Am in a strange dream state. I blame the lack'o'sleep combined with the finsihing reading Sandman: the Kindly Ones.
Right after I'd read the end we went grocery shopping. The supermarket was strangely empty with heaps of really good parking available in the best places. I walked through the fruits and vege numbly, collecting mushrooms.
People around me seemed to also be sleepwalking, there were an unusually high number of bumping-intos. Lee rammed a lady's baby-carrying trolley and she gave him the Cold Glare of Death, but he ignored it. I trailed in his purposeful wake, feeling much more like Delirium than I normally do.
I saw things I don't normally see, like the way that when you look at the rows of tomato sauce all sideways they sort of come towards you and ask you to knock them onto the floor. I looked for coconut jelly but you can't buy it at Thorndon New World.
My spine feels out of kilter.
I blame this poem which has lodged itself in my brain. I found it online at this place. I can do that you know, if I want to.
"All around me darkness gathers,
Fading is the sun that shone;
We must speak of other matters:
You can be me when I'm gone
Flowers gathered in the evening,
Afternoon they blossom on;
Still are withered by the evening:
You can be me when I'm gone"
~ Neil Gaiman, the Kindly Ones.
____
Tomorrow: Jenni rants about the shoes she hates.
...too busy trying to stay awake.
My brain is fried by the heat. Fried in the best possible way, like the chicken wings at Yum Char. (Mmmmmm Yum Char.)
Actually my belly seriously rebelled against Yum Char yesterday, I felt like I wasn't enjoying it enough when I was there and then my belly was crazy full all day. We had Hell pizza for dinner and my belly was not happy with me. Today I am eatintg little, in order to placate the belly.
Got another person hooked on Lost. Go Jenni!
Read an awesome book called Not Even Wrong by Paul Collins which is a kind of history of Autism framed by the author's experiences with his Autistic son. It is lovingly written and researched and very readable. I reccomend it for people who like learning stuff.
Spent the night tossing and turning in the heat and the uncomfortable. Every time Lee got near me I felt like I was roasting. I dreamed about the love theme from Phantom of the Opera . Was humming it all morning.
I just had lots of fun making up rants on my lj.
Yum Char on Sunday, due to not enough stonesoupers coming on Saturday. Might b doing some Lost screening on Sunday night if'n peeps are interested.
Uhmmmm....had Monsoon Poon dinner last night. Yum yum. (Chants: Tiger Beef! Tiger Beef!)
A bit disjointed and irrelevant this morning.
I was wondering (in a scared and not willing to host) way if my friends will ever be the kind that have sexy parties. Like people coming along wearing lingerie or leather or vinyl or furrie suits(No!) or fishnets and corsets or french maid costumes or whatever. Maybe my friends (me included) are just a bit too prudish. I mean, I'd be terrified, but it'd also be kinda cool. *blushes* I guess D*vice party was the start of something though.
As I say. I was wondering.
We booked a trip to Rarotonga last night!
OMG! OMG! I'm leaving the country!
It's not til July, because that way we get to go to the beach while it's winter. We're going with my sister, and it's very exciting. I have to save money. I have to get a passport.
In the meantime I am very sleepy indeed and it's lovely and sunny outside and I can't just lie in it and read all afternoon that way I could at the bach. *sigh*
I hate to work. I just wanna be a lady of leisure and bask in the sun all day.
Also, does anyone know when Lost is starting on NZ TV? I've seen it advertised on the backs of buses, but my internet searching hasn't turned anything up.
So...I added a coupla links yesterday. Here's the official advertisement so you go and look at 'em.
My mate Steve. He comments on here as hix, you may have "seen him around". His blog is full on incredible inseider information about writing for TV and movies. He also does a lot of writing about movies he's seen and roleplaying games stuff. He's smart, he's one of my Gamer Boyz. Go read his stuff.
He'll link you pretty fast to the forge, but since I joined it and forgot to go back, I thought I'd link you there too. It's an Indie rpg community with lots of neat stuff. My favourite area is the actual play reports thread. It's here.
While I'm at it (and being read by a bunch of roleplayers) you should also have a look at these people who were at Kapcon. My Be Fri Giffy. She writes about all sorts of life things, much like me.
Svend who won the best single game GM award for Operation Icebox, and writes about how he's just bought a house and roleplaying and stuff.
Matt and Debbie who are funtastic people. We won the cosplay competition last year together and they are thusly very awesome. They were in my playtest of Matchmaking and Machinations.
Matt also says I have to go back to Kapcon, so I guess I will. *Sigh*.
Once you're through all that, you should just go ahead and check out the rest of my links on the side there, cause they're all good.
As with last year, I'll do a quick summary of games and add in some quotes that I recorded. I will start now:
First thing Saturday I packed up everything I remembered needing and picked up Star from the railway station. I drove us up the wrong road but eventually we got to Kapcon. It was great to see all the rpgers that I don't see otherwise (because I keep forgetting to go to WARGS).
My first session game was Dale's The High Price of Spandex, which is a fantastic game. Depth and hilarity and awesome puzzles. I played Professor Eternity, and inventor from 1840 who has kept herself ageless and disease free with her Bodice of Multitudinous Function. Heee!
some quotes;
Dale as German supervillain Iron Cross trying to piss off the Arnuld-like Ground Zero: "Zero! You are look like little girl! I have comtempt for American!"
Captain Hope: Where do you come from? Like Minnesota or something?
Legionnaire: I think you would call it Hell.
Prof. Eterniy: Ah, so it is Minnesota.
In the second round I ran my Jane Austen game Matchmaking and Machinations. It went Very Well Indeed. I had some very good players (only one gender-bending, a guy as Patience) and here are some of the quotes...
Darryl: I will try to keep the slime to myself
Alice: That is good, I wouldn't want it to discolour my outfit.
Patience: She looks happy! I can't approve of that.
Darryl: How did you find these sisters?
Elliot: They came through the front door.
D: Ah, I see your wit is as...........ever.
Darryl on Lily: It would be unfair to unleash her on the men of London.
Elliot: There seems to be silence from the other room.
Patience: Dear me, you don't suppose they could be holding hands?
hee hee hee. It was verily a session of hilarity. After that I ate fish and chips and talked to people and then it was a weird moment of coincidence as I was in Conan's Nobilis game playing Mischief right before the LARP just like last year. It was a wonderful game, although much more scary and serious than last year's which meant I didn't get to make nearly as much mischief as I had intended. I did however create a new pop song "My Immortal Toxic of Love"
...and there was a bit when people said "They're not from Now yet" which I thought was rather eloquent and lovely.
The the LARP. I have no quotes from the LARP funnily enough, but I had a great time. Sam and I played Amazon sisters and I was a battle truck mechanic. We got some airbrush make-up. Green stripes over the eyes and a brown stylised A on the arm. We looked pretty darn cool, but the amount of effort that went into the evil mutant costumes was astounding. Ian's Best Costume award was well deserved.
Spent the night meeting people and recruiting help to free Giffy, who was playing the Amazon Queen captured by the world's most annoying and smug slavers. Great fun!
Was very tired when we got home and spent a good 15 minutes scrubbing at my eyes with cleanser and baking soda to remove green stuff. It was Ok at the start but there's only so long you wanna do that sort of thing. I still have the A on my arm. It's cool.
Sunday morning I played a crook in The Life which was a retro 80's cops and robbers movie mini-LARP. It was very very fun. I got to think I was Lancelot for a while, but unfortunately the cowardly cops shot me to death in the Warehouse. Including the one who was my Ex-fiance and the one who was really on our side. Niiiiice. Still I got to watch the very well organised car chase sequence and two of the crooks got away so that was neaty.
As it happened the people in my game raved about it to others and since Giffy hadn't gotten into it I felt pressured enough to run my game again. That's what I did yesterday afternoon. It went even better, in that for once the dastardly Elliot character managed get married and pay off his gambling debts.
Also the players were so happy to echange barbs and innuendoes that I hardly had to prompt them into changes of scene. Plus James was a fantastic Mr Darcy type, getting heroically wet in a shallow stream and broodily stalking corridors.
Some quotes...
Elliot: I'm sure there are some suitable ladies here
Darryl: Fawning sycophants all.
Darryl: We can try out this politeness business.
Patience: Thank you Mr Knight, your boots smell slightly better than they did earlier.
Alice: She loves to ride! Riding is one of the greatest joys for Elsbeth!
Darryl: Mr Mckinley has escorted many ladies into the hedge maze.
Alice:...and every lady has come out with a smile on her face and a spring in her step!
just a little later...Elliot: no one knows this maze as well as me!
Patience: The French should be English.
Darryl: He assured me his intentions were honourable!
Alice: But what about Lily's?!
awesome fun. Giffy played Alice, Star was Patience and the others were all equally awesome. It also marked the first time Lily was able (via dice roll) to act politely. Then she eloped to Paris with Mr Elliot Mckinley. It was awesome.
Then it was hanging around and waiting time for the prize-giving. Scott asked if I was staying for it which gave me an inkling but I assumed I wouldn't be winnin anything, since I didn't play enough games to get a best player award and I only ran my game twice so I wouldn't have thought I'd get best GM.
Silly Jenni! James P won best player which I was best pleased with as he had been so good as Mr Darcy-like Darryl. Then Svend won a prize for best single game GM, then I won best GM for the con! I freaked out and was very surprised and pleased as well. I chose a board game called Citadels for my prize, although I did also really want the special edition Mage rulebook. I thought I'd get more use out of the game and also more Lee-approval.
So, now I have best player and best GM awards to my name. I never have to return to Kapcon.
I didn't want any more earthquakes! It was a big one this morning. Big enough that I went for the door frame (didn't fo that at all the other night) and stuff fell off out bookshelf. They were precariously balanced things but still. Stuff falling off shelves!
Now I'm scared to go to work in case it's The Big One and I get stranded there and Lee's at home and he just got back and I wanna be with him. I'm not sure irrational fear is a valid reason for calling in sick though. It was bigger than the Tuesday ones though, and closer to us.
In other news, Lee came home! He bought me such a beautiful thing: a scrapbook/photo album bound in Kauri. It's really very lovely. I also got rock candy and a cute little flower necklace made from Kauri cones.
We also talked through some things that I figured out in the time we spent apart, so that's all good.
Watched some more Lost! Squee!
Right, my belly's still turning over with shaky earth fear, but I need to have a shower. Laters!
Growing up in Wellington has prepared me well for the worst case scenario of a giant earthquake. Last night there were two really quite strong ones. I checked on this site and freaked out because of all those quakes coming from the same place.
So I changed the water bottles and made two new ones so if I do get stranded in my apartment I won't die of dehydration. I should probably get a reliable torch. I have candles and matches and everything, plus heaps of canned food and the ability to cook on our rusted up Bbq.
As it turns out I have today off work too, which was unexpected since I copied out the dates wrong. Hurrah! More scrapbooking and listening to Phantom of the Opera.
"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
let me lead you from your solitude"
Edited: The quake swarm is nothing to worry about.
Phantom of the Opera was wonderful. Raoul as action hero was quite wonderful and I just adore the music and Carlotta was awesome and Christine so good and the clothes and the sets and and and.
I am SO buying it on DVD and if anyone wants to see it, I'll totally go and see it again. *groans* So. Awesome.
Must now change all my lj icons into the Phantom ones Cleolinda made. Then I'm scrapbooking some more. Woot!
Ps. Two more sleeps 'til Lee gets back! Hurrah!
Meepita.
Eh-heh. I passed on Lost addiction to three more people yesterday. We watched the first two episodes and they are hooked!
Today: Family time and Phantom of the Opera awesome.
Yesterday these things were also watched: A Knight's Tale, Super-size Me and the Viewer Mail ep of Family Guy. I had a good day, and I didn't leave the house apart from to take out the trash and that's inside the building still. My house is relatively tidy and I just did the dishes.
Yesterday I downloaded a bunch of screen caps from movies in preparation for when I start making my own lj icons. It will happen one day. Oh yes.
Tra la la...I woke up at 5am today. Too freaking early! I did get some more dozy sleep after that but I still feel like I woke up at 5am.
Meepita.
Yesterday was a lovely day of lovelyness. Svend and I attended Lee's niece's first birthday picnic in the Botanic Gardens and ran into some stonesoupers there which was realy nice. The weather was sweltering and make-you-melty but I ate corn and raspberries and nice bread, so that was good.
Then we wandered around, saw the ducks and the roses and then went to Spotlight where I bought two metres of Daddy Cat fabric. ooh -err. I'll be making some Daddy Cats I think! They had a really good dress fabric sale on right now, BTW.
Then I came home, had a refreshing shower and watched The Never-Ending Story which is just as good as I remember it although I'm unsure of the method of dealing with bullies. I mean, it's not like any bullied kid can emulate how Bastian deals with the bullies, (Chases them down with a luck dragon) so I'm not sure what the point of that framing story is.
I want a luck dragon. Even though when I watched it closely it's mouth wasn't moving nearly enough to formulate words, but it did blink with its eyes slightly out of sync like I do, so I think I should be allowed one.
Then Svend and I walked to the Botanic Gardens and met Regs and her Mum and Sister and we watched the free concert if Shaken not Stirred which was very good.
I'm reading Sandman again. I've just finished Seasons of Mists.
I'm listening to an Ani Di Franco live cd and thinking that this may not be the best introduction to her music....
Yesterday was a gorgeous and hot Wellington day. It was very windy (too windy for my short pleated skirt) but the wind was also hot. Verrrry unusual for Wgtn but I loved it.
I walked into town to meet Zephfi and we went shopping in Supre. I wanted some short pants, peddle pushers really. I tried on some black pinstrie ones which in retrospect would have been Lemony Snicket awesome, except they were a funny fit. Tight at the top but loose around the knees. Weird. I did buy a bright pink tshirt that says "Big F little f what begins with f?" Which I fully intend to wear to work since it's a Dr Suess reference.
I also bought the cutest little dress o'frills ever. It is strapless and all ruched and has three tiers of frills for the skirt. PLus it's pink. I think it's a little too short to wear as a dress in Wgtn but it looks good over my tight jeans so hurrah!
Then Zephfi made me go into the Number 1 Shoe Warehouse and I bought wrestler-type black boots. They are SO GOOD and I love them to bits. It's a bit too hot to wear them at the moment but I have them displayed prominently in the lounge so I can see and appreciate them. Heee. Since they're completely black I could use them for super-hero boots, and they have no heel so they'll be comfy to wear at work. Squeeee!
After the shopping and the purchasing we went to Zeph's house for icecream and Buffy watching. I loves the Buffy.
Coincidentally I found an old dream journal this morning and the last one recorded is one where I was Buffy from Season 7. I was fighting Caleb, but my object of power wasn't the Slayer Scythe but a packet of fish'n'chips. If I kept it pressed to my belly I had more power. Apparently I woke up with my hand clutched to my belly.
This morning I dreamed about duct tape. Thanks to Al for suggesting I incorporate duct tape into my Post-Apocalyptic Trucker Amazon costume and causing me to dream about it.
Back in Wellington (hurrah, hurrah). I had a nap so I feel faintly human as opposed to driving-zombie-with-not-enough-sleep that I felt when I first got home.
Since then I have settled into "single" life, going to the supermarket and buying carrots, special k and a block of chocolate as grocery essentials. Help! I've turned into a singleton and I'm only without the boy for a week!
I have been blaring Tori Amos. Hmmmm.
My new Empire magazine was waiting in my mailbox for me. Yummers. The chick who plays Violet in the Lemony Snicket movie is actually 16, so I don't feel quite so bad about having a major crush on her.
Right so. Saw Bridget Jones Diary 2 which is fan-service for women my age. i.e. It was lovely and silly and funny and made me and my galpals go "Awwwwwww!" More or less sticks to the plot of the book and very similar to the first movie.
The drive up North was exciting as we came through Paekakariki just as it was beginning to flood. At first we were stopped because South bound traffic was coming through on our lane, but the brown river of scary got higher and higher and then the guy in the car in front of us had a little freakout and forced his way forward and we followed after. It had gotten so deep by this point that it was past the bottom end of the passenger doors and I had no idea where the road was.
It was freaky. I was like "OMG! My friends are all relying on me to drive and not panic and get them out of this, but I don't know if we'll make it!" Anyhoo, it turned out fine and I bought a "Glad I'm Alive" bottle of Witch's Brew to celebrate at Lindale.
Other big events: Uhm, no not really. I had a fantastic few days lying around reading and sunning myself like a big newt. A newt that reads.
Sandman Companion. This is very good. It pointed out some stuff to me that I hadn't picked up on and all the mythological backgrounds to the stories. It's packed with interviews with Neil and very easy to read.
Mister Monday, nyeah. It was OK. I mean, I love Garth and all, but this was kinda.....nyeah.
Re-read a bunch of Asterix which was very satisying and hilarious.
Most of the way through What Would Buffy Do? which I gave Zephfi for Xmas. It is very good also. Well written and makes me hanker to watch Buffy some more.
Right, I'm updated with you lot, now. More tomorrow.
PS. I went swimming in the sea twice and paddling once. It was surprisingly warm and pleasant. Especially yesterday when the water wasn't too surfy and I could actually swim around in it.
Movie tonight: "A Very Long Engagement".
Tomorrow morning: away! A bit concerned about traffic as apparently a part of the road by Mackay's crossing has been washed away in the flooding and there is 6km worth of traffic backed up! Hopefully they'll sort it all out by tomorrow?
Ah well, we're in no hurry anyway. I have successfully obtained the bach keys and am now wondering when I'm going to finish packing. We're going to dinner before the movie tonight and people are coming over reasonably early tomorrow morning (10am is early for Saturday!) and I'd like to be out of the way of Lee's network gaming setup.
Last night we tidied and cleaned and I took down the Christmas tree *sob* and did all my washing. I have an overflowing backpack of clothes a semi-organised bag of books and still have to sort out linen and towels, etc. Plus Svend came to visit and he gave me late-Christmas-present-of-awesome. (Read: a Weta workshop Lion, Witch, Wardrobe tshirt. I am wearing it now. It is cool.)
Anyway, I don't think I'll get another chance to blog before I go, so take care this coming week. I'll be back Thursday or Friday depending on weather.
Excited about next week. I will have days of nothing, oh yes. There will be nothingness.
I made myself a list of things to take. I like to make lists. Tonight: washing and cleaning and tidying. At least until Lee comes home and then we can watch more Lost. Mmmm, yummy Lost.
I had a chicken samosa for lunch which has gone down very well with my finicky PMS belly. My neck and shoulder are sore again, must stop being on computer.
Uhhhh, not much else really. I want nicer weather. I want sunny sunshine and azure skies. I want it to be hot enough for me to wear skirts and sandles!
Poot.
Yesterday I picked up the ol' paintbrush and did some art. It was very refreshing. I started with a fan pic of Death from Sandman, since I was reading the Sandman Companion and thinking and wanting...so I painted extreme close-up of Death.
It's OK. Then I picked up a much larger bit of canvas and painted my Buffy game character Joanna. The body and clothes and hair came out very nicely, but I need to go back and re-work the face, so it doesn't look quite so 2d. I also have a bunch of background that needs something. I am very happy with the way it came out though. I feel smart and skilled. Hurrah!
In other news Lee has decided to go on the uber-road trip with Giffy. This has put my stomach into butterfly frenzy. Not because of him being away from me, not because of him going away with girls who are not me, but because it means for like, ten days I won't see him. I'll be at the back all next week, but he won't get back until the 20th. I'll have nearly a whole week of apartment to myself. I'm only working a coupla days that week too.
So.
I'll be able to do whatever the Hell I want. I'm thinking pizza for dinner every night and sims 2 24/7!
No, seriously it'll give me a great opportunity to get some writing done, and some scrapbooking and some more painting. Plus I can see my folks and go to movies he doesn't want to see, and go to the art gallery and Te Papa and ooh! It's just too exciting!
I will also be very lonely without him so those with school holidays and such are encouraged to visit me in those times. If any of the above activities sound fun to you, please comment and let me know, we can plan!
Lee woke me up at 3am-ish complaining because he had to "swing his hard drive" then he told me a bunch of numbers in this really pissed off voice so I stroked his hair and he went peaceably back to sleep.
Last night Hix, Elric and Star came over and we played board games. Apples to Apples (two rounds) and Modern Art. Star kicked all our asses at Modern Art and I came second by only buying like, three paintings and concentrating on selling.
I played lots of Sims 2 over my break. It was very fulfilling. I have two cute teenage lesbians. They are so in love. Awwwwwww....Also I've discovered that if a child sees their parent cheating they will watch and cry. That's pretty realistic if you ask me.
It was the coldest December for fifty years. This is not a surprise to me.
Ok, so holiday = slack. You're just going to have to get used to January being this way because it's going to be quite the holiday month for me.
Then I felt guilty that people were probably coming here and not seeing new things so here I am.
Yesterday morning I dreamed I was looking out the window of my mythical house. There was the entrance to a subway outside and a street light just by the window. People were walking busily around on the street and there was a crocodile hanging from the street light. It had wound it's tail around the cross bar and was waiting with it's mouth open for someone to walk beneath. Then someone did, and it dropped down and I startled and woke up myself and Lee.
What I can't figure out is how the crocodile got on top of the street light in the first place. Did it climb? Did someone lift it up there on a crane? Did it drop out of the sky?
I think it was probably trained by ninja T-Rexes and that's how it developed it's leopard-like hunting technique.
How was everyone's New Years? Mine was verrrrry gamey. Board games and word games and stuff. I won my first ever game of Princes of Florence on January First so that bodes well. Then we played again yesterday and Lee won. Of course it was his birthday so maybe we were all "letting" him win. In retropect I played my last round very stupidly indeed, so I could have maybe won, if I'd thought about it.
I am reading Mister Monday which I'm not liking as much as Sabriel but I'm liking OK as a kid's fantasy book. It sorta reminds me of a bunch of other stuff I've read: (Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Alice in Wonderland, His Dark Materials.) So it doesn't feel super-fresh. It is enjoyable all the same.
I also picked up the Sandman Companion which I bought like, a year and a bit ago and didn't get around to reading because I sorta thought to read it with the comics beside me. I just got over that because I don't know how I'm ever going to afford to buy them and when I get them out of the library I just read them and return, so...yeah. So far it's a history of Neil Gaiman but I'm only in like, the first chapter.
We've been watching Lost. It's awesome. Everyone should watch Lost. It's a US tv show about a plane crashing onto a desert island and the survivors have to sort out surviving but the island is all weird and there are ninja T-Rexes out to get them. It's too cool. I think a NZ tv network has picked it up.