I just discovered half of the cap on one of my back teeth is missing. It is on the inside so it is not seen as a problem in front, but is sure is bothersome next to the tongue.
Looks like my dental appointment for the 19th is going to shifted when I call them tomorrow about it.
I guess that wasn't gristle/bone in that burger after all.
We will be going for breakfast soon (almost 8am) then will walk around a bit before the first panel at 10am - a doll workshop. I may go to the Art Anatomy panel or we may go grab some lunch.
Then I am going to try and get some fanart (a dearth of Gravi!), then we will be going to the tea party at 1pm. We're planning on standing in line for that one.
I hope we can make it to the Slash and Yaoi in Academia but it overlaps with the tea. We shall see.
We hope to hit the early bird vendor room at 9am then check out the artist's alley for gravi fanart before forchan's panel at 11am. I have blank CDs for you to replace the Gakuen Heaven ones! (and it's about time we met since we've known each other since our DBZ days, centuries ago!)
The only other panel I plan to attend tomorrow is the Our Resin Bishounen at 4pm. The rest of the Sat panels will be last-minute choices.
rat and I had a great day talking, writing, dolls and fandoms with sakushamishou. We walked around, talked with folks with and without dolls, went up to our room where sakushamishou had to perform elastic surgery on her beautiful Agge, ordered and ate pizza, went over to the Clarion to see the cosplay and finally walked back to the Weston lobby with dolls in hand to grab a drink from the bar. We had them sitting around on a large couch in the lobby lounge, where they drew people to them to chat about them. It looks like a few vendors will be selling doll stuff - sweet! Come on, Gravi fanart - be there!
sakushamishou got the guys adorable toys as pressies! Hatori got a stuffed seahorse, Chikara got a brontosaurus and Shuichi got a stuffed lion. Now for those Gravi fans who 'get' that, you remember a story called First Line, where Shuichi says, "Yuki's a lion!"? sakushamishou wrote that great story, as well as other wonderful stories I know you have read and adored. I was spoiled by finding eidolon tree's stories so soon into my Gravi beginnings - I have high expectations because of that work. I think that's why I get disgusted by the majority of the work out there and treasure those who can actually write. It's part of the many reasons GMM came into being.
We missed the opening ceremony but that's okay. I suspect it was crowded. We were having a lot of fun relaxing, eating pizza and talking and it just did not seem important to go. Afterward was a great cosplay photo op so I was running around and snapping shots.
despina, jade heart and ashcat - we Gravi writers NEED to meet! You missed Shuichi in his flower dress today. He will be in his fuku on Saturday!
Well, rat is snoring through an infomercial about figurines (???) so I think it's time to go to sleep, especially since I will be crawling out of bed at 6:30am later.
Oh, the pancakes at the Clarion restaurant were yummy!
I only got about 10 minutes sleep last night before it was time to get up.
When we got to SF, I discovered one third of my travelers checks and three-quarters of my cash hadn't made it.
We decided to rent a car (so expensive!) and it was a rag top so we had to go to the hotel to see if they could store the large pieces for us while we were out. We got lucky - the check-in time was supposed to be 3pm and they let us check in around noon. So we were able to get the room and unload stuff so it did not have to travel with us. Saw a resin guy in the lobby - the girl will be giving the Sunday panel.
When I got to the room... that's when I discovered I had left the camera battery recharger - something I had specifically had in my hand at one point yesterday but obviously did not make it into a suitcase of any kind.
I was really pissed off by now, and crying to a degree, and ready to just turn around and go home. I was in pain, too, and still am. My chest is really being bothersome and I have my brace on over my clothes. I don't know what is wrong with my brain lately but I do feel like a veil is over my thinking processes. I am just not functioning well and haven't been for the past week or so.
Anyway, rat decided to go with the $12 a day high-speed internet to see if a Wolf Camera was closeby. Yes, one was in downtown SF, so he called, they had a universal charger, we asked them to hold it and off we went. It was good we rented the car after all.
Got the charger, checked to see if it worked, talked to a rennie behind the counter who high-fived me as a mutual rennie, then we stopped for two of those little double cheeseburgers for a buck a piece at McDonalds because we saw a fast food place and could get to it easily. By then I had had nothing to eat since 7am Dallas time and it was now somewhere about 3pm Dallas time. I was feeling headachy because of the lack of food and when I starve that long I actually lose my appetite.
We passed Japantown on the way to the Muir Forest. We will make it back there after the con.
