POAST
Okay, so I can has the makings of a real post, right? I have things to say. I am not a Facebook addict. I'd say I'm also not a Twitter addict, but I don't see a reason to even mention Twitter in that regard, because I only ever use it to update my Facebook and read other people's Twitters. >.> But yes... not addicted. I promise. It's just... so much easier to post to those, and not feel guilty. After all, when I only have a sentence or two to say, I'd hate to make a LJ update about so little. Add to that the fact that Twitter compiles everything I've said for the day into LJ (is it doing that guys? I can't see them but it says it does), and it just doesn't feel right making an LJ post for trivialities.
That said, let's talk about the non-trivial, shall we? Non-trivial topics include:
The fact that I am a yard-sale-a-holic;
The fact that I never seem to get anything accomplished on the weekends;
The fact that weekends tend to be boring and lonely unless a local friend is free for the hang-outs;
The fact that I want local friends to come have a Pancake Picnic In The Park with me this Saturday;
The fact that last Saturday was the awesome; and
The fact that I should really make a post about why last Saturday was the awesome.
Let's see if we can take these one by one and assess them, shall we?
1. I am a yard-sale-a-holic. I should amend this to say "when I am alone or with like minded individuals on a weekend." I see yard sale signs, and I want to pull over. I see community yard sale signs, and I can rarely resist. Thrift store sales and antique market 'outdoor' events are, likewise, irresistible. I simply can't help myself. It's fun, and it's an addiction. I should probably curb the habit to an extent, at least. I wind up bringing very little home, but when I do I can spend up to $20 a weekend. While not the most expensive habit I've known people to have, it's also not "saving every penny" like I would prefer to do. Plus there's the fact that I drive around all day looking at things and never come home to finish chores! Bad me. So yes, have to stop doing that... somehow. Kick me if you hear me boasting about picking something up from a garage sale for the next few months, eh, friends? And I'll try to be good and take to the podium to admit my addiction whenever I make a new purchase, in hopes of shaming myself into actually quitting the habit like I want to. Or at least curbing it. XD But it's so tempting!
2. This one definitely has a lot to do with #1. I'm out all weekend trolling garage sales and antique markets, and never actually get home long enough to get things done. On Saturdays this is rather irrelevant, as Joel gets off work at 2pm, and there's not much that can be done in the time between. Those days, I should go home, eat brunch, and clean or do chores if I feel awake enough. After I pick up Joel, that's usually our time together. I don't expect to get anything accomplished then. However, I have no excuse for not getting things done on Sunday. I usually wake up late, which is probably for the best as it's my only time to catch up sleep (especially if I was "bad" and stayed up to 3am the night before).
Joel starts work at noon most Sundays, and will not be off work until 8pm. This is plenty of time to get groceries, go home, and do chores. If I don't have chores to do (it will take a couple of weekends of diligence before this comes about, as I've been slacking and I am not a fast worker), I should be working on crafts and my usual hobbies that should be keeping me home for minimal costs. I enjoy sewing. I enjoy working in clay. The thing is, I rarely indulge in these because it takes real work to get the crafting areas ready for such a venture. No more! I must be diligent.
3. This one can't be helped. Like Joel, many of our local friends are not fortunate enough to have the fixed schedule I have. On top of that, a lot of them have families, or live 1+ hours out. They have other responsibilities, their own chores that they're actually better about getting done, and their own lives. My friends do not exist solely for my entertainment. I cannot expect them to. Still, it gets frightfully lonely. I need to figure out a way to kick the loneliness, so that I am not constantly begging (for that is what it feels like on my end) my friends to spend time with me. I believe that my frequent binge-garage-sailing has also been an extension of this, as it is a way to ignore the fact that I am alone. There are people to talk to at garage sales and antique stores, after all. This shouldn't be my life, though, should it? I'm thinking that if I can kick my butt into doing chores and geting the craft areas ready, I'll be more comfortable being alone.
