Friday:

  1. 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*
  2. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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…

  4. …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!
  5. 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!
  6. 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:

  1. Fantastic, sitcom-worthy banter with my coworkers today!
  2. 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!
  3. My dad surprised me with a book on the natural history of Manhattan. Coolness!
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

Today’s Happy Things:

  1. 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.
  2. 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
  3. I coordinated travel plans with Sue and Shecky. They invited me to gaming night at their place on Friday!
  4. I read more of the Locke Lamora sequel, which continues to be awesome.
  5. 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.

Happy Things for Sunday:

  1. 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!
  2. Kat’s birthday! We ate more dragon cake and made my increasingly famous Apple and Gruyere Pie. Mmmmm, pie.
  3. Commentary: The Musical!
  4. VULCAN PICK-UP LINES. Read this NOW!
  5. Kat and I stayed awake nearly an hour after we turned off the lights, giggling like loons.

Happy Things for Monday:

  1. Had a sliver of pie to complement breakfast. Don’t judge.
  2. Went over idea bunnies for original and fanfic stories. Feel motivated and full of story-juice!
  3. Watched Death at a Funeral with Kat. Alan Tudyk fills the world with joy! Hallucinating, naked Alan Tudyk even moreso.
  4. Hugged Kat approximately every ten seconds, to compensate for unendurable wait for our reunion July 16th.
  5. 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:

  1. 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!
  2. Woke to a new chapter of First Lord’s Fury on the beta list. Jim is rocking this book!
  3. 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!
  4. Said spots involved modeling long, luxurious hair on a dude. The jokes were many!
  5. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. Discussing that awesome New York Times story about a soldier fighting the Taliban in pink “I <3 NY" boxers with Kat’s mom. Conclusion: America is awesome.
  3. 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.
  4. Kat and Sarah introducing me to the cheesetastic Queen of Swords, and Sarah and myself introducing Kat to the brilliant-tastic Lie to Me.
  5. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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!
  5. 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.

  1. 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!
  2. The bus people had removed a pair of seats, and I sat in the row behind them, achieving infinite leg room!
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

Today’s Happy Things:

  1. I SEE KAT TOMORROW OMG EEEEE!!!!!!!
  2. 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!
  3. 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…
  4. 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!
  5. 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:

  1. I spent much of the day working on a caricaturish model of Beethoven. He looks kind of like a werewolf. Awesome!
  2. 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!
  3. Learned that Terrence Mann will be in the Broadway musical of The Addams Family. Yes, please!
  4. 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.
  5. 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:

  1. During lunch and dinner, I watched bits of His Girl Friday, at the recommendation of my favourite Penn professor. T’was awesome!
  2. A number of friends kept me company online as I slaved away. My friends are awesome.
  3. Matt, Craig, and I conspired about conspire-y things! Mwahaha!
  4. Kat and I squeed about how we have only THREE DAYS until we will be reunited! Joy!
  5. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. I got to leave at 7! Well, 7:30.
  4. Did laundry! Am hygenic! Also watched Victor Victoria for the first time, and it was BRILLIANT. I need more classic comedies in my life.
  5. 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.

Today’s Happy List:

  1. 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.
  2. Seeing the stars and writers of Dollhouse and Castle congratulate each other and glee all over their Twitter pages.
  3. 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
  4. Cleaning all the old junk out of the fridge! I’ve been meaning to do that for ages. Whew!
  5. Exploding Kat and GG’s brains with further adventures with Sparkle Fairy Glitter Princess Morgan.

And now, I’m going to sleep, as I’m exhausted!

Today’s Happy Things:

  1. The knowledge that a week from today, I will be in gallivanting merrily around DC with Kat, El, and Sarah!
  2. 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.
  3. Making a single Kit Kat piece last three hours.
  4. 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!
  5. 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!!!!!!