Freedom of the Knees
I wonder if there’s a chance in hell I could get away with wearing my kilt to work next Spring.
Don’t know why I’m thinking about that now – it was 55 degrees Fahrenheit and foggy this morning. Of course, that’s good bracing Highland weather, so maybe was the cause.
I like my kilt. It’s comfortable. I don’t think I’d go Regimental at my workplace, despite jameshroberts‘ insistence at yubbie and colleenk‘s wedding that “If you wear underwear with it, it’s a skirt;” to which my retort was, “well, I have a little experience in those matters too” (cf. the Technicon 2007 Dance for example).
I probably just haven’t awakened yet. Ah, well. Back to work.
Good News and Bad News
Yesterday was a real roller-coaster ride.
I was slammed with tickets at work yesterday, and fell behind despite my best efforts. I’m catching up a little bit today, but what a mess. There is never a lack of things for me to do here, let me tell you!
So, back in April, the driver’s door switch in the Hyundai broke. The car believed that the door was constantly ajar, meaning I couldn’t keep the power locks locked while the car was in motion (BAD), the dome light wanted to stay on all the time (turned it off), and the open-door dinger would chime erratically (psychosis-inducing).
While I still have to take the car by the dealership for several reasons, it finally occurred to me that with three pennies and a bit of duct tape, I could restore proper function to the switch. Now the locks work right, I’ve got my dome light back, and the dinger is no longer suggesting that I go on a three-state murder spree.
Then we headed over to ptownhiker‘s superhero game; and, less than a block away from the venue, someone’s cat darted in front of the car. It was over before I registered the blurred shadow. We pulled over immediately, and found the owners, but it was far too late. The owners thanked us for having the decency to stop and find them… thank goodness I was heading straight to a big gathering of friends, because that was a hell of a downer.
The WWII superhero game, on the other hand, may have been the best session we’ve had in the campaign. All the heroes pulled together as a team and contributed something vital to the rescue of a torpedoed troopship in the North Atlantic, and the evening was full of crazy plans and laughter. One of the heroes has what is basically the Portal super power, and we come up with a new way to abuse it almost every session 🙂
And this morning I found where I’d accidentally hidden my iPod from myself. So, an eventful day-and-a-half.
EDIT: Here’s a Flash version of the Portal game. I wish I hadn’t found this at work 🙂 http://portal.wecreatestuff.com/
Resting Place
Since the issue has come up, this is what I’m currently thinking of for the fateful day:
I recently heard the story of a person whose passing wish was to have her ashes scattered at midnight on a local golf course.
Problem was, no one in the family had access to the golf course. So the family and friends had to sneak in, in the middle of the night, in their funeral garb; scatter the ashes, and get the heck out, riding adrenaline highs and laughing nervously the whole time.
When I heard that story, I thought that was awesome.
Area 51 is probably a bit much to ask of you folks, but I’m sure I can come up a suitably interesting place before it’s time.
Gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Another round of the hair saga today.
Back when I started paying for my own haircuts, I decided to grow my hair long. It was pretty straight and stringy back then. (First pic) After the car accident, I cut it a little bit shorter, but it didn’t get far from my collar line, and it filled out a lot. (Second pic).
raininva liked short hair on me, so I kept it pretty trim while we were together. (Third pic) This year, though, I figured I’d enjoy growing it back out to its two-decades-ago length. (Fourth pic, though I have put the beard back on since then)
Reviews have been mixed. Some of my BCT co-workers were unimpressed, but the new hair went over great at Invisifest. It’s cool at NASA, though with all the military there I think I’ve got the longest hair on base.
This weekend, an acquaintance told me that it looked terrible on me – it bummed me out a bit. But just today, one of my coworkers told me she loved it, and it was a big improvement over April’s length.
I’m going to keep it long for now, but there certainly seems to be very little middle ground here!
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| 1988 | 1997 | 2003 | 2007 |
Thank you for indulging my little narcisissm moment.
A VTSFFC Party, Day Two
I slept quite late Sunday morning; I’d not had enough rest in the last week, and a five-hour drive is still draining even when it’s pleasant.
shrewlet fixed a big breakfast for us. I was starving, I honestly ate too much. I spent a few minutes checking e-mail and trying to log onto WoW – I’m trying to earn enough quest tickets to win a prize in-game – but I couldn’t get a good connection. It wasn’t long before I had to give up and get dressed for yubbie and colleenk‘s wedding.
