Well, I've survived my first week home w/Shannon. So far, motherhood is easy but I know that once I go back to work and once Wig & I get our own place it's going to become a lot harder. But it turns out I'm a natural born mother. I adapted to having to take care of a newborn almost instantly. I thought it'd take a few days or even weeks to get used to the sleep deprivation, clean up a particularly messy poop without gagging, and learn the different cues and types of cries for hungry, dirty, tired or plain cranky, but from day one none of that was a problem. Shannon is a perfectly healthy and happy baby, and my family has been a very big help. I don't try to take too much advantage of their help because A) they work full-time and have their own things to worry about, they can't watch a newborn all the time and 2) I don't want to get spoiled or complacent and be unprepared once I move out. But when they're home they'll gladly take her long enough to let me shower and eat or take a nap or get some important chore done. My dad who's usually so serious, stoic and strict turns to mush when he holds Shannon. The man who said he wanted to be called "Sir" when we were discussing grandparent nicknames is now a self-proclaimed Grampy and he'll hold her and talk baby talk to her. He's quick to give her back the second she needs to be changed though. And my mom insists on getting in some quality time with her before she leaves or as soon as she gets home for work. Even my sister has to take her for a little bit. But she won't feed or change her either. She just likes to hold her until she starts to get cranky - or starts farting too much.
Wig comes by whenever he can and helps me out, but he's still getting used to the reality of fatherhood. He feels insecure in his ability to be a good father and feels uncomfortable holding Shannon or feeding or changing her. But he is making an effort and soon enough he'll realize he's doing a good job. I feel he'll connect better once she's a little older and more interactive - sitting up, cooing and smiling. Wig takes care of me, though, and that's just as big a help. But for most of the day once my dad leaves for work it's just me and Shannon and I've learned to adapt to doing a lot of things w/just one hand or to work quickly before she wakes up. Once she has a little more neck strength I can put her in the carrier and just strap her to my chest so I have both hands free. I wanted one of those baby slings but they're all either really expensive or really ugly. I think it's a more comfortable and intimate way to carry the baby than the traditional carriers, so hopefully I can find one that works for me at a reasonable price.
Shannon's slowly starting to get on a schedule. She's almost predictable. She'll eat every 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours and usually nap the entire time between. Every so often she gets the urge to cluster feed & want to eat an hour or hour and a half later, but she's more or less predictable. She rarely gets cranky or overtired; she almost only cries when she's hungry or needs to be changed or is being changed or bathed - she hates being naked.
They say to sleep when the baby sleeps, but I can only really do that at night. I have too much of a second wind and running on pure adrenaline to nap during the day. Plus it's the only time I can keep up with housework and other stuff. I'm slowly getting back into crocheting and am working on new amigurumi when I have the free time. Right now I'm working on Pac-man, Ms Pac-man and the ghosts, Chain Chomps from Super Mario and Kirby. I also want to do Metroids and try to make hat versions of some of my amigurumi, particularly the Brain Slug. I also want to make replicas of the kids from South Park's hats, although I know Kenny's is going to be a problem since it's actually a hood. I want to branch out and do actual craft fairs this year. It's going to be a matter of money and balancing it with taking care of Shannon. But I'd probably sell a lot more than I do at the conventions so it could be worth the investment and I can make extra cash to put away in a savings account.
But I'm loving every minute of motherhood so far. Sometimes it's frustrating and tiresome when she wants to eat again, or won't sleep and wants to be held indefinately, but it's worth it for that look she gives me when I'm holding her. A working schedule is developing and will be in place within weeks and I'll have a normal life again - just with added baby.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Birth Annoucement
Wow, I really suck at blogging. I promised I'd blog all through the pregnancy w/updates but working at the new Toys R Us Express really sucked up a lot of my time since I ended up working 8 hour shifts 5 days a week, then of course preparing for the baby, sleeping, squeezing in as much of a social life as possible, and other tasks. So it's understandable I didn't have the time to type up a blog. There wasn't much of interest to post anyway; my pregnancy was the easiest & most inconsequential pregnancy ever. Nothing happened. I found out it was a girl, I got a bigger bump, she moved around a lot. But the delivery is quite a story, so here I am finally blogging.
So Shannon was due on the 23rd. Everyone had bets on when she'd actually be born. My mom wanted her to come on her birthday, the 21st. The most popular prediction was Christmas Eve. Even a psychic my mom sees regularly said the 24th.
The 23rd came & went. So did the 24th and I got through Christmas Day without a twinge. Then at about 1230 in the morning on the 26th I got up to pee & had bright red bloody show. A mild cramping soon followed & we headed to the hospital. While I was under observation for about an hour/hour & a half they became definite contractions, not very intense but regularly spaced 5 minutes apart. However, my cervix didn't dilate at all and I was still at only 1cm so they sent me home to wait out the early labor stages.
Now a massive blizzard was heading down to us later that day, so we were dreading that my labor would intensify during the worst part of the storm. I took a warm bath and shower and was able to doze a little, but the contractions continued to come. They weren't so bad early in the morning - like menstrual cramps, maybe a little more painful, something I could easily grit my teeth & wait out, but as the day wore on and the snow started falling they gradually got more uncomfortable. The pain didn't get worse but the pressure against my rectum and pelvis were tough to sit through. I was contemplating whether I would be able to wait it out through the night & go to the hospital the next day during the tail end of the storm. So far, my water still hadn't broken and there was no sign of further dilation. Finally, more bloody show was appearing and the contractions were so uncomfortable that we braved the storm and headed to Winchester. The roads were treacherous & visibility very low, but we made it there safely & as soon as I was checked I was 3cm dilated. Finally things were moving along.
I was hoping I'd be able to hold out & have a natural birth, but the combination of pain & pressure from the contractions were getting to much and I broke down & got the epidural. I'm so glad I did. It made it so I didn't feel a single contraction and I was able to sleep. Well, I would've been able to sleep if I didn't have this thing where I never sleep well in other beds (I never fall completely asleep at hotels either). But I dozed enough. They had pull-out bed for Wig & he slept like a log the whole night.
My cervix continued to dilate steadily throughout the night but my water never broke. At about 7AM Monday morning the doctor broke my water and I began to try to deliver my daughter. It was tough. Sometimes I could feel the pressure and need to bear down w/the contractions but other times I had to go by the doctor reading the monitor that said when I had a contraction. I was pushing well, and I was expecting Shannon to come out any minute but after an hour of pushing the doctor checked her head position & said her head was not able to pass through the pelvic bone & molding was starting. On top of that there was meconium & I had a low-grade fever & infection so all those factors led to csection. I was wheeled into the OR and prepped. Wig looked so adorable in his scrubs. He was so fascinated with the whole procedure and the fact that I was so numb I didn't feel a single thing while they rooted in my wide opened stomach cavity. Then at 9:48AM, Shannon officially came into the world kicking and screaming, weighing 7lb 12oz and 20 3/4 inches long.
They wisked her away to Special Care to treat her w/antibiotics and it took me neary 4 hours to finally see my little girl. But it was worth the wait. Everyone sees a little bit of someone else in her. I think she has Wig's nose & ears, others say she looks like me or my sister. Some say she has my mom's chin. She already has quite the personality. I'm so glad I have her. She's the best Christmas gift I ever got.
So Shannon was due on the 23rd. Everyone had bets on when she'd actually be born. My mom wanted her to come on her birthday, the 21st. The most popular prediction was Christmas Eve. Even a psychic my mom sees regularly said the 24th.
The 23rd came & went. So did the 24th and I got through Christmas Day without a twinge. Then at about 1230 in the morning on the 26th I got up to pee & had bright red bloody show. A mild cramping soon followed & we headed to the hospital. While I was under observation for about an hour/hour & a half they became definite contractions, not very intense but regularly spaced 5 minutes apart. However, my cervix didn't dilate at all and I was still at only 1cm so they sent me home to wait out the early labor stages.
Now a massive blizzard was heading down to us later that day, so we were dreading that my labor would intensify during the worst part of the storm. I took a warm bath and shower and was able to doze a little, but the contractions continued to come. They weren't so bad early in the morning - like menstrual cramps, maybe a little more painful, something I could easily grit my teeth & wait out, but as the day wore on and the snow started falling they gradually got more uncomfortable. The pain didn't get worse but the pressure against my rectum and pelvis were tough to sit through. I was contemplating whether I would be able to wait it out through the night & go to the hospital the next day during the tail end of the storm. So far, my water still hadn't broken and there was no sign of further dilation. Finally, more bloody show was appearing and the contractions were so uncomfortable that we braved the storm and headed to Winchester. The roads were treacherous & visibility very low, but we made it there safely & as soon as I was checked I was 3cm dilated. Finally things were moving along.
I was hoping I'd be able to hold out & have a natural birth, but the combination of pain & pressure from the contractions were getting to much and I broke down & got the epidural. I'm so glad I did. It made it so I didn't feel a single contraction and I was able to sleep. Well, I would've been able to sleep if I didn't have this thing where I never sleep well in other beds (I never fall completely asleep at hotels either). But I dozed enough. They had pull-out bed for Wig & he slept like a log the whole night.
My cervix continued to dilate steadily throughout the night but my water never broke. At about 7AM Monday morning the doctor broke my water and I began to try to deliver my daughter. It was tough. Sometimes I could feel the pressure and need to bear down w/the contractions but other times I had to go by the doctor reading the monitor that said when I had a contraction. I was pushing well, and I was expecting Shannon to come out any minute but after an hour of pushing the doctor checked her head position & said her head was not able to pass through the pelvic bone & molding was starting. On top of that there was meconium & I had a low-grade fever & infection so all those factors led to csection. I was wheeled into the OR and prepped. Wig looked so adorable in his scrubs. He was so fascinated with the whole procedure and the fact that I was so numb I didn't feel a single thing while they rooted in my wide opened stomach cavity. Then at 9:48AM, Shannon officially came into the world kicking and screaming, weighing 7lb 12oz and 20 3/4 inches long.
They wisked her away to Special Care to treat her w/antibiotics and it took me neary 4 hours to finally see my little girl. But it was worth the wait. Everyone sees a little bit of someone else in her. I think she has Wig's nose & ears, others say she looks like me or my sister. Some say she has my mom's chin. She already has quite the personality. I'm so glad I have her. She's the best Christmas gift I ever got.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
So I finally told my parents today. They were more disappointed and concerned about financial stability than anything else. They said themselves they can't be mad, we're adults and at least I'm 25 and not 18 like she was. But they're worried about Wig and I holding down jobs and paying bills while raising a child. The news about my supervisor position eased a little bit of the concern, but it won't be enough. They feel bad that they can't support us the way my grandparents supported them when they were pregnant with me. But they'll be emotionally supportive and do what they can. My grandparents will throw some money my way. I'm not expecting the ride on their coattails. But they took it somewhat well, as well as one can when their eldest daughter who's not yet married, in dire finanical straits w/tons of student loan debt and still living at home tells you she's pregnant. They're secretly excited to be grandparents, I think, but the timing is bad and my situation could be better. At least it's not worse and it is slowly improving.
After telling them, I immediately posted it on FaceBook. I was dying to announce it to the world but couldn't because my mom would see. Perhaps I did it too soon because my aunt was the first to see and her reaction was "EXCUSE ME?!" my mom was like "Why'd you have to go announcing it on FaceBook already?! The phone's ringing off the hook!" Then later she pokes back in and says "Your father's calling all his friends" so he must be somewhat excited. But the outpouring of comments were 99% positive, all congratulations except for my aunt's incredulty and my "uncle" Chris was like "congrats? I'm going to be a great uncle!" A couple of me and Wig's mutual friends IMed me on FaceBook. Greg, who's in Afghanistan right now, was very supportive, Katie aka K-Fon was like "WTF?" and suggested abortion before I mentioned that our financial situation was improving, so she offered both her congratulations and condolences and let us decide which to take.
