So, because I'm planning this wedding, I'm taking advantage of some of the wedding planning resources out there. One of those is a community of people, who post about various topics, ask general questions, stuff like that. A requirement for joining this community is that you post an introduction. It goes in spurts--sometimes, there won't be anyone new for a week, but sometimes there'll be three or four a day.
I'm noticing two trends here.
1. All of these brides are so *young*. I mean, seriously. 19-21, most of them, with a few that are older than that. It just seems weird, and you know, I went down that road myself, and...well. My experiences won't teach anyone, I know that. I just have to sit back here and shake my head. Yikes.
2. Most of these girls, usually the really young ones, have known their husbands to be for less than a year--some of them just a few months, in some cases. It's extremely rare that you get someone on there who's dated for as long as Brett and I have done. Again, not saying what's right or wrong, it's just an observation, and something that I know isn't for me.
It does make me wonder, though...is this where the concept of a 'starter marriage' came from?
Because I asked her to, my mom is flying in tomorrow to help me with some of the wedding stuff--initially, she was going to come out to help me make favors, but it's turned into a 'see the site,' 'make favors,' 'visit florist,' 'visit baker,' 'find a dress at Faire' trip...a far cry from just wrapping bubbles in tulle. (Weird, my keyboard started totally freaking out there, I walked away for 5 minutes to find batteries--because I thought that was the problem--and now it's behaving fine. It hates me.)
Regardless, I like spending time with my mom, so the visit will be nice.
And, for the local folks, we're going up to the Heart of the Forest faire in Novato on Saturday. Tickets are $20 ($16 if you buy them online beforehand), it's a lot of fun, and we'd love to have you join us.
I'm sure you'll all understand why I'm offline for the next few days. ;)
Some kid caught smoking in the bathroom at school was brought up on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for shouting a few choice f-word epithets at his principal. (Insert Cornholio joke here.)
His public defender drafted this motion to dismiss, which, I must admit, I'm rather amused by. Who knew. :)
(Might not be work safe--no pictures, just lots of language.)
Oh my god. Look at who's scheduled on Inside the Actor's Studio for September 29th.
http://www.newschool.edu/academic/drama/itas/index.htm
So glad I have TiVo right now. :)
Or something like that, I guess. :)
It's Monday morning at 7:35am, and I was only 10 minutes late to work this morning. I told Brett that I had to come in today, so here I am.
In the shower, I started thinking about some of the things that I had done right and wrong with the Blogathon this year, so in between other work stuff, I figured I'd write a little bit about that.
What I did right:
- I chose a charity that was important to me, that I really wanted to make money for. Motivation is such a huge factor, and at about 3-4am, when I was *really* tired, that's part of what kept me going.
- I didn't tie myself to a theme, or to a post length (minimum or maximum). A theme would be fun, but for my first attempt? Probably not so much.
- I had other stuff to occupy my mind. Being able to play Diablo 2 or watch TV was really a good thing.
- The laptop. So glad that I was able to move between locations.
What I did wrong:
- Scheduling Something To Do on Friday night, *and* on Sunday. I had an *awesome* time on Friday, don't get me wrong, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. My friends are awesome. :) BUT, take the really late night on Friday coupled with the early rising on Saturday, and the *NEED* to get up to Novato yesterday (which I'll also write about, have no fear), and well...bad. I've had maybe 15 hours of sleep since I woke up Friday morning. Next year, though, I won't have to worry about the Sunday Thing, so I could always sleep in then.
- I didn't have really structured meals. That's not necessarily bad, but by the time 9pm rolled around and Brett got home, I was starving and sleepy. Food is fuel and all that jazz, I should've eaten something much sooner than I did.
- I didn't really participate in the email list, or in any of the chatrooms. I'm regretting that now. I *did* read other bloggers, but I didn't comment much, so I get this feeling (and I'm sure I'm right) that I missed out on this big, fun, community-type thing. But I have a new list of journals to read, I should link them into my side bar!
---
I'm sure there's other stuff that I could add to this list, but those were the obvious things that jumped out at me when I started thinking about it.
So, will I do it again next year? I'm not sure. I can tell you that I spent Sunday (the part that I wasn't completely out of my mind tired) with this huge feeling of pride and accomplishment--I mean, look at what I did? It's all right there in the blog for everyone to see. I did that. That's awesome! :)
[Side note: it was Sunday night that I was really tired and punchy. On our way home from Novato, there were times when I was completely incapable of coherent speech and resorted to saying 'fuck' a lot.]
Anyway, time to go back to work. What I really should've stuck with was my plan to clean between entries. I didn't do *anything*, and now my mom's coming in on Thursday afternoon, and oy! I have got to clean.
I started writing this post at 5:34am local time. The sky has already started to get lighter. The buildings immediately across from me are more easily seen, I can distinguish the white trim from the beige-ish paint of the building proper. The sky gets lighter every time I look outside--soon, the sun will come up on a brand new day.
I can't tell you how long it's been since I stayed up for 24 hours. In fact, I don't know if I've *ever* stayed up for a full 24 hours before. I guess that just speaks to determination.
(On TV: "Two times eleven is?" "Twelve!")
There are big, puffy, white clouds out there, they look a lighter shade of blue than the rest of the sky, just highlighted by the rising sun.
Sleep has already started to haze my brain a little bit--I almost drifted off a time or two during Mary Poppins--and I've started to ramble. Babble. Thought processes are slow, it takes me awhile to type, but wow. The way I feel right now, that makes it all worth it.
