Next came the skid cars. Oh boy! Here’s where we learned how to control over- and under-steer. On a rear-wheel drive car, if your rear-end skids out, you steer into the skid & give it gas to shift the weight of the car backward so the tires have more traction. If you oversteer, the front end loses traction, in which case you brake. Seems easy, right? Yeah, until it was my turn. The instructor put the car deliberately into a skid. I couldn’t figure out which way I was skidding. The instructor yelled, “Look at where you want to be going!” Me: “I don’t know where I want to be going!”  I brake. He says, “No, lift! Lift!” I think, “Lift? Lift WHAT?” Turns out “lift” means “ease up on the gas.” FAIL.

The dread skid cars at Bondurant.

Now it’s the end of the day, the 5 other guys hate me. First I held them up in class by asking questions, then I made them all barf in the skid car. Now we are  lined up on the track. I’m 2nd, behind the instructor. Why couldn’t I have been last? Now I have 5 mean, manly men who want to go fast, stuck behind me. We are to follow the instructor around the track for 2 laps, then we’re on our own to go as fast as we can. My heart is pounding. What if I can’t keep up? Those mean guys will kill me! I still haven’t figured out oversteer and understeer. What if I flip my car over? And all those cones!

The instructor peels out and I hit the gas. The cones fan out into a senseless stream of orange as I desperately try to keep up. I can hear the 5 guys behind me cursing – I’m sure of it – as I career around as fast as I can. Which turned out to be something like 50mph.

After 2 laps, I see the pit and pull into it. Instructor comes up, wanting to know what’s wrong. “What’s wrong?” I ask. “My giant helmet is wedged against the roof of the car. The harness is pinning me to the seat. I can’t reach the clutch. The cones all look the same, and I’m tired.” So I sat out the final laps and watched the rest of the real men go very, very fast, happy to have me off the track. They were quick learners. And tall. I bet they could reach the clutch with no trouble.

Back home in New Jersey, I decided to try that heel-toe downshifting thing. Guess what? My foot’s still not big enough, even on my little Acura. Oh well. At least I came away from my day at Bondurant with a certificate saying I earned a very respectable grade of 3.5. Mostly for effort. That, I’m good at.

Help the Haitians! Here Are 2 Trustworthy Donation Sites.

From FoxNews:

Make sure your donation gets to a reputable resource. Here are two ways to donate where you can be sure your money will be used to actually help the desperate Haitians:

Texting HAITI to 90999
The U.S. Dept of State’s Web site suggests texting to donate $10 to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts.
$10 will be charged to your cell phone bill. Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps to contribute to the disaster relief efforts.

Texting YELE to 501501
On Twitter, musician Wyclef Jean, a native of Haiti, notes, “Haiti needs your help and $5 will go toward earthquake relief.”
Yele Haiti is a grassroots movement Jean has set up to inspire change in Haiti through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment.

Donate as soon as you can. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and they are more than desperate. We have so much, and they have so little. Even a $5 contribution to the Red Cross matters.

New for January at Gemella Jewelry

Now available at Gemella Jewelry.

This substantial ametrine bracelet is like a cuff of ametrines for your wrist. Very sizeable stones each measure approximately 1 1/4″ across. The all-natural ametrine is mesmerizing. With tanzanite, songea sapphire & pearl accents and 18k details. Closes with 18k flourish and 14k lobster clasp.  Now available at Gemella Jewelry.

Announcing New Pricing on Gemella Jewelry for 2010

After a short hiatus, I have reopened my Gemella Jewelry shops on 1000Markets and Etsy, where you will find new, lower prices on all Gemella Jewelry for 2010. Please be sure to check out either shop if you’ve had your eye on a necklace or pair of earrings — you might be pleasantly surprised!

My Old Car Is (Temporarily) Dead. Long Live the Loaner!

My car dealership is evil.

Last week, I brought my car to the dealer because of the clunking sound coming from the right front end. 6 months ago my car made the same clunking noise, which was caused by a broken Macpherson shock. (Which, if I might say, I proudly diagnosed all by myself.) So when my car started making the same clunking sound last week, I thought, heck – I bet that shock is broken again. Which wouldn’t surprise me, given the appalling state of the roads in these parts.

Well, it wasn’t the shock. The shop called to tell me that: 1, the clamps holding the heat shield around the catalytic converter were broken, and 2, the motor mounts were snapped. Wow. Broken motor mounts. How did that happen? Gee, might it be the plethora of potholes and distressed sections of roadway which litter Northern New Jersey? Or perhaps it’s all the construction on Maywood Ave, which has resulted in a road surface which resembles the dark side of the moon. Well, regardless, here I am with broken motor mounts, and it’ll cost about $500 to fix them plus the clamps on the heat shield.

But wait! That’s not all! When the mechanics went to remove the broken motor mounts, guess what? They discovered my small block was cracked. Man, I told you we had some horrible roadways here in Bergen County. Holy cow. So this is a big deal. The inspectors from Acura came down to make sure my car hadn’t been in an accident (it hadn’t), and then they so graciously covered the cost of the repair under the extended warranty (thank God for the warranty, that’s all I have to say).

Oh, and they gave me a loaner car while they are rebuilding the heads. Here’s where the dealership is so, so evil.

This is what my car looks like inside.

I have a 2003 Acura RSX S-type. Very nice little 4-cylinder, puts outs 201HP with a 6-speed manual transmission. What car did the dealer lend to me? A 2010 TSX V-6, with about 280HP. Yes, it’s an automatic, but holy cow – this car is nice. It took me 10 minutes in the parking lot to figure out how to turn on the computerized heat and turn off the radio. Once I did that, I figured out how to set the driver’s seat to my ideal position and programmed it to stay that way with the push of a button. What’s more, the seats are heated! There’s a built-in GPS with voice control! Put her in reverse and a camera shows you what’s behind you!  XM Radio is built in! And finally, the suspension makes the dread potholes and corrugated roadway simply disappear. Disappear, I tell you!

This is the interior of my loaner TSX. With Technology Package. Sigh.

Hm. I’m getting very, very used to my very, very nice loaner car. Not to malign my own car… but those clever guys at the dealership have done a bad, bad thing. They’ve made me want this TSX. Evil, I tell you. They are evil.