Leggings are pants too

The best pants may still be no pants. But leggings come right after!

If you're wondering, my new favorite leggings are from Suckers Apparel who were so sweet to ship to Europe even though they officially don't (yet).

This is important.

In my defence, I had a 78 hr working week.

If you also follow my Ask-Ephi tumblr: SORRY! Trying to turn the hiddlesvolume down. A little. It's hard.

Google forgot me (I hope)

Many of you have noticed that this blog has been set to "private" for quite a while now. I do not want to get too elaborate here but due to some sort of unfortunate accident Google found out about my full "real-life" name. This caused me a lot of sweat and made me think about what I want to be public about myself, whether I should start a new blog and/or "self-censor" my comics a bit more... I know that - even though I love to be very open with my comics and pictures - I'm somehow not so comfortable with the thought of my boss reading that I waxed my pussy for a BDSM party.
To cut a long story short, the wonderful people at femgeeks provided me with a lot of helpful information and also with kind, consoling words. In the end, a miracle happened and I actually found what linked my name to my blog and was able to remedy that connection... and after a while Google forgot about that link (I hope foreverandever).
So, yay! E*phi=log will be back! Thanks again to my femgeeky heroines (and sorry if I wasn't able to reply to every single one of you! You're in my heart and your help is so much appreciated!!)

Derby Nerdism

Since I was ill this weekend (and couldn't go to derby practice *cry*) I had plenty of time getting bored of lying around in my bed and looking for my good old polymer clay (which gets totally hard and crumbly if you don't store it well, kids! Learn from my mistaken life.). This is based on my actual skates (size is approximately half a thumb - I mean the part above that joint. You know what I mean. Maybe.):

I also scanned some quick'n'dirty sketches which I did at SKOD in Gent (I didn't draw as much as I had planned though - was too busy being all excited and screaming my heart out for the Bombshells and stuff.)

Woaaahhh~ I can't draw in caaarssss... *wibblywobbly*

Alternative power source

Music is what keeps me running...

Music and silly gifs.

Boobs'n'Butt Pose demystified!

Fun stuff from newbie training: butt radar!
It basically works like this: You're looking back and moving your ass wherever the jammer behind you is.
I think this gave me deep insights...

Strong female characters (all) seem to have had a formative roller derby past!

✿✿✿ Yes, bitchuuus - track your enemies with ur butt, totally helps! ✿✿✿

Alternative wedding plans

You know, if my very ambitious wedding doesn't work out (e.g. in lack of a willing lesbian pirate from outer space), I guess this would do as my backup plan:

Not sure if you can even see, but some of the guest in the background come from here (just in case you didn't get the reference in the first place). And this is were I got the cake (which is very much hidden in the right corner).

Did I mention that I love my new tablet?

Internet problems

I'm afraid I really do this.

Soldier on

Made this postcard for an especially awesome lady. Hope it will please her. <3

Must have seen worse

Some of you may know that I had some serious computer problems. In the end, I had to seek out a service station...

What did he expect me to say? "Oh noes, that little shit of my pony-lovin' sister hacked my computer again!!!"? I entered into My Little Pony drawing contests before I could even write my own name. Not gonna betray my beloved childhood heroines!

I do change my favorite desktop backgrounds every once in a while. Another one I really love is my Dresden Codak wallpaper, for example.

The hairy horror

One of the things I like best about Kate is that her comics are so extremely relate-able. After seeing this one, I just had to add my "favorite" version:

Granny or not, hair or piercings, tattoos or ass-size: stop telling people how you'd prefer them to look (or live)! After all, you've got your own body to play around with according to your tastes.

Also: I'm (almost) sorry, granny, but none of my manifold goals in life involve marriage. Although... if I do get married some day it will be to a lesbian pirate from outer space. I will make my own wedding dress out of bubble wrap and there will be a huge vegan cake made from vanilla custard and liquorice decorated with very salmiak-y little figures of ponies and Battle Star Galactica characters. Guests will be required to not shave their legs for at least two months in advance and people who forget about this will be covered in cotton candy and chocolate sprinkles to emulate the respective hair.

Yoga Chick to the rescue!

I know I'm not the first one to criticize superheroine anatomy. I'm also aware of the fact that in terms of anatomy I'm not exactly one to talk. But that spineless-boobs-and-ass-thing is just outright ridiculous.

So, go take some basic anatomy lessons, superhero-comics people! Or just, you know, throw a glance at an actual real woman once. 

PS: I want to add that not all female superheroes are badly drawn, of course. (I only say: Batwoman!!)

PPS: You may have guessed. This is the true reason I'm doing yoga.

A little guide to how to make your feminist friends (or members) happy

First of all, I want to say sorry to my international readers for that these comics are in German (I will provide English transcriptions underneath each comic). This is due to the fact that in the German language there (often) is a noticeable difference between masculine and feminine nouns and this is what this comic is about (partly). It is also about how embarrassingly unusual it still seems to be - even in an academic context - to include the female (identified) half of the population. And it shows that even linguistic inclusion does not always translate into actual inclusion.
Don't get me wrong. Fortunately, there are already several attempts/programs to support women's participation in so-called MINT subjects (Mathematics, Informatics, Natural Sciences, Technology). I do appreciate these efforts but I think it's equally important that these women become "visible" through an appropriate use of language. Because language is not "just words". Words do not only reflect who we are and what is important to us, they also shape our everyday reality. So let's make use of that positive feedback of words and actions - YAY!

