My life, in a big giant super long nutshell
It's been a while since I posted anything, so here's what's been up for the past month:
[School]
I finished up my classes mid-may. Final papers and grading a bit nuts, but I survived and even managed to do pretty good. I'm finishing my classes with a cumulative 3.697 GPA. Not too shabby!
I worked my arse off this past semester to finish the grammatical sparsing of all 150 poems I'm working on for my thesis project, and have spent the past week and a half now going through all 150 poems. I'm creating poetic translations for each poem, and then formating them into a file for my thesis. I'm managing 10 poems a day thus far, and should finish up this part of the thesis work early next week. Then it's a matter of writing the introduction, analysis chapters, and conclusion. Lots of work still to do, but I'm making good progress.
[Anime Boston]
Soon after finishing classes, before my moving day (but in between my packing), I had Anime Boston.
Akiko and I (particularly Akiko) worked our arses off the week before the con to get some new material ready and printed. We had 4 new brushpaintings, with one that wasn't new to us but new to the con. On the whole, they did very well. We did very well.
I had a bit of an adventure getting to the con. I was running a load down to my parent's place, where I was moving back. In this particular load I had my cats, plants, dolls, and other stuff. I got there, set up my cats, was starting to get the rest of the stuff out of my car, when I hear the distinctive jangle of Muddy's collar. I look over to see him sniffing around my car. He shouldn't be sniffing around my car. He should be in his dog run behind the garage. Well crap, the dogs are out loose.
Muddy's an easy one to catch. He comes immediately when I call his name. Only to discover that Muddy REEKS. I throw him in his indoor dog den while I finish unloading. Deciding I wasn't going to be so cruel to the parents who are graciously letting me move back in (and taking care of my cats for the long weekend), I decide I should give Muddy a quick bath. Muddy's baths involve going over to the lake, throwing a ball in for him to jump in after, lather him up when he gets out, and repeat a few times. I didn't see any tennis balls on the lawn, so I just threw a couple rocks for him to jump in after. Bath finished, I turned my attention to trying to get Lucy. Lucy isn't allowed off leash outside, because she runs off and doesn't come when she's called. Lucy takes every advantage of getting loose to RUN. and I mean RUN. She zips past me several times, but has no interest in stopping yet. I go back to the house and get a quick bite to eat. I'm noticing that despite giving him a bath, Muddy still REEKS. What did he do, fall into the Bog of Eternal Stench???
After a second bath, Muddy seems to be smelling a bit better. We sit out in the field, enjoying the sun while waiting for Lucy. She decides that perhaps she'll come say hi to me after all, and I'm able to catch her.
Dogs in their indoor crates, it's time to head on up to Boston. Since I wanted to save a bit of money, I had arranged with my cousin to meet me out at Alewife so I could park there (saving a TON of money) and have his help bringing all the stuff to the hotel. Except I REALLY didn't think things through enough. I should have ran to the hotel first to drop things off and then go to Alewife. Because I had all the con stuff: 1. Con Bag (of prints and art stuffs), 2. Con Crate (the display and other things) 3. Tea Ceremony Kit (for our panel) 4. My bag (for clothes and costumes and so on), and 5. A BIG FUCKING HUGE SUITCASE I OVERSTUFFED WITH BOOKS (that I culled from my collection and was going to try selling at the con). The suit case weighed more than I did. Not a fun set to try to haul around Boston.
Somehow Bren and I survived and got everything to the hotel. We went through registration easily (well easily for me, cousins had a tad of trouble, but at least the wait was very little). At 8 we headed up to the artist alley and I got most of the table set up (leaving space for the new prints that Akiko had)
Akiko showed up super late (or super early, depending on if you want to say it was Thursday night or Friday morning). In the morning, we went back up to artist alley, I finished setting up (and bagging and tagging all the new prints) while Akiko got herself regged.
