The remainder of the year:
July 16 – THE MOVE!
Aug 5-7 – MuseCon! (Chicago)
Aug 6th – WEDDING (breathing, breathing)
Sept 2-5 – SACC
Oct 21-23 – OVFF (Ohio)
Nov. 11-13 – WindyCon (Chicago)
Nov. 18-20 – SFContario (Toronto)
Not as bad as it could be but it’s going to be a slog come October again this year. Now then, about packing…
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Duckon 20: the con that barely was (long, sorry)
So, made it through Duckon without too terribly much gnashing of teeth. I got to see a whole lot of people that I wasn’t expecting, many I was, and it was overall a stellar time. I learned a great deal about the sound set-up for the filk room, as well as the highs and lows of being on tech staff. We managed our way through a handful of major and minor issues, Megan at the helm and Eric keeping the troops in line. The troops, mostly consisting of WSPA anyway, all managed to have fun, which is always a plus.
This con was also the first real time I’ve been in charge of making sure the family stayed healthy, ie slept, fed, didn’t overwork, kept up spoons, etc. it was both way more and not nearly as bad as I expected. Must remember to chuck expectations before leaving the house.
I got fitted for my wedding dress!!! SO happy! Just a reminder that the infamous wedding of Eric and Lizzie is at MuseCon, August 6th! Come join us!
Seeing Lee Darrow was also fantastic as always, and the hypnosis panel was tons of fun. It made for an interesting study in human response and acceptance as much as suggestion. And Lee’s just nuts anyways, which makes it worth it.
Then there was the concert. Cheshire Moon’s very first Concert EVER!! YAY! Here’s what we played:
Pronouns (Wimoweh parody, blame my sister)
Child of Stars
If I were the rain
Lighthouse
Out of the Light
Halley Came to Jackson (Mary Chaplin Carpenter)
Temple of the King (Dio/Rainbow)
World Walker
Follow That Road (Anne Hills)
Swamp Witch (Jim Stafford)
Bloodletting (Concrete Blond)
She Moved Through the Faire (Trad)
Widow’s Garden
Pronouns was SO much fun! Lexie and I wrote that when I was back in Middle school, and I happened to start singing it in the car with Eric one day coming home from work. He of course laughed his ass off, and then commented that we should perform it. After picking my jaw off the floor of the front seat, we worked it out.
Child of Stars fell out of the sky one day when Eric was working with the Bouzouki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_bouzouki). We’d just listened to Carly Simon’s ‘Woodstock’ a couple nights before, and this image started tinkling in my head. Once Eric started playing, this little gem found it’s rhythm and voice and the rest is now history.
If I were the Rain started out as a single line: “If I were the rain, could I reconnect the pieces of your broken heart the way the rain connects the earth and sky?” The rest was a call and response of wants and needs, wanting to need, and needing to want.
Lighthouse, like Child of Stars, came out of nothing to start. That seems to be a recurring theme in our music. Stories drift in that are ready to be told, and we find ways to tell them. I hope they’re happy in the telling.
Out of the Light barged in on me at work. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to have the Voice Memo feature on my phone, because this one wouldn’t wait. He wanted a melody line NOW (insert voice of Veruca Salt)! I ended up getting it down in three files between making copies and stuffing envelopes. First one that’s ever been that pushy…. I kinda liked it.
Halley Came to Jackson is one of the pretties things I have ever heard. Eric brought it out as a suggestion for us to do specifically at Duck, and once I heard it, I knew he was right.
Temple of the King has always been a favorite of mine. I admit that I don’t like ALL of Rainbow’s stuff, but this one had such amazing imagery to it that I couldn’t help it. The trouble was going from the deep thickness of Rainbow down to the two man crew of Eric and me. We settled on a 6 string and a Djembe almost as big as I am. Eric took the lead as I gave him a heartbeat, and this one might stick around a while to honor the former ringmaster of Black Sabbath.
World Walker is all Eric’s fault. He just HAD to pick up a new instrument and start noodling with it in my living room back in Chicago. He pulled out something interesting out of a wild tuning, and I scurried off for a pen. The character in it is from a Game I’m trying to pen down, and he’s an odd bird but worth sticking with.
Follow That Road was one of the first thing Eric and Worked on. Love love love Anne Hills’ work. We’d been moving this one around musically for several months, working with effects and sounds and echoes to get it just right. This is one that I wouldn’t mind putting on the album, but not sure yet. And yes, I did say album. Working on it.
Swamp Witch was just a good time. Nothing like a reclusive trad craft crone to bring out the cackle in a girl. Another one that will likely stick around to honor the deep-seated crone. Fire burn and Cauldron bubble…
Bloodletting is so much fun to do, especially at a sci-fi con. Vampires and witches and storytellers, oh my. These two right in a row should come with a warning label to hold onto something.
She Moved Through the Faire has been done and done and done and done and with good reason. I have heard more versions of this piece than most others, and I’ve liked almost all of them. It’s a wander, a tragedy, and a wonderment.
