Twig, we got your package -- thank you so much, and artistic mayhem will definitely be committed with the contents as soon as we recover from the upcoming Pern club campout.

... which is now less than 3 weeks away. Yeek! The other Mews host this event each year (with help around the edges from me) - for at least 10 now. The event is part LARP, part extended story-jam, part just hanging around with friends, and a great big feast courtesy of the hard work of Rissicat. The event is usually a great deal of fun once it's up and running. Getting ready for it each year, however, is a *big* frazzle. Besides all the official club prep which I'm not even going to attempt to list, I have three outfits to sew before June 13. Oh yeah, and must finish the mold of my dragon-head sculpture so I can try casting it before then.

>_< I think I'm going to have to come to work to get some rest.

Have I lost my mind!?

...or just some weight off the top of it? And is it drafty in here...?

Okay, now that I've confused anyone unfortunate enough to be reading this... for the last week, the syndicated newspaper comic strip "Zits" has been featuring a storyline about the character Sara - frequently seen struggling with her hard-to-manage hair. Her mother talked Sara into having her hair cut so that she could donate it to a charity called "Locks of Love", which provides custom fitted wigs for children who have (for any number of medical reasons) lost their own hair.

I don't have a lot of cash that I can throw at various charities, but as Thorne, Kosagi, and the other Mews can verify, I have a LOT of hair.

Or at least... I used to. Eh heh heh. ^_^;;

This feels very weird; my head's all light and floaty. But hey, the mop grows fast, and it's already got a better headstart than the last time I started growing it out. Whee! And the "trophy" will be on its way to Locks of Love on Tuesday.

I don't know what they put in that cookie at Hoss' last night, but I'm blaming that (and possibly the influence of IMs with certain people) for the fact that I ended spending most of the night in "Weird Dream Snippet Land". @,@

To whatever bit of my subconscious decided to turn Kuja loose in a toy store... BIG mistake. *Very* big. Mincing little bugger summoned some Mist out of nowhere and used it to bring half the toys to life.
Kuja: "Let's see how all the kiddies like it when Elmo decides he's *tired* of getting tickled!"
(Former) Tickle-Me Elmo: "Help! Rape! Masher! Call the police!" (slaps wildly at small unsuspecting child)
Meanwhile, the plush Pikachu which had been sitting next to it on the clearance shelf is now licking a plastic knife with demented glee....

He never got to the Barbie aisle, though, so G-Cat, you can tell Kirin not to panic.

I've been trying to write on the fantasy foo, and this morning Rafe starts offering up bits... from the very *end* of the story. Not the beginning, which is what I was desperately trying to write; not even stuff from the middle. Noooo, he just wants to skip to all of this being over now, thankyew.
Me: "Uh, hello? What about this stuff? [taps computer screen] Y'know, all these blanks we have to fill in right here?"
Rafe: "Feh. Skip it."
Me: "...so you want me to just skip over you meeting Kinnyo?"
Rafe: ...*whine*

Tsaiko, {{{hugs}}} and condolences on the sucky temp job. I've been on that particular employment hamster-wheel, and it it can be a royal pain if you get the wrong assignment. (On the bright side, it is only temporary, and you have your escape date planned!)

Note to PennDOT: Hate you, hate your Orange Barrels of Doom, hate your "Road Work Ahead" signs. I left 15 minutes earlier than usual for work today, and after 10 minutes at a dead standstill and then backtracking to a different route, got here 20 minutes late. HATE you.

3-D!!!

...I made a sculpture! @,@ Okay, so technically it might be considered bas-relief or something like that (technical terms, gah) -- but since three-dimensional art has never been my specialty, I'm kind'a proud of this. Photo is of the Super-Sculpy original, which doesn't look terribly glamorous unpainted. G-Cat is helping me make a mold of it, though I'm not sure yet whether I'm going to try casting it in resin or paper.

Hate of the Day: coupons with restrictions printed in teeny-tiny white lettering on a light purple background, and snide cashiers who treat you like a Special Education student for not knowing about these conditions ahead of time. Quietly informing me I'd screwed up wasn't good enough -- no, she had to read the clause I missed out loud, at the top of her lungs, for everybody in the store to hear. >_< Grrrrr.

...and they're the only fabric store in town, so I can't even boycott them.

Slowly finding my brain cell...

...and coaxing it out of the dark corner that lack of sleep and general over-stimulation sent it crawling into yesterday. No matter how cushy my friend's couch cushions are, the darn thing was still about a foot too short for comfortable snoozing.

Had lots of fun visiting with our friends in Maryland. Then there was the Preakness, live and in person and we ended up only one layer of people off the rail right next to the track, although my stoopid digital camera went off about a second too soon to catch the leaders coming off the far turn, dammit. And watching "The Matrix Reloaded" on Sunday - w00t! - movie was amazing, even if I wished I could have turned down the volume about 2 notches.

And then, of course, dinner with Thorne! (Dinner and a show, really, since we sat at a hibachi table.) The restaurant name wasn't what gave us our one bit of trouble - it was me turning into the driveway for the auto dealership just before it instead, by mistake. And Thorne, I think "brilliant" comments is giving me waaaaaay too much credit. "Deranged", more like. X D

Okay: opinion moment. Final Fantasy X-2 OST. If you like Final Fantasy music... if you *loved* the FF VI through FFX soundtracks... do NOT buy this 2-CD set. >_< If, on the other hand, you're a fan of 70's cop show theme songs (or, as my co-worker Dave put it, pr0n movie soundtracks) then you'll probably love it. The vocal numbers aren't bad, and there are a *couple* of decent instrumental tracks on it, but 3/4 of the music made me cringe with the sheer amount of "wah-wah" sound effects. Mneh.

