I Believe in Sherlock

Right.

2012-10-31T01:56:38Z

Release #98

So there we have it. Friends page is basically being destroyed. And we could say "it's in beta, they might not do it," but that's a lie, they don't listen when the users beg them not to change something. It's just not going to happen.

So here's the deal, from my perspective. I barely use LJ anymore, sad, but true. I'm primarily on tumblr these days. I have a dreamwidth account as well that I am currently updating on all of my posts here. I'm closing out the tab on my friends page and turning off my add-on that notifies me of new posts.

IF YOU HAVE TUMBLR OR DREAMWIDTH AND ARE NOT ALREADY FRIENDS WITH ME ON THOSE SITES, PLEASE LET ME KNOW/ADD ME!

I'm themegaloo on both.

Take care, all.

oh hey, life.

2012-08-15T05:51:49Z

SO ON MY LAST UPDATE I had just gotten my very first super awesome LINE as a flight attendant. (Yeah, the magical schedule was in fact true!) So that was cool. And my life has been INSANE AND AWESOME ever since! Well, not always awesome, sometimes it's just insane, like when I packed for a one day trip on Thursday and didn't get to come home until yesterday while actually managing to LOSE hours, don't ask, it was ridiculous. Here are some of my highlights!

-I had a flight delayed for a swarm of bees. No, really, there was a swarm of bees just hanging out on our right wing, like, HUGE SWARM OF BEES, GUYS. They couldn't get to the plane with the fuel truck or the baggage because of it and had to call out a beekeeper, it was insane.
-I flew a flight with three passengers from Albany to LaGuardia because we'd gotten diverted there and stuck but weren't the only ones and the other crew managed to snag all the people. It was pretty entertaining talking on a PA to...three people.
-I've slept in so many hotels, so many.
-I've found that my favorite game to play while on a trip is to wait a few days and then ask the other FA (provided I haven't worked with them before) how old they think I am. Which usually just comes up because I'll say something like "masters program" or "lived in Ireland for a year" and "spent two years as a wedding consultant..." And slowly they have the moment of realization that maybe I'm not like, 20. It's really freaking funny.
-I WENT TO SDCC AND GOT TO HANG OUT WITH THIS REALLY AWESOME PERSON NAMED NIKKI AND MET MATT & KAREN & ARTHUR & MOFF AND IT WAS BASICALLY THE BEST THING EVER AND WE'RE GOING BAAAAAACK.
-DCON is in a frightfully short period of time away from now. I AM NOT READY. Well, I kinda am, but I KINDA REALLY AM NOT. We'll get there.
-ALSO planning to go to NYCC this year. Which will be 3 cons in like, 3 months. Holy. I swear I could not pull this off if I didn't have flight benefits, I mean, the airfare to SDCC alone would have BROKEN ME DEAD.
-I have this whole new mentality about things I want to go to on account of this. Like, there's an event somewhere or someplace I want to see or something I want to do....it's less "I will never be able to afford it" and more "damnit I need the days off, when is the next bid cycle??" Which is sort of awesome.
-LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT BIDDING, BECAUSE IT IS ALL THE CRAZY. I totally failed at it last month and had to bribe someone to take a trip so I could have my days for DCon. This month, I think I did way better. We'll know soon. But bidding, man, it takes a lot more effort than I thought it would. I had to look through all the possible pairings, I picked out the ones I wanted, I bid for those, then I submitted preferences for like, overnights, report times, and again, days off cause, well, DCon is pesky in spanning TWO DIFFERENT MONTHS.
-I got hopelessly addicted to all things Marvel and Avengers. I made a Peggy Carter costume because I love Cap more than should be considered healthy. I HAVE READ COMIC BOOKS. It's shocking.
-...I bought an iPad because I got tired of having to take my laptop out of my bag at TSA and you can leave a tablet in and now expect my typos to get fixed for me when I go all dyslexic with the letter order. Damn. (I'm on my trusty laptop right now)
-I made the very bad life decision to watch Teen Wolf on a whim. Guys, guys, it's like, awesome. I can't say THE BEST because, well, Firefly, Doctor Who...Kinda hard to beat, BUT IT IS UP THERE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S ON MTV, GUYS. GO WATCH IT. Yes, S1 is a little campy, but S2, just. ALL MY FEELS. STIIIILES. To watch the show is to love Stiles. And you have no idea what you're missing until you too, love Stiles.
-I use my tumblr a lot these days. Go follow me. But, yanno, tell me who you are. I'm themegaloo there too, because I like to keep shit simple.
-Ohhhh I finally broke down and rewatched/caught up on Castle, because Nathan Fillion. Who I saw at SDCC too. Who is awesome and we made cry. On the same day I met Matt & Karen & Arthur & Moff.
-I really like having an apartment. Not living with the parents is very nice.
-There is a Boy and it is Good. But it is long distance but I bid for alllll the overnights near him so it might be Better soon.
-Life is really fun. And I get to work again on Thursday. HOW WEIRD IS THAT, I GET EXCITED ABOUT WORKING. I love being a flight attendant. I would love it even more if our uniforms were like Virgin America's. But I still love it a lot.

IN SHORT: Hi! I'm still alive! I'm just really, really busy!!!

HI GUYS

2012-05-17T06:35:18Z

I'd say I'm going to get better at posting and commenting but...I'm probably not going to. Oops. I DO STILL READ ALL THE THINGS.

So my last update was not quite a month ago, which is pretty good for me, right? I had just gotten my wings and was at home, waiting to go out on my IOE, where they sent me out with a working crew, let me tag along behind and ask questions for a few flights, and then made me do the work with one of the FAs tagging along making sure I did it right and then made me do it and my FA sat back and wrote down what I did wrong and right and made sure I could do it on my own.

Neverwracking? Oh hell yeah. Funny thing is, anything that could go wrong basically did. We had a 30 minute delay waiting for maintenance to get out there and tape up a broken tray table, we had ground-stops due to an airport being over-crowded, we had delays for other maintenance issues, and then my last two flights were CANCELED due to weather. We got out to the runway, were told there was a delay, so we waited and I brought everyone water. Then the delay got worse, so I brought out the cart and gave everyone sodas and snacks, and then it got worse again, so we went back to the gate and let everyone off. Sat on an empty airplane, got clearance, re-boarded all the passengers, and then they canceled the flight.

That was...fun. AS A RESULT I didn't get to actually finish my IOE. I went home and sat around and waited. Finally, they called me back out and I deadheaded all over Texas before meeting up with my NEW crew to work my last two flight. They went a lot smoother, and PASSED! I came home the next day, was put on a reserve schedule, figured out how all the websites work, bid for my June schedule, hung out with my roommate (who really is sweet!) and whined about not working. Crazy, right?! Still getting paid for it, JUST BORED. Today, I found out I had gotten one of the open flights that's listed on our server. SUNDAY I start my first non-training flight!! I'll be flying to NYC, to Elmira, to Burlington and Detroit. Not in that order. I have it all written down. And I go back and forth a lot. BUT I AM EXCITED. WORKING! FLYING!! JOYOUS DAY!