Widow’s Garden ended the set, but it’s the one that started it all. This piece was crafted in our hotel room at Strowlers in St. Louis, and was the first the Eric and wrote together. He’d just gotten something interesting put together on the new Strat, and I went diving for my book (Which he now calls my Tardis) and a pen. We swam back and forth between melody and verse, finding our way through a story waiting to be told. And as we came to the end at last, we knew. From a guest villain in Eric’s show 6 months before to partner in something new and wild, we knew. A beginning had been made.
I cannot express how gleefully thankful I am to all of you who made it to our show. We were so amazed at the response, and yes, I promise we will have an album put together soon, hopefully ready to go by next summer. To all those who asked: *squeeglompiloveyousohardthankyouforthinkingthatwedon’tsuck*
And now, here I sit, back in the office at someone else’s desk, getting Facebook updates from halfway across the country. I get to spend a week by myself in essence, save the occasional evenings with WSPA-3, waiting for Eric and WSPA-2 to come home. *sigh* The good and the not so good, but so far, still lacking the duck. I’m ok with that.
Now then, more Tardis adventures!
This con was also the first real time I’ve been in charge of making sure the family stayed healthy, ie slept, fed, didn’t overwork, kept up spoons, etc. it was both way more and not nearly as bad as I expected. Must remember to chuck expectations before leaving the house.
I got fitted for my wedding dress!!! SO happy! Just a reminder that the infamous wedding of Eric and Lizzie is at MuseCon, August 6th! Come join us!
Seeing Lee Darrow was also fantastic as always, and the hypnosis panel was tons of fun. It made for an interesting study in human response and acceptance as much as suggestion. And Lee’s just nuts anyways, which makes it worth it.
Then there was the concert. Cheshire Moon’s very first Concert EVER!! YAY! Here’s what we played:
Pronouns (Wimoweh parody, blame my sister)
Child of Stars
If I were the rain
Lighthouse
Out of the Light
Halley Came to Jackson (Mary Chaplin Carpenter)
Temple of the King (Dio/Rainbow)
World Walker
Follow That Road (Anne Hills)
Swamp Witch (Jim Stafford)
Bloodletting (Concrete Blond)
She Moved Through the Faire (Trad)
Widow’s Garden
Pronouns was SO much fun! Lexie and I wrote that when I was back in Middle school, and I happened to start singing it in the car with Eric one day coming home from work. He of course laughed his ass off, and then commented that we should perform it. After picking my jaw off the floor of the front seat, we worked it out.
Child of Stars fell out of the sky one day when Eric was working with the Bouzouki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_bouzouki). We’d just listened to Carly Simon’s ‘Woodstock’ a couple nights before, and this image started tinkling in my head. Once Eric started playing, this little gem found it’s rhythm and voice and the rest is now history.
If I were the Rain started out as a single line: “If I were the rain, could I reconnect the pieces of your broken heart the way the rain connects the earth and sky?” The rest was a call and response of wants and needs, wanting to need, and needing to want.
Lighthouse, like Child of Stars, came out of nothing to start. That seems to be a recurring theme in our music. Stories drift in that are ready to be told, and we find ways to tell them. I hope they’re happy in the telling.
Out of the Light barged in on me at work. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to have the Voice Memo feature on my phone, because this one wouldn’t wait. He wanted a melody line NOW (insert voice of Veruca Salt)! I ended up getting it down in three files between making copies and stuffing envelopes. First one that’s ever been that pushy…. I kinda liked it.
Halley Came to Jackson is one of the pretties things I have ever heard. Eric brought it out as a suggestion for us to do specifically at Duck, and once I heard it, I knew he was right.
Temple of the King has always been a favorite of mine. I admit that I don’t like ALL of Rainbow’s stuff, but this one had such amazing imagery to it that I couldn’t help it. The trouble was going from the deep thickness of Rainbow down to the two man crew of Eric and me. We settled on a 6 string and a Djembe almost as big as I am. Eric took the lead as I gave him a heartbeat, and this one might stick around a while to honor the former ringmaster of Black Sabbath.
World Walker is all Eric’s fault. He just HAD to pick up a new instrument and start noodling with it in my living room back in Chicago. He pulled out something interesting out of a wild tuning, and I scurried off for a pen. The character in it is from a Game I’m trying to pen down, and he’s an odd bird but worth sticking with.
Follow That Road was one of the first thing Eric and Worked on. Love love love Anne Hills’ work. We’d been moving this one around musically for several months, working with effects and sounds and echoes to get it just right. This is one that I wouldn’t mind putting on the album, but not sure yet. And yes, I did say album. Working on it.
Swamp Witch was just a good time. Nothing like a reclusive trad craft crone to bring out the cackle in a girl. Another one that will likely stick around to honor the deep-seated crone. Fire burn and Cauldron bubble…
Bloodletting is so much fun to do, especially at a sci-fi con. Vampires and witches and storytellers, oh my. These two right in a row should come with a warning label to hold onto something.
She Moved Through the Faire has been done and done and done and done and with good reason. I have heard more versions of this piece than most others, and I’ve liked almost all of them. It’s a wander, a tragedy, and a wonderment.