Though I spent a good portion of the day on my own, I still owe a whole lot of people thanks.
Thanks to Donna for being there to talk to for a long while.
Thanks to Clay, who told me to contact him if I needed anything.
Thanks to Brett for bringing home food.
Thanks to Jeremy, for bringing me through the home stretch.
Thanks to all my sponsors, and to the people who commented on the posts I made--I hope it was fun stuff to read, though I'm not so sure about that. ;)
I'm off for a nap now, before I go to get measured for a new wedding dress. I hope that everyone has a wonderful day.
I feel like Robin Williams at the end of his live HBO special: arms spread wide, with a triumphant shout of, "WE DID IT!"
So we did.
The sun continues to rise, the sky continues to lighten. It's going to be a beautiful day.
It all had to start somewhere, the menagerie of critters. The ones I've posted pictures of are most, but definitely not all of the ones we've got. As mentioned in a previous post, though god only knows how long ago it was--brain not working!--I got the original pair of bears at the Mall of America in Minnesota. I was so nervous bringing them home, because I wasn't sure if Brett would like them, but he loved them on sight. They're very well loved, they sleep with us every night, so that should explain that. :)
(Embedded image removed, please click the link for the picture.)
Click here for the full size pic.
Not far now...
My back is really killing me, my eyes refuse to focus for more than a few seconds at a time, and I really desperately want to sleep. There's no way I can give up now, though. It's only half an hour away, the end is in sight, and you know what? I'm fucking exhausted, but my god, I feel really good about myself. :)
Only two more critter pictures left! Yep, this is another Build-A-Bear, her name is Keeva. She's a St. Patrick's day bear (gee, the shamrocks didn't give it away? :), we got her just a few months ago. The boxer shorts are just too cute, and I love the peasant blouse.
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link for the picture.)
I swear to god, I keep freaking typing weight instead of width.
And, okay, what the hell is TiVo recording at four (almost five now) in the fucking morning?
Looking forward to seeing the sun rise, I have to admit...and yeah, not just because I'll get to go to bed, either! :)
I choose me bristles with pride, yes I do.
Blackie, the cat below, is yet another special edition from Build-A-Bear. She was the 2002 Halloween animal--and has glow in the dark eyes, which can be rather freaky.
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link for the picture.)
Click here for the full size picture.
Side note: Listening to Mary Poppins sing 'Stay Awake' to Jane and Michael is bad right now. Really really bad.
Stay awake, don't nod and dream.
There's a story behind this bear--he was a valentine's day gift for Brett. I had the spare set of keys to his Jeep, so I snuck over to his apartment one morning before I went to work and left the bear in the passenger seat with a card.
It was fun. :)
This one's from Basic Brown Bear Factory in San Francisco. He sits up on the dresser with the ballerina bear, who I got on the same trip.
King/Prince Charming Bear:
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link for the picture.)
Ballerina Bear:
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link for the picture.)
Both have separate images:
King/Prince Charming.
Ballerina.
Oh, it's a jolly holiday with Mary, no wonder that it's Mary that we love.
An interesting bit of movie trivia--Cutting Edge is now over, and I'm watching Mary Poppins. Karen Dotrice plays Jane the movie Mary Poppins. Her father is Roy Dotrice, who plays Anton Pamchenko, the coach from Cutting Edge. Roy Dotrice, who played Father in the Beauty and the Beast TV series--which they seriously need to release on DVD right freaking now, dammit.
Colleen is another Build-A-Bear bear--she's Centennial Bear IV. There's only one more in that series--came out on Saturday, in fact, and we're going to have to go get one, I think.
(Picture removed, please see the link below for the full-length version!)
Full version of the picture here.
I find it amusing that I keep trying to type height and weight, rather than *width* for the image source.
Aie.
Our daughters daughters will adore us and they'll sing in grateful chorus, 'Well done, sister suffragettes.
Getting toward the end of Cutting Edge now--they're practicing that spin/throw thing. It makes me hurt, watching them. Ouchie.
But in keeping with the theme...Iggy is yet another Build-A-Bear limited edition--specifically for the holidays. I don't know whether they'll come out with more. He's absolutely adorable, though. We were going to just leave without putting clothes on him, but then the guy behind the counter pointed Brett at the scarf, hat, and mittens. It's so cute. :)
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link below for the full-size picture.)
click here for a full-size version.
"I'm going. These little pep talks can be so exhausting."
Wow, the temptation to go to bed right now is oh so strong. Brett's already asleep, it'd be so nice to curl up next to him, to go lie down rather than sit here on the couch, or in my chair, with my hips and lower back all sore. I have critters to keep me company, though, and I really do like this movie. DB Sweeney is a cutie, and Moira Kelly is quite beautiful.
This next critter is a bear that I got from FAO Schwarz, because of the first MUSH character I ever played. She carried around a purple teddy bear everywhere she went, and I figured that if I ever started meeting people from the game RL, I could take the bear with me.
(I have taken the picture out of this one, because it's really throwing off my index page and driving me crazy!)
Good god. I can't type for shit right now, I have had to go back and erase stuff so much. Oy. I swear to god, I'm going to start hallucinating soon. The penguin on the couch (his picture will show up later) is going to start talking to me or something.
So, I have a few movies picked out--Jeremy will be happy to know that Mary Poppins is one of them. :) Right now, though, I'm watching The Cutting Edge, and Doug Dorsey is walking into Dorsey's Penalty Box, so it's fitting for this critter:
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link below for the full-size picture.)