Wig told his brother and Guru and he said that Guru told him it was the worst time to have a baby and said "my condolences" which surprised me because as a father, I thought Guru would give Wig the old "It's a lot of hard work and scary but worth it" speech. My theory is Guru knows how Wig feels and said what Wig needed to hear. Guru's wife Lindsey was very excited for me on FaceBook. But of course, women and men handle pregnancy very differently. Wig said Gahmstead said more or less the same as Guru. While Gahm isn't one to be all mooshy about stuff like this, I was hoping he'd be a little more supportive while still voicing concern about finanical issues and how it would affect the band and everything else. Again, he's probably just saying what Wig wants to hear. I know that while Gahm is not one to immediately come off as a baby person, he was rather excited and involved w/Seamus' birth and seemed to revel in the fact that he was his godfather, so he's got a soft side. While he may think having a baby this soon is a bad idea for us, he'll probably be supportive and play his role as uncle. Wig hasn't told any of his other friends yet or his parents. I know the reactions are going to be mixed. But his friends and family are going to be the few people actively against this pregnancy. So far none of my friends have had a negative reaction and my parents, while concerned and disappointed, are not forcing me to abort it or put it up for adoption and are standing by my decision to keep it. We have more support than dissent, and that's a positive sign that things will work out for us. It's still going to be hard but I know we can work it out. People with less than us have made it, I keep reminding myself that. We have more than we thought we would've.
Training for my new supervisor position should start next week. I also have ConnectiCon next weekend. Then the Stoneham store is opening I think the 3rd week of July. It's going to be exciting.
After telling them, I immediately posted it on FaceBook. I was dying to announce it to the world but couldn't because my mom would see. Perhaps I did it too soon because my aunt was the first to see and her reaction was "EXCUSE ME?!" my mom was like "Why'd you have to go announcing it on FaceBook already?! The phone's ringing off the hook!" Then later she pokes back in and says "Your father's calling all his friends" so he must be somewhat excited. But the outpouring of comments were 99% positive, all congratulations except for my aunt's incredulty and my "uncle" Chris was like "congrats? I'm going to be a great uncle!" A couple of me and Wig's mutual friends IMed me on FaceBook. Greg, who's in Afghanistan right now, was very supportive, Katie aka K-Fon was like "WTF?" and suggested abortion before I mentioned that our financial situation was improving, so she offered both her congratulations and condolences and let us decide which to take.
Wig told his brother and Guru and he said that Guru told him it was the worst time to have a baby and said "my condolences" which surprised me because as a father, I thought Guru would give Wig the old "It's a lot of hard work and scary but worth it" speech. My theory is Guru knows how Wig feels and said what Wig needed to hear. Guru's wife Lindsey was very excited for me on FaceBook. But of course, women and men handle pregnancy very differently. Wig said Gahmstead said more or less the same as Guru. While Gahm isn't one to be all mooshy about stuff like this, I was hoping he'd be a little more supportive while still voicing concern about finanical issues and how it would affect the band and everything else. Again, he's probably just saying what Wig wants to hear. I know that while Gahm is not one to immediately come off as a baby person, he was rather excited and involved w/Seamus' birth and seemed to revel in the fact that he was his godfather, so he's got a soft side. While he may think having a baby this soon is a bad idea for us, he'll probably be supportive and play his role as uncle. Wig hasn't told any of his other friends yet or his parents. I know the reactions are going to be mixed. But his friends and family are going to be the few people actively against this pregnancy. So far none of my friends have had a negative reaction and my parents, while concerned and disappointed, are not forcing me to abort it or put it up for adoption and are standing by my decision to keep it. We have more support than dissent, and that's a positive sign that things will work out for us. It's still going to be hard but I know we can work it out. People with less than us have made it, I keep reminding myself that. We have more than we thought we would've.
Training for my new supervisor position should start next week. I also have ConnectiCon next weekend. Then the Stoneham store is opening I think the 3rd week of July. It's going to be exciting.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
PortCon!!
Just got back from PortCon Maine. I love this convention because it's close to home and very small and relaxing. The entire thing takes place in one hotel so it doesn't have the discombobulation of AnimeNEXT and the South Portand Wyndham is a great little hotel and it's conveniently located across from the Maine Mall and countless restaurants and businesses are within a short walking or driving distance so you can easily get good food instead of living off con junk and also grab last-minute purchases. The Artist's Alley closes very early for a convention - 7! - which gave us plenty of free time in the evening to go out to eat, relax in the pool, go to convention events or just veg out. A lot better than getting out at 10PM. Of course, the shorter hours and smaller foot traffic means we don't make as much money than at the other cons. PopCult always does well because no one can resist our buttons and they're the most affordable item in the whole convention. My own products didn't do as well. I only made $52 this weekend. But we had a lot of fun as we often do at PortCon because it truly is less stressful.
We left around 130 on Thursday and took 95 all the way up. It was funny because we passed Inyx on the way up and then blew past her as I have a lead foot. After realizing I was passing 90, I slowed down a bit and then got stuck in slowed traffic due to a downpour, yet I never saw Inyx catch up with us. Despite all that, she made it to the hotel before us, albeit literally a minute before us.
Wig and I had a HUGE fight as soon as we got up to the room. Despite how negatively he's viewing the whole pregnancy situation, we haven't straight out fought more than twice. We made up soon after between keeping up appearances as we set up the booth and genuine apologies. We had the room to ourselves most of the night because Inyx and her new girlfriend Alina went out to dinner alone and I was able to assuage his qualms about having sex with a pregnant woman and we had some much-needed make-up sex. Even though he says he won't want to have sex when I really look pregnant, he's not going to be able to resist. My libido's already starting to increase, imagine what it's going to be like in a few months. Wig was pretty quiet and withdrawn for most of the first day, but he slowly started to become his old self. He started joking a bit more and smiling and started playing guitar again and even made it to the final round of a Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament. But all these improvements are only on the surface. Every once in a while he'd still make some negative comment about the pregnancy and our future. It's a long, long road, but he'll soon see things will work out. They won't be perfect - not by a longshot - but we'll survive and we'll be happy and we'll still be able to do the same things we did before we had a baby. He won't be able to believe that until it happens though.
He's telling Gahmstead tonight. I wonder what he's going to say about it. I still haven't told my parents. I was going to tell them tomorrow but I have to close and will be at work before they come home so it'll have to wait until Tuesday. It would've been as awkward if I told them tonight when I got back from PortCon than if I told them last week then left. Plus we're going to need a lot of uninterrupted time to discuss what I'm going to do.
Anyway, I have a couple weeks to prepare for ConnectiCon, then a couple weeks after that the Stoneham store should be opening and I'll start my new full-time supervisor's position! I'm going to start looking for apartments soon. We might just stay in Medford for convenience but I'm going to actively look in Stoneham so we're closer to work, and also in Wakefield and Melrose. MAYBE Malden and Somerville but I'm not big on Malden (especially when you have to pay for "city garbage bags") and Somerville's touch and go depending on the neighborhood and the best neighborhoods like Davis and Ball Sq are probably a lot more pricey. Plus there's almost no on-street parking for visitors. I need a place where my friends and family can come to visit and not worry about being towed or have to park 3 blocks away. We might look for a 3-room so Gahm can move in too because everyone in that household wants to get rid of Susan and her drunken "I have cancer so I'm going to do coke and drink myself to death" mentality. That's if he's interested in living w/his brother, sister-in-law and future nephew (or niece).
So tomorrow when I go back to work I hope they have more news about the Stoneham store. It'll be good to be armed w/that info when I tell my parents I'm pregnant. Having a full-time, better paying and better benefits job will really soften the blow of how soon in my life this happened.
I'm off to finish uploading to flickr then off to bed. I'll post more when I have more news.
We left around 130 on Thursday and took 95 all the way up. It was funny because we passed Inyx on the way up and then blew past her as I have a lead foot. After realizing I was passing 90, I slowed down a bit and then got stuck in slowed traffic due to a downpour, yet I never saw Inyx catch up with us. Despite all that, she made it to the hotel before us, albeit literally a minute before us.
Wig and I had a HUGE fight as soon as we got up to the room. Despite how negatively he's viewing the whole pregnancy situation, we haven't straight out fought more than twice. We made up soon after between keeping up appearances as we set up the booth and genuine apologies. We had the room to ourselves most of the night because Inyx and her new girlfriend Alina went out to dinner alone and I was able to assuage his qualms about having sex with a pregnant woman and we had some much-needed make-up sex. Even though he says he won't want to have sex when I really look pregnant, he's not going to be able to resist. My libido's already starting to increase, imagine what it's going to be like in a few months. Wig was pretty quiet and withdrawn for most of the first day, but he slowly started to become his old self. He started joking a bit more and smiling and started playing guitar again and even made it to the final round of a Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament. But all these improvements are only on the surface. Every once in a while he'd still make some negative comment about the pregnancy and our future. It's a long, long road, but he'll soon see things will work out. They won't be perfect - not by a longshot - but we'll survive and we'll be happy and we'll still be able to do the same things we did before we had a baby. He won't be able to believe that until it happens though.
He's telling Gahmstead tonight. I wonder what he's going to say about it. I still haven't told my parents. I was going to tell them tomorrow but I have to close and will be at work before they come home so it'll have to wait until Tuesday. It would've been as awkward if I told them tonight when I got back from PortCon than if I told them last week then left. Plus we're going to need a lot of uninterrupted time to discuss what I'm going to do.
Anyway, I have a couple weeks to prepare for ConnectiCon, then a couple weeks after that the Stoneham store should be opening and I'll start my new full-time supervisor's position! I'm going to start looking for apartments soon. We might just stay in Medford for convenience but I'm going to actively look in Stoneham so we're closer to work, and also in Wakefield and Melrose. MAYBE Malden and Somerville but I'm not big on Malden (especially when you have to pay for "city garbage bags") and Somerville's touch and go depending on the neighborhood and the best neighborhoods like Davis and Ball Sq are probably a lot more pricey. Plus there's almost no on-street parking for visitors. I need a place where my friends and family can come to visit and not worry about being towed or have to park 3 blocks away. We might look for a 3-room so Gahm can move in too because everyone in that household wants to get rid of Susan and her drunken "I have cancer so I'm going to do coke and drink myself to death" mentality. That's if he's interested in living w/his brother, sister-in-law and future nephew (or niece).
So tomorrow when I go back to work I hope they have more news about the Stoneham store. It'll be good to be armed w/that info when I tell my parents I'm pregnant. Having a full-time, better paying and better benefits job will really soften the blow of how soon in my life this happened.
I'm off to finish uploading to flickr then off to bed. I'll post more when I have more news.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Donation Button
I added a PayPal Donate button as you can see on the right hand menu if you're feeling generous and want to contribute to the baby's upbringing. I'm not expecting a lot, even $5 or $10 added up will help. It'll go toward diapers, clothing, food, doctor's bills, or go into a college fund to accrue interest and grow. But it'll be strictly for the baby, not me and Wig. If you can spare a bit please click. I appreciate it.
First Ultrasound
I had my first ultrasound yesterday, and it turn out I'm already 13 1/2 weeks along! I'm due December 23rd. As much as I'm dying to tell my mom, I don't want to ruin this weekend. I can't drop a bombshell like this and then be like "Well, I'm off to Maine!" They'd either be like "You can't go to a convention! You have to save money for the baby and you shouldn't be travelling in your condition!" Then they'd be worried about me all weekend. If I tell them next Monday then we'll have plenty of time to sit down and discuss my course of action. I'm expecting more shock than anger. They'll be disappointed that I let something like this happen too soon, but they already know from personal experience that even when you're careful, accidents happen. I mean that's how I got here. So they can't be pissed at me. It's not like I did it on purpose. Their main concern will be my financial situation. They're going to ask how I'm going to afford to get my own place - because there's no room here for an extra baby and for Wig to move in w/me - and raise a child while trying to pay student loans. They don't have the money to spare to help support me but I know my grandparents do, but I feel guilty and selfish just assuming they will lend that kind of money, even though I'm sure I will. I'm already actively looking for a full-time job and I know Toys R Us will give me extra hours if they can spare them in the meantime - and if all else fails, there's that supervisor position at the Holiday Express when it opens. But I already have a response to one of my applications that looks promising. I had another call-back but it ended up a no-go as they were looking for someone with definitive classroom experience. At least they called back. Wig might have a lead at Stop & Shop. It's the dreaded "We'll call you back" period where you don't know whether they will or not. But they are hiring now, and last month when Wig first applied they called him in 4 times for mini-interviews before telling him they weren't hiring 'til June, so it's a better lead than some of the roads he's tried to take in the past.
