Chris returned, healed! Character-Land is whole once more!
There was a lot of good-natured ribbing about my swift exit from the theatre the previous night. Rob looked upon me in horrified disgust and accused, "You SHAME me!" I waved a stapler threateningly in his direction. It was kind of glorious.
We found out that a really, really, really awesome spot was awarded. I DANCE! It's going to be an absurd amount of work, but it's going to be so much fun that it'll be worth it.
I got to model Audrey Tautou as Amelie!
It didn't feel like a Friday at all, but it WAS! Rapture!
Saturday, June 6th:
Okay, this is going to be a challenge. Saturday was miserable. Some good stuff happened: I reposted my ad on Craigslist and got a small handful of responses, for example, filling me with a sense of productivity and cautiously enthusiastic anticipation. But at 12:30 or so, when I got up from my computer to take a shower and get ready for MoCCA, I started feeling lightheaded, overheated, and gastrointestinally distressed. I spent an hour switching between the toilet and a cold bath and desperately trying to throw up. Eventually, I managed to tumble into bed and find some position where my lower abdomen didn't hurt so much and retreated into unconsciousness.
I woke up around 5, feeling entirely cured, and fixed myself some cereal, as I hadn't eaten yet that day. However, in the short time it took to assemble the materials, the weakness and discomfort started to return, so I sat down on the couch in hopes being off my feet would help. It didn't. I brought my computer into my bedroom, thinking I could be fine if I lay down instead, but no joy. I retreated into sleep once more, returning to consciousness around 7. I felt fine once more, but this time, I didn't even get up from my bed, knowing that discomfort lurked in wait for as soon as I attained verticality. My bed-ridden evening was quite pleasant, actually! Hurrah! My horizontal exploits are detailed below.
Happy things for today:
The aforementioned Craigslist re-porting.
Feeling better. There's nothing that can make us appreciate our health more than a momentary hiccup. I'm grateful that the overwhelming majority of the time, I have energy and the full range of human ability. I have access to clean water and fresh food to keep my body nourished. And if or when my health takes a tumble, I have insurance and access to treatment--heck, I live in a world where Stem Cell Contact Lenses Cure Blindness in Less Than a Month--, and I have family and friends to help nurse me back to health, both local and long-distance. That's something that certainly qualifies as a Thing to Be Happy About for today.
And related: There's a great deal of satisfaction in "out-thinking" an ailment, to be able to figure out "hmm, if I lower my body temperature like this, and lean forward like this, or lie down like this, I don't feel nearly as awful." At least this way I don't feel awful and helpless.
In the evening, on Ko and Fred's recommendation, I watched the first two episodes of Leverage. This show is so much fun! I'm delighted to see that it was renewed.
One of my friends was in a very cruddy place emotionally, so I called her and we shared a much-needed girly gabfest. We also watched the Glee pilot simultaneously, keeping a running commenting over IM. It was adorable! Feel better, friend! I love you!
Sunday, June 7th:
I took the morning slowly, as I still felt a bit fragile from the previous day. However, I soon discovered that standing up was no longer an impediment. Woo, mobility!
I checked out MoCCA, my first time attending the festival. I didn't stay for long, as the combination of being on my feet and the building's lack of air conditioning threatened to drain my precious stores of energy, but I had a lovely time while I was there. I was finally able to give back to the creators of webcomics I've loved so long! I bought trades from Dylan Meconis ("Bite Me"), the inimitably brilliant Kate Beaton ("Never Learn Anything From History"), and David Malki ("Wondermark"). I got a t-shirt from Ryan North of "Dinosaur Comics," but upon getting it home, I saw it was too big for me. I'll have to find a medium-sized friend to give it to. :D I also bought a sketch from Randall Munroe of XKCD for pi dollars--I accused him of swindling the public by rounding up to $3.15. I mentioned his strip's popularity at my workplace, so he redrew the "We're Rendering" swordfight comic for me. Highly entertaining! All of the artists were a delight to chat with. Time and money well spent!
Next, I returned home to recover my strength. It was going to be a late night, and I didn't want to run out of steam early. I watched a few more episodes of Leverage while working on an illustration for a friend.
Strength restored, I hopped on the subway to Union Hall, the awesome little venue where I first saw Vienna Teng, Christina Courtin, and Jonathan Coulton perform live. My first month in New York, actually! Tonight's occasion? John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton were performing the list of 700 Mole-Man Names from More Information Than You Require. I ended up being the first person in line, as I thought the event started at 9:15 when it actually arrived at 9:30, and I arrived around 9. Ah well! I met some cool people in line, and we had delightful conversation.
Hodgman and Coulton were their usual quirky selves, Hodgman warning the audience of the upcoming unpleasantness with Snicket-like foreboding. He suggested the audience use the bathroom and purchase large quantities of alcohol before the ordeal. He explained a bit about Mole-Men for the uneducated, though I'm not precisely sure why anyone would choose to be there if they hadn't at least flipped through his book. Perhaps for the benefit of those being dragged there by friends or dates? Ah well. It was still hilarious!
Finally, the recitation began! Coulton played endless repetitions of the colonial ballad "The World Turned Upside-Down as Hodgman plunged headfirst into what he anticipated would be a 90-minute endeavor. The audience was very receptive, laughing out loud and cheering wildly every 50 names. Every so often, I took minute-long clips with my little Flip Video camera, which I imagine I will eventually combine in an amusing way if I can find the time. I was particularly delighted to be reminded of mole-manic woman #538, "Miss Priscilla Thirtyfingers, a wall feeler." When your name is as rare as mine, any uses of it by people you admire become a source for much joy.
