Every now and then, you just have to do something silly, like take a picture of yourself wearing goggles.
Actually, this is a terrible picture of me, so I don't know why I'm posting it. I suppose it does serve as a good illustration of how/why I am frequently mistaken for a teenager.
Anyway, that is me wearing the awesome goggles that I purchased at Comic Con from Brute Force Leather/Fallen Angel Fashions. They were my big splurge for the convention. Oh sure, I bought plenty of other things, but nothing that big/fancy/amazing. They're made of dark green leather and lots of brass, with interchangeable lenses -- I got a pair of green (as seen) and a pair of dark blue. The coolest part is that the straps are attached to the sides using brass hardware hinges.
If I'm going to actually wear them on my eyes, then I need to see if I can shorten the nose piece a tiny bit... But otherwise they look pretty nice perched on my head, or around my neck, and I'm sure they'd look great on a hat, if I were so inclined.
Not much to report today. I had some fun this afternoon hanging up more art. I need to go out and buy frames for all of my prints. Then by the time I get them all up on the walls, it will probably be time to take them down to paint the living room.
(Edited to provide proper link)
No, no, this isn't a post about another hiatus. It's just a post about my efforts to waste less time on the computer, and the things I've been doing over the past few days instead of wasting my time on Facebook.
There's been some housework, but no one wants to hear about that.
I've read two books recently. The first was The Family Trade by Charles Stross. I read it on a friend's recommendation, and I really enjoyed it. Despite being marketed as a fantasy, it's really quite grounded in reality and features a main character who is strong and capable, but who also makes some believable mistakes. The second (which I just finished an hour and a half ago) was The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. I read it because I needed something to read while waiting for panels at Comic Con and none of the publishers had more free novels to give out. It looked interesting, but ultimately turned out to suffer from rather weak writing. It probably doesn't help that it was a Teen novel, and while I know there's a lot of good Young Adult fiction out there, I think that the current demand for YA/Teen fantasy leads to some stuff getting published when it could really use a bit of tightening up first. It wasn't a total waste of time, and I did enjoy some parts and a lot of the concepts in it, but I won't be picking up the other two books in the trilogy. I'll have a full review in Collector Times next month.
I picked up my beads again yesterday, and finished the necklace that I started back before I moved. It turned out really nice, so now I need to pick a good spot to take some pictures. I'll probably work on a little rivoli pendant for myself while I'm straightening out the beadroom and deciding on my next major project.
Today I unpacked some stuff from Comic Con, and put all my review materials in one spot here on the desk, so I can read through them over the next few months and write lots of reviews. I've also got a big stack of postcards, fliers, and other promotional items to look through to decide if I want to visit any of their websites for more info.
I didn't just bring back comic books and novels from Comic Con, however! I've got a new piece of art to hang in the living room (and half a dozen to frame and hang) tonight, and some plant cuttings to pot. Plants from Comic Con, you say? It makes sense, honest. An on-line beading friend of mine gave me some cuttings from her very prolific garden to take home and plant. I bought some really cute pots for them, although I have more cuttings than I thought, so I need to go get more pots.
In fact, I think I'm going to go get to those cuttings now, and then maybe get a bit of tidying-up done in the beadroom.
Nothing says Comic Con quite like posing with a random guy just because you like his costume! Actually, this guy was pretty cool. I saw him from behind and I could tell that he had a great outfit going on. When he turned around, I caught his eye and he walked over to me, saying something along the lines of "I recognize the fair folk." So when I asked to take his picture, he offered to pose with me and have Chris take it.
I'm not sure if he meant to be Robin Hood or just an English-style archer, but he looked great. The vest and armor are leather, and I'm pretty sure his bow was functional. This was just one of the many great costumes I saw at the convention. I hope to get all of my pictures up into a Flickr album soon. In the meantime, if you want a full shot of my faerie costume, check out my new profile picture.
