Just One More Turn
Starr is feeling much better today – it appears to have been nothing more than a vicious virus. She’s at home playing the copy of Civilisation II I gave her. (OMG, that game is crack just to watch. How addictive must it be to play? WoW has nothing on Civ!)
I had a sockfull of good intentions for chores and games and stuff last night, but that turned into Civ-watching, dinner, half of Master Blasters, and an early bedtime. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll like MB based on the little I just saw, but it does have building stuff and rocketry going for it.
It’s about time for another haircut. I’m wondering how the short hair from my Next Gen icon would look.
Anyone for a swim?
Bad night last night to leave your car windows open.
The wind was so violent that you frequently couldn’t hear the thunder. The rain lashed the roof of my apartment building so heavily that it woke up more than once, and Midori, unsurprisingly, stayed pretty close the whole evening. (She didn’t like it either that Starr was spending a night with her mom last night.) I peeked out the front of the building during a laundry run to see visible waves and sheets in the torrent. The fresh mulch that the groundskeepers had spread Monday was all over the sidewalk and parking lot this morning.
It was the sort of night where I was utterly grateful for 21st-century shelter. It was also a good night to finish two more levels of my “yes I will beat the Terran Starcraft missions before Starcraft II comes out” campaign. I started fresh a few days ago, to get back into the rhythms, and I won Mission 8 last night – two more to go. The funny things is that I have a strategy guide, but always end up doing it my own way. This is, by the way, part of the awesomeness of Starcraft – it can support multiple play styles.
The sky is crystal clear this morning. Shame we’re losing those soothing high-60s temperatures.
Maybe it’s just hibernation…
I haven’t really slept well the last couple of nights. For the last week, Starr’s been constantly lightheaded and exhausted, napping through large chunks of the day. Sunday, she was running a pulse of 130. (What am I doing taking a pulse? I’m a Mac geek, not a doctor!)
She’s been to the doctor; nobody’s yet figured out what the problem is. It doesn’t seem to be immediately life-threatening, but at the same time, it’s really curtailing her activities. I believe she’d like her life back. Me, I’m just worried that we’ll find the problem and it will turn out to be life-threatening.
So, yeah. Not sleeping so well.
Little one
This weekend was exhausting. Amazing, but exhausting.
We had a lot of cleaning to do before our guests arrived this weekend. Starr did a lot of it, but I tried to pull my weight. We established Friday’s high point when I received a panicked call at work letting me know that Midori had pulled the gerbil cage from the bookshelf and smashed it. Starr finally managed to catch two traumatized but unharmed gerbils, and I screwed the replacement cage to the bookcase… so there, cat.
Why all the kerfuffle? Well, we had a rather special little boy and his parents coming by. Owen is observant, intelligent, cheerful, and energetic; and Starr gave birth to him four years ago, giving him up to a couple in a much better position at the time to give him a stable home.
I hadn’t really been aware of “open adoption” before. The idea is that the adoptive parents keep the birth mother in their life, trading phone calls, email, and pictures, and even getting together when possible. Owen has grown up thinking of Starr as a relative who loves him a lot, and I suppose that one day, when he asks very specific questions, he’ll get straight answers.
The idea sounds good; an extra close relative in a child’s life has to be a bonus, and when he’s a teenager trying to figure out who he is, he’ll have immediate answers to many of the questions I imagine an adopted child might ask. On the other hand, I can see how the relationships involved might need more work on everyone’s part than normal. On the gripping hand, I have some experience of my own with unusual relationships, and I feel the effort’s well worth making. I suppose time will tell how it all works out.
More importantly for the time being, Owen was a joy to meet. I’m spoiled by precocious kids like him and Bethany… perhaps it has just as much to do with the parents’ determination to raise him as something more than a yard ape. His parents were pretty awesome too; we got along from the beginning, and it only got better when Paul and I started Mac geeking together. Starr reported later that they thought I was a pretty decent guy.
(Actually, they called me ‘grounded’. Is there anyone here who knows me who’d have picked the adjective ‘grounded’ to describe me?)
I greatly enjoyed the day and a half of time with Owen and Paul and Susan; Starr’s mom joined us as well. However, all that time of socializing and trying to keep up with a 4-year-old drained me dry. I took a somewhat unwilling nap on Sunday afternoon, and craved a quiet night of WoW afterwards. Wouldn’t have missed it though, and Starr’s center returned to her after a week of pure frantic. At least next weekend ought to be a bit quieter.
A bit.
Pef
Pretty ‘meh’ day today. Today started with the “alarm in the middle of dreaming sleep” which can and did leave me shaky and slightly sick. Starr made me a nice breakfast, and I threw most of the morning ills off by the time I got to work, but it set the tone for the day. Very little today has gone properly, and I’ve been unable to finish almost anything I’ve started.
At least the weekend’s coming up. That’s gotta be a good thing!
Weekend on Mars
Started off the weekend with a fever on Friday, caused probably by having to run around in the cold cold rain on Thursday. But I medicated the heck out of myself, and was well enough to travel with Starr to Williamsburg on Friday for MarsCon.
Most conventions are, for me, opportunities to socialize with friends I don’t often get to see. southernsinger, kittykatya, impink, geckoman, and stori_lundi were all there, as well as folks I get to see a little more often such as ptownhiker, fixitup, and torn757. Got to spend some quality time with Jesse and Dwight too!
Convention loot: a Devil’s Panties graphic novel (Jennie Breeden remembered me from Dragon*Con), character sketches from an artist in the dealer’s room, a Carcassonne expansion and an book of Paranoia XP modules, two White Plectrum CDs and a Coyote Run CD, some erotica from Helen Madden‘s table, and a couple of buttons. After spending the weekend avoiding the purchase of T-shirts, Starr and I were handed free ones by a local game store – now I have to get rid of more old ones to make space!
Next year, the con is supposed to move to a bigger location, and it really needs the space. MarsCon completely overflowed its host hotel, which is a shame, as I think it’s a nice place to hold the weekend. I got to hear some other VA con politics I didn’t want to hear about, but that’s the down side of having friends who are so heavily involved in things.
Speaking of being involved, this was the first time I can recall having my con badge paid for as a “Guest” presenter. I have to say I found it very cool, though somehow I had always imagined it would be for my Great American Science Fiction Novel. Still, the panels (which I talk a bit more about in the Lifestyle filter) were great fun, and I can’t wait to do them again next year.
We’d really intended to stay longer on Sunday, but despite finally getting the MarsCon Charity Chair Massage I’d been wanting to try for years, we had a bad case of burnout. Excitement, dancing, endorphins, and little sleep all hit at once, and Starr and I headed home around 1:30 to veg for the rest of the day. Still haven’t quite come down though. How long ’till T-Con?
Oh, by the way, for people who didn’t go see Cloverfield, or restrained themselves from visiting YouTube this weekend, here’s the new Trek movie trailer. Total geekgasm.
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.
Games under the tree
Definitely a traditional Christmas for me… History and Science channels on the tube, wrapping presents for others while being unable to wait to unwrap ours 🙂
My Munchkin collection is looking healthier! Starr gave me Munchkin Impossible and Munchkin Cthulhu I & II… now we have to invite someone over to play them with us. 2-handed Munchkin is much less fun.
Back in my Decipher days, Justin taught me how to play Carcassonne, and I’ve been wanting a copy for the years since. Never managed to pick it up, but I knew it was fun to play, so I picked up a set as a Christmas present for raininva when I heard she was gaming again. Well, guess what other game I got yesterday 🙂 Already broken it in, too. Fun!
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I had a little trouble with some of the older movies I haven’t seen yet…
Relocating the center
This is the first Saturday in weeks, if not months, where I could sleep in, Starr didn’t have to go to work, and we have no obligations at all today, social or chore-based.
I have really needed this. It won’t even last the weekend, but that’s okay. Thank you, universe, for this early Xmas present.
(Also, the days will be getting longer again starting today. I needed that really badly too!)