Panels went well. We were more silly than usual in the Tea Ceremony. Jenn made a killer off-color joke that had me balled over laughing during things. I managed to sell off quite a lot of the books I brought, including 2 VHS sets, and most of the Japanese-language books. And as I said before, our new prints did quite well, particularly our new Snow Fox print. And we discovered that while Death Note fans are cheap and don't buy, Ouran High Host Club fans buy in pairs.
Got to hang out a lot with cousins, the Penny Dreadfuls, Sketch, and other of my usual con-friends. Always fun times.
Friday went well, Saturday was mostly well though I found myself not enjoying things Saturday night so much since it was dead and boring. Sunday I spent most of the time with Cosplay Chess, which I helped save. Ada-san asked me to help out backstage, of which I had no problems doing. I checked people in at the door, and was also given the mission to find an L or a Light cosplayer. I saw none while checking people in, so I ran around the con screaming out for Death Note cosplayers. They're a dime a dozen until you actually WANT one. Eventually I got one, returned with her only to discover we're still missing a piece: Misa. Naturally since I wasn't going to be onstage, I didn't bother with bringing any cosplays. I didn't have my Misa costume with me. But I figured, ok, I can run up to my table where I have my suitcase, through on my yukata, throw my hair up in pigtails, and be Misa in a yukata. So I ran up, quick changed under the table, ran back down. One of the other players said she had her Misa costume in the car, and since she was about the same size as me, we figured I could fit in it as well. She ran out to get it, I ran back upstairs realizing I had my glasses on still and should throw on contacts. Ran back downstairs, another quick change in the corner. A few bumps, but I think the chess game itself went pretty well, and was entertaining enough. Chess game ended, another quick change back into yukata until I got upstairs and another quick change under the table back to pirate. Tiring, but totally worth it.
Akiko had to leave JUST before the con ended to catch her flight. Ran out to Alewife to get car and then load it up AT the hotel. Had dinner with cousins and friends. Went home. All in all, quite fun and successful.
[Moving]
I had 2 weeks between finishing up classes/grading/papers/whatever and moving day. (al-be-it with AB in the middle). I started in my library, because that was the biggest project and also the most easy, since books pack up in boxes REALLY well. There were a lot of boxes. I have a lot of books. over the 2 weeks (al-be-it with AB in the middle) i ran down 6 loads in my Matrix of Pocket Dimensions. Gods I love my car. It holds way more than it should. I got all of my books and most of my stuff stuff packed and moved all by my self, so when people showed up on moving day, it was mostly furniture and some random stuffs.
So the day before moving day, I have a bit to do. I need to wait around my apartment for the cable guy who will show up SOMETIME between 8 and 4. I need to go pick up my truck (I actually got a truck this time!) and I need to do some last minute packing up so it'll be real easy the next day. At about 9 while I was bringing something out to my car or something, I managed to fall down the 2 steps of my porch and land on the concrete sidewalk and sprained my wrist. What is it about spraining my wrist the day before I move?
Anyway, I naturally did not have any medication or bandages, since I had already moved them. I couldn't go out to the store to get any since I needed to be around in case the cable guy showed up. I make due a bit with some frozen veggies to work as a cold compress. Around noon, I decide I need a bit of help. My original plan was to ride my bike to the next town to get the truck, but I'm not in any shape to be riding my bike. Besides, still no cable guy. So I call up my cousin, who really is a huge huge life saver. He can by mid-afternoon. We hung out a bit waiting for cable company. Eventually, at about 3:30, I called up to see what the deal was, only to discover that despite me scheduling for friday may 29th, they scheduled their visit for Monday June 1st. First of all, I was moving out by then so i wouldn' HAVE the apartment then to wait for a cable company. Secondly, i spent all freaking day waiting, hurt myself and felt I couldn't go out for any kind of medication since I had to wait, and I didn't have to wait???? ARGH
Anyway, cousin and I got truck, I am the backing up truck queen, and we were able to get close engouh that the ramp reached from the back of the truck to my porch, so there would be no steps involved with the loading of my truck.