The hardest part right now is dealing with Wig's depression and anger. He can't get over the fact that he truly believes he's just going to snap and that this is the end of his life as he knows it. No matter what I say or do I can't convince him that everything will work out for us, and that I know he's too good a person to become an abusive bad father. He's going to get worse when he sees the ultrasound picture and I tell him how far along I really am. He wouldn't let me bring it up last night. I know he'll come around, it's just how long before he does. Is he going to be miserable the entire pregnancy? I need him to remain his sweet, romantic self or else I'm going to fall to pieces. This is the happiest time of my life and I want nothing more to share that with him but he can't relate. I wish he could've been there for the ultrasound. It hurts that I was alone for my first glimpse at my baby. I just hope he's there for the first movements too - that they don't happen before we can move in together or happen at work or something. And of course he HAS to be there for the next ultrasound and when I find out the baby's gender. Which I'm convinced is going to be a boy. My first appointment with the ob/gyn isn't until July 19th so it's going to be a long wait. But so far I've felt fine and the baby looks normal on the ultrasound so I don't think I have anything to worry about. I think it's amazing that he's only 3 inches long right now but he already has fingerprints! No crime in the womb, they'll be able to track him. You could say he already has a big head like Wig but their heads are always larger at this stage of development. It might normal out as his body grows, we'll see.
I'm slowly telling everyone. It's tough to have to wait to let some people know but I've told Flav, everyone who was working yesterday, and all my online acquaintanes at Expansion Mansion and the CreateCrochet Etsy team. So far nothing but support and happiness. Wig is the only one against this pregnancy, so far. I'm sure some of his friends and relatives will have a negative reaction too, but the general consensus is that this is a good thing, just a little ill-timed but not impossible to pull off. I have the support of possibly hundreds of people so I feel secure. I have a long journey ahead of me, and I'm glad I won't be alone.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Long-Awaited Update, AnimeNEXT and News
Daaaaaaaaaaaayum I've been lazy/busy/forgetful/tired and haven't updated in FOREVER. This weekend was AnimeNEXT in Somerset, NJ. This was my first time driving that far, but everything went off without a hitch. We took 95 to 287 to avoid tolls and stopped at Friendly's in West Haven, CT for food and got to the hotel in about 6 hours. The ride back was going even smoother - we didn't make any stops and were flying through New Jersey and ConnectiCut - until we hit tons of roadwork in RI and MA. The return trip ended up taking about 6 hours too but it was at least an easy route - long but at least there weren't a lot of changeovers to other highways.
I've never been particularly fond of AnimeNEXT. It's not set up very well. 2 years ago when it was still in Secaucus it was horribly set up. That was the year that the Artist Alley was in a parking garage. The Somerset location does a slightly better job but it's too spread out. Last year it was in the Garden State Exhibit Center and the Doubletree Hotel, which wasn't a big deal because there was a handy covered walkway connecting the Doubletree and the Exhibit Center. But this year they added locations in the Holiday Inn and a training center across the street. It was too spread out. With Inyx in charge of the Artist Alley this year, the Artist Alley was better set up than last year. We ended up commandeering the entire corner since she was staff, so we had the staff table, 2 tables for our displays and then Sin's table for her studio. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures. It was impressive. Another beef with AnimeNEXT is there isn't much for quality panels or workshops. They don't get the best guests. They did have Greg Ayres this year, who is a very notable voice actor, but they usually don't get anyone bigger than that. The panels are usually lame. The only ones that are of any merit are the Bento and Sake panels but you have to sign up way in advance because they fill out so fast. The Adult Swim Revolution panel happens every year and it's great for Adult Swim fans who want to hear about new shows, see previews, find out what's been cancelled, what's coming back, what's on hiatus and just bitch about crappy shows and praise awesome shows. The panel is a mix of awesome and lame-ass bullshit. I've gone to it every year I've done AnimeNEXT - which is only 3 years, but so far it's progressively gone downhill. This year's panel went from talking about new seasons and new series to bitching about Family Guy and American Dad, and they barely talked about the new shows or any original Adult Swim content. Last year had a lot more information and the year before had free swag and I won a Murderface button by being able to correctly answer what Adult Swim's first time slot was. (I beat someone dressed as Space Ghost, that's epic)
But I think AnimeNEXT should've been renamed PokeCon this year as like, 85% of con-goers were cosplaying Pokemon, Pokemon trainers or Teams Rocket, Magma or Aqua. And everyone had PokeWalkers from the new DS games (mine took a nasty trip through the washer and no longer works, but Wig and Xaqu got plenty of items and Watts). Wig got lots of great pictures. I didn't get as many. I usually just take pics of the cosplays I like and if I got a picture of it at one con I usually don't take subsequent pictures unless the person did an exceptional job and it's extremely accurate or it's some clever twist on the normal character design.
Anyway, the Artist Alley wasn't nearly as busy as Anime Boston's. We still did pretty well. A small but comfortable $650 on Friday and a much better $800 on Saturday. I don't know the Sunday numbers because Inyx stayed to go to the staff after-party and we left early, so she hadn't counted it before we left. I myself only made $76, a far cry from the $101 I made at Anime Boston but still decent for some crocheted dolls and guitar pick earrings. Someone bought 3 of my $12 amigurumi on one sale - both mushrooms and the Dragon Quest slime. The mini Brain Slugs were the star this time, trumping their full-size counterparts. I don't know how PortCon will fare, it's a much smaller and less busy convention but I think people are a little more willing to spend on handicrafts there.
In other news, I'm pregnant. It's kind of shocking. I never expected it to happen this soon. Everyone who knows me knows how badly I want a baby, though, and I'm more happy than nervous. Part of me wishes it isn't happening now, but part of me is glad I no longer have to wait. I can finally experience pregnancy and have the baby I always wanted. I was kind of getting sick of a lot of my friends and old classmates having kids before me. I felt like I was being left in the dust. Me and Wig's friends Dan and Lindsey just had their 2nd baby, and Katie and Fetus (another Sean, everyone goes by nicknames) had Seamus in January. Not only was I jealous of people having what I want and couldn't have, I was disappointed that our kids would end up being far apart in age. Now they'll be close in age and get to play together. Wig isn't happy. He's convinced he'll be a horrible father just like his father and thinks he'll end up doing something bad that'll cause me to divorce him, kill him or have him arrested. I know him better than he knows himself and I know he is too sweet, caring and too desperate to not turn out like his parents and that he'll come out fine in the end. I don't know how we're going to manage raising a child right now. I'm confident in help from my family and friends. My parents don't have money to spare but my grandparents do, and I bet some of my friends will donate some of their old baby things. I have a lot of my old baby furniture down in the basement that is still useful and of course there's the baby shower. Finding full time work is gong to be tough. Wig is still having trouble finding a job, but I think Stop n Shop will work out if he just follows through, and he's finally expressed interest in going to school to learn a trade. I wonder if he pulls the "my fiancee is pregnant I really need a job!" spiel if that'll get him a job out of sympathy. Now that I'm not doing the Census I can finally focus on applying for full-time jobs again and I'm trying for some entry-level government jobs because even if you don't have any experience if you at least have a Bachelor's degree they'll train you. My aunt also knows someone with a music teacher job opportunity on the South Shore. She's going to give him my contact info and I'm just waiting for an email or phone call with the info. I haven't told my parents yet. I'm waiting until after PortCon, because if I tell them now, they'll either forbid me to go or bitch and moan that I'm going to another convention when I should be saving money for the baby and shouldn't be traveling and doing convention-type things when I'm pregnant. Plus I don't want to stress them out like that then take off like that. I don't know how I'm going to bring it up. But I'm going to tell my mom first because she'll take it better. They're going to freak out at first because it really is too soon. I'm not too young - I'm 25, which I think is a good age to have a kid (my goal was always between 25 and 30 for my first) - but working part-time with an unemployed fiancee and we both still live at home and have less than $700 between us isn't an ideal situation for having a child. But they won't forget that they were in the same boat when they were younger than me and that their parents supported them and helped them out. It could be a lot worse. Plus once they get over the initial shock and we figure out how we're going to work this out, they'll start to gush over the fact that they'll be grandparents. My sister is going to refuse to look at me during my 2nd and 3rd trimester, though - she's weirded out by pregnant women. All in all, I'm amazingly calm right now considering the news. It's surreal though. I'm still having a hard time believing it really happened and it happened so soon. I don't even feel pregnant yet. But it must be meant to be, so something good must be coming from it somewhere down the line. I'm not too worried yet. I'm determined to find away.
I've never been particularly fond of AnimeNEXT. It's not set up very well. 2 years ago when it was still in Secaucus it was horribly set up. That was the year that the Artist Alley was in a parking garage. The Somerset location does a slightly better job but it's too spread out. Last year it was in the Garden State Exhibit Center and the Doubletree Hotel, which wasn't a big deal because there was a handy covered walkway connecting the Doubletree and the Exhibit Center. But this year they added locations in the Holiday Inn and a training center across the street. It was too spread out. With Inyx in charge of the Artist Alley this year, the Artist Alley was better set up than last year. We ended up commandeering the entire corner since she was staff, so we had the staff table, 2 tables for our displays and then Sin's table for her studio. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures. It was impressive. Another beef with AnimeNEXT is there isn't much for quality panels or workshops. They don't get the best guests. They did have Greg Ayres this year, who is a very notable voice actor, but they usually don't get anyone bigger than that. The panels are usually lame. The only ones that are of any merit are the Bento and Sake panels but you have to sign up way in advance because they fill out so fast. The Adult Swim Revolution panel happens every year and it's great for Adult Swim fans who want to hear about new shows, see previews, find out what's been cancelled, what's coming back, what's on hiatus and just bitch about crappy shows and praise awesome shows. The panel is a mix of awesome and lame-ass bullshit. I've gone to it every year I've done AnimeNEXT - which is only 3 years, but so far it's progressively gone downhill. This year's panel went from talking about new seasons and new series to bitching about Family Guy and American Dad, and they barely talked about the new shows or any original Adult Swim content. Last year had a lot more information and the year before had free swag and I won a Murderface button by being able to correctly answer what Adult Swim's first time slot was. (I beat someone dressed as Space Ghost, that's epic)
But I think AnimeNEXT should've been renamed PokeCon this year as like, 85% of con-goers were cosplaying Pokemon, Pokemon trainers or Teams Rocket, Magma or Aqua. And everyone had PokeWalkers from the new DS games (mine took a nasty trip through the washer and no longer works, but Wig and Xaqu got plenty of items and Watts). Wig got lots of great pictures. I didn't get as many. I usually just take pics of the cosplays I like and if I got a picture of it at one con I usually don't take subsequent pictures unless the person did an exceptional job and it's extremely accurate or it's some clever twist on the normal character design.
Anyway, the Artist Alley wasn't nearly as busy as Anime Boston's. We still did pretty well. A small but comfortable $650 on Friday and a much better $800 on Saturday. I don't know the Sunday numbers because Inyx stayed to go to the staff after-party and we left early, so she hadn't counted it before we left. I myself only made $76, a far cry from the $101 I made at Anime Boston but still decent for some crocheted dolls and guitar pick earrings. Someone bought 3 of my $12 amigurumi on one sale - both mushrooms and the Dragon Quest slime. The mini Brain Slugs were the star this time, trumping their full-size counterparts. I don't know how PortCon will fare, it's a much smaller and less busy convention but I think people are a little more willing to spend on handicrafts there.
