Tweets for Today
- 18:36 Got home from MarsCon. Very buzzed-happy… and very sleepy. We’re going to play some WoW to wind down. #
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You know I have to post this
I was figuring that J.J. Abrams’ Enterprise might look like almost anything, but it seems here that he’s sticking fairly close to the Original Series look… with a touch of Movie Era thrown in for that big-screen feel. It’s as if he knew exactly what would get him the most points from me. (You can click the pic to embiggen.)
Also, the cast photos from the same AOL site show the casting for Christopher Pike, and George and Winona Kirk. While the producers of this film claim not to be hardcore Trekkers, it looks like they care enough to go do a bit of research.
Brain in the high-tech gutter
Really. The model on the new Microsoft Mactopia page looks like she wants to charge me $2.95 a minute for something, and it ain’t tech support. Are they diversifying now that Bill’s leaving?
Rough night last night. Starr was quite ill with food poisoning all day and night, and I was way overdue on laundry even without the upcoming con to consider. Did get three loads done, including the kilt, and I think she mostly forgave me for my unskilled nursing attempts. We had no trouble conking out when bedtime rolled around. I swear, at this point I’m considering afternoon naps for the weekend.
Speaking of MarsCon, a preliminary schedule‘s up. At least I hope it’s preliminary. Not only is everything I wish to attend scheduled directly against something else I wish to attend, but there is one timeslot where it appears the webcomics guests will need to be in two places at once.
Tonight: more laundry, packing, and cleaning out the car.
Crawling From the Covers
Woke up this morning feeling old, tired, and defeated (and obviously quite sorry for myself).
Happily, that cloud has receded and I’m feeling almost human now. And I haven’t even had any caffeine yet today!
On the other hand, that means now I have to face the lengthy list of things I have to do today for work, home, and the upcoming con. But at least now I can look them all in the eye and feel a bit confident. That’s really the biggest part of my efforts to retrain myself over the last year or so… replacing “I can’t do this” with “let’s give it a try”.
I was practically manic at the beginning of this week. I like the feeling, because in that mode I figure I can do absolutely anything, and I indeed tend to get a few thigns accomplished. The only downside is the slew of unwise decisions I start making until I crash out of it, or someone points out reality to me.
Really, a middle road would work much better. I need the set of Google Maps for my psyche. (Hmm… “Here there be dragons?”)
Tweets for Today
- 09:17 Memo to me… you will need clean laundry for MarsCon, including any costumes you plan to wear. #
- 10:03 No “Star Trek Online” MMORPG from Perpetual Entertainment. I wish I could say I was surprised. #
- 11:47 Half the office here eagerly awaits the Stevenote and the list of Apple toys we’ll be drooling over in 2008. #
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Martian Con Machines
I had every intention of heading over to the MarsCon Badge Assembly Party last night, but the world caught up with me and I ended up insensate on the couch for most of the evening, with both knees screaming of inflammation. It was something like a milder version of the saying “A sucking chest wound is life’s way of telling you to slow down a bit.”
If I don’t take it a bit easy this week, there will be little point in going at all; MarsCon is not the sort of SF convention where one wants to hit their energy limits at 9:30pm. I’m still kind of annoyed with myself for conking out at 1:30 at New Year’s.
Happily, I found geckoman and big_danny_t at the concert on Sunday, and learned that Gecko is chairing next year. He has some great plans for the con – I hope that even a few of them work out.
In unrelated trivia, I heard this morning about a funeral parlour which is making plans to warm the building with the waste heat produced by the crematorium. I was immediately reminded of the Fremen of Dune, who are driven to such severe water-conservation necessities that they extract the water from their dead to return to the public supply. I can’t seem to decide whether the parlour’s plan is logical or nauseating. (I suppose neither reaction is exclusive.)
In the Key of Ow
My morning routine changed today. I think I like the new version:
1) Wake up, slowly, a few minutes before the alarm. Don’t go back to sleep. Body will thank you for not cramming adrenaline into it so early.
2) Do morning e-mail and webcomic troll as usual to activate brain.
3) Once brain is functional enough, make and eat breakfast. Do not wait until you’re running out the door to shove breakfast down throat.
4) Shower, dress, and leave for work.
This works far better than previous routines. Let’s see if I can keep it up.
Last night, I went to see the Dresden Dolls at the Norva. They’re an extremely offbeat duo, but I was hooked on my first listening by their wild energy, odd humor, and musical skill. Amanda Palmer plays her keyboard like an insane person, hitting the keys with the flats of her fingers, rocking back and forth on her stool, tucking a knee under her chin, and yet delivering one of the most complex and precise performances I’ve ever heard. Translate that to drums, and you have Brian Viglione’s playing; on top of that, they seem to telepathically communicate during the show, improvising crazily and yet in sync. I had to go.
My body regrets that today. There’s little-to-no seating there, and my left knee can honestly barely support me today after 5.5 hours of standing. I am seriously considering bringing the forearm crutches to my next Norva show, to help hold me up. However, it was certainly worth it – they played my favorites, “Coin-Operated Boy” and “Girl Anachronism“, new material, and material they’re preparing for their next album. For a closer, they dragged audience members and the opening act to the stage to perform Led Zepplin’s “Immigrant Song” and then cleared everyone off for their cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. You cannot understand how awesome that was without having been there 🙂
The oddest part: in my head, people are rated “real” by the amount with which I personally get to interact with them. For example. Bill Shatner is not especially real to me – I’ve only seen him on TV and movie screens. Leonard Nimoy is slightly more so, since I’ve been in the same room with him, but separated by a stage and a couple dozen yards. George Takei I’ve spoken to briefly, but Spice Williams and I have had a lengthy conversation.
Well, Amanda unexpectedly came down from the stage in the middle of one of her songs, and continued singing as she walked around the balcony and through the fans on the floor, passing within a yard of me several times. Suddenly, her ‘real’ quotient in my head jumped dramatically, and I was quite surprised. (I was proud of my fellow Virginians, who did not mob or crowd her, but let her move freely around and respected her performance. One lady, sadly, took the chance to grope her quite unsubtly, which rattled Amanda enough that she expressed her distress on her return to the keyboard. But it didn’t dampen the evening.)
I’m pleased with the way the week’s started. I even bumped into a White Plectrum fan on the way to the concert. (“I recognize the jacket – did you work with the filk singer? I love his stuff, I can’t believe you live around here!”) Now I am sending down more blessed ibuprofen to quiet this stupid knee.
