Something Thirty

In which I play dress-up

2009-10-01T18:39:00.003-04:00

I'm working part-time at a haunted house, this season.

Since I can't commit to every night (which would make playing a main character in the storyline a bit difficult), I'm playing a generic spectre in the graveyard scene. It's what I did, last year, and it was quite fun. I dressed up as a faceless (OK, veiled) Victorian widow - no blood, no gore, no zombie makeup. I didn't say a word, but I managed to scare the everloving crap out of quite a number of people.

(Bwahahahahaha!)

My favorite thing to do was to stand in the shadow behind the fog machine and then walk forward when a group came through. The fog would collect in my cloak, and so as I moved, it was pushed along by the fabric and gave the illusion that I had just appeared out of a dramatic poof of vapor.

I took a walk in the gloaming

2009-09-05T12:00:00.001-04:00

Something pulled me outside, so I slipped on some shoes and started walking.

I had originally intended to stick to the pavement - once over to the ALF and back, but I found myself steering toward the gated gravel road along the cross-country course.

I stopped momentarily at a break in the trees to my right and watched the full corn moon rise. It was orange.

I cut over into the grass and up the embankment. There's an opening there, between where the old post and wire fence ends and a large tree whose trunk I may or may not be able to span with my arms. The path was worn down to the bare dirt, but very narrow. The grass, which by this time of year would usually still only be knee-high and dry was actually waist high, and caught on my hair, which was down.

I emerged onto the mowed path and started walking.

There was a white fog creeping along the ground in all of the low spots. As I descended a hill into it, I could feel the cool, moist air, but could no longer see the shroud of mist around me. (It reappeared when I ascended the next hill at the other end of the field.)

The ground was so soft that I removed my shoes and walked, barefoot, along the path. I noticed that the field actually looked like a meadow. The grass and scrub plants were high, offering a multitude of colors and textures even in the quickly dimming twilight. I had to stop for a moment and close my eyes, taking in the wonderful smells of sweet wild herbs and meadow grass, and listening to the almost deafening sounds of the crickets. (It's amazing what happens when it actually rains during the summer!)

I realized, though, that it was getting Dark, and it's not that I was concerned for my safety from a "Big Scary Guy Will Jump Out of the Woods and Get Me" standpoint, but rather a "Hidden Critter Hole Will Reach Out and Break My Foot" one, so I put my shoes back on and headed back toward the "exit".

As I emerged back out onto the sidewalk, I knew I was definitely back in reality, as some young men in an apartment in the back section of Fountain Park were blasting obnoxious music and WOOOOOOOO-ing at some Manly Thing one of them had done.

But what good is it if you can't eat it?

2009-08-31T20:18:00.002-04:00

I don't understand chocolate sculptures.

I mean, I can appreciate the amazing artistry and such, but for me, chocolate is something that should be eaten, and the things these artists create are too beautiful to destroy and masticate!

GenCon!!!

2009-08-10T23:14:00.002-04:00

It's two days away, and I'm not nearly prepared.

I've been working on costumes (with the help of my good friend H), but life has gotten in the way, so I just know it will be down to the wire.

I haven't submitted any events, this year, so it will be kind of different.

So a vampire, a werewolf, and ghost share a flat in Bristol...

2009-07-31T20:47:00.001-04:00

Despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that the premise sounds like the setup to a joke, I've really gotten into the BBC show, Being Human.

It really *is* about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost, all sharing a house in Bristol. The vampire and the werewolf are two guys trying to blend in and keep their "conditions" distant, and the ghost is a previous resident who was murdered.

It's quite good, and I hope that the short season doesn't indicate the quality of the show.

I've discovered why zombies are always after braaaaiiiiinnnnzzzzz...

2009-07-17T09:57:00.002-04:00

They're all migraine sufferers, and are in search of a brain that won't cause them to shuffle around in a vacant-eyed, slack-jawed stupor.

In other news, I'm going into Day Three, here, and if experience serves me well, I predict that if it doesn't let up, I shall start developing involuntary tremors and/or becoming incredibly clumsy within the next day or two.

Review: Nekropolis, by Tim Waggoner

2009-07-11T16:17:00.001-04:00

Nekropolis
Tim Waggoner

August 2009 (UK), October 2009 (US/Canada) – Angry Robot Books

Matthew Richter is a former cop from Cleveland, now deceased and making a “living” as a private investigator (or rather, a Person Who Does Favors for People) in the underworld city of Nekropolis – a ghastly and fantastical realm filled with all manner of dark and undead creatures, where the “technology” is alive (in a gruesomely Lovecraftian way), and everything is lit by a reddish “sun” called Umbriel.

Hard-up for funds to pay for continuing voodoo treatments to keep his rotting zombie corpse from falling apart on him, Richter takes on a job helping the daughter of the vampire mafia boss to solve a theft from her father’s collection (of which she is the caretaker), and retrieve the stolen item before her father finds out.

But what starts out as what seems like a simple investigation turns up something far more sinister. Joined by a cast of lively characters, Richter must find a way to keep himself together (literally) in order to help foil a plot to destroy the entire city.

Nekropolis is the first in what is slated to be a three-book series from Tim Waggoner, whose body of work already comprises over a dozen novels and more than fifty short stories and novellas. Those familiar with his work may recognize this as an expansion of his 2004 novella, Necropolis (published through Five Star Press). The story is witty and engaging, seamlessly blending genres in a mix of urban fantasy, horror, a little bit of romance, and old-fashioned pulp detective mystery.

Nekropolis launches in August (in UK, October in the US/Canada) as part of the debut of Angry Robot – the new adult science fiction/fantasy imprint of HarperCollins.

From Tuesday's Hafla

2009-05-25T21:10:00.002-04:00

Photograph by Michael Trace

I think this look works for me, and I may focus future costuming energies on emulating Ruth St. Denis...

A String of Disasters Increasing in Scale?

2009-04-15T11:19:00.003-04:00

On April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank, taking with it 1500 people.

On April 15, every year, all of us Americans have to make sure our tax returns have been filed.

On April 15, 1976, I was born.

The world is doomed, I tell you! DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!

Best hot chocolate ever

2009-04-05T20:40:00.001-04:00

Whole milk (preferably non-homogenized), heated

Chocolate flakes (or chips), unsweetened or semi-sweet

Cardamom, ground

Robot Armies, coming out of the notebook, and exploding heads

2009-03-10T22:35:00.004-04:00

This looks like it could be potentially fun.

Harper Collins has a new genre fiction branch called Angry Robot Books. They're slated to officially open in the UK this summer, and then in the US in the fall.

Interestingly enough, I was reminded on the AR webiste that HC also has this other site called Authonomy, where budding authors can post things for peer review. (The peers, in this case, being fellow budding authors.) I am pretty sure that I originally heard the mention of this page from one of my friends' blogs, but to be honest, I can't remember whose it was, but this second appearance of it into my field of attention made me decide to actually go and check it out.

I think I might set up an account. I have, after all, been trying to work up the courage to take my writing out of the dozens of composition notebooks lying around my apartment and put them somewhere where other people can actually see them and give me feedback.

But none of that will happen if this weather system doesn't finally push through and my head explodes. Gah!!!!

Auntie Em?

2009-03-10T19:03:00.002-04:00

There's been a low-pressure system stalking us for the past several days.

It gets close... and then backs off.

Or, it skirts us entirely.

Meanwhile, it's windy as all get-out (and my roof sounds like it's about to take off), my head feels as if it is about to explode, and my bad knee is making walking rather unpleasant.

Bus FAIL (Part XXXVII)

2009-03-02T08:57:00.002-05:00

I was out at the bus stop, this morning, with plenty of time before either the regular 6 or the 6 Limited (which starts its route at my stop) were to come by.

There must have been something going on at the Business School, as there was a slightly larger crowd of suited students than usual for non-summer months (when the bus only runs once an hour).

When the Limited pulled up (empty), people filed on and filled it to capacity. The driver refused any more passengers, leaving about a dozen of us standing out in the 10-degree weather.

We twelve stood there, watching the bus pull away. A couple of the left-behind business students looked as if they were standing on the deck of the Titanic, watching the last lifeboat leave.

We waited for the regular 6, which ought to have arrived within two minutes.

We waited... and waited... and waited.

After about ten minutes, I finally called Bloomington Transit and asked where the bus was. I was told that one of the busses was "having problems" and would be around as soon as they could send one.

So, we waited until the next Limited came by, on its regular schedule.

All in all, I stood out there for half an hour, and by the time I got into my office, I was shaking so violently it took two tries to unlock the door.

Laundry

2009-03-01T20:49:00.001-05:00

A necessary evil, yes, but I do fancy fresh underpants, every morning, so it must be done.

Tapioca

2009-02-16T20:06:00.002-05:00

I love tapioca.

I love it in pudding, I love it in bubble tea. I love the small pearls, I love the large pearls.

My mother always had an aversion to it. She claimed it was because my grandmother would force her to eat it, even though it looked and felt like fish eyes.

That story prompted me, one time when my father was cleaning some walleye, to ask him for the eyeball. He obliged, and I proudly ran to show my mom.

I'm making some tapioca pudding, right now. I'm using the instant (small pearl) style, because I had a craving and I just couldn't wait to soak the large pearls.

Not quite an experiment, yet

2009-02-09T20:46:00.002-05:00

I'm always pretty bad about taking down my Christmas tree, but since it's fake and it doesn't take up any space that I would otherwise need, anyway, I just can't be bothered.

Well, here we are, halfway through February, and it's still there, cheerfully glowing from its perch on the side table I use to display houseplants.

I haven't made a conscious decision to see how long I can keep it up - as I know that I will, in fact, get sick of looking at it, eventually - but I just can't help but look at it as a comforting constant in my bleary little life. I know that, no matter how crappy my day is, no matter how cranky I may feel, I can come home and plug in my tree, and it will beam softly illuminated cheer into the room.

Also, there are only three ornaments with actual Christmas themes. The rest are generic "winter" decorations or Star Trek and Star Wars ships and figures.

I think it's got at least another week and a half in it.

It's not cool unless it comes with superpowers

2009-02-09T07:53:00.001-05:00

I am starting to develop a silver forelock.

Support me in Race for the Cure!

2009-02-04T20:11:00.004-05:00

I'm going it solo, this year, having failed at rounding up an actual team for the past couple of years.

However, I've decided to get rather ambitious with my fundraising efforts, and have once again pledged that if I make my goal ($1000), I will do the whole 5K in full kendo armor.

Please visit my race page! (:

This was taken during the 2006 Race

UPS FAIL

2009-02-04T19:17:00.003-05:00

Avon sent my order via UPS, instead of using the regular delivery service.

I found a sticky note on my door telling me it was in the office. I went to the office to retrieve it, and the girl who brought it out had a weird expression, and said, "It came like this..."

One corner was totally covered in rubber, indicating that it had apparently been... run over? Used as traction to get the truck out of a slippery parking spot?

There was also a hole:

Needless to say, some of the product was missing...

Blue Boxes

2009-01-29T19:50:00.001-05:00

From the content of this blog, recently, one would think that all I have done is obsess over a scarf dreamed up in the fog of illness.

The good news is, I haven't.

I have made some progress, though:

It turns out, all I needed to do was to incorporate knitting/purling through the back loops to get the recessed boxes.

Stymied

2009-01-15T21:16:00.000-05:00

The pattern didn't work, so I frogged the whole thing. Again.

I'll keep trying things until something works.

In the meantime, I'm getting rather irritable, because my hands want to knit something mindless.

Knerd

2009-01-14T21:00:00.003-05:00

So it's been two years and I'm not yet done with the binary scarf (but only because I had put it away for a year and forgotten when I put it), and I haven't gone anywhere with the pi scarf (I have no excuse for that)... but I couldn't resist starting another scarfy project.

Last weekend, when I was laying around, feeling all rhinovirus-y, I watched a bunch of DVRed Doctor Who episodes and came up with a Great Idea to knit a scarf that emulates the pattern of panels on the TARDIS door.

Except, once I started doing it, it turns out that my Great Idea wasn't quite as simple as I thought it would be. The horizontal purl rows (to serve as the top side of each panel) kept popping out instead of indenting.

It was really frustrating.

Someone recommended some different patterns for inspiration, and I sort of combined them. I frogged the entire project and started from scratch, but I think I've got something.

One level down... four feet worth more to go!

Ex-ter-min-eat!

2009-01-10T22:19:00.004-05:00

Before the holidays, I made some gingerbread Dalek cookies.

Having failed to dispatch them with my sonic spatula, I resorted to other methods.

I can't believe it, myself...

2007-12-25T11:46:00.002-05:00

My family Christmas has been very good, so far!

Dinner last night was drama-free.

There was a fire in the fireplace - and I got to toast some Marshmallow Peeps:

This morning, we opened gifts, and everyone liked what I got them. AND, I got this:

!!!!!

It came with a cape:

Hi-ho, the glamorous life!

2007-12-21T12:54:00.000-05:00

This past quarter has been quite a new experience for me. I have never actually done quite so much business travel - and I must admit, I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it!

Sure, I really never totally unpacked my suitcase for two and a half months. And of course, there were the long, terrifying trips, driving giant, unfamiliar Landyachts filled with 1500 pounds of textbooks and course materials through nasty weather, with tractor trailers riding so close to the bumper that the parking alarm won't stop beeping. And sure, there were the cranky delegates who were angry that they could not sign in when I arrived to set up at six-thirty in the morning. And yes, there was that guy who got up in my face (literally) because he was ticked off that I was making him sign in each day, and wouldn't let him leave early and still get all of his CE credits.

But then again, there were the cushy hotel beds, the hot tubs, the per diem stipends, and accruing enough Marriott reward points that I am now a "Silver Status" guest and only have to pay $25 for my room for my friend's wedding on New Year's Eve.

All in all, I finally feel rather grown-up.

It's too bad that January will be our "slow" period. And that, until next fall, all of my conferences will be here in town.

I suppose I shall have to return to mundane life. (;