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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rae_beta | |
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Not actually doing science, but that's beside the point. Anyway, still kicking. Still staying pulled back a bit from LJ. Still really liking Twitter, which still very much strikes me as casual conversation with training wheels. I'll write at greater length about this eventually, but not right now. Tickled to see Mogworld and The Marquis getting more print. Oh, and I'm in The Beat's 2009 year-end survey, along with a link to my long-defunct previous LJ. Funny! For those of you to whom such things are relevant, I'll be at ECCC in March, and Stumptown Comics Fest and likely Wondercon in April. Still not sure about SDCC, unless work decides to send me, which I doubt they will, or I suddenly score an aristocratic patron or something. Tags: me, miscellany
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littlekuriboh | |
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Episode 46! I shall try and keep my post about this relatively spoiler free, but suffice to say I won't be making any episodes for a while. Which means I have time to work on fun stuff! With my friends! And I can enjoy it! Yaaay! Had a wonderful time at MAGFest. Yeah, there were some issues, but it's a con. It happens. You people are amazing. Kirbopher, Masako, the guys from TGWTG, Jon St. John, WhiteAsh, Alpha, Kroze, Dom, Matt Mercer... too many people to list! You're all so awesome. I would love to hang out with you guys over and over. Status:  giggly
Audio Reception: Stand By Me - Ben E. King
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jakebe | |
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It's hard to believe that ten years ago, I was spending New Year's eve with my boyfriend at the time in a brand-new apartment that had been thoughtfully provided by a few close friends at the time. I had just dropped out of college and moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas to try to put my lift back together after a tumultuous (and awful) two years. I remember thinking at the time that 2000 was this big scary year that could hold just about anything for me; after the flame-out of my college career (which never recovered), I was frightened but ready for what was coming.
The next decade took me through three failed relationships, the discovery of Buddhism, dalliances with witchcraft and totemism and such, lots of bizarre experiences and a few even more tumultuous times. Finally, it took me to California, and the love of my life, with whom I've built quite a lovely existence.
As we enter 2010 I'm staring down my thirties. I can't say I'm uncomfortable with this; unlike so many people around me I actually enjoy the process of getting older, discovering all the things that my older friends and parents' generation gets excited about -- the thrill of building a nest, of establishing yourself in a community, of settling in to who you are and where you fit. I may get an itch in ten years to throw away the comfort and stability I've created for myself; who knows what the next decade will bring. I'm mostly excited, though, and a little nervous about what's in store.
This year I'd like to focus on integrating everything I've learned over the last ten years, having all of the progress I've made come to fruition. I'd like to take better care of myself, stand up for what I think is important and display my identity more. At this point I think I have a much better handle on myself, and I can be comfortable in those instances where what I love and believe in offends (or just bores) the people I come into contact with. There's a way I can co-exist with people who don't share my passions, and I don't begrudge anyone for it.
It's amazing the security that Prozac can bring, by the way. This stuff is great. ;)
So who am I? What have I learned? What are the things that I've come to care about?
Well, that's what I'll be thinking a lot about over the year, hopefully. Right now, I have three main resolutions on my agenda.
1. Exercise more.
2. Write more.
3. Spend less.
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unclekage | |
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As a Christmas present this year, my dear friend Decker got me a plane ticket to Germany (along with himself, of course!) where we spent New Year's Eve with the Eurofurs at the incredible Ringberg Hotel in Suhl, the former home of Eurofurence. Now, first off, the hotel's New Year's Eve party is one of the most amazing events in the country and people come from far and wide. It was sold out months in advance and is probably already sold out for the next two years for the holiday. Ordinarily, the furries are given a conference room in the lower level and a bunch of spare mattresses and blankets where they can crash in a great fuzzy bivouac. Decker and I were quite prepared for that. Upon our arrival we stopped in the bar for lunch. My German is not very good and Decker's less so, and since it was a distinctly German holiday celebration (unlike Eurofurence) they had not prepared an English menu. I was able to figure out all of the items except for one and nobody around could tell me what it was, so of course we had that. Lentil soup from the Ringberg is divine. As we were finishing up, my dear friend Andre (aka the "Hairless Master of Alcohol" aka the "Magic Boozotter") came bouncing up. "Ah, Onkel Kage, so good to meet you! You have a room?" "Oh, no, we are staying downstairs with the furries." "No no no, I mean, you have a room." "Er, yes, the room downstairs." "No," he said, "A room! Come, come!" He took us to