Widow’s Garden ended the set, but it’s the one that started it all. This piece was crafted in our hotel room at Strowlers in St. Louis, and was the first the Eric and wrote together. He’d just gotten something interesting put together on the new Strat, and I went diving for my book (Which he now calls my Tardis) and a pen. We swam back and forth between melody and verse, finding our way through a story waiting to be told. And as we came to the end at last, we knew. From a guest villain in Eric’s show 6 months before to partner in something new and wild, we knew. A beginning had been made.
I cannot express how gleefully thankful I am to all of you who made it to our show. We were so amazed at the response, and yes, I promise we will have an album put together soon, hopefully ready to go by next summer. To all those who asked: *squeeglompiloveyousohardthankyouforthinkingthatwedon’tsuck*
And now, here I sit, back in the office at someone else’s desk, getting Facebook updates from halfway across the country. I get to spend a week by myself in essence, save the occasional evenings with WSPA-3, waiting for Eric and WSPA-2 to come home. *sigh* The good and the not so good, but so far, still lacking the duck. I’m ok with that.
Now then, more Tardis adventures!
Job hunting. STILL. (Circa April, 2011)
I realize now that looking back on this isn’t going to capture the moment. I spent 6 weeks looking for work in Des Moines, and for the first week it as nice to finally be able to relax. I had time to get laundry caught up, get the house in order (now that I had been shoe-horned into a space barely big enough to hold it’s current occupants), and it was nice.
After that first week, I was climbing the walls. I wanted to be working, if for no other reason than boredom.
After the second week, I started the gently despair. I knew it was very soon to do so, but here I was in my new life, with my new family, NOT CONTRIBUTING. Oh sure I did laundry and dishes and kept house and did absolutely anything and everything possible to do SOMETHING, but I had no income. My 401k came through as well as the security deposit for my old place, which helped, but I felt more than a little useless.
A couple interviews rolled through, coming to nothing. I tried hard not to get too far down, but it wasn’t easy. It never is, but this felt almost as bad as the 10 weeks back in 2008 where I went without work. Agencies were turning up sales jobs that I’m not suited for, Customer service that paid enough for gas but little else. It was awful.
Then a ray of sunshine. A job popped up at Office team in Des Moines for a maternity leave cover. I got a phone interview… and in 8 minutes they wanted me! YES!!! Back to the working world!
That was the nutshell of my first job search in Iowa. Second one is coming up July 5th. Wish me luck!
After that first week, I was climbing the walls. I wanted to be working, if for no other reason than boredom.
After the second week, I started the gently despair. I knew it was very soon to do so, but here I was in my new life, with my new family, NOT CONTRIBUTING. Oh sure I did laundry and dishes and kept house and did absolutely anything and everything possible to do SOMETHING, but I had no income. My 401k came through as well as the security deposit for my old place, which helped, but I felt more than a little useless.
A couple interviews rolled through, coming to nothing. I tried hard not to get too far down, but it wasn’t easy. It never is, but this felt almost as bad as the 10 weeks back in 2008 where I went without work. Agencies were turning up sales jobs that I’m not suited for, Customer service that paid enough for gas but little else. It was awful.
Then a ray of sunshine. A job popped up at Office team in Des Moines for a maternity leave cover. I got a phone interview… and in 8 minutes they wanted me! YES!!! Back to the working world!
That was the nutshell of my first job search in Iowa. Second one is coming up July 5th. Wish me luck!
Dress shopping and Synning!
So! The dress has at last been pilfer… er, purchased! Hey, after the haggling I did for this, pilfered is close!
The day started with lunch at this lovely little Indian place, Tiffan, with Xap and George, my shoppoing henchman, and Raven, because all us birds have to eat. George, former roommate and lovely in short hair which I’m still getting used to, was taken aback by Xap and I, which was adorable. Xap and IO were in rare form, gearing up for Pixie invasion the fiollowing Tuesday at Life Force Arts, then WisCon on Memorial day weekend.
Then off across the street to one of the many, MANY places to go Sari shopping, Taj Sari palace, recommended to me by Thistle. We walked in, and I wanted it all wrapped up in a bag to take home with me. ALL OF IT. We were surrounded by color and beauty and gorgeous embroidery and I wanted it ALL. We moved through the bargain wracks, finding things that were close to the necklace that my sister had purchased for me in New Mexico. Finally, the lady behind the county started bringing things out for us, and I looked up. There was one particular sari that was peaking out amongst the others in a stack, and I asked to see it. IT was the ONLY one of that color that caught my eye. She spread it out before us, and I knew. Right then, I knew that was the one I was going to be married in. Nothing else would do.
Then I looked at the pricetag. And it was ON. She cut the asking price in half because of a sale, which was great, but my budget was set, and I wasn’t moving (mostly because I couldn’t). In the end, the price dropped $500 (SQUEAK!). And off I went with what would soon become my wedding dress as soon as I got a hold of Amy Dostia, seamstress extraordinaire! Even now I’m still vibrating over it!