And then I figured out that since the bidding for June is over, they put up a preliminary schedule. And it's not a reserve schedule. So, starting in June, it looks like I'm a full-on flight attendant, if that schedule turns out to be true!

And now I'm texting my roommate from across the hall because neither of us can sleep. I'm so ready to be doing things again!

Okay. Right.

2012-01-20T07:52:00Z

I've been relatively quiet on the SOPA/PIPA issues thus far, and I think in light of my current RAGE that needs to change. I am a constant user of the internet. The idea of not being plugged into the internet for at least (LEAST) a few hours every day is, frankly, horrifying to me. I spend a lot of time on LJ, facebook, twitter, and now tumblr. I read articles. I watch videos. I participate in fandom (from a largely lurker standpoint). I research costumes and work towards building them from store-bought pieces or the methods/materials needed to make them myself. I have google skills to make you weep. I shop online, I watch Netflix streaming both on my computer and on the TV. I purchase MP3's and ebooks. I have an iphone, I have had some sort of smartphone with internet access for the past few YEARS. I am online even when not on a computer. This...is really a pointless list. Let's just take it as read that I AM LOST WITHOUT THE INTERNET.

Now let's talk about what SOPA/PIPA are proposing. If you have absolutely no idea, take about fifteen minutes and watch this video. Seriously, it's a good break-down. You will come away from it with a lot more knowledge. I object to pretty much everything within these proposed bills, but I'm going to break down the why's for a minute here. Here are some of the things they're planning to do in the effort to stop internet piracy:

-Remove the offending website domain from coming up on search engines.
-Make it so typing in the URL won't bring you to the website.
-Block offending websites from receiving money from sites like PayPal.
-Make it impossible for the offending websites to sell advertisements.
-Allow ISPs to block a domain, and then have no culpability for it afterwards.

But here's the thing- what domains are they going to block? Yes, they've already taken down megaupload, but have you ever tried to just search MU to find a specific file? It's basically not possible. Or if it is, I never figured out how and I've had an account with them since 2008. If you're trying to find a particular download on a site like MU and don't already have the link, where do you turn to to find it? I have seen download links on LJ, facebook, tumblr, twitter, blogspot, wordpress, youtube...You name a user-generated content site and you can probably find where someone has put up a download link. It's not all torrents and pirate bay, these are websites we use every day for things completely not related to piracy. Now look over that list again- even if the government itself doesn't block the domain, your ISP could. I'd say just imagine it for a moment, but no, that might give you nightmares. User-generated content is what the internet is ABOUT. We make gifs and other images, we create derivative works, we share opinions, we write blog posts. If these bills pass, what, exactly, are we going to be left with?

So yes, we are up in arms. We're angry and nervous. Wikipedia and several other sites made a wonderful statement yesterday by blacking out. Awareness spread as people tried to look something up and couldn't, or saw a huge censor tag over the google homepage (etc). It was good, it was the internet standing up and making it known since the news channels haven't. (Don't understand why it hasn't been on the news? Think about who controls the channels- the same people who make movies. Yep, they're not about to tell you about all this!) And then today they take down megaupload. WITHOUT the aid of SOPA/PIPA. What does that tell you? That they can fight piracy all they like while still following due process.

And how did the internet respond? Well, an enormous DDoS attack, of course. If you haven't seen the list of what they took down today, go look. It's a bit impressive. Websites like the Department of Justice, the FBI, the MPAA, the Copyright Office- they were hit with so many pings that the servers couldn't keep up and the websites went down. I don't know if they're still down or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if at least a few of them are. I've seen several instances where Anonymous was called "the internet wrecking ball" and it's a fair title. But at the same time, it does rather feel like the first shots fired in a war without physical guns. How is the government going to respond? I haven't seen anything yet, but I feel like they're going to be forced to do SOMETHING. Will they back down or will they fight back? Has the internet just become a battleground? It's a bit scary, but at the same time-it's a bit exhilarating too. The world is changing.

AND THEN, there's a feeling of not knowing what our government is up to. ninepointfivemm pointed this one out: Supreme Court rules Congress can re-copyright public domain works. JUST READ THAT TITLE. And then go read the article. The thing with this one is that getting the USA's copyright laws in line with international copyright isn't actually a bad idea, however by making this ruling they're setting a horrible precedent for RE-COPYRIGHTING THINGS. So now are we not only faced with a huge internet crackdown on copyrighted materials without due process, but congress can move things from public domain to copyright status?

What the ever-loving flying fuck, guys. No seriously, what the fuck. The US government has three branches, this is two out of three doing stupid shit and if the bills do pass and end up on the president's desk and he DOESN'T veto them? That'll be all three, folks. And if all three branches of a government that were designed to balance each-other go nuts like this? Well, it might be time to find a way out.

NEW LAYOUT.

2012-01-19T02:45:18Z

SO. It's been a while since I've posted one of these. Sept 2009, actually. Over 2 years using the SAME LAYOUT, my god. Obviously, I was pretty fond of my Merlin Fanatic layout, and it was pretty cool. Cool enough that I kept MOST of the coding I painstakingly did for it on this one.

Which...is Sherlock, obviously. If you're up on the fandom and/or on tumblr, you have probably seen the whole graffiti fiasco. As a fandom->real life movement, the IDEA is pretty cool. But the execution of damaging public & private property that a lot of people have been embracing...that is NOT cool. And also not legal. Which makes it doubly not cool. Seeing the post-it's, snow writing, fliers, etc however did give me the idea. Click through to themegaloo to see my approach! Seriously, I'm damn pleased with how it's turned out, though there are a few tweaks I still want to make. Once I do that, I might offer it up for others to use as well, haven't decided yet. I sort of want to jazz up the entry boxes somehow but I haven't decided with WHAT yet. Suggestions welcome.

OH and PS- my tumblr matches, and wasn't THAT a pain and a half.

EDIT: And I completely broke it on accident trying to change an image, but it's back now. And on that note, if for some reason you see something TOTALLY NOT LOOKING LIKE A LAYOUT WITH A STONE WALL AND SHERLOCK & JOHN AND EVERYTHING....god, please tell me.

So, Sherlock.

2012-01-16T04:37:58Z

Actually, when it comes down to writing anything like a reaction I have nothing. Unless you count "OH GOD" which I think basically everyone has done. Or I can describe how in preparation I grabbed the corner of the comfy couch and a big fluffy sweater, wrapped myself in it, and basically didn't move.

