WEEKEND UPDATE - This is gonna be a short one. However, I believe it is directly in proportion with how interested in my life you really are...so...no harm, no foul.
Friday: Meh.
Saturday: Meh.
Meh + Steak = Yay!
Yay! + Migraine= BOO!
Sunday: Meh.
Meh + Family = Yay!
Yay! + Headache again = Inability to make my blog interesting.
Friday, September 28, 2007
RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING
1)Yipes, my hands hurt. I've been working for the past couple of days on learning how to make "standees" for the concession stand at the SpRocket haunted house thing. I've never made anything like them before, and trying to figure out how to make them stand up is killing me. I have spent two hours this morning just cutting out the Creature from the Black Lagoon. That hastared has scales. SCALES, I say! I've been laying on my floor (yuck) cutting around the thing with an exacto knife and I managed to mangle the backing board that it's attached to. SIGH. Oh well, other than that, I'm very proud of the way they are turning out! I had to digitally airbrush them (which took days) and if I do say so, they look really nice! I'll try and post a picture of them once they are done since I know you are dying to see them. Right? : )
2) I saw one of the movies from the Grindhouse double feature the other day and I was surprised that I liked it so well! "Death Proof" was the one we got and it was...weird. Of course, Quentin Tarintino is an odd duck, but this one was all over the place. There is one scene in it that had me balled up in one corner of the couch in complete and utter disbelief, though. There is a car crash scene that is so *gulp* detailed that I'm probably scarred for life. It was just as bad as the scene in Final Destination where you are inside the plane as it explodes, only this was being inside the car during the accident. It was all slow-mo and in loving detail. *shudder* Excepting that, it was a really good movie.
3) Oh! I haven't mentioned anything about Sara, my friend who got the transplants! She is doing much better and her insides are doing almost all of the things insides are supposed to do! She will still have to have a couple of operations (BOO!) but from what I understand they aren't nearly as severe as the others. So keep on praying for her and keep your fingers crossed for her, too!
1)Yipes, my hands hurt. I've been working for the past couple of days on learning how to make "standees" for the concession stand at the SpRocket haunted house thing. I've never made anything like them before, and trying to figure out how to make them stand up is killing me. I have spent two hours this morning just cutting out the Creature from the Black Lagoon. That hastared has scales. SCALES, I say! I've been laying on my floor (yuck) cutting around the thing with an exacto knife and I managed to mangle the backing board that it's attached to. SIGH. Oh well, other than that, I'm very proud of the way they are turning out! I had to digitally airbrush them (which took days) and if I do say so, they look really nice! I'll try and post a picture of them once they are done since I know you are dying to see them. Right? : )
2) I saw one of the movies from the Grindhouse double feature the other day and I was surprised that I liked it so well! "Death Proof" was the one we got and it was...weird. Of course, Quentin Tarintino is an odd duck, but this one was all over the place. There is one scene in it that had me balled up in one corner of the couch in complete and utter disbelief, though. There is a car crash scene that is so *gulp* detailed that I'm probably scarred for life. It was just as bad as the scene in Final Destination where you are inside the plane as it explodes, only this was being inside the car during the accident. It was all slow-mo and in loving detail. *shudder* Excepting that, it was a really good movie.
3) Oh! I haven't mentioned anything about Sara, my friend who got the transplants! She is doing much better and her insides are doing almost all of the things insides are supposed to do! She will still have to have a couple of operations (BOO!) but from what I understand they aren't nearly as severe as the others. So keep on praying for her and keep your fingers crossed for her, too!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
I feel that I need to explain myself about something I've mentioned here before. I talk a lot about how one of my co-workers vexes me, and I'm afraid that it has cast me in a rather hateful light. Before any of you think I've permanently moved to PsychoHoseBeastville, I'd like to further explain myself to help you understand.
Maybe I'm being vain, but I like to think of myself as a nice person. Maybe nicer than most due to my excellent upbringing and my mother and father's advice to treat people the same way I would like to be treated. I am also an independant person who doesn't need steady streams of company to be happy. Meaning, I suppose I should elaborate, that even though I love talking to friends and being with other people, I don't need someone shoved right up my nose 24 hours a day to be happy. I am perfectly comfortable doing my own thing and entertaining myself. I have always been that way, according to my mother at least. I think it came from growing up with a severly handicapped brother who needed so much attention and a sister who my parents spent a lot of time...advising. But I digress...
My job doesn't require me to interact with people constantly and, after years of customer service based jobs, that is a blessing. One of the things I like most about my job is that I am left to my own devices and trusted to do whatever work needs to be done. When I began this job, I worked with four other people who did their own thing as well, and even though we got together and talked or joked around, eventually we all just went back to doing our own thing.
Enter the new girl. I want to make it very clear that I don't hate this person. In fact, I don't even dislike her. She's very young and sweet and she's very smart. My problem with her stems from the fact that she has no idea how to occupy herself when her task at hand is done. No matter what I'm doing, she will walk into my office and talk to me and she Won't. Go. Away. It would be one thing if she came in and talked for a few minutes and then went back to her office, but that isn't how she rolls. She has literally come into my office and talked for an hour about her daughters bowel movements. Seriously, people! I can be working, I can be on my lunch break, I can be trying to build a display and elbow deep in glue and plastic, and she'll just stand there and talk about herself until she can think of some reason to go back to work. She will come in and take things off of my desk and play with them, she has moved my furniture around, and my least favorite thing is that she will come in and walk behind my desk and either stare at what I'm doing or try and read what I'm typing! I had to tell her once to go away because she was making me nervous and I NEVER do stuff like that. She invades my personal space constantly and I'm very picky about who I let in my personal space. She has also begun bringing her finace into my office when he comes to lunch with her, and they both just hang out and mess around with things in my office. I have taken to wearing my iPod plugged into my ears all of the time in the hopes that she will see I'm otherwise engaged and not bother me, but that doesn't work either. She just walks in and starts talking! She's even sat in my office when I get phone calls and then wants to know who I was talking to.
I am VEXED! My brain tells me to just listen to her and laught at the appropriate times, but my heart tells me to pick her up and throw her off if the roof! Some people you can be honest with and just tell them to leave you alone, as I would want people to do if they felt that way about me, but she isn't one of those people. I've even told her flat out to leave me alone, but she doesn't seem to get that I'm serious. It makes me feel sick to my stomach to treat someone like that, but I'm being driven to dire straits. I suppose I'm telling you all of this because I don't want any of you to think I'm a mean person. I don't know why I should care what you think, really, but I don't want anyone to think that I feel the way I do out of sheer undeserved hatefulness. I try and be nice to everyone if I can (some exceptions apply depending on the situation, of course) but this has gotten bad for me. I'm beginning to think that Job himself would have already beaten her to death with his sandle.
So there you go. I just wanted everyone to understand where I was coming from in case I mention her again.
Whew.
Maybe I'm being vain, but I like to think of myself as a nice person. Maybe nicer than most due to my excellent upbringing and my mother and father's advice to treat people the same way I would like to be treated. I am also an independant person who doesn't need steady streams of company to be happy. Meaning, I suppose I should elaborate, that even though I love talking to friends and being with other people, I don't need someone shoved right up my nose 24 hours a day to be happy. I am perfectly comfortable doing my own thing and entertaining myself. I have always been that way, according to my mother at least. I think it came from growing up with a severly handicapped brother who needed so much attention and a sister who my parents spent a lot of time...advising. But I digress...
My job doesn't require me to interact with people constantly and, after years of customer service based jobs, that is a blessing. One of the things I like most about my job is that I am left to my own devices and trusted to do whatever work needs to be done. When I began this job, I worked with four other people who did their own thing as well, and even though we got together and talked or joked around, eventually we all just went back to doing our own thing.