As the list wore on, I exchanged occasional looks with Jonathan Coulton, mine saying, "I am in awe that your hands have not cramped and/or fallen off at this point," and his saying, "Me too." After Mole-Man #600, I shouted out "GO COULTON!", and all gave him a resounding cheer. Hodgman took this opportunity for another sip of Jack Daniels.
Afterward, Hodgman declared that the event was being recorded for the audio book of More Information Than You Require, and that he was taking our applause at the revelation as consent to our voices being used on the recording. I feigned concern and asked, "Can my applause be digitally removed?" "No, it cannot, Miss Flip Video," he quipped.
He graciously offered free drinks to all of us that endured the full list, though he winced at the admission that he thought more of us would leave midway. I was sitting near the front, so I didn't see what the crowd looked like at the beginning, but the room was still mostly packed. Good thing he has those Mac ads to keep his pockets well-lined! :D
Coulton closed the "formal" portion of the event with a song--"Ikea," by fan request--then we all dispersed. I lingered afterward and mingled with other folks from the audience. One of the folks I chatted with was Sam Potts, designer of Hodgman's book jackets and mastermind of the Superhero Supply Company and Twitter On Paper. A very creative and motivated guy!
Eventually, the staff ushered us upstairs, so they could close the downstairs stage. Hodgman invited those of us remaining to join him in the comfortable leather seating overlooking the Bocce courts, and he gestured me to sit in the chair next to his, which exploded my little fangirl mind.
Our little group must have talked over an hour! It was a delight. Toward the end, we got on the subject of the Battlestar Galactica series finale, which was particularly awesome. It's always cool to discuss something you're a fan of with someone you're a fan of, who is also a fan of said thing. It's a sort of conversational equalizer. :D Our group seemed united in its criticism that the notion of an entire society being willing to regress to a primitive culture was difficult to swallow. Hodgman stepped into his exaggerated "John Hodgman" character a moment to comment, "For instance: my character, the brain surgeon, would be unlikely to want to return to trepanning."
Finally, as 1am came and went, we all started migrating doorwards. We said our goodbyes, then went our separate ways. All in all, it was a joyous evening!
So that was the weekend. I'm now completely behind on everything that's happened since! I hate to interrupt my run in what's become a quite faithful daily practice, but I may have to grant myself a week's amnesty, as the days are running together and I'm having difficulty pinpointing noteworthy events and ruminations for my lists. But let's give it one shot...
Monday, June 8th: Monday was a struggle. The job I was so excited we'd landed on Friday turned out to be a lot more difficult than I'd bargained for, and we were given four days to accomplish what I'd imagined would be a challenge in two weeks. I spent much of the day trying to wrangle our traditional rig into something very exaggerated and cartoony, without success. Finally, around 6, Eric and I made the executive decision to start from scratch and build a new rig to accommodate the demands of the project. From then on, everything went smoothly!
Tuesday, June 9th: However, despite said smoothness, we still had an insane amount of work that needed to get done! We shanghaied a number of folks who aren't traditionally character designers for the task, which helped things move quicker, but the prospect of finishing everything by Friday was still dicey. Compounding the time crunch was the sudden revelation that we were running out of space on the server, and Chris and I needed to be diverted to backing up old characters to the library. Yikes! Together, we managed to rock everything out just in time, though we had to stay until 1 am to accomplish everything we wanted that night. We only stayed until 11:30 on Monday.
Wednesday, June 10th: Another challenging day! We could tell that everything was coming together, at least. We were in awe of the amount of work we'd accomplished in a few short days! And to further brighten our spirits, the Gods on High moved our deadline from Friday to Monday. What a relief! To our greater joy, Eric discovered a book online that gave detailed instructions on how to draw the characters we were modeling. I zipped across the street to Barnes and Noble, where they were selling the $30 book in the bargain bin for $9. WIN! The book henceforth became known as "The Bible" in Character-Land. I stayed until 12:15, feeling good.
Thursday, June 11th: We continued work, the Bible showing us just how off-model many of the existing characters were. Our first passes definitely needed a second! Fortunately, I didn't have to stay late, as my good friend Tex had a show in the city tonight, and I was able to attend! Tex is a ridiculously talenter composer, and he performed a number of his original pieces, accompanied by a woodwind quartet and a cellist. Afterward, we walked back to my apartment and spent an hour or so catching up on each other's lives. He was staying with his brother, Davio, and his very pregnant wife, Jessica, who live about a ten minute walk from my place. T'was quite nifty!
Friday, June 12th: Work remained workful. I spent most of the day squeeing over Fred and Christie's Twitter posts, updating us on the status of the birth of their first child. Welcome to the world, Evelyn Violet Hicks! The universe has a new contender for Cutest Baby in the World.
When I wasn't in baby-squee mode, I was counting down the hours until the Battlestar Galactica panel at the 92nd Street Y. I sprang from my workplace at 6:55 and joined Shecky and Sue in line. We were close enough to the front of the line that we managed to find seats in the second row!