If you've been waiting for more details on my Comic Con adventure, today is your lucky day! The new issue of Collector Times went up last night, and I have four convention-related articles:
Gaming at the convention
A review of The Mutant Chronicles
Steampunk at the Convention
Webcomics at the Convention
Ok, that should keep you busy while I run off and bead!
I decided to start with my writing yesterday, since it had a definite deadline. I wrote my convention report, but it's way too long, so today I need to pare it down and then work on my related articles. Everything will be posted at Collector Times on Friday, and I'll share those links then, in case any of you want to know what all I was up to while I was gone.
Although the whole Comic Con experience was exhausting, and I didn't get enough sleep, and I really abused my back, shoulders, and legs, I feel somewhat refreshed by it. I definitely needed a break from the hassle of getting settled into the house, and it's good to go and meet a bunch of people who share your interests and are just as enthusiastic to be there as you are.
I'm feeling pretty inspired, too. I want to make time to bead again, I want to keep working on my book, I want to dance, and after going to the steampunk panel, I really want to learn how to sew and get busy making Victorian-inspired clothes. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get all this done, but I have a feeling it's going to involve less time on the internet and video games, and maybe less time watching DVDs, and just more discipline in general.
But the important thing right now is to get some articles written! Everything else has to wait until next month.
I am back from San Diego! Remember what I said about maybe blogging a bit while I was there? Yeah. I didn't really account for being exhausted every night! The convention was great, but really, really draining. That said, I'm already thinking about going back next year.
The funny thing was, I'd be sitting in an hour-long line for a panel that I wanted to get into, and I'd be thinking "This sucks! Why am I here? I can't wait to just go home!" and then I'd get into the panel, and my thoughts would switch to "This is so awesome! I'm so glad I waited in line! I can't wait to tell everyone about this!"
So, the title of this post isn't so much about where to start on the post, but where to start on everything that I need to do now that I'm home. Do I begin by writing my convention report, which is due on Thursday? Or should I turn my immediate attention to unpacking? How about some housework, to undo all the destruction my cats wrought while I was gone?
Decisions, decisions.
Whatever I'm going to do, I'd better get down to it. I've already spent about 3 hours on the computer, catching up on e-mail and web stuff. So much for spending less time on the Internet.
Last night I intended to write. It was around midnight. I figured I had 2 good hours to work on my book before going to sleep.
Instead, I spent the evening goofing off on Facebook and reading stuff on humor sites. Ugh!
Thinking about it, the most productive time I've had recently is on Saturday, when I unplugged the cable modem and router because of a thunderstorm, and sat here writing on my laptop. Without the internet to distract me, I was forced to work on my book instead of procrastinate.
Once I get back from Comic Con, it's time once again to try to put myself on a schedule to ensure that I actually get things done in a day. I could accomplish so much more than I do. I just need to strike a good balance between being on-line enough to stay in touch with my friends and make new friends, while still leaving myself enough time to bead, write, and do housework.
I just looked up the hotel we're staying at for Comic Con, and I'm pretty excited. It's practically right on the water! How cool is that? And it has a fridge, so we can stash some food and drinks in the room. And there's internet! Hooray! I'm leaving my laptop at home, but Chris plans to bring his, so I may blog a bit from San Diego.
Tomorrow I need to clean the pictures off of my camera. I intend to take a lot of photos at the convention. Anyone in a good faerie costume or dressed up like a bellydancer better be prepared to have me pester them for photographs. Of course, it looks like my wings are going to arrive in time, so I'm going to be getting pestered myself!
I might even make some time tomorrow to put together a quickly necklace to go with my official Collector Times shirt. I bought the cute little tanktop instead of a t-shirt, so there's room for a necklace.
So, I'm leaving for Comic Con on Wednesday. We'll spend most of Weds driving to CA, then spend Thurs-Sat and maybe a little of Sunday at the convention. Should be awesome. Too bad my faerie wings still haven't arrived. Well, I still have 2-3 days to get them, depending on if we leave before the mail comes on Weds. I swear, if we leave early on Weds and they arrive right after I leave, there will be no end to my griping.