Enter the new girl. I want to make it very clear that I don't hate this person. In fact, I don't even dislike her. She's very young and sweet and she's very smart. My problem with her stems from the fact that she has no idea how to occupy herself when her task at hand is done. No matter what I'm doing, she will walk into my office and talk to me and she Won't. Go. Away. It would be one thing if she came in and talked for a few minutes and then went back to her office, but that isn't how she rolls. She has literally come into my office and talked for an hour about her daughters bowel movements. Seriously, people! I can be working, I can be on my lunch break, I can be trying to build a display and elbow deep in glue and plastic, and she'll just stand there and talk about herself until she can think of some reason to go back to work. She will come in and take things off of my desk and play with them, she has moved my furniture around, and my least favorite thing is that she will come in and walk behind my desk and either stare at what I'm doing or try and read what I'm typing! I had to tell her once to go away because she was making me nervous and I NEVER do stuff like that. She invades my personal space constantly and I'm very picky about who I let in my personal space. She has also begun bringing her finace into my office when he comes to lunch with her, and they both just hang out and mess around with things in my office. I have taken to wearing my iPod plugged into my ears all of the time in the hopes that she will see I'm otherwise engaged and not bother me, but that doesn't work either. She just walks in and starts talking! She's even sat in my office when I get phone calls and then wants to know who I was talking to.
I am VEXED! My brain tells me to just listen to her and laught at the appropriate times, but my heart tells me to pick her up and throw her off if the roof! Some people you can be honest with and just tell them to leave you alone, as I would want people to do if they felt that way about me, but she isn't one of those people. I've even told her flat out to leave me alone, but she doesn't seem to get that I'm serious. It makes me feel sick to my stomach to treat someone like that, but I'm being driven to dire straits. I suppose I'm telling you all of this because I don't want any of you to think I'm a mean person. I don't know why I should care what you think, really, but I don't want anyone to think that I feel the way I do out of sheer undeserved hatefulness. I try and be nice to everyone if I can (some exceptions apply depending on the situation, of course) but this has gotten bad for me. I'm beginning to think that Job himself would have already beaten her to death with his sandle.
So there you go. I just wanted everyone to understand where I was coming from in case I mention her again.
Whew.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
WEEKEND UPDATE!
Friday: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when I read a book by or watch a movie based from a Jane Austen novel, I will think and speak (quite unconsciously) like the people in the story. It is both vexing and embarrassing because I do this at the most inopportune times.
On Friday eve, Mr. Pratt and I dined alone. We spoke little, as is our custom, and instead turned our attentions to Red Dwarf. Afterward, Mr. Pratt retired into the living room and watched other television programs that I cared not to see (as is HIS custom). I took myself into the library and watched the mini series of "Pride and Prejudice" on my Macintosh. I had received the DVD set as a gift and had not had the chance to watch it for quite some time. As the program was very long, the evening ended with my movie not yet complete. < /Austen >
Saturday: I got up fairly early on Saturday morning, unfortunately, and had to do a little bit of laundry. I let Steve sleep in because he and my dad were going down to Tuscaloosa to watch the Alabama/Georgia game that afternoon and knew he'd have a long day ahead. I watched a little more of the mini-series and then made my To Do list for the day. Boo! I was going to have to go get groceries and begin making my sister's Christmas gift, but I also needed to clean up my office that day. I always dread that chore. My office is really what used to be a dining room just off of the kitchen and it's the dumping ground for all of my art supplies, artwork, books and computer stuff. My books are all on shelves, thank goodness, but they are packed in as tight as they will go and two books deep on every shelf! My art stuff had been packed in boxes and neatly stacked against the wall at one time, but everything had kind of migrated around the room until you could barely walk. Not a fun thing to look forward to! When Steve got up, we watched a movie called "Wild Hogs" which I recommend, as it was really funny, and then Steve had to leave to pick up my dad. This was the first time they'd ever done anything manly together! So basically the man who talks the least (Steve) and the man who talks the most (my Papa) were going to spend the day together! Must have been strange for the both of them. : ) When he left I finished watching my movie, finally, and headed off into the land of mindless errands. I stopped briefly by the puppy and kitten adopt-a-thon at Petsmart, but I left when I realized I was ready to open every cage and take them all home with me. I didn't cry this time, but I hated to leave any of them behind! After everything was complete, I went home and got ready to tackle the office. I had bought some snap together shelves for the job. Nothing too fancy since I'm planning on building, or helping to build, some permanent shelves when we get a chance. It took HOURS. I was telling a friend of mine that I'm not sure what is says about a person when they have a whole room full of hobby supplies and some of them barely used. I think it means I have too many hobbies! Honestly, though, can you have too many? Really? : ) I was able to get the biggest mess off of the floor, but there is still a great deal to organize. I'm going to have to get containers to put some stuff in before I can put them on the shelves, though. Hobby crap can be small and easily lost! With that out of the way, I began working on Angie's gift and I turned the ballgame on in case I could pick out Steve and Papa. They had really good seats from what I understand, but I never saw them. Of course, I didn't watch the whole game either. I think I must be bad luck for that team, because when I had the game on Georgia would score. If I walked out of the room or turned off the TV for some reason, Alabama would score. It was weird. Of course, we all know that Georgia won, which I felt bad about because I wanted Alabama to win since my guys were there watching it. At any rate, it was over and so was I. I was falling asleep on my feet, so I took care of the beasties and went to bed. Steve got home at about 2:00 am, I think.
Sunday: Our church picnic was going to be that day, so when I got to church I began working on the food so that it would be ready when church was over. Steve and I had not planned on going this year since we were going to have company, but unfortunately our guest had a death in the family and couldn't be with us, so we went to my parent's house for lunch instead. I think we spent all of lunch talking about football, and then I went outside to watch my nephews play ball together. Of course, they had gotten into a fight over some dumb thing, so they went inside and left me to talk to the animals. Later on my mom and sister came out and we talked for a while. It was a lazy Sunday. When we got home, Steve fell asleep, so I just fooled around until he woke up. I worked on the office some more and then played around with the sewing machine for a while trying to correct a string entanglement issue I was having. I'm beginning to think that my lameness knows no bounds! I also wound up e-mailing a friend of mine to ask a stupid question because I couldn't remember the important bit of a conversation we had. I hate having a Swiss cheese memory! Of course, the only reason I felt the need to ask was because the bit I couldn't remember would have made the difference between a very sad thing and a very unimportant thing (as semantics can sometimes be important, you see) and I needed to make sure I didn't misstep. I do that too much as it is. Apparently.
Anyways, I wound up cutting my night short because I got a headache and it felt like the kind that normally turn into migraines. I went to bed before it happened, thank goodness! I have found that the only thing that will get rid of one of my migraines is the kind of pain killer that is addictive, illegal to buy without a prescription, and no longer in our possession. Well, either that or throwing up. Needless to say, I didn't want to have to deal with either of those things, so I slept. And that was my weekend.
Whee.
Friday: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when I read a book by or watch a movie based from a Jane Austen novel, I will think and speak (quite unconsciously) like the people in the story. It is both vexing and embarrassing because I do this at the most inopportune times.