And then I ate dinner and braved tumblr and finally finished writing a silly fic for aylathebunny that I said I would write back at the epic post-panel time at DCon. It is very silly. It's also on tumblr. But I don't UNDERSTAND TUMBLR THAT WELL STILL so it's also here.

(Sherlock/John, nothing too exciting, to date my only Sherlock ficlet, 740 words, Sherlock dressed as a priest)

The conversation had gone something like this:

“If you want to know so much about her and her supposedly religious homicidal tendencies, you can go talk to her yourself. She had so many cats in that flat that my histamines are going to be going mental for weeks.”

John had promptly taken himself to the kitchen after that announcement for some Zyrtec-D and a nice hot cuppa to cure all ills. Minus the milk, of course. He hadn’t thought anything of it when Sherlock had hummed in response before leaving the flat. Probably off to acquire more severed body parts (and not milk), John told himself as he sneezed a bit more of the cat fur out of his nose—being very careful to aim away from the experiments on the table. (The last time he’d done that, something had blown up and Sherlock had been disturbingly gleeful about the whole thing. Something about the way his mucus had interacted with…whatever it had been. Certain things were simply best forgotten.)

Of course, that had been hours ago, now. It was late, John was sat in front of the telly, watching something pleasantly mindless and eating some leftover takeout (it had been clearly marked in the fridge—JOHN’S DINNER, NOT AN EXPERIMENT—and they’d been through this enough times that he was reasonably certain that it was safe for consumption) when Sherlock waltzed in (John had given up on referring to what Sherlock did as something so pedestrian as walking. His coat twirled. It was waltzing. And he did so admire the view. And the view of what was under it. But that is another story.)

The coat came off, flung across the back of the couch as Sherlock spun to face John. Of course, that was when the costume became evident. Right after a delightful view of Sherlock’s spinning backside (always good for observing, it was a nice view). So of course, John was totally justified in having Inappropriate Thoughts About Sherlock before he recognized that there was a bit of something unexpected to his attire.

“Since when are you a priest?”

“Since it prompted a full confession from, as you put it, a woman with ‘supposedly religious homicidal tendencies, of course.”

“So you’re meaning to tell me you went out in possibly-blasphemous fancy dress to trick a poor old cat lady into confessing her sins?”

“Bit not good?”

“Just a bit.” Watson shifted in his armchair, pulling the takeout box over his lap. Sherlock raised an eyebrow at the movement. “Shut up.” (Sherlock went to open his mouth--) “And yes I know you hadn’t said anything, but I also know you were thinking about it!”

The corner of Sherlock’s mouth twitched in the approximation of a smirk. John rolled his eyes and pulled the carton closer, hoping that the sauce wouldn’t stain his jumper irreversibly. “Do you have a confession to make as well, John?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Really? Because the way you are shifting and clutching the takeaway would indicate a heightened state of arousal, as would the flush on your cheeks, though some of that could also be linked to embarrassment, which is abnormal as you have not been embarrassed at your arousal in my presence for some time now, so I can reliably say it is related to the particular cause of your arousal, in this case, my particular state of dress…”

“Yes, no, fine, I mean… Just shut up before I start throwing my prawns at you, you utter arse!” John huffed and relinquished the carton, placing it back on the table but still within easy reach, just in case the few remaining prawns were needed. Sherlock huffed something resembling a laugh, or possibly outrage, and glared briefly at the takeaway before looking back to John.

“Well? Did I miss anything?”

“No. No, of course you didn’t. Except for the fact that you’ve discovered a kink I didn’t even know I HAD. Now get over here and do something about it or the food really will start flying and I won’t be the one to blame, you’ll have driven me to it.”

“John.” Sherlock was moving now, pulling the table out of the way and out of reach, looming over the armchair. John swallowed. “Do shut up.”

And that, John thought as he grabbed the lapels on Sherlock’s suit to pull him in close, was better than being asked for a confession any day.

yup. that has been my day.

Maybe this is a bit weird....

2012-01-11T05:04:51Z

So working bridal retail is rather different from working basically any other retail, ever. For one thing, our busy season stars just AFTER Christmas is over rather than the usual retail madness. Saturday was one of our first busy-ish days. It wasn't too bad because we just hired a ton of new staff (who are still learning how to do their jobs of course) but it was definitely more than our normal staff could handle. I got proof of the increased traffic stomped into me. Yes, literally stomped. Mostly an accident, but partially my own fault for being unintentionally sneaky walking up behind my boss. She turned, stepped on my foot with her boot heel and continued turning with her weight on it before she realized that I was there. Ow. So I've got a bruise on my foot so epic that I've been taking progress photos that I refuse to post on facebook to avoid making her feel worse about it. Which means you lot get to see them instead! How lucky.

Day One, about five hours after the fact when I finally got to take my break.

Day Three, aka the first day I had off and wasn't running around the store on, you know, my feet. Comparison to my other foot too, note how the bruise has expanded down to my toes now...

Day Four. Today. Doesn't hurt as bad as it had been, still looks pretty awful. I'm really wondering how long it's going to take this one to fade.

On the plus side, said boss feels like she owes me beer for maiming my foot. I'll take that!

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

I CAVE I CAVE

2012-01-06T23:14:48Z

I'm going to use tumblr. I'LL CATCH UP WITH THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE DAY NOW, SEE, LOOK AT ME CATCHING UP! I am here because I have the most predictable usernames ever. FOLLOW ME AND KEEP ME USING IT, GUYS. But, uh, tell me who you are if it's not immediately obvious, if you don't mind!

And be kind as I learn wtf I am doing, because I assure you I do not know yet, but I'll learn quickly!

edit: thank you, photobucket, for randomly changing the URLs of every single one of my moodtheme icons so I had to go fix it. Really, thanks a lot.

A query.

2011-12-10T01:50:06Z

Ok, so for the past four out of five days, I have had headaches. (Yesterday was the one where I didn't.) They have started sometime between 3 and 5pm, and lasted most of each evening. The circumstances of the days were all different (hair appointment, work, trip out to Little Washington to visit a tiny british imports store, slept in and did nothing at home.)

Painkillers have had little to NO effect. So long as I am still and things are quiet, it's tolerable. If I move, tilt my head wrong, etc, throbbing pain.

I can see NO REASON for this, but it's ridiculously annoying. Any ideas out there? All I can think of is the weather has been shifting back and forth a bit, or maybe there is some sort of allergen in the air (though that wouldn't explain why this didn't happen last year when I worked in the same place, slept in the same bed, lived in the same room, ate the same basic things, etc) I thought perhaps it was my glasses, but it started today before I ever even put them on or did anything to require them. I got in the shower, that's all. Maybe sinuses? I HAVE NO IDEA. I just want them to stop :(

I suck at posting don't I.