The afternoon was spent at Guitar Center, where Raven wanted me to try out a mic he thought would work for me onstage for Cheshire Moon. I was glad to, because I love Eric, but the SM58 is his mic. We tried a couple different, comparing Old Faithful (the SM58) to the Encore Blue 100 (decent sound but not as powerful as I need it to be. I couldn’t unload on this without it objecting), the Encore 200 (requires phantom power, which is a fowner, but also has a compression aspect that I don’t’ like. The main reasoin for having a unidriedctional mic for me is so that Eric’s acoustic instruments don’t get picked up by my mic. He plays hard enough, he doesn’t need to assistance), and one other that I can’t remember. Finally, we got to the Senhaisser e835. JOY. A Hypoer-cardiod with a solid range pick up, and VERY unidirectional. I come off that top axis, and sound pick-up goes AWAY. It’s glorious. I just have to keep it in line, and it’s also not as pop-prone as the SM58. Wheee!!!
After that, Raven and I flew off to Synphoria. Admittedly, a small crowd for a Saturday night, and more new faces than old, which was slightly sad. I was hoping to reconnect with more people, but got to meet people and forge new connections, which rocked out. Raven had aq good time as well, and I hope that he will continue to go to Syn without me so that he can continue to enjoy it. It’s a beautiful experience.
Got home Sunday despite headwind from HELL (insert echo effect here), and showed my findings to Eric, who squeed. Yes, I showed my wedding dress to my fiancé before the ceremony. I’m also getting married in a sari and I have no heritage connected to India at all. We’re getting married at a convention, and the real reception will be at another con where as many people as can attend can help us celebrate. You think I’m concerned about your traditional tradition? Off with you now, else you shall feel my wings! I may be small, but I am…. actually very small. As WSPA-2 has shown me recently by catching up to me in height. Oy, that child! <3
The day started with lunch at this lovely little Indian place, Tiffan, with Xap and George, my shoppoing henchman, and Raven, because all us birds have to eat. George, former roommate and lovely in short hair which I’m still getting used to, was taken aback by Xap and I, which was adorable. Xap and IO were in rare form, gearing up for Pixie invasion the fiollowing Tuesday at Life Force Arts, then WisCon on Memorial day weekend.
Then off across the street to one of the many, MANY places to go Sari shopping, Taj Sari palace, recommended to me by Thistle. We walked in, and I wanted it all wrapped up in a bag to take home with me. ALL OF IT. We were surrounded by color and beauty and gorgeous embroidery and I wanted it ALL. We moved through the bargain wracks, finding things that were close to the necklace that my sister had purchased for me in New Mexico. Finally, the lady behind the county started bringing things out for us, and I looked up. There was one particular sari that was peaking out amongst the others in a stack, and I asked to see it. IT was the ONLY one of that color that caught my eye. She spread it out before us, and I knew. Right then, I knew that was the one I was going to be married in. Nothing else would do.
Then I looked at the pricetag. And it was ON. She cut the asking price in half because of a sale, which was great, but my budget was set, and I wasn’t moving (mostly because I couldn’t). In the end, the price dropped $500 (SQUEAK!). And off I went with what would soon become my wedding dress as soon as I got a hold of Amy Dostia, seamstress extraordinaire! Even now I’m still vibrating over it!
The afternoon was spent at Guitar Center, where Raven wanted me to try out a mic he thought would work for me onstage for Cheshire Moon. I was glad to, because I love Eric, but the SM58 is his mic. We tried a couple different, comparing Old Faithful (the SM58) to the Encore Blue 100 (decent sound but not as powerful as I need it to be. I couldn’t unload on this without it objecting), the Encore 200 (requires phantom power, which is a fowner, but also has a compression aspect that I don’t’ like. The main reasoin for having a unidriedctional mic for me is so that Eric’s acoustic instruments don’t get picked up by my mic. He plays hard enough, he doesn’t need to assistance), and one other that I can’t remember. Finally, we got to the Senhaisser e835. JOY. A Hypoer-cardiod with a solid range pick up, and VERY unidirectional. I come off that top axis, and sound pick-up goes AWAY. It’s glorious. I just have to keep it in line, and it’s also not as pop-prone as the SM58. Wheee!!!
After that, Raven and I flew off to Synphoria. Admittedly, a small crowd for a Saturday night, and more new faces than old, which was slightly sad. I was hoping to reconnect with more people, but got to meet people and forge new connections, which rocked out. Raven had aq good time as well, and I hope that he will continue to go to Syn without me so that he can continue to enjoy it. It’s a beautiful experience.
Got home Sunday despite headwind from HELL (insert echo effect here), and showed my findings to Eric, who squeed. Yes, I showed my wedding dress to my fiancé before the ceremony. I’m also getting married in a sari and I have no heritage connected to India at all. We’re getting married at a convention, and the real reception will be at another con where as many people as can attend can help us celebrate. You think I’m concerned about your traditional tradition? Off with you now, else you shall feel my wings! I may be small, but I am…. actually very small. As WSPA-2 has shown me recently by catching up to me in height. Oy, that child! <3
Minneapolis surprises! (Memorial Day Weekend)
Huzzah! We have managed the stealthy missions, animal antics and free-for-all giggling of Memorial Day weekend! SO SO happy!
Eric and I got a Ton of stuff done on Friday. Running around to various offices and stores and other credenzas and dun, and it’s a good thing, too! Because Saturday yielded breakfast explosions and the ZOO! The kitchen spent the day in recovery while me, Eric, WSPA-2 and WSPA-3 traipsed off to the zoo, picking up a Shari on the road! I mean really, who could resist that face?
Otters! Peacock-like birds attacking! Lazy lions, tigers on rocks, animatronic dinosaurs, and micaks! I didn’t spell that right and I don’t care! It was a gloriously cool, lightly overcast day, perfect for zoo adventures.
And before Eric tells this story AGAIN (oy, dude, I love you but damn), I got to show Eric the mic that Raven and I scouted for Cheshire Moon. He can keep the SM58, but we’re likely going with the Sennheiser e835. SO much joy. Also, as I was showing him the range pick-up on the four that we tried, there was another guy trying out an amp on his harp. It was clear he was going to use it for stage performance, and he needed something that gave him a lot of sound, with the solid, southside of Chicago overdrive to go with it so he could cut through and be heard. Very sweet sound he was getting. Anyways, I started trying out the mics, and according to my fuzzy love, this guy looked up as I dug in, stunned. I DIDN’T KNOW THIS. He was standing behind me, and I thought he was changing settings, being polite, something. No, apparently not. I didn’t even find out about this until Eric told me later in the car. *FLAIL*
Next up, we had a lazy Sunday morning, dropped off the WSPA bunch and headed north to Minneapolis! The drive was lovely, I didn’t make Eric too terribly crazy with my driving, and we made it to Celia’s house with a but of time to spare. Eric brought out the Quattro, and we started a new song in her backyard. We recorded his riff, I got a bunch of lyrics written that so far make no sense but something tells me they will soon enough, and then off toi Everest on Grand with Celia. *swoon* Nepalise food for the WIN.
After dinner, off to Sacred Paths!! We surprised a Sooj and a Kay and a Betsy with Super Stealth Mission of hugs and love!
PLEASE NOTE: Leanann Sidhe. If you don’t know, you NEED TO. www.leannansidhe.com GO FIND HER. Her album, Fragile Dreams, comes out July 9th and is available for pre-order. I’m getting one, and so are you. Now GO!
Pixies and cellos and chainmail and love. Got to sing with a lovely bard, use my dicebag as percussion for her song D&D, share kitty pictures and stories and braid Kay hair and every good thing. We got to meet so many lovely people. Sacred Paths is a glorious place that we will have to frequent more often, most definitely.
Breakfast with Charles Monday morning was, as always, a fiendish delight. We dined in a normal restraint, with normal people, and managed not to scare them. Much. A storm kept us at bay longer than we’d planned, but we got to visit with Charles and see the Geek center, which was lots of fun. Philosophical debate and political natter and far too much cattiness not to love.
Our journey home was a windy one, but we arrived safe and sound. Now, off to a short week, a dress fitting, and swimming with the kidlets as often as possible as we move, despite all the rope I own, despite nerves and anticipation and trepidation and catty jabs at stupidly insufficient people, toward Duckon. Love to Xap and Megan. They are going to need it, I fear.
Eric and I got a Ton of stuff done on Friday. Running around to various offices and stores and other credenzas and dun, and it’s a good thing, too! Because Saturday yielded breakfast explosions and the ZOO! The kitchen spent the day in recovery while me, Eric, WSPA-2 and WSPA-3 traipsed off to the zoo, picking up a Shari on the road! I mean really, who could resist that face?
Otters! Peacock-like birds attacking! Lazy lions, tigers on rocks, animatronic dinosaurs, and micaks! I didn’t spell that right and I don’t care! It was a gloriously cool, lightly overcast day, perfect for zoo adventures.
And before Eric tells this story AGAIN (oy, dude, I love you but damn), I got to show Eric the mic that Raven and I scouted for Cheshire Moon. He can keep the SM58, but we’re likely going with the Sennheiser e835. SO much joy. Also, as I was showing him the range pick-up on the four that we tried, there was another guy trying out an amp on his harp. It was clear he was going to use it for stage performance, and he needed something that gave him a lot of sound, with the solid, southside of Chicago overdrive to go with it so he could cut through and be heard. Very sweet sound he was getting. Anyways, I started trying out the mics, and according to my fuzzy love, this guy looked up as I dug in, stunned. I DIDN’T KNOW THIS. He was standing behind me, and I thought he was changing settings, being polite, something. No, apparently not. I didn’t even find out about this until Eric told me later in the car. *FLAIL*
Next up, we had a lazy Sunday morning, dropped off the WSPA bunch and headed north to Minneapolis! The drive was lovely, I didn’t make Eric too terribly crazy with my driving, and we made it to Celia’s house with a but of time to spare. Eric brought out the Quattro, and we started a new song in her backyard. We recorded his riff, I got a bunch of lyrics written that so far make no sense but something tells me they will soon enough, and then off toi Everest on Grand with Celia. *swoon* Nepalise food for the WIN.
After dinner, off to Sacred Paths!! We surprised a Sooj and a Kay and a Betsy with Super Stealth Mission of hugs and love!
PLEASE NOTE: Leanann Sidhe. If you don’t know, you NEED TO. www.leannansidhe.com GO FIND HER. Her album, Fragile Dreams, comes out July 9th and is available for pre-order. I’m getting one, and so are you. Now GO!
Pixies and cellos and chainmail and love. Got to sing with a lovely bard, use my dicebag as percussion for her song D&D, share kitty pictures and stories and braid Kay hair and every good thing. We got to meet so many lovely people. Sacred Paths is a glorious place that we will have to frequent more often, most definitely.
Breakfast with Charles Monday morning was, as always, a fiendish delight. We dined in a normal restraint, with normal people, and managed not to scare them. Much. A storm kept us at bay longer than we’d planned, but we got to visit with Charles and see the Geek center, which was lots of fun. Philosophical debate and political natter and far too much cattiness not to love.
Our journey home was a windy one, but we arrived safe and sound. Now, off to a short week, a dress fitting, and swimming with the kidlets as often as possible as we move, despite all the rope I own, despite nerves and anticipation and trepidation and catty jabs at stupidly insufficient people, toward Duckon. Love to Xap and Megan. They are going to need it, I fear.
So much has happened…
Ok, for the sake of being clear and being able to parse all of this, the next few posts will be out of order and chunked up by major event. I apologize in advance for those of you keeping score. Keep your cheat sheets ready, decoder rings out, and crash helmets at the ready, because here we go!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Capricon of SHINY!
Vibrating!!! Eric Coleman asked me to marry him last night. He announced to the filk circle that he had a new song that he was only going to perform once, and he asked me to hold his lyric book. I did so, and he sang me a song. And there I was, holding his book, face to face with this man as he sang out his wish to spend his days with me, and when the song was done, I set the book aside and damn near knocked him over with a hug. Pictures exist of the look on my face when he was singing to me, because apparently I was a sight to see. I believe I was referred to as 'leaf quivering.' Yup, that's about the size of it.
So yeah, Cap was good.... but more about Cap in detail.
This was my first anniversary of meeting Raven, so we got to spend a bit of time together. Not nearly as much as I would like and we'll be doing something about that this week, but yeah. Happy making. His birthday party went pretty well, a quiet affair with people who care about him, uincluding the nutjobs who are in his band, Toyboat. He's very dear to me, and Cap marks a fun and special time.
Got to hear a bunchy of awesome music, and I also learned somethign very important. I CAN in fact handle on the ground con issues with style and flare. We needed volunteers, I rustled them up as fast as I could and got just enough to handle the problem we had and make it snazzy. We (Duck) had a decent party, and it all looked good in the end. I got flyers top hand out at the area cons, and I got so many wonderful hugs. Xap ran a helluva Cafe, and I got up on stage with Eric and a sparkly new friend, Andy, on fiddle and mandolin. Oooooh, so muc WIN. I think he's going to end up being a long-running Guest Villian just because this needs to happen more often. Oh my WOW.
Jan Magic has officially impressed me. For the record. Not because of her healing abilities, but because of who she is and how she gets things done. I'm a fan. Officially.
I look forward now to MarsCon, where Raven and I will be bussing the 8 hours up to Minneaplois, filled with shiny bits like a Charles and a Celia and a wonderful con I've never been to before.
So yeah, Cap was good.... but more about Cap in detail.
This was my first anniversary of meeting Raven, so we got to spend a bit of time together. Not nearly as much as I would like and we'll be doing something about that this week, but yeah. Happy making. His birthday party went pretty well, a quiet affair with people who care about him, uincluding the nutjobs who are in his band, Toyboat. He's very dear to me, and Cap marks a fun and special time.
Got to hear a bunchy of awesome music, and I also learned somethign very important. I CAN in fact handle on the ground con issues with style and flare. We needed volunteers, I rustled them up as fast as I could and got just enough to handle the problem we had and make it snazzy. We (Duck) had a decent party, and it all looked good in the end. I got flyers top hand out at the area cons, and I got so many wonderful hugs. Xap ran a helluva Cafe, and I got up on stage with Eric and a sparkly new friend, Andy, on fiddle and mandolin. Oooooh, so muc WIN. I think he's going to end up being a long-running Guest Villian just because this needs to happen more often. Oh my WOW.
Jan Magic has officially impressed me. For the record. Not because of her healing abilities, but because of who she is and how she gets things done. I'm a fan. Officially.
I look forward now to MarsCon, where Raven and I will be bussing the 8 hours up to Minneaplois, filled with shiny bits like a Charles and a Celia and a wonderful con I've never been to before.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Jan 12th: Freedom of speech has NEVER meant freedom from consequences
Ok, so I’ve been a lurking a bit recently given the nature of my busy life, and especially given all the insane public events of late. However, as things have finally started to concertize, I find myself needing to get out a couple things regarding the recent shooting in my home town.