The panel was fantastic. BSG was represented by Mary McDonnell (the iron-ovaried President Roslin) and Michael Hogan (the grizzled Colonel Tigh). I was initially thrilled to see Mary McDonnell and only lukewarm about Michael Hogan, as Tigh wasn't among my favourite characters, but hearing him speak about his role gave me new appreciation for the role. It made me want to rewatch bits of the show! Mary was even more gorgeous and eloquent in real life, which is terribly unfair to the rest of us mortals. I want her shoes.
The scientists were absolutely intriguing. Roboticist Hod Lipson works in evolutionary robotics and has created several ‘self aware’ robots. The video clips he played for us were mind-boggling--he made me wish the panel devoted less time to BSG, so he would have more time to explain how his robots were able to discover how to walk. The man is the architect of his own Intelligently Designed universe.
Cyberneticist Kevin Warwick works in robotics and artificial intelligence, and has created implants that allow humans to sense the world around us beyond what we experience with the traditional five. In another implant experiment, he was able to control objects remotely with his mind and receive sensory feedback. It was staggering.
Philosopher Nick Bostrom was also in attendance, providing a counterpoint to some of the scientists' more radical ideas, and drawing a distinction between pop culture urges and scientific realities. Moderating the event was Faith Salie, whose palpable enthusiasm for both sides of the panel kept the conversation going smoothly. All in all, I had a fantastic time!
However, afterwards, when Shecky, Sue, and I headed back to a Starbucks to hang out, we passed an apartment whose anteroom floor was covered in fresh blood. The glass inner-door had been stoved in. We stood gawking for a solid minute, trying to parse what had happened and trying to decide if we should call the police. Just as Sue was taking out her cell phone, we were met by the building's superintendent, who was even more floored than we were. Meeting him on the other side of the door was a twentysomething girl, standing gingerly on a leg smeared with blood, irately explaining how she had been coming home with her dogs when she slipped on the tiles and her leg went through the door. Assured that we weren't looking at a crime scene and that the situation was under control, we left.
The scene was still fresh in our minds as we walked away, however. Sue is trained as an EMT, and she watches enough CSI and Dexter to understand blood splatter analysis. We couldn't help thinking that the girl's story didn't match up to the scene we found. Very curious.
Saturday, June 13th: I had to work again. Bleh. 10-7. The day was chill, though, and I had a vegetarian moussaka for lunch that convinced me of the existence of a loving God. Afterwards, I met up with Craig, and we hung out and people-watched for a couple hours to make up for me not being able to support him and the rest of the NY Jedi at Big Apple Con. T'was nice.
And now, it's Sunday, June 14th! I'm simultaneously relaxing and getting stuff done! Life is good, and now I'm up-to-date on it, even though I can't imagine anyone but perhaps my father is still reading at this point. Ah, well! At least I feel better about my newfound fidelity to my blog.
I saw Up. This movie is perfection. I urge you to see it as soon as possible, so you have plenty of opportunity to see it a second and a third and a fourth time.
I saw Up with college roommate Ko and coworkers Eric and Matt. It would have been magnificent on its own, but it was even better with friends!
I saw Up in 3D! It was quite well designed in that regard. It took advantage of the medium without being gimmicky or distracting.
I saw Up, and Ko and I quoted it incessantly as we returned to my apartment for her to pick up her gerbils. They were so happy to see their Ko Mommy!
I saw Up. And spontaneously, too! In the past few months, I've been so much better about going out and doing things. I feel so much more energized and happy about my life! I finally feel like I'm taking advantage of living in New York. And now, I saw Up!
I posted my call for a roommate on Craigslist, and received a response within the hour! She sounds awesome, and I'm thrilled to report that I'm fairly sure things are going to work out between us.
However, if things don't work out, I have a pool of four other girls that responded over the course of the day! Huzzah!
I got together with Lisa, a woman I've encountered in a number of contexts around New York but never really spent quality time with. No idea why--she's so much fun to be around! Together, we walked the 7.2 miles to her friend Chris' apartment in Astoria. She's training for an Avon walk. I have no excuse. My new MBT shoes were ridiculously fun to walk in, but of course, as they were new, my feet are covered in blisters. Must adequately armor my feet until I break them in.
Before leaving, we played a few rounds of Rock Band. I'm pleased to say that I was not a complete disgrace my first time playing! A splendid time was had by all.
Monday:
I had an amazingly vivid dream, in which I "died" and was revived two years in the future. At some places in the dream, this took place as if I'd died in present day, but at others, I was a senior in high school. I navigated my usual haunts, noting things that had changed. One high school friend gave me a "Class of 2006" equivalent of our "Class of 2003" shirt to commemorate the two years I was dead, which proves that my subconscious can't do math.
Then, one of my coworkers asked me if I'd finished our characters for [Name of Client Censored, As I'm Not Sure How Much I Can Say In My Blog], and I realized that I hadn't been dead at all--everyone had just been playing an elaborate practical joke on me. One coworker had programmed all the computer clocks to say 2010 (again, my subconscious can't do math), and the exhaustion and confusion I felt were the result of them (harmlessly) drugging me.
There has to be a comic book in here somewhere.
I wore a different pair of new shoes to work today! I got a number of compliments on them.
Boss held a meeting about how awesome we all are. I approve.
Ko forgot to pick up her gerbils, so I get one more day or watching them scurry about in their cage, being adorable!