In other news, I'm pregnant. It's kind of shocking. I never expected it to happen this soon. Everyone who knows me knows how badly I want a baby, though, and I'm more happy than nervous. Part of me wishes it isn't happening now, but part of me is glad I no longer have to wait. I can finally experience pregnancy and have the baby I always wanted. I was kind of getting sick of a lot of my friends and old classmates having kids before me. I felt like I was being left in the dust. Me and Wig's friends Dan and Lindsey just had their 2nd baby, and Katie and Fetus (another Sean, everyone goes by nicknames) had Seamus in January. Not only was I jealous of people having what I want and couldn't have, I was disappointed that our kids would end up being far apart in age. Now they'll be close in age and get to play together. Wig isn't happy. He's convinced he'll be a horrible father just like his father and thinks he'll end up doing something bad that'll cause me to divorce him, kill him or have him arrested. I know him better than he knows himself and I know he is too sweet, caring and too desperate to not turn out like his parents and that he'll come out fine in the end. I don't know how we're going to manage raising a child right now. I'm confident in help from my family and friends. My parents don't have money to spare but my grandparents do, and I bet some of my friends will donate some of their old baby things. I have a lot of my old baby furniture down in the basement that is still useful and of course there's the baby shower. Finding full time work is gong to be tough. Wig is still having trouble finding a job, but I think Stop n Shop will work out if he just follows through, and he's finally expressed interest in going to school to learn a trade. I wonder if he pulls the "my fiancee is pregnant I really need a job!" spiel if that'll get him a job out of sympathy. Now that I'm not doing the Census I can finally focus on applying for full-time jobs again and I'm trying for some entry-level government jobs because even if you don't have any experience if you at least have a Bachelor's degree they'll train you. My aunt also knows someone with a music teacher job opportunity on the South Shore. She's going to give him my contact info and I'm just waiting for an email or phone call with the info. I haven't told my parents yet. I'm waiting until after PortCon, because if I tell them now, they'll either forbid me to go or bitch and moan that I'm going to another convention when I should be saving money for the baby and shouldn't be traveling and doing convention-type things when I'm pregnant. Plus I don't want to stress them out like that then take off like that. I don't know how I'm going to bring it up. But I'm going to tell my mom first because she'll take it better. They're going to freak out at first because it really is too soon. I'm not too young - I'm 25, which I think is a good age to have a kid (my goal was always between 25 and 30 for my first) - but working part-time with an unemployed fiancee and we both still live at home and have less than $700 between us isn't an ideal situation for having a child. But they won't forget that they were in the same boat when they were younger than me and that their parents supported them and helped them out. It could be a lot worse. Plus once they get over the initial shock and we figure out how we're going to work this out, they'll start to gush over the fact that they'll be grandparents. My sister is going to refuse to look at me during my 2nd and 3rd trimester, though - she's weirded out by pregnant women. All in all, I'm amazingly calm right now considering the news. It's surreal though. I'm still having a hard time believing it really happened and it happened so soon. I don't even feel pregnant yet. But it must be meant to be, so something good must be coming from it somewhere down the line. I'm not too worried yet. I'm determined to find away.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Crocheting and [adult swim] Obsessions
So a couple more new listings on Etsy. Finally relisted the red Mario mushrooms and the mini-brain slugs are finally available on Etsy.
Linkies:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41318384
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=41124388
Going to be stocking up on amugurmi for AnimeBoston, the first convention of the season. It's the first weekend of April, so I only have 4 weeks to make as many amigurumi as possible. Also gonna make some jewelry, but I'm not as concerned w/my stock cuz they don't sell as well as the amgurumi. I did sell a fair amount of guitar pick earrings though. Starting to shy away from the hemp and friendship bracelets, although I'll probably make a handful of Harry Potter house color friendship and beaded bracelets because those sell well at the conventions (actually got a custom order for beaded house bracelets last summer, I was very happy)
I also did some internet sleuthing last week that I'm kind of proud of in a nerdy way. [adult swim] prides themselves on their guerrilla style of advertisement (except that one time in Boston...) and lately they've had a series of mural-style graffitti advertisements in major cities all around the US. On the bumps they'd show a picture of one w/the city and say "Go find this" and one of three murals which I will title "the viewer graph," "series flow-chart," and "what to expect in 2010 pie chart." So I started my search for the Boston ones looking for clues to their locations on the interwebs. Naturally, I started on the [adult swim] message boards where I discovered viewer graph was already painted over. Using the picture posted by a sad viewer, I was able to zoom in and see it was on a street that intersected Cambridge St. Another viewer posted finding series flow chart on the side of a Russian shop on the border of Brookline. I then checked out flickr to see if anyone has found them yet. User walknboston had found viewer graph before it was painted over, and by his tags I found that it was specifically in Brighton, which narrowed down its location further. Later, I found a picture of an older mural ("Do you still care?") on Gordon St. A second picture of said mural revealed that this mural was in the same location as viewer graph (an electrical box with a tell-tale graffitti located in both pictures clued me in) therefore I learned that this former mural was on the corner of Gordon and Cambridge in Brighton. More flickr searching found other shots of series flow-chart that showed the block of stores that it was on the side of. I was barely able to make out "Babushka's Deli" and did a Google search. It's on Washington St in Brighton. Checked out MBTA for closest T stops, they're both on the Green Line "B" BOOSH. ("B" line doesn't stand for BOOSH, BOOSH is just the exclaimation I make to punctuate moments of success or one-upping). Wig and I were going to go into Boston Wednesday but of course it was raining buckets. We'll be heading in this Wednesday instead. Although they've already been found and posted by other people we have to see them for ourselves. Also, I believe that all three murals are in each city and if that is true, the pie chart hasn't been accounted for in Boston and I could still be the first to find it.
Sources:
http://boards.adultswim.com/adultswim/board/message?board.id=bumps&thread.id=37775&jump=true
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkn/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adultswimphotos/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffesposito/
Linkies:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41318384
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=41124388
Going to be stocking up on amugurmi for AnimeBoston, the first convention of the season. It's the first weekend of April, so I only have 4 weeks to make as many amigurumi as possible. Also gonna make some jewelry, but I'm not as concerned w/my stock cuz they don't sell as well as the amgurumi. I did sell a fair amount of guitar pick earrings though. Starting to shy away from the hemp and friendship bracelets, although I'll probably make a handful of Harry Potter house color friendship and beaded bracelets because those sell well at the conventions (actually got a custom order for beaded house bracelets last summer, I was very happy)
I also did some internet sleuthing last week that I'm kind of proud of in a nerdy way. [adult swim] prides themselves on their guerrilla style of advertisement (except that one time in Boston...) and lately they've had a series of mural-style graffitti advertisements in major cities all around the US. On the bumps they'd show a picture of one w/the city and say "Go find this" and one of three murals which I will title "the viewer graph," "series flow-chart," and "what to expect in 2010 pie chart." So I started my search for the Boston ones looking for clues to their locations on the interwebs. Naturally, I started on the [adult swim] message boards where I discovered viewer graph was already painted over. Using the picture posted by a sad viewer, I was able to zoom in and see it was on a street that intersected Cambridge St. Another viewer posted finding series flow chart on the side of a Russian shop on the border of Brookline. I then checked out flickr to see if anyone has found them yet. User walknboston had found viewer graph before it was painted over, and by his tags I found that it was specifically in Brighton, which narrowed down its location further. Later, I found a picture of an older mural ("Do you still care?") on Gordon St. A second picture of said mural revealed that this mural was in the same location as viewer graph (an electrical box with a tell-tale graffitti located in both pictures clued me in) therefore I learned that this former mural was on the corner of Gordon and Cambridge in Brighton. More flickr searching found other shots of series flow-chart that showed the block of stores that it was on the side of. I was barely able to make out "Babushka's Deli" and did a Google search. It's on Washington St in Brighton. Checked out MBTA for closest T stops, they're both on the Green Line "B" BOOSH. ("B" line doesn't stand for BOOSH, BOOSH is just the exclaimation I make to punctuate moments of success or one-upping). Wig and I were going to go into Boston Wednesday but of course it was raining buckets. We'll be heading in this Wednesday instead. Although they've already been found and posted by other people we have to see them for ourselves. Also, I believe that all three murals are in each city and if that is true, the pie chart hasn't been accounted for in Boston and I could still be the first to find it.
Sources:
http://boards.adultswim.com/adultswim/board/message?board.id=bumps&thread.id=37775&jump=true
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkn/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adultswimphotos/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffesposito/
Thursday, February 18, 2010
New items in the Etsy shop
For all you Tenacious D fans out there, I got some Pick of Destiny earrings. Now even regular joes can harness the awesome power of the Pick of Destiny.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=40788270
Also updated the Dragon Quest slime amigurumi. The pupils are now made of safety eyes. They're also listed on Esty for the first time EVAR!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=41003457
Check 'em out.
Countdown to the first convention of the season:
AnimeBoston April 2nd
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=40788270
Also updated the Dragon Quest slime amigurumi. The pupils are now made of safety eyes. They're also listed on Esty for the first time EVAR!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=41003457
Check 'em out.
Countdown to the first convention of the season:
AnimeBoston April 2nd
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
So things had been pretty much the same old for a while, until a couple weeks ago it was decided my mom needed a hysterectomy because of the fibroids in her uterus. They weren't causing any problems until a month ago when she started bleeding excessively. She went in for surgery today and everything went fine. She was understandably loopy from the morphine when we went to visit her earlier but other than that she's doing well. She should be home Friday at the latest. It's up to me, my dad and Heather to keep up with the housework for the next 4-6 weeks, so we're gonna have our hands full. It'll be good for my mom to not do anything for once, cuz she overworks herself. We weren't too overly worried about the surgery, hysertectomies are more or less routine and we were all joking even after my mom came out of surgery. Like last night before she went to bed I told her to have fun and when she told me she was gonna have to have a blood transfusion too I told her "Don't get AIDS." Today when we went to visit her my dad was ripping on her the whole time. She was on the same floor as the pediatric ward and joked she was up there because she had the IQ of a child. LOL. That's just how our family is. Besides, laughter is a great way to get through stressful moments even if it seems in bad taste.
Meanwhile, I applied and took the test for census taker the other day. If I'm hired it's, like, $20 an hour part-time which will really help, even though it's only for a few months. Sure, I have to go door-to-door or call up strangers to ask personal questions about their home and family, but it's still a decent government stint. Wig applied too but he hit a snag since his driver's license is expired and he needs a valid ID. He'll be getting it renewed soon and also has an interview sometime this week for a job on kitchen staff in a nursing home. Someone his father knows works there.
I got to go out to Ludlow and visit the Flav and Ricky a couple weeks ago. We had a helluva time. I drove out Saturday morning and breezed in in under an hour and a half and we went to Northampton. I got to try Thai Garden finally and it was better than Tom Yum Koong although Tom Yum Koong comes incredibly close. Northampton's got so many fun little shops. Then later, an old friend of Ricky's and her husband came by for Simpsons Scene It and we all filled up on chips and Mountain Dew Throwback and talked for hours. Then we watched Sleepaway Camp, which is probably one of the most bizarre thrillers I've ever seen. Before I left on Sunday we ate at Peppa's in East Longmeadow and had a pizza that had french fries and bacon on it w/ranch dressing. It was almost like a potato skin pizza. I had a great time and can't wait to go back out there, which I guess will be when I go to see Finntroll w/them in April! Too awesome.
The other night a handful of TRU night crew people went out to Fridays. It was supposed to be a huge reunion event at Kowloons but first it got delayed a week so people'd have money, then it got switched to Fridays, then a bunch of people couldn't go for various reasons. So it ended up being only me, Wig, Dan, Mikey, Charlene, Hillary and Hillary's boyfriend. It was fun. Dan and I kept making Dayjob Orchestra references all night (look them up on YouTube. They're a Canadian prog rock band, but their most popular thing is their overdub videos where they take clips of Star Trek or politicians and redo the dialogue so it's the most bizarre shit but it matches the lips perfectly!) The best thing was I was the only one with a Give Me More Stripes card, so I got ALL the points :)
Finally finished the baby blanket for little Seamus. Pictures will be on Flickr later. Then I'll be getting cracking on amigurumi for the conventions. I'm also having a special promotion for Facebook fans and Twitter followers only. So become a fan at www.facebook.com/StringTheory101 and follow twitter.com/StringTheory101.
Meanwhile, I applied and took the test for census taker the other day. If I'm hired it's, like, $20 an hour part-time which will really help, even though it's only for a few months. Sure, I have to go door-to-door or call up strangers to ask personal questions about their home and family, but it's still a decent government stint. Wig applied too but he hit a snag since his driver's license is expired and he needs a valid ID. He'll be getting it renewed soon and also has an interview sometime this week for a job on kitchen staff in a nursing home. Someone his father knows works there.
