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| | OK, all personal sites are suppose to have an "interests"
section. So, here's what ya get from the webmaster...
This is just a quick list of my main interests. It's a very crazy mix...
but isn't that how to keep sanity in an insane world????
Check out Other Worlds for links
to all the originations and events I mention here.
 |
 | I've always loved making costumes since I made my first vampire cape
by myself and put the collar on backwards. Well, I've learned a lot
since the 6th grade and the "hobby" has grown. |
| I've
dabbled in costuming for theatre, TV pilots, a small series and b-movies.
When I wasn't working on the production side, I learned slash and
burn costuming -- how to put together a look quickly and within budget --
when there was any at all. The trick...know the requirement and just
work to that... background costumes need a silhouette, close-up... detail
above the chest. Do whatever sewing is needed so that they could
last long enough for the shoot... but the rest was vanity. |
| In the mid-80s I met up
with the International Costumer's
Guild. My costuming hobby that had gone somewhat dormant
because of my 9-9 computer job, took off again. This time around
instead of quick costumes, I got into details... many, many details both
inside and out. |
| Besides making costumes that covered time periods from ancient to far
future, I also got into volunteer work with the ICG. Here's just a few of the
past jobs I've done as part of costuming:
 | Multi-year president of the Costumer's Guild West - the SoCal
chapter of the International Costumer's Guild (ICG). |
| Edited the Costumer's Quarterly - the quarterly costume
magazine of the ICG. (Note: this magazine has seen been
replaced with a newsletter.) |
| Help organize Costume
College (r) and was its 2nd Dean. (I won't even begin to
list everything done then and in the related years, just say more
than a little bit of everything.) |
| Applied my previous Stage Managing experience to Backstage Managing for masquerades and related events.
(To me, this was the best fun... but then again, I love the insanity
of putting together a show on the spot.) Scarily, the
highlights include things like...
| Backstage Manager for all special events for ConFrancisco (a WorldCon in San
Francisco), including the masquerade and Hugo Awards ceremony. |
| Backstage Manager for all special events for Conadian (a WorldCon
in Winnipeg),
including the masquerade and Hugo Awards ceremony... was smaller but did this
one with less than 3 months planning. |
| Backstage Manger for Costume Con 8 &10 which included 2 major masquerade each
and a couple of fashion shows over the course of a long weekend. |
| Have done too many other masquerades and fashion shows to
remember, little the less to mention here... then moved on to masquerade
directing. |
|
| Now-a-days, I train people on how to run a cleaner (and less
hectic backstage). How much have I done this??? Enough
that I co-wrote the book!!! (Seriously.... it's almost a
inch thick and I use it constantly for shows.)
| The Masquerade Handbook is co-written by
Janet Wilson Anderson and myself. Contact me if
you have trouble getting a copy. |
|
| I've stage numerous costume exhibits from a dozen items to well
over 100 items (LA WorldCon) that included everything from 20 foot
wings flown in the Anaheim Convention Center to a monster even
longer than the wings to pure historical items. |
| Because of these, I was always a sucker for doing costume fashion
shows... whether it be stage managing, providing costumers, scripts,
logistics, whatever... I'd just jump right in. |
| Now-a-day and doing more teaching at conferences
and on the web. I have a grand time sharing what I've leaned
with others. I'm a firm believer in passing the knowledge
forward. I teach at everything from local venues to
international conferences. |
| Of course, this list doesn't include the incredible amount of
articles written in the process of doing these jobs or the volunteer
coordination, the publicity work or... well, you get the
picture. (Yes, I consider this all part of the fun.) |
|
| Costuming is much, much more than just hours spent with fabric, sewing
and research. It takes organization to find and keep venues to do
costume events. Even more time should be spent working with the crews that are required
to allow folks to present their costume magic. |
| A funny thing happened on the way to me slowing down on costuming... I
started storing a few picture links on a certain movie that capture my
fantasy. I was in awe of the detail work and the depth of the
design. The rest... is history...
| 'LOTR Costume' was born in January 2002 as a little web page or 5
for my friends and me to study costume pictures from the first
LOTR Movie. We dived in as a group. No one expected the LOTR
movies to be so popular and by a wild extension... ACS.
Everyone of every sewing level wanted to make costumes from the movie.
What I didn't realize at the start-up was that we were embarking on
something that had never been done before... and that movie accidentally
was the perfect launch platform. As a group, the whole team
expanded it from hard core costume study to all about LOTR Costuming and
then all about making costumes... and wrote it for people at all levels.
