Filipe bests the White Eater

Posted on March 22, 2010 by HappyGoth


Filipe bests the White Eater, originally uploaded by Friday Feltz.

I am not entirely sure what it is I am looking at, but I can’t stop looking at it.

This sort of sums up how I feel today (loooooong weekend, anyone?)

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Megacon 2010, the recap

Posted on March 17, 2010 by HappyGoth

SO.

This blog is great and it gets written in a lot when I don’t have much going on, but lately that has been NEVER and also that applies to knitting.

But in the meantime, I went to MegaCon, and that was awesome, and also Otter is back from war, and we are all very happy about that (that’s the real war, not SCA war, which is serious and potentially injuring, but not exploding or life-threatening).

Anyway. In the future, I will have to remember that driving 7 hours to spend 2 days someplace before driving back 7 hours and then going to work 3 hours later is not such a hot idea.

On the other hand, the trip was great, and it was awesome to spend more time with Obby (Jennie and I are happy; it seems as though he and the Husband get along quite well), and we ate at the best Denny’s on the planet. And there were costumes, two of which were worn by the Husband and myself, and one by Obby.

The highlights of the trip were shopping next to Virginia Hey (her arm brushed mine; also, she is very tall) and Ellen Dubin, who spoke to me (!) and riding around in the van with Otter hanging out the side door with the minigun and the rest of us giggling like idiots. Oh, and then we saw Telaryn and ate some Giordano’s, which was an unexpected and excellent treat.

Next year we’re planning on staying an extra day for the R&R. It’s nicer, weather-wise, in Florida.

Hijinks with the toy gun:

(You can’t see it, but Otter is giggling like a maniac.)

Yes, please.

A hobbit, doing what hobbits do best (eating):

He was so excited to be a Romulan! (I was a fairy with a machine gun. Even though nobody knew who I was dressed as, they still too pictures). He was an adorable Romulan.

The jar is labeled “Abby Normal”:

The Husband, as Captain Midlands:

Giordano’s pizza, which you can normally get only in Chicago. This was a nice surprise, and worth the long drive. We ate some for lunch the next day.

And I got a bento, which I used to pack my lunch in yesterday.

The other part of this story is that the Orange County convention center is huge, and along with Megacon there were also happening: a pen convention, a motivational speaker, a boat show, a home show and some education convention. Every time we went back to Megacon, we thought “whew, this is where all the normal people are.” It’s all about perspective. And also? The crepe stand was with the pen convention. What is up with that? I like crepes! Luckily, the halls were free for wandering so although I couldn’t look at pens, I got to eat a crepe.

It was delicious.

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Missing Greyhound

Posted on March 15, 2010 by HappyGoth

If you’re in Atlanta, keep an eye out for this handsome fellow:

He’s fresh off the track, and has been lost all weekend. If you see him, call Jenn and Jason and let them know.

Thanks!

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Happygoth

Posted on March 10, 2010 by HappyGoth

Has run out of happy (in other words: I have a mondo cold)

This is how it feels inside my head. Which, incidentally, might also be what it feels like to be a balloon.

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My head is full of fluid.

Posted on March 8, 2010 by HappyGoth

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way (the announcement of the fluid, that is; it remains in my head), I saw Jonathan Coulton and They Might Be Giants on Friday. Also I saw Sabrina, Wendi and their friend (sorry, friend, I didn’t catch your name), but that was at Five Guys.

Jonathan Coulton’s set was sadly shorter than I’d hoped, but all of it was delightful. The best part was Re: Your Brains, where we all sort of awkwardly sang like zombies. It’s even more awkward when you’re standing by yourself.

After that I located ESC and Hockey Mom, and then was They Might Be Giants, who showered us with confetti three times (some of it was glow-in-the-dark). We three were all very pleased to notice that the sock puppet portion of the show (oh, yes – sock puppets) involved hand-knit sock puppets.

Then, after pretty much everybody got tsk-tsked by the security guys for taking unauthorized photos, TMBG brought out Homestar Runner (also a puppet) and I got this amazingly crappy video (I need a new camera in the worst way):

Yeahhhhh. But it was at the request of TMBG, for a crowd-sourcing experiment. It’s a pretty blue color, at least!

Then Saturday and Sunday I kind of laid around the house feeling sorry for myself (please refer to the above reference to head full of fluid), and watched the Oscars with the CG.

I must say – there’s something immensely satisfying about watching The Dude accept an Oscar.

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Okay, I lied

Posted on March 5, 2010 by HappyGoth

There is something else.

Stitch Lamp

It’s a lamp that you decorate yourself, a la needlepoint. Normally I’d be skeptical but the example is so lovely that I am won over.

I wonder how easy it would be to replicate with plastic canvas and a lamp kit?

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It’s Friday!

Posted on March 5, 2010 by HappyGoth

Finally.

I still feel less than perky, but there’s a They Might Be Giants show this evening, and even better than that, a TMBG show for which Jonathan Coulton is opening! Yesssss.