Oh, yeah... added AIM contact info in sidebar stuff, for anyone who might be interested (and doesn't already know my other AIM handle).

"Look, I'm tailgating Satan!"

(Rather long story behind that line, which will be explained in the household blog later.) The collective House of Mews arrived safe in Maryland last night. It's rainy this morning, so we're still trying to decide whether to make the trek out to Pimlico racetrack or whether to watch the race from the safe, dry apartment. (Wusses, ain't we?) X D

Thorne, if you're still having trouble getting through to your e-mail or IM, but can still read &/or post to Pitas... I can't post our host's phone number online, but if you want to choose a place to meet, just put it & the time in your blog. We can get directions either thru' a map program or from our friends. If you need a ride - eh, we'll work something out, okay? ^_^

Oh cool, you quoted "Loved by the Sun" in your new layout! (goes scrambling for her "Legend" soundtrack) Haven't heard that in far too long. ^_^

No inspiration yet, but I did get a late-night sushi dinner so life is good. *sigh*

Has anyone seen my motivation...?

...it's been missing for the last month or so, and it seems I haven't gotten jack over squat done since I got back home from all the hospital nonsense back in MI.

My apologies for not doing the social thing for far too long; I do appreciate everyone's well-wishes and truly believe they helped, considering how fast I bounced back physically from the surgery.

Art has been slowed down by the fact that my right hand is *still* sore from when the IV needle slipped out of my vein and proceeded to pump fluids into the surrounding tissues for who-knows-how-long, making my hand look like an overstuffed glove. Whee, disgusting *and* uncomfortable! All that swelling seems to have caused some deep bruising and a tender lump on one of the ulnar-side tendons. Blee. Fortunately for my continued employment, the soreness is all touch-sensitive and doesn't interfere with typing. (whew...) So long as I don't bump my wrist on anything - or rest it in the position I usually draw in - it's fine. >,<

So okay, if art is slow at best right now, maybe I should try working on writing instead. Right? Right! Now I just have to convince the figments! Twiggins offered to send me a BAB (Big-@$$ Boot) to help persuade them into proper fiction-encouraging behavior, but until it gets here any suggestions on "character herding" would be appreciated. Thank you.

{{{Hugs}}} to you - so sorry to hear about your emergency room experience, but I agree you should to be able to have fun giving out wacky and wildly contradictory explanations as to what happened.

And I had to laugh at your entry about Amir in the Conjunction blog. I've been fictionally killing off annoying co-workers, etc., for almost ten years now (some of them more than once, depending on the nuisance factor). I'm sure I can fit your pest in somewhere. X D

This search hit I can blame entirely on your figment. O,o;; (would be an interesting - if scary - read...)

I'm now staple-free and ready to go back to work today, if not altogether sure how long I'll last once I get there. So far sitting in a computer chair hasn't been any problem; the larger concern is how long my concentration will last. "Focus, Pinky!" >,<

Weirdness of the Day:

G-Cat and I have decided that the bruising on the back of my left hand (from a failed attempt to insert an IV needle) looks like the Garden symbol from FF8, rendered in rawther putrid shades of mauve and olive green.

Unfortunately, having not predicted this entire series of events, I didn't pack my digital camera and therefore have no evidence to show y'all. Dang it.

"I Liiiiiive..."

...but I refuse to cackle, it'd hurt too much. Basic upshot of this whole effed-up saga: my gallbladder was infected. It has now been removed from the rest of my body and is probably in a glass jar full of formaldehyde making rude faces and obscene gestures at passers-by in the basement of Chelsea Community Hospital (which is the place with the wonderful, kind people who took it out and made the pain go away... or mostly away, anyhow).

It was done with a laparoscope (sp?), so I have four teeny incisions (one in my belly-button, and how's THAT for a weird "piercing"?!) closed up with staples. I walk like a 90-year-old woman, but hey - at least I'm walking. For about five more minutes. Then it's time to fall on my face for as long as I can sleep.

Thanks for concern, everyone, and I will attempt to be social when I'm home on my own computer.

...some days I hate that life has to balance itself out.

Last week was happy, new-baby week, with G-Cat making a trip across the state for the birth. It was also the week of a successful first year for Tekkoshocon, that rarest of creatures - a local anime convention. It was great fun, even if the roomies and I could only attend for one day, and they did well enough that it looks like the ConCom will be crazy enough to try again next year.

So far, this week is not so happy. My only aunt (dad's sister) died yesterday morning, and I'll be making the trek home to Michigan tomorrow for her funeral. The news didn't come as a big shock; her health has been deteriorating for months, and the last two times Mom stopped by to visit her, Aunt M didn't even recognize her. I'm rather shamed to admit it, but I've never been particularly close to my aunt; she seemed like a complete polar opposite to my father, personality-wise, and was not the most easy person to get along with.

Also, a friend in OH is in a hospital ICU with a vicious, stubborn case of pneumonia. Last report I heard, she was in critical condition and on a respirator. >_< ...this sucks.