Friday was gaming night with Shecky and Sue! I've never actually played an RPG in person, so it was quite interesting. Man, my first Faire and my first RP experience within a week of each other! *slops mortar over the gaps in my geek cred*
The gaming itself fulfills slots two through five. Great banter, great fun, and great Mr. Burns impressions when we plotted evil against each other. :D
Saturday:
This was an EXTRAORDINARY day! I started the day right with a feast of scrambled eggs and bacon, cooked by Sue. I spent the morning chilling with them and being tolerated by their cats, who were gracious enough to allow me to give them back scratches.
I scurried back to New York to meet Kait and her friends in Central Park, where she was celebrating her birthday with a cupcake picnic. Mmmmmm, sugar coma. Kait's friends are pretty much universally awesome, and it was great to get to meet them.
I had to leave the party early to go to ANOTHER party, the Comic News Insider 200th Episode Bash! I hung out with all sorts of great folks, and I got to chat with Lost's Michael Emerson and dreamboat of the comic book world John Cassaday.
The live recording was lots of fun. Listen here to the episode, which includes a musical number, a radio drama, Michael Emerson reading memorable movie quotes in his Ben Linus voice, and a smattering of my incisive puns, catcalled from the sidelines.
Afterward, co-host Joe bowled all of us over with free tickets to Wednesday's production of Cirque du Soleil's new show, Kooza! I can't wait to go! Also, friend Lisa invited me to hang out with her friends Sunday and play a crazy fun card game involving killer bunnies. She's currently training for the Avon breast cancer walk, so we're going to walk the 5 miles to her friend's apartment together. Good thing...
...I went shoe shopping! I bought three pair to jazz up my feet for the summer. The store was doing a Buy One, Get the Second Half-Off sale, but the two more expensive models weren't part of the sale. However, the manager randomly came over and started chatting with me as I was trying on one of them--she loves to see young people wearing shoes that are actually good for their feet--and she gave me the discount anyway. A ten minute conversation saved me fifty bucks! I win!
I also ran by the grocery store for more almond milk, and I squeed in joy to see that peaches and apricots are now in season! I can make my favourite pie!
And as a bonus, as I took the easy way out yesterday: Today's xkcd. Oh my god, the more I laugh at this, the more I feel like a hopeless nerd! Heck, the fact I can relate to it should be enough to consign me to endless mockery.
Blarg. I got knocked off my feet on the subway this evening, and I fell backwards across a row of people, with most of the impact getting absorbed by a dolly cart to the kidney and a briefcase to the butt. Every so often, said butt muscle will twinge. Inertia, you're on notice.
Happy Things:
Fantastic, sitcom-worthy banter with my coworkers today!
The Continuing Saga of the Hair continues apace. I finagled the model into crashing far less often with some very effective problem solving, so go me! Then, to compensate for the high-poly drama of the hair, Chris gave me a ridiculously low-poly, cartoony character to model. Thank you, Chris!
My dad surprised me with a book on the natural history of Manhattan. Coolness!
I'm re-setting up my utilities, now that everything has been shifted from joint accounts with my roommate to being solely under my name. Tonight, while verifying some information about my electric bill, I was reminded that for the past year and a half, my roommate and I have used all Green sources of energy. I'd forgotten! It's nice to be reminded that I've been putting my money where my mouth is in contributing to The Solution instead of The Problem.
I was reminded of these hilarious entries on TV Tropes, fabricating massive shipwars within the Dresden fandom. It's kind of cute, really. And This Troper was serious about her offer to send cookies to the first person to write delightfully self-aware Pink Court fic.
The crazy hair I spoke of yesterday is ridiculously frustrating to work with, but it looks great. And I work left at 7 again today! Ditto yesterday. Life is good.
I watched Brazil for the first time. Fantastic! For someone who claims to enjoy Terry Gilliam so much, I've seen shockingly few of his movies. Matt showed me The Fisher King a couple months ago, and it's one of my favourite movies I've seen recently. Next, I shall Netflix Twelve Monkeys, which I've never seen, and Baron Munchausen, which I saw when I was ikkle and wee. My dad did an excellent job introducing me to the classics as a child. :D
I coordinated travel plans with Sue and Shecky. They invited me to gaming night at their place on Friday!
I read more of the Locke Lamora sequel, which continues to be awesome.
I tried to play with Ko's gerbils, but they remain terrified of me. Even a yogurt treat couldn't buy their love! They're still ridiculously adorable, though. I'm enjoying the chance to take care of them this week.
I slept almost twelve hours. Tweeeeeeelve hoooooooours. I didn't even wake up briefly at 7:30, like I usually do by dint of sheer biological programming! My body is truly grateful. I could get used to this four-day weekend thing!
Kat's birthday! We ate more dragon cake and made my increasingly famous Apple and Gruyere Pie. Mmmmm, pie.
Kat and I stayed awake nearly an hour after we turned off the lights, giggling like loons.
Happy Things for Monday:
Had a sliver of pie to complement breakfast. Don't judge.
Went over idea bunnies for original and fanfic stories. Feel motivated and full of story-juice!
Watched Death at a Funeral with Kat. Alan Tudyk fills the world with joy! Hallucinating, naked Alan Tudyk even moreso.
Hugged Kat approximately every ten seconds, to compensate for unendurable wait for our reunion July 16th.
