Otterworldly Is Really Good At Beat Saber

I’m pretty much just posting this picture because I feel like it. And I think I look good in it. And I like the Otterworldly t-shirt.

I was about to head out for my first tabletop D&D game in literal decades, grabbed this selfie, and started the car. Then the game got canceled by text message because of course it did.

Thoughts on MarsCon

My favorite cons give me a chance to connect with my tribe, meet some old friends, have a nice dinner out, maybe do a little unwise spending in the dealer’s room.

Unfortunately, that didn’t work out for me this year as well as I’d like, primarily because I was exhausted. I’ve been overstressed to the point of illness lately, and sleeping poorly to boot. So when I got in around 9:30 Friday night, once we unpacked I conked out within minutes of setting up the CPAP.

Saturday morning as a result of all this, I suffered what I called my “hard drive crash”. I couldn’t bear the thought of being around anyone, I just wanted quiet and dark. With the help of my brain meds, I came out of it around noon, donned my Alice costume, and went out into the con. The Alice costume was a hit – it usually has been through all the variations I’ve owned. I posed for pictures and took a few, and bumped into some friends. 

At a busy con, though, you can’t sit down and talk to anyone. You generally get about five minutes with them and one or both of you has to move on. So I didn’t really catch up with too many people; and while I did at least get hellos and hugs from many, there were several more people there I never saw.

After 8 hours of wandering the con and checking out a few panels, I had to head back to my room. My current Alice costume is of heavier PVC than my previous ones, and while I wasn’t suffering heat stroke I was extremely warm. Maya and Bert and I managed some dinner and played a card game Jesse Braxton got her for Christmas – Sushi Go, lots of fun – and then I decided to take a rest before the 10:00 and 11:45 shows I wanted to see,

I didn’t fall asleep like one might guess, but I realized I had no energy left. I couldn’t have walked another dozen steps. Rather than heading out to the con again, I had to fill the CPAP and shut down for the night.

Sunday morning was mostly packing and checking out, but I did hit the high point of the con when we attended the musician’s Round Robin. 11 musicians on stage, each in turn performing a song and usually being joined in by the other musicians, finishing with White Plectrum’s rousing rendition of “The Mulder”, a tune everyone on stage knew. It brought down the house.

So, MarsCon 2020: Not a weekend of unending misery, but I sure hope I’m in better shape next year.

Surgery 2: The Wrath of Hip

Two entries within two weeks! This is a record for my recent blog productivity. I would really like to start using this a heck of a lot more, since Facebook is quickly losing its luster. So what’s up with the Borg? 

I’ve been to the hospital for a bone scan, and seen my surgeon for a follow-up. My surgery is scheduled for Thursday March 26th. The likely procedure will be to go in and replace the plastic liner between the ball-and-socket of the prosthetic, and the replace the ball because it’s probably abraded. They may also have to replace the metal cup, which might be tricky because of the metal plates that are very close to it in the pelvis. The worst case scenario is that the entire prosthesis may need to be replaced, which could require two surgeries even more serious than expected. That’s supposedly quite unlikely. Let’s hope. 

Even with the good news, I am expected to be recovering for at least three months. I will be damned if I will wait that long. You wait and see, I’ll be up and moving around on crutches at worst in two. Maybe less. I’m not putting my life on hold for some damn surgery. I have stuff to do. I set recovery records last time, and I’m just as determined now. Still going to miss Animazement on May 21st unless a miracle happens.

Speaking of cons, MarsCon is this weekend. It will be great to see friends there, including a new friend I’ve recently made, but otherwise I’m not really feeling it. I have no desire to cosplay for the first time in years and years; this will probably surprise people. I’m sure I’ll hit some of the music tracks, but otherwise I’m experiencing a vast MEH. I’m sure it comes from too much stress and money worries, but cons are feeling less and less like a vacation to me and more like a hassle with some fandom in it.

I’m beginning to have ideas for Managlitch again. My goals is to have a new episode written and recorded by the end of the month. That’s another area where it will be interesting to see if I can record episodes from my recovery bed. I have an idea for written erotica that needs worked out – I haven’t done any of that in ages. And I’m meeting models right and left for my bawdy slapstick video shorts! All I need to get started on those is a filming space and a budget! 

The recovery is going to heavily limit my VR time – I will have to see what I can do from a seated position. I know I can play Borderlands 2 VR, but Beat Saber will probably be right out. My cosplay Beat Saber channel will probably have to wait for launch until after my recovery. The good news is that I’ll probably have lost a lot of weight. Surgery recovery tends to do that. At least I will have a lot of time to catch up on TV and regular games I’ve missed.

Speaking of VR, I tried playing one of the new 360º Beat Saber levels. Had to use an avatar instead of mixed reality, and the camera position probably could have been better, but this are a lot more fun than I thought! I want to try some more of those. 

Until next time…

Hello Blog

I’m back. It has literally been over a year since I posted here. Maya got cancer, beat it, then had another pop up to be removed. I got a new much-better paying job and somehow still have barely enough to get by. My prosthetic hip has finally work out and will need to be replaced in March. I didn’t get a damn thing written for the podcast since May. This has not been a good year, and I’m hoping luck and effort will be with me to make 2020 better.

On the other hand, I did get a green screen.

It’s me! In Virtual Reality!