Ponies and Patchies

Mass Fucking Panic

2017-05-06T03:22:59Z

I was in the middle of dressing Kaya when the elastic in her leg joint broke and her leg fell off. And I'm terrified to try restringing that on my own because the restringing page looked scary.

I don't trust the A*G hospital, so I'ma have to figure out how to do it on my own.

If any of you have ever done it... well what am I saying? I follow nethilia of course someone's done it before... Someone please reassure me that stringing isn't terrifying.

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So

2015-08-05T01:51:05Z

I just got back from California where I was visiting friends on a much-needed vacation. While I was there, my friend and I went to the A*G store in Hollywood/Beverly Hills, not sure which it bills itself as. The store was amazing... And I did come back with a new gang member. But she didn't come from that store. Mainly because I'd forgotten that I had an extra hundred in my wallet. But I digress.

A few days before the store trip, I was in an antique store with my friend, and there, hiding in the back of a case, my friend saw a pair of brown eyes peering out at her. The eyes were attached to a light-skinned, Classic-mold face...which was attached to a PC Samantha with decent, though slightly frizzy hair.

I'm ... not normally the biggest Samantha fan. I was going to pass her by, pretty dress and bloomers and petticoat that isn't actually A*G aside... But my friend talked me into letting the people get her out of the case so I could at least touch her... And really that's all it took.

So, my gang now includes a Samantha. Her hair actually was fixable with conditioner and braid spray. The dress was really really fancy, but needs some elastic work. So, inthe meantime, Samantha is in the Earth Day outfit, and you know what? I actually like her that way. More reminders that historical girls don't always have to be the way their canon says they should be, and that A*G is over all a thing of imagination.

And on an added note, on a similar thrift shopping trip, my friend actually scored her first A*G doll, a Ruthie, and has sense gotten a Julie and an Ivy. Congratulations on getting bitten by the bug, Cat!

OH, also. Cat, when she got her Julie and Ivy snagged another gang member for me. Maybe a My A*G #40. BUT she looks so punk. I am so excited!

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So. Polling the Reading List

2015-05-01T02:27:25Z

So. If I have a doll who is white, and I want to put her hair up in a ton of tiny braids, would anybody consider that cultural appropriation? Because I really didn't want to do anything like putting Kaya's clothes on white dolls or anything, but I like that look, and just wanted to make sure. The last thing I want to do is to appropriate anybody's cultural identity. I was thinking about doing it with Addy's hair, but hers is already up in a nice braid and I don't want to take it down, whereas Julie's was cut by someone before I got her, and it's long in the back but there's this one twig right at one side that is chopped to shoulder length, and that one lone twig there in a braid was bugging the crap out of me and I'm not about to go cut Julie's hair till it's all shoulder-length.

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poniesandpatchies @ 2014-12-17T05:36:00

2014-12-17T11:36:48Z

Shit. I just realized. It's been over a year since I got Addy. It doesn't feel like it should be that long. God time flies.

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WHEEEE

2014-11-05T06:08:09Z

So. I hit eBay again. And bought probably the saddest Julie I've ever seen. She seems to be in good condition. I'll know tomorrow. But someone has fingernail polished her fingers. And cut off her thumbs. I wish I was kidding but I'm entirely not. Someone CUT OFF her thumbs. Just who in the hell... Why. I just what the fuck?

Add this to the ranks of oh my god kids under eight don't need A*G.

I probably won't be able to fix the thumbs. But at least I can fix the nail polish I think. But I like my dolls less than perfect so there you go.

Pictures forthcoming when I can pay the $9.99 to get my visually impaired camera app access back for a month. Screw that. Think I'll just take the pictures and check them over later.

In other news, I also have a mountain of English homework to finish tomorrow. We've gotten into historical literature of the twenties and it's not too bad.

PS: Julie came with a full outfit, including shoes for what an unclothed A*G usually sells for.

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Bitten by the My Twin bug like everybody else

2014-10-01T19:25:56Z

So, till a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know anything about My Twin, beyond that Emily over at the Toybox Philosopher did a review at one point. I'd read the review, but that was waay back when I first found Miss Emily's blog, back before I even had an A*G of my own. So, I didn't know much.

