Journal entry for August 20, 2001

Today's summary: My lifecycle idea for the insects.

I'd have an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and an adult butterfly-type all in the same display case. The egg could be a little hexnut screwed down. The caterpillar would basically be a coil with needles/tinyblades, eyes, feet. Or I could make the caterpillar out of a hacked-up wire brush, so it would be fluffy yet metal. I would probably combine fluff with spines though (of course!)...

The chrysalis (this is the part of the idea that I like best) could be a mostly-constructed butterfly, wings and everything... then I fold it down so the wings are all together, and mummify it with thin wire. Just enough wire to express the shape thoroughly, but have it still be visible.

Or possibly I should reserve the wire-mummifying for a spider-caught-insect tableau later on, and shrink-wrap or plastic-wrap the chrysalis. I can't think of any really archival transparent materials I could use, offhand, though. Maybe some sheer polyester fabric (but that's unlikely to keep a springy folded-up insect contained). Probably a fine, open metal mesh would work best... I've seen some places that sell copper and brass mesh, too, and it's nice and moldable.

I really do think better when I'm writing stuff down, sometimes -- that's why I've been trying to keep a journal online.