That's my major problem, really. I don't like to be alone. If I'm brutally honest, that's what it all boils down to. I guess my self esteem isn't as built up as I thought it was. XD I can't help it entirely. If someone asked me to list my biggest fear, it would probably be "being alone." Still, I do need to face the fear. It shouldn't debilitate me, and it shouldn't make me dependent on others' company. I can live for myself, and entertain myself. I just have to prove it to myself before I'll really... want to do it.
4. Of course, I list this after I spill my guts and say I'm going to stop relying on my friends to entertain me. Still, I think it's okay to want to be with friends. What's the point of having friends if you never see or talk to them? And what better way to spend time with friends than to do something fun and inexpensive? As I posted on Twitter and Facebook (though I have no clue if the link hit LiveJournal), Saturday is Free Pancake Day at Centennial Olympic Park (click). That is to say, there will be a huge event with all-you-can-eat pancakes. I was thinking that it would be neat to go as a group (or at least meet up there).
I have a picnic basket and a bottle of Country Kitchen syrup. I could probably scrounge up a blanket I'm willing to throw on the grass pretty easily (unless someone else has a picnic blanket they'd like to offer up?). I have ice packs, and a cooler if we decide we need it (though it's big, and might stay in the car). I can probably even bring several one-serving bottles of orange juice (or apple juice for those so inclined) for whoever can make it. Would anyone care to join me in the morning? If people wanted, they could bring butter or preserves or something for the pancakes, since I have no clue if anything is provided other than the pancakes themselves. I may even bring some plates/utensils just in case. Definitely will be bringing some napkins. But anyway. People? Anyone think they'd like to make this a morning with me? Speak now, or forever hold your peace!
5. This shall combine both #5 and #6, since, after all, all #5 said was "it was awesome" while #6 is meant to explain how/why. So, Saturday. You wonder, don't you? I went to Anachrocon on Saturday. While Anachrocon used to just be an annual Time Traveler's Ball, recently it became a one-day convention. I hear whisperings that it will become a full-weekend event in the coming years. I was so busy Friday and into Saturday putting myself together (plus Joel went to work) that I did not get there until somewhere around 7:00pm, bypassing every last one of the panels, which I regret immensely. I still got to poke around the lovely dealers' room (which I hope to see grow in the next few years, and who knows, maybe one day I can sell there too?), and managed to snag dinner (throughout the night) in the awesome con suite (which was part of the dealers' room, as this was a small convention).
The dance officially 'began' at 8pm, but it was pretty hopping before then, too. There was a wonderful DJ (I don't know your name, sadness! You were so awesome and I'd have liked to get to know you more!), an open tap (run by a Scotsman - no, I don't know what was on tap other than "beer"), and an open bar (run by a Pirate who really knew his liquor and brought about 1/3 of his personal bar). Much dancing and laughing was to be had. I threw together my costume the night before/day of, and got a bunch of compliments on the makeshift job (pictures to come once I find some). The first dance (the floor was still empty by then), I tried to swing dance in my 24 hour steampunk (complete with bustle consisting of 7 yards of safety-pinned fabric) with immortallander. This lasted only a few steps before he started getting too crazy-footed and I started tearing off my poor bustle.
Cue me asking for help to unpin the fabric, and tossing it on an empty chair where it would sit for the rest of the night. I had the butt-pillow, but no seven yard trailer. There was much drinking to be had. I started the night with a light rum & coke (light rum, not light on the rum, though I didn't learn that until later). I got about 1/3 of the way through, put it down, and someone walked off with it when I had my back turned--which was for the best as I shouldn't have picked it back up anyway once I took my eye off it. I went back to ask for another drink, and he asked me what he'd given me because he'd forgotten. I tell him rum & coke, so he makes me one. A proper one. One he would've made anyone else. >.>
This rum & coke made me shudder after every tiny sip. I didn't like the taste, and it just hit me wrong. It was too strong. My habit for drinks is "whet your lips or just a smidge more." I decided "you know, maybe that isn't good for this drink." I took a normal sip, like one would with a regular soda. Shuddering lessened, taste not nearly so bad. Hmm, I might be on to something. Get about an inch free in my glass, and go back to the pirate to ask for more coke. Swig. Aaaaaah. This second drink was suddenly better than the first! I nursed it for a while, dancing and having a good old time, before finishing it.