And then, a friend popped up on IM one night and said, "I found a doll today at a thrift store. I don't think it's one of the kind you collect. But I loved her and thought of you. There's a big half-off sale tomorrow."

So, knowing my friend has superb tastes in most things, and knows me well enough to know what sorts of things I like, I inquired further and discovered she'd found one of the classic posable twenty-three My Twin dolls. A bit more digging on the part of both my friend and I discovered that this was a very early doll, one of the 1997 ones.

Friend in question had not bought the doll, not knowing if she'd be the kind of thing I'd be up for, but the next day she went back, the doll was still there, and she snapped her up.

The doll I'm going to offer my thoughts on today is not, in fact, that doll, as my friend lives all the way across the country, and shipping something that big costs some cash, so there will eventually be two My Twin doll reviews on this blog.

The story of the particular doll I'm going to talk about today starts, as most things do around here, on the eBay orphanariu and marketplace. I was, as a matter of fact, looking for something entirely different when I went on eBay. I was looking for a pair of tights for the A*G, Bethany, whose leg still needs tightening and who I am loathe to send to the A*G hospital because I'm afraid they'll replace limbs. I think Bethany's melted fingers give her character and aren't something that needs replacing, and I'm not sure if they can do limb tightening on just legs without replacing limbs and without also needing to do a whole set of replacements. So Miss Bethany is chilling out in the big ecliner in the living room with Marie-Grace keeping her company. (My god, I need to update more, don't I? Pretend there are entries here about Bethany and Marie-Grace, if you will ha.)

So, I had found some tights. Adorable neon pink and black striped tights that were a perfect match for Bethany's outfit. And I was procrastinating homework, as you do. So, for fun, I decided to go digging for My Twin clothes, for the doll my friend is going to send me.

And sitting there, as a buy it now, in among the clothes, some cute and some frankly hideous, was a My Twin doll. (For some reason, they're pretty scarce on eBay. I have no clue why) But anyhow, right there in the middle of the clothes was another twenty-three doll. The seller's description simply said, "In good condition."

"Well, shit. This doesn't bode well." thought I, "And I can't see the pictures."

All I knew at that point was the doll had brown hair and brown eyes. Looking like my mom when she was a kid is always a point in any doll's favor so I summoned up my mom and wen, "Hey. Can you describe this doll?"

"Awww she's cute!" my mom replied, "Shoulder-length brown hair, maybe a little longer, brown eyes, and she's wearing a t-shirt and jeans."

"Mmmm. T-shirt and jeans? There's another point in your favor, Miss Doll." I thought, as I penned out a quick question to the seller to ask if she was, in fact, posable. The price was so low I thought there had to be a catch, considering the prices I'd seen on the five or so other dolls of this type in the listings.

Within about thirty minutes, the seller had gotten back to me, saying she wasn't sure but that the doll had a wire inside that would help her stand and sit and was that what I meant? I snapped up the doll, and left the seller a very nice letter thanking her both for her prompt reply and for being so kind and helpful.

Well, this morning, the doll in question arrived via our neighborhood postman, Joseph, one of the nicest fellows you will ever meet, who knows I'm not sighted, and brings my packages up to the door by hand and talks to me for a moment if he can't get them into the mailbox.

I opened the box, and was immediately struck by the weight. A My Twin weighs more than an A*G, or so it feels. Both brands of doll are substantial and cuddly, but My Twins are bigger so weigh more. My particular doll has shoulderlenght straight brown hair, desperately in need of a condition and braid spray, and brown eyes. She was wearing a t-shirt with some sort of screen-print graphic on the front, long jeans with a drawstring closure and a pair of very nice Mary Jane shoes. She also had a watch. I'm not sure if it's a working timepiece, but it feels real enough it could be.

The only problem I can see is she smells like attic, but that's way better and more fixable than smelling like smoe. But the thing that fascinates me seriously, more than anything I can tell you about the way My Twins pose, which is different than the way an A*G does because of that wire armature, and how mine came with an extra sweater, which she was holding that wasn't in the picturess, is that My Twins have both applied top and bottom eyelashes. It may not seem like much to most people, but I can't see the painted bottom lashes most dolls have. When I was little, I remember asking mymom why it was that dolls only had one set of eyelashes instead of two like people.

Actually, the only thing I think I dislike about My Twins, so far, is their body texture. The cloth feels a little like panty hose to me. It's not bad, but any more like pantyhose feeling than it is now, and it'd give me the heebies. Maybe I'm weird, but pantyhose are one of those texture things that I really just can't go with in most circumstances. I don't wear them. If I'm going to wear any socks at all and particularly higher than ankle socks, I wer tights, as opposed to hose. But that's a minor annoyance for an overall good doll.

Also, piictures and such are forthcoming. Her name is Meredith, because that's what my mom named her, and looking at her, it seems to fit really well. So, there yu go.

ETA: Had I not spelled the name of the brand wrong, I would've had many more results! Teh fail!

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The eBay Orphanarium Strikes Again

2014-08-27T17:49:13Z

( My A*G Gang is up to four )

Ok. Everybody say hi to Bethany. She was on the eBay orphanarium for probably the cheapest I ever saw an A*G go. The seller said "In excellent used condition but needs TLC" And that's true. But I don't mind.

She's in overall good shape, true. But her limbs are loose. (Isn't there a wiki page on limb tightenings somewhere?) She has something sticky on her face. Makeup? Lotion? Something.

And like our Bitty Twin Rosalie, she has hand damage. It looked like someone melted her first two fingers. They're still finger-shaped but they're flat on top. More reasons little kids shouldn't have A*g dolls till they're eight.

I know this is disjointed, but I'm dashing off this entry between schoolwork. Yaaay schoolwork. Please do note the sarcasm.

Also, if anybody knows which JLY miss Bethany is, or how to tighten limbs, please let me know. It's much appreciated.

Also, I'm going to start dropping in a few personal entries here too from time to time.

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Ok. I'm Bored, so justthis once...

2014-08-09T12:37:16Z

I'm going to do a personal survey... Sorry the review hasn't come up yet. But anxiety and depression ate me alive. Fuck anxiety and depression.

So, without further ado, have a survey. For those who wanted to get to know me a little better. Found this on LJ. Credit link is in the actual text.

( Read more... )

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poniesandpatchies @ 2014-08-04T12:34:00

2014-08-04T17:43:26Z

Ok so. Friday I went putzing around the eBay orphanarium and clothing shop. :P

I went for the express purpose of finding clothes for my patchies... And I hit the mother lode.

Someone was selling this absolutely massive lot of clothing, and I won it. The massive lot of clothing arrived today, clean and in good shape. No tears, rips, stains etc and only one faded piece. I can entirely deal with this.

OH, and the one pair of jeans in the lot has actual functioning pockets. Pics should be forthcoming as soon as I get everything out of this massive box and stay tuned. There will be an actual review.

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A Very Quick Post

2014-04-21T02:52:54Z

Josefina would like to wish you all a very happy spring, and all the spring holidays

Also, users of Imgur, is there a way to add images to an album after they are uploaded? If someone knows, I would be grateful for the advice on how.

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Liebster Award! :D

2014-04-02T20:29:07Z

The way this works is this. I answer these eleven questions, and then tag a few people to answer eleven that I come up with. I got these from Neth whose blog I definitely recommend. She's opinionated but damn they're good opinions and this world needs more people to speak up! Also, her reviews are amazing and detailed and awesome and she does descriptions which earns her double bonus points.

Neth got the award from A Peek Into the Pantry which I also adore because face it. FOOD and DOLLS? Great combination!

1: What bugs you/pisses you off about the majority of toy collecting communities?
A lot of them seem to be really elitist. I mean, like preferring one generation of something and pissing on the rest of the generations before or after. If I hear another FIM collector saying that G1 ponies look like hippopotami, I will scream!