2011-12-04T08:00:23Z

A few things! First off, I have been working on my Geek Knowledge lately. If I have you on FB, you probably realize this. If I have you on twitter, you MIGHT. If I harass you on aim (you know who you are!) yeah, you're almost definitely aware. (If you would like to be harassed on aim, I'm themegaloooo there, IM me and tell me who you are and we can start the painfully awkward cycle of me blurting things out at random, then going silent as I have strange issues sometimes where I don't want to be distracting, lol.)

THINGS I HAVE BEEN WATCHING:
• A few weeks ago I got the sudden, inexplicable urge to watch Stargate Atlantis. This is made somewhat hilarious by the fact that I've still only watched half of SG-1 and that was 2 years ago so it's a bit hazy. But I pulled it up on netflix and just started going right on through it all, I got utterly and completely hooked. In a massive way. I completely loved it. I was very confused about what to do with myself when I finished and started going back to the beginning of SG-1 (seriously need a refresher on what the hell is going on there so I can actually FINISH THE SERIES) but ended up needing a Stargate Break. I mean, several episodes a day for weeks, while awesome, my attention-span eventually lagged. xD So I decided to...
• Go back and work on finishing BSG. I started watching it back in March, and cannot for the life of remember what show I ended up getting side-tracked too. Actually, I think it might have been Ugly Betty from when my sister came up for her spring break and was on a kick of it and took over the TV. Long & short of it is that I never went back. SO, I finally finished S2 and have watched the first few episodes of S3. This is my conclusion so far about BSG: EVERYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG, WILL. And just when you think it is actually about to be too depressing for LIFE, something uplifting will happen and they'll play the pipes and drums and you get the warm fuzzies inside. And they do insane things like give Apollo a beer belly and the most RIDICULOUS LOOKING JOWLS EVER. I miss his abs. Seriously, those were pretty abs to look at. Someone tell me the abs of awesome come back!! (If they don't or if he dies, just don't say anything.) And so I paused after Exodus pt2 because it had one of those warm happy moments and decided, of ALL THINGS, to start re-reading...
• The Hunger Games. Because apparently when BSG is not crushing my soul with sadness, I need something else to do the trick. This got slightly awkward as I was reading the first few chapters in the break room at work today while I was eating my lunch and because I know what happens, I was just sitting there, reading, and tearing up like a ridiculous person. And I had to go back out and be smiley and sell wedding gowns like ten minutes later. THAT WAS FUN. (not) Especially since [TMI]I ended up in cramp awful pain central right after. Pain, hot sweats, passing desire to vomit, etc. Took three ibuprofen and still ended up leaving a little early :([/TMI]. But yeah. I just finished THG again and am debating if I want to go on to reading the second two. I probably will, in the end.

As for other things: I quit smoking. Well, sort of. I quit smoking CIGARETTES and have been trying out the e-cigs. If you have not heard of them, what they are is a water-vapor based electronic cigarette. The result is DRASTICALLY fewer chemicals, no known carcinogens, no tar, no smell, no ash, no huge amounts of litter. No going outside & freezing. It's pretty cool and has made me realize JUST HOW AWFUL cigarettes actually are. Just over a week after I got it, I tried to smoke a real one and ended up hacking up a lung. That was really weird. And awful. And it's weird to think about the ash and everything going into your body in retrospect once it's no longer an everyday thing. I smoked for five years and I literally stopped buying them and stopped smoking them at all within DAYS of getting my e-cig. Everyone has been really proud of me, including myself, and I am slowly converting everyone I know. My GRANDMOTHER bought one, and I am so proud because she has lung problems already from smoking and would quit and then go back all the time once she started feeling healthier and I really hope it works out for her. :) That's my major life update, really.

The last thing I wanted to mention is that I wrote something I'm actually quite pleased with. It's funny because it was in response to a texted question of "what do you live for," and I literally texted the whole thing. I have edited it a little bit since then, but it comes down to this:

Stories. Lay your stories at my feet and I will be happy. Give me your tales dripped in history, in politics, in the supernatural, in the technology not yet conceived in our own reality. Give me the characters and their interactions, let me see them grow and change. Let strangers become friends and enemies the one constant. Show me what happens after the end; the adventures and the domestic, the conclusion and the day-to-days that follow. Tell me the same tale six ways. Let me be absorbed into another world for a time, if only in the confines of my own imagination. Lay all your stories at my feet and I will be content.

I like it.

Annnnnnnd this post is, by far, long enough.

Though WTF my paid account ran out and it left me with ZERO DOCTOR WHO ICONS. WTF.

stupid song in my head

2011-10-01T06:06:24Z

I am REASONABLY sure that I've talked about Starship on here before, and if not I'm sorry because I really should have. (It's a musical by Starkid- those crazy people who made musical parodies of Harry Potter, all of the above can be found on youtube. Starship is a musical that is basically Starship Troopers meets Ants meets Avenue Q and Darren Criss wrote the songs.) BUT that's not the point.

I had a strange moment on my way to work this afternoon (which was insanely busy and I sold a dress, just the dress, that totaled at over $1000, AWESOME.) where I actually grabbed my ipod and decided to listen to it. It was on the Starship album so I figured WHY NOT, and just backed it up to the beginning of whatever song had been last played (it was last played at DCon when ninepointfivemm were forcibly introducing it to people).

Which has resulted in this song being stuck in my head for ABOUT 11 hours now. Minus when I was running around too fast to have anything in my head but where to find the next dress, of course.

Yes, I had to share it with you all. A FEW THINGS ABOUT THIS SONG:
1. It is strangely inspiring considering the actual context of the scene. Seriously, the line I have on repeat is "what you see right there is a prisoner who's sitting on top of the key- you've got to kick it up a notch if you ever want to be free." But the actual goal of the scene is for Pincer (giant scorpion) to convince Bug (little bug) to become a human and lure the other humans back so he can eat their brains. I'm not kidding. (SEE, GO WATCH THE SHOW PEOPLE, IT'S REALLY FUNNY AND I'M NOT EVEN TELLING YOU THE BEST BITS.) SO with that on repeat in my head I'm getting a CONSTANT REMINDER TO DO SOMETHING WITH MY LIFE and giggling a lot. At the same time. It's sort of ridiculous.
2. Dude has a seriously hot voice. No really, go listen to him. It's all jazzy and really hot. Further proof of my Thing for musicians. Also, WATCH THE SHOW and see how utterly derpy his other character is.
3. I can't stop thinking about how hilariously epic it would be to make a four-person costume of Pincer (yep, still the giant scorpion) and bring it to DragonCon. There are obviously some flaws in this plan- making the thing, transporting the thing, having people to WEAR the thing, not dying while wearing the thing, etc. But I just have this IMAGE of Pincer on the escalators. And in the parade, because it would be epic in the parade. And as Jessi pointed out, I want to be a claw.

