As a lapsed House fan

I thoroughly approve of this comic.

I kind of want to rent the latest two seasons of House at some point, to catch up.

Okay, I want to see House mess with Wilson and watch Meat Loaf not die for once. I can just fast-forward through all the other stuff, right?

Ah, comfort.

I think my cold has finally passed; today I just have the sniffles, and that's most likely due to allergies.

I'm lounging around in my new Ribbed Tees top, which is just as comfortable as promised. The neck is a little wider/lower than I usually like, but since I'll mostly be wearing it at home or under something else that's fine by me. The suggestion on the website to order a size down was absolutely correct: the medium fits perfectly, and I'm afraid the large would have been huge on me. Also, it sounds vain, but it's really very nice to be wearing a medium :-D.

Oh! And, I've been trying half the morning to post a widget in my sidebar, and it's not showing up quite right for me.



As you can see, it's a neat little ad for the Yanni Voices concert; I got the widget from the One2One network, but it's been giving me a headache. Can anyone see the widget in the sidebar, or just the one on this post? I love that it plays clips of the music (and I've been sitting here listening to it in another window as I try to make the darn thing work :-P)

Free Stuff!

The past few days, I've been lucky enough to win several giveaways. I figure, since these people are giving me free goodies, the least I can do is provide them with a little free positive PR :-D

1) An ISIS Peony Brief, from isisforwomen.com. The hosting blog was missionpossible1.blogspot.com. Looking forward to wearing these to the gym!

2) Two Ribbed Tees from ribbedtee.com. These look beautiful, and the hostess (http://www.mommymandy.com/) has a fun blog to visit, as well.

3) A beautiful pink scarf, made by the owner of this Etsy shop. The sponsor (5minutesforgoinggreen.com) is a reliable source for environmentally ideas and giveaways.

Ooh! Free Things!

Goodwill's having a financial fitness fair! (I hope there's cotton candy....)


WHAT: FREE Financial Fitness Fair 2009

WHERE: Goodwill Community Center
1015 Norwood Park Blvd, Austin, TX 78753

WHEN: 9am – 4pm


Services Offered:

• Complete a late tax file, first come first serve
  
  
• Free vision screening
  
  
• Free classes in English and Spanish
  
  
• Class topics: Banking, credit repair, identity theft and home buying
  
  
• Free legal advice
  
  
• Free resume consulting
  
  
• Apply for a bank or credit union accounts
  
  
• Review your credit report
  
  
• Resource table (medical care, food stamps, housing and employment)
  
  
• Information on furthering your education (college financing)
  
  
• Prize Drawings!
  

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas
1015 Norwood Park Blvd., Austin, TX 78753

Bus Route #325 and #329

For more information call 512-637-7100

Call in advance for any special accommodations

Presented by FFGA & Goodwill Industries of Central Texas

Spring Fashions!

I just got approved to become an affiliate for BeLove! They sell cool eco-friendly clothes created from soft fabrics ... but that's not the best part. The best part is that, as an affiliate, I make a little extra cash anytime someone orders through this button (or the one in my sidebar):






And the better part is that if you decide to order from BeLove, you can enter the code BeLoveSpecialSavings to get $10 off men's and women's shirts!

For the lulz

I'm a disk and a half from finishing MacGyver. My Pre-post-show blues are already starting to kick in; finishing a show that has such a long run is both exciting ("yay I are done!") and sad ("onoz I are out of MacGyvers!").

Fortunately, someone geekier than myself has been hard at work for a while, creating MacGyver (and Stargate) macros. I present to you: LOLMac.

And now I suppose I should get back to packing and school stuff. *sigh*

Fun With Scanners

I'm using the new scanner to clear out a ton of paper clutter. It's been great as far as organizing and uncluttering, but a painful exercise in not being a pack rat. For example, it was hard to toss the folder full of magazine clippings, even though they're now stored on my hard drive. Go figure.

Also? I'm holding on to my old TIP scrapbooks with tooth and nail. It'll be a while before I get them scanned in completely (man, those things are long); at that point, the test will be to see if I can get rid of the old copies. For some reason they've been living in my desk since I moved into the new apartment, and I never found a home for them.

Recycling them will be hard, but I'm loving going through the old photos. I found myself on this page tonight:

You can click it bigger. See me? Here, let me help:

Yep, I was rockin' the giant glasses look. I may go back to the huge round frames next time I update my prescription.

Ah, TIP. I no longer recognize many of the faces from the photos, but some of them bring back completely random memories. I do believe that the ham standing in front of me in that picture was named Eric, and that he had an unhealthy fascination with Koosh balls. In fact, I seem to remember something about a Koosh ball poem....

Things That Happen

I got offered an interview for a summer position with AISD! I have plenty of experience for the position, there's paid training (my CPR and First Aid expired not too long ago), and the pay seems good. I will update more once I've had the interview.