2: What's your favorite collection thing you've gotten in the last six months to a year?
Well, it's only been about that long since I got into AG, so I'll have to say my girls.
3: You've got unlimited funds to launch your own toy or doll company. Design your signature character and their back story.
Ohhh. This is an excellent question. I think my signature character would be a heroin of color who fights just as well as the boys and kicks just as much ass, while still modeling confidence for young girls of all ethnicities. She started out just an ordinary girl, but one day while she was studying in the park, she saw a bunch of bullies picking on someone else, and decided to do something about it. Now she and her friends help other people with problems they come up with.

4: You now have a flamethrower and the ability to wipe any doll line out--past or present--just because you don't want it around. Which one do you torch?
*Giggling gleefully* Oooh pretty flames. Well, bye-bye cheap Dollar Store barbie knockoffs that break in two minutes. I almost said Bratzillas because I think they're weird, but I've not owned one and that's not fair. Runner-up would be those generic baby dolls that come with the arse-load of frilly pink accessories.

5: What's a topic you could totally geek out about for hours?
POETRY! :D

6: What's the last book you just couldn't finish, and why?
I usually try to finish every book I read. But I couldn't finish Ender's Game. Holy crap, so much cruelty now. Says the girl who read the last two thirds of the Hunger Games series in like... two days. :O

7: What's the last movie you watched that felt like a waste of film?
I don't watch too many movies. But some of the ones I've had to watch for school this year sure did feel like wastes of film, only in the sense that they could've been presented better. Like the documentary on heart disease.

8: You have become a super hero, faster than that thing, stronger than that other thing, able to do that thing in a single thing! Alas, we all have a weakness. What's your kryptonite?
I have two weaknesses. I must be blessed with suck! Chocolate and really good mystery novels.

9: What's your least favorite fandom, and why?
Pretty much any reality show you can think of. And One Direction. I just don't get it.

10: You've got a time machine. It only goes backwards and to right now, and you can bring one thing to the present with you and take one thing back. What do you take back with you and what do you bring forward?
Hmmm. I go back to the eighties. I bring forward one of those amazing plastic charm necklaces with the removable charms that you can trade with your friends and such. You know the ones. And I take back the Internets. Everybody needs cat macros.

11: Everyone knows favorite colors, that's easy. What's your least favorite color and/or color combination?
BARBIE PINK! GAAAAH!!

Extra Credit: Do you want me to answer my own questions?
Yes. I do! Most definitely. Especially the flame thrower question.

( My questions for the answering )

I tag fonetiks, huddleofpenguins, fascination and a tagback to Neth I tagged friends because I don't know that many doll bloggers, which is sad.

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Holy historical pantaloons, batman!

2014-03-07T17:52:24Z

The other day, during all my eBaying, I bought two dresses for Addy, one outfit for Kaya, and another hunk of Josefina's meet outfit.

Kaya got a pink t-shirt and striped leggings. I think they're Springfield but I'm not sure. They're really nice, but that's a topic for another post.

Addy on the other hand got her Flower-picking outfit and a really nice handmade outfit that I am right now squeeing over...

I was a little concerned about the flower-picking dress, because most people on eBay will label crap PC that is actually Mattel and even though I wouldn't mind taking out a couple ounces of stuffing so Mattel clothes fit, I can't. My Addy's head is, as I found out a moment ago when I was changing her clothes, is held on by a zip tie, and I really am in no mood whatsoever to go snipping a zip tie, especially since I'm not even sure where to find replacement zip ties. I wish to goodness that whomever removed her neck strings had just left them alone unless they were falling apart. Ugh.

BUT the flower picking dress arrived in my mail today, in an A*G box even, with the hair ribbon still in plastic. And it fits. Not only does it fit but it fits well. So I'm thinking I actually got a PC dress after all and that someone had a clue what they were doing.

Now, on to the squee. The other outfit Addy got is a rust-colored cotton dress with pin tucks in the bodice and an embroidered skirt. This came with an apron, a pair of striped pantaloons (Hey, people familiar with historical undies, would Addy have actually worn pantaloons?), and a matching striped bonnet. And now. Here is what I squeed over. The pantaloons do not have elastic. They have draw strings. ACTUAL tie-able draw strings! :D SOMEONE knows their history!

Sadly, I don't have time at this moment to give a full 100% review, but I'll edit it in in a bit when back from tutoring. Blech tutoring.