I got to go out to Ludlow and visit the Flav and Ricky a couple weeks ago. We had a helluva time. I drove out Saturday morning and breezed in in under an hour and a half and we went to Northampton. I got to try Thai Garden finally and it was better than Tom Yum Koong although Tom Yum Koong comes incredibly close. Northampton's got so many fun little shops. Then later, an old friend of Ricky's and her husband came by for Simpsons Scene It and we all filled up on chips and Mountain Dew Throwback and talked for hours. Then we watched Sleepaway Camp, which is probably one of the most bizarre thrillers I've ever seen. Before I left on Sunday we ate at Peppa's in East Longmeadow and had a pizza that had french fries and bacon on it w/ranch dressing. It was almost like a potato skin pizza. I had a great time and can't wait to go back out there, which I guess will be when I go to see Finntroll w/them in April! Too awesome.
The other night a handful of TRU night crew people went out to Fridays. It was supposed to be a huge reunion event at Kowloons but first it got delayed a week so people'd have money, then it got switched to Fridays, then a bunch of people couldn't go for various reasons. So it ended up being only me, Wig, Dan, Mikey, Charlene, Hillary and Hillary's boyfriend. It was fun. Dan and I kept making Dayjob Orchestra references all night (look them up on YouTube. They're a Canadian prog rock band, but their most popular thing is their overdub videos where they take clips of Star Trek or politicians and redo the dialogue so it's the most bizarre shit but it matches the lips perfectly!) The best thing was I was the only one with a Give Me More Stripes card, so I got ALL the points :)
Finally finished the baby blanket for little Seamus. Pictures will be on Flickr later. Then I'll be getting cracking on amigurumi for the conventions. I'm also having a special promotion for Facebook fans and Twitter followers only. So become a fan at www.facebook.com/StringTheory101 and follow twitter.com/StringTheory101.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Rockers and Rollers: a book review
If you're a fan of AC/DC and/or cars, then you'll love lead singer Brian Johnson's autobiography, Rockers and Rollers. Set up more like a collection of anectdotes than an actual memoir, Johnson relates stories from his life from the point of view of what automobile he owned or his friends/family owned at the time, stating that the two constants in his entire life were cars and music. Johnson writes exactly how he speaks (except it's actually intelligble LOL) so every line is a hysterical piece of northern English slang and euphemism, and he doesn't mince words. I've never laughed out loud more in my life while reading a book. From the first (and only) car his father ever purchased, to trying to talk bassist Cliff Williams out of impulse-buying an Aston Martin while on tour, to the start of his successful racing career, every chapter is the kind of story guys would share over pints. You feel like Johnson is your buddy the way he casually writes, like he's going to give you a clap on the shoulder and share a laugh with you at the end of each tale.
The cars mentioned are predominantly European, so if you're an American muscle car nut you might not be up for hearing about Aston Martins, Porsches, Renaults, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces and the like. But a passion for motors is a universal language, so any automobile aficionado regardless of what makes and models they prefer will be able to understand how Johnson feels. The stories involving his fellow bandmates, not just in AC/DC but in his earlier band Geordie, will give you insight on his relationship with fellow musicians and life on the road.
Even if you don't know anything about cars and don't care, the way Johnson tells the stories will have you howling. It's a quick read which you can breeze through in less than 3 days but you'll be thoroughly entertained, and it's a reminder that rock 'n roll and cars have always gone together like peanut butter and jelly.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
The cars mentioned are predominantly European, so if you're an American muscle car nut you might not be up for hearing about Aston Martins, Porsches, Renaults, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces and the like. But a passion for motors is a universal language, so any automobile aficionado regardless of what makes and models they prefer will be able to understand how Johnson feels. The stories involving his fellow bandmates, not just in AC/DC but in his earlier band Geordie, will give you insight on his relationship with fellow musicians and life on the road.
Even if you don't know anything about cars and don't care, the way Johnson tells the stories will have you howling. It's a quick read which you can breeze through in less than 3 days but you'll be thoroughly entertained, and it's a reminder that rock 'n roll and cars have always gone together like peanut butter and jelly.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas Haul
It was a pretty good Christmas. My mom was beside herself that my dad broke down and got her her own Wii and my dad is very interested in learning how to sync music to his new iPod. His only concern is figuring out the most effective way to listen to it at work while keeping the bluetooth headset required for work in one ear. The cats got stoned on catnip and Frankenstein was totally enthralled with his first Christmas ever. I got lots of great stuff.
A new peacoat
A new bathrobe
New pillows with satin pillowcases
Slippers in the shape of Gir from Invader Zim - my favorite gift as I had a pair like 4 years ago but they got wrecked and had to be thrown out when I had a bedbug infestation
Peanuts Collection 1960s and 1970s Volume 1 on DVD
Watchmen on DVD
The Essential Weird Al on CD
Rockers and Rollers: An Automobile Autobiography by Brian Johnson of AC/DC
Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk
$50 Kohl's gift card
Various candy and skincare/beauty products in my stocking
No pads for once LOL (inside joke from back when my grandmother was still alive)
$250 from my grandfather.
My other grandparents are paying off a medical bill as my gift and I haven't gotten the gift from my aunt yet but I can only assume it's yet another Nintendo sweatshirt from Hot Topic (seriously, I looove Nintendo but three's enough). I haven't gotten Wig's gift yet. I asked for Parker Lewis Can't Lose on DVD (only the BEST forgotten show of the 90s) but if he couldn't find it, a new ring or 2 to replace the 2 I lost at work this Season.
My grandfather, uncle, and my mom's cousins Raymond and his partner Tom and Julie and her husband and 2 daughters all came for dinner at our house. Olivia is 2 and Sophia's 3 months. Olivia's one of those toddlers that is too smart and clever for their own good. And y'know the old saying kids say the darnedest things. Raymond was telling a story of when he took her to some Santa's Village thingie and they're waiting in line and some other kid was acting up she goes "It OK Unky Raymond. I think he's retarded" Like where'd she learn that word? When we babysat her a few weeks ago she just turned to my mom and addressed her by her first name, like "Hey, Carolyn!" and my mom's like "Call me auntie!" Also it was quite funny to see how enthralled with my uncle Richard both Olivia and Sophia were. My uncle Richard's waaaaay out there. He's tapped. So they're just staring at him like "WTF?" He spent half the party watching Christmas Vacation and the other half watching Elmo because we put it on for Olivia but she wouldn't stand still...but he left it on, even after my mom's like "Y'know, Rich, you can change that..." no response "...unless you want to watch it..."
After the horde of people left I headed over to Wiggy's where Wig shit a brick when he got his special edition Nintendo DSi. We watched Santa Claus Conquers the Martian (Mystery Science Theater version of couse) which is our new Christmas tradition after it went over so well with him and Gahmstead last year.
...and WTF Luis Guzman is in Crocodile Dundee II? Sorry that threw me off. It's on TVLand right now and I look over and I see the one Hispanic actor who's in EVERTHING...besides Danny Trejo, but he's technically only in everything directed by Robert Rodriguez...and Bubble Boy.
Anyway, after the movie Wig gave me a different kind of Christmas gift if you know what I mean *wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more* We called it an early night soon after because even though it was Christmas it was still a Friday which means he HAS to go over Jack's with the rest of the gang to play 360. LOL.
Christmas Eve was fun too. In the morning after the overnight shift was over, a huge group of us went over to Denny's, including Ed our manager. I'm surprised we weren't kicked out for being loud, obnoxious and continuously talking about vaginas. Something about Christmas vaginas and everyone was replacing the word Christmas with Vagina in song titles...yeah, we're very mature. A couple of them were noticably drunk. How professional. Jason actually passed out in his aisle and John got a hysteriacal picture of him just curled up on a couple boxes. Not that Ed can do anything cuz John's also got a picture of him asleep on a shelf. See what I miss when I'm closed off in the RZone? Neither of them were as drunk as this one kid who was actually drinking AT work, having smuggled in old-school alocholic egg nog in a water bottle, but he didn't come to Denny's. Probably for the best. Good thing Season and the overnight shift are over tonight because he wouldn't have had a job still anyway.
Anyway, that was one breakfast/dinner/whatever that was chock full of innuendo. And male cleavage (Mikey makes some really convincing cleavage when he squishes his chest up, which is odd because he's a skinny guy and doesn't have man-boobs or anything). God we were there for like, 3 hours just stuffing our faces and laughing hysterically. And Ed paid for the whole thing as a Christmas gift to us - despite our protests. But we all threw in for the tip. It's bittersweet. I'm so glad Christmas is over and hours and general foot traffic in the store are going back to normal and I can get back on a normal sleep schedule, but I was finally starting to have a real rapport with some of the night crew (I don't see them much because we're in our own respective sections but after work we started getting to talking only in the past week and Dan's a funny-ass guy...and he's the only other person I know so far besides me and Wig that have see Dayjob Orchestra's video dubs on YouTube! I also got him addicted to iCarly LOL) There' always Facebook, which I HAVE to friend everyone on, especially to nab copies of John's pics of Jason and Ed sleeping and Mikey's hot tits LOL.
After stumbling home from Denny's I slept a little and headed over to Wig's. His friend and drummer Mikey was over and we all watched Dragonball Evolution and the Invader Zim Christmas episode. Then when Gahmstead came home we watched Dodgeball which I FINALLY got to see. Hysterical. Dragonball wasn't bad but it wasn't great. If you're a fan of the original manga and anime, it's worth renting because they get a handful of things right like character personalities and the balance of action and comedy, but took a lot of liberties with the backstory. I don't think they even used the term Saiyan once. If you're not a Dragonball fan, this movie doesn't hold up much as just an action flick. There's some cool martial arts stuff and a fiery lava Mount Doom-esque landscape where the final showdown happens and there's an evil alien (played by Spike from Buffy and Angel) trying to take over but it's too cheesy even for people who like cheesy.
All in all it was a good end to a mediocre year.
A new peacoat
A new bathrobe
New pillows with satin pillowcases
Slippers in the shape of Gir from Invader Zim - my favorite gift as I had a pair like 4 years ago but they got wrecked and had to be thrown out when I had a bedbug infestation
Peanuts Collection 1960s and 1970s Volume 1 on DVD
Watchmen on DVD
The Essential Weird Al on CD
Rockers and Rollers: An Automobile Autobiography by Brian Johnson of AC/DC
Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk
$50 Kohl's gift card
Various candy and skincare/beauty products in my stocking
No pads for once LOL (inside joke from back when my grandmother was still alive)
$250 from my grandfather.
My other grandparents are paying off a medical bill as my gift and I haven't gotten the gift from my aunt yet but I can only assume it's yet another Nintendo sweatshirt from Hot Topic (seriously, I looove Nintendo but three's enough). I haven't gotten Wig's gift yet. I asked for Parker Lewis Can't Lose on DVD (only the BEST forgotten show of the 90s) but if he couldn't find it, a new ring or 2 to replace the 2 I lost at work this Season.
My grandfather, uncle, and my mom's cousins Raymond and his partner Tom and Julie and her husband and 2 daughters all came for dinner at our house. Olivia is 2 and Sophia's 3 months. Olivia's one of those toddlers that is too smart and clever for their own good. And y'know the old saying kids say the darnedest things. Raymond was telling a story of when he took her to some Santa's Village thingie and they're waiting in line and some other kid was acting up she goes "It OK Unky Raymond. I think he's retarded" Like where'd she learn that word? When we babysat her a few weeks ago she just turned to my mom and addressed her by her first name, like "Hey, Carolyn!" and my mom's like "Call me auntie!" Also it was quite funny to see how enthralled with my uncle Richard both Olivia and Sophia were. My uncle Richard's waaaaay out there. He's tapped. So they're just staring at him like "WTF?" He spent half the party watching Christmas Vacation and the other half watching Elmo because we put it on for Olivia but she wouldn't stand still...but he left it on, even after my mom's like "Y'know, Rich, you can change that..." no response "...unless you want to watch it..."
After the horde of people left I headed over to Wiggy's where Wig shit a brick when he got his special edition Nintendo DSi. We watched Santa Claus Conquers the Martian (Mystery Science Theater version of couse) which is our new Christmas tradition after it went over so well with him and Gahmstead last year.
