For suspenders that meet in the back with a D or O shaped ring, you'll need: 2-4 yards of 1" thick elastic (depending on your height and weight), one d-ring or o-ring, three suspender clips, thread, a needle, and scissors. Most of this can be bought at any craft store. A d-ring or o-ring can be bought at a hardware store if you cannot find it at a fabric or craft store.. First, you'll make the back piece. Start by running one of the suspender clips about an inch up one end of the elastic. Fold the end back through the clip and then sew it in place. Sew about five stitches. You can reinforce the seam by going back through a few times if you'd like. Next, you'll want to cut the elastic about a foot up from the suspender clip. Then wrap about an inch of the open end of the elastic through the d-ring and sew it in place.  Sew about five stitches. You can reinforce the seam by going back through a few times if you'd like. Remember to make the folded over end on the right side, the same side as the back of the suspender clip. Cut two equal length strips of elastic that are as long as the length of your torso plus half the length of your torso. Slide the clips about one inch down the elastic straps. Fold the ends over and sew them in place. You'll need a friend to help you measure how much of the strap to cut off.  Attach the back suspender clip to the back of your pants and have a friend hold the d-ring in place in the middle of your back. Attach the two front clips to the front of your pants. Have your friend pull the straps back over your shoulders and to the d-ring. Mark where the front straps meet the ring. Cut the front straps an inch or two away from the mark, to give it some slack. Pull an inch of the open ends of the two front straps through the top of the d-ring. Sew each of them in place. Sew about five stitches. You can reinforce the seam by going back through a few times if you'd like.

Summary: Gather your materials. Attach one of the suspender clips. Attach the d-ring. Attach two more suspender clips to two new elastic strips. Cut the elastic straps in the front down to size. Attach the front straps to the d-ring.


Coursera, Khan Academy, and FutureLearn have well developed online classes. You can take engaging courses on astronomy, the history of the universe, and the formation of the solar system. New courses are posted frequently, so check back often. With frequent postings, you can keep up to date on the latest space news and insightful commentary. There are many out there, but some popular ones are the Planetary Society, Explore Deep Space, and the NASA blog. There are apps that help you identify stars in the night sky, allow you to track satellites, and look out for solar flares, amongst other things. Check out NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge, ISS Spotter, and Star Chart. The USA, Russia, Japan, China, India, and several other countries have active space programs. While human travel to space is mostly restricted to the International Space Station, rovers and satellites are being launched to planets and moons in the solar system. There are also plans to send humans to Mars in the 2030s.  NASA plans to launch a new robotic science rover to Mars in 2020. It will conduct further research on the red planet and answer key questions about the possibility of life on Mars.  Stay informed of everything that is sent into space. Launches are very frequent, sending up satellites and supplies for the International Space Station. For the complete schedule, check out: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=space.reddit@gmail.com&mode=AGENDA&pli=1. Check out the work of Space X. This private company is building and testing a fleet of spaceships that aims to create a space tourism industry, holds contracts with NASA, and wants to build a colony on Mars.

Summary: Utilize online learning websites. Read blogs about space. Download space apps to your phone. Keep up to date on current space exploration.


Understanding how light is hitting your subject is the most important factor in making your painting look three-dimensional. Light value areas are most directly facing the light source. There are two types of medium value areas:  Planes of the form that are turning away from the light and about to go into shadow. Light is bouncing off of objects behind the subject and hitting them from the opposite side, but much less strongly than the direct light. This is called “reflected light.” Dark value areas are where the least amount of light is shining on the subject because the planes of the form are tangent to the light sources, so they aren’t getting light from either the front or back. They occur between medium value areas and are called “core shadows." Mix 4 neutral (gray) values: light, medium, dark and a background value. Don’t try to perfectly match any values because this under-painting will be completely covered by the final colors. The different value areas are only an organizational tool. Apply the values using the sketch as a guide. Working with only four values makes this step simple and fast. Use a large brush. If you have trouble placing the medium values, try painting only light and dark first before adding medium. Step back 10 feet/3 meters from the painting to get an overall impression. The painting should begin look like a three-dimensional form with light shining on it.

Summary: Identify basic light, medium, and dark value areas in the reference. Paint in the basic values on your under-structure sketch.


A sound map of the file will appear in Audacity's main display.  The file will be called lame_enc.dll for Windows and libmp3lame.so for Macintosh.  You will only be asked to do this the first time you use the Export as MP3 option. If you are converting a .wav file to .mp3 specifically to be able to play the file in iTunes then the iTunes music folder is an ideal location for the converted file.
Summary: Download the appropriate LAME MP3 encoder. Unzip the archived LAME folder and remember its location. Download and open the free cross-platform Audacity. Select the File and choose the Open option. Locate the desired WAV file on your computer's hard drive. Select the File tab and choose the Export as MP3 option. Respond to the prompt by finding the MP3 encoder where you just chose to unzip it. Select the location you would like your converted MP3 file to appear in and rename the file if necessary.