The Kat's Journal

Dental issues...

lithera — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:43:08 GMT

So, I went in for a cleaning yesterday and mentioned that there was a little weirdness above the front tooth I knocked out when I was 12 or 13. Just to be safe we took an x-ray of said tooth.

Well. It seems that my body has declared that tooth to be a foreign object and is attempting to reclaim it - break it down and get rid of it. This has caused an infection to spring up around it and the tooth next to it. Large chunks of the bone of that first tooth (my front upper left or #9 if you know those things) are gone and so is some of the bone above it. There was a chance that this was also happening to the tooth next to it, the smaller not quite as up front tooth #10.

So my dentist sent me to an endodontist today to see how bad things are up there. It turns out that things are bad but not crazy emergency bad - at least not for #10. #9 is still cracked all over the place, missing chunks and needs to go. It will get pulled out and replaced with a fake tooth that will involve bone grafts, metal rods being drilled into my skull and all sorts of other loveliness. That process will likely take 4-6 months as each process needs to heal before taking the next step.

Today, though, I just got #10 drilled out and filled with medicine. In two weeks, I get to go back, get it cleaned out and capped. Then we get to start on the work for #9. I know I'm not going to have an empty socket instead of a tooth at any point but I'm actually pretty panicked about the possibility anyway. It isn't exactly a rational fear but what are you going to do.

Remember kids, when you do crazy stupid stunts on monkey bars, be prepared for repercussions, including knocking teeth out, extreme crazy pain and dental work that shows up 20 years later and costs as much as a car.

Seriously 2011, I am done with this. Whatever the surprise for the 4th quarter of the year is, unless it involves a trip to Paris, you can keep it.

For another edition of said it better than I could...

lithera — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:04:02 GMT

... I present these two articles:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/oracle-is-stronger-than-batgirl-110606.html
http://comicstheblog.com/?p=2471

I don't really have a horse in this race - at least not on a personal level. I love Barbara Gordon. I love her as a character no matter if she's Batgirl or Oracle. I totally understand why some people are pissed off - on both sides.

On a related but different topic:
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/06/07/dc-embraces-its-dark-side/ - These are my first surprises as well as the first one of these I'm pretty sure I'm not even tempted by. It is sad that I'm so very worn out on vampires. That said, Etrigran Middle Ages adventures? I am so there. Voodoo gets her own #1, which is cool. Where are my other WildCATS, huh?

Happy Mother's Day

lithera — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:04:32 GMT

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

I love you.

Your Daughter,
-Katrina

I tried to call today but none of the numbers I have saved in my cell phone got me an answer. I miss you and your present should arrive on Tuesday.

So...ummm...

lithera — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:24:32 GMT

How about some Thor on Friday?

Any one interested? Our choices are 3D or IMAX 3D.

Pacific Place is at 8:15, (or 5:10) which seems dumb.
Thornton Place as several showing 5:50, 6:50, 7:30 and 8:30

http://www.popbunker.net/2011/05/movies-2011/ - Lots of goodness coming this month. Lemme know what you're up for and I'll try to get something going.

PAX

lithera — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:08:10 GMT

So, I know we're still like 4 months out from PAX but word is they're looking to sell out in the next two weeks. If you're thinking of going, if you want a badge, you should look into buying that there badge ASAP.

Just an FYI.

To follow up...

lithera — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:22:11 GMT

I was going to put a post up about how I have all of these things I need to do and how I'm trying to do this or that or this other thing. Meh. Not really interested in more lists. Have an awesome Noto sketch instead.

HI all!

lithera — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:52:16 GMT

I really should update this more often.

And look, now I'm a cliche. Awesome.

Anyway - is anyone up for seeing Dylan Dog on Friday? I don't see times out on the websites yet but I was wondering if anyone was up for it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

lithera — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:13:55 GMT

It is Holly's birthday. She is now older than I am again and all is right with the world.

Or something like that.

HOORAY FOR HOLLY DAY!

So. That happened.

lithera — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:46:11 GMT

There and back. Feels like it was longer than it actually was.

So. The story of my luggage.