There are a few things I need to do before the convention, such as find my dayplanner so I can keep track of all the panels, signings, and stuff that I want to go to; get together all the pieces for the costumes I'll wear; make a present for my editor to thank her for making this possible; get everything in order to make it easy for my Mom to take care of the cats and plants while I'm gone; get a sketchbook and notebook for for collecting sketches and taking notes; and lots of other things that I'm forgetting at the moment (kind of like how I forgot to buy a sketchbook at the bookstore today).
I don't know if it's showing in my writing or not, but I just realized from how I'm fidgeting that I am totally wired. I bought this cherry and pomegranate energy drink today, because I thought that the two fruits would taste good together (and they do). Chris was looking at it, and said "An energy drink, huh?" and I said "Yeah, but it's just a little guarana and some vitamins, I don't think it will make me too hyper." Oh, how wrong I was. I definitely have enough energy to go do my housework now.
Anyway, writing is going well, life is good, I really will try to blog more often now, and we had an awesome storm last night. It was pouring rain, and there was a bunch of lightning and thunder right overhead. I'm hoping for a repeat performance tonight. Come on clouds, you can do it!
I had quite the busy weekend. We had my parents over for a BBQ Sunday night, so I spent the weekend cleaning, running errands, and arranging the house. The BBQ was a success, which made us both very happy. We've had friends drop by for visits to see the house, but this was our first time hosting something semi-official, and Chris's first time grilling.
Today I was feeling pretty run down, partially due to all those errands and cleaning, so I decided to be lazy. I got pretty much nothing done. Tomorrow I need to be much more productive. I'm hoping to maybe even get back to beading tomorrow. At some point this week, I want to put some more work into setting up my bead/sewing/craft room. Of course, I'll get it done just in time to leave for Comic Con... but at least I'll be all set to be productive when I get back!
I'm pretty excited about the convention. I've been getting lots of e-mails about different panels, previews, and demos, most of which I'm not very interested in. I know there will be things that interest me there, I'm just not getting e-mailed about them. I even got a CALL today about some presentation about two movies. The funny thing is that I know the book one of them is based on is very popular, and the movie is highly anticipated, but I just don't care. And the other movie is a stupid raunchy comedy, which overwhelms any curiosity about whether the first movie is all it's cracked up to be.
I just have to hope that my new faerie wings arrive in the mail before the convention! I can wear my costume without them, but it won't be as much fun.
I'm excited, because I'm going to San Diego Comic Con this year! As you may already know, I write a gaming column for the e-zine Collector Times. Our incredibly awesome editor wants a strong CT presence at the convention this year, and is generously covering the hotel rooms for her staffers. Comic Con is a lot of fun, and I believe that this past year, I posted here about how bummed I was at not going. So I'm very happy, because not only do I get to go this year, but it's very likely that I'll get to meet several people who I've only known on-line until now. Yay!
Oh yeah, and it's an excuse to wear COSTUMES! By then I might even be sewing my own!
Speaking of which, today I get to go to JoAnn's and pick up some fabric so I can try to learn how to sew. You know what is going to be fun? Cutting out patterns with my cats. Not only does Topher like to help me craft (remember this picture? and this one?), but he is a tissue paper fiend. Lira is a little more laid back about it, at least, and I can probably count on her preferring to sit in Chris's lap. Note to self: make sure to only cut out patterns while Chris is sitting at his desk.
Yesterday, during our Legend of the Five Rings game, I did a lot of kumihimo. I haven't measured, but my cord has to be about 30 inches, so I think I'm going to make it into a two-strand necklace, with the skull hanging from the bottom strand. I just need to decide on a bail design. Anyway, it's kind of cool. The yarns were all variegated colors, so the cord looks different every few inches. Plus it has a lot of texture due to the different types of yarn. It also reminded me about how fun kumihimo is for gaming, so I'm going to have to do more of it in the future.
Every now and then, you just have to do something silly, like take a picture of yourself wearing goggles.