Patrick is from Build-A-Bear, he's Centennial Bear number three (of five), and is the first one of that series that we bought. We got him on St. Patrick's Day, thus the name...but then, we got the hockey gear, and the name is even more fitting. He's not in his hockey gear, I couldn't find all of it, and didn't want to dress him in only a partial outfit. The jersey comes with a number 1 on the back--we got some fabric paint and painted a 2 on it, so now he's number 12, after Patrick Marleau, who plays for the San Jose Sharks--we even got it signed, which is extremely cool.
Click here for a full-size image.
"Those are *figure* skates."
So, I had more critter pictures than I thought, I must've taken a lot of them earlier today, though I didn't think I had. Anyway, that'll be the rest of the night/morning from here on in--this posting every half hour thing is actually good for me, because it keeps me awake.
I say that now. Two hours from now? We'll see. But I'm so close... :)
ANYway. This is Fiona, she's another limited edition from Build-A-Bear Workshop. She's the breast cancer bear, I bought her over Memorial day weekend when we were in Salt Lake...er, was it last year, I think?
(Embedded picture removed, please see the links below.)
There are two full size pictures of her:
One from the front.
And one from the back, to get the detail on her cute little hat.
Watching: VH1's Insomniac Music Theater (Evanescence, Bring Me To Life)
Black Cherry Cream count: Just those two. Thinking about pie now, though.
Movie: Still undecided. Sigh. :)
TiVo caught the Simpsons episode where Apu gets fired from the Kwik-E-Mart! Brett hasn't seen this one, and this is probably my absolute favorite episode ever. Woohoo.
Marge: "Lisa, is it too spicy for you?"
Lisa: "I can see through time..."
Apu: "That is the scene of my spiritual de-pantsing."
"Don't gloat! I've got a large shovel!"
Yeah, again. TiVo had tons of episodes, and the one we're watching now is Peter doing a garden makeover for a grandmother and granddaughter. The grandmother is...wow. Just such a sweet woman. She reminds me very much of my own grandma, whom I miss very much.
I can't remember how I first found the Astronomy Picture of the Day, but it's one of those sites that I visit every day now. Yesterday's picture is really beautiful, so here's my midnight entry! Still awake!
As I mentioned to someone online just now, my responses to people have started to go all freaky...already. Ack. :)
Here's another of the critters that's part of our menagerie. This one is another limited edition from Build-A-Bear, some of the proceeds from this one go to children's cancer--note the gold ribbon on one of her paws. Her name is Sophie, she's named for a friend's daughter, who lost her life to leukemia last year.
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link below for the full-size picture.)
Here's a full-size version of Sophie.
Watching: While You Were Out
Black Cherry Cream count: 2
Movie choice: Still undecided, thinking.
Hrrrm....
What do I watch next?
Do I watch Mary Poppins?
Or do I watch Anna and the King?
Or Fellowship of the Ring?
Or maybe The Stand?
Hmmm. :)
I saw this thing a few months ago, and was just blown away. I mean, I'm no science buff by any stretch of the imagination, but still, this is some cool shit!
The Wooden Periodic Table Table
And then, there was this:
The Tailor Of A Cat. I still have no words, even months later. :)
The story from Cool Runnings is based on actual events. It takes a few liberties, as all movies do--the Jamaicans were never in medal contention, as the movie suggests--but it's an awesome feel-good story, you know?
"If you're not enough without it [a gold medal], you'll never be enough with it."
So, I did a little bit of searching, I was interested to see whether they were still part of the Olympics. Turns out, they are. They're based in Evanston, Wyoming.
Check out the Jamaican Bobsled Team's website.
I know I've already posted about this somewhere, but man, Henry Weinhard is an evil fucker. Brett brought home food, yay! Ice cream, sandwich meat and bread--and some stuff that I didn't expect, Rolos and York peppermint patties.
And two six-packs of those Henry Weinhard Black Cherry Creams.
By the time this is all over, adding all this into the remainder of the chocolate silk pie, I am going to be SO wired for sound.
Yay, sugar high!
"Our father who art in heaven, bobsled be thy name..."
"Sanka! Whatcha smokin'?"
"I'm not smokin'. I'm *breathin'*"
Derice Bannock and Sanka Coffie, Cool Runnings
It didn't take as long to choose a movie as I thought it was going to. I bought this movie ages ago, but hadn't watched it--I get the feeling, now, that this may be a kid movie night for me.
"I could watch that backside all day."
Yay, Cool Runnings!
Woo, and my sweetie is on his way home, with stuff--sandwich stuff, more Henry Weinhard's, and ice cream!
Ho-ly crap, the girlfriend on this episode? My god, such a snot! The 'Fab 5' are very rightfully just tearing her to pieces, she's just...wow. I'm speechless. Utterly speechless. But the boyfriend looked happy, so he must be used to it.
Makes me think that the thing about how girls stay with guys who treat them like crap goes both ways.
But jeez. She really grated on my nerves. Definitely time to change the channel. :)
More than halfway through now, woohoo. Course, it's going to get harder before it gets easier, I'm sure, but still, right now, I'm feeling really good.
Movies are in store tonight, I think. I may watch Fellowship of the Ring again, and I'm looking over at the shelves of DVDs to figure out what else to watch. Suddenly, making a choice seems like such an overwhelming thing. Heh. :)
Now, if I *could*, I'd take the laptop and go watch Pirates of the Caribbean or Tomb Raider or Seabiscuit or something.
And wow, I can already tell that my thought process is going to turn really weird, really soon now. I'm already a little disconnected... woohoo. It'll be fun. :)
Once again, little more than just a link this time. I will say that I'm actually enjoying the Queer Eye show, and looking forward to the next hour, because I get a whole episode, rather than catching just the last half hour.
Have seen a few interesting commercials for some upcoming shows, stuff like that.
Anyway. Check this guy out: ASL's Lego Page. This stuff is totally impressive--and check out the Escher stuff! It's awesome.
Have moved back out to the living room to watch TV, was getting all spuck-eyed from staring at the monitor playing Diablo...so I'm in front of the big screen now. Heh. :)
I just happened to catch Queer Eye For The Straight Guy on as I walked out. Haven't seen it before, because our cable company kept saying that we were on the east coast rather than the west coast, so TiVo was always really far behind. So, anyway...wow. Holy crap. :) I've watched maybe five minutes or so, but it seems good so far. What's really cool about it is that they give *general* tips when they give advice, saying *why*, as opposed to (... "warm and sexual taste," says my TV--woah!) something like 'What Not To Wear,' which I also really like, but which gives tips specific to body type. But both are really cool, definitely. :)
I *thought* I was going to the office to pick up a package. Turns out the office closes at 5 rather than at 6, like I thought.
So, back to Diablo 2. Almost done with quest number four, I'm five levels down in this place. The big bad nasty I'm supposed to kill is on this level. There's an object to be picked up--but wait! My inventory is full. So, I'll just fire up a scroll of town portal and go... sell... wait. Why isn't the town portal working?
Ah yes. That would be because I am a dumbass. So, hm. Do I run up all the levels of this place, scoot back to a waypoint, and go back to town? Or do I hope that another monster in here somewhere is going to drop one?
Note to self:
Don't forget to buy town portal scrolls. Duh.
Diablo 2 Progress:
Level: 9
Quests: 3 of 6 completed, 4 and 5 assigned.
I didn't play much this half hour, just enough to get the 3rd quest complete, yay. Mind you, I still have to go back in and clean out the area I was at, but still. Quest 5 has also been assigned, and this means I'm finally getting closer to the end of act 1. I've played through this four or five times already. Whee.
Must run down to the office to pick up a package, probably not much more Diablo-ing this half hour, either. Still going strong, though!
Progress:
Level 8 and (to steal a phrase from Brett) tickling the pubes of level 9. 2/3 of the way finished with the third quest for act 1, haven't even bothered with quest 4 yet.
Ow. Hiccups. Like, painful, nasty hiccups that make your whole body spasm, while you make those weird, high-pitched HURP! noises every few seconds your diaphragm rebels.
Yay for deep breathing exercises.
Random comment: This is post number 23. I wonder if I have to make only 48, or if I have to make 49, total, one at 6am tomorrow morning. I think I may do that...and then crash for a few hours, before we go up to Novato to get measurements for a new dress. Yeah...timing. It's all about timing. :)
Diablo 2 update:
Lauriel is now level 7, soon to be level 8, primarily ice and electricity spells. Fire's okay, but ice is the shit, and electricity is not far behind.
Part way through quest number 3, have been given quest 4, which is actually optional, but very good for the XP light and the pocketbook, soo... :)
The really sad part about all this is that my gaming tourettes has fallen by the wayside, and I'm actually talking out loud to myself as the character might. Talking to her monkey/hired henchman (hench*person*), coming up with a background....
Why no, I'm not strange, why do you ask? ;)
Diablo 2 update.
Level: 6 (finally!)
Progress: Still working on quest #3, but got side-tracked by a sparkly chest area. At least this one gave me some good loot.
Side story:
I started playing Diablo 2 quite a long time after it came out. I used to roll my eyes and shake my head whenever Brett played it, in fact. But then came a PS2 game called Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Now, I played the PC versions of Baldur's Gate, and really liked it, so when the PS2 game came out (and those bastards, they're making a sequel) came out, I just had to have it.
Anyway, so Brett said that if I liked BG:DA, I'd probably like Diablo 2. He's now created a monster.
My first character was an Amazon, who I eventually beat the first level of the game with. I started up a sorceress, who's on the brink of it. When I started her up, Brett said, "Remember, you're not a front line fighter anymore."
Well, that's true, but...
There's just something very fulfilling about watching the sorceress beat the shit out of something.
Sometimes, I envision the faces of people who irritate me on the things she's cracking over the head.
Nice. :)
It's sort of amusing, you know, the fact that, on other weekends, I can spend the entire two days inside, without even *thinking* about setting foot outside the apartment, but on the one day when I really can't go anywhere, I'm desperate to go do something.
It doesn't matter what that something is, just *something*. Something else.
Sad. :)
Then again, maybe it's because of this VH1 thing. It's fun, but it's also starting to get boring. Hm. A movie, maybe? Or more Diablo 2...
These two critters are both from Basic Brown Bear Factory in San Francisco, and both of them are nameless, too. We picked them both up together, the first time we went to the store in SF. The original bears, which I'll post a picture of later, came from a business trip I took to Minnesota.
Anyway, the outfits are positively adorable. Take the Musketeer Bear, for example:
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link for the full size version.)
Side note:
Katharine Hepburn was beautiful, and Christie Brinkley has aged *really* well, she looks lovely.
Note to self:
Self,
When the directions on the back of the Niblets Corn in Butter Sauce says "cut hole in pouch," don't forget to CUT THE HOLE IN THE POUCH!
Unless you LIKE having corn explode in your microwave.