Got to the forest, got all three boys out and started taking photos of lots and lots of large trees. A few shots have a resin boy in them. rat was having so much fun with Chikara. People stopped and asked about them. I told them they were models who did not complain about the working hours and did not want to be fed and did not get tired.
Then we stopped a restaurant our dental hygienist recommended - it's a great little English Inn, pub and restaurant called the Pelican Inn. (http://www.pelicaninn.com/) We got there right when dinner was starting to be served (5:30pm) and we were the only people in the main dining area. Some people were out in back outside, I guess part of a beer garden. The staff built a fire for us in one of the old hearths and lit candles on the table. Very dark, rustic and quaint. They had a fake boar's head on the wall and we looked at each other and I started quoting the Boar's Head Carol, a song we used to sing at Xmas. The wait was a friendly lady with a Brit accent who found my three guys fascinating and guessed Shuichi was gay! *laughs* rat got fish and chips and I got Guinness beef stew with toast points. The stew was quite good but I could eat only half of it - it was so filling and my stomach is really tiny when it gets stressed like this. It is already shrunk a lot because of all my assorted illnesses. So I dug all the yummy meat out of it and lots of the veg but had to leave quite a bit of veg and bread.
We got back to the hotel and a Tohma and Ryuichi were at the payphones close to the lobby seating area. I called out their names and waved. A lot of ladies were in the lobby but we were too beat to mingle and I did not see any resin there.
Anyway, it is 10pm Dallas time and I am utterly beat. rat has gone to return the car and I am listening to Gravi music because I need it. The battery charger seems to be working and hopefully the rest of the trip will not be fraught with shit from hell.
I know I will not sleep tonight because I never do sleep the first night in a strange place. Boy, will I have a happy person tomorrow - Whee!
Looks like we are getting up at 4am to get to the terminal by 7am to check in. Seems we cannot do it online because our return trip is not 24 hours prior.
At least we can check in our luggage along with the tickets instead of paying two bucks a piece at the outside check in.
San Francisco and yaoicon: the rat, onna and the chaos crew are on their way!
My arthritis is flaring in my back, hips and bum. Sitting for a while is a problem - oh joy! - let's ride on a plane in cramped quarters for a few hours, yes yes yes!
I am not as packed as I want to be, but I am moving really slow because of the flare-up.
I am taking tomorrow off for serious packing and other organizing. I didn't get much done tonight. I had to take Nasake over to my mother's so she can 'dog'-sit him and my Husky head and it turned into a social event. I am really tired (and my arthritis is flaring up badly) and will go to bed after this. I will have to catch up on everyone later - sorry!
Aja - beta in your mailbox! You can send the last three chapters if you with. Oh, my mother wanted to know where I got all the warm socks! She got jealous when I told her where! *laughs*
We have to be at the airport about 2 hours in advance to take in consideration the remote parking and travel time. So, we have to BE at the airport at 7am. Yikes! I have to wash my hair that morning so I suspect we will be up around 4am - double yikes!
Unlike the two Dallas cons, where pre-registration pickup happens the night before, y-con will begin registration pickup at 1:30pm on Friday. Truly, the only full con days are Saturday and Sunday. The con is tiny compared to the two Dallas cons, too; only four panel rooms and the ballroom and atrium. They WILL have a few BJD events, however, including a doll tea party with the guest-of-honour and HER doll!
Anyway, I am looking forward to meeting Despina, Jadeheart, Forchan, Ashcat and Eidolon Tree. Anyone else planning on being there?
Forchan, one of the doll panels conflicts with your Sunday one. I hope one gets moved so we can attend both!
My cell is 972.207.1402. I will probably have it on vibrate so don't be surprised if I don't pick up immediately and you go to voicemail. I will post our hotel room and such when we get there and hopefully get some kind of internet connection for free.
I will be the bespeckled, stumpy, curly-haired (reddish) geezer wearing some kind of Gravitation teeshirt, with a baby harness strapped to my front holding a bjd Shuichi in either one of his cosplay dresses or in his leather hotpants slutwear.
Here are three of my chaos crew, all ready for the con. Shuichi is in the middle, wearing the Uke teeshirt. Yes, they have con badges...
I am going to hit the hay now so I can get an early start tomorrow. I have to go to the post office to pick up a package but the rest of the time will be spent organizing and packing stuff.