My friends showed up at 10, we finished loading the truck at 11. We got to my new place at 12:30, we were done by 1. It was pretty darn quick and easy. Amazingly to me, I didn't do much lifting myself. I was directing and flittering here and there. It didn't feel like I did much, but I must have.
Had a lunch break, then sent my friends on their way and Bren and I got the truck back north. Sent him on his way and then I spent some time cleaning my old place. All in all, I think things went well. Though I still don't have my security check back, and I'd really like that soon since it will make paying my visa bill with all my moving expenses on it much easier.
[New home]
So I have moved back to my parents place. It turned out to be a good thing, since my father had shoulder surgery right before, so I was a big help to him in those first couple days of recovery. He's doing much better now. I've done some work around the house (like washing all the windows), worked on my thesis project (over 2/3s done now!) and... and i'm not sure what else I've been doing other than the fact that somehow the days are going by and it feels like I don't do much, but I know i'm not just sitting on my arse.
Most of my stuff is out in the garage, which is tough, but at least I have some access to it. Room is cramped, but I've managed some good storage solutions so while it's tight, it's not claustrophobic.
Life's been pretty peaceful. Sent out my resume to a couple local public libraries. One got my hope up by calling me in for an interview, but decided then that I was overqualified so I didn't get the job (booo).
[dolls]
Back in mid-april, I sent out 2 of my big 'spensive dolls to get some mods done. Xen, my elf prince, got sent out so he could actually get elf ears. and Nage, my tiny puki doll, got sent out to have his face-up changed to fit better with how I want his character to look. After a bit of delay, they finally returned to me on Monday. I was psyched. Did some nice photoshoots of my kids, which I will get around to posting soon.
Which reminds me, I've been spending much of yesterday (and likely much of today) working on the website for my dolls, so if people are interested, I'll be posting a link to the pages of the photoshoots soon.
[conclusion]
So that's my life for the most part. Busy, still no job yet, but generally i'm managing well enough.
[School]
I finished up my classes mid-may. Final papers and grading a bit nuts, but I survived and even managed to do pretty good. I'm finishing my classes with a cumulative 3.697 GPA. Not too shabby!
I worked my arse off this past semester to finish the grammatical sparsing of all 150 poems I'm working on for my thesis project, and have spent the past week and a half now going through all 150 poems. I'm creating poetic translations for each poem, and then formating them into a file for my thesis. I'm managing 10 poems a day thus far, and should finish up this part of the thesis work early next week. Then it's a matter of writing the introduction, analysis chapters, and conclusion. Lots of work still to do, but I'm making good progress.
[Anime Boston]
Soon after finishing classes, before my moving day (but in between my packing), I had Anime Boston.
Akiko and I (particularly Akiko) worked our arses off the week before the con to get some new material ready and printed. We had 4 new brushpaintings, with one that wasn't new to us but new to the con. On the whole, they did very well. We did very well.
I had a bit of an adventure getting to the con. I was running a load down to my parent's place, where I was moving back. In this particular load I had my cats, plants, dolls, and other stuff. I got there, set up my cats, was starting to get the rest of the stuff out of my car, when I hear the distinctive jangle of Muddy's collar. I look over to see him sniffing around my car. He shouldn't be sniffing around my car. He should be in his dog run behind the garage. Well crap, the dogs are out loose.
Muddy's an easy one to catch. He comes immediately when I call his name. Only to discover that Muddy REEKS. I throw him in his indoor dog den while I finish unloading. Deciding I wasn't going to be so cruel to the parents who are graciously letting me move back in (and taking care of my cats for the long weekend), I decide I should give Muddy a quick bath. Muddy's baths involve going over to the lake, throwing a ball in for him to jump in after, lather him up when he gets out, and repeat a few times. I didn't see any tennis balls on the lawn, so I just threw a couple rocks for him to jump in after. Bath finished, I turned my attention to trying to get Lucy. Lucy isn't allowed off leash outside, because she runs off and doesn't come when she's called. Lucy takes every advantage of getting loose to RUN. and I mean RUN. She zips past me several times, but has no interest in stopping yet. I go back to the house and get a quick bite to eat. I'm noticing that despite giving him a bath, Muddy still REEKS. What did he do, fall into the Bog of Eternal Stench???