I get to the airport on Thursday and check in, Everything is going well. We get on the plane and sit there for a bit and then.... It seems the plane was broken and we were going to have to rebook everything. I tried to do that but the only thing they could get me would get me into Marquette very late Friday/early Saturday. Since the service was Saturday morning, I didn't think that was acceptable to me. I got rebooked through to Duluth since that'd the closest they can get me.

Still, that's a 4 hour drive. Thanks to my parents for coming to pick me up. I realized later that it might ahve been faster had they come to get me in Minneapolis but, well, hindsight and all of that.

So, I get to Duluth. Hooray. My luggage does not make it there with me - it went on to Detroit, even though I didn't. It makes it to Duluth on the next day. I ask that they send the luggage to Marquette so someone can drive it out to me. (It seems they can't drive it from Duluth to me for whatever reason.) The luggage gets to Detroit, or so I'm told, and then never seems to make it from Detroit anywhere else.

I got my baggage fee returned to me, or well, a voucher for the amount and 1000 Sky Miles. So, they've tried to do something about this but I had to wear the same clothes for most of a week and didn't have the dress I wanted to wear at the funeral.

So, y'know, thanks for trying Delta but man, did you just not make it.

I'll see if I can talk about the funeral later.

Right now, little things set me off, so... maybe later. We'll see.

lithera — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:47:02 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

If there are words that describe this, I don't have them. I just don't.

If you have anything you can spare, it will be needed.

I think I'll be following this blog after all of this is done: http://allthingsnuclear.org/post/3842650618/sunday-update-on-fukushima-reactors

Ooooof.

Excuse me?

lithera — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:19:14 GMT

What?

WHAT?

To the, tick tock, y'don't stop...

lithera — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:52:34 GMT

So. It has been a crazy busy time. I've been informed that I'm not putting enough on LJ recently. I will attempt to do this more.

The last weekend in February, I was in a concert with the Seattle Women's Chorus and Kathy Najimy. It was fun and hard work and all around a fantastic experience, even if I did have to make my way long the top row of risers in the dark multiple times a show. At one point, Ms. Najimy put her hands up to support my legs because, "I thought you were going to fall off!" Thank you very much for the help.

Last weekend, from which I am still recovering, was Emerald City Comic Con. Wow. That was such a better experience than last year. Not say there aren't still things to work on (because there are) but things were sssssssssssssooooooooooooooo much better. Thanks again to Kris and Holly who I dragged into this in the first place, for sticking around and making it super awesome. At ECCC I met Rachel and Terry Dodson (from whom I acquired a lovely Rogue sketch) and John Rogers (writer of Blue Beetle and creator of Leverage) and Bruce Boxleitner (TRON! OMG!) and I got to gaze at James Marsters from across a short distance. I talked with a bunch of people I would love to see more often and generally had an excellent time.

Looking forward, well, it just doesn't stop, does it?

April:
3-11 Amsterdam with Cody, Steve and Sean
21-24 NorWesCon

May:
Work trip to India, probably in the first half of the month
20-22 Eastern Washington SWC trip to do more singing in drapes (given that the India trip doesn't get in the way.)

June:
Hrmmmm... Nothing...?

July:
19-25 (ish) Comic Con in San Diego

August
4-7 (ish) Family Reunion!

October:
7 & 8 SWC Concert with Chelly Wright

Somewhere in here, I'd love to come up with a trip to San Francisco (Alameda) to visit Ben and Meredith in their new digs. It is a nice trip, a nice town and nice people, so I need to find a place for it.

Anyone have more time in their back pocket? I could totally use that too.

Me, me, me and also, yeah, me

lithera — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:37:42 GMT

So, there are a lot of moving pieces right now and I'm starting to feel that 'I'm gonna drop something' feeling. I really, really hate that feeling. A lot. When I get to this level of stress, the little details start to get lost and I have a hard time picking them back up again. Forgive me if you see or hear from me less. I have a tendency to hide as well.

I am visiting a chiropractor three times a week. In a few weeks that will likely move down to two times a week. I will probably have some massage in there as well - possibly some acupuncture and or physical therapy as well. It will be an on going sort of discovery.