Using Kat's new iPod radio adapter (a birthday gift from her dad), we listened to the playlist for a fic I'm writing. Kat quizzed me on how each of the songs related to the story, which was quite entertaining. I had it on shuffle, and it kept coming up with Vienna Teng songs. I swear, there are only ten songs by her in the 62-song mix!
Happy Things for Tuesday:
Dreamed I went out to a karaoke bar with Bruce Campbell and Alan Cumming! We were later joined by Edward James Olmos and a random girl in an Utena costume. Heidi twittered about it from afar. No, I have no idea either. It was a good way to start the week, though!
Woke to a new chapter of First Lord's Fury on the beta list. Jim is rocking this book!
Got a new set of storyboards for a series of spots so absurdly ridiculous, they make me want to buy the product even though I've used it before and don't like it! Utterly cracktastic!
Said spots involved modeling long, luxurious hair on a dude. The jokes were many!
Went to a marriage equality rally after work. Incipient rain forced me indoors after only about 30 minutes, but I still got to hear some strong speeches and lend my voice to the crowd.
Kat and I slept over at Sarah's house yesterday, computerless, then we and El spent all day at the Spotsylvania Renaissance Faire! Therefore, I was unable to post yesterday's Happy Things until now. Here we go:
Kat and I slept in until noon. NOON, you guys. I haven't slept in until noon since... oh, man. I can't remember the last time I slept in until noon. I think it's been over a year. Well, maybe that time I was really sick, but other than that? Wow.
Perfect pancakes. Apparently I am like some kind of pancakes genius, because I made a heaping helping of perfectly round, perfectly cooked pancakes for Kat, her brother, and myself. Kat decorated hers with a perfect smiley face of honey. It was glorious.
Kat and Sarah introducing me to the cheesetastic Queen of Swords, and Sarah and myself introducing Kat to the brilliant-tastic Lie to Me.
Making a dragon cake with Kat and Sarah! Sarah's birthday was the 22nd, my half birthday was today, and Kat's birthday is the 24th. We are crafty liek woah. I added a marshmallow victim, because I am weird.
And today's:
Deciding at the last minute to piece together an outfit from some of Kat, Sarah, and El's extra Ren faire clothes, instead of wearing my little sun dress. I felt so much more involved in the festivities! Also, corsets are always entertaining.
Plotting out an utterly cracktastic Dresden high school AU RP in the car involving a baby chlorofiend, sibling rivalry, and a crossover with Highlander. I played a Thomas seemingly incapable of not speaking in double entendres. I love my friends.
Trying on utterly amazing corsets! Mine was so tight I had difficulty breathing and had to bail early, but it looked fantastic while it lasted! Behold my lack of internal organs: from the front and the side. Also bask in the hotness of Kat and Sarah! I didn't get any good photos of El, alas, but she looked brilliant.
Singing out loud in the car with Kat and El as we drove El home, then back to Kat's place. Lots of Vienna Teng and Spring Awakening!
Then all the little things of awesome I couldn't hope to choose between: fresh strawberry lemonade at faire, snazzy gold chignon spike things we all got and which look awesome, dabbling in archery (in which I got a bull's eye my first shot), participating in the costume contest and pulling off a to-the-floor curtsy without falling over, perfect weather (glorious sun with tolerable levels of heat), Kat discovering pointy objects, failing gloriously at juggling sticks, and being greeted by Kat's brother to the Imperial March on harmonica.
And above all: the fact that this weekend is only half-over!
It's time for Thursday's Happy Things! As I am on my four-day weekend, I refuse to even think about work, so my Happy Things will all be stuff that happened after I left at 5:45.
I got on the bus half an hour early, the 6:30 instead of the 7. Yay for not having to stand around in the blistering sun an additional 30 minutes!
The bus people had removed a pair of seats, and I sat in the row behind them, achieving infinite leg room!
The guy I sat next to was a total geek. He gushed about Ren faires and Tolkien, and we exchanged book recs. He recommended The Life of Oscar Wao and the assorted works of Murakami, and I recced him the series I was reading (Red Seas Under Red Skies, sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora) and the Thursday next series for his wife.
KAT AND SARAH ARE MINE ALL MINE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! There was much hugging and tackleglomping and also yawning, because the bus driver was incompetent and got us to DC an hour late. Clearly, the Karma Police found out I'd only paid a dollar for my ticket and decided to penalize the entire bus for my cheek. Hopefully, the return trip should not be as dire, as that ticket was purchased legitimately.
I told Kat and Sarah the opening sentence to the twelfth Dresden book. Kat's face turned bright pink as she squeeeeeed her mind off! I'm so glad I was prudent enough to wait until we were parked, because I'm confident we would have had an accident had we been driving.
I SAW KO TODAY MORE EEE! She swung by briefly to drop off her gerbils, which will be in my care until the 31st. My roommate will look after them when I'm in D.C. And Ko will be living in my city all summer! Somehow that didn't sink in until just now. There must be shenanigans!
Creperie + Sugar Sweet Sunshine cupcakes + Ko's company = tummy and mind and heart full of joy! I tried their Lemon Yummy tonight, which is lemon cake with lemon buttercream. Exquisite! Of course, it was so rich I could only eat half of it. Cupcaaaake coooma...
We have a new spot at work that involves several much-loved cartoon characters. Chris got to model one for the pitch. If we get the job, it will mean crazy fun in character land! I'm so excited about the possibility!