On Friday eve, Mr. Pratt and I dined alone. We spoke little, as is our custom, and instead turned our attentions to Red Dwarf. Afterward, Mr. Pratt retired into the living room and watched other television programs that I cared not to see (as is HIS custom). I took myself into the library and watched the mini series of "Pride and Prejudice" on my Macintosh. I had received the DVD set as a gift and had not had the chance to watch it for quite some time. As the program was very long, the evening ended with my movie not yet complete. < /Austen >
Saturday: I got up fairly early on Saturday morning, unfortunately, and had to do a little bit of laundry. I let Steve sleep in because he and my dad were going down to Tuscaloosa to watch the Alabama/Georgia game that afternoon and knew he'd have a long day ahead. I watched a little more of the mini-series and then made my To Do list for the day. Boo! I was going to have to go get groceries and begin making my sister's Christmas gift, but I also needed to clean up my office that day. I always dread that chore. My office is really what used to be a dining room just off of the kitchen and it's the dumping ground for all of my art supplies, artwork, books and computer stuff. My books are all on shelves, thank goodness, but they are packed in as tight as they will go and two books deep on every shelf! My art stuff had been packed in boxes and neatly stacked against the wall at one time, but everything had kind of migrated around the room until you could barely walk. Not a fun thing to look forward to! When Steve got up, we watched a movie called "Wild Hogs" which I recommend, as it was really funny, and then Steve had to leave to pick up my dad. This was the first time they'd ever done anything manly together! So basically the man who talks the least (Steve) and the man who talks the most (my Papa) were going to spend the day together! Must have been strange for the both of them. : ) When he left I finished watching my movie, finally, and headed off into the land of mindless errands. I stopped briefly by the puppy and kitten adopt-a-thon at Petsmart, but I left when I realized I was ready to open every cage and take them all home with me. I didn't cry this time, but I hated to leave any of them behind! After everything was complete, I went home and got ready to tackle the office. I had bought some snap together shelves for the job. Nothing too fancy since I'm planning on building, or helping to build, some permanent shelves when we get a chance. It took HOURS. I was telling a friend of mine that I'm not sure what is says about a person when they have a whole room full of hobby supplies and some of them barely used. I think it means I have too many hobbies! Honestly, though, can you have too many? Really? : ) I was able to get the biggest mess off of the floor, but there is still a great deal to organize. I'm going to have to get containers to put some stuff in before I can put them on the shelves, though. Hobby crap can be small and easily lost! With that out of the way, I began working on Angie's gift and I turned the ballgame on in case I could pick out Steve and Papa. They had really good seats from what I understand, but I never saw them. Of course, I didn't watch the whole game either. I think I must be bad luck for that team, because when I had the game on Georgia would score. If I walked out of the room or turned off the TV for some reason, Alabama would score. It was weird. Of course, we all know that Georgia won, which I felt bad about because I wanted Alabama to win since my guys were there watching it. At any rate, it was over and so was I. I was falling asleep on my feet, so I took care of the beasties and went to bed. Steve got home at about 2:00 am, I think.
Sunday: Our church picnic was going to be that day, so when I got to church I began working on the food so that it would be ready when church was over. Steve and I had not planned on going this year since we were going to have company, but unfortunately our guest had a death in the family and couldn't be with us, so we went to my parent's house for lunch instead. I think we spent all of lunch talking about football, and then I went outside to watch my nephews play ball together. Of course, they had gotten into a fight over some dumb thing, so they went inside and left me to talk to the animals. Later on my mom and sister came out and we talked for a while. It was a lazy Sunday. When we got home, Steve fell asleep, so I just fooled around until he woke up. I worked on the office some more and then played around with the sewing machine for a while trying to correct a string entanglement issue I was having. I'm beginning to think that my lameness knows no bounds! I also wound up e-mailing a friend of mine to ask a stupid question because I couldn't remember the important bit of a conversation we had. I hate having a Swiss cheese memory! Of course, the only reason I felt the need to ask was because the bit I couldn't remember would have made the difference between a very sad thing and a very unimportant thing (as semantics can sometimes be important, you see) and I needed to make sure I didn't misstep. I do that too much as it is. Apparently.
Anyways, I wound up cutting my night short because I got a headache and it felt like the kind that normally turn into migraines. I went to bed before it happened, thank goodness! I have found that the only thing that will get rid of one of my migraines is the kind of pain killer that is addictive, illegal to buy without a prescription, and no longer in our possession. Well, either that or throwing up. Needless to say, I didn't want to have to deal with either of those things, so I slept. And that was my weekend.
Whee.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING
1) Steve and I wached the movie "300" the other night and I actually enjoyed it. It was the first time that my art history knowledge has ever helped me understand something in real life! Awesome. Also, I couldn't help but feel as if the actor who played King Leonidas looked familliar, so after some research I found he was the same guy who played the Phantom in the movie version of Phantom of the Opera. So the man can both sing and yell like a champ. Awesome #2. However, I had two problems with the movie, but they are very slight. One was his frightening abundance of teeth. The second was that the guy who played King Leonidas is Scottish, and while I normally think a Scottish accent is very sexy, in this case it made the actor sound as if he was spitting everytime he talked. Now I can't think of the word Spartan without it sounding like "SCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHPARTAN!" Good movie, though.
2) I made chocolate bread pudding last night, and it was good! I'd never had bread pudding before then. It was also one of the few times I've had all of the ingredients for something I wanted to make on the spur of the moment. Score.
3) I realized this morning that I have too much to do. So much, in fact, that I don't know where to start. Mostly it's house cleaning and Christmas stuff, but when I look at it all it just makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb. I'm going to have to go against my core of being and take it one thing at a time. I'm normally a multi-tasker, but lately that is only getting a whole lot of stuff half done. Groan.
4) I need to hold a puppy. Seriously. I don't even need to keep it or anything, I just want to hold one and snuggle with it a while. Is that too much to ask? Can a sister get a dose of puppy breath?!
5) While cleaning some stuff out of an office the other day, I found two boxes of these things called "swatch books." Basically, they are books of paper samples from different companies that graphic artists who deal with print work use as visual and tactile proofs of what something might look like when printed on. Since these were old, and since I wanted to tear them apart and make stuff out of them, I contacted two paper supply companies and asked for new swatch books to be sent to us. The books themselves are about as large as paperback novels, but not very thick since they only hold postcard sized sheets of paper - and not usually very many sheets for that matter. I got the first package in a box about the size of a small toaster and it contained about 7 little books. No big deal, right? When Mail Guy Mr. Tom brought it to my office for me to sign for, he said that I also had another package in the warehouse that he wasn't able to bring. So I assumed it was my other paper samples. It actually did turn out to be my other samples. It turned out to be 60 pounds of samples, as a matter of fact. The second paper company, which I wasn't aware was a warehouse paper supplier that deals with many, many, many different paper companies instead of just one brand, sent me what was called a Swatch Cabinet. Literally, there were dozens of little swatch books in there along with a harbacked designer catalog and print samples. Those guys don't screw around with you when you ask for paper samples from them! I spent hours yesterday organizing them. It was...tedious. Then my boss tells me that we didn't really need them since he has some swatch books in his office already. SIGH. He can bite me.
1) Steve and I wached the movie "300" the other night and I actually enjoyed it. It was the first time that my art history knowledge has ever helped me understand something in real life! Awesome. Also, I couldn't help but feel as if the actor who played King Leonidas looked familliar, so after some research I found he was the same guy who played the Phantom in the movie version of Phantom of the Opera. So the man can both sing and yell like a champ. Awesome #2. However, I had two problems with the movie, but they are very slight. One was his frightening abundance of teeth. The second was that the guy who played King Leonidas is Scottish, and while I normally think a Scottish accent is very sexy, in this case it made the actor sound as if he was spitting everytime he talked. Now I can't think of the word Spartan without it sounding like "SCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHPARTAN!" Good movie, though.
2) I made chocolate bread pudding last night, and it was good! I'd never had bread pudding before then. It was also one of the few times I've had all of the ingredients for something I wanted to make on the spur of the moment. Score.
3) I realized this morning that I have too much to do. So much, in fact, that I don't know where to start. Mostly it's house cleaning and Christmas stuff, but when I look at it all it just makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb. I'm going to have to go against my core of being and take it one thing at a time. I'm normally a multi-tasker, but lately that is only getting a whole lot of stuff half done. Groan.
4) I need to hold a puppy. Seriously. I don't even need to keep it or anything, I just want to hold one and snuggle with it a while. Is that too much to ask? Can a sister get a dose of puppy breath?!
5) While cleaning some stuff out of an office the other day, I found two boxes of these things called "swatch books." Basically, they are books of paper samples from different companies that graphic artists who deal with print work use as visual and tactile proofs of what something might look like when printed on. Since these were old, and since I wanted to tear them apart and make stuff out of them, I contacted two paper supply companies and asked for new swatch books to be sent to us. The books themselves are about as large as paperback novels, but not very thick since they only hold postcard sized sheets of paper - and not usually very many sheets for that matter. I got the first package in a box about the size of a small toaster and it contained about 7 little books. No big deal, right? When Mail Guy Mr. Tom brought it to my office for me to sign for, he said that I also had another package in the warehouse that he wasn't able to bring. So I assumed it was my other paper samples. It actually did turn out to be my other samples. It turned out to be 60 pounds of samples, as a matter of fact. The second paper company, which I wasn't aware was a warehouse paper supplier that deals with many, many, many different paper companies instead of just one brand, sent me what was called a Swatch Cabinet. Literally, there were dozens of little swatch books in there along with a harbacked designer catalog and print samples. Those guys don't screw around with you when you ask for paper samples from them! I spent hours yesterday organizing them. It was...tedious. Then my boss tells me that we didn't really need them since he has some swatch books in his office already. SIGH. He can bite me.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
I was standing in the break room trying to decide if I wanted something out of the vending machine when something strange happened. I was kind of in my own world, which we all know isn't an unusual location for me to be, when this slightly weird, middle aged, floor guide in a flight suit leans over to me and says:
"You know you're beautiful, right?"