...and WTF Luis Guzman is in Crocodile Dundee II? Sorry that threw me off. It's on TVLand right now and I look over and I see the one Hispanic actor who's in EVERTHING...besides Danny Trejo, but he's technically only in everything directed by Robert Rodriguez...and Bubble Boy.
Anyway, after the movie Wig gave me a different kind of Christmas gift if you know what I mean *wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more* We called it an early night soon after because even though it was Christmas it was still a Friday which means he HAS to go over Jack's with the rest of the gang to play 360. LOL.
Christmas Eve was fun too. In the morning after the overnight shift was over, a huge group of us went over to Denny's, including Ed our manager. I'm surprised we weren't kicked out for being loud, obnoxious and continuously talking about vaginas. Something about Christmas vaginas and everyone was replacing the word Christmas with Vagina in song titles...yeah, we're very mature. A couple of them were noticably drunk. How professional. Jason actually passed out in his aisle and John got a hysteriacal picture of him just curled up on a couple boxes. Not that Ed can do anything cuz John's also got a picture of him asleep on a shelf. See what I miss when I'm closed off in the RZone? Neither of them were as drunk as this one kid who was actually drinking AT work, having smuggled in old-school alocholic egg nog in a water bottle, but he didn't come to Denny's. Probably for the best. Good thing Season and the overnight shift are over tonight because he wouldn't have had a job still anyway.
Anyway, that was one breakfast/dinner/whatever that was chock full of innuendo. And male cleavage (Mikey makes some really convincing cleavage when he squishes his chest up, which is odd because he's a skinny guy and doesn't have man-boobs or anything). God we were there for like, 3 hours just stuffing our faces and laughing hysterically. And Ed paid for the whole thing as a Christmas gift to us - despite our protests. But we all threw in for the tip. It's bittersweet. I'm so glad Christmas is over and hours and general foot traffic in the store are going back to normal and I can get back on a normal sleep schedule, but I was finally starting to have a real rapport with some of the night crew (I don't see them much because we're in our own respective sections but after work we started getting to talking only in the past week and Dan's a funny-ass guy...and he's the only other person I know so far besides me and Wig that have see Dayjob Orchestra's video dubs on YouTube! I also got him addicted to iCarly LOL) There' always Facebook, which I HAVE to friend everyone on, especially to nab copies of John's pics of Jason and Ed sleeping and Mikey's hot tits LOL.
After stumbling home from Denny's I slept a little and headed over to Wig's. His friend and drummer Mikey was over and we all watched Dragonball Evolution and the Invader Zim Christmas episode. Then when Gahmstead came home we watched Dodgeball which I FINALLY got to see. Hysterical. Dragonball wasn't bad but it wasn't great. If you're a fan of the original manga and anime, it's worth renting because they get a handful of things right like character personalities and the balance of action and comedy, but took a lot of liberties with the backstory. I don't think they even used the term Saiyan once. If you're not a Dragonball fan, this movie doesn't hold up much as just an action flick. There's some cool martial arts stuff and a fiery lava Mount Doom-esque landscape where the final showdown happens and there's an evil alien (played by Spike from Buffy and Angel) trying to take over but it's too cheesy even for people who like cheesy.
All in all it was a good end to a mediocre year.
Monday, December 21, 2009
OK, I haven't watched Little People, Big World in a little over a year. Why is the TVPG rating in huge white letters filling the entire screen for about a minute and a half at the beginning of the episode now? It's annoying. This isn't the kind of series where the content is a big issue with potential viewers and you really need discretion. And what's TLC's obsession with people with dwarfism now? First it was Little People, Big World, then the Little Couple and now The Little Chocolatiers about a dwarf couple who run a chocolate shop. I love little people (mainly because they make me feel tall and there's few people who can do that when you're 5'1") but they're just normal people with normal jobs and normal day-to-day business. They just happen to be 3 or 4 feet tall. I will give the Roloffs credit for giving other people with dwarfism inspiration that they can do anything and everything they desire and their size won't make it impossible. But I think some of the other dwarves in these newer series are just jumping on the bandwagon. Another thing that I wonder is why so many dwarves prefer the term "little people." I think that's more condescending than dwarf or midget. Well maybe not midget, midget can be pretty derogatory. But I don't see anything wrong with dwarf. I mean the condition is called dwarfism so it's more of a technical term if anything. Maybe it's because it's also a term for a fantasy species and they don't want to be compared to faeries and orcs. But I think little people calls more attention to their height. Calling them little is, well, belittling...Plus it compares them to the famous toys from Fisher Price. They're not individuals, they're choking hazards. If I had dwarfism, I wouldn't mind being called a midget, but that's my preference. Obviously everyone has their preferences. I mean, I'm the kind of person who doesn't mind being called a guinea. It takes a lot to offend me. I mean, they're just words. Words only have power if you let them. Some words, some epithets, have a darker and sinister origin than others but in this day and age they are just words and they only hurt if you let them hurt you.
Sory about that. There's a Little People, Big World marathon on right now and it reminded me of those things that have been on my mind before. Anyways...
Yesterday I got to go to a Christmas party at Wig's uncle Kevin's house. They've invited me to many different family get-togethers and parties in the past but it's always on a Sunday and I always work Sundays and I'd always hear about it last minute so I couldn't request it off. But this time around I'm working overnights so I got to make it this time around. Kevin lives literally 2 blocks away too so it wasn't out of the way which was good because of the snowstorm. This was finally the first time I met more of Wig's family besides his grandparents, although I went to school with his cousin Joey from kindergarten to eighth grade so I knew him and I had met Kevin and his wife because of their volunteering at the school when Joey was a kid. Wig's aunt goes "I remember you, I had to send you to the principal's office in 2nd grade when I was a lunch mother." Everyone remembers the negative LOL. Wig has 5 uncles and 1 aunt on his father's side, then of course their spouses and then cousins. So I was one lone guinea in a sea full of Fitzpatricks LOL. Wig's youngest cousin Aidan, his uncle Brian's son, looks a lot like Wig did when he was that age. But everyone in that family looks like everyone else. They got some deep-running genes. But now I have a pretty good idea of what my son's going to look like. They did a Yankee Swap and I ended up with a Snuggie LMAO. If you're not familiar w/a Yankee Swap, basically everyone pitches in a surprise gift, then you pick a number and everyone picks a gift in numerical order. You can keep what you end up with or trade with someone before you. The first person gets to pick from everything at the end since there wasn't anyone before them to pick from the first time. Wig ended up with a 2-pack of stainless steel water bottles, and I've been wanting one so I made him give me one LOL. Well, I said I'd never pay for a Snuggie, but if someone were to give me one I'd use it. It is useful for knitting or crocheting or playing DS, and it's warm. A lot of people say to just wear a bathrobe backwards, but the Snuggie's got the length of a blanket with the sleeves of a robe. A bathrobe only goes to like, your shins or ankles, you can cover up your feet with a Snuggie. But they do look retarded. But it came with the book light! Now when I want to read in bed I won't go blind and die of radiation using my ultra-violet super bright desk lamp!
Now I'm trying to unravel a huge knot in a skein of yarn (y'know, I keep buying Red Heart and I NEVER learn) so I can finish the scarf for Wig's sister. I have 4 days! Thank God Christmas is almost here. I'm working overnights the next 3 nights and then I have Christmas Eve and (obviously) Day off. I'm working overnights Saturday for recovery but I don't know about next week yet. Basically, my manager Rob told me last Tuesday to only do overnights for the next 2 weeks because it'll be better for everyone. This Season hasn't been too kind for me stress-wise. I don't know what set me off but I kept having panic attacks. I should be used to this, this is my 8th Season, and although it was noticably worse this year compared to the past, I should've still been able to make it through. But basically for my sake so I wasn't going through weird sleep schedules and having panic attacks or getting sick and for the store's sake so no one had to put up with me stressing out and yelling anymore I haven't worked during opening hours since last Tuesday. I just wish he would've thought of that sooner. Because after Friday, it won't matter! Sure it'll still be busy with returns and kids coming in with their gift cards and Christmas money, but it won't be as busy as it has been. Ed said they might have one or 2 more weeks of overnights. It'll be nice to have the differential for another 2 weeks but it won't be necessary for restock and all that.
On the one hand I'm glad the new year is starting soon because it's an opportunity to start new things and hopefully things will go better this year. But on the other hand, it's another year gone. Time's moving too fast, and I feel I have less and less time to acheive my goals. But I'm going to remain positive and work harder in 2010 and pray that this year I'll actually get married!
Sory about that. There's a Little People, Big World marathon on right now and it reminded me of those things that have been on my mind before. Anyways...
Yesterday I got to go to a Christmas party at Wig's uncle Kevin's house. They've invited me to many different family get-togethers and parties in the past but it's always on a Sunday and I always work Sundays and I'd always hear about it last minute so I couldn't request it off. But this time around I'm working overnights so I got to make it this time around. Kevin lives literally 2 blocks away too so it wasn't out of the way which was good because of the snowstorm. This was finally the first time I met more of Wig's family besides his grandparents, although I went to school with his cousin Joey from kindergarten to eighth grade so I knew him and I had met Kevin and his wife because of their volunteering at the school when Joey was a kid. Wig's aunt goes "I remember you, I had to send you to the principal's office in 2nd grade when I was a lunch mother." Everyone remembers the negative LOL. Wig has 5 uncles and 1 aunt on his father's side, then of course their spouses and then cousins. So I was one lone guinea in a sea full of Fitzpatricks LOL. Wig's youngest cousin Aidan, his uncle Brian's son, looks a lot like Wig did when he was that age. But everyone in that family looks like everyone else. They got some deep-running genes. But now I have a pretty good idea of what my son's going to look like. They did a Yankee Swap and I ended up with a Snuggie LMAO. If you're not familiar w/a Yankee Swap, basically everyone pitches in a surprise gift, then you pick a number and everyone picks a gift in numerical order. You can keep what you end up with or trade with someone before you. The first person gets to pick from everything at the end since there wasn't anyone before them to pick from the first time. Wig ended up with a 2-pack of stainless steel water bottles, and I've been wanting one so I made him give me one LOL. Well, I said I'd never pay for a Snuggie, but if someone were to give me one I'd use it. It is useful for knitting or crocheting or playing DS, and it's warm. A lot of people say to just wear a bathrobe backwards, but the Snuggie's got the length of a blanket with the sleeves of a robe. A bathrobe only goes to like, your shins or ankles, you can cover up your feet with a Snuggie. But they do look retarded. But it came with the book light! Now when I want to read in bed I won't go blind and die of radiation using my ultra-violet super bright desk lamp!
Now I'm trying to unravel a huge knot in a skein of yarn (y'know, I keep buying Red Heart and I NEVER learn) so I can finish the scarf for Wig's sister. I have 4 days! Thank God Christmas is almost here. I'm working overnights the next 3 nights and then I have Christmas Eve and (obviously) Day off. I'm working overnights Saturday for recovery but I don't know about next week yet. Basically, my manager Rob told me last Tuesday to only do overnights for the next 2 weeks because it'll be better for everyone. This Season hasn't been too kind for me stress-wise. I don't know what set me off but I kept having panic attacks. I should be used to this, this is my 8th Season, and although it was noticably worse this year compared to the past, I should've still been able to make it through. But basically for my sake so I wasn't going through weird sleep schedules and having panic attacks or getting sick and for the store's sake so no one had to put up with me stressing out and yelling anymore I haven't worked during opening hours since last Tuesday. I just wish he would've thought of that sooner. Because after Friday, it won't matter! Sure it'll still be busy with returns and kids coming in with their gift cards and Christmas money, but it won't be as busy as it has been. Ed said they might have one or 2 more weeks of overnights. It'll be nice to have the differential for another 2 weeks but it won't be necessary for restock and all that.