There are new things up over at my etsy shop! There are now matryoshka doll cards up in sets of 6 cards and sets of 4 cards. And while you're over there, the happy blue flower necklace and jump for joy pink necklace could use a little love, too.

We're well into season 5 of MacGyver. They're getting much more into the social/environmental issues this season (student protests in China, rhino poaching in Africa, etc.), which is alternately really interesting and horribly cheesy. Also, it's really weird to see things like super-young Cuba Gooding Jr. playing the part of a young bounty hunter ... and then showing up as a farm hand in the "old west dream sequence" two episodes later. I do love seeing Murdoc back again, though :-D.

Yanni Voices Update

Hey, guys!

Just a quick post to remind you that the Yanni Voices PBS Special --which I wrote about previously --is premiering tonight around 8:30pm. Or if, like me, you're going to be standing in line to try and see the Watchmen premier tonight, you can catch the special again next week on the 8th, at 10pm. The full schedule is up on the web.

If you missed my last post, you can see a clip introducing the Yanni Voices PBS Event on the main website. There's also a good PBS Special Teaser Video available, to give you a better idea of what the music sounds like.

This heads-up about a great music special brought to you by the lovely people over at the One2One Network.

Things!

Things I am loving right now:

1) Weird City Theatre. I was Jyan's plus-one for their Sherlock Holmes play, which was fun. The actors playing Holmes and Watson were great, several members of the cast were good, and fortunately the less-great actors didn't have too much stage time. While the decision to play Moriarty as a black-clad mafia boss threw me some, I suppose that an old, bald, maths professor isn't very interesting to watch on stage. Holmes got some great lines, although I'll never understand the need to tack on a love interest. It's wrong and bad and ... okay, okay, I'll admit it: I teared up as he angsted over his love for what's-her-face.

2) AISD. Yay, AISD! They have an easy-to-use application form and will keep my information on file for six months, which is fantastic. The only thing better would be getting hired soon as a teaching assistant at a location nearby. *fingers are crossed*

3) Legend. I'm sure most of my friends are sick of hearing about how much I love this show, but too bad. If I mention it often enough perhaps it will be released on DVD so I can watch it on a screen larger than three inches square. The version I am watching now is a copy of what someone recorded from the TV 13 years ago on to video tape. The picture quality, as a result, is not so wonderful. The episode I watched last night was the (*gag*) obligatory "The Protagonist Has Been Accused of a Horrific Crime!" plot, but still fun to watch. The Monty Python and Star Trek references made up for all the usual cliches, which included The Young Child who expresses Complete Faith in the Protagonist, The Unfair Trial and/or Incompetent Lawyer, and The Escape from Prison with a Homemade Invention. Coffee pot + candy dish + vase for single rose = blowtorch. The tray-as-face-mask was really the crowning touch, there.

4) Having a workout buddy! At least, Heather is my favorite person at the moment. We'll see how I feel after the 9am cycling class tomorrow. *dies*


Things I am not loving right now:

1) Taxes. Or, more specifically, owing them.

2) The job search. Having a new job is much nicer than looking for one.

3) Allergies. I spent most of Sunday and this morning with my head all fuzzy.

Ikkicon 2009: Day Two

Day two of Ikkicon was also lots of fun!

It's been a week since I went, though, so I'm afraid my memory isn't as detailed as it could be.

What I do recall:

Ivy looked great in her outfit.

The lolita meetup. This one of the rare times any of you will ever see me in a petticoat and lace, so enjoy it. Perhaps print a copy for future reference? We all walked from the hotel to Spaghetti Warehouse (who thought to combine frilly outfits and messy foods?) and back. Afterwards there were group photos in the lobby -- I thought it was hilarious that "Luigi" decided to come over and take a few pictures as well.

The Gore FX panel:


"Presented by Sami Inoue-Harte Have you ever wanted to know what the best recipe for fake blood is? Or how to make a flesh eating zombie? This workshop will take the audience through the messy, and tasty, step by step process to make the perfect zombie." The panel was fun to watch, and I never realized how much you could do with a little liquid latex

And some food coloring
The con member in question looked deliciously gory after the panel finished.


My absolute favorite panel was Anime Radio. A group of voice actors ("Join Kyle Hebert (Ryu on 'Street Fighter IV') and a slew of awesome voice actor guests")


got together to read old Flash Gordon radio scripts. It was hilarious and wonderful, with the actors occasionally running into the audience to cast minor parts on the spot. By the second act all the voices had been re-cast (with the woman from the gore FX panel, who has a high voice, acting as Ming), and Flash was clearly trying to escape a relationship with Gale. My only regret is that they only made it through parts one and two -- I guess we have to wait until next year to see how Flash escapes from the ... fighting monkeys.

Finally, here's a shot pulled from the brolita forums. I asked one of the artists (Chelsea M. Smith) at the convention to do a quick sketch of Ivy and me. She worked really quickly, and even gave me a $2 discount for being the first person at the convention to request a sketch.

And so, in conclusion, a good time was had by all.