It was very good. Near the end of this drink, I decided "hmmm, I feel a bit off, I should stick food in my stomach NAO." I am no experienced drinker. I do not know my limits, nor how my body reacts to things. I have had one drinking experience prior to this. Drinking is not common for me, nor will it ever be. Especially since my first incident, I am extremely careful. (First incident can be summed up as: ticket to ride, lay a track drink a shot, yaeger. If you assume this means I got plastered off my arse and consequentially very, very sick, you would be right. I now know better about a lot of things.) Anyway. Con suite, eating hard boiled eggs (hurray diet friendly!) with a good amount of salt and a bottle of water. Once I felt normal (save for the loose lips, impossible to feel shy thing) again, I returned to the party.
I think I went back and forth to the con suite several times over the course of the night. I ate maybe a dozen hard boiled eggs, and a cup of pork and beans. I was on my second bottle of water by the end of the night, and lucky I got it as they had run out (and the hotel sold it for $2 a bottle!). An awesome band played (The Extraordinary Contraptions), and everyone rocked out. I was flirted with/hit on by 1) the Scotsman, 2) the Pirate, and 3) the head of either MomoCon or DragonCon con suite (Lander told me, but he was plastered and I don't really recall anymore myself). It was incredibly flattering and a bit overwhelming the closer I got to 'absolutely sober,' mostly because OMG am I incredibly unfamiliar with how to take a compliment from a stranger! XD
Anywhoot. At some point I ordered a third drink. Knowing that the second drink was too strong, I said "light rum & coke." That was a mistake. This is when I learned that "light" means "use a lighter rum." Said rum tastes like vanilla, and I'm not a big vanilla coke fan. About 1/2 the way through this glass, I started feeling off, and took my now-familiar trip to the con suite (where a poor army or national guard or something boy was praying to the garbage can and otherwise miserable). The eggs weren't helping as much as usual, so I sat, and when I did not immediately feel tip-top, I nodded to myself, and asked the woman running con suite to dispose of my drink. I wasn't drinking anymore for the rest of the night (though I did eat a couple more eggs later in the evening).
Back and forth, party and dancing, occasionally hanging with Lander, occasionally talking to random strangers and just having fun. One girl (who reminded me a ton of Amber from Orlando oh so long ago) put my email into her phone. I wish I'd done the same. I hope she emails me. She was fun. Party party dance. Eventually, late into the night (12:30, 1am?), the Syrens of the South started their performance. XD Syrens of the South is a burlesque production company, and the ladies (and one gentleman who did an awesome magic act) were simply superb! I had a front row seat, which I assure you is the best way to watch one of these shows. Hah! I even had a small bit in the last act, where I got smothered by the lovely lady who will be premiering in Las Vegas in the near future!
The show really made me consider the art style. It's a lot of fun, the costume construction is intriguing and has a lot of places you could go with it. It would help my self esteem, give me exercise, and hopefully help me get a little more rhythm. Helps that Syrens of the South actually teaches classes. So yea, something I'd definitely consider when I have the expendable income again that isn't going to the wedding or the trivialities to keep life going. (Though friends with an interest in seeing me take up the hobby are welcome to put money towards a donation fun to get me some classes, if they'd like. ^_~)
The night wound down. We chatted with people. We had fun. I did everything in my power to make Lander stop drinking and start eating so he could sober up, and then I made sure he was safe to drive and followed him all the way home in my own car just to be sure when we left. We talked with the heads of the con near the end, who offered to let us be the first Eternal Members for a price (a rather tempting price, though I don't know if I should consider it what with all the other things I want to put my money towards this coming year). I suppose we'll see how things turn out months up the line.