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sad panda

2014-03-07T01:11:20Z

Someone on eBay is... selling a Josefina. TO BUY FUCKING ITEMS FOR ISABLAH WONDERBREAD BALLERINA AAAGGGGGHAFJJASGKHAGGGGGG!

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Josefina

2014-02-21T20:05:00Z

I think... I think I'm going to do something different this time around. As well as the usual documentation of the condition of my newest Gang member, I think I'll give you the impressions I have of her as well.

See, I never consciously create a doll personality. I'm a writer, but writing and that form of creating is an active creation. Where doll personalities are concerned, it's a very passive sort of creation for me. The stories just come to me. Sometimes a doll's physical appearance/smell/feel adds to it. But sometimes the process ignores any of those clues. And I can't describe it in any better terms than that. Most of you reading are either doll people yourselves, with your own processes of creation, or writers and other friendly, creative types, so I probably didn't need to explain this at all, but I did it anyhow. Ever doll I have feels different to me, and I don't just mean physically different. They all have a certain energy, I think. That's partly why I like secondary market dolls. They've been around enough to have an energy of their own though new dolls can too.

Anyhow, Josefina came to me naked, in a priority box, a bit smooshed, sitting in such a way inside the box that I kind of had to gently tug and pull a bit to get her out. Thankfully, I opened the box right end up this time, so it wasn't like poor Addy who came out on her face.

The first thing I realized when I reached into the box is that her hair is almost silky. Almost. It's obvious she's been loved, but it wasn't the rat's nest poor Kaya's was. That was a nice texture to greet my fingers.

I'd have taken a picture of her with her head peeping out of the box, but my grandma was here wanting to see what I got in the mail as she likes dolls too. I didn't want to keep her, because she is very elderly and prone to worrying that someone will break into her house if she's gone for more than five minutes even though you can clearly see her house from my front door... So, I'll be a writer and describe.

Josefina's head poked up out of the box, along with the tips of her braids. I had the uncanny but hilarious mental image of her braids like snail antennas, poking out to feel the world before more than the top of her head was visible.

But I pulled her out of the box and rummaged for clothes. I'm trying to buy her meet outfit in chunks. But she got here before her skirt, which is the only piece I have bought as yet, so we had to improvise, as I don't think Josefina would want to be naked dolly butt. She's not Kaya, after all. :P

All I had on hand was a white t-shirt from the My Life As schoolgirl outfit, and the denim skirt and starry mesh tights from the My Life As hairstylist outfit. So, that's what she's wearing.

Her braids were held in by rubber bands. They may have been the kind you're supposed to use on hair, but I doubt it. They felt like the kind you find in an office, so out they came, to be replaced by actual hair ties. No rubber band hair in this house if I can help it.

The seller says she has a lazy eye, but she actually doesn't seem to? They said sometimes it sticks, but that's not the same as a lazy eye to me. My Addy's eye sticks about half open all the time, and that'd be what I call a lazy eye. Her eyelashes are also interesting. Not as soft as Addy's or as hard as Kaya's, somewhere in the middle.

I like her face mold too, that straight nose is different than either Kaya or Addy's.

Now for my impressions. She smells like sunblock. The seller said she'd been exposed to the sun and sunblock. And me, being known for my weird flights of fancy like to imagine she went to the beach. Maybe it was the first time she ever saw the ocean, who knows. But she feels like summer. Maybe it's the fact she smells like sunblock, and therefore she smells like summer. But she reminds me of summer, which I like. The long days of summer are warm, happy, vivacious, and that's what I think her personality will end up being. She seems like she'd be fond of going barefoot, porch swings, going down to the river to let mud squish up between her toes, the kind of girl who lives for vacation.

And also, I think she would like music. I'm not sure if she'll stay in the past or become a part-time moddie, but either way, I think she's a good fit here.

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Positively Perfect: Brianna and Divahs Taylor

2014-02-19T23:39:07Z

Honilee over on the AGcollectors board asked me for a comparison of these two. I'll edit in stock photos etc as I go, and as I can find friends to link me. But first, a little explanation about the line.