That’s right, I was born in Tucson. St. Joseph’s hospital to be precise, a place that accepted some of the shooting victims from last Saturday. I heard about this and immediately started gathering facts. News groups across the internet were conflicting as reports flooded in, and my mind kept running backwards to the many pages and words and actions of violence and violent incitation done by so many in the political spotlight these past few years. It’s as if a floodgate had opened and out poured a wide and colorful spectrum of suddenly acceptable target practice.
A few names spring to mind on the subject. For example: Sarah Palin, a disgusting, gun-toting, violent-minded, dimwit with delusions of grandeur who whores out her own family for the sake of attention; Glen Beck, and undereducated would-be Mormon with a sewage-spewing fear machine for a mouth; Rush Limbaugh, a racist, sexist drug addict who sees fir to piss on anything he chooses day to day and seems to think that by being anything other that white you are filth; Sharron Angle who feels that 2nd amendment solutions are just fine even though we are currently headed by a president who has had double the death threats of any other on record just because he’s brown and then turns around to defend such rhetoric in the face of these events.
I will say that this remarkable trend of using violence as a tool of fear is nothing more than a last stitch effort of a floundering political party that doesn’t know how else to rally their supporters. Frothing, seething, wild-eyed people that don’t really know why they’re angry because they’re only told that they should be angry. They’re lied to about their values being attacked, they’re lied to about children being harmed and they’re jobs being lost. They’re lied to over and over and over by the lying liars that they look to for comfort and answers (see previous list of names, adding others because it’s a LONG damn list). They’re afraid and they’re misinformed, or worse uninformed, and they want to do SOMETHING to try and make it all just go away. And these are the people that those in power would prey upon to do their dirty work, using slogans of reloading and sniper sites on lists of opponents’ names and defending every right anyone ever had to own a weapon simply because they know it’s only a matter of time.
That time came last Saturday. And these profiteering, fear-mongering fucks are ALL to blame.
It has to stop, people. We are supposed to be a country where we can speak freely and live as we wish, not live in fear of some maniac with a gun and a mission from a political mouthpiece. Anyone who uses violence as a political platform doesn’t deserve that platform, and politics doesn’t need them.
Yet there is a part of me that burns at this in a different way. I've been around guns my whole life. gun safety has been drilled into me ever since I was old enough to identify what I was looking at as an object. My father taught me well, and gave me both his great shot and his appreciation for the magnitude of what I was doing. We are a family of hunters, law-enforcement, and farmers. Yet deep down, this kind of thing makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong simply because I'm not viciously anti-gun. I know they're dangerous. I know they're weapons used for exactly one thing. I also know that not every hand that holds them wields them against innocent people. Does that make me wrong somehow? No. But I cannot say that I want every gun ever melted down, either. After what happened Saturday in my home town, that thought burns.
And do not even GET me started on those useless Westboro fucks trying to picket the funeral of a 9-year-old. They changed their mind at the last minute of course and decided to go beat on a Judge’s family instead, but these people are no church. They are the extended family of one man in Kansas who fancies himself important. He’s not. THEY are not. they are disgusting, misguided and need very serious mental evaluation.
That’s right, I was born in Tucson. St. Joseph’s hospital to be precise, a place that accepted some of the shooting victims from last Saturday. I heard about this and immediately started gathering facts. News groups across the internet were conflicting as reports flooded in, and my mind kept running backwards to the many pages and words and actions of violence and violent incitation done by so many in the political spotlight these past few years. It’s as if a floodgate had opened and out poured a wide and colorful spectrum of suddenly acceptable target practice.
A few names spring to mind on the subject. For example: Sarah Palin, a disgusting, gun-toting, violent-minded, dimwit with delusions of grandeur who whores out her own family for the sake of attention; Glen Beck, and undereducated would-be Mormon with a sewage-spewing fear machine for a mouth; Rush Limbaugh, a racist, sexist drug addict who sees fir to piss on anything he chooses day to day and seems to think that by being anything other that white you are filth; Sharron Angle who feels that 2nd amendment solutions are just fine even though we are currently headed by a president who has had double the death threats of any other on record just because he’s brown and then turns around to defend such rhetoric in the face of these events.
I will say that this remarkable trend of using violence as a tool of fear is nothing more than a last stitch effort of a floundering political party that doesn’t know how else to rally their supporters. Frothing, seething, wild-eyed people that don’t really know why they’re angry because they’re only told that they should be angry. They’re lied to about their values being attacked, they’re lied to about children being harmed and they’re jobs being lost. They’re lied to over and over and over by the lying liars that they look to for comfort and answers (see previous list of names, adding others because it’s a LONG damn list). They’re afraid and they’re misinformed, or worse uninformed, and they want to do SOMETHING to try and make it all just go away. And these are the people that those in power would prey upon to do their dirty work, using slogans of reloading and sniper sites on lists of opponents’ names and defending every right anyone ever had to own a weapon simply because they know it’s only a matter of time.