On the one hand I'm glad the new year is starting soon because it's an opportunity to start new things and hopefully things will go better this year. But on the other hand, it's another year gone. Time's moving too fast, and I feel I have less and less time to acheive my goals. But I'm going to remain positive and work harder in 2010 and pray that this year I'll actually get married!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Popping in
Just popping in so the blogosphere doesn't think I'm dead. Lately I've been busy with work or being in pain because of work. If it's not my back it's one of my knees. Or my feet. Or my arm. I've been constantly getting headaches too and while they're not severe I hope it's not a sign that I could end up getting cluster headaches like my dad. Plus I've started getting panic attacks at work, something which none of my coworkers have any sympathy for. It took them 15-20 minutes to get someone to cover for me so I could go to the break room to calm down. And yesterday my manager Steve told me I should just quit. The only people seemingly on my side and willing to help me out at work are my other managers Ed and Aaron, who actually produce helpful solutions. Ed has recruited not one but three people to work RZone overnights with me and on nights I'm not there so more stuff is getting done. And the other day Aaron actually ran over to Shaws to buy my Advil when my backache was unbearable. Aaron also almost looks like Rick Astley so whenever he's working I have Never Gonna Give You Up stuck in my head the whole time. This time of year's always horrible and there's always some things that get worse and some that get better. I try to remind myself that there's only 3 weeks left, but those are going to be three loooong weeks.
When I'm not working or in a stupor trying to recover from work, I'm working on 3 crochet projects - 2 scarves, one for Wig's sister and one for his mom, and a blanket for our friends Katie and Fetus' baby. They found out they're having a boy and are naming him Seamus Joseph Conley. Fetus is fiercely proud of his Irish heritage. I have a feeling the middle name Joseph is for our friend Joe Tilton who died last September. Fetus was really close to him. All three are made up of granny squares so I'm seeing granny squares in my sleep right now. Other than that most of my Christmas shopping is done. I have a few more people I need to get gifts for and I don't know what to get them yet. My dad finally broke down and got a Wii for my mom so me and Heather are going to get Wii Fit Plus so now she doesn't have to complain that I won't move the system into the living room. Me and Heather are getting dad an iPod Nano and I got Wig a Nintendo DSi bundle that we had on Black Friday because it was too good to pass up and his DS is broken. Heather asked for Aquasaurs, these prehistoric fish you hatch in an aquarium.
Speaking of which Heather's actually STILL working despite threatening to quit when the manager failed to have the schedule out on time and then told her last minute she had to work when she already had plans. Instead the manager apologized and said it was all his fault. She's actually going to stick out through the whole Season and however long into January ToyZAM is open for. She might even transfer to Spencer's once it closes (they're owned by the same company) but that's a might. She jokes that she's going to work for three months every 19 years.
So after seeing many Etsy CreateCrochet Teammates and a few of my close friends make fan pages for their Etsys (Etsies?) I jumped on the bandwagon and made one too. I'm planning on some fun Fan-only promotions in the future. I've spent a lot of time in the past couple weeks networking and connecting with everyone on the CreatCrochet team- following any blogs or Twitters they have, favoriting their shops, and becoming fans on FaceBook. The more connections, the more word spreads. The CreateCrochet team is a great community. We recently did a swap where we were matched up and got to know our partner through convos and we had to make a secret gift for each other. I was matched with a woman from Vermont and it was fun getting to know her. I felt bad because she had a mild stroke and it's crazy because she's only in her late 20s. But she's doing OK now. She made me a reuseable Swiffer pad and a scrubbie and I made her a set of regular-sized and mini brain slugs (Mommy and Baby to represent her and her 2-year old daughter) in the same variegrated pink I made Flav's out of. I'm aiming to join a couple more teams, one for my jewelry and hopefully find some local ones. If you're on Etsy and not on a team yet look it up. It's a great way to network, get your items some more views, get tips and support and have fun doing your craft.
Tonight I'm getting together with a group of former Toys R Us Medford coworkers. It's something we do 2 or 3 times a year to catch up, have some drinks and have fun. We'll be going to Border Cafe in Burlington. Jill usually orchestrates the plans and other regulars always include Lynnette, Noelle, Joanne Ellard, Amy Struppa, and Melissa Cashman. Last time we got together Aimee Walkup was back in the area after moving the North Carolina and getting married. It was funny because a lot of us were wondering whatever happend to her after she quit and boom there she was. LOL. But I look forward to getting buzzed on margaritas before pulling an overnight LOL.
I wonder when we're putting up our tree. Probably this weekend or next weekend. My dad has a reputation as a Scrooge or a Grinch because he hates Christmas decorations. He just doesn't like the hassle of digging them out, putting them up, and then having to clean them up after the holidays. I'll admit the tree is a bit of a pain in the ass, hauling it upstairs, putting it together. (I'm allergic to pine so we can't have a real tree. Real trees are a hassle too though. Cutting it down or going to the lot and picking one out, hauling it back home, trimming it, watering it, sweeping up shed needles) And of course our cat Wyatt always has to try to climb it, and we have no idea what the new one, Frankenstein, is going to do when he first sees the tree. But I can't wrap any gifts until the tree is up because I have nowhere else to put them. If I try to shove them back in the back of my closet while they're wrapped, the wrapping could get ripped. So, no wrapping until I can put them under a tree.
Beating up a zombie to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now is one of the greatest moments in cinema history. Why don't I own Shaun of the Dead on DVD? Watching it edited on Comedy Central is subpar.
When I'm not working or in a stupor trying to recover from work, I'm working on 3 crochet projects - 2 scarves, one for Wig's sister and one for his mom, and a blanket for our friends Katie and Fetus' baby. They found out they're having a boy and are naming him Seamus Joseph Conley. Fetus is fiercely proud of his Irish heritage. I have a feeling the middle name Joseph is for our friend Joe Tilton who died last September. Fetus was really close to him. All three are made up of granny squares so I'm seeing granny squares in my sleep right now. Other than that most of my Christmas shopping is done. I have a few more people I need to get gifts for and I don't know what to get them yet. My dad finally broke down and got a Wii for my mom so me and Heather are going to get Wii Fit Plus so now she doesn't have to complain that I won't move the system into the living room. Me and Heather are getting dad an iPod Nano and I got Wig a Nintendo DSi bundle that we had on Black Friday because it was too good to pass up and his DS is broken. Heather asked for Aquasaurs, these prehistoric fish you hatch in an aquarium.
Speaking of which Heather's actually STILL working despite threatening to quit when the manager failed to have the schedule out on time and then told her last minute she had to work when she already had plans. Instead the manager apologized and said it was all his fault. She's actually going to stick out through the whole Season and however long into January ToyZAM is open for. She might even transfer to Spencer's once it closes (they're owned by the same company) but that's a might. She jokes that she's going to work for three months every 19 years.
So after seeing many Etsy CreateCrochet Teammates and a few of my close friends make fan pages for their Etsys (Etsies?) I jumped on the bandwagon and made one too. I'm planning on some fun Fan-only promotions in the future. I've spent a lot of time in the past couple weeks networking and connecting with everyone on the CreatCrochet team- following any blogs or Twitters they have, favoriting their shops, and becoming fans on FaceBook. The more connections, the more word spreads. The CreateCrochet team is a great community. We recently did a swap where we were matched up and got to know our partner through convos and we had to make a secret gift for each other. I was matched with a woman from Vermont and it was fun getting to know her. I felt bad because she had a mild stroke and it's crazy because she's only in her late 20s. But she's doing OK now. She made me a reuseable Swiffer pad and a scrubbie and I made her a set of regular-sized and mini brain slugs (Mommy and Baby to represent her and her 2-year old daughter) in the same variegrated pink I made Flav's out of. I'm aiming to join a couple more teams, one for my jewelry and hopefully find some local ones. If you're on Etsy and not on a team yet look it up. It's a great way to network, get your items some more views, get tips and support and have fun doing your craft.
Tonight I'm getting together with a group of former Toys R Us Medford coworkers. It's something we do 2 or 3 times a year to catch up, have some drinks and have fun. We'll be going to Border Cafe in Burlington. Jill usually orchestrates the plans and other regulars always include Lynnette, Noelle, Joanne Ellard, Amy Struppa, and Melissa Cashman. Last time we got together Aimee Walkup was back in the area after moving the North Carolina and getting married. It was funny because a lot of us were wondering whatever happend to her after she quit and boom there she was. LOL. But I look forward to getting buzzed on margaritas before pulling an overnight LOL.
I wonder when we're putting up our tree. Probably this weekend or next weekend. My dad has a reputation as a Scrooge or a Grinch because he hates Christmas decorations. He just doesn't like the hassle of digging them out, putting them up, and then having to clean them up after the holidays. I'll admit the tree is a bit of a pain in the ass, hauling it upstairs, putting it together. (I'm allergic to pine so we can't have a real tree. Real trees are a hassle too though. Cutting it down or going to the lot and picking one out, hauling it back home, trimming it, watering it, sweeping up shed needles) And of course our cat Wyatt always has to try to climb it, and we have no idea what the new one, Frankenstein, is going to do when he first sees the tree. But I can't wrap any gifts until the tree is up because I have nowhere else to put them. If I try to shove them back in the back of my closet while they're wrapped, the wrapping could get ripped. So, no wrapping until I can put them under a tree.
Beating up a zombie to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now is one of the greatest moments in cinema history. Why don't I own Shaun of the Dead on DVD? Watching it edited on Comedy Central is subpar.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Price is Right Birthday Exravaganza
Today for my birthday Wig and I went down to Foxwoods to see The Price is Right Live. It was hosted by Growing Pains star Alan Thicke. It was basically the same as the TV version - you sit in the audience, you got a big price tag shaped name tag and if they call your name you get to go up and bid to win prizes. The difference though was while on the TV show, the remaining three people when the first winning bid went up onstage got to stay and bid again the next round while at the live show four new people were called up each time. Also on the TV show, each person who wins a pricing game gets to spin to win a chance at the showcase. Instead, the live show called up different contestants to spin the wheel and different contestants for the showcase and there was only 1 showcase instead of one for each contestant. This way, more audience members got the chance to win something. They were also giving away $25 Lowes gift cards to either 20 or 25 people - they'd call 5 names between rounds - and a $100 Macy's gift card at the end of the show. My name was never called, despite the fact that it's my birthday and I totally deserved it. But the show was still highly entertaining. It was fun to be able to shout out suggestions for real than at a TV, Alan Thicke and the announcer who was a local Connecticut weatherman were hysterical, and they also show clips of classic Price is Right through the year including hysterical bloopers and prizes from different eras. After Price is Right Wig and I ate a Hard Rock Cafe. While I was originally planning on eating at Tavern on the Square (3 locations in Harvard, Central and Porter Squares in Cambridge) ever since I saw it on Phantom Gourmet, the fact that Hard Rock was right there and neither of us had been in years, it seemed the right thing to do. We were properly seated in the corner with Godsmack memorabilia since Wig was wearing a Godsmack shirt and the waitress was telling us how Sully Erna always comes to Foxwoods to gamble and eat hot wings at Hard Rock. I got a delicious fruit girly drink where you get to keep the glass and the food was delicious. It was pricy but not more so than Texas Roadhouse or Cheesecake Factory and the atmosphere was worth it for hard rock fans like us. Also visible from our seats were memorabilia from Anthrax's Scott Ian, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, Everlast, Offspring, Hoobastank, and Foo Fighters. And there were some good music videos playing too. We didn't stick around Foxwoods to gamble, but we'll be going back when we have the money to stay for a weekend, cuz there's so much to do there. Traffic on the way back was a little congested in some places since we were hitting the tail end of rush hour but it was more or less smooth sailing both to and from since it was straight down 95.
When I got home my gift from Flav was waiting for me. Her gift was actually purchasing and coming into contact with something Star Trek themed LMAO. (she really can't stand Star Trek) it's an ID/business card/cigarette case with Spock groping a topless woman (it's a collage of sorts) and the caption "Spock attempts the first Vulcan Breast Meld" It was one of my favorites on Etsy for quite a while and it'll come in handy to hold my business cards and such these upcoming cons. Other than the delicious Hard Rock Cafe meal with souvenier glass, Wig is getting me the new AC/DC Backtracks boxset and I got a $50 gift card from my parents and a combined $250 from my grandparents and aunt (which is mostly going to bills).