Positively Perfect is a doll line started by Dr. Lisa Williams, her goal being to both empower girls and to celebrate the diversity inherent in all of us. So, with that vision in mind, she created EPI LLC, and started the line. The purchase of each doll donates a certain portion of the proceeds to charities which will uplift children.

I have two of these dolls, one of the eighteen-inch Divahs,(Taylor) and a smaller fourteen-inch doll, (Beautiful Brianna). These dolls are floppy and cuddly, but not at all posable. If you like posability in your dolls, these would not be for you, unless you'd like to swap bodies somehow. I'm sure there are people out there who can do this.

Now, on to the review. My apologies to Honilee! I thought I had Zair. But I in fact have Taylor.

( Comparison )

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poniesandpatchies @ 2014-02-11T16:31:00

2014-02-11T22:36:04Z

Rough day emotionally. Amazing how comforting Addy is just to cling to when it's a rough day.

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Kaya Before and After, Otherwise Known as "My Mom Is Better at this shit than me!"

2014-02-03T02:14:08Z

So, what's gone on since I last posted? Well, I can show you. IN pictures!
( Before )

Then Mom braided it back. The braids in this case have not one single thing to do with Kaya's ethnicity. It just seemed to fit. Kaya seems to be the type of person to not want to fuss with her hair more than necessary, so braids it is.

( After )

Phew. May I never see hair that messed up again.

Thank you so much to my mom for all her help on this and for nethilia for introducing Braid Spray to the AG community and also for being one of the people who reminded me that just because an era is set for all historicals that they don't have to be confined to that era.

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Hooooly shit balls, Batman

2014-01-31T16:32:47Z

My Kaya arrived today... With hair that is so dry and knotted up that it feels like sandpaper, and man, for about half a second I thought it was textured. And I KNOW it shouldn't be. Kaya =/= Addy.

So, now, wonderful readers, should I brush it first, wash it first or braid spray it first. I'd suppose washing it first. I don't know what sort of crud is actually in it. OH, but I got a backpack out of the bargain, too, a nice thin plastic one with those straps that are like ... thin ropes. I actually like those.

Also, seller forgot to mention that either she, or someone in her family, or someone at the post office smokes... So poor Kaya smells like a smoker. I don't mind smoke. My dad smokes. But I'd have liked a warning. But I guess that's where braid spray, shampoo etc comes in.

Even despite all that, and being naked, I still adore her. She's absolutely beautiful.

Hey nethilia you're the doll whisperer. How much Braid Spray should you use on a doll whose hair feels like straw? Help a girl out?

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Here. Have a Post On the Intersection of Doll Collecting and Disability

2014-01-27T21:08:04Z

As you well know, I'm terrible at taking pictures. But I want to. With every fiber of my being. So, when I do, I use a free program called TapTapSee....

Or I think it USED to be free. But now that free program is requiring me to either buy a pack of twenty-five or fifty pictures for $3 or $5 I think. Or I could buy a month subscription for unlimited pics for $9 OR a three-month unlimited for $24. So, basically, I'm being sked to pay for picture identification.

I had an iTunes card from some friends, with which I was going to buy Kaya's first book to see how good it is and to maybe learn a bit about her. But no. In order to take the picture I wanted to take, I had to buy a pack. I mean, literally no warning. Just an alert telling me that if I wanted to continue to use taptapsee, I'd need to purchase a subscription.

I'd not mind if I'd have gotten a warning. But I didn't. I don't mind paying for things. I don't. I'm well aware of the fact that disabled people have to pay to use the things sighted people don't necessarily have to. For example, if you want to use a Windows-based PC, you have to (Or used to until there was an open-source option) pay $895 or $1200 over the actual price of your PC for a screen reading program. And even now a lot of tech support and etc assume by default you use the paid option and don't offer things like accessibility fixes for the perfectly good open-source option.

And I get that this program has got actual humans (Or I think so?) doing their identification of pictures and those people need to be paid. I get that. But could they not make the app paid from the start? I'd willingly pay $9.99 for the app.