And now I'm amused that I just managed to post a fair bit about my life all surrounded by one song. Sung by a giant scorpion puppet. Oh, life.

some stupid questions

2011-09-27T02:34:40Z

Why is the process of eating cookies & milk so messy? Or is it just me that absolutely insists on dunking the entire cookie in the milk and letting it get all soft before eating, thus meaning my fingers end up drenched in milk. Which means it drips and I have to cart the glass of milk back and forth to my face so that it doesn't DRIP EVERYWHERE.

Oh well. Worth it.

And why is that when I go to sleep at an unacceptable time I can't wake up but when I go to sleep at an almost-acceptable time I can't STOP waking up? The paradox is unfair.

And..no. Actually, that's everything that's on my mind. Insomnia/hypersomnia and cookies & milk.

Well, everything that makes sense typed out, at least.

BACK HOME FROM DCON

2011-09-07T05:28:42Z

So uh, as anyone I was able to text or anyone who follows my twitter or facebook or foursquare is PROBABLY AWARE, I got back from DragonCon tonight around 9pm. Yeah, this is not when I planned to be home. Yeah, I was supposed to work today. No, that didn't happen. DAMN YOU, WEATHER!! Flight from ATL got delayed so badly that there was no way I'd make the connecting to Home and there wasn't a later flight for that and YADDA YADDA YADDA so I spent forever on the phone in the airport talking to my parents, my boss, my friends still at con and the airline so I could come home TODAY instead. It was madness. I am exhausted. But you know what?

IT IS ALWAYS SO FREAKING WORTH IT.

My pictures are up on facebook, I'm working on getting them onto photobucket as well but there is no way I'm coding anything tonight as I'm barely coherent from exhaustion. My costumes went off beautifully, I'm on the BBCA webpage sitting in line for the Night Terrors screening (!!!!) I have no voice from shouting WOULD YOU CARE FOR SOME TEA?! EXTERMINATE! PERCOLATE! and other such things all day Saturday and I am exceedingly broke until I get paid Friday.

Other things: MY PHONE SURVIVED, NO FOUNTAIN SWIMMING FOR MY PURSE THIS YEAR! (thank christ) I'm already planning MOAR COSTUMES for next year, some of which will be more feasible than others (someday I will sew well enough to make Kaylee's cupcake dress, I swear I will pull that one off someday), sleep was, as ever, a fallacy to be ignored unless forced (I woke up still a Dalek at 10am Sunday morning because I apparently hit a TOTAL AND COMPLETE WALL OF EXHAUSTION and haven't slept much since) and I have discovered that I am not a coherent fangirl in the LEAST. I passed GDL in a hamster tube and ran into a door. And then when I finally met Sherlock fandom, oh good lord, that was not coherency in any way shape or form (for which I apologize!! I hope I proved I can be coherent over the course of the FIVE HOUR SHERLOCKFEST).

Speaking of, this made my Sunday night Awesome and Strangely Sober Compared to the Rest of the World.

Still laughing at that. Now I really need to wind down and, you know, sleep. But I really want my pictures to finish uploading to photobucket too. ~~Damn. Only 28 to go at this point?~~ HA! FINISHED PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES

COHERENCY IS FOR LATER. Mostly, I had an awesome weekend and I'm home safely despite storms and tornadoes and hurricanes, oh my.

edit: way too much capslock in this sorry.

DCON, CRAP!

2011-08-15T05:23:31Z

So it's like, two weeks away. I've gotta finish everything! HOW DID IT GET SO LATE IN THE GAME. It feels like I've been waiting for this forever (kinda have) but all of a sudden it's CRUNCH TIME.

And I have nine costumes in various states of readiness. NINE. For one weekend. I don't know if this is at all sane (actually, I know it's probably not, but what's a girl to do?), so I'm thinking about...not bringing all of them. Well, not all the Amy Pond ones at least.

Here's what I've got-
Amy Pond
-ToA/FaS
-VatD
-TDW
-Night Terrors
-God Complex
The last two haven't aired yet, Night Terrors airs the week of con so on top of the fact that I'm wearing it for a specific shoot, I'm definitely bringing that one. I really like the God Complex costume, but it's not going to air by then so won't be very recognizable and involves ANOTHER jacket. So I'm thinking I might leave that one at home. The other one I might not take is Vincent and the Doctor because the teal coat is bulky and I'm still not done with the scarf. Blah! The others are fairly easy- I caved and bought A SHIRT, ANY SHIRT for The Doctor's Wife, and I already need the boots for that for Night Terrors, so. Also, people will know what that IS. Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone is just too comfy not to bring.

Other
-Dalek Tea Service (Victory of the Daleks Dalek dress! With tea tray! I'm still making this)
-MegaGirl (From Starship. I have all the base parts and the components, it just needs to all be put together)
-Lily Evans (Basically done, leaving robes for another year)
-Kaylee Frye (Also basically done, I need to run the jumpsuit over with my car or something though to distress it some)

Yuppp. That's where I'm standing there. Sorry I never update, guys. I'm working some things out in my own head right now and am making decent progress, but it's not easy. It's probably the opposite of easy, actually, but I have DragonCon to look forward to right now, so that's always going to cheer me up. There are so many people who will be there that I can't wait to see! ninepointfivemm for one, another_myself for another, then all the people who don't do LJ (or very rarely) like Joe & JD & various con friends...

We just got a new girl at the store who used to do the anime con circuits, so maybe when I eventually leave, they at least won't be left without a geek.

unexpected costume panic circles!!

2011-06-15T23:14:47Z

DCon is September, right? I should NOT be starting to panic about getting everything done before then, RIGHT?! The post I mde back in Feb about everything I was planning to do is here but let me break this down for my own sanity.

Things to do for various Amy costumes-
-size watch
-buy tights
-finish red scarf
-find some sort of alt shirt for Doctor's Wife
-Not start any more costumes.

NOT TOO BAD RIGHT? Considering I have 5 Amy costumes, basically, if I finish all that.
(TOA/FAS, VatD, Doctor's Wife, What Are Little Boys Made Of and God Complex. Not sure what to do with the fact that two eps will have not aired and I jumped the gun too fast there yet...)

Things to do for Lily Evans-
-Socks
-Shoess???
-Wand/Robe (might get to this this year, might not)

Things to do for Kaylee-
-GET THE DAMN COVERALLS IN THE MAIL. Tracking says should be here tomorrow. I already have the patches to put on it, but I need to chop the sleeves and draw the stuff and distress the hell out of it. And then decide exactly which costume I'm doing. Won a ebay auction for an ok pink floral shirt, cost almost nothing, so when that gets here I'll see what it really looks like and how much of an option it is before I go from there.