I have three concerts, one this weekend (in Olympia) and two next weekend (at the Paramount). Trying to make sure I have everything I need arranged for those is much more stressing than I think it should be. Still, I have to find my brown shoes or buy a new pair. I'll have four different outfits during the show, so there are a number of moving parts and I don't want to forget any of them.

I have two good friends leaving the area for work, one sooner than the other. I'd like to say that I'm just fine with this. I'd be lying if I actually said that. Still, my issues are my issues and I /am/ happy for them both. Jobs are good things and so are new opportunities. I'll be doing my best to keep my internal flailing as internal flailing.

I should, I hope, have a new car as of Friday. It is on its way here. I'm getting a nicely used car from Enterprise. They take good care of their cars and I could do worse to have a former rental car. It will be clean and shiny. As soon as things are done and signed, I'll post pictures and details and all of that.

I am looking forward to Emerald City Comic Con. While I'll be working/volunteering at it, it will also be a nice time off. I need to do more of that, I think. Still, it is always hard for me to take time off.

Hrmmm. Thinks, I have some.

lithera — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:32:28 GMT

So, you may or may not know that MAC has put out a Wonder Woman line of cosmetics. On one hand, I was all, Meh. Diana doesn't need make-up. Maybe they'll decorate everything in pink frills while they're at it. On the other hand was, Ooooo! Wonder Woman make up. I hope some of that will look good on me, because I want some too, please.

So, when I saw the display this weekend at the mall, I went up to check it out. What resulted was me getting Wonder Woman make up for my SWC shows because I didn't have anything that would work at all for that level of make up needs. Also, I got about a million products that will help tame the dry skin flakeiness and generally super red cheeked wind burn look I've been sporting. I didn't know such things existed and, well, as I age my general anti-make up and anti-'girly' stance has softened because I recognize it for its roots. I didn't want to be treated as I saw the other girls being treated, so I rejected everything I associated with that type of treatment. I also associated those things with needing someone else to help take care of me and I've been self-sufficient for... well... forever it feels like some days.

And far too much so for my own good at times.

Anyway, on the Wonder Woman front, I was surprised at how many women stopped to look at the make up /because/ of Wonder Woman. There were a lot of comments about how they loved her. I know that a lot of women my age watched the TV show and grew up wanting to be Wonder Woman (or Linda Carter). I've always said that there was a huge miss in never connecting that show with anything else. Wonder Woman is a pretty powerful symbol and she's seen all over the world. When I see comments on message boards about 'Wonder Hooker' and worse it makes me sad and angry but experiences this weekend balance that out.

Some part of me wishes there really were Wonder Scouts out there doing good this, kicking ass and changing the world.

That was rambly and I'm not sure I really reached my point, but, there you go.

Ummmm. Hrmmm.

lithera — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:08:30 GMT

Hey guys?

Did I ask someone about room at NorWes this year?

I seem to be really freaking bad about this these days. I feel like I did but hell if I can remember if I actually did or not and if I did, I'm not sure who I asked.

Halp?

Geeeeze

lithera — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:32:38 GMT

Awesome people at Emerald City this year:
Ed Brubaker
Rachel and Terry Dodson
Pia Guerra
Cully Hamner
Adam Hughes
J. G. Jones
Josh Middleton
Mike Mignola
Dustin Nguyen
Frank Quietly
Greg Rucka
Tim Sale
Bruce Timm

And I know I've left people off. Like Scott Lobdell and the Axe Cop guys and... Yeesh. Too much awesome.

Yeah! Superman!

lithera — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:51:32 GMT

Superbowl Ads

lithera — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:01:48 GMT

The VW Vader commercial seems to have been a hit, which is good.

So, I didn't watch the game and I'm catching up on these things but I must say, well played Chrysler.

Great ad or greatest ad?

lithera — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:56:44 GMT

Heeeee. Don't you let that doll taunt you, little Sith Lord. I totally believe in you.

Personal reference here... Do do do....

lithera — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:46:50 GMT

Noooo. I don't remember this music from when I was a kid. Nooooo.

And the icon isn't related either. Nope.

The update!

lithera — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:54:48 GMT

Sooooo.