But I guess what pisses me off is that a sighted person does NOT have to pay to use the camera functionality of their mobile device. And they don't have to pay to use foursquare. I guess what I'm asking is, if you're blind (and I'm assuming this is the same for other disabilities too) why is it you have to pay so much money to do what a signted or nondisabled person can do for free?

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Meet Claudette!

2014-01-26T05:55:43Z

( To save your reading page )

( The Review )

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

2014-01-07T18:50:20Z

I was looking at eBay to distract myself... And found Addy's holiday dress... BUT the seller, though it was a good price, had freaking keyword jammed Isablah and Sage into the same title. Nonononononono.

Isablah has her own hideous collection. She doesn't need Addy's beautiful holiday dress.

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Fuck Funeral Homes

2014-01-07T18:12:05Z

My grandpa died last night. And so I'm probably going to be an ugly crying mess for the next bit. But I have to go to the funeral home and do that... And I'm taking Addy. I don't give a good god damn what anybody says about a twenty-something girl carrying a doll. I really don't.

The only problem is my Addy has only one outfit, and nothing black at all except her meet shoes. I could put a hair tie on her braid instead of the pink Build-a-Bear bow that's on it right now... But I don't think there're any black hair ties in this house. Maybe it's silly of me for wanting to give Addy something black so she can pay her respects too, as I'm the only person who'd notice it. But it means something to me.

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I like Lists

2014-01-04T07:08:08Z

So, under this cut is a list of all the patchies I can currently get to. There will be surveys linked at a later date. BUT for now. Just the list. It's a work in progress.
( Read more... )
And that's the list.

( Read more... )

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Review: The Newest Member of My Doll Collection :)

2013-12-16T20:00:56Z

Ok. Let me begin by saying I dislike perfection in dolls and in most other things... I like quality, yes. I don't like cheap Barbies (and usually don't like Barbies at all as a matter of fact), but perfection tends to turn me off faster than anything. I like wonk eye. I like dolls who have been attacked by dogs. I like frizzy hair and mats. I like to fix things, or at least give a doll a good home if I can't fix the issue on my own.

I also generally like a certain type of doll. I like some types of baby dolls, as my bunch of CPK will gladly tell you if you happened to ask them. But as for generic baby dolls, I'm not as fond. It has to be a special doll, with a lot of character before I'd think of adopting. And from what I'd read, Bitty Babies and Twins weren't a type of doll I'd normally adopt...

But the other day, I was perusing eBay, and I found a dark-haired, dark-eyed Bitty Twin. Or at least I thiiink her eyes are dark. The seller's description was absolutely hideous as far as descriptions go. The only descriptions that I find more hideous than this one are the "Please look at all photos. They give a better description than I could." ones, because frankly, looking at photos is NOT an option I have.

The seller's description said, paraphrased, "This is a collectible American Girl Bitty Twin doll. She is fully dressed, in used TLC condition." That was all right. But the next sentence made me absolutely livid. This is a direct quote. And oh look. I'll even rewrite it without the allcaps the seller used. I hate allcaps in eBay listings. "She is used and does need some TLC cause she was playing with the puppy and got her little fingers hurt(Ha,Ha)"

Now maybe I anthropomorphize my dolls too much. There're plenty of reasons for it, not the least of which is growing up on movies like The Brave Little Toaster and The Mouse and His Child.

But even without that, a nearly $100 doll getting her hand mauled by a dog is NOT a laughing matter. So, I vowed that if nobody bid, then I was going to. After all, even though I wasn't sure of my thoughts on Bitty Twins, I like brunette dolls, and other than CPK, I don't have too many. Most dolls when I was a little girl were blonde, or so it seems. And though my hair is auburn, it's darkened considerably over the years so that if you look at it in certain light, it looks brown.

The days till the end of the listing rolled by and on Wednesday, I was waiting in front of my computer as the minutes rolled down. The minutes rolled by with not a single bid. I plunked in a price one penny above starting price because $34.99 is an ugly number, and waited for someone to bid over me. Nobody did. The minutes, and then the seconds ticked down, and I had won.

Well, fast forward to this morning. My Bitty Twin came in the mail today. I accidentally slashed my finger trying to open the box with a pair of scissors (geez, Rhymer. Be more careful!), and pulled her out.