Being ripped from my immediate conundrum of deciding between a snickers bar and a pop tart, I was confused into almost telling him the truth, but I caught myself in time so that I wouldn't sound self loathing to a total stranger. I honestly didn't know what to say. I mean, no, I don't think any such thing at all, but I also don't think I should share my own low self esteem with a veritable stranger, you know? So I said "bluh, uh...um...well. I guess so."
I'm so smooth. It's my quick wit and charm that wins people over, don't you think? Heeheehee
That was a lovely thing for someone to say and certainly something I never hear, so I was flattered. Flattered and a little creeped out. Mostly creeped out.
"You know you're beautiful, right?"
Being ripped from my immediate conundrum of deciding between a snickers bar and a pop tart, I was confused into almost telling him the truth, but I caught myself in time so that I wouldn't sound self loathing to a total stranger. I honestly didn't know what to say. I mean, no, I don't think any such thing at all, but I also don't think I should share my own low self esteem with a veritable stranger, you know? So I said "bluh, uh...um...well. I guess so."
I'm so smooth. It's my quick wit and charm that wins people over, don't you think? Heeheehee
That was a lovely thing for someone to say and certainly something I never hear, so I was flattered. Flattered and a little creeped out. Mostly creeped out.
WEEKEND UPDATE!
All in all, I had what could be considered a mellow weekend. Nothing much of note, actually happened. So I shall forgo my usual WU format and just hit the highlights. Let's go to the replay, shall we?
I suppose the most interesting thing I did this weekend was yard work and watch football. Yes, can you believe it? I did yard work! : ) Actually, that isn't so strange, but since Steve's allergies pretty much had him struggling for air, I had to do the push mower stuff and weed-whacker stuff as well. Push mowers suck, in case you didn't know that already. I accidentally mowed over two, possibly three azalea bushes and I hit the Pink Zombie growing by our stoop. No, that isn't some cleverly named rose bush or anything, but it is quite a mystery to me. Three years ago we destroyed this hateful crepe myrtle bush that grew by the front stoop. I hated the blasted thing because when it got big enough, it would flop over the railing and the big blob of flowers would smack you in the face every time you tried to get inside. It was fifty times worse when it was wet. I swear the thing was sentient. So Steve cut it down and a couple of our friends came over one day and ground the stump down and we didn't have to worry about it anymore...or so we thought. Over the years, I have planted many things in that spot that wouldn't grow, so I just figured that we would be flora-less by the stoop. Good deal. So imagine my surprise when one of the azalea plants I thought had died started coming back out. Steve and I both avoided running it over with the lawn mowers and we were excited that at least one thing I planted didn't die. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be an azalea bush, but that danged crepe myrtle rising from the dead! AHHHHHHHHH!
Anyways, things were going pretty well until I weed-whacked something that sprayed me with sticky sap that made me start itching fairly violently. Luckily whatever it was didn't make me break out or anything, but at any rate, that officially ended my desire to fool with the yard.
That afternoon I sat in the living room with Steve and watched bits and pieces of two college football games. I got to see the tail end of the Auburn game. Owing to the sensitive nature of the few Auburn fans who read my blog, I won't go into detail. I will say that I think that their quarterback reminds me of one of those superheroes that only realize they have powers during some kind of stressful moment and they don't really know how to control them just then. So they tend to overuse them and break stuff. Brandon Cox can throw! It just doesn't seem to make it to whom he intends it to go. However, he's cute, so that makes up for a great deal of evils in my book. At one point I had to remind Steve that I knew enough about football - and math- that I understood what a two point conversion would mean, score wise. I think he forgets sometimes that after going to nearly every high school football game for 8 years (yeah, marching band nerd, represent!) and that my dad, uncle, and two of my closest male cousins played and talked football all of my life, so I picked up a few things along the way. : ) The Alabama game was a little better, only their quarterback wasn't as cute. When Steve started throwing stuff, I retired to one of the back rooms to read until everything was safe. He got disgusted at some point and turned it off. I was the one who told them that Alabama won, when I ran across the score later that night. He was happy. I was just happy he wasn't throwing stuff anymore.
At some point during these games I got bored and did a little family history research online. Specifically, I was hunting up one of my great, great... well, many greats, grandfather who was a Cherokee. I have always wished that I knew more about my native American heritage, and really I only know my family tribe and my great (to whatever power) grandfather's name, Old Tassel. Turns out he was Chief of the Tsalagi, a Peace Chief, and the uncle of Sequoyah - so I'm related to the guy who invented the Cherokee alphabet. Neato. Apparently Old Tassel was murdered by settlers when he was in his 50's, so that kind of sucks. Anyways, I'm going to do more research and see what I find. I've always wanted to know about my family history, so this seems like a good enough place to start!
Well, that is all, friends. Come back another time for another exciting episode of - ME!
All in all, I had what could be considered a mellow weekend. Nothing much of note, actually happened. So I shall forgo my usual WU format and just hit the highlights. Let's go to the replay, shall we?
I suppose the most interesting thing I did this weekend was yard work and watch football. Yes, can you believe it? I did yard work! : ) Actually, that isn't so strange, but since Steve's allergies pretty much had him struggling for air, I had to do the push mower stuff and weed-whacker stuff as well. Push mowers suck, in case you didn't know that already. I accidentally mowed over two, possibly three azalea bushes and I hit the Pink Zombie growing by our stoop. No, that isn't some cleverly named rose bush or anything, but it is quite a mystery to me. Three years ago we destroyed this hateful crepe myrtle bush that grew by the front stoop. I hated the blasted thing because when it got big enough, it would flop over the railing and the big blob of flowers would smack you in the face every time you tried to get inside. It was fifty times worse when it was wet. I swear the thing was sentient. So Steve cut it down and a couple of our friends came over one day and ground the stump down and we didn't have to worry about it anymore...or so we thought. Over the years, I have planted many things in that spot that wouldn't grow, so I just figured that we would be flora-less by the stoop. Good deal. So imagine my surprise when one of the azalea plants I thought had died started coming back out. Steve and I both avoided running it over with the lawn mowers and we were excited that at least one thing I planted didn't die. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be an azalea bush, but that danged crepe myrtle rising from the dead! AHHHHHHHHH!
Anyways, things were going pretty well until I weed-whacked something that sprayed me with sticky sap that made me start itching fairly violently. Luckily whatever it was didn't make me break out or anything, but at any rate, that officially ended my desire to fool with the yard.
That afternoon I sat in the living room with Steve and watched bits and pieces of two college football games. I got to see the tail end of the Auburn game. Owing to the sensitive nature of the few Auburn fans who read my blog, I won't go into detail. I will say that I think that their quarterback reminds me of one of those superheroes that only realize they have powers during some kind of stressful moment and they don't really know how to control them just then. So they tend to overuse them and break stuff. Brandon Cox can throw! It just doesn't seem to make it to whom he intends it to go. However, he's cute, so that makes up for a great deal of evils in my book. At one point I had to remind Steve that I knew enough about football - and math- that I understood what a two point conversion would mean, score wise. I think he forgets sometimes that after going to nearly every high school football game for 8 years (yeah, marching band nerd, represent!) and that my dad, uncle, and two of my closest male cousins played and talked football all of my life, so I picked up a few things along the way. : ) The Alabama game was a little better, only their quarterback wasn't as cute. When Steve started throwing stuff, I retired to one of the back rooms to read until everything was safe. He got disgusted at some point and turned it off. I was the one who told them that Alabama won, when I ran across the score later that night. He was happy. I was just happy he wasn't throwing stuff anymore.