Wile dressing, I amused myself by considering the far greater number of times I’ve worn a Starfleet uniform than a suit, but it’s not as if I’d forgotten how to put it on. Dwight and I left the Arthur digs early, for we had stops to make – I picked up a cute card for the happy couple – and we arrived pretty much on time.
Listing the LJ and fan folk who were there would be quite tedious, so I shan’t try. The wedding was wonderful. Colleen was gorgeous and Ron looked great. I saw people there I hadn’t laid eyes on in years!
That sad part was that I couldn’t stay for the reception – we had a 5-hour drive back (6, really) and Dwight had to be home in time for an early work day. So I didn’t get to pass on my congratulations in person. But the pictures prove I was there!
Home now… I had a great time, and wish I could have spent more time at that end of the state. The Roanoke and New River valleys need to be brought at least 2/3 closer to Hampton Roads (or vice versa).
A VTSFFC Party, Day One
It turns out that a 5-hour drive in a Mini Cooper is a lot more comfortable than you’d think. In the front seat, anyway.
Dwight introduced me to a bunch of very good music. I’m going to have to look up some more material by the Dresden Dolls and the Supreme Beings of Leisure. The company was excellent and the scenery compelling (and the leaves haven’t even turned yet!)
We arrived in Blacksburg, picked up shrewlet, and wandered into Invisifest around 4, into a panel that tltrent was hosting. I was knocked over by my welcome; my VTSFFC family is one excellent bunch of folk, who really know how to make a guy feel like he’s where he belongs. I caught up with rattrap, nius, rainbowsaber, mephox, anterus, southernsinger, rubinpdf, Cathy, Ben, Jamie, and many other people. Around six, we had to shut down the panel, but we dragged most of the crowd to Macado’s, where Pat and I geeked out over Whovian matters while we waited for our food.
There was a brief attempt at handing Technicon 25 over to me, which I discuss a little more over in my lifestyle filter (if you want to be added to that and haven’t been, leave a comment here to that effect). Suffice it to say that their idea would have made for a quite memorable TCon, and that I turned down the kind offer. Rapidly. Possibly in nanoseconds 🙂
We went back to the ‘Fest for Keith’s White Plectrum concert, which was a small, laughter-filled performance. Keith paid me high compliments by telling the story of how “Red Pill” was written. For those who asked, the throwaway line which inspired “When They Shut Down The Fusion Plant (We’ll Pack Our Bags And Glow)” is found in Music From the Heart of Space, a Starfleet: Batron Eleven fanfic which includes elements of Doctor Who, Robotech: Macross, and Megazone 23. Despite that mashup, I’m still rather proud of the tale, which will always live on in some small manner thanks to Jerry’s twisted creative mind.
We had to leave shortly afterwards. I wish I’d had the energy to stay all night and party, but I have a wedding to attend tomorrow!
Cat vs. Weasels
I spent a fair chunk of the weekend ‘suffering from brain weasels’ as they say… just listless, depressed, and grumpy. As near as I can tell, it wasn’t anyone’s fault, or due to anything going on around me – perhaps my body chemistry fell out of whack, I can’t tell. Last night, I consumed a fair amount of chocolate – it seemed to help.
After months of waiting for the money to be available, we have a new kitten! She’s 8 weeks old, and is a grey tabby we picked up at the local shelter. Her name is Midori, and she’s already fixed and microchipped – she goes in for her first vet visit (since moving in with us) on Thursday. She’s sweet, but full of mischief – in other words, perfectly normal.
I may have addicted ptownhiker to Guitar Hero II Saturday night. Heh, heh, heh. Now to spring Katamari Damacy on them!
Finally got your questions ready, fishy1. Sorry about the wait!
Wanna go “up”, and wanna go “fast”
I had occasion last night to reflect on how incredible my friends are.
It’s been one crisis after another for the last four months, and at every turn, someone’s stepped up and had my back. I don’t think there can be many people out there as lucky as me.
Once again, furniture had to be moved, this time with about 45 minutes notice. To my great surprise, ptownhiker, fixitup, and Dwight all showed up and were rewarded with booze, food, and Radar Men From the Moon.
You guys are all wonderful. Not just the three who were here last night, but all of you.
Yes, I’m mushy tonight.
EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot: Badger Trance