Holly and I went to go clean out Tracer X yesterday to find that the day I had been given by the insurance company didn't actually mean 'by the end of the day'. In fact, it might have meant by noon but I'm not entirely sure that's true either. He had been taken away to the lot where he will be assessed already. Calling Progressive, they told me he's going to a lot in Arlington which is open 9-5 (ha ha) and I can go up there and get all of my things or I can have them mail them all to me.

So, all of my stuff (and it had better be all of my stuff) will be mailed to me by the people who now have my darling car.

I'm agreived by this. I'll be calling Progressive about that again today.

The rental car I got is a Chevy Impala and it is so much more car than I need. The thing isn't quite a boat but it is a bit unwieldy and has crazy gadgets and fiddly things that are alien to my car needs. (It also has no real good way for me to check my blind spot over ym shoulder. HATE THAT.) After a few tries to get it into the garage, I pretty much just gave up. A good thing to remember for future car purchasing when I have the heart and the drive to do it.

So. That wasn't fun.

lithera — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:13:32 GMT

So, this weekend on my way from Chorus rehearsal to the Belgian Beer Festival, I was in a car accident. I was headed east along 45th headed up the hill past the University Village and a young woman took a left in front of me across the double yellow. Alas, the front end of my noble Tracer X was crunched in and the chances are that he is, in fact, a total loss. This is unsurprising to me as, well, the last accident he was in was also deemed as such and there is a /lot/ more damage to him in this accident.

So, later today, I'm going to go get a rental car that the other driver's insurance is providing and get all of my stuff out of my dearest car. I really, really don't want to go shopping for a new car since a) a lot of money and b) a lot of hassle but, well, it really looks like fixing my darling car will cost me more than buying a quality used car. Not that I really know how to do that. It isn't as though I've ever actually done this whole used car shoping thing, except with my dad in high school.

I'm physically okay, a little sore and twingy at times but I'm okay - everything works just fine.

Much thanks to Ben and Meredith for coming out to be with me after the accident. Having never really been in one like that before, I was generally a bundle of useless.

And now I am sad because he's still a perfectly fine working car, except his front end is smashed in and it'll cost too much to fix him. It feels silly to be so emotional about a car but, well, there it is.

What a strange thing.

lithera — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:13:24 GMT

I went to the gym last night. I did 45+ minutes on the elipitcal machine. And, well, I felt good afterward. It is a little weird. I didn't feel angry or in pain or worn down to nothing. I felt... good. Which is not something I can ever remember a workout at a gym doing. The only difference I am aware of is that I was watching college football while doing it.

Honestly, if watching TV or sports in general can make me want to not only, continue exercising, but push harder in doing so? Sign me up. I will freaking watch whatever it is I need in order to do that hour of cardio 3+ times a week. Maybe it is some sort of mental response to watching people do something physically taxing, some sort of 'hey, I can do that to'. I really have no idea it but I like it.

Totally unrelated, it is good to remember that while all squares are rhombuses, not all rhombuses are squares. And this also applies to people and pretty much every possible way you could slice up different ways to look at people. (And some even go a bit further than that.)

What else... Oh! We're going to have THE BEST CONCERT EVER in February. Seriously. I am so excited about singing some of this music on stage. It just keeps getting better and better. Tonight I'm going to try to become a Von Trap child. We'll see how it goes.

Heh.

lithera — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:54:09 GMT

Awesome.

Because I'll forget otherwise

lithera — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:23:20 GMT

Books I want to read:
The Windup Girl- Paolo Bacigalupi
The Native Star - M.K. Hobson
Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill
Locke & Key (Graphic Novel) - Joe Hill
The Broken Kingdoms - N. K Jemisin (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was fantastic.)
The Living Dead 2 - Anthology. The first one was good and I know someone in the second one!
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot
Under Heaven - Guy Gavriel Kay
Ghost Story - Jim Butcher (Yeah, not until April, I know.)

Books I have that I need to read:
Shadowrise - Tad Williams
Arms-Commander - L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Imager - L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Deadnought - Cherie Priest (Started this at the gym.0
Catie's newest bit of Old Races awesome.
The Folding Knife - K. J. Parker
Tongues of Serpents - Naomi Novik

The military tactics of Joan d'Arc book I found as well as the book on Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Anyone else have any recomendations