Recently
Recently, a lot has happened.
I've been a terrible LJ friend, due to lack of spoons and distractions and a continuing AT&T problem where we get spotty connections, call them, they remotely connect, and automagically they see no problem. Then hours later, no connection, rinse, repeat. We don't even call anymore. Sigh. And then they send letters saying Uverse is available and we call and they say no not for you. I'm __( )__ this close to switching. And then I think about email accounts we've had since the nineties, and wait to see it maybe it'll get better.
So - congrats on the new job, Dutchess, and I'm sending evil killing thoughts to jadie_jamie and ace_lightning's mutant cells, and I'm glad the universe is occasionally being nicer to people like rowan, and don't worry, the Doctor will return, and regenerate, and we'll love him.
I was accepted back to Bloodview, thanks to unknown-to-me machinations, and I decided to try and see if I could withstand the rigors of being a monster for fun and charity, or if I even still wanted to do it. No question, I'm hooked again. Horror improv acting and SPFX makeup is so much fun, an great creative outlet, and yes, a great way to take out all of the frustration of the past 5 years. It hurts, though, and I do mean physically -- like almost every other time I start up something physically demanding, I overdid it. The first weekend I was ok, because I only did Saturday night, and then there was a week of rest, and then....
Chicago!
One of my favorite cities in the world, just like Cleveland only sideways and bigger, and with a lot more going on in the city center. Cleveland's downtown looks like a ghost town next to it. And, while visiting said city's center, we got to meet the delightful kaffyr for coffee at Lavazza (which lives up the the hype in its reviews, thankfully). She is as erudite in person as online, and I was happy we got a chance to meet up. While we were chatting, a demonstration against US drones in Syria marched by; scores of people with signs and pamphlets, including one in the mandatory death's head rubber mask, and I was momentarily transported back to the seventies. Then I realized I couldn't smell the mimeograph fluid on the cut-and-paste manifesto poem because it was laser printed, and I came back to the present.
The 3D Printing Experience was everything I wanted it to be and more. We were able to see the printer I wanted in action, and determine that it's not really the printer I want. Even better, there's a lower-priced, better performing one. The husband quizzed the kids* on the mechanics of scanning that they use, and I was able to touch the guts of the machines and ask all the "whys" and "hows" and get real, practical answers.
I also saw a big nylon 3D laser printer, and fell in love. The patents will be expiring in a year or two, I was told, so hobby/start-up versions will be coming out then. Oh, how I love living in the 21st century! And if I can get a WildCat**, I'll stop asking for a flying car.
We did not get to do much of what we intended to do (steak dinner, lunch at Lawry's, river architecture cruise, segway rental) because of an organizational snafu involving credit cards left behind ("out where I'll remember to get them before I leave", he said, sigh) but we still managed to have a great weekend getaway - the Aloft at O'Hare was far more comfortable than I expected, and the clientele were mostly amusing, not annoying, and more hipster-wannabe than hipster. And it gave me a great piece of weirdness to end the weekend:
Waiting for the shuttle to take us to O'Hare, a guy in his early twenties in expensive casual wear who I had seen out in the courtyard earlier was out front, talking with a man in Aloft-branded suit jacket. The guy rushed inside to me, and stuck out his hand to shake. Startled, I shook his hand. "Matthew Lucifer. You remember? We talked? See? See?" He let go of my hand, and showed me the Dolce and Gabbana tag in his windbreaker, and a number of business and credit card in the unzipped pocket underneath. At that moment, the suit came up, hustled "Mr. Lucifer" away, and came back to apologize profusely. Evidently the guy had tried to check in earlier, had all his cards declined, and so he just hung around the lobby area til someone complained, and he was thrown out. The manager had been in the process of walking him out when the guy spotted me & said I was the owner of the hotel, and I had given him permission to stay there, and dashed back in. Far from being offended, I was amused, and I am still amused when I think about it. I've given him various backstories in my head, and I think this could be part of a cute short story. Well, cute in my twisted brain. Remember, I was amused by the crazy man, not terrified.
Then I worked at Bloodview for 3 days in a row. Yes, I was in pain. Yes, I overdid it. Yes, I kept going back. Yes, I'm having fun.
So... I've been poking zombies with a stick*** and other fun things. I'm trying to do a selfie every night that's there's not a professional photographer there. I've posted them all on Flickr in a set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marence/sets/72157636263026824/
And I have a new granddaughter, 11 weeks early. They want to keep her for 6 weeks from delivery, so maybe Thanksgiving but before Christmas if all goes well. She's currently a bit over 3 lbs, up from a birthweight of 2 lbs 6 oz.
So that's recently. I live in interesting times.
*Four staff members, all male, all under approximately 22. From our elderly vantage point, they're kids. This is not meant in any derogatory way.
**Remember the creepy BigDog robot Boston Acoustics made for DARPA? This is their new one. I want one real bad.
***Really!