I'm waffling between the pilot costume or the promo pic costume, which are basically the same but I HAVE THE UMBRELLA from the pilot so it seems silly not to do that but if I do I'll need a aqua brocade jacket which I may or may not have to MAKE and a workable shirt that somewhat resembles the Karen Kane one and pink flipflops. If I do the promo pic jacket I can Not Worry About Carting Around An Umbrella and probably use my black doc for boots, but still would need to get the necklace. OH DEBATES. WE'LL SEE WHAT THE EBAY SHIRT IS LIKE.

Things to do for MegaGirl-
-EVERYTHING. Though I am thinking that I'll likely do shoes similar to Amy's in Beat Below so that if I ever do get around to that one, I'll have them? I have lots of bookmarks for this costume though, so I should be OK. Just...have to start.

Things to do for Gaila-
-EVERYTHING. honestly not sure if I'll make it to this costume this year. Depends what my funds look like when I finish EVERYTHING ELSE.

Final note-
eleven weeks. not long enough!!

stuff & things

2011-06-03T03:22:14Z

So between April 25 and May 25, I read 23 books. 30 days, 23 books. I think even for me, that's a bit excessive. Some of them were books I'd read before 10+ years ago, some were new, one I read about 2 years ago but found myself obligated to re-read so that I could read the second book of the series. Some were really good, some were questionable, some hurt in ways I never anticipated (Hunger Games trilogy- note to self: find out WHAT YOU ARE READING before you read it and it shocks the daylights out of you.)

Yet throughout that, I have still managed to read fanworks for no less than three different fandoms in copious amounts, talk with a wide variety of people, spend a decent amount of time at the pub, work on my many costumes and continue to hold down a job.

I'm a little impressed with myself, honestly!

Now working on a scarf that never ends for my VatD costume (IT NEVER ENDS, AUGH) and slowly but surely on my second fanvid of my life.

SINCE May 25th I've only read two books- The Eyre Affair and Howl's Moving Castle. Next up is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which I've read parts of over the years but never all at once & I find this a travesty that must be fixed.

Pay day is tomorrow & life is pretty good.

work & life & cons & stuff

2011-05-26T19:03:30Z

Why does money suck so much? And also, why does my perception of it change constantly? There have been several points where I'd look at my bank account, see the exact same amount I have in there right now & be perfectly happy with it. Now? It looks less than full & distresses me because I KEEP SPENDING MONEY but am making less now due to the job slowing down.

I really do like my job, it's fun, it pays fairly well, there's some possibility of advancement if I can catch the DM to talk with her (IE, her visit not fall on a day when there's a gas leak behind the shopping center, closing all the stores and evacuating the roads for a while. That was weird. All is fine though, just precautions!) But at the same time, I think we've gotten a bit used to the fairly high turnover rate, hire constantly, and now I'm getting CRAP HOURS. Which means less money. I'm seriously thinking about getting a second job if this keeps up. But seriously, I have four days in a row off next week. WTF.

Other things- my birthday's coming up soon which is A- exciting! B- scary! I'LL BE A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD!! C- slightly stressful. I really need to go get my driver's license renewed now. How is it almost June already?!

Which also reminds me: LESS THAN A HUNDRED DAYS TO DCON. OMFG. I finally did purchase my badge yesterday because, uh, it's a little sooner than the last few times and I suspect that within a few years I'll be buying it at the previous year's con, which will be good. Few more costumes to do still, but that's still time.

Combining all the things mentioned before- I really want to go to Gally this year. Well, next year. Feb 2012. Which I realized, finally, may pose a slight problem. Getting time off at my job during Feb is NOT REALLY EASY. If I am still with this company, it's probably going to take some begging. On top of that, will need room & airfare & thus money & possibly someone to room with.

Sad fact- I was going to go to TimeGate this year, I have a friend who lives in ATL, just down the road. But his job is made of crazies and was all "we're sending you here! no, we're sending you here!" back and forth for like, a month or something and in the end he's off in another state on a work trip for the con (and even longer after that) so THAT fell through. And I don't want Gally to fall through. I NEED A PLAN & PEOPLE & THINGS NOT TO NOT WORK OUT. Basically, I need to warp all my DW friends into being Con-goers or all my Con friends to being DW fans. DIFFICULTIES. But I shall overcome because I am NOT missing it this year, I'm not. End of story.

Life would be easier with a M-F salaried job. Where do I find one of those.

Oh my god the rambling. So much rambling.

themegaloo @ 2011-05-16T23:47:00

2011-05-17T03:47:42Z

Work has been pretty decent lately. As any customer service, it's got it's ups and downs, but right now I'm definitely in a place where I'm pretty respected for my work and consequently have been making decent money. I'm TRYING to save it, but it's hard when I know so many awesome things exist out there that I want to buy.

I continue with the costuming and have several complete/almost complete (most of which are Amy) and then have bits & pieces of others. Updated that list the other day, so clear breakdown is there, but my Gryffindor costume is almost functional (no robes yet, those aren't required for "functional" & will come in due time). Now the big question is which costume to tackle next. SO, POLL?

View Poll: NEXT COSTUME ON MEG'S LIST

Not that I'll necessarily follow anyone's advice.

finally doing something

2011-05-09T05:26:20Z

Over ten years ago I stumbled across a book called The Grey King in my school library, not realizing it was the fourth book of a five book sequence (The Dark is Rising for you infidels who have no idea what I'm on about). Lately, as a result of copperbadge mentioning a compeltely different series from that era of my life, I've been re-reading the books I've not read in ten years. For one thing, it's amazing how many plot details you can lose over that period of time. For another, some of the things I read were not entirely age-appropriate and it's amused me a lot in retrospect.

But the main thing just at the moment is that The Grey King was the first book to introduce me to Wales and the Welsh language. There's a section of the book where Bran tries to teach Will how to pronounce the place names and I just BOGGLED at how those letters somehow were meant to make those sounds. By the end of the book, however, I was completely enamored of the language, the country, and had decided that at my first chance I was ABSOLUTELY going to go to Wales.

This is a bit funny because I went to Scotland in 04, England in 07 and lived in Ireland from 08 to 09, plus a whirlwind visit in 2010. I've spent probably 12 hours cumulative in Wales, much to my dismay. So my next trip abroad is clearly going to have to be Wales. Because it's LONG OVERDUE. Though that's not really the point at all.

From the first time I read the book, I had the desire to learn Welsh, as impractical as it may be. I was constantly foiled- my high school only had Spanish, my college didn't have it either, I ended up learning Spanish, German, Latin and Old English, but not Welsh. It's always stayed in the back of my mind that someday, I'm going to learn this impossible-looking language, but there was never really time between everything else I had to do. Every time I'd run across a book, movie or TV show that dealt with Wales, I'd think on it a bit more, but the time was never right. (Yes, Jessi, Torchwood was definitely one of these moments, but far from the only one.)

