This is not the post I had planned on writing about our bookshelf. I had planned on writing about how we went to look at this flat just for fun and, you know, scope out the neighbours. I was going to write about how, when we entered the living room, I looked at the wall and said «That needs a bookshelf. With a sliding ladder». I was then going to write about how we planned and built it. I even had Øyvind starting on writing about the technical process. The part with LEDs, RaspberryPi, Neopixels and wiring and whatnot. And about how he’s managed to program the thing.
I had planned on starting with the planning. Just writing this cute story in logical parts showing off our amazing shelf. But no. I’ll just begin with the current end instead.
This Wednesday, 7. october, we were sitting on the sofa, relaxing. Øyvind was playing with the shelf again, and suddenly I saw a working snake moving across it. I Instagrammed it (because holy fuck, that’s awesome), and thought nothing else of it.
Because snake. OMG. Øyvind wasn’t too happy. This was just a very crude rough draft, after all. He wanted smoother animation, joystick compatibility and less bugs before he showed this to anyone. Sorry, honey.
I got, as I usually do when I post anything involving our shelf, a few likes and «awesomes» from friends. I have plenty geeky ones with a great understanding of how awesome this thing is. I went to bed, got up, got a message from a friend about how I should look at the front on imgur. Someone had found the video on Facebook and posted it on there. The day got even weirder when I had managed to talk to both TV2 and Dagbladet (both national media) about the shelf before I entered at work. Øyvind wasn’t too keen on letting people use the video until we had done a better one (Hmmmmmm), but now it had already kinda gone viral, so why not. We let them have it, and I told the story (so far). In Norwegian: TV2.no. Dagbladet.no.
My internet blew up. And somehow I still managed to get work done. Wow. So, after a long day at work I came home, dressed myself up in the prettiest pink skirt ever and went to the opening of a shop next door. I came in the door at home to see an Øyvind keen on making a new video, now that he’d fixed (most of) the kinks and made it playable with an xbox-controller! OMG! And he even managed to make a killscreen! Come look! I sat down. Half complaining I weren’t wearing a tiara with my get-up (because, you know, important stuff requires tiaras).
So I played. And I died. And I cursed. And I played more. And then I died again. And then my heart stopped beating. And there was a box. With a ring. With a blue stone.
…I said yes.
Well, I actually said «OMGILOVEYOU» and some other high-pitched noises before throwing myself around him. But it meant «yes».
This is the video I posted on Instagram/Facebook to show what had just happened:
Sooooo, I said Yes. En video publisert av Nadia Tokerud (@nakrissimo)
Yeah. Apparantely this had been the plan all along.
This morning, I gave the rest of the video to Dagbladet.no, for their follow-up (I think the journalist was almost as amazed as I am of this whole thing).
I brightened it up a bit and put it on youtube:
In case you didn’t get that:
He proposed through our effin’ bookshelf!
Øyvind built the shelf, he planned out and installed the LEDs, he hooked up the RaspberryPi, made the thing work so he could program a playable version of snake, and fucking proposed through a killscreen. Because that’s how he rolls.
Sorry about that vertical video syndrome, by the way. I blame Øyvind. I think he was stressed out for some reason?
Anyways, I told Dagbladet the box with the ring was hidden between Batman and the Joker.
I wasn’t lying, was I? There it is, Behind the Joker, between the other Joker and Batman.
So, that’s how the story of our bookshelf starts. Or ends. Well, ends for now. We’re not tearing it down or moving any time soon. I promise to show the process of building this monster properly some other time. For now, here’s a ring comparison for you while I sign off.
See what he did there? Huh?
For those curious: My ring has a blue sapphire stone and is made of white gold. He knew I find most diamonds boring <3
Again, to everyone: Thank you for all your kind words and the gratulations we get! We couldn’t possibly be happier!
Now, how does one do this wedding-thing?
My daughter saw your post and asked me to make something similar for her wedding reception. It was difficult to solder together, but worth it. Thank you for the wonderful idea, and congratulations! See result at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHYLIjwp1EE
Awesome result! This is why I love the internet, people getting inspired and building on each others ideas.
My fiancé also did plenty of soldering – seems like that’s the part that requires the most time.