At some point during these games I got bored and did a little family history research online. Specifically, I was hunting up one of my great, great... well, many greats, grandfather who was a Cherokee. I have always wished that I knew more about my native American heritage, and really I only know my family tribe and my great (to whatever power) grandfather's name, Old Tassel. Turns out he was Chief of the Tsalagi, a Peace Chief, and the uncle of Sequoyah - so I'm related to the guy who invented the Cherokee alphabet. Neato. Apparently Old Tassel was murdered by settlers when he was in his 50's, so that kind of sucks. Anyways, I'm going to do more research and see what I find. I've always wanted to know about my family history, so this seems like a good enough place to start!
Well, that is all, friends. Come back another time for another exciting episode of - ME!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Huh. You don't say!
| What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Artistic Nerd Whether it's painting, sewing, drawing, arts and crafts; or just splashing paint onto a canvas and calling it art; you mostly fit this description. Lots of people envy the artists, but be humble and keep working on it. There is a shortage of true artists today who actually contribute anything to society. | |
| Literature Nerd | |
| Science/Math Nerd | |
| Drama Nerd | |
| Gamer/Computer Nerd | |
| Musician | |
| Anime Nerd | |
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| What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace | |
THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND
I'm feeling rather contemplative this morning.
1) Why do so many heterosexual couples insist that they don't have to be married to be together and have a family and then be perfectly happy with the arrangement, but so many homosexual couples be pissed off that they can't legally be married, even if they are together and have a family already?
2) I still don't get why Kentucky Fried Chicken uses the song "Sweet Home Alabama" in their commercials. The song is neither about Kentucky nor fried chicken. Discuss.
3) Why is it that the three main things you absolutely can not joke about, and sometimes can't even have a serious conversation about, around here are football, politics, and religion. In that order.
4) Why don't my dogs like my singing?
5) Why are so many people against the war in Iraq and outspoken against the president, but when asked how they would have handled the whole situation if they were in his position, they can't give you an answer?
6) Why are LOLCats funny? I'm not saying I don't think they are funny, because I think they are hilarious. My point is that I don't know why I think they are funny. For some reason that bothers me.
I think that's all. For today, anyways.
I'm feeling rather contemplative this morning.
1) Why do so many heterosexual couples insist that they don't have to be married to be together and have a family and then be perfectly happy with the arrangement, but so many homosexual couples be pissed off that they can't legally be married, even if they are together and have a family already?
2) I still don't get why Kentucky Fried Chicken uses the song "Sweet Home Alabama" in their commercials. The song is neither about Kentucky nor fried chicken. Discuss.
3) Why is it that the three main things you absolutely can not joke about, and sometimes can't even have a serious conversation about, around here are football, politics, and religion. In that order.
4) Why don't my dogs like my singing?
5) Why are so many people against the war in Iraq and outspoken against the president, but when asked how they would have handled the whole situation if they were in his position, they can't give you an answer?
6) Why are LOLCats funny? I'm not saying I don't think they are funny, because I think they are hilarious. My point is that I don't know why I think they are funny. For some reason that bothers me.
I think that's all. For today, anyways.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING
1) I didn't want to dye my hair again. Wait, let me rephrase that. I was HOPING I wouldn't have to dye my hair again. I like my gray hairs, I think they are pretty. Unfortunatly, I also have had blonde highlights in my hair since February, and they were starting to turn pink. I think it's because the shampoo I've been using has a purple tint to it or something. I don't know. What I DID know, is that I didn't want pale pink stripes in my hair. Plus, my hair had grown out so much that the pink highlights were floating somwehere in the middle, so they had turned into Trailer-Trash-Barbie kind of highlights. I had to rid myself of them. Since I lacked the money to have it done professionally, I went to the old standby of the haircare aisle of Wal-Mart and bought the stuff that Penelope Cruse hawks on TV. 3X highlights and multifaceted color, you know. I got the stuff, dyed my hair to what should have been very close to my own natural hair color, and then washed it out. I did this at night and I went to bed before my hair was completely dry, so I didn't know until this morning that my hair is now a dark auburn color. *sigh* It's not bad, and as for do-it-yourself hair coloring it's better than other kinds I've tried in the past, but it's still not exactly what I was going for. It's not as bad as the time I accidentally dyed my hair purple, but still. Oh, well. At least the pink hair is gone. As for having auburn hair, I can pretend I did it for football season or something. While the rest of me says "meh", my hair says "War Eagle!"
2) I made some kicking red velvet cupcakes last night. I had bought some cupcake mix a few days ago that was from a bakery in Los Angeles and it was really, really good. So good in fact, that all of the cupcakes from that batch were gone. So I found a box of Betty Crocker cake mix in my cabinet and made them according to the directions on the Los Angeles box of mix, and they tasted just the same! I paid 15 dollars for the Los Angeles cake mix and 82 cents for the Betty Crocker! Someone over at the Sprinkles Cupcake Bakery is having themselves a little giggle right now. BOOOOOOOO!
3) While it isn't as violent as it has been, the song "Me & Mrs. Jones" is still in my head. However, it has mutated. It went from "Me & Mrs. Jones" to "Me & Mr. Jones" to "Me & Charlie Jones." I think I must know someone named Charlie Jones, but something about singing that song with his name in it feels both shameful and weird. I hope he's not my cousin or something. Shut up, I have a big family. How am I supposed to keep all of the cousins straight?
4) I drugged my talkative co-worker the other day. No, not in a sneaky, slip-it-in-her-coffee kind of way. She was sniffing and asked if I had any sinus medicine. All I had was some night time stuff that I had bought in Texas when I had such bad headaches. I knew it would put her to sleep, so I handed it over and told her that it wouldn't unless she was REALLY sensitive to it. She had to leave early. Was that wrong? *eg*
1) I didn't want to dye my hair again. Wait, let me rephrase that. I was HOPING I wouldn't have to dye my hair again. I like my gray hairs, I think they are pretty. Unfortunatly, I also have had blonde highlights in my hair since February, and they were starting to turn pink. I think it's because the shampoo I've been using has a purple tint to it or something. I don't know. What I DID know, is that I didn't want pale pink stripes in my hair. Plus, my hair had grown out so much that the pink highlights were floating somwehere in the middle, so they had turned into Trailer-Trash-Barbie kind of highlights. I had to rid myself of them. Since I lacked the money to have it done professionally, I went to the old standby of the haircare aisle of Wal-Mart and bought the stuff that Penelope Cruse hawks on TV. 3X highlights and multifaceted color, you know. I got the stuff, dyed my hair to what should have been very close to my own natural hair color, and then washed it out. I did this at night and I went to bed before my hair was completely dry, so I didn't know until this morning that my hair is now a dark auburn color. *sigh* It's not bad, and as for do-it-yourself hair coloring it's better than other kinds I've tried in the past, but it's still not exactly what I was going for. It's not as bad as the time I accidentally dyed my hair purple, but still. Oh, well. At least the pink hair is gone. As for having auburn hair, I can pretend I did it for football season or something. While the rest of me says "meh", my hair says "War Eagle!"
2) I made some kicking red velvet cupcakes last night. I had bought some cupcake mix a few days ago that was from a bakery in Los Angeles and it was really, really good. So good in fact, that all of the cupcakes from that batch were gone. So I found a box of Betty Crocker cake mix in my cabinet and made them according to the directions on the Los Angeles box of mix, and they tasted just the same! I paid 15 dollars for the Los Angeles cake mix and 82 cents for the Betty Crocker! Someone over at the Sprinkles Cupcake Bakery is having themselves a little giggle right now. BOOOOOOOO!
3) While it isn't as violent as it has been, the song "Me & Mrs. Jones" is still in my head. However, it has mutated. It went from "Me & Mrs. Jones" to "Me & Mr. Jones" to "Me & Charlie Jones." I think I must know someone named Charlie Jones, but something about singing that song with his name in it feels both shameful and weird. I hope he's not my cousin or something. Shut up, I have a big family. How am I supposed to keep all of the cousins straight?