I looked at the calendar this morning and realized it was rat and I's official anniversary today. How many years since we signed papers for the incorporation of state? I have no earthly idea, and we cannot seem to locate the license.
All I DO know is we lived together for a decade before I decided we should make it legal for tax purposes. I was the one hesitating. rat wanted to sign papers after two years. I didn't want to do the 'wedding' thing at the time - weddings are mind-fucks and too expensive. To have the type of wedding I wanted - with everyone coming in costume but not something I knew they had in the closet (no medieval, Renaissance, Elizabethean, Cavalier, Empire, Victorian, Edwardian, etc.) - would be a massive undertaking. The lace I was considering was $200 a yard and only twelve inches wide.
I also knew I did not want to get into 'wife' mode and become even more of a bitch than I already was.
Anyway, off we went to the JP one lunch break and that was that.
By doing it this way, the legal matters were done but we still thought about it as roommates/lovers, not husband and wife. Even now, we rarely use those terms to describe each other - it really isn't who we are to each other.
Hmm... Maybe it has been another decade... It's close to it, I think.
Anyway, so our anniversary/Xmas/birthdays present to ourselves is the upcoming trip to San Francisco.
There are 235,452 people in the U.S. with the first name D***** 276th most popular first name. (tied with 2 other first names) 100 percent of people with the first name D***** are female.
There are 3,017,382 people in the U.S. with the last name S****. 1st most popular last name.
You know, I really don't like my boring and common name. That's why I stick to onna...
rat is having to pay through the nose to get his car fixed. It needs injectors. Figured it would happen right before a trip. He is walking to the train station in the mornings (which means he has to get even earlier than he usually does) and I am picking him up at the station in the evenings.
We have been really scraping deep for the trip, too, and trying not to spend much now so we can have money in San Francisco.
I am also having to add a lot more to the monthly household account. I have a lot less cash on-hand and that won't change.
Still hate work - it's a pointless place now.
I am researching a lot, preparing to teach a Special Topics class in Art and Anime for the spring. Went to D's Anime and Lit class on Saturday morning. M gave a lecture about the history of anime and I asked him for some of the material. These people know a hell of a lot more than me - why am I teaching this class? I plan on bringing in actual drawing time into it, using tablets and Photoshop. I am trying to figure out what kind of final projects to give them, because just showing up to a credit class doesn't show any progress. I have a long list of things to consider for them to do, including writing a short paper, making a small website, making wallpapers, doing a drawing in manga style, etc. - just something I can give a concrete grade to as a course completion. The point of the class is to get students into the Multimedia dept - that's why snake wants me to teach it. He is after numbers and anime is a draw to the high school kids who are now attending at the in-house high school on campus. I have WEEKS of scanning and screencaptures to do before the class begins...
We haven't been on a vacation for about six years now - why has everything I usually do fall on that week we will be gone? The free yearly blood test, the flu shot and even a potential job interview chance - it's a pisser.
Well, I got the flu shot at the grocery store pharmacy on Saturday. More money I had to throw at something before the trip.
I stopped purchasing the $55 a month osteo meds from the pharmacy. It was too much each month. I have sent the scripts to the mail order drug company but I have no idea how much a three month supply is going to cost me with them.
I got the travelers checks so that's done and now I have to figure out how much cash to take. I want to avoid credit cards as much as possible. I won't be buying much of anything at the con except fanart but I know I will want to spend some money in Japantown and other places while on holiday.
Still have lots to do and not enough time.
Both rat and I find ourselves exhausted early in the evenings now. We are fucking geezers.
Only about two weeks left until we leave for SF and ycon. I am panicking for many reasons - I just don't have everything laid out and ready to go yet so I can look at it and remember all the things I have forgotten.
Thanks: --> to Lia, my sensei, who has inspired me to draw again. I
wouldn't be doing this without your support, Domo Arigato!
--> to Talon, for sending me her fabulous fics, inspiring me with her writing to draw my first
illustration for a story and actually liking what I drew.
--> to Dasia, for her words of encouragement when drawing her original chara.
--> to Joules, a wonderful epic fic writer, for liking my art enough to want to post them with Talon's
and her own stories.
--> to Lutra, the other half of the epic team, for being so supportive.
--> to Jacque' & Becca Raddittzu, we met on eBay as bidder and sellers and now we are face-to-face
friends. You showed us the real DBZ with your fansubs. It's all your fault the house is full of
doujinshi! *LOL*
:: welcome to bakayaro onna's mindless ramblings, rants & raves :: 