The Alley Cat Scratch website is now a bigger than life, an entity all
of it's own. Now it grows and expands... and I can no longer guess
where it will finish. |
| ACS continues to grow into hundreds of pages with the help of a
whole team... it certainly keeps me busy. |
|
| OK... I've got to mention one more thing on costuming (or I'll get too
harassed by my friends.) In 2005 I was awarded the International
Costumer's Guild's Lifetime Achievement award. (Thanks you, guys) |
| OK, far too much on costuming... In closing, here are some places on
my web to
look for more costuming information and fun.
| Just a couple of places to look for more costume stuff...
| About the only place you'll find my costumes up on the web Photo Fantasy.
I never took a lot of pictures. Always figured there was
tomorrow... so I didn't worry. Well, snap them when you can.
You never know what tomorrow is. |
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| While I've none of the wonderful giant hounds now, I've share my life with
them for a number of years. Soon I'll get up some pictures and
notes of some of the beasties. They're the most amazing dog
in the world. |
| See Other Worlds Irish Wolfhound
links.
| I list the Rescue Trusts at the top of the list because while the
gentle giants are a marvelous pet, they are also one that takes much
time, care and devotion. |
| Think before you adopt one! |
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| I do not do casting, but I love combining pieces of metal, stone and
crystal together. This is a great complement to the costuming that
I do. I make a lot of accessories for the costumes using the
techniques. |
| I do sell custom pieces both fantasy and historical. (Pages will
be included later for these.)
| Yes, photos are coming, some decade! |
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| I like writing Science and Speculative Fiction.
| I've had no time to do this much lately. Real life and other
commitments intrude far too often. It doesn't matter if it's
stories or scripts... just want to get back to it!!! However, this remains a
"future goal" until life settles down and I can devote
the time I need to create my worlds of the future. |
|
| Non-fiction work:
| A lot of my writing has been costume articles and book
reviews. The vast majority of these have been for the
International Costumer's Guild and our local chapter, but I've
written articles for other magazines. I can turn out a review
without stopping to blink now-a-days but would like to get back to
fiction. However, it is fun to write how-to articles and share
the knowledge with other folk. |
| I'm a past editor of the International Costumer's Guild's
"Costumer's Quarterly". That was an insane time, but
fun. The whole world got to find out how bad I spelled. |
|
| Scary specialty:
| I didn't plan to get know for writing obituaries... but somehow it
happened. I try to rekindle the spark of a friend when I
write, and apparently succeed... others come and ask me to help in
their time of need. |
| My biggest story would be my "Challenger
Obituary". I was on the beach in Florida waiting to see my first
launch. Little did I know I'd be watching the explosion of a
dream. When I got home from "vacation", I pour my reactions out
raw on paper. It's weird to still hear people quote from it occasionally...
but it must mean that I did touch them, somehow. |
|
| David Gerald says, "The first million words are
practice". I'm beyond that now, so I'm really chomping at the
bit to get back to writing and see where it takes me. |
| See Other World's Writing Links
for more. |
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| I'd been programming forever, but the newer version of job has pulled me away from the
hard core work I used to do. It paid the rent and feed the other
things I like to do. However, I still love the satisfaction
of watching the final results when the whole project came
together. It was almost the same thrill as writing. |
| I loved working with databases. I can make data walk, talk 'n' do
anything I want it to do. (I still do specially consulting on
this.)
| This sometimes means insane data conversions with insainer
deadlines. However, never found that there isn't someway to
get to the data... it just depends on how obstinate you're willing
to be. Yes, sometimes you have to go in and hand tweak a bit,
but computers can do 99.99%... and should do it. |
| Really the same thing goes for user requirements... there always
is some way to get the data to work for you and not against you.
However, it's not always going to be easy. Real life and real
functions don't often fit into a few lightly normalized
tables. But then again, it was what put da bread on the table
and allowed me to do other things. |
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| This web started as another way to learn a new skill. Various sections are just me
practicing and learning new skills. I'm a firm believer that learning should never stop.
On the other hand... it's amazing what you can do with wizards and
templates now-a-days. What's the old adage, work smarter, not
harder? I so believe in that.
| I've discovered that I really like editing pictures and with graphics side of things... but, like... I
really need a new hobby??????? |
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-Cat Devereaux-
This page last updated:
07/27/09
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