4) I drugged my talkative co-worker the other day. No, not in a sneaky, slip-it-in-her-coffee kind of way. She was sniffing and asked if I had any sinus medicine. All I had was some night time stuff that I had bought in Texas when I had such bad headaches. I knew it would put her to sleep, so I handed it over and told her that it wouldn't unless she was REALLY sensitive to it. She had to leave early. Was that wrong? *eg*
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
OK, my boss is at lunch and I've got a free moment. Let's see if I can finish this thing!
Right: Weird kilt wearing guy.
Left: Brent Spiner.
...SATURDAY! STILL!: After leaving the vendors area, we went to get lunch. Unfortunately, by the time Steve got his food and came back to the table (which I was holding on to for dear life so Batman and/or Robin wouldn't steal my chairs) and I went and got my food and came back, we had to leave so that Steve wouldn't be late for the one and only panel he wanted to see. Which one was that, you may ask? You would be correct if you answered "Stargate SG-1." I ended up packing my lunch and taking it out to the ballroom while Steve killed time listening to John De Lanci and some chick named Barbara Luna talk about Star Trek. I sat outside and ate while this was going on and watched the people go by. I wasn't bored, let me just say. My favorite moment was when Gold Bikini Leia stopped by a column to retie her top and two guys stopped and started snapping her picture. She said "You guys, I'm just trying to fix this, hold on a second!" and her boyfriend opened his jacket in front of her and covered her while she was doing this. Ahem. I came so close to forgetting my genteel southern teachings and pointing out that Mr. Boyfriend didn't mind his girlfriend being mostly naked and photographed by geeky guys all day, but I didn't. There is a whole section of the world that really hates when you point out such obvious things. It's my burden that I notice them, I guess. *evil grin*
When I was done with lunch, I went over to the Stargate panel line and sat on the floor. Blonde girl said "If you're looking for the line, THIS is the front!" Well, pardon me for standing in front of you, dear. So I made my way to the back of the line...and I never found it. I finally just decided that I wasn't so interested that I wanted to walk a mile to get into a panel that I wasn't that interested in, so I went into the ballroom and sat with Steve until the Star Trek panel was done. I'm glad to say that Mr. De Lanci was a lot more lucid than when I'd spoken to him before. We had hoped to stay in the room until the Stargate thing started, but they made us all get out. Apparently everyone and their sidekick wanted to get in to see the Stargate thing and since we weren't in the line, we had to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait until the line emptied into the room. Steve nearly dragged me across the room so that we could get near the door. I told him to behave, but apparently I didn't understand that it was STARGATE SG-1 in that room! I was plesantly surprised to find that the actors (all but the guy who played McGyver and the guy who took his place, oh and the doctor) was there and they were actually very engaging. I'm guessing that a lot of what they said was pre-planned, but even I enjoyed it. It was a little hard to hear, and the only picture we got was so blurry that it might as well have been of anything, but Steve was excited about it, so I was glad. He came close to even making "Star Wars Face" once or twice. Almost. : )
The official blurry panel pic.After that we just wandered around a little more and then decided to leave. After 8:00 p.m. the fetish people take over, and since you aren't allowed to take pictures, we didn't stay. We went back to the McGee's house, distributed their spoils and autographs, and then we all, one by one, had to sack out. It had been a heck of a long day.
SUNDAY: We had planned on going back down to Dragon*Con, but we realized that a long drive should have a plan at the end of it. Since we had pretty much done everything we wanted the day before, we decided to hang out with the family. There was a small snafu where we weren't sure where we were going or what we were doing, but it all worked out in the end. We spend the afternoon at Aunt Brenda and Uncle Garry's house with the second and third generations of their family. Greg and Kristen and their two kids, Amy and Jon and their two kids, and me and Steve and our lack of kids ran the house over and made lots of noise. It was fun! Afterwards the latter two generations went to dinner at Williams or Williamson's or some place like that to have Bar-B-Que and Ribs. Steve and Greg talked college football (snore. Yeah I know, I'm sorry.) and we ajourned back to Amy and Jon's to play Donky Konga and Street Fighter. Amy and I ended the day watching that friday's rerun of Days of Our Lives and I asked way to many questions because I haven't watched in so long! From what she said and from what I can tell, the show has gotten much better!
Monday: Steve and I had to leave that morning so we could get back home in time to do some work on the house and yard that we normally can't do because of the furry beasties we keep in the backyard, since they were still on vacation at the "ahem" pet resort. Then we slept. It was a wonderful weekend from one end to the other!
So I’m late. Bite me. : )
Left: another WTF.Right: Me and Mr. De Lancie.
…and it’s still Saturday: After the strange meeting of the TNG cast, we moved along to our last and most important meeting of the day. Well, not so much for Steve and I, who had made the rounds we had planned on, but for Amy and Katie. They are big fans of the show “Who wants to be a superhero” and the three top contenders of last season (I think) were going to be in the Walk of Fame. Amy was very excited to get the official comic book for the winner, Feedback, and Katie’s hero was the first runner up, Major Victory. I had no idea who these people were, but I was excited about meeting these guys because Katie (who is 6) had sent Major Victory a picture that she had drawn on him and a letter telling him that she thought he was so very awesome. While Steve took Feedback, I made my way to Major Victory (and yes, I wish I knew their real names so I wouldn’t have to refer to their super hero monikers, but they kept their secret identities secret). M.V. thought that Katie’s picture was the sweetest thing he’d ever seen and he seemed honestly touched that a little kid would do such a thing. He momentarily looked confused and asked me “Well, should I send her something?” How the heck should I know, Major Victory? You’re the super hero. Aren’t you supposed to know how to handle things like that? I told him he could if he wanted to. Anyways, out of gratitude for his picture, he sent Katie an autographed photo for free, which I thought was very classy of him. As classy as a man wearing a red spandex unitard and shiny black underpants can be, of course. : ) He was actually really sweet, but I’m afraid I accidentally offended him. In Katie’s picture, she drew him with some kicking platform boots. Before I knew who she was drawing, I thought it was someone from KISS. When M.V. mentioned his boots I told him so, but I worded it in a way that it came out sounding like I thought HE was someone from KISS and not the picture. We had an uncomfortable moment and I thanked him for the autograph and left. Why, oh why, do I seem to embarrass myself so much? Why?
From the Walk of Fame, we went over to the vendor area. On the way, a really tall guy walking with a cane almost knocked me over. I found out later that was David Prowse, who was actually the body of Darth Vadar instead of Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca. I know this now because I married a smart-ass geek. My apologies to everyone else who knew the difference before I did! : ) Heehee. So after narrowly being stomped by Darth Vadar, we made it to the place where you can purchase your heart’s limit of all things Sci-Fi. Once again, however, I managed to make another faux pas. Dragon*Con is not only a mecca for freaks and geeks, but there is also a healthy dollop of hanky-spanky fetish people as well. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize they would have a booth set up to sell things. The vendors area is set up like a flea market, which has spaces allotted for different shops, separated by shelving, curtains, or racks of clothes. One of the first booths we came to wasn’t immediately visible to me because of the shelving blocking my view. However, there was a package hanging off of the side that I happened to read. The package said “Hanging Cuffs.” So I say, in a rather louder voice than I meant to “Hey! Hanging Cuffs! I need a new pair of those!” As the words were coming out of my face, several things became very clear: A) I realized what hanging cuffs are and what they are for. B) The person behind me that I thought was Steve actually wasn’t Steve. C) I managed to say that embarrassing thing in one of those lulls in conversation that happen sometimes, so my words carried farther away than I had intended. DIES
However, thankfully no one around blinked an eyelash. Maybe because no one heard me after all (I hope) or maybe because when I looked around, I found myself standing pretty much in a booth of S&M whips, chains and other…toys, and saying I needed a new set of restraints wasn’t so out of the ordinary. Because I didn’t know what else to do, I went and examined a purple suede cat-o-nine tails and pretended that what I had said didn’t make me want to crawl underneath a table and die. Yeeesh.