( This ) was what greeted me when I unwrapped the bubble wrap burrito. The dress is soft cotton, apparently pink, with a soft lace collar and trim around the hem (though not eyelet lace), and three hearts appliqued across the front. Under this she was wearing a pair of velvet pants I can't remember the color of, though I know a friend told me at one point from the eBay listing photo. I have strong suspicions that these two pieces don't go together, but OMG velvet pants. I love them. They have a stripe of some slicker material, a little like... hm. a little like satin though not satin down the sides of the legs of the pants. I think the stripe may be blue if I remember right.

Her hair needs a good brushing, which I haven't given it yet, and maybe a braid spraying. It's fine and silky, but it feels a bit grungy. I read my wiki, so I know she's a post-2006 Twin, which I'm happy about. I like the girls with longer hair more than the ones with the top knot. I think there's more styling options with this kind of hair.

And her right hand is pretty deeply mauled. The right pinky is bitten almost completely through, but it's still on tight enough. It won't go anywhere, but there's a physical gap between finger and hand. The next two fingers, though not as bad are heavily chewed. And there are various tooth marks all over her hand and wrist. Who, I ask you, leaves their doll down where a dog can get to her? I mean, I may have done it only once, but then it was more a case of my accidentally dropping my doll in the yard and not being able to find her, because we had a big yard back then, the dog was a puppy and I can't look around for things as you well know, and one case where I had an armload of holiday presents and dropped a doll. The first one was just a little rubber roughing (because it was a Maxi doll. Anyone remember those? Hasbro's answer to Barbie!), and the second I didn't even realize I'd dropped till halfway through the schoolday, and I'd also lost one of the presents in the yard too.) But just leaving a doll as expensive and pretty as a Bitty Twin lying around is just absolutely ridiculous. And this poor doll's been subjected to that. Ugh.

But I don't mind her hand being the way it is. It's just a scar of where she came from, not a defect. It's just something that makes her different from most Bitty Twins out there, just like my lack of eyesight makes me different. I'm just making a note of it as part of the description.

So, this weekend, while we were at Walfart, AKA the People Zoo, this weekend searching for some Giftmas gifts last minute, I discovered they had sleepers for preemies. I have a soft spot for actual infant clothing, so I bought a sleeper for my Bitty Twin. And here is a picture of her in them.
( Under here ) :D

I apologize for my picture-taking, by the way. I have an app that allows me to know through verbal feedback what I'm taking a picture of, but it has to use a digital image-finder service. This service sometimes makes guesses about what's in the picture based on obvious bits of what it "sees." So, I'm not sure if I got all of her in these pictures at all. AG are easier to take accurate pics of because they're bigger. I have a lot of trouble with taking pictures of MH dolls. I think I need to practice.

But anyhow, TL;DR, I got her. She's cute, soft, cuddly and I love her hairstyle, or will with a little brushing. Bitty Babies are still weird and their hair looks like a bad toupee according to a friend of mine, because of the way it's painted. XD. But this Twin is really freaking cute. And if anybody knows what outfits the clothes she's wearing in that first pic are from, please enlighten me. It's much appreciated.

Also, I'm thinking of calling her Milagro or Milagra. I need to find out if Milagro changes gender based upon the noun it refers to. But for those who don't know, Milagro is Spanish for miracle. And if anybody calls her Mill Agro, I will slap you silly. It's Meel-ah-gro.

Also, there will be a MH post with the paydirt I found, as soon as my mom can help me with the better pics. Ha.

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WHAAAT!

2013-12-14T02:20:07Z

Just saw Addy's Meet Dress on a blonde. With a dorky butterfly headband. NOOOOOO! Not even sure what doll that was, but it was a blonde.

Also, speaking of Miss Addy, I bought her something for giftmas. It hasn't gotten here yet, and it's not exactly historical, but it just seemed right. It's a necklace and bracelet set, and the necklace has her name on it. And I know she wanted, in the first book, to learn to write the names of her family.

But I just had to share the little blonde wearing Addy's meet dress.

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