I'm looking forward to times when I won't get all excited about something like a "progressive" folder that once doesn't forget to mention 50% of the world's population.

Translation:

Panel 1: "What's this? From the GDCh*?"

Panel 2: "Oh, an invitation... lecture... and commemorative plaque."

Panel 3: "bla... (male and female) scientists decorated in ceremonial act... WOW! How progressive..."

Panel 4: So far: (list of names)

Translation:

Panel 1: "For all non-chemists: the GDCh is the Society of German Chemists* (male form only)."

Panel 2: "Yep. Exactly. And I'm a member nonetheless."

Panel 3: "(Gender) Never has been a problem."

(* this is a direct translation. Interestingly, the English version of their website says "German Chemical Society" which is wonderfully inclusive of all genders.)

Recovery

Sorry for the infrequent updates. Unfortunately, it's not only that I'm currently busy with commission work for a project I'm really excited about (amongst other stuff), but also my SSD drive has been driving me crazy (impairing my very important work and cutting me off from the net - ARGH!!). It was (or is? I'm still regarding the present peace with suspicion...) an odyssey (at the least).
Anyways. If you've ever been in the painful position of having to recover your system using a USB surf stick as your doorway to The Amazing Internets you know what I've gone through...

Also, here's me as frustrated pony:

On the bright side of things, I got a lot done during that time of surf stick agony. For example, I sew a cover for my e-book reader, tidied up my flat, ate a lot of liquorice and finally drew some comics I've been wanting to do for a while, so be prepared and stay tuned. ;)

CoE - sketchy nominations

Still deadly busy even in my "free" time, organizing my travels and fighting rabies and stuff. But I know I've got the bestest readers in the whole universe and you'll all be understanding! To give you a little something to look at in the meantime, here's another diary thingy and some more pages of the not-so-top-secret-anymore sketchy sketchbook:



And this is what happens everytime I visit the park or any other public place to try sketch real people:

Sketchbook Project - it will be done, I swear!

Of course, I could have just sent it in with a few empty pages, but what are all-nighters for if not for a good sketchy cause?

Cover:

"First" page:
(people can - and hopefully will - insert there own "screens" into the transparent pocket!)

Back:

And the cover as a whole:

If you want more detail, just click the images and you'll be beamed to my flickr (there's a dedicated set for my Sketchbook Project, in case you haven't noticed!).
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to bed... wait, no. Work. Knew there was something else. Dang.

Happy Holidays...

... everybody (no matter what you're celebrating - be it Christmas or just life in general)! I might be a bit late with this... but better late than never I guess.

That's the 10 minutes "X-mas card" I made for my colleagues at uni. I'll draw a (proper) card for the first one who can tell me what this is ;D (please deposit your guess in the comment section).

Half a meter of giraffe spots

Do you recognize them? Last week, a very good friend (whom you really should visit on flickr if you like excellent photos) mentioned that he'd love to have a bigger version of this to decorate his room. I love friends making remarks like that shortly before their birthday. He-he. (Don't ask how long it took me to crosshatch half a meter of giraffe spots though...)

Oh, by the way, I'm now officially "Diplom-Ingenieurin of technical chemistry". Just in case anybody cares. Most probably not (which I truly understand). What some of you probably will care about is that all this retained crazy creative energy will want to discharge somehow which might lead to an increase of drawings and posts here. That doesn't mean I was able to completely suppress the urges during the last stressful days though (hellooo sleepless nights).
This is what I wore for my presentation and exam (in addition to unbelievably serious clothes, of course):

(It's the structures of the two imidazoline nitroxides I was working with and one of my EPR spectra. Just in case you wanted to know.)

And here's my little red dyke-y riding hood. She found herself a decent mobile home on my bag:

CoE - Nintendo knitting and tigertea

I sure do love baked pumpkin. Vienna's election results: not so much. Sometimes I feel so deeply ashamed for the stupidity pool of this country.


Also, I invented a new rule: if my supervisor doesn't have to shave, I don't have to either (and I still believe my way was much easier!).
Furthermore: Fuck YEAH, tigertea!

E*phi makes things

My other (relatively new) passion: Making polymer clay jewelry!
Just in case you find anything you'd like to buy, please contact me and I'll put it on my etsy shop. Also, if you would like anything customized or have any special wishes you feel I could fulfill - I'm always happy to take commissions! ♥

Food with a face: I love it! (No riceballs suffered to make these! Only 100% cheery, 100% vegan free-range creatures bred on my desk.)


I'm a bit obsessed with video games and all things geeky, in case you haven't noticed by now...


Afraid of leaving home without candy? Solution: Cake around your neck or cookies dangling from your ears!


Pendants for a sweet start into icecream season: (FINALLY!)


Kitschy earrings I made for my mom. These are the finickiest fimo things my little stubby fingers have ever battled with:


And some work in progress: