Kasha Can Has Weekend?
Kasha had a mostly nice weekend. Saturday started around 1:00 p.m. with something of a housewarming party, several months after moving here, which was some good times with fun people. When my cell phone's alarm rang at 6:45 p.m., I got ready to head to bokunenjin's place so we could carpool to Yuri's Night. There was an unfortunate incident along the way, which involved Kasha trying to move an SUV from the driveway in order to leave, which was a bad plan. Unfortunately a friend had a very tiny car parked across the street that was completely invisible and now has a small-but-obvious dent in the side over the rear driver's-side wheel. (I thought I just bumped the curb lightly! There was no vehicle there, I swear!)
Between that and forgetting to bring the printed Google Maps directions, my arrival at bokunenjin's was late, though I did managed to arrive after getting turned around twice. She was ready to go by the time I parked, so we hoped in her car and headed to Greenbelt. I did my best not to be too loud or rambling on the drive this time, though I still talked more than usual for me, which is something I'm still trying to learn how to handle. Having arrived first, we got the green wristbands that gave us entry to the event and awaited hasufin and stardansr's arrival, which was shortly after our own. We were all greeted by the security team, who were cosplaying as various Star Wars characters, including Leia (as Princess Organa), a Jawa, several Storm Troopers, and some people in costumes which were familiar but not immediately recognizable by someone who isn't a hardcore Star Wars fan. ^*^;
We explored the Visitor Center to find the free food and spent time chatting near the mock landing module. Soon enough, we moved to explore further, breezing through the band hall (we never saw whatever band was supposed to play) to get drink tickets (except for me, of course) and made our way into the star chamber. The star chamber, which sounds like it could be any number of things, was a sort of planetarium that, instead of projecting stars on the ceiling, had projectors at each corner of the room, all aimed at a large globe in the center. The purpose of this was to create realistic representations of solar bodies on the sphere, composited from many images we've taken of the sun and the various planets and moons in our system. It was great to see such high-res 3-D representations comparing Jupiter's moon, Europa, and Saturn's moon, Enceladus, as well as images demonstrating topography, systems which effect climate change, and even displaying methane trails or the like.
None of us spent much time in the party tent, where DJ Scientific provided music and plenty of drinks were available. (He wasn't a bad DJ, and his selection was good, but his lists weren't organized for smooth transitions, and he jumped between time periods and genres in ways that could be jaunting.) We did spend a good deal of time outside, past the tent, where a couple of astronomers had their telescopes with them. These weren't the sorts of telescopes a normal hobbyist would keep at home; they were the kinds that can cost many thousands of dollars. We got to see things like Mars, the Beehive Cluster, Saturn, and the Globular Cluster. The astronomers wanted to explore the sky more, but most people were interested in seeing Saturn, what with it's easily identifiable rings. stardansr was trying very had to contain the bulk of her squee and force into the ground, and I stuck around to make sure the power of her squee didn't disrupt the nuclear dynamo in Earth's core.. ee
We all decided we'd had a good even and were tired enough to call it a night around 11:30 p.m., even though the event lasted another hour and a half. That time instead got us all home, so I arrived before the official end of the belated housewarming party at 2:00 a.m. and stayed up late with the few remaining guests, probably conversing too loudly for those who were already asleep or trying to get there. (Volume control is one thing that needs work; often too loud or too quiet.)
Sunday was yet more time spent with friends, playing a D&D game that could have ran more smoothly but went pretty well. Every new session is more practice to try and become a better DM for my roommates and our mutual friends. I'm still a mess, especially as it gets toward the end of the session and several hours have past, but I'm improving and gaining some confidence. I understand a lot more about running a game now than I did when I first started, even while understanding the essential facts of the game, and now it's mostly the job of experience and feedback to help me improve.
Today is mostly a lazy day, as the weekend is tiring and I don't have anything special to do until tomorrow, when I have a psychiatry appointment. Once I get my methylphenidate prescription filled after that, I'll be heading to New Jersey to see friends and family and let my parents pamper me for my birthday, though I can't be sure whether it will take an hour or four days to get the prescription filled. Hopefully I'll be able to do it within a day and sleep in my parents' guest room Tuesday night. I'm really excited about the thought of reading Introduction to Syndemics: A Critical Systems Approach to Public and Community Health, which I believe my parents have gotten me for my birthday. (^*^) In the meantime, I'm thinking of taking a nap and figuring out how the next D&D session, not to occur for a couple of weeks, will go. Ciao!
Between that and forgetting to bring the printed Google Maps directions, my arrival at bokunenjin's was late, though I did managed to arrive after getting turned around twice. She was ready to go by the time I parked, so we hoped in her car and headed to Greenbelt. I did my best not to be too loud or rambling on the drive this time, though I still talked more than usual for me, which is something I'm still trying to learn how to handle. Having arrived first, we got the green wristbands that gave us entry to the event and awaited hasufin and stardansr's arrival, which was shortly after our own. We were all greeted by the security team, who were cosplaying as various Star Wars characters, including Leia (as Princess Organa), a Jawa, several Storm Troopers, and some people in costumes which were familiar but not immediately recognizable by someone who isn't a hardcore Star Wars fan. ^*^;
We explored the Visitor Center to find the free food and spent time chatting near the mock landing module. Soon enough, we moved to explore further, breezing through the band hall (we never saw whatever band was supposed to play) to get drink tickets (except for me, of course) and made our way into the star chamber. The star chamber, which sounds like it could be any number of things, was a sort of planetarium that, instead of projecting stars on the ceiling, had projectors at each corner of the room, all aimed at a large globe in the center. The purpose of this was to create realistic representations of solar bodies on the sphere, composited from many images we've taken of the sun and the various planets and moons in our system. It was great to see such high-res 3-D representations comparing Jupiter's moon, Europa, and Saturn's moon, Enceladus, as well as images demonstrating topography, systems which effect climate change, and even displaying methane trails or the like.
None of us spent much time in the party tent, where DJ Scientific provided music and plenty of drinks were available. (He wasn't a bad DJ, and his selection was good, but his lists weren't organized for smooth transitions, and he jumped between time periods and genres in ways that could be jaunting.) We did spend a good deal of time outside, past the tent, where a couple of astronomers had their telescopes with them. These weren't the sorts of telescopes a normal hobbyist would keep at home; they were the kinds that can cost many thousands of dollars. We got to see things like Mars, the Beehive Cluster, Saturn, and the Globular Cluster. The astronomers wanted to explore the sky more, but most people were interested in seeing Saturn, what with it's easily identifiable rings. stardansr was trying very had to contain the bulk of her squee and force into the ground, and I stuck around to make sure the power of her squee didn't disrupt the nuclear dynamo in Earth's core.. ee
We all decided we'd had a good even and were tired enough to call it a night around 11:30 p.m., even though the event lasted another hour and a half. That time instead got us all home, so I arrived before the official end of the belated housewarming party at 2:00 a.m. and stayed up late with the few remaining guests, probably conversing too loudly for those who were already asleep or trying to get there. (Volume control is one thing that needs work; often too loud or too quiet.)
Sunday was yet more time spent with friends, playing a D&D game that could have ran more smoothly but went pretty well. Every new session is more practice to try and become a better DM for my roommates and our mutual friends. I'm still a mess, especially as it gets toward the end of the session and several hours have past, but I'm improving and gaining some confidence. I understand a lot more about running a game now than I did when I first started, even while understanding the essential facts of the game, and now it's mostly the job of experience and feedback to help me improve.
Today is mostly a lazy day, as the weekend is tiring and I don't have anything special to do until tomorrow, when I have a psychiatry appointment. Once I get my methylphenidate prescription filled after that, I'll be heading to New Jersey to see friends and family and let my parents pamper me for my birthday, though I can't be sure whether it will take an hour or four days to get the prescription filled. Hopefully I'll be able to do it within a day and sleep in my parents' guest room Tuesday night. I'm really excited about the thought of reading Introduction to Syndemics: A Critical Systems Approach to Public and Community Health, which I believe my parents have gotten me for my birthday. (^*^) In the meantime, I'm thinking of taking a nap and figuring out how the next D&D session, not to occur for a couple of weeks, will go. Ciao!