Now Wig and I are relaxing and watching Ninja Warrior while my kitten Frankenstein continues to stare at my Sprite. It's been a good birthday. Except for the fact that I'm a quarter-century old and still gone nowhere...:(
When I got home my gift from Flav was waiting for me. Her gift was actually purchasing and coming into contact with something Star Trek themed LMAO. (she really can't stand Star Trek) it's an ID/business card/cigarette case with Spock groping a topless woman (it's a collage of sorts) and the caption "Spock attempts the first Vulcan Breast Meld" It was one of my favorites on Etsy for quite a while and it'll come in handy to hold my business cards and such these upcoming cons. Other than the delicious Hard Rock Cafe meal with souvenier glass, Wig is getting me the new AC/DC Backtracks boxset and I got a $50 gift card from my parents and a combined $250 from my grandparents and aunt (which is mostly going to bills).
Now Wig and I are relaxing and watching Ninja Warrior while my kitten Frankenstein continues to stare at my Sprite. It's been a good birthday. Except for the fact that I'm a quarter-century old and still gone nowhere...:(
Friday, November 13, 2009
Etsy Weekend Sale
The CreateCrochet Team is having a 10% off sale this weekend. Search for the tag crochet10percent from today, November 13, to Sunday November 15. In addition, my free shipping deal is still going on until the end of the month. So 10% off AND free shipping, you can't go wrong!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
WTF?
So I took the most bizarre, disquieting survey earlier. I just HAD to screen cap every question. I can't believe this was an actual e-Rewards survey...
The clincher? I ended up not qualifying for the survey! Apparently, I'm too confident in my sexual interests and desires for their study... Sorry about the 2nd picture, it's on the Large setting on the uploader and is still too small. If I try to enlarge it it gets blurry. But you still get the idea from the other three.
Also, my sister has finally joined the workforce. One of her friends works at a seasonal store in the Cambridgeside Galleria (ie, it was all Halloween costumes but now it's going to be Christmas stuff like decorations and wrapping paper and gifts) and convinced her into applying and she got the job. I think she starts tomorrow. She's happy because right now they're just setting up the merch so she doesn't have to deal with people at all. I give it a week before she get's sick of it and quits or gets fired for mouthing off LOL.
Etsy Updates
New item in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34228859
Free shipping on all items until Nov 30th
New Twitter: @stringtheory101
Check it out!
Free shipping on all items until Nov 30th
New Twitter: @stringtheory101
Check it out!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Seasonal Update
I have to get back in the swing of blogging more frequently. It's been too long since the last time I updated. So even though it's 2 months before New Year's I'm going to make a resolution to update my Blogger, Twitter and FaceBook on an almost-daily basis.
So I think I'm having a quarter-life crisis. I'm turning 25 this month. On the one hand that's not old at all, but on the other it's 5 years from 30, and nothing I had planned to have accomplished by now has come to fruition. I'm still living at home, and I'm no closer to starting my career and getting married. I realized that subconciously I've been trying to recreate my youth. Over the past year or so I've been slowly collecting all my favorite childhood shows on DVD, the most important being Peanuts specials. For some reason, Snoopy will always stick out in my mind as being a big deal when I was growing up, and recently I've been rewatching the specials I already have on DVD or VHS and have been trying to collect the rest that are available on DVD (no small feat as there were over 130 made between the 1960s and early 2000s and not all of them are on DVD yet) I've been on the Peanuts wikipedia page and I found out there's a Charles Schultz museum in Santa Rosa, California that I MUST go to - and there's even a statue of Charlie Brown and Snoopy in Santa Rosa center. Other series from back in the day I've amassed in my nostalgia stupor include Garfield, Adventures of Pete & Pete, Darkwing Duck, Inspector Gadget, Clarissa Explains it All, Alf, and Punky Brewster. Not to mention all the old movies I have as well. I'm too young to be freaking out about my age and trying to recapture my youth, but right now the desire to relive the simpler times in my life is at full force. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. Those were some great shows and the fact that they're on DVD and I can watch them whenever I want is great - especially when there's bonus features because I'm a trivia whore.
They're having a Price is Right Live event at Foxwoods now through the 18th. Being the game show whore that I am and the fact that it's only 2 hours away and $25 for a ticket, me and Wig are thinking of going next week. Who knows? We might luck out and win some awesome prizes. It's worth the shot. I'd fare a lot better on Cash Cab, Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy though, it's less up to chance and more reliant on my unending cache of useless random trivia. Also I just found out that there's a little sci-fi convention being held the 21st and 22nd in the Framingham Sheraton (the castle on the Mass pike) and fucking Brent Spiner is going to be there. Only my favorite actor who played my favorite character in the entire Star Trek universe. And tickets are only $35 for the whole weekend. I've already started overnights for the season, and getting weekends off is normally impossible this time of year, but my manager is a fellow nerd and he totally understood. I only really need Friday off so I can sleep and be well rested and get there early then I can do my normal Saturday overnight after I get back from the con. I don't need to go Sunday unless I miss Brent on Saturday and he's going to be doing signings on Sunday too. But I think Sat will suffice. But if I couldn't get the days off, I could function on a couple hours sleep and still work and go to the con. I can forgo sleep for one weekend for Brent Spiner. I know I'm being a total spaz right now, but this is a big deal. I've been a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation since I was eight and Data has always been my favorite character, so this is a lifelong dream.
In other news, I had a couple Etsy sales a few weeks ago. Two in a row. I also joined an Etsy Team. It's the CreateCrochet team and it's wicked fun. Every month there's a new challenge theme. This month's is "winter" and the possibilities are endless. You make your item, list it, and it gets featured on the blog and in treasuries. Every week there's a featured seller and I was the featured seller 2 weeks ago. I got much love for my brain slug amigurumi as usual and a bunch more hearts but no sales. We're also doing a swap right now where we were matched up with other members to convo back and forth and get to know each other and make each other surprise gifts. I have to work on the swap and the winter challenge item plus some new ideas I have for the shop. I don't know what I'm going to do for everyone for Christmas yet. I have a lot of ideas that cost a lot of money but no money to pull them off, but I don't know what I can crochet for everyone that I can get done in time. But I'll think of something and pull it off last minute.
I actually had a decent Halloween for the first time in years. Me, Wig, Inyx, Sin and Ed went into Salem. It's so overrated and overcrowded and has been totally ruined by the tourists. But the highlight of the day was seeing a DeLorean decked out just like the one in Back to the Future! Complete with a Marty McFly and Doc Brown for photo-ops. They were collecting donations for TeamFox for Parkinson's Disease research and any donation allowed you to take a picture in the driver's seat. I love the Back to the Future trilogy and I love DeLoreans because we share the same initials, DMC. My dad used to joke I was named after the DeLorean Motor Company, and I'm even considering keeping my maiden name when I marry just to keep the coolest initials ever. More pics on my flickr.
I had a job interview a couple weeks ago. While the position was in Beverly I had to go to the main office in Sudbury for the interview. It was for a part-time music teacher for a daycare/school called Next Generation Children's Center. I thought the interview went really well but I got a rejection letter literally 3 days later. With my license still pending and no experience, it's next to impossible to get a job in anything remotely teaching related. But I'm not giving up yet. I have a list of online resources for private school job listings someone my mom knows sent her for me, and there's the option of private lessons. I'm also seriously pursuing the idea I had for a children's book: Hayden Go Seek. I don't know whether I want to do it like an I Spy book or for younger children where you lift open flaps to find items, but the plot is that you have to find specific orchestral instruments, parts of the musical staff and composers. Also my eBay sales have been steady. No huge hauls but I'm getting a few bucks for things I don't need anymore (or promotional items I got for free or for as little as a penny!). Although I'm having some issues with a couple buyers not having paid yet. They're already late, it's been over a week, but I try to be understanding and lenient. I mean, there could've been a death or medical emergency and they haven't been online in a week. Who knows? But if I still get no reply or payment in a few days I will file a claim with eBay. This is the first time I've had this problem on eBay, although I had it once on Etsy. Generally I get paid instantly or within the first 3 days. I pride myself in having 100% positive feedback and everyone praises my fast shipping and communication. I'd hate for my reputation to be tarnished.
And my car has been in the shop TWICE in the past month for leaking coolant. The first time was a cracked something-or-other valve and then 2 weeks later the radiator went. When they were replacing the radiator, they found that the transmission lines were rusted and one broke so those had to be replaced. Fortunately, the guy that does all my repairs is a close friend of my dad's and didn't charge any labor. I still owe my dad and my grandmother a ton of money for helping me with car parts and repairs. :(
And we have a new kitten! Heather's friend couldn't keep him and she didn't want to see him go to the animal shelter, so she brought him home. We were supposed to find a new home for him but we got too attached and kept him. His name's Frankenstein. He is the most obnoxious pet I ever owned but he's adorable. And my parakeet Gemini died the other day. Sad, but not devastatingly sad as I wasn't too attached to him, and he was old for a parakeet and I think het got sick in the past couple months.
I saw Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day. If you haven't seen the first one, what the fuck are you waiting for?! And if you have, see the sequel you'll fucking love it! It was much like the first one with the action and the spurts of comedy but it had a deep backstory that Saints fans will appreciate. Wig and I both give it two thumbs up.
Well, I think I'm going to work on some crochet projects and rest before my overnight shift. I'm going to try to blog more often so my few readers know what's going on. Until then...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Canobie Lake Nostalgia
Today Wiggins and I went to Canobie Lake Park. It's been far too long since either of us been and we'd never been together. It was a lot of fun. Early September is the best time to go because a lot of people are already back to school so it's not packed, there's no lines, but it's still warm out. We had $4 off coupons which were going to expire Friday so we went today instead of next Wed for our anniversary. We tried to go last year but there was going to be a thunderstorm and they had already closed the park by the time we got there.
So we went on almost all the rides. The only exceptions were the kiddie ride, the Log Flume, the Round Up which is now called Zero Gravity for some stupid reason, the kiddie rides and the ferris wheel because it was closed :( It was Wig's first time on a lot of these rides, including the Boston Tea Party, where he totally underestimated how soaked we were gonna get, and the Turkish Twist which totally blew him away. I found out Wig loves rollercoasters and he insisted on riding in the front cart on the Corkscrew. Of course I had to play my requisite games of Skeeball. I ended up getting a deck of Japanese Harry Potter trading cards, only because it was the most random item you could see at a prize booth at Canobie Lake. I would've gotten more pictures but I forgot to charge my camera's batteries and then my cell phone started dying. I still got some good shots from the Sky Ride and a picture of a guy dressed as a huge grim reaper promoting Canobie's October Screeemfest (yes, there's 3 Es in scream).
It was great to finally rekindle an annual tradition. Next trip will be Funspot.
Now we're back at Wig's watching Sex Drive, which is heesterical. Seth Green as a sarcastic smart-ass Amish is comedy gold. And they're driving a '69 Pontiac GTO Judge, which is one of the greatest American cars, next to the Corvette Stingray and the Ford Mustang. It's your typical teenage roadtrip comedy but it's really funny so if you're into that kind of comedy you'll be thoroughly entertained. And now Nibbler is attacking Wig so I'm going to save him from the cute fluffy ball of death.
So we went on almost all the rides. The only exceptions were the kiddie ride, the Log Flume, the Round Up which is now called Zero Gravity for some stupid reason, the kiddie rides and the ferris wheel because it was closed :( It was Wig's first time on a lot of these rides, including the Boston Tea Party, where he totally underestimated how soaked we were gonna get, and the Turkish Twist which totally blew him away. I found out Wig loves rollercoasters and he insisted on riding in the front cart on the Corkscrew. Of course I had to play my requisite games of Skeeball. I ended up getting a deck of Japanese Harry Potter trading cards, only because it was the most random item you could see at a prize booth at Canobie Lake. I would've gotten more pictures but I forgot to charge my camera's batteries and then my cell phone started dying. I still got some good shots from the Sky Ride and a picture of a guy dressed as a huge grim reaper promoting Canobie's October Screeemfest (yes, there's 3 Es in scream).
It was great to finally rekindle an annual tradition. Next trip will be Funspot.
Now we're back at Wig's watching Sex Drive, which is heesterical. Seth Green as a sarcastic smart-ass Amish is comedy gold. And they're driving a '69 Pontiac GTO Judge, which is one of the greatest American cars, next to the Corvette Stingray and the Ford Mustang. It's your typical teenage roadtrip comedy but it's really funny so if you're into that kind of comedy you'll be thoroughly entertained. And now Nibbler is attacking Wig so I'm going to save him from the cute fluffy ball of death.
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