And the last thing that made me happy today is secret as well. It's something I feel no hesitation toward telling my friends about, but it probably shouldn't be bandied about in public, at least until it's confirmed. Still, mwaha! I win at fandom!
Gah, I fail at consistency. Sunday night (worked until 10:30), I just plain forgot to post, and Monday night, I worked until 1am and went to sleep immediately afterward. Tuesday night, I wrote most of this post, then decided to do laundry and watch Victor Victoria instead. Let's see if I can compensate for the missed days today!
Sunday's happy things:
I spent much of the day working on a caricaturish model of Beethoven. He looks kind of like a werewolf. Awesome!
Experimented with using an exercise ball instead of a chair. Fun, but slowly energy-sapping. When I finally got home, it felt fantastic to sprawl on my futon at the end of a long day's sitting!
Learned that Terrence Mann will be in the Broadway musical of The Addams Family. Yes, please!
Awesome movies were playing in the lounge area all day, so I got to watch a little bit of the original Star Wars as I ate lunch and part of Some Like it Hot during dinner. Saw a few minutes of Evil Dead II while making tea and giggled like a loon.
Speaking of dinner, Liz and I (having worked all weekend, and having eaten ridiculously healthily since Friday's food coma-inducing lunch) decided to spoil ourselves rotten and ordered a sumptuous feast from Serafina! We shared a raspberry, tangerine, and Nutella crepe and a slice of NY cheesecake. The prosciutto, tomato, and fontina focaccia pizza was almost an afterthought. I love Seamless Web.
Monday's happy things:
During lunch and dinner, I watched bits of His Girl Friday, at the recommendation of my favourite Penn professor. T'was awesome!
A number of friends kept me company online as I slaved away. My friends are awesome.
Matt, Craig, and I conspired about conspire-y things! Mwahaha!
Kat and I squeed about how we have only THREE DAYS until we will be reunited! Joy!
I misunderstood a coworker's comment about the size of a Great Dane, hearing "30 inches" as "30 hamwiches." I then made a sleep deprivation-inspired comment on my Twitter about how dogs should measured by a hamwich scale, i.e. the number of hamwiches they can eat without getting sick. To my glee, my Twitter friends rallied magnificently in response, making me laugh when I so desperately wanted to rage at a particularly atrocious communication failure that wasted over three hours of my time.
Tuesday's happy things:
I slept in until 9, performed morning ablutions at warp speed, ducked into the library to pick up the Locke Lamora sequel, and got to work by 10! I am like the Flash, only without the nickname synonymous with public indecency.
We're doing a spot for a Russian ad agency, so we're making a bunch of Russian characters. I keep hearing James Marsters' fantastic read of Sanya's "Tiny. But fierce." in my head.
I got to leave at 7! Well, 7:30.
Did laundry! Am hygenic! Also watched Victor Victoria for the first time, and it was BRILLIANT. I need more classic comedies in my life.
RPed with the FG folks. Molly got to take down a demon with a Chekovian glass dolphin paperweight! Don't mess with the Carpenter ladies, yo.
Finishing The Lies of Locke Lamora late last night. Fantastic book! I can't wait to get the sequel from the library on Monday. Until I get my hands on said sequel, I'm finally getting around to reading John Hodgman's More Information Than You Require. Not sure if my brain is in the right place to enjoy it, thought. I might wait until Hodgman and Coulton put out the audio book, then listen to it at work. My reading time is at such a premium, I want something meatier to occupy my time.
Seeing the stars and writers of Dollhouse and Castle congratulate each other and glee all over their Twitter pages.
Listening to the Proven Guilty audio book at work (yes, I worked 11 hours on a Saturday. This surprises you?). James Marsters' voice makes me think bad thoughts. :D
Cleaning all the old junk out of the fridge! I've been meaning to do that for ages. Whew!
The knowledge that a week from today, I will be in gallivanting merrily around DC with Kat, El, and Sarah!
A belly-full of Hawaiian Island Grill for lunch. Their ribs are gastrorgasmic! I should probably eat vegetarian all weekend to compensate. For dinner, I had quinoa with apricots and squash. Starting to feel human again.
Making a single Kit Kat piece last three hours.
The internet returning! In preparation for my roommate moving out, we switched over our joint utility and cable bills to my name alone, and today, we had a brief hiccup in the internet service. It took me an hour and a half of wrestling with tech support to get it restored. That said, it's amazing how the task of blogging about happy things affects one's mindset. Rather than having the tech support ordeal cloud my entire evening, I'm choosing to rejoice in the merriment of renewed service. Yay mind over matter!
And in the 3 1/2 hours I was cut off from the internet, the internet has learned that Castle and Dollhouse were renewed! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Waking up to a new chapter of First Lord's Fury on the beta list.
Making fresh almond milk for my cereal and to go with my morning vitamins, sweetened with dates and a dash of vanilla.
Getting hit with a really intriguing fic bunny.
Out of the blue, suddenly remembering what Jim wrote in my copy of Turn Coat.
Getting an equally spontaneous phone call from my mom, who was on her way to the movie theatre, wanting my opinion on whether to see Star Trek or Wolverine. I voted Star Trek.
A number of my friends are participating in the Happiness Meme, and I decided I should, too! It's simple: Post about something that made you happy today, then rinse and repeat for eight days. I'm a very happy person, so I'm going to challenge myself to five original happy things per day.