--
God, I can be such an idiot sometimes. :)
In other news:
And:
Eek! What's going on in the Philippines?
I've already said that before, but it bears restating--I love my friends. I was such a mess on Thursday because of problems with the dress, but wow. I am so...well, humbled, I guess. So many people offered to help, and so many people just offered hugs and kind words, too, which also helped so much.
So, yeah. I love my friends. You're all awesome. Thank you. :)
I told one of our overnight houseguests this morning that I had a list of stuff to post about, that I probably wouldn't run out of things to say. Except, well...right now, I'm drawing a total blank.
But I admit to amusement at this latest While You Were Out episode. It just started, and the host walks by the big screen TV and says, sarcastically, "I don't think your TV's big enough!" The wife replies, in all seriousness, "My husband says the same thing."
I think Brett might say the same about ours. Hee. :)
Just another link this time, while I watch some more TiVo stuff--What Not To Wear this time. I got this one from a co-worker, and I got a good cackle out of it.
Language warning, though. :)
No, my first name ain't baby,
it's Janet, Miss Jackson if you're nasty.
I love VH1. This 200 pop culture icon thing is actually pretty interesting, though I disagree with some of it. I mean...*Cartman* from South Park? Uh, no. :)
But squee! Commentary from some neat people. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in full regalia!
I didn't recognize Mandy Moore with dark hair (she was blonde in Princess Diaries).
Boomer Esiason, man, I used to think he was so yummy.
And Dick Clark, holy shit, he looks great!
A few posts ago, I mentioned that was going to clean in between posts, among other things. Thus far? I've managed to put a Fizz-It in one of the toilets, and...uh, well. That's all.
But I'm still on track with posting! I've moved from the office to the living room, so I can use the laptop, which has two benefits: I can watch TV (woohoo, TiVo and While You Were Out), and I save mouse batteries for what's probably going to be the all-night Diablofest.
12 posts down... :)
Still more stuffed animals! On a shelf in our spare bedroom turned office are two stuffed puppy dogs. Both are limited editions from Build-A-Bear workshop, and they donate money to the humane society for each one that you buy. We got Annabelle first, she's a black lab, so named because I had a black lab/golden retriever when I was a kid, and I miss her.
The other (pictured below) is Erin, who's a golden retriever. Once Brett and I get a dog, it will be one of these, I think.
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link for the full-size version.)
Click here to see them both together.
Woohoo, finally got my shower, and man, does that feel good. Now, to clean, and to set up the laptop in the living room, and, and...
More pictures of cute stuffed animals are on the way, but first...
My one and only PBS-style pledge break.
1. Shout out to my most excellent sponsors: Brett, Meg, Melissa, Scott, and Clay. As mentioned, I will write an essay piece based on whatever you suggest. That offer is valid for *anyone* who sponsors me. :) Scott wants a 7th Sea essay, Meg wants an essay about Brett (my fiance). Clay mentioned something vague about porn, but we'll have to see about that. ;)
2. The Blogathon site says that sponsorship signups will be open for 48 hours after the close of the event, which means that, even if you haven't sponsored already, you have plenty of time to do so.
Please consider sponsoring someone--it doesn't even have to be me, but please consider sponsoring someone, anyone on that list. If you don't want to sponsor me because of my charity, check out the participant list on the site, there are soo many awesome ones out there, all very worthy. Stuff like Magen David Adom, Gilda's Club, Doctors Without Borders, March of Dimes, the Denver Dumb Friends League, Book Aid... you name the cause, it's probably up there.
Though this really is fun so far, it's also about something bigger than just these words on your computer screen.
...
And...that's all for my pledge break, I promise I won't do another. More fun stuff to come. For now, I must go clean toilets. Ew. :)
No, I'm really not a furry, I just like stuffed animals. Yeah, so I'm 30 and sleep with bears (and Eeyores), so what? ;)
On top of my desk, I have a trio of critters, two cats--a bengal tiger (Cutie) and a leopard (Spot)--and a dragon, who is nameless. The two cats are from Build-A-Bear (same as Frostbite), and they're part of the World Wildlife Federation limited editions. The dragon is from Basic Brown Bear Factory in San Francisco.
(Embedded picture removed, please click the link for the full-size version.)
To see a picture of the trio together:
http://www.filidh.org/~nimiriel/blog/images/cutiespot.jpg
One of the things I'd wanted to do with this day was to take pictures and showcase some of the cute stuffed animals we've got--you know, for lack of anything better to post. So, let's see if this works:
(Embedded picture removed, please see link below for full-sized picture.)
Frostbite was a Valentine's Day gift last year, and the reason why there's a polar bear wallpaper on my desktop that I have at work. :)
Want a bigger picture? http://www.filidh.org/~nimiriel/blog/images/frostbite.jpg
(If it doesn't work, if the image doesn't come up, well...I'll figure something else out!)
Heeheehee!
Just a link this time, but holy cow. I got this from my good friend Scott, who got it from someone else. I cackled a lot over this. A lot. Think...tears of laughter. :)
Oh, crap! I meant to post this with my last post, but I totally forgot to mention...for the people who are commenting on my posts, I can't comment from home. :/ Something in the way the firewall is configured, combined with movable type's static URLs makes it so I can't post comments (and when I post entries, I have to post, reload, then rebuild, ack!). I'm not ignoring you, I promise, I do read everything, I just can't reply! :)
I had to stop playing Diablo 2 for a little while, but I did a bad bad thing, I didn't find the next area's way point before I quit. There are a few people who are shaking their heads right now, I know it. :)
Anyway, Mary, my blog neighbor mentions that she's going to clean, and I think this is a great idea. My mom is coming down next weekend to help me with some wedding stuff, so I have *got* to clean before then. So, I'll just add the cleaning bit to my list.
The list of STUFF to post about today is starting to grow. Yay!
Level: 5 (yes, still!)
Progress: 2 of 6 quests completed, act 1 (of 5)
Almost 8:30, the sun is out now. A far cry from when I sat down here (the first time) at 6, when we still had that low fog layer that made it look like it might rain. Except hey, no rain for us, it's the dry season!
Watching the sun come up is really very cool, though. Reminds me of the road trip I made to SLC and back last year, and watching the sun rise over the desert in Nevada, which was just freaking amazing. Boring state to drive through, except when you get to watch the whole sunrise, from the not quite black sky at the horizon, as it goes through all those shades of blue, then orange and pink, then that brilliant sky blue that always seems so much brighter over the desert.
Yeah.
...same as the first.
Or not. No, I really don't know why I said that. Really. :)
Current level: 5
Progress: Still working on quest 2 of 6. Ran into a big nasty minion pack that almost kicked my ass three ways to Sunday.
But yay, it's 8am, that means that I should get to shower soon!
So, I decided that one of the things I'm going to do to keep myself awake is to start up a new character in Diablo, start from level 1, and see how far I get, by the time things wind to a close. It's definitely not going to be a 24 hour Diablo marathon, by any means (the batteries in my mouse wouldn't take it!), but just another something to keep me awake later tonight, in the wee hours.
Game started: 7:07am PDT.
Character: Lauriel, sorceress
Current level: 3
Progress: 1 of 6 quests completed, #2 just assigned, act 1 (of 5)
Is it just me, or does half an hour seem like not very much time at all right now? When I'm at work, half an hour stretches out for freaking ever, but right now? I swear, I blink and it's time to post again. Anyone else experiencing that? :)
I'm envious of some of the bloggers I've read on the ring that have already had an opportunity to shower. There are still people in my apartment, sleeping on the hide-a-bed, so I can't really, not yet. Don't ask. Really. :)
But why are there people in my apartment? Oh, that's right--because we had some friends over last night. It was totally awesome, of course, as our gatherings always are, and there was a lot of laughter, which I just love. Probably not smart of me, all things considered, seeing as how I didn't get to bed til around 11:30 or so, and had to be up to start at 6, but it was worth it! I have awesome friends.
There will be many many Henry Weinhard's Black Cherry Creams consumed today, I know it.
Okay, the frustrated MUSH ex-administrator in me speaks: God, people can be such fucking idiots when they don't get what they want, and some people can see a conspiracy in *everything*.
It's just a game, folks.
(And, no, this really won't make sense to some of the Blogathon-ers, I'm sure, but it just had to be said.)
It's a strange thing, waking up with the work alarm on a Saturday.
Good morning, welcome to Blogathon 2003! Or something. :)
So, I already posted about this in my livejournal, but I'm going to provide some incentive for anyone who's interested in sponsoring me for Saturday's blogathon. If you sponsor me, no matter what the amount, I will write something based on whatever you suggest.
For instance, one of my sponsors has asked me to write something about our silly 7th Sea games, when I'm at my tired-and-punchiest. (A side note: *that* one ought to be really interesting. Hee!)
But seriously, whatever you suggest, I'll write about, and hopefully, it'll be something that you like. As with most things I write, it'll be posted here, but if you want me to write something for you and you alone, please let me know that.
Please, though, do consider sponsoring. I'd really appreciate it! And so would the recipient. :)
Hrm. In trying to add the Blogathon webring code to my front page, I think I've managed to totally screw up my index page template. Doh! Bear with me while I try to figure this out.
Update: Done! Yay! Just me being stupid, which I figured was the problem. :)
Oh, and hey--sponsor me! Please? ;)
The people at Fellowship Foundry are evil.
Want proof?
Well, there's this, and this, and this (which I have),and this!
That last one, it's new. And wow, it's drool-worthy.
See? Evil. :)
This is probably one of the best whole weekends I've had in awhile. Over the past few weeks there've been good *days* here and there, but this weekend was just awesome from start to finish.
Start:
Friday night, Brett and I went out to dinner with Jeremy and Leon. Much laughter and conversation was had, to say nothing of the delicious food. Applebee's has this BBQ Fever thing going on that's really quite good...course, I'm a sucker for honey barbeque stuff. Jeremy and Brett both had the alcoholic beverages of their choice, so were giggling at every little thing under the sun as we left. We tried a run to Dairy Queen, but they close early, even on Fridays, so there was none for us. But it was a great start to the weekend, very much fun.
Middle:
I bribed my best friend Matt into letting me pay his way to the Heart of the Forest Faire on Saturday, muahaha. It probably wouldn't have worked as well, had it not been just ages since we'd seen one another. I got to see his apartment, which is a really nice place, and we drove off to the Faire.
Now, the directions from San Francisco say to take 101 north. From Vallejo, they say take 80E to some highway I don't even remember the name of, and...well. We took the Vallejo directions, because we figured that it would be easier. Well...easier it might have been (though, wow, the bridge traffic sucked), and I got to see some parts of the highway that I hadn't before, but wow. Talk about the most roundabout way to get anywhere, ever. Were it not for the maze (which we dealt with on the way home), it would have been easier to go through San Francisco, as opposed to taking the very very looooong way around. But, the drive was nice, and the company was perfect. :)
The only gripe I have about the long way around is that it took us past Black Point. Those of you who've ever been to the Northern CA Renaissance Pleasure Faire before, say, 1999 will recognize that name. That's where the Faire had been held for quite a long time, as I understand it, and the site was just gorgeous. But the long way around took us right past it, and they put in a GOLF COURSE. Oh, and luxury housing--and guess what the housing complex was called? Yup. Renaissance. Bastards.
We discovered that off-roading in the Camry is a bad thing, even on seemingly level ground, especially with a full bladder. Ack. We had to park in the overflow parking, and were shuttled to the actual site on a yellow school bus. No, not a short one, no comments from the peanut gallery! The park that the Faire takes place on is really lovely, there's a lake with very startlingly blue water, a lot of trees, and on Saturday, a beautiful breeze that took the edge off the heat.
It's smaller than RPFN, definitely, but the vendors there all appear to be the best of the best. Most of them are familiar faces, probably because the Novato location is far enough away from the RPFN site that they can participate in both. It's great, though, and I'm really looking forward to going back again.
We didn't stay long--long enough for me to buy yet another chignon pin, look at some possible dresses for my mom, for us to drool over Pendragon's booth, for me to find that I can exchange my cracked gazing bowl, and to find that Fellowship Foundry really *does* have a knife and server set to go with the celtic heart cake topper we got. Woohoo. Oh, and Schulps is evil, between the knives and the pottery.
It was only on the way back that we discovered that we probably could've taken 580 to the 101. Mind you, the evil Richmond bridge was in the way...agh. Bad for me. Bridges bad, mmm'kay?
It had been a really long time, too, since Matt and I had time to talk, just the two of us, so the long drive out, the hour and change we spent at the Faire, lots of time to catch up, and it was just really wonderful.
Brett finally got done with work, so we met up with him and had a marvelous dinner at Olive Garden, where there was still more wonderful conversation to be had. We also introduced Matt to the TLC (originally BBC) show While You Were Out, where we admired Andrew, the British carpenter.
And that was Saturday.
Finish:
The Plan for Sunday was to hit Levitz to look for a new coffee table, to swing by Office Depot to get a new chair mat for me, and to go to the store. Part of that was blown out of the water while, as we were at lunch, Brett asked me if I'd like to go see a movie.
We ventured to Homietown--where they're putting in another In-N-Out, those bastards. As if the place isn't crowded enough, and dammit, that's way too close to home. Mmm, burgers. Ahem. So, long story short (way too late, yes yes), we found we were in time to catch an afternoon showing of Pirates of the Caribbean.
I really really didn't want to like that movie. I mean, come on, it's based on a *ride*, for cryin out loud. :) But the previews looked pretty intriguing, and of course, how can you go wrong with Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush?
And the answer is, you can't, not really. It was awesome, so much better than I expected it to be. It's definitely turn-your-brain-off kind of stuff, but still. It was *really* well paced, there really wasn't time to be bored at all. The acting was superb--Johnny Depp plays an amazing pirate, and Orlando Bloom looks really good when he's kind of scruffy. Geoffrey Rush is, as always, the consummate bad guy, and just...wow. Seriously, I really enjoyed it a whole lot.
After the movie, there was grocery store and Office Depot, a conversation with my mom (who's coming into town on July 31 for a few days, to help me out with wedding things), and a multi-player Diablo game. Woot. The sorceress out with the barbarian is a scary thing. Yay, potions!
So, hopefully, the goodness that was this weekend will carry me through the week. I think I have a hook for my Blogathon participation--but if you want to know what it is, you'll just have to read. :) I'm still looking for sponsors, as well; you do have to sign up for a Blogathon account, it looks like, and have to click the confirmation link, but it really is for a good cause.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
We got our first wedding gift today, along with our first set of response cards. Damn, I only sent the invitations out on Monday! :)
But hey...yay breadmaker!
So, I took the plunge and have signed myself up for the Blogathon. It happens on a NERO faire day, which I find interesting--I won't have anything to do *but* post, at least for the first few hours of the day. There are people on the mailing list who are talking about themes for their entries, and about other big, elaborate plans that I just don't think I'm going to be able to do, myself, even though it sounds like a lot of fun. I've looked over other people's blogs from past, and am rather relieved to find that I don't have to write the Great American Novel for each post. Yay.
There'll be no particular theme for my entries, some may be pictures or random comments, some may be bits of dialogue from whatever I'm watching at the time...it's an interesting challenge, and I hope to have fun with it. I'm sorry in advance to everyone watching the LJ feed. :)
If you're interested in sponsoring, you can either follow this link to the Blogathon page, or you can click on the button I've downloaded (it's off the blog's main index page).
Now, for more about why I chose my charity...
With Arms Wide Open was, as mentioned, founded by Creed's Scott Stapp. As for why I chose this particular charity, and not one of the other two? That's a bit harder to explain.
Though I don't really want any children of my own, there's still a large amount of fondness there, dating back to the days when I was working at the Family Nurturing Center in Park City, Utah. I wasn't assigned a specific age or class, and I did a lot of behind-the-scenes work with getting snacks ready, setting up rooms for naptime, ordering supplies, that kind of thing. My favorite times of day were naptime, which I helped supervise, and the four to six pm hours, when I got to play with all the kids before their parents came to pick them up. By then, the structured, separate lessons were over, and everyone got to play all together. They ranged from a year old to six years old, and they'd occasionally ask for my help with one of the older kids, who didn't like very many people, but who took a shine to me, for some reason. Turned out, he was just one of those kids who needed a little bit of individual attention every once in awhile.
And, of course, some of it just ties into my own childhood, and facets of my own childhood that I would hate to see anyone else go through, but that's a smaller part of it.
The With Arms Wide Open Foundation works to improve the lives of children by fostering healthy bonds with their parents. That's a really basic description, something more in depth is available on their website, but the role of a parent in the lives of their children is a pretty big thing. They provide financial assistance to low-income families, assist families in dealing with problems that might threaten the family unit, provide grants for various places to help children, all sorts of things.
That's what the Family Nurturing Center was all about--thus the name of the place. And, like I said, even though I don't want children of my own, this is still an important thing to me to promote.
And there you have it. Questions/comments welcome, of course. And pledge for me, please? :)
...for something completely different.
Researchers say Stonehenge depicts female genitalia.
As a friend of mine said: Stonevag!
I was introduced to the Blog-A-Thon by a post made by Cranky Chick. It's not something I'd heard of before, but it's not terribly surprising--there are so many 'thons' out there, why not one for bloggers? :)
Anyway, I've been looking over the Blogathon web site, and I think that I may participate. The real bare bones description is this: During the Blogathon, people update their websites every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight, starting at 6:00am pacific time on Saturday, July 26th.
I'm wondering two things:
1. Would all you people who are on the livejournal RSS feed kill me (because this would spam your friends lists for a day)?
2. Would anyone be interested in sponsoring me?
I've given some thought to it, and the charity that I'd like to sponsor would be With Arms Wide Open, the foundation for children started by Creed's Scott Stapp. Donations are made directly to the charity once the Blogathon is finished, they'll accept check, money order, or credit cards, and...
Well, anyway. Let me know? :)
I love my mom.
Even if the eCard she sent me this morning made me all weepy at work.
Or maybe *because* she sent me an eCard that made me all weepy at work.
One of the things I've always said that I like about having a journal is the ability to write. I still feel that way about it, I probably always will. There's something very cathartic about it, putting words to paper (or, in this case, word processor, or notepad, or web browser), watching with only half a mind to something that you create.
That's the operative word, I think, create. Whether it seems that way to people or not, a lot of writing is a creative process, it's the same sort of thing as painting or sculpture, any number of other things that involve the manufacture of something tangible where nothing existed before. It's just that the product can be a little bit different, when it's the written word.
Most often, though, what I create is for me, either because I'm driven to write it, or because I think it might be worthwhile. A lot of what I write forces me to deal with things, whether they're personal issues or otherwise, so that's always a good thing. But, I never expect my writing to really touch people other than myself.
That's why, when I got the invitation to participate in a collaborative webzine, I was really flattered. I wrote my first piece for it today, and it's something that's rather...um. Well. It falls into that category of needing to deal with personal issues, and to say that it's pretty emotionally raw is probably an understatement.
Anyway...check it out: Just Write About It, the Electric Tangerine webzine.
This or That for Tuesday, July 1.
1. Lemonade or Ice Cold Beer?
2. Swimming pool or beach?
3. Long weekends here & there, or a 2-week vacation?
4. Destination: Acapulco or Hawaii?
5. Destination: Mountains or Beach?
6. Hotel/motel/B&B or camping?
7. Carefully planned vacation, or play it by ear?
8. Sneakers or sandals?
9. Air-conditioning or fans?
10. Concerts in the park or baseball games?
1. Lemonade or Ice Cold Beer?
Oh, ew. Neither. Beer is just Not My Thing, and while lemonade is nice, I hate to drink it. Give me something cherry flavored any day. Or just give me soda. :)
2. Swimming pool or beach?
Both, depending on my mood.
3. Long weekends here & there, or a 2-week vacation?
I'd do both if I could, but I really do prefer the two week vacation, if only because that gives me a whole two weeks away to try and decompress, to let go of work stress.
4. Destination: Acapulco or Hawaii?
I haven't been to either place, but there's a resort in Hawaii (where, conveniently, we're going for our honeymoon next year) that I really want to go to.
5. Destination: Mountains or Beach?
Both! I love the beach, I love the smell of the salt and the sound of the waves. But, I also love the mountains...depending on what mountains you're talking about. :)
6. Hotel/motel/B&B or camping?
Depends on where we're going. A motel will usually work, as long as there's a bed, a shower, and a toilet, I don't care too much.
7. Carefully planned vacation, or play it by ear?
Carefully planned in that I like to pick where I'm going to go. Aside from that, it doesn't matter what we do, as long as we hit the (usually very small) list of things I want to see wherever I am. Our trip to Toronto is a big example, there were three things we had to do: See California Guitar Trio (which was structured because we had to buy tickets), go to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and go to Niagara Falls. We did almost all of it on our own time, and it was a lot of fun...bratty, snarky cousin aside. That's where the infamous picture of my mom (who's smiling at the camera) and Brett (who's flipping off the camera) comes from.
8. Sneakers or sandals?
Both, sort of. Merrell makes some comfy shoes, and I usually prefer those. I have ugly feet.
9. Air-conditioning or fans?
AC all the way. Fans are great, but if it's really flaming hot outside? AC.
10. Concerts in the park or baseball games?
Concerts in the park, pleeeeeeease. I know this is probably a travesty for some people, but my god, baseball is boring. Yeah, I'll occasionally follow it (the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, for example), but in general? Yaaaawn. :)