So I just finished The Grey King earlier today. Within 6 hours I have found saysomethinginwelsh.com and have finished the first lesson. It's hard, and still looks nothing like it sounds (and I agree with the program that looking at the words before learning to say them is Probably Bad, but looking at them after is sort of hilarious), but it's REALLY FUN too.

So, finally, I am going to learn Welsh. Because... Dw i eisiau siarad Cymraeg.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T17:51:31Z

So last night was the Doctor Who Season 6 premiere and it was AWESOME and it needs to be Saturday again like whoa. (EEE. My family has simply adjusted to the Squeeing, they're mostly immune to it, but mom still laughs a bit.) I'm going to leave it the fact that it was epic and I was pleased.

I also got a new laptop with my tax refund which came this week. It's shiny and blue and I'm mostly used to using a different keyboard now, especially since it is rather similar to my old one (went from a Dell Inspiron 1525 to a Dell Inspiron 14R. This works for me!) This also means I FINALLY have Win7, a laptop that I can actually close and no sounds like a dying jet machine (the fan on the old one got warped somehow and it would occasionally make this awful sound like it was dying.)

Another thing is that I'm moving up a bit in the world of my job. It's not an actual promotion as such, as I'm pretty sure my payscale hasn't changed a whit, but when all the managers are off the floor/busy, I'm able to pick up the slack and Do Things, which I quite enjoy. It makes working retail a bit more interesting at any rate.

I've also reconnected with an old friend from college, he was my longest-dated ex's roommate, so yeah, know him pretty well. It's been really fun to talk to him again and I may be making a trip down to Atlanta to see him and, well, as I'd be in Atlanta, possibly go to TimeGate. We're still working on that possibility.

Which brings me to cosplay. I kept saying that I wasn't going to do anymore Amy costumes until I'd gotten some of my other ones done, but I kinda failed at that. I bought another one of her S6 jackets on ebay last night and I am RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED. Though I did at least make a start at my HP costume- ordered the Lochaven Gryffindor Cardigan at least! I'll get 'round to the rest of it eventually, though all I REALLY need to make it recognizable is the tie and a better skirt. GETTING THERE. Once again, parents are just getting used to it. And gasp when I buy clothes that are unrelated to Amy.

And ending this on a Funny Moment-

So it's Easter and my grandmother, who's been visiting the past week, decided to hide the easter eggs. One of them was "hidden" on top of the squishy chair, which I plopped down in, not noticing. So I found the first egg by it falling on my head.

Thank god they were hardboiled. Or this would be less funny and more shower inducing.

Amy Pond Costumes: In progress & mostly done!

2011-04-05T23:46:21Z

So if you recall back to this post, I've had Big Plans for my new obsession of Costuming, particularly as Amy Pond from Doctor Who. I'm a lot closer to done with the three I decided to do now than I was then and finally took some crappy webcam pics of what I've accomplished thus far. I know some things are missing (gold watch, star earrings, scarves) or wrong (A necklace is silver, red shirt has a pink edge around the neck that I tried to fold in--just ordered one today that lacks this problem) but I think it all works pretty well! Neither jacket is the original- the gray one is from Forever21 and the teal is Burlington Coat Factory. Tights need updating as they're just...what I own and I'm going to stop rambling and post the pictures now.

Warning, one costume is from an upcoming episode that has NOT BEEN AIRED. If you consider costumes as spoilers, mind the second cut.

SEASON FIVE

Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, AKA my first cosplay costume....ever. Put together in a hurry for DCon 2010 and the impetus for this obsession.

Vincent and the Doctor, AKA that one I decided to do just because I couldn't resist the boots on Piperlime.

Some day I'll finish this scarf....

SPOILER WARNING FOR S6 COSTUME

yeah I think that's enough space.

SEASON SIX

What Little Boys Are Made Of, AKA God, Will Someone Tell Me Where to get That Scarf. (I'm a slow knitter, mostly because I rarely can focus on it for more than about 20mins). Also AKA I LOVE THESE BOOTS, WHY CAN'T I WEAR THEM TO WORK :((((

Right, pictures.

Seriously. The BOOTS ♥.

NOT REALLY A COSTUME AT ALL (BUT FUN!)

And this is what I call Travelin' Amy. Because it's a super comfy TARDIS T-shirt dress made by Raygun Robyn. Seriously comfy.

Pictures galore, yay!

themegaloo @ 2011-03-01T01:32:00

2011-03-01T06:32:53Z

So here's the thing.

I cannot stay in this little college town for the rest of my life and actually MAKE something of my life. I've known this for a while, like, since I moved here, but I've been trying to avoid the fact because there are people here (outside of my parents) who I have come to care for (in a non-sexual way) and don't want to leave.

But at the same time, I have to leave, I was always going to leave, and I've stayed far longer than I should have or ever planned to. The school here is all well and good but it literally has nothing for me, and I hate that. This is not where I'm meant to be, and I feel horribly about that, but I have to get out of here, as much as I love the people.

Oh my god, it's actually not my usual need to run. It really isn't. I just can't stay.

Within the next six months I am hoping to move to NEW YORK. When i applied to TCD, I had two back-up plans. One, to apply for a job & work on a cruise ship. That was always a temporary plan and something I could still return to, but I've gotten to where I like having roots & a stable residence, even if it is with my parents. The other option was to go to culinary school and become a pastry chef. Within the next six months, I plan to pursue that second option. NYC is my first choice of places to be for that, though I'm going to put myself further into debt with the government in order to pull it off.

I've gone through several idea of "what I want to do with my life" in the past year and a half, but most of them have been fleeting (one lasted a little longer until I was rejected and in the end determined that it had been for the best). However, the more I think about making this move, the more I want to pursue it. I have dreams to live, and I want to live them for once instead of just dreaming them.

I can't live the rest of my life waiting for the rest of my life to start. So I'm going to stop, and I'm going to make it happen. People need two major thing in life: food for the soul and food for the stomach. I'm going to stop living in a fantasy land where food for the soul can feed my stomach and make delicious things. There's little in life I find as fulfilling as watching someone eat something I've made and be FORCED to smile outside of my own reading. So that, in the end, is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to make people smile. Not a bad life plan, don't you think?

Costumes

2011-02-22T01:38:46Z

So, ninepointfivemm is evil for giving me the Costuming Bug, and I've been buying things piece by piece for the past little while, but with all the costumes I WANT TO DO, it's going to take a while. So, this is mostly a mental list for me of what I still need.

