don't call me cougar

school has been keeping me pretty busy, so i haven't been creating much, but the itch has been growing. i decided that over christmas break, i'd either start a new lego project, or write down my latest script idea. well, legos won out when i decided to put together a lego version of the wsu cougar logo and donate it to the school.

this was gonna be an easy one. i did a pencil sketch on some butcher paper, then taped it to a sheet of pressed board. then i attached a rail at the bottom of the image and started stacking, building it from the bottom up. it didn't take nearly as long as i thought it would; in fact, i had it finished the day after christmas. it is approximately 34"x34".

the picture below isn't quite as sharp, but you can see the text in the corners better; it is indented, rather than a different color, as i didn't want to clutter the image. the red bricks are raised from the surface of the white background, adding depth and texture.

it says, "tri-cities" in the upper left corner, since i wanted it to go specifically to the richland campus, and there is a "2011" in the lower right corner, as that was the year i made it. however, i've had a couple of people tell me i should change it to 2012, since that is the year i will be donating it. i've been thinking about it, but i think i'm going to stick with the original year, since a) if i donated a picasso to the school, no one would expect it to be updated, and b) it would be a pain in my ass to change it. and i am usually ruled by my own convenience.

now i just need to get it framed and contact the university. i couldn't find anything at all about donations on the wsu website, but i've been told i should be able to find something through the alumni association. i am excited at the prospect of donating my work to my university. i've never been a team player, and am not really interested in going for any of the extra-curriculars or being involved in school government; leave that to the kids. i want to show my school support, but in my own way. i figure any of the hard science departments would love having a lego cougar, or if the university wanted, they could auction it off.

doing this project was an impulse, and probably not a very bright one. the legos and materials cost around $300, and considering i am unemployed, i would have been better served saving that money. but what can i say, once i get an idea in my head, it can be hard to shake it. i like giving things. it makes me feel good.

i also take a great deal of tactile pleasure out of manipulating my legos. once the project was finished, i decided to finally start keeping an inventory of my legos on the computer; organizing my bricks and creating the excel sheet to track my usage was extremely satisfying to my inner autistic.

it would be easy-peasy for me to duplicate this particular piece, if any alums or coug fans wanted one.

lego clock designs

summer before last, when i was struggling with hip issues, unemployed, and desperate, a couple of friends of mine got married. i very much wanted to get them something nice, but had zero dollars to spend. now, quite a few years back, i had made myself a clock made out of legos, just for fun, and it was hanging in the living room; i had received many compliments on it over the years. it suddenly occurred to me that i could make them a lego clock as well. i already had the legos and the clockwork i would need, so it wouldn't cost anything out of pocket, which was a plus; it was something they would find useful, always a plus, and it would be uniquely custom-made, yet another plus. so i made 'em a clock; it was similar to this one.

 i left the wedding before they opened gifts, but apparently, my clock was the hit gift of the night; two other people requested clocks of their own. long story short, i ended up selling a half-dozen clocks that summer, and gave away at least that many; parent's anniversary, sister's and friend's birthdays, my niece's wedding, even the red cross.  i experimented with  a few different shapes, patterns, and designs, as you can see.

but once i used up most of my lego inventory, i realized that selling them wasn't very lucrative, even at $50 each. each clock used around $40 worth of legos, clockwork, and other materials, and considering each one took 2-3 hours, that wasn't much of a return on my time. then i had my surgery, and everything else fell together, and the legos got put back in the closet.

 then last summer, i started goofing around with my legos again just for fun, and i came up with what i consider a pretty unique design for a clock, lego-wise; you can see what i mean below.

the legos are stacked in a stair-step pattern, rather than vertically or horizontally. remember the old video game q-bert? see the resemblance?

i showed a couple of friends of mine what i had come up with, and immediately got another clock request/order, which was cool. my clocks don't make me much money, but i enjoy making them for people i like. anyway, i'm pleased with the look of the new design, and intend to explore it more; i have more bricks on order. there are so many possibilities with patterns and such, and the hexagonal overall structure lends itself well to a clock face. of course, it would be worth my time if i could charge $80-$100 per clock, but who would pay it? ah well, the story of my life; so few are willing to pay me what i think i am worth . . . lol