We'll Be. . .

. . . back to your regularly-scheduled photos from ikkicon in a few days.

Right now, I'm sharing something I found mentioned on twitter:

Ken Starr, who led the campaign to impeach President Bill Clinton, filed a legal brief last month -- on behalf of the "Yes on 8" campaign -- that would forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8.

Watch "Fidelity" and sign our letter to the state Supreme Court. Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr's case, and let loving, committed couples marry. DEADLINE: Valentine's Day.

167,003 people have signed this letter (as of Wednesday, February 11). Our Courage Campaign community goal is 200,000 signers. Will you add your name now?

Ikkicon 2009: Day One

Appropriately costumed, Ivy and I (and David, but he was not costumed) headed out for the first day of the anime convention.
Our first stop was the School Rumble panel. It was hosted by directors/voice actors Caitlin Glass, Carrie Savage, Leah Clark, and Trina Nishimura.

This event was enjoyable enough; I'd never seen the show before and everyone on the panel seemed to enjoy their work.

Hilarity did not ensure at the opening ceremony as promised, but I loved visiting the artists' alley outside the main event room. I bought the petticoat to complete my costume from La'De'Da's, and browsed the selection of SereniTeas being sold by the Austin Browncoats.

None of us had a lot to spend, so my only other purchases came from Generations of Art. The woman running the booth was incredibly nice, and this choker

was an excellent accent to my costume, at only $5! She also convinced me to purchase a CD from a local artist: We stopped for a nice chat with Chelsea M. Smith, who had adorable crochet goods and was the first one to call "steampunk!" on our costumes.

Later, we hit the makeup panel, which was informative and laid-back:

Presented by Meredith Placko
Now that the costume is on, what do you do?! Just because the last stitch is in place doesn't mean it is complete; make up can make or break a character. Learn the basics of a good foundation and how to apply the right look to finish off your costume. We'll show you make up techniques for on the stage, roaming the floor, photo shoots and even some special effects make up.

Other events for the day included "Iron Artist." This was supposed to run as follows:

Presented by Amelie Belcher, Tony Salvaggio, Matt Herms, and Michael Terracciano. Armed only with paper and pens, see the guest artists draw it out. Be part of the audience that provides topics for the artists to draw in a limited time frame, and see who wins the title of Iron Artist.

However, only three of the panel members arrived

and the first 45 minutes were spent killing time while the people running the convention scrambled for supplies. You see, the con hadn't informed the artists that they needed to provide their own supplies.

Fortunately, after an interminable period of five-minute jokes involving tapeworms and puns, a laptop was set up: the difficultly level of Iron Artist was raised, as it became clear that the artists would be working in Paint.

The audience gave each competitor a set of three words/ideas, which they then had to turn into a sketch over the course of two minutes.
Some of the results:

And my personal favorite:

Our final stop was the Peelander-Z concert. So. Much. Energy. And bright flashing lights. And fun! And strange call-and-response sections involving ninjas and steak. And roughly half the audience got to go on stage at least once.



None of my pictures came out fantastically, but I think several of them captured the feel of the concert.

Ikkicon Costume: Steampunk Lolita

Friday was the start of ikkicon at one of the Hilton hotels downtown. Ivy wanted to go in costume; I'm not really that into anime or cosplay. So, she roped me in by using the magic words, "what about if we do steampunk lolita?"

I can't resist good steampunk.

So, we've spent the last few weeks putting in some time here and there to get ready on a college graduate's budget.

The pieces:

One pirate-y green belt, courtesy our local Goodwill ($3.99)

A brown underskirt -- I bought the cloth at $1/yard, and Ivy made a skirt on her sewing machine in about 30 minutes the night before.

A suitable white blouse -- again sewn by Ivy.

Brown "100% leather uppers" boots, $6.99 practically new at Goodwill.

One white petticoat, purchased at the convention from La'De'Da's in the artist's alley. I got a great deal on the larger (poofier) petticoat, but the smaller ones are a reasonable $28.

One stripey overskirt, created by Ivy out of a former dress.

Shiny costume accents, created by yours truly from safety pins and old jewelry donated by some of the lovely people over at Wish Upon a Hero.

More shiny pretties, this one made by me from of imitation peal beads and bottle caps painted a brassy color.

A suitably steamy aero-compass. The casing is a painted tin container; crafting odds and ends make up the points of the compass; a brad and a dragon pendant serve as the needle, and more leftover jewelry parts make the chain.

Fuzzy fur collars. Our story is that they're sewn from the pelts of sky-tribbles ... but we actually got some imitation fur from etsy, which Ivy turned into what you see above.

Any good group of ruffians has to have an appropriate symbol! This is the insignia of the Airship Copper Cupcake. As you can tell by the four stars, I'm ship's captain.

An adorable hat! Hand-crafted by someone Ivy knows.

Put everything together, and viola! Steampunk Lolita Aeroship Pirates begin their conquest in the women's rest rooms: