EDIT: Big news! I've been accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill's 14 month accelerated Bachelor's of Nursing program, which starts in January. I've been aiming for this for about 3 years now -- working and taking classes I missed the first time around college -- so it's great to finally hit the mark. It'll be a busy year and a half, but well worth it. Friends treated me to a royal dinner at Herons to celebrate: 8 courses, each paired with a wine or champagne. Amazing.
I confess to being a very lazy updater. It's not that there isn't anything going on, though there's really nothing going on right now. I'm just...lazy, really. But here's the latest news in life.
First, Dragon*Con was over Labor Day, my 5th or 6th visit to that illustrious gathering of genre geekdom. 30 or 40 thousand guests gathered in four hotels for four days of nonstop panels, bands, costume contests, dancing, etc. This year was particularly cool, as friends I'd never met in person were coming to the con for the first time. The first set were Laurel and Aisha, two close friends of my ex-girlfriend, who are now good friends of mine. Next were my brother, Reid, and his on and off girlfriend, Shilo, a long-time friend of mine via EverQuest. Lastly, my housemates Brett and Misty went for their first Dragon*Con. All very cool, and everyone had a great time and intends to return next year.
The con is hard to summarize, really. There's just so much going on at any time, dawn till...dawn, that one can hit only a fraction of the events. I didn't take nearly as many pictures this year as last, but you can see them all on my Flickr page (select the 2008 con to your right, or whatever you'd like to view.
Highlights: Perhaps the biggest was seeing some of the old MST3K cast: Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Frank Conniff. They were present to celebrate the 20th anniversary of MST's humble start (the special anniversary box set comes out in a few days) and to pimp their new venture, Cinematic Titanic. CT is very good, though I'd skip The Oozing Skull and go with the following, much funnier, movies.
The other panels I hit were those for Battlestar Galactica, which had quite a few (male) cast members, including Edward James Olmos himself. At Michael Hogan's prompting, he led a chant of "So say we all" that was absolutely thunderous with the 2000+ crowd joining in. Chills, people, I got chills. Great show, and a host of new autographs adorn my cubicle.
Music-wise, there were a few good bands this year (of the many present -- quantity over quality seems to be the con's philosophy). The Cruxshadows were present once again, doing their darkwave thing, which they do very well. Voltaire once again proved himself to be the peak of showmanship with his various sets. Two groups I had previously not seen were the steampunkish Abney Park and the ... darkly eclectic cabaret-ish Hellblinki, who put on a truly fantastic show. I picked up much music from these two and have enjoyed it all.
So, Halloween is night. Pure awesome. My annual ritual is to stay home, drink mimosas, eat popcorn and watch horror movies. Laurel thought this a smashing idea, so will be joining me this year. Given the movie list's length, we're billing our escapade as Five Days of Halloween. Entries include: several of Roger Corman and Vincent Price's E. A. Poe collaborations (e.g., Masque of the Red Death), Ichi the Killer, the MST3K version of Godzilla vs. Megalon, The Host, Pan's Labyrinth, and myriad others. As she's in the process of a move, it may not happen precisely on Halloween, but we'll give it our best shot.
Other than all the above, I've been dieting and exercising with gusto, and am now 4-5 pounds from my primary goal of 50lbs lost. I've been going at this for years now, off and on, but the last year I've been particularly driven. I'm still waiting to hear from UNC-Chapel Hill about getting into their nursing school, but likely won't know anything for another month. Until then, I'm working, gaming, netflixing and, occasionally, updating my journal.
So, a pleasant fall to you readers, and a Happy Halloween above all. The greatest day of the year is nigh -- enjoy it!
-TTm
I confess to being a very lazy updater. It's not that there isn't anything going on, though there's really nothing going on right now. I'm just...lazy, really. But here's the latest news in life.
First, Dragon*Con was over Labor Day, my 5th or 6th visit to that illustrious gathering of genre geekdom. 30 or 40 thousand guests gathered in four hotels for four days of nonstop panels, bands, costume contests, dancing, etc. This year was particularly cool, as friends I'd never met in person were coming to the con for the first time. The first set were Laurel and Aisha, two close friends of my ex-girlfriend, who are now good friends of mine. Next were my brother, Reid, and his on and off girlfriend, Shilo, a long-time friend of mine via EverQuest. Lastly, my housemates Brett and Misty went for their first Dragon*Con. All very cool, and everyone had a great time and intends to return next year.
The con is hard to summarize, really. There's just so much going on at any time, dawn till...dawn, that one can hit only a fraction of the events. I didn't take nearly as many pictures this year as last, but you can see them all on my Flickr page (select the 2008 con to your right, or whatever you'd like to view.
Highlights: Perhaps the biggest was seeing some of the old MST3K cast: Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Frank Conniff. They were present to celebrate the 20th anniversary of MST's humble start (the special anniversary box set comes out in a few days) and to pimp their new venture, Cinematic Titanic. CT is very good, though I'd skip The Oozing Skull and go with the following, much funnier, movies.
The other panels I hit were those for Battlestar Galactica, which had quite a few (male) cast members, including Edward James Olmos himself. At Michael Hogan's prompting, he led a chant of "So say we all" that was absolutely thunderous with the 2000+ crowd joining in. Chills, people, I got chills. Great show, and a host of new autographs adorn my cubicle.
Music-wise, there were a few good bands this year (of the many present -- quantity over quality seems to be the con's philosophy). The Cruxshadows were present once again, doing their darkwave thing, which they do very well. Voltaire once again proved himself to be the peak of showmanship with his various sets. Two groups I had previously not seen were the steampunkish Abney Park and the ... darkly eclectic cabaret-ish Hellblinki, who put on a truly fantastic show. I picked up much music from these two and have enjoyed it all.
So, Halloween is night. Pure awesome. My annual ritual is to stay home, drink mimosas, eat popcorn and watch horror movies. Laurel thought this a smashing idea, so will be joining me this year. Given the movie list's length, we're billing our escapade as Five Days of Halloween. Entries include: several of Roger Corman and Vincent Price's E. A. Poe collaborations (e.g., Masque of the Red Death), Ichi the Killer, the MST3K version of Godzilla vs. Megalon, The Host, Pan's Labyrinth, and myriad others. As she's in the process of a move, it may not happen precisely on Halloween, but we'll give it our best shot.
Other than all the above, I've been dieting and exercising with gusto, and am now 4-5 pounds from my primary goal of 50lbs lost. I've been going at this for years now, off and on, but the last year I've been particularly driven. I'm still waiting to hear from UNC-Chapel Hill about getting into their nursing school, but likely won't know anything for another month. Until then, I'm working, gaming, netflixing and, occasionally, updating my journal.
So, a pleasant fall to you readers, and a Happy Halloween above all. The greatest day of the year is nigh -- enjoy it!
-TTm
VIEW 24 of 24 COMMENTS
viking:
Thanks for the nice set comment! x
annalee:
Yes exactly, if I'm not fit enough I'll have to call in sick but I really hope I wont have to do that on my first day!!