After a second bath, Muddy seems to be smelling a bit better. We sit out in the field, enjoying the sun while waiting for Lucy. She decides that perhaps she'll come say hi to me after all, and I'm able to catch her.
Dogs in their indoor crates, it's time to head on up to Boston. Since I wanted to save a bit of money, I had arranged with my cousin to meet me out at Alewife so I could park there (saving a TON of money) and have his help bringing all the stuff to the hotel. Except I REALLY didn't think things through enough. I should have ran to the hotel first to drop things off and then go to Alewife. Because I had all the con stuff: 1. Con Bag (of prints and art stuffs), 2. Con Crate (the display and other things) 3. Tea Ceremony Kit (for our panel) 4. My bag (for clothes and costumes and so on), and 5. A BIG FUCKING HUGE SUITCASE I OVERSTUFFED WITH BOOKS (that I culled from my collection and was going to try selling at the con). The suit case weighed more than I did. Not a fun set to try to haul around Boston.
Somehow Bren and I survived and got everything to the hotel. We went through registration easily (well easily for me, cousins had a tad of trouble, but at least the wait was very little). At 8 we headed up to the artist alley and I got most of the table set up (leaving space for the new prints that Akiko had)
Akiko showed up super late (or super early, depending on if you want to say it was Thursday night or Friday morning). In the morning, we went back up to artist alley, I finished setting up (and bagging and tagging all the new prints) while Akiko got herself regged.
Panels went well. We were more silly than usual in the Tea Ceremony. Jenn made a killer off-color joke that had me balled over laughing during things. I managed to sell off quite a lot of the books I brought, including 2 VHS sets, and most of the Japanese-language books. And as I said before, our new prints did quite well, particularly our new Snow Fox print. And we discovered that while Death Note fans are cheap and don't buy, Ouran High Host Club fans buy in pairs.
Got to hang out a lot with cousins, the Penny Dreadfuls, Sketch, and other of my usual con-friends. Always fun times.
Friday went well, Saturday was mostly well though I found myself not enjoying things Saturday night so much since it was dead and boring. Sunday I spent most of the time with Cosplay Chess, which I helped save. Ada-san asked me to help out backstage, of which I had no problems doing. I checked people in at the door, and was also given the mission to find an L or a Light cosplayer. I saw none while checking people in, so I ran around the con screaming out for Death Note cosplayers. They're a dime a dozen until you actually WANT one. Eventually I got one, returned with her only to discover we're still missing a piece: Misa. Naturally since I wasn't going to be onstage, I didn't bother with bringing any cosplays. I didn't have my Misa costume with me. But I figured, ok, I can run up to my table where I have my suitcase, through on my yukata, throw my hair up in pigtails, and be Misa in a yukata. So I ran up, quick changed under the table, ran back down. One of the other players said she had her Misa costume in the car, and since she was about the same size as me, we figured I could fit in it as well. She ran out to get it, I ran back upstairs realizing I had my glasses on still and should throw on contacts. Ran back downstairs, another quick change in the corner. A few bumps, but I think the chess game itself went pretty well, and was entertaining enough. Chess game ended, another quick change back into yukata until I got upstairs and another quick change under the table back to pirate. Tiring, but totally worth it.
Akiko had to leave JUST before the con ended to catch her flight. Ran out to Alewife to get car and then load it up AT the hotel. Had dinner with cousins and friends. Went home. All in all, quite fun and successful.
[Moving]
I had 2 weeks between finishing up classes/grading/papers/whatever and moving day. (al-be-it with AB in the middle). I started in my library, because that was the biggest project and also the most easy, since books pack up in boxes REALLY well. There were a lot of boxes. I have a lot of books. over the 2 weeks (al-be-it with AB in the middle) i ran down 6 loads in my Matrix of Pocket Dimensions. Gods I love my car. It holds way more than it should. I got all of my books and most of my stuff stuff packed and moved all by my self, so when people showed up on moving day, it was mostly furniture and some random stuffs.
So the day before moving day, I have a bit to do. I need to wait around my apartment for the cable guy who will show up SOMETIME between 8 and 4. I need to go pick up my truck (I actually got a truck this time!) and I need to do some last minute packing up so it'll be real easy the next day. At about 9 while I was bringing something out to my car or something, I managed to fall down the 2 steps of my porch and land on the concrete sidewalk and sprained my wrist. What is it about spraining my wrist the day before I move?
Anyway, I naturally did not have any medication or bandages, since I had already moved them. I couldn't go out to the store to get any since I needed to be around in case the cable guy showed up. I make due a bit with some frozen veggies to work as a cold compress. Around noon, I decide I need a bit of help. My original plan was to ride my bike to the next town to get the truck, but I'm not in any shape to be riding my bike. Besides, still no cable guy. So I call up my cousin, who really is a huge huge life saver. He can by mid-afternoon. We hung out a bit waiting for cable company. Eventually, at about 3:30, I called up to see what the deal was, only to discover that despite me scheduling for friday may 29th, they scheduled their visit for Monday June 1st. First of all, I was moving out by then so i wouldn' HAVE the apartment then to wait for a cable company. Secondly, i spent all freaking day waiting, hurt myself and felt I couldn't go out for any kind of medication since I had to wait, and I didn't have to wait???? ARGH
Anyway, cousin and I got truck, I am the backing up truck queen, and we were able to get close engouh that the ramp reached from the back of the truck to my porch, so there would be no steps involved with the loading of my truck.
My friends showed up at 10, we finished loading the truck at 11. We got to my new place at 12:30, we were done by 1. It was pretty darn quick and easy. Amazingly to me, I didn't do much lifting myself. I was directing and flittering here and there. It didn't feel like I did much, but I must have.
Had a lunch break, then sent my friends on their way and Bren and I got the truck back north. Sent him on his way and then I spent some time cleaning my old place. All in all, I think things went well. Though I still don't have my security check back, and I'd really like that soon since it will make paying my visa bill with all my moving expenses on it much easier.
[New home]
So I have moved back to my parents place. It turned out to be a good thing, since my father had shoulder surgery right before, so I was a big help to him in those first couple days of recovery. He's doing much better now. I've done some work around the house (like washing all the windows), worked on my thesis project (over 2/3s done now!) and... and i'm not sure what else I've been doing other than the fact that somehow the days are going by and it feels like I don't do much, but I know i'm not just sitting on my arse.
Most of my stuff is out in the garage, which is tough, but at least I have some access to it. Room is cramped, but I've managed some good storage solutions so while it's tight, it's not claustrophobic.
Life's been pretty peaceful. Sent out my resume to a couple local public libraries. One got my hope up by calling me in for an interview, but decided then that I was overqualified so I didn't get the job (booo).
[dolls]
Back in mid-april, I sent out 2 of my big 'spensive dolls to get some mods done. Xen, my elf prince, got sent out so he could actually get elf ears. and Nage, my tiny puki doll, got sent out to have his face-up changed to fit better with how I want his character to look. After a bit of delay, they finally returned to me on Monday. I was psyched. Did some nice photoshoots of my kids, which I will get around to posting soon.
Which reminds me, I've been spending much of yesterday (and likely much of today) working on the website for my dolls, so if people are interested, I'll be posting a link to the pages of the photoshoots soon.
[conclusion]
So that's my life for the most part. Busy, still no job yet, but generally i'm managing well enough.