But yes, much fun was to be had. I highly recommend the convention to anyone considering it next year. I hope to return next year, if nothing else, with a much better, not 24-hour costume at that point. I swear I will post pictures just as soon as I can find some/have some. Hopefully someone got a good shot of me in my costume. If not, I got at least one shot of myself (at an antique store where I was trying to see if I could find an accessory to complete the outfit) on the camera phone that I can upload later. Not the greatest, but it gives you an idea. <3
I guess that's all for now. That enough of a real post for you guys? See, when I promise, it may take a while... but I do deliver. Hope it was worth the read! ::smoochies to all::
That said, let's talk about the non-trivial, shall we? Non-trivial topics include:
The fact that I am a yard-sale-a-holic;
The fact that I never seem to get anything accomplished on the weekends;
The fact that weekends tend to be boring and lonely unless a local friend is free for the hang-outs;
The fact that I want local friends to come have a Pancake Picnic In The Park with me this Saturday;
The fact that last Saturday was the awesome; and
The fact that I should really make a post about why last Saturday was the awesome.
Let's see if we can take these one by one and assess them, shall we?
1. I am a yard-sale-a-holic. I should amend this to say "when I am alone or with like minded individuals on a weekend." I see yard sale signs, and I want to pull over. I see community yard sale signs, and I can rarely resist. Thrift store sales and antique market 'outdoor' events are, likewise, irresistible. I simply can't help myself. It's fun, and it's an addiction. I should probably curb the habit to an extent, at least. I wind up bringing very little home, but when I do I can spend up to $20 a weekend. While not the most expensive habit I've known people to have, it's also not "saving every penny" like I would prefer to do. Plus there's the fact that I drive around all day looking at things and never come home to finish chores! Bad me. So yes, have to stop doing that... somehow. Kick me if you hear me boasting about picking something up from a garage sale for the next few months, eh, friends? And I'll try to be good and take to the podium to admit my addiction whenever I make a new purchase, in hopes of shaming myself into actually quitting the habit like I want to. Or at least curbing it. XD But it's so tempting!
2. This one definitely has a lot to do with #1. I'm out all weekend trolling garage sales and antique markets, and never actually get home long enough to get things done. On Saturdays this is rather irrelevant, as Joel gets off work at 2pm, and there's not much that can be done in the time between. Those days, I should go home, eat brunch, and clean or do chores if I feel awake enough. After I pick up Joel, that's usually our time together. I don't expect to get anything accomplished then. However, I have no excuse for not getting things done on Sunday. I usually wake up late, which is probably for the best as it's my only time to catch up sleep (especially if I was "bad" and stayed up to 3am the night before).
Joel starts work at noon most Sundays, and will not be off work until 8pm. This is plenty of time to get groceries, go home, and do chores. If I don't have chores to do (it will take a couple of weekends of diligence before this comes about, as I've been slacking and I am not a fast worker), I should be working on crafts and my usual hobbies that should be keeping me home for minimal costs. I enjoy sewing. I enjoy working in clay. The thing is, I rarely indulge in these because it takes real work to get the crafting areas ready for such a venture. No more! I must be diligent.
3. This one can't be helped. Like Joel, many of our local friends are not fortunate enough to have the fixed schedule I have. On top of that, a lot of them have families, or live 1+ hours out. They have other responsibilities, their own chores that they're actually better about getting done, and their own lives. My friends do not exist solely for my entertainment. I cannot expect them to. Still, it gets frightfully lonely. I need to figure out a way to kick the loneliness, so that I am not constantly begging (for that is what it feels like on my end) my friends to spend time with me. I believe that my frequent binge-garage-sailing has also been an extension of this, as it is a way to ignore the fact that I am alone. There are people to talk to at garage sales and antique stores, after all. This shouldn't be my life, though, should it? I'm thinking that if I can kick my butt into doing chores and geting the craft areas ready, I'll be more comfortable being alone.
That's my major problem, really. I don't like to be alone. If I'm brutally honest, that's what it all boils down to. I guess my self esteem isn't as built up as I thought it was. XD I can't help it entirely. If someone asked me to list my biggest fear, it would probably be "being alone." Still, I do need to face the fear. It shouldn't debilitate me, and it shouldn't make me dependent on others' company. I can live for myself, and entertain myself. I just have to prove it to myself before I'll really... want to do it.