Amy Pond
-Time of Angels
   -~~American Apparel hoodie~~
   -~~black mini-skirt~~ (closet, may try to do something more accurate later)
   -~~Navy Converse High-tops~~
   -~~Black socks~~
   -Tights (have some, are kinda dying, need new)
   -~~Brown hairband~~ (kinda want a better one though)
-What Little Boys Are Made of
   -~~Noa Noa Dress~~
   -~~Jacket~~ (forever21)
   -~~Undershirt~~ (forever21)
   -~~Boots~~ ORDERED! (doc marten)
   -~~Scarf~~ Still hunting for Noa Noa scarf & have yarn, but bought a cheap do-in-a-pinch
-Vincent And The Doctor (MIGHT DO)
   -~~Coat~~ (burlington)
   -Red scarf (in-progress knitting)
   -~~Red shirt~~
   -~~Denim skirt~~ (forever21, not perfect but'll do in a pinch)
   -~~Boots~~ (aka the reason I think I might do this one)
-General
   -~~Gold watch~~
   -~~Star stud earrings~~
   -~~"A" necklace~~ (Silver, must find a gold one...)
-Unknown S6 Episode
   -~~Doc Martens~~ I have black, not brown, and likely won't get a second pair
   -~~Top Shop Aviator Jacket~~
   -~~Denim skirt~~
   -~~Miss Selfridge Cream Drop-back blouse~~ Not exact, but very similar
   -~~Mocha tank~~
   -Taupe tights
   -Hair clip thingy
-The Doctor's Wife
   -~~Top Shop Saddle Stitch Jacket~~
   -~~Boots?~~ I think they're the doc's again, hard to tell...
   -~~Denim skirt~~ AGAIN!
   -Tights- are they a sheer black?? IDEK.
   -THAT FREAKING PLAID SHIRT AUGH.
   -Hair clippy thing again.

Gaila
-Uniform (ebay)
-Green make-up (Probably kryolan, but I have to decide if I'm going to get an airbrush machine for this...)
-DKNY Dia boots (poss, may use Amy boots)
-Black "netbook" bag- vertical load (poss, amazon)

Kaylee
-~~Coveralls (surplus or ebay)~~
-~~Patches (probably ebay)~~
-Fabric & pattern for jacket (easy enough)
-~~Some sort of shirt (NO IDEA)~~
-Flip flops (Actually may do boots, in which case, I have my docs!)
-~~Umbrella~~

Lily Potter
-~~Sweater~~
-~~Tie~~
-~~Skirt~~
-Robe (Wizarding World store)
-Wand (Alivans? NOBLE COLLECTION DOESN'T HAVE HERS!!)
-~~Prefect pin~~

MegaGirl (Starship!!)
-Silver body suit
-Large quantities of something to make armor
-White shoes??
-White bobbed wig

Other things I have considered: Silly femme!Neal Caffrey (aka, wear a suit & fedora, comfy! Closet cosplay, would only need tracking anklet and FBI CI badge), Nimueh's red tattered dress from Merlin S1 (would need dress, probably hand-made and sandals, plus wig or hair extensions and BRIGHT blue contacts)....other things that haven't hit me yet....

themegaloo @ 2011-02-06T17:28:00

2011-02-06T22:30:11Z

So for the first time in my life, I'm filing taxes. Yeah, I know, I'm a bit late to the party. But, point of the matter is that Dad is helping me and odds are I should be getting a decent amount back! EXCITEMENT. So, in the hopes that when I do this I am the opposite of broke for however short a time frame as it may last, these are the things which I need to acquire.

• A new laptop.
• Those gorgeous Doc Marten Triumphs.
• Other assorted boots & costume bits & bobs as I continue to obsess over Amy Pond.
• Star Fleet Cadet uniform maybe?? Really do want to do that costume.
• Doctor Who S5 on DVD.

Could I BE any more ridiculous? I only even do one con & ALL THIS EFFORT.

never grow up, never surrender.

2011-01-25T04:11:45Z

So, it's a well known fact that a- I don't update enough and b- I never see movies in a timely fashion. Okay, that's two facts. I finally saw Toy Story 3 tonight, mom got it on Netflix. Upon announcing to twitter that I was about to watch it, Anez tells me to get BOXES AND FACTORIES OF TISSUES, which I laughed it, because let's face it, it was funny. My dad went and got me a roll of toilet paper AND A TRASH CAN, Jessi agreed with Anez, and my mom is just sitting over on the couch being all knowing and "you WILL cry." I really should have known better.

My reaction, other than sobbing my fucking EYES out, as was apparently anticipated by anyone who had seen it, was to go to my room afterwards, go to my bed, and then proceed to walk around like this:

Actually, I'm still sitting like that, typing this entry. Only less with my face on his head because it's hard to see the screen like that. (except periodically WHEN I HAVE TO HUG HIM)

That, flist, is my oldest and most treasured toy from childhood. His name is Grandpa Bear and he has a story. Probably more importantly, he still lives on my bed, though many other stuffed animals have come & gone. (seriously, you cannot even understand how many stuffed animals I have owned, it's sort of scary) From the time that Grandpa Bear came into my possession, he has never lived in a toy box, though he didn't tend to travel overseas with me. I felt bad squishing him into my suitcase because he really wasn't a good size for it at all, I never had enough space. When I was little, I couldn't sleep without him. I still can't sleep without a stuffed animal of SOME kind in my arms, and I think that goes back to Grandpa Bear. I remember one time when he'd been left in the playroom & I couldn't find him crying until I had him in my arms so I could sleep again. I remember accidentally leaving him at home on a trip once and being bereft all night, unable to sleep. I love this teddy bear. So after that movie? Yeah, I had to go grab him (no finding required!) and hug him tightly.

This is Grandpa Bear's story:
His name is because of his origins. I never met my great-grandfather, he died when I was very young. He was in the hospital just after I was born and had seen a teddy bear in a store and he told my great-grandmother that he liked it. She bought it for him, but, as the story goes, he told her that he didn't have a use for a bear and to give it to me. Now, my family didn't live very close to them at all, and the first time I actually went up there to see my great-grandmother, he was long gone. She had this fantastic basement with a laundry hamper of old toys and I had the time of my life playing with them. I don't really know how old I was, maybe 3 or 4 (I know my youngest sister wasn't born yet, and I don't remember if the middle sister was or not, if so, she was an infant) but I still have vague memories of that visit. Most of this, however, is the story as my parents have told it to me.

I found Grandpa Bear among the other toys, my great-grandmother hadn't been able to bring herself to mail him to me, she'd kept him. But from the first day I found him, I adored him. I was devastated to have leave him behind in the way that all small children are when they're losing their new favorite toy, but it didn't last for long. She told me that "he was always meant to be yours" and I had a stuffed friend for life. He went home with me, but I made sure to bring him back again the next time we visited, so that she could say hello. (I'm pretty sure I had him write a letter too, but that could just be my overactive imagination.)

We've had some adventures, me and Grandpa Bear. And we're still going to have a lot more. And even if he doesn't go EVERYWHERE with me anymore, he'll always be at whatever place I'm calling home. Because if my teddy bear is not there? It's not really home.