When I finally made my way out of the booth, Steve and I came across a large selection of DVDs that had obviously been ripped from old VHS tapes and they contained things that I both actively avoid and had never heard of. Let’s just say, “Star Wars Christmas Special” type stuff was sold in this particular booth. Steve was sucked in immediately and so I went and sat down in an unoccupied corner and waited on him. He emerged, clutching a bulging bag of DVDs. Oy, Vey. When I saw what he had bought, it was enough to make me fall to my knees and bay at the sky with shaking fists: “Damn you, Glen Larson! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!”
Well, OK, that didn’t happen. At least not out loud. We are now the proud owners of “Birds of Prey” first season, “Highwayman”, and something called “Misfits of Science” which turned out to be funny, if not actually very good. Glen Larson was actually only involved in “Highwayman” but he might as well had created all of them. Pleh.
We saw all manner of things from there on. A whole section dedicated to Lovecraftian stuff, costuming, gaming, anime…etc. I saw one booth that sold nothing but very elaborate corsets. One customer had been laced into one and she was standing there, very red faced, and looked to be on the verge of an explosive anal prolapse. I didn’t stick around, but I hope they unlaced her before that happened. That booth also had a black leather corset studded with these stabby, pointy, metal spikes all over it. I almost bought it, but I thought, NAH. I’ve got one just like it at home already. : ) I keed. We stopped briefly by a place that sells something called Utilikilts. Basically, it’s a kilt with pockets. A Cargo-Kilt, if you will. I saw one guy in a Star Trek TNG suit with a kilt on and his pants around his ankles. Had I been quicker, I could have gotten a picture. : ) None of these kilts were plaid, mainly they were khaki. Here is my thought on them. Kilts are supposed to be plaid. None of the UtiliKilts were plaid. That means that a whole lot of men were walking around in long pleated skirts. Surprisingly, though, they carried the look off well. Huh.
Amazingly enough, I wasn’t seeing much that I would have wanted to buy. I was tempted to get a leather skirt at one place, mainly because it was pretty, but I realized that unless I wanted to get a breast plate and a pair of gladiator sandles and dress like Zena, Warrior Princess to work and church, it would probably never be worn. I wound up getting a very pretty handmade hair thingie. It’s one of those sticks that you can twist up in your hair. Unfortunately, I found out later that the polished wood is too slick and my hair too slippery to use it. BLAST!!!!!! I’ll make it work, though. I’m determined! I came to one booth that was so crowded with people that I couldn’t make out what it sold. The line was all the way across and three people deep. Turns out it was the many-sided dice vendor. That’s all I can really say about that.
Crud, this is taking me forever. Take heart! I’m almost done. However, now I need to get to work. : ) More to come.
Friday, September 07, 2007
...and we're back.
Sorry about that. Oh, and just FYI, I made a great graphic for my Dragon*Con weekend, but blogger will not, can not, and simply refuses to let me add it. So you'll just have to pretend it's up there. : ) Also, none of the pictures I took are showing up on my entries, so those will just have to come later. Sorry!
STILL SATURDAY: As I was saying, I got a few pictures of the people I saw just wondering around the convention. That is my favorite part of going to things like this. Seeing the costumes, I mean. A lot of them are really amazing. Some of them...not so much. Here are some of the rules of dressing up for Dragon*Con, if you plan to attend in costume:
1) The first rule of Dragon*Con is that we don't wear pants to Dragon*Con!
2) The second rule of Dragon*Con is that we don't wear pants to Dragon*Con!
3) If it can be made slutty, make it slutty. This particularly references the Hogwarts school uniform. It's like the epitome of all geek-nerd fantasies. Cross the skanky catholic school girl look with the actual uniform of the Hogwarts school, and you will be photographed by many. Spank-Bank fodder, girls.
4) Dressing like a Spartan gives you permission to wear nothing but leather bikini briefs and a cape. Now, whether or not you have the body for it is incidental. I'm sure all Spartan warriors were not buff, after all.
5) No matter how little you wear, knowing full well that someone is going to want to take your picture, you can roll your eyes and act all put out because of it. I suppose you never realized that possibly wearing a t-shirt and jeans would keep that from happening. I'm just sayin'...
6) If they make it in your size, wear it.
7) If they make it two sizes too small for you, wear it anyways.
8) No, it doesn't matter at all that you weigh 450 lbs. A thong and chain-mail mini skirt look Faaaaaaaaaaaaabulous on you!
Oy, vey. Seriously, folks. I am not sure what some people are thinking. I'm a big girl myself and I know that I shouldn't show up for any type of public gathering dressed like Sailor Moon or Electra, you know what I mean? Eeeeeeesh.
Anyways! So, one of the first things Steve and I did was to go to the "Walk of Fame" where the celebrities and pseudo-celebrities sit around and wait to overcharge you for their autograph. Steve didn't see anyone he wanted to meet, but I'd already made a list. Our first stop was for the "Ghost Hunters" guys. There was a line a mile long for them, which I thought was funny. People like Peter Mahew (Body of Darth Vadar), guy who played Chewbacca, Ray Park (Darth Maul), Erin Gray and the guy who played Buck Rogers, Lou Farriggno (?) and others who were established stars in the sci-fi galaxy were being passed up so people could meet these people from New England. It took forever, but I finally got up there. Steve had no desire to meet them, but I got to meet the two lead guys, Grant and Jason, and to have my picture made with them. They were both super nice and friendly. The picture is hideous because I had to lean backwards across a table as they leaned forwards and I almost fell, but hey...there you go. I wanted to meet the rest of the cast (meow, Steve Gonsalves - who is hot in a kind of tattoo-ey way), but I suddenly got a case of the shies and had to run away before I did or said anything embarrassing. I've realized something about myself and famous people. I always embarrass myself. It's not that I'm so in awe of these people, they are just people after all, but I tend to always say the wrong thing when trying to just be nice. They meet so many people in such a short amount of time that I know they are just as bewildered as they can be. I don't want to add to that and just want to be nice and I always end up sounding crazy. Always.
*SIGH*
So we went from there to the next section where the Star Trek TNG people were. These were the guys I'd been waiting to see. I'm such a Star Trek geek that I couldn't stand not meeting a couple of them, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner in particular. Amy had also sent some money and a note asking me to get the autograph of John De Lancie, the guy who played "Q" from TNG. His line was pretty short, so we jumped into it and waited for a couple of minutes until he was free. I think I caught the poor guy at a bad moment. As I was walking forward, someone was bringing him a gigantic cup of coffee. I said "I'm sorry to disturb your coffee break" to which he replied "cooooooooooooofffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." Um, yeah, OK. So I pulled out the note from Amy, since I couldn't remember what it said off of the top of my head and read him her question. It was about whether or not he would ever be going back to Days of Our Lives. He gave me a long and rambling answer that didn't quite make sense and wrapped it up by saying he'd like to go back if they'd let him. So I handed him his $20 and asked for his autograph for Amy and also (since I was there) if I could have my picture made with him. "Sure!" says he. So he sweeps his money into a bag beside him and starts to sign him name. Suddenly, he stands up and walks over to Gates McFadden and he talks to her for a moment. I thought his pen may have been out of ink or something because it didn't look as though he was done signing, and he came back giggling and said "Sorry, an inside joke" as if I'd just asked him what was going on. I didn't, by the way. Before he sits back down, he starts staring at me as if he can't remember why I'm standing there. He's a tall dude, so it must have looked strange for us to be standing there staring at each other. I had started to get a little nervous, but I stood my ground. After about 30 seconds of staring he shouted into my face "PICTURE!" which caused me to jump about and cringe, but at the same time smile and nod at him as if he was a little kid who just said his first word. Then Mr. De Lancie went blank again and said "Did you pay me?" Friends and neighbors, I was utterly confused by this point. I rather think he was just really tired, or high, or something, but I certainly didn't expect this reaction to my request by anyone I was going to meet there, celebrity-wise or not. I nodded and he looked confused again. "Where is it?" he asked, meaning his money. At this point I was ready to check him for a fever or something, but at the same time I was also guessing that if he was going to act silly, so was I. So I said "You stuck it in your pants." A look of horror crossed his face and he said "Oh, my God, I put it in my pants?! You mean I didn't put it in my bag?" and I realized he believed me. Dear Lord, I made John De Lancie think he had a twenty dollar bill stuck in his pants and I made him think he put it there. Oy. So I told him that no, it was in his bag, and that made him look a little bit relieved. So he slung his arm around me and we smiled for the camera. Then I grabbed the autograph and ran away. Fast. Yikes.