That time came last Saturday. And these profiteering, fear-mongering fucks are ALL to blame.
It has to stop, people. We are supposed to be a country where we can speak freely and live as we wish, not live in fear of some maniac with a gun and a mission from a political mouthpiece. Anyone who uses violence as a political platform doesn’t deserve that platform, and politics doesn’t need them.
Yet there is a part of me that burns at this in a different way. I've been around guns my whole life. gun safety has been drilled into me ever since I was old enough to identify what I was looking at as an object. My father taught me well, and gave me both his great shot and his appreciation for the magnitude of what I was doing. We are a family of hunters, law-enforcement, and farmers. Yet deep down, this kind of thing makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong simply because I'm not viciously anti-gun. I know they're dangerous. I know they're weapons used for exactly one thing. I also know that not every hand that holds them wields them against innocent people. Does that make me wrong somehow? No. But I cannot say that I want every gun ever melted down, either. After what happened Saturday in my home town, that thought burns.
And do not even GET me started on those useless Westboro fucks trying to picket the funeral of a 9-year-old. They changed their mind at the last minute of course and decided to go beat on a Judge’s family instead, but these people are no church. They are the extended family of one man in Kansas who fancies himself important. He’s not. THEY are not. they are disgusting, misguided and need very serious mental evaluation.
Rape: the Definition STAYS
I’m so incredibly disgusted. In case you hadn’t heard, the GOP has been trying to rewrite exactly what does and does not constitute rape. Specifically, they have been trying to say that rape is only when bruises and broken bones are present instead of the sane reasoning of a lack of consent.
Look, people, the entire reason that rape is defined as such it to PROTECT WOMEN. It is meant to protect women from being exploited and attacked without consequence. And now the GOP wants to not only try and take away those protections, they want to then use those changes just to reduce abortion funding: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/abortion-forcible-rape-language-hr-3_n_820846.html?ref=fb&src=sp
I’m vibrating right now. I barely have words for the level of rage running through me right now. I cannot fathom what kind of slime it takes to do something like this, but then I found out. It turns out that even after a huge public outcry and a whole lot of bullshit being flung by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the bill STILL HAS THE SAME LANGUAGE ABOUT FORCIBLE RAPE.
So apparently, these guys have absolutely no interest in what the public wants. They are not their to represent the people as they swore to but their own interests. So why is it that these men keep their jobs while trying so hard to exploit some of the very voters that got them elected, ie women? And why are these women even supporting these fucks?
A very dear friend of mine, Sarah, used to be a councilor. She worked with the response unit that dealt with rape victims just outside of Chicago in Will County. She saw just about every kind of human abomination you can think of and a few you can’t. Trust me, I couldn’t either. the stories she came back with made me physically sick. And she not only saw them, she had to help get these women through these atrocities, right down to helping them cope with having to relive these horrific moments in court to ensure these fucks went to prison for as long as possible.
I would like someone like Sarah to take Rep. Chris Smith for a day. I would like him to see exactly what rape truly looks like, and why it is so important that these monsters get put behind bars for life and that these women get protected, not left in the dust. This isn’t about abortion, not really. This is about a specific section of people getting the shaft to further the agendas of the rich and powerful.
Not happening. NO VERY NOT HAPPENING.
Look, people, the entire reason that rape is defined as such it to PROTECT WOMEN. It is meant to protect women from being exploited and attacked without consequence. And now the GOP wants to not only try and take away those protections, they want to then use those changes just to reduce abortion funding: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/abortion-forcible-rape-language-hr-3_n_820846.html?ref=fb&src=sp
I’m vibrating right now. I barely have words for the level of rage running through me right now. I cannot fathom what kind of slime it takes to do something like this, but then I found out. It turns out that even after a huge public outcry and a whole lot of bullshit being flung by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the bill STILL HAS THE SAME LANGUAGE ABOUT FORCIBLE RAPE.
So apparently, these guys have absolutely no interest in what the public wants. They are not their to represent the people as they swore to but their own interests. So why is it that these men keep their jobs while trying so hard to exploit some of the very voters that got them elected, ie women? And why are these women even supporting these fucks?
A very dear friend of mine, Sarah, used to be a councilor. She worked with the response unit that dealt with rape victims just outside of Chicago in Will County. She saw just about every kind of human abomination you can think of and a few you can’t. Trust me, I couldn’t either. the stories she came back with made me physically sick. And she not only saw them, she had to help get these women through these atrocities, right down to helping them cope with having to relive these horrific moments in court to ensure these fucks went to prison for as long as possible.
I would like someone like Sarah to take Rep. Chris Smith for a day. I would like him to see exactly what rape truly looks like, and why it is so important that these monsters get put behind bars for life and that these women get protected, not left in the dust. This isn’t about abortion, not really. This is about a specific section of people getting the shaft to further the agendas of the rich and powerful.
Not happening. NO VERY NOT HAPPENING.
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