Lunch in Bryant Park. The boss let us go out for lunch today, so I snagged food from a street vendor and found a table on the grass with a few coworkers. As I ate, I took my shoes off and luxuriated in the feel of the grass between my toes, then afterward, I lay down on the grass and basked in the sun. Mmm, Vitamin D!
Jim Butcher validated my one-sided, unrequited Hendricks/Gard crackship! Well, evidence was already there in canon for those that wanted to see it, but it's nice to see it reinforced.
You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.
You just have a more cerebral approach than most. Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.
PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais
Ganked from everyone - the BBC supposedly says most people have only read 6 of these books. Here's how I measure up!
Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare -- I've read or seen unabridged onstage (alphabetically) Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Twelfth Night, a handful of sonnets, and the Reduced Shakespeare Company. :D 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy 25 The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (complete "trilogy") 26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (and I was one of like three people in my year that actually read the whole thing. Most people stopped at 200 pages. Not that I'm bitter.) 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis 34 Emma - Jane Austen 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (why is this on here twice?) 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden 40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel 52 Dune - Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck 62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding 69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses - James Joyce 76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal - Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession - AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte's Web - EB White 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- I've read a few, but by no means all 90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (in French) 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams 95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Total read: 31 Total partially read: 18
Wow. I'm actually embarrassed that I've gone without reading so many of these. Who are these people who have read fewer than six, and can I direct them to the nearest library? I'm amazed anyone can graduate high school without reading at least six of these. Heck, I'm surprised people can get through childhood without reading nearly that many.
Let the "Year In Review" memes begin! So what if I'm a week late. :D
Books and Graphic Novels Read in 2008 (wow, this is pathetic)
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay
Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution, Leonard Shlain
Persepolis I, Marjane Satrapi
Embroideries, Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis II, Marjane Satrapi
The Gun Seller, Hugh Laurie
Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership, Madeline Albright
Watchmen, Alan Moore
Superman: Red Son, Mark Millar
Buffy Season 8: The Long Way Home, Joss Whedon
"Backup," Jim Butcher
Dealing With Dragons, Patricia Wrede
Searching For Dragons, Patricia Wrede
Calling On Dragons, Patricia Wrede
Talking To Dragons, Patricia Wrede
The Secret History of Moscow, Ekaterina Sedia
Butcher Bird, Richard Kadrey
Welcome to the Jungle, Jim Butcher
Havemercy, Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennet
Princeps' Fury, Jim Butcher
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, Alan Moore
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox, Eoin Colfer
The Middleman Volume 1: The Trade Paperback Imperative, Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 6: Girl on Girl, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 7: Paper Dolls, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 8: Kimono Dragons, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 9: Motherland, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
"Last Call," Jim Butcher
"The Warrior," Jim Butcher
The Warrior's Apprentice, Lois McMaster Bujold
"The Mountains of Mourning," Lois McMaster Bujold
"Curses," Jim Butcher
Nation, Terry Pratchett
The Wordy Shipmates, Sarah Vowell
The Queen's Bastard, C.E. Murphy
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
Turn Coat, Jim Butcher (Jim finished it December 31st! Handy!)
Currently reading The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold, and will continue More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman as soon as I remember where I put it.
(10/21) Off Guard. Sort of Gard/Hendricks, because I'm a very twisted person.
(11/12) The Other Son. Mostly gen, with some Thomas/Justine.
(12/20) The Landscape. Part gen, part Amara/Bernard. I'm in the process of revising it.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? About what I predicted. Less than I would have liked. But then again, I only started writing fic in early 2007, and hopefully I'll get better and faster at putting my words on paper as I continue to practice.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2008? I certainly never imagined writing a Morgan-centric fic, as I figured that was Puck's territory. Guess not, as she hasn't even bothered to read it. :D
Did you take any writing risks this year? (See above for unexpected pairings, etc.) What did you learn from them? I created a major original character in Judith and managed to keep her from becoming a Mary Sue! Huzzah! Another major challenge was writing from Hendricks' terse (and frankly obscene) POV. I wanted to wash out my keyboard with soap afterwards. :D
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year? I'd like to continue to develop my own original ideas and characters for a potential 3D animated short. Or maybe a musical. Or a musical 3D animated short.
My Best Story: I'm torn between A Personage of Noble Rank and Title, The Other Son, and Small Mercies. With Personage, I'm not only really proud of the story on the surface, but it's so unbelievably chock-full of hidden details you'd go mad trying to find them all. Finally, I've written another story with the reread value of Cold Comfort! For The Other Son, I'm head over heels about the soulgaze scene. Whenever I came up with a new visual or some other kind of metaphor to enhance the scene, I was filled with actual joy. As for Small Mercies, I love each tiny moment independently, and strung together, they all make a pretty moving little story.
Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe:The Landscape. Yeah, so I don't really consider it "done." Yeah, so I've written all over it that I'm in the process of revising it, as the version I posted for Yuletide isn't remotely polished. Still, I feel like only two people have read it. This is particularly disheartening, as I believe it's the first non-slash story to be written in the Codex Alera fandom. That's lame, guys.
Most fun:I Spy. It's lighthearted and goofy and comfortable.