the registration desk where he placed a key into my very astonished hand. I sort of sputtered and said, "But...how...the rooms have been...how do I...?" Then it clicked, and I said, "Nightfox." nachtfuchs was the model for Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anyone who knows him will agree. Tall, charismatic, incredibly intelligent, snappy dresser, and possessed of an absolutely uncanny ability to make things happen. I stormed up to him and demanded to know how he had pulled off the equivalent of booking a room in a hotel overlooking Times Square on the afternoon of December 30th. He gave me the most innocent wide brown eyes, looked stunned and confused, and said meekly, "I don't know. Magic?" Not magic. There's just something fantastic about him. The Ringberg has a club with a bar in it downstairs; that is where the Furries have their party. And just like last year there was a steady stream of curious old folks in tuxedos peeking in at the lasers and the fog and the fursuits and the oontz-oontz-oontz before trudging back upstairs to the oompah-oompah-oompah and the man spinning plates on sticks. Nightfox asked me to mind the bar for a moment while he ran to fetch something. While he was gone someone asked me to draw him a beer. I wound up bartending the entire night, which was tons of fun for a chemist. One fellow came up and handed me a big glass and said, "Surprise me!" I did not see him for the entire rest of the evening. Decker protested, something about the "fox guarding the henhouse," but I ignored him and set him to work washing glasses. Germans love to set off fireworks at midnight on New Year's Day. It seems that every guest at the Ringberg, furry and non, had brought along a big suitcase full of fireworks, from little Black Cats to something that looked and acted like a daisycutter. Yow. We stood outside surrounded by a massive pall of blue smoke, being showered with ashes and the occasional cinder from exploding ordnance above us for nearly three quarters of an hour with not a single letup in the show. Eventually Decker leaned to me and said, "Do you suppose they'll test our coats for explosives residue at the airport?" Uh-oh. We stayed in the delightful company of Nightfox and Tani da Real and Cheetah.de and Kralla and Loewi (whose name I can never spell) and Big Blue Fox...wow, the list goes on and on, so forgive me for just saying "everyone else"...for the 1st and the 2nd, and then Nightfox took us to the airport for the trip home. Of course, near half a foot of snow had fallen on Duesseldorf and was still falling, and -- well, that's where my stories come from. We'll talk more about that in June. As an aside, I'm a wee bit of a purist, but in the interest of celebration I won't berate the folks who are welcoming in a new decade. That's not going to happen for another 361 days. 2010 is the last year of the decade that is rapidly fading behind us, a decade that saw the world turned completely upside down**, a decade of terror and near-dictatorship, of broken dreams and broken homes. 2009 itself was no peach and I am glad to see it go. As with every year, I look forward to 2010 with the earnest hope that it manages not to suck nearly as much as the previous year did. If you'll remember, we had a year a few back where the top golfer was black, the top rapper was white, the top basketball player was Chinese, the French thought the Americans were arrogant, and the Germans did not want to go to war.
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jakebe | |
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Last night a bunch of friends came over to help me celebrate the winter holiday. Since toob was in Arkansas visiting family, it was the perfect time to throw a wild and raucous party while the parents were out. :D There was food and wine and Love Actually, which is a movie that just gets me almost every time in a completely different way. Liam Neeson carrying his wife's coffin out of the church to the tune of the Bay City Rollers choked me up a bit. It was absurd and funny, but the look of bewildered grief on his face... And when Colin Firth proposes to his Portugese maid in broken grade-school language-tape speak just made me so happy. It is a movie that shamelessly uses every rom-com cliche in the book, but its joy is infectious and it just sweeps you up. I'm definitely making this a Christmas tradition. toob hid presents all over the house for me to find on Christmas before he left, but I couldn't wait and everyone helped me with the scavenger hunt. They were rhyming clues that were fun and a little tricky; we ended up needing to use a thesaurus for the first one ("It could mean to steal or it could mean your face, but in this case it's something of Mat's that can easily break!"), and andreal helped out with the last one. My dragon should really do more puzzles for people; he has a really great knack for it. Clever, tricksy dragon. I got precisely what I asked for: clothes, books and a DS game. They were all really, really neat. My personal favorites are a purple flannel shirt, a Ravens Flacco jersey(!!!) and a signed first edition of Harlan Ellison's Deathbird Stories(!!!!!!! :D :D <3). I'm getting a decent, small collection of special edition books and it just makes me wiggle with glee! Merry Christmas, everyone. Also, Happy Yule, Solid Kwanzaa, OK Festivus and Happy Chanukah. No matter what you're doing today (even if it's not something you would have preferred), please remember the loved ones in your life and the great things you have going for you. It's still not too late to have a good holiday. :) Tags: christmas, joy, presents
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nostalgic