After that I went for Jonathan Frakes and found out three things. You have to pay thirty dollars for him to sign a picture of himself, his handler was an impatient bitch, and you had to buy a special ticket to come back later to have your picture made with him. Screw this, says I, and took the autograph I had just paid for and walked away. At least he was nice, even if he did look past me into oblivion while I was telling me how to spell my name. I didn't even bother with Brent Spiner, because it was the same with him. I did get a picture of him, though, but I wasn't in it. I've realized that I will probably no longer pay anyone to sign stuff for me unless I can get proof that I actually met them. Shallow, maybe, but for $30 I should get more than a bleary stare and a nasty look from some lady who makes sure we don't ask for too much of someone's time. At least give me an inadvertant show like John De Lancie!! So there, crew of the Starship Enterprise!
Wow, I should probably get to work. More to come!
Sorry about that. Oh, and just FYI, I made a great graphic for my Dragon*Con weekend, but blogger will not, can not, and simply refuses to let me add it. So you'll just have to pretend it's up there. : ) Also, none of the pictures I took are showing up on my entries, so those will just have to come later. Sorry!
STILL SATURDAY: As I was saying, I got a few pictures of the people I saw just wondering around the convention. That is my favorite part of going to things like this. Seeing the costumes, I mean. A lot of them are really amazing. Some of them...not so much. Here are some of the rules of dressing up for Dragon*Con, if you plan to attend in costume:
1) The first rule of Dragon*Con is that we don't wear pants to Dragon*Con!
2) The second rule of Dragon*Con is that we don't wear pants to Dragon*Con!
3) If it can be made slutty, make it slutty. This particularly references the Hogwarts school uniform. It's like the epitome of all geek-nerd fantasies. Cross the skanky catholic school girl look with the actual uniform of the Hogwarts school, and you will be photographed by many. Spank-Bank fodder, girls.
4) Dressing like a Spartan gives you permission to wear nothing but leather bikini briefs and a cape. Now, whether or not you have the body for it is incidental. I'm sure all Spartan warriors were not buff, after all.
5) No matter how little you wear, knowing full well that someone is going to want to take your picture, you can roll your eyes and act all put out because of it. I suppose you never realized that possibly wearing a t-shirt and jeans would keep that from happening. I'm just sayin'...
6) If they make it in your size, wear it.
7) If they make it two sizes too small for you, wear it anyways.
8) No, it doesn't matter at all that you weigh 450 lbs. A thong and chain-mail mini skirt look Faaaaaaaaaaaaabulous on you!
Oy, vey. Seriously, folks. I am not sure what some people are thinking. I'm a big girl myself and I know that I shouldn't show up for any type of public gathering dressed like Sailor Moon or Electra, you know what I mean? Eeeeeeesh.
Anyways! So, one of the first things Steve and I did was to go to the "Walk of Fame" where the celebrities and pseudo-celebrities sit around and wait to overcharge you for their autograph. Steve didn't see anyone he wanted to meet, but I'd already made a list. Our first stop was for the "Ghost Hunters" guys. There was a line a mile long for them, which I thought was funny. People like Peter Mahew (Body of Darth Vadar), guy who played Chewbacca, Ray Park (Darth Maul), Erin Gray and the guy who played Buck Rogers, Lou Farriggno (?) and others who were established stars in the sci-fi galaxy were being passed up so people could meet these people from New England. It took forever, but I finally got up there. Steve had no desire to meet them, but I got to meet the two lead guys, Grant and Jason, and to have my picture made with them. They were both super nice and friendly. The picture is hideous because I had to lean backwards across a table as they leaned forwards and I almost fell, but hey...there you go. I wanted to meet the rest of the cast (meow, Steve Gonsalves - who is hot in a kind of tattoo-ey way), but I suddenly got a case of the shies and had to run away before I did or said anything embarrassing. I've realized something about myself and famous people. I always embarrass myself. It's not that I'm so in awe of these people, they are just people after all, but I tend to always say the wrong thing when trying to just be nice. They meet so many people in such a short amount of time that I know they are just as bewildered as they can be. I don't want to add to that and just want to be nice and I always end up sounding crazy. Always.
*SIGH*
So we went from there to the next section where the Star Trek TNG people were. These were the guys I'd been waiting to see. I'm such a Star Trek geek that I couldn't stand not meeting a couple of them, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner in particular. Amy had also sent some money and a note asking me to get the autograph of John De Lancie, the guy who played "Q" from TNG. His line was pretty short, so we jumped into it and waited for a couple of minutes until he was free. I think I caught the poor guy at a bad moment. As I was walking forward, someone was bringing him a gigantic cup of coffee. I said "I'm sorry to disturb your coffee break" to which he replied "cooooooooooooofffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." Um, yeah, OK. So I pulled out the note from Amy, since I couldn't remember what it said off of the top of my head and read him her question. It was about whether or not he would ever be going back to Days of Our Lives. He gave me a long and rambling answer that didn't quite make sense and wrapped it up by saying he'd like to go back if they'd let him. So I handed him his $20 and asked for his autograph for Amy and also (since I was there) if I could have my picture made with him. "Sure!" says he. So he sweeps his money into a bag beside him and starts to sign him name. Suddenly, he stands up and walks over to Gates McFadden and he talks to her for a moment. I thought his pen may have been out of ink or something because it didn't look as though he was done signing, and he came back giggling and said "Sorry, an inside joke" as if I'd just asked him what was going on. I didn't, by the way. Before he sits back down, he starts staring at me as if he can't remember why I'm standing there. He's a tall dude, so it must have looked strange for us to be standing there staring at each other. I had started to get a little nervous, but I stood my ground. After about 30 seconds of staring he shouted into my face "PICTURE!" which caused me to jump about and cringe, but at the same time smile and nod at him as if he was a little kid who just said his first word. Then Mr. De Lancie went blank again and said "Did you pay me?" Friends and neighbors, I was utterly confused by this point. I rather think he was just really tired, or high, or something, but I certainly didn't expect this reaction to my request by anyone I was going to meet there, celebrity-wise or not. I nodded and he looked confused again. "Where is it?" he asked, meaning his money. At this point I was ready to check him for a fever or something, but at the same time I was also guessing that if he was going to act silly, so was I. So I said "You stuck it in your pants." A look of horror crossed his face and he said "Oh, my God, I put it in my pants?! You mean I didn't put it in my bag?" and I realized he believed me. Dear Lord, I made John De Lancie think he had a twenty dollar bill stuck in his pants and I made him think he put it there. Oy. So I told him that no, it was in his bag, and that made him look a little bit relieved. So he slung his arm around me and we smiled for the camera. Then I grabbed the autograph and ran away. Fast. Yikes.
After that I went for Jonathan Frakes and found out three things. You have to pay thirty dollars for him to sign a picture of himself, his handler was an impatient bitch, and you had to buy a special ticket to come back later to have your picture made with him. Screw this, says I, and took the autograph I had just paid for and walked away. At least he was nice, even if he did look past me into oblivion while I was telling me how to spell my name. I didn't even bother with Brent Spiner, because it was the same with him. I did get a picture of him, though, but I wasn't in it. I've realized that I will probably no longer pay anyone to sign stuff for me unless I can get proof that I actually met them. Shallow, maybe, but for $30 I should get more than a bleary stare and a nasty look from some lady who makes sure we don't ask for too much of someone's time. At least give me an inadvertant show like John De Lancie!! So there, crew of the Starship Enterprise!
Wow, I should probably get to work. More to come!
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