4. Of course, I list this after I spill my guts and say I'm going to stop relying on my friends to entertain me. Still, I think it's okay to want to be with friends. What's the point of having friends if you never see or talk to them? And what better way to spend time with friends than to do something fun and inexpensive? As I posted on Twitter and Facebook (though I have no clue if the link hit LiveJournal), Saturday is Free Pancake Day at Centennial Olympic Park (click). That is to say, there will be a huge event with all-you-can-eat pancakes. I was thinking that it would be neat to go as a group (or at least meet up there).
I have a picnic basket and a bottle of Country Kitchen syrup. I could probably scrounge up a blanket I'm willing to throw on the grass pretty easily (unless someone else has a picnic blanket they'd like to offer up?). I have ice packs, and a cooler if we decide we need it (though it's big, and might stay in the car). I can probably even bring several one-serving bottles of orange juice (or apple juice for those so inclined) for whoever can make it. Would anyone care to join me in the morning? If people wanted, they could bring butter or preserves or something for the pancakes, since I have no clue if anything is provided other than the pancakes themselves. I may even bring some plates/utensils just in case. Definitely will be bringing some napkins. But anyway. People? Anyone think they'd like to make this a morning with me? Speak now, or forever hold your peace!
5. This shall combine both #5 and #6, since, after all, all #5 said was "it was awesome" while #6 is meant to explain how/why. So, Saturday. You wonder, don't you? I went to Anachrocon on Saturday. While Anachrocon used to just be an annual Time Traveler's Ball, recently it became a one-day convention. I hear whisperings that it will become a full-weekend event in the coming years. I was so busy Friday and into Saturday putting myself together (plus Joel went to work) that I did not get there until somewhere around 7:00pm, bypassing every last one of the panels, which I regret immensely. I still got to poke around the lovely dealers' room (which I hope to see grow in the next few years, and who knows, maybe one day I can sell there too?), and managed to snag dinner (throughout the night) in the awesome con suite (which was part of the dealers' room, as this was a small convention).
The dance officially 'began' at 8pm, but it was pretty hopping before then, too. There was a wonderful DJ (I don't know your name, sadness! You were so awesome and I'd have liked to get to know you more!), an open tap (run by a Scotsman - no, I don't know what was on tap other than "beer"), and an open bar (run by a Pirate who really knew his liquor and brought about 1/3 of his personal bar). Much dancing and laughing was to be had. I threw together my costume the night before/day of, and got a bunch of compliments on the makeshift job (pictures to come once I find some). The first dance (the floor was still empty by then), I tried to swing dance in my 24 hour steampunk (complete with bustle consisting of 7 yards of safety-pinned fabric) with immortallander. This lasted only a few steps before he started getting too crazy-footed and I started tearing off my poor bustle.
Cue me asking for help to unpin the fabric, and tossing it on an empty chair where it would sit for the rest of the night. I had the butt-pillow, but no seven yard trailer. There was much drinking to be had. I started the night with a light rum & coke (light rum, not light on the rum, though I didn't learn that until later). I got about 1/3 of the way through, put it down, and someone walked off with it when I had my back turned--which was for the best as I shouldn't have picked it back up anyway once I took my eye off it. I went back to ask for another drink, and he asked me what he'd given me because he'd forgotten. I tell him rum & coke, so he makes me one. A proper one. One he would've made anyone else. >.>
This rum & coke made me shudder after every tiny sip. I didn't like the taste, and it just hit me wrong. It was too strong. My habit for drinks is "whet your lips or just a smidge more." I decided "you know, maybe that isn't good for this drink." I took a normal sip, like one would with a regular soda. Shuddering lessened, taste not nearly so bad. Hmm, I might be on to something. Get about an inch free in my glass, and go back to the pirate to ask for more coke. Swig. Aaaaaah. This second drink was suddenly better than the first! I nursed it for a while, dancing and having a good old time, before finishing it.