Perhaps beer will help me feel better.

Sorry. Not much more to say than that.

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Why I don’t get more done, the long answer

Posted on March 4, 2010 by HappyGoth

(In conversation with myself, or the part of myself that is smarter than I and often gets ignored.)

ME: Why is it that I didn’t get anything done this week? Why is all this stuff still left undone? I did so much!

SELF: Because you do too much.

ME: That seems like a contradiction. How is it that doing too much equates to not doing enough? Self, you make no sense.

SELF: Well, let’s make a list. We’re fond of lists, no?

ME: (begrudgingly) So we are. Fine.

Here is what I have on my plate for this week (and next):

  1. Help Lea sew and paint for Their Highnesses for Gulf Wars.
  2. Finish collecting assets for moonlighting client #1
  3. Start design for moonlighting client #2
  4. Go shopping for costume bits
  5. Go pick up stuff in Athens for BIL
  6. Make ~10 bookbinding kits for Crossroads to Jerusalem
  7. Do something resembling laundry
  8. Think of something to blog about
  9. Take stock of knitting projects to determine priorities for finishing said projects
  10. Plan knits for SIL and her impending progeny
  11. Do something resembling tidying/cleaning at home
  12. Continue to research medieval India, specifically garb, so that I can sew more
  13. Practice Hindi

Happy?

SELF: Well, what have you done on that list?

ME: Nothing, except maybe 12. Before bedtime. And while procrastinating on the other list items.

SELF: Not even 13?

ME: Well, no. Normally #13 happens pretty frequently, as Mr. Jaipur and I communicate 3-5 times a week. This week, he’s taking exams (and celebrating Holi, of which I am quite jealous), so it’s been a nice little break.

SELF: Okay, well cross that one off, then.

ME: But this doesn’t address my question. Why haven’t I finished more?

SELF: Let’s break it all down, shall we? Assuming that you have 112 waking hours in one week, 40 of which are taken up by work, and another 15 of which are taken up by travel and extracurricular activities, that leaves roughly 57 hours for you to do other things. Which gives you ~ 4 hours each for the remaining things you have left to do.

ME: That should be enough, right?

SELF: No, wait. Add in 10 hours spent eating and another 3 spent bathing/primping/dressing/undressing. 44 total. Plus spending time with the husband (which trumps all other list items). 35.

Just about 2.5 hours per activity.

ME: I see now why I don’t get all that done.

SELF: Also, watching TV on Netflix doesn’t help much.

ME: Shut up, Self.

SELF: Oh, and then? Some of that ought to be spent exercising, though it isn’t.

ME: Did you have to bring that up?

SELF: Yes. Some is spent eliminating, obviously (I always liked using “eliminating” as a term for using the toilet; it makes me feel like I’m 80, since the only other person I knew to use it was my elderly grandmother).

ME: So basically you’re saying that I’m an idiot.

SELF: A lazy idiot.

ME: Self, you can be kind of a jerk sometimes, did you know that?

SELF: You do realize you’ve wasted 20 minutes having this conversation with me, don’t you?

ME: Shut up.

(Evidently I ignore that other part because that other part is a jerk. I had no idea!)

_______

So anyway. That’s pretty much why I don’t get more done. I’m going to consider 1/3 of that list completed to be a good number.

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Blog Award

Posted on March 3, 2010 by HappyGoth

I rarely shy away from self-aggrandizement. Okay, so maybe I do. But I will be the first to admit that I’ve never been devoured by bears.

If you feel you deserve a blog award, go here and pick one! You DESERVE this.

CG, Dawn-E, Marmadyth, ESC and Katy? I’m looking at all of you to carry on with what I hope becomes a rich and lovely tradition.

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Things done as of today

Posted on March 3, 2010 by HappyGoth

1. Finished the buttons! I put them in a ziploc bag. The husband says they look like blueberries. They do, sort of.

2. Re-discovered The Highlander TV series, and found it to be less awesome than I remembered. It has not weathered the years very well. I realized this upon seeing Duncan McLeod, who, to my 13-year-old self, was this dark, handsome, long-haired brooding gent. Now? Well,  he’s still fairly handsome and retains those same traits, but I now realize those include a mullet, poofy pirate shirts and very high-waisted jeans. He’s totally the immortal Chuck Norris (complete with karate-style ass-kickingness). Actually, everybody wears high-waisted jeans in the series at some point. Oh, well. I was no older than 17 when I watched the series. It can be forgiven. Remind me to find the fanfiction I wrote about it and burn it.

3. Contracted some sort of cold. And an intestinal thing. I suppose it’s better to get it all out of the way at the same time.

And that’s it. I have some sewing to do and some kits to create for a class at the Crossroads event Owl’s Nest is putting on at the end of the month. Perhaps if I get it all done soon, there will be knitting. I’m thinking of casting on the Shaped Arch socks, and using some of my stash that’s been sitting around for forever.

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