Miscelleny

[awanderingbard]

I've been working on my family tree over the past year, and this week my aunt sent some old family photos to add. Mum and I got a huge kick out of them, but this one in particular made me laugh:



(click to make it bigger)

It's a picture of my mother's mother and her family (my nana is the little girl on the far left). Doesn't it look like the ominous photo at the beginning of a horror film of the Family That's Never Aged? Well, actually, I've never seen a horror film. But I still say it looks like they're contemplating killing the photographer.

In other project news, I've been building Q a flat. My characters are doing a lot of moving around in my story and I was having trouble keeping the layout clear in my head. So I built the flat. Then I went obsessively a little bit overboard decorating. It's fun! It reminds me of building scenes in Poser, only without wanting to throw things across the room in frustration. If anyone's interested, take a look below the cut.





(click and they get bigger)

The lights render wonky, and I'm not sure what's up with the random black dots in the computer room, but I'm still pretty pleased. The scale looks funny because the windows are huge. If it helps you, a whole Cumberbatch could fit in them with a few feet to spare.



My story is written now, mostly. I just have to polish off the ending (why are they so hard?) and do some clean-up work on it.

Comments

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Genealogy can be really really fun and interesting. It's been a hobby of mine on and off for years. I haven't come across too many photos since I'm mostly using records as they come online, but the few I've had all have a bit of that sort of ominous feel to them. Not sure why. :)

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

What did you use to make the flat again? That looks so cool.

As for the photo, I think everyone has one of those 'death glare' photos somewhere - it's worse if it's a wedding photo!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I have a "kill the photographer" photo of me in my wedding album. I did not want that to be included, but I was outvoted by Brilliant Husband—and my dad.

They do kind of have a Wednesday Addams vibe to them all!

I love the flat, especially the loft bed. (Does he need curtains?)

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

I love it! I find it really interesting to go through all the old records and find people. It's like a treasure hunt. My aunts and uncle have been working on my mum's side for a while now, and they've gotten all the way back to the 1400s for one branch. It's very cool. My dd's side is much harder, though. They came from Barbados and the records there are sketchy.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

It's called Sweet Home 3D. It's free. Most of the objects in the flat didn't come with the programme, though. They are third party items, but free as well. It's a lot of fun and very easy to use. You can even put in floor plans and trace over them to get a proper scale 3d version, which I've used a couple of times to get an idea of dimensions in London flats and houses.

It's rather addictive.

Yeah, no one ever looks happy in old wedding photos. It must not have been seemly.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

LOL! There's one of my mum and dad at their wedding, and he looks like he's going to pass out. I guess it was super hot the day they married, and my dad minds the heat a lot. He didn't faint, but my mum says the vicar kept edging away because the groom in the wedding before theirs DID pass out, and he was afraid my dad would fall on him.

I think it's the deep set eyes casting weird shadows. It makes them look sort of gaunt and haunted.

He probably should have some curtains, but I didn't notice them in the model library until I wass building John a flat. He has curtains!! Plus, those are seriously some big ass windows. I think the curtains would have to be custom made and he probably has a stick to open and close the middle section. I have him In sort of industrial loft setting.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

For my own family I can only get back to mid-late 1800s, when they came to the US or in very few cases, their parents because of sketchy records and not knowing other languages and lack of accessible records online from those areas.

But my husband's family is much more traceable. On his mom's side they came from Quebec and the church records there (when readable) are AMAZING. (I love how it'd say X, son of Y and Z, was married to 1, daughter of 2 and 3 or that #, son of X and 1 was baptized, it proves the lineage that way.) I can definitely trace him to up to 11 generations back to the early 1600s to the parents of those who first came to Canada all the way back then (and other lines to 9 or 10 generations back). And I haven't finished. :)

[aelfgyfu_mead]

At least John gets curtains!

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

And blinds. He has blinds too.

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Aww, that’s a nice genealogy photo. It’s great to see the family resemblances in everyone’s features and expressions. (They do look a bit impatient, though—maybe it took the photographer a long time to set up? I don’t know how long photography took back then!)

Oooh, and Q’s flat is amazing! All those bookshelves and computer monitors! I love his loft sleeping area.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

My family Is largely Québécois as well. Both my parents were born in Quebec, though my dad is English Canadian. My mum's family came over with Samuel de Champlain to settle Canada, though. Another branch came up as Empire Loyalists. Lots of cool stuff to explore, there. And the names are awesome.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if photography was very expensive then, and so it was a very formal, serious occasion because of that.

Thank you! It's enormous fun to do. I'm working on John and Sarah's place and John's Hiatus flat, too. It's quite addictive. It's like making fanart for yourself, :-p