Most disappointing:Off Guard. I love all the non-sexy parts and hate all the sex, which is unfortunate considering I wrote it for a friend who requested smut for her birthday. And because all the sex stuff is toward the beginning, I don't think anyone bothered to keep reading and get to the good stuff and the real reason I picked that ship. Alas. (No, Mom and Dad, you will NOT get curious about what I mean by this and read the story. This is off limits! :D)
Most sexy:The Body. Because insight and healing are sexier to me than any smut. Honorable Mention: Feedback, because it's just so fun and carefree and silly. (A few months after I wrote the story, while smooching with my now-ex-but-then-current boyfriend, he told me to make sure I gave him feedback. It took me a full minute to stop laughing.)
Hardest to Write: Writing the aforementioned hated scenes in Off Guard was like pulling teeth.
Word count: 21,548. Nearly half of this was Personage. :D Not too shabby for a newbie writer who works 50+ hours each week!
Chungy asked for Pushing Daisies in the meme, so here goes!
1. bake cupcakes for Emerson! He needs cupcake-love. Then maybe he'll knit me a hat or a cute pair of gloves in return, as I lose hats and gloves faster than an arcade gamer loses quarters.
2. trust with the keys to my car Ned, I suppose. He gets in a lot of potentially car-damaging situations, but he does love driving, and he would have the best of intentions for keeping my car safe.
3. put thumbtacks on their chair I can't think of anyone in the Pushing Daisies universe that deserves this! There is so much love in this show, even the villains are too caricatured to deserve thumbtacks. Instead, I shall thumbtack anyone that ever considers canceling it.
4. have a crush on *clutches Ned defiantly as Chuck and Olive attempt to pry me loose with a crowbar*
5. pack up and leave if they moved next door That guy who lived in the sewer in the explosive pop-up book episode, simply because of the smell!
6. vote for President Digby
7. pick as my partner in a buddy movie Olive. So much Olive.
8. pair up Olive and the Homeopathic Mood Enhancer Guy. F'reals.
9. vote off the island and into the volcano Ditto #3. I love all the major characters, and the nasty minor characters already tend to get their just desserts. (Har!)
10. wheedle into fixing my MP3 player Wouldn't it be cool if Ned's ability to touch dead things and bring them back to life applied to electronics? Though as my mp3 player is an iPod and Apple has an awesome customer service policy, this would not be a problem that needed fixing by fictional characters.
Aysha/Questionstar posts a quasi-tutorial of her amazing armor-making method. I wish my fandoms had characters with awesome armor, because desperately I want to experiment with some of these techniques.
Nerd Squee MiniSpam:
Amanda Palmer sings "I Google You". Highly amusing! (Good lord, I hate it when people google me)
Pick a fandom, and I'll tell you which character(s) I would: 1. bake cupcakes for 2. trust with the keys to my car 3. put thumbtacks on their chair 4. have a crush on 5. pack up and leave if they moved next door 6. vote for President 7. pick as my partner in a buddy movie 8. pair up 9. vote off the island and into the volcano 10. wheedle into fixing my MP3 player
Some of you may have heard that PBS is revamping their much-beloved series, "The Electric Company." It turns out they were filming a scene in the basketball court next to my apartment as I was walking to work this morning!
Western. Like Midland, Western is another accent that people consider neutral. So, you might not actually be from the Western half of the country, but you definitely sound like it.
And if you're not from the West, you are probably one of the following: (a) A Pittsburgher - the quiz can't tell the difference; (b) Someone from Canada (probably southern Ontario) who doesn't have a Canadian accent; (c) Someone from northern New England who doesn't have a New England accent; or (d) Someone from Texas or the Heartland who was born after 1980. You are definitely not from New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Detroit, the Deep South, etc.
"Mmmhmm, Abe the Babe... maybe not babelike in the traditional sense (he was definitely tall and dark, if not classically "handsome") but a mind that was hotter than Georgia asphalt. You could ask him anything, and he would probably know the answer, which could be very convenient. Abe was pretty reserved -- not so great with the romantic stuff, and he'd probably run and hide if you ever said "listen, we need to have a talk". But his waters ran deep, possibly deeper than any other president. Maybe even than any other mortal. Ever. And we suspect that as long as you were gentle and non-judgmental with him, he'd totally open up to you. And when he did, and you saw the true contents of his heart, your mind would be BLOWN."
A few weeks ago, there was a meme going around in which you took your ten favourite TV shows and had people guess which ones they were based on three of their "plot keywords" on IMDB. Here's my list. How many can you figure out?
Niagara Falls/Inanimate Object/Supernatural (IMDB fails for only listing three plot keywords for this show)
New York City/Interracial Couple/Cheerleader
Girl Power/Neo Noir/Father Daughter Relationship
Steampunk/Anti-Hero/Mandarin
Human Android Relationship/Polytheism/Military Life
Wizard/Magic/Private Investigator (ditto #1)
Action Heroine/Leather Coat/Based on Film
Sarcasm/Medical Drama/Cane
Photographic Memory/Father Son Relationship/Murder
Man With No Name/Dark Past/Time Machine
Comment with your guesses! I'll post the answers in a couple days.
Well I'll be! I just managed to restore my roommate's final paper from deletion and recycle bin emptying, thus cementing my position in the universe as Golden Goddess of Technology and Win. All Windows users should download Restoration. It's free, and it will save your sanity.
Meanwhile, oh look! That meme everyone is doing! (Modest and humble? Hahahaha!) Make sure you check out the behind the scenes footage on the website. *gurgles*
And now, back to your regularly scheduled Ray Casting assignment.