It was very good. Near the end of this drink, I decided "hmmm, I feel a bit off, I should stick food in my stomach NAO." I am no experienced drinker. I do not know my limits, nor how my body reacts to things. I have had one drinking experience prior to this. Drinking is not common for me, nor will it ever be. Especially since my first incident, I am extremely careful. (First incident can be summed up as: ticket to ride, lay a track drink a shot, yaeger. If you assume this means I got plastered off my arse and consequentially very, very sick, you would be right. I now know better about a lot of things.) Anyway. Con suite, eating hard boiled eggs (hurray diet friendly!) with a good amount of salt and a bottle of water. Once I felt normal (save for the loose lips, impossible to feel shy thing) again, I returned to the party.
I think I went back and forth to the con suite several times over the course of the night. I ate maybe a dozen hard boiled eggs, and a cup of pork and beans. I was on my second bottle of water by the end of the night, and lucky I got it as they had run out (and the hotel sold it for $2 a bottle!). An awesome band played (The Extraordinary Contraptions), and everyone rocked out. I was flirted with/hit on by 1) the Scotsman, 2) the Pirate, and 3) the head of either MomoCon or DragonCon con suite (Lander told me, but he was plastered and I don't really recall anymore myself). It was incredibly flattering and a bit overwhelming the closer I got to 'absolutely sober,' mostly because OMG am I incredibly unfamiliar with how to take a compliment from a stranger! XD
Anywhoot. At some point I ordered a third drink. Knowing that the second drink was too strong, I said "light rum & coke." That was a mistake. This is when I learned that "light" means "use a lighter rum." Said rum tastes like vanilla, and I'm not a big vanilla coke fan. About 1/2 the way through this glass, I started feeling off, and took my now-familiar trip to the con suite (where a poor army or national guard or something boy was praying to the garbage can and otherwise miserable). The eggs weren't helping as much as usual, so I sat, and when I did not immediately feel tip-top, I nodded to myself, and asked the woman running con suite to dispose of my drink. I wasn't drinking anymore for the rest of the night (though I did eat a couple more eggs later in the evening).
Back and forth, party and dancing, occasionally hanging with Lander, occasionally talking to random strangers and just having fun. One girl (who reminded me a ton of Amber from Orlando oh so long ago) put my email into her phone. I wish I'd done the same. I hope she emails me. She was fun. Party party dance. Eventually, late into the night (12:30, 1am?), the Syrens of the South started their performance. XD Syrens of the South is a burlesque production company, and the ladies (and one gentleman who did an awesome magic act) were simply superb! I had a front row seat, which I assure you is the best way to watch one of these shows. Hah! I even had a small bit in the last act, where I got smothered by the lovely lady who will be premiering in Las Vegas in the near future!
The show really made me consider the art style. It's a lot of fun, the costume construction is intriguing and has a lot of places you could go with it. It would help my self esteem, give me exercise, and hopefully help me get a little more rhythm. Helps that Syrens of the South actually teaches classes. So yea, something I'd definitely consider when I have the expendable income again that isn't going to the wedding or the trivialities to keep life going. (Though friends with an interest in seeing me take up the hobby are welcome to put money towards a donation fun to get me some classes, if they'd like. ^_~)
The night wound down. We chatted with people. We had fun. I did everything in my power to make Lander stop drinking and start eating so he could sober up, and then I made sure he was safe to drive and followed him all the way home in my own car just to be sure when we left. We talked with the heads of the con near the end, who offered to let us be the first Eternal Members for a price (a rather tempting price, though I don't know if I should consider it what with all the other things I want to put my money towards this coming year). I suppose we'll see how things turn out months up the line.
But yes, much fun was to be had. I highly recommend the convention to anyone considering it next year. I hope to return next year, if nothing else, with a much better, not 24-hour costume at that point. I swear I will post pictures just as soon as I can find some/have some. Hopefully someone got a good shot of me in my costume. If not, I got at least one shot of myself (at an antique store where I was trying to see if I could find an accessory to complete the outfit) on the camera phone that I can upload later. Not the greatest, but it gives you an idea. <3
I guess that's all for now. That enough of a real post for you guys? See, when I promise, it may take a while... but I do deliver. Hope it was worth the read! ::smoochies to all::