Put your hands together if Pierre becomes smiley face (Let's see if LJ stays up long enough to post)
Well, I had a good weekend. Did you?
On Saturday, I met up with recrudescence at the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, where we window-shopped the stalls of kimonos and crafts, sampled veggie dumplings and taiyaki filled with sweet bean paste, marveled at the decked-out cosplayers, and lasted at least 10 minutes before we started talking about fic. There was a pair of shamisen players called the SeShami Street Boys who were equally skilled at their instruments and at showmanship-making silly poses between pieces and playing while climbing over each other, etc. Their clip starts at 2:15 in that link; some banter, and then a rock performance. Almost as awesome was that I got some adorable organ stickers. I think recrudescence will be doing a picspam of the afternoon, so look out for that. ETA: here.
Yesterday I attempted my first fruit crisp to bring to an in-house recital by a friend and her husband. Both of them turned out beautifully. It was such a treat to sit in their cozy apartment with a handful of their friends and neighbors, listening to them perform (violin and digital piano), and then talking with them until bedtime. Finland, politics, musicianship, the way doctoral ceremonies and celebrations vary across countries (swords and top hats and red carpets! vs. a perfunctory stamp on a piece of paper), the rules of American football. The sort of laid-back intellectual stimulation I've been missing since leaving an academic setting. Or I should say rather - the sort of non-fannish intellectual stimulation I've been missing. Fandom and fannish friends are glorious, too.
Man, I do have piano envy, though. After last night I am seriously considering researching electric pianos to see the cost and feasibility of getting one for my apartment with this freelance money that's been sitting around. I miss playing, and there'd be headphones to avoid bothering any neighbors. At the same time, I'm not confident enough in my time management skills or energy level-even when it comes to hobbies-see also lack of fic and vids lately-to be sure I'd play it enough to make it a worthwhile investment. ETA: Never mind, they're $2K+.
The weekend also featured two lovely trips over to deelaundry's house and the commencement of a new book-Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace-the first essay of which, about the Adult Video Awards in Vegas in 1998, was both a hoot and a 50-page study in wry observation.
Oh, and there was Joe Flanigan's made-for-SyFy movie, Ferocious Planet. Ugh, those are IQ points I'm not getting back. Yet it was worth one watch-or half-watch, since I was reading at the same time-for the Continuing Adventures of John Sheppard, Except In Army Fatigues. Similar personality, same hair, same backstory, same bracelet, only with dinosaurs instead of Wraith and a Sliders machine instead of a Stargate.
The only thing missing from the weekend was having today off, too. We came close with the government shutdown fiasco, but as you know, everything remained open after all. A furlough would have been inconvenient, disruptive and/or disastrous for a lot of people and their projects. Still, on a purely personal level, I could have used the time to lounge around reading or playing with potential Kink Bingo stories or poking at a vid. I need to poke at a vid. Any vid. It's been more than three months now.
Happy Monday, with Mexican buffet and enough degrees Fahrenheit to warrant a sundress.
On Saturday, I met up with recrudescence at the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, where we window-shopped the stalls of kimonos and crafts, sampled veggie dumplings and taiyaki filled with sweet bean paste, marveled at the decked-out cosplayers, and lasted at least 10 minutes before we started talking about fic. There was a pair of shamisen players called the SeShami Street Boys who were equally skilled at their instruments and at showmanship-making silly poses between pieces and playing while climbing over each other, etc. Their clip starts at 2:15 in that link; some banter, and then a rock performance. Almost as awesome was that I got some adorable organ stickers. I think recrudescence will be doing a picspam of the afternoon, so look out for that. ETA: here.
Yesterday I attempted my first fruit crisp to bring to an in-house recital by a friend and her husband. Both of them turned out beautifully. It was such a treat to sit in their cozy apartment with a handful of their friends and neighbors, listening to them perform (violin and digital piano), and then talking with them until bedtime. Finland, politics, musicianship, the way doctoral ceremonies and celebrations vary across countries (swords and top hats and red carpets! vs. a perfunctory stamp on a piece of paper), the rules of American football. The sort of laid-back intellectual stimulation I've been missing since leaving an academic setting. Or I should say rather - the sort of non-fannish intellectual stimulation I've been missing. Fandom and fannish friends are glorious, too.
Man, I do have piano envy, though. After last night I am seriously considering researching electric pianos to see the cost and feasibility of getting one for my apartment with this freelance money that's been sitting around. I miss playing, and there'd be headphones to avoid bothering any neighbors. At the same time, I'm not confident enough in my time management skills or energy level-even when it comes to hobbies-see also lack of fic and vids lately-to be sure I'd play it enough to make it a worthwhile investment. ETA: Never mind, they're $2K+.
The weekend also featured two lovely trips over to deelaundry's house and the commencement of a new book-Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace-the first essay of which, about the Adult Video Awards in Vegas in 1998, was both a hoot and a 50-page study in wry observation.
Oh, and there was Joe Flanigan's made-for-SyFy movie, Ferocious Planet. Ugh, those are IQ points I'm not getting back. Yet it was worth one watch-or half-watch, since I was reading at the same time-for the Continuing Adventures of John Sheppard, Except In Army Fatigues. Similar personality, same hair, same backstory, same bracelet, only with dinosaurs instead of Wraith and a Sliders machine instead of a Stargate.
The only thing missing from the weekend was having today off, too. We came close with the government shutdown fiasco, but as you know, everything remained open after all. A furlough would have been inconvenient, disruptive and/or disastrous for a lot of people and their projects. Still, on a purely personal level, I could have used the time to lounge around reading or playing with potential Kink Bingo stories or poking at a vid. I need to poke at a vid. Any vid. It's been more than three months now.
Happy Monday, with Mexican buffet and enough degrees Fahrenheit to warrant a sundress.