A glorious evening at the cinema!

Well, I made it to GenCon without melting or spontaneously combusting - though I came pretty darned close, a couple of times! (Apparently I alarmed a couple of people when I showed up to claim my badge, face matching my red dress...)

I had many happy meets, had dinner at the TGIFriday's that's attached to my hotel. Well, attached to the hotel that's attached to my hotel.

And THEN!!!!

It was off to the Circle City Cinema for an epic double-feature of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

What a fantastic experience - being in a theatre full of happy nerds, all bouncing with excitement.

It was so much fun to see these movies on the big screen, again, after all these years!

And you know, despite all of the silly jokes about Kirk, Wrath of Khan was really a vehicle for prime Kirk-ness - the cunning tactics, the epic battles, The Line! (Oh, yes, when he screamed, "KHAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!" the entire auditorium burst into cheers!)

I spent the whole time with a goofy grin on my face, and left feeling thoroughly exhilerated.

Help! I think I'm melting...!

The heat index is currently 116F (47C).

I would be much happier if it was 100 degrees cooler.

Seriously.

I hate the summer.

Je regrette

I was going through some old papers and keepsakes, and came across a picture and program from a voice recital I did when I was back in high school.

My teacher had me sing Send in the Clowns.

I performed it impeccably, with all of the mustered angsty emotion my 17-year-old drama-club self could muster.


I couldn't help but think how silly it was for someone so young to sing that song. No amount of "getting into character" could have given me the insight on what was really happening in it.

I was missing two key things - experience and regrets.

Wheezy with a side of involuntary panic

Gracious, my asthma is really terrible, today!

I'm not sure if it's the weather, the awful air inside my place of employment, or a combination of the two, but I've been sitting perfectly still, yet gasping for air in a manner that would lead others to believe I'd just run six miles in the 100-degree heat.

Despite the fact that I am (sadly) no stranger to asthma attacks, I still can't avoid getting that additional delightful side-effect of feeling rather panicky, and am doing my best to maintain a calm and professional demeanor to cover up the underlying need to freak out.

Laundry Day Couture

I love to see the fashions that people come up with on laundry day, when it's clear that anything halfway respectable is about to be stuffed into a frontloading washer.

My own ensemble today included blue scrub pants with gold doodle-hearts on them, and a Starfleet Academy tshirt (that I got at my very first Star Trek convention) that is probably older than many of this year's college freshmen.

Almost time for GenCon!

Just a couple more weeks until GenCon!

It will be a much different experience for me, this year, as I will not be working at the booth - except for giving some people breaks as needed. Instead, I will be leading several activities in the SPA (non-gaming) programming track, and *gasp!* actually attending some games, myself!


I'd pondered doing the zombie lurch, but it conflicts with another activity that I'd really like to do. No problem, though - as my glorious plan to go as a Borg-ified Starfleet officer went down the tubes when I couldn't find anyone who could lend me a Starfleet jacket in my size. (Though, there's still my Dead Redshirt costume from a couple of Halloweens ago!)

Speaking of Star Trek, I'm looking forward to the double feature of Star Treks II and III on Wednesday night.

But most of all, I'm looking forward to getting to hang out with some good friends, whom I only see at GenCon. We have many plans, already - from heading to our favorite Indian restaurant that is within walking distance (but just far enough away that the other 30,000 people don't seem to know about it), to amassing the entertainers and the authors and storming the WotC booth.

There will be media guests, this year, so I suspect we won't have as huge a space for impromptu jam/dance sessions as we did, last year, though. However, in the past, we've been able to get our "booth neighbors" to join our impromptu jam/dance sessions, so who knows what might happen?

It's been awhile...

It's my birthday.

I'm officially older.

One thing that has improved since last year is that I now have health insurance. This was most helpful in that I now have real asthma medicine. (Huzzah! I no longer live in total fear that I will drop over and die a horrible, suffocating death because some jerk blew smoke in my face!)

It was also very helpful when I took a header off a curb, back in February and bashed my knees up. (Good news - I did not re-destroy the ACL!)


Now I'm going to go hobble over to a corner and act like the old lady I am...

In which I play dress-up

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

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?

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!!!

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.