Endless

Beaded Mobius Strip on Etsy

My sister had her baby daughter at 4am this morning. At the risk of sounding sentimental, it's brought home the idea of family continuation--here's this little tiny thing (tiny PERSON) who will live and grow and have children of her own, and our family and our genes will continue into eternity.

Assuming 2012 is nothing special, and that we don't accidentally destroy the world before then, of course.

One Sided Fun

Beaded Mobius Strip

This was the first mobius strip that I made...for sale. 

I'm always surprised at how easy these are to make.  It feels like they should be far more complicated than putting one twist in a circle--but they aren't.

I also wish they were more useful. 

I've personally always envisioned them as part of the geek's prerequisite collection of puzzles, games and curiosities. I have a friend who's got a whole tray of them that sits in a corner, and whenever there's people over at his place, they help keep the conversation lively.  Someone picks up a puzzle and everyone has to put in their ideas about how to solve it--or there's a few toys that seem to defy the laws of physics.  A beaded optical illusion would fit right into a cluster of curios like that.

But aside from a passing mention at what passes for a cocktail party among geeks ("game night"), I'm not really sure what you can do with these clever little things.  They aren't long enough for a bracelet, but are too big for a ring.  You could stick a chain through one and call it a necklace, but they seem a bit heavy for that.

I did like my Christmas suggestion of suggesting drunken relatives untwist it.  I thought that was clever.  And if there aren't any drunken relatives around, perhaps a blond would suffice?

Deja Vu

Christmas Mobius Strip

I've actually had one strong experience of Deja Vu. I've had others every so often, but this practically amounts to a prophetic dream.

Christmas is always a stressful time of year for everyone, and especially for me.  Several years I've found myself crying on or before Christmas for no apparent reason--or for really stupid reasons that were really just the last straw. I do this around my birthday, too, so I think it has some connection to me expecting too much and then not getting it, even if that doesn't quite explain why I cry before the holiday... 

Anyway, the point is that when I'm stressed I tend to dream about the thing I'm stressed about. Not always, and occasionally well after the fact, but one year I dreamed a few days before Christmas that my aunt would stand in the middle of the room and ask 'who's going to clean up this wrapping paper' or something to that extent, and then, on Christmas, she did.

 

Clearly I should be declared the next oracle of Delphi--although I'll pass on the volcano fumes, which are just unnecessary.

Although a more scientific mind would tell you that this has more to do with traditions and the fact that Christmas always happens the same way.  We go to my grandparents, socialize awkwardly until all the attending relatives are present, read the Bible Story, con the youngest child into handing out the gifts, throw all the wrapping paper on the floor and leave the mature among us to clean it up--mature people like my aunt, who puts it in garbage bags, or like my grandparents who throw it all in the fire.

We then socialize awkwardly with whichever relatives we deem worthy of talking to (for example I've an uncle who never talks to anyone female, and I prefer to avoid several of my cousins) until it's time for dessert. I can also assure you that at some point someone will turn on the TV because you can't sit in a room with a TV off, and that I'll probably pick up a book at least once.

If we're lucky we'll get enough people together to play a game, but if we're unlucky it'll be Spoons.

And since this is the way that every Christmas has ever gone, with a few alterations based on ages, is it any wonder that I dreamed what would come to pass?

It's like an endless loop of tradition and habit that goes round and round and--hey! just like a mobius strip!

Endless Christmas Fun

Christmas Mobius Strip

Well, I couldn't find my Lego Santa, so this Lego mini-me will have to do.

In some respects, these mobius strips are just a failed bracelet; they're what I make when I run out of beads before reaching acceptable bracelet length (although I started this one knowing I didn't have enough beads), but on the other hand I think that they are fun little things in and of themselves.  Generally you see mobius as quickly cut paper, so any geek should be proud to have a beaded one sitting next to his perpetual motion machine.

I've also found awkward-looking mobius scarves on Etsy, uncomfortable-looking rings and a few things that don't look one-sided at all.  Some people seem to think it's anything with a twist in it, which it's not.

This particular mobius strip is extra-complicated because the pattern is...NUTS. It's another one that looks simple but isn't, and actually I didn't have enough beads to finish the pattern to a repeat, so there's a secret involved in this strip, which you can only find by closely studying it.  I feel it adds to the 'endless fun' quality of the strip.

In case you've forgotten or didn't know, I'm having a holiday giveaway over at the AmysintheArts blog--head over there for details on how to win a $15 gift certificate to my shop (just enough to buy a lovely mobius strip!)