Friends I haven't eaten yet

I slept in fursuit twice in the past week, and it's just amazingly relaxing. ;) I'm not sure whether it's the feel of the fur or just the idea that you're almost your fursona, but it's very comfy. ;) I think most of my stress just melts away when I get into suit and just forget reality for a little while. I put on Lauren to test if one of Topaz's new tops will work on her, and I think it'll fit her perfectly.

While I haven't really announced it as of yet (in anticipation of it's completion, which is still in progress) and was hoping to be able to post photos, I'll be presenting a new fursuit soon enough.

When I do, photos will be forthcoming. :)

Anyone else enjoy the benefits of fursuit therapy? ;)

I spent a while outside, taking photos in the woods near my apartment today...

One of the cameras I used was my trusty Lubitel medium format, and since it had been a while since I used it last, I just assumed that I had loaded it with the usual ISO 100 film...

It's probably no use in developing the ISO 3200 film, is there?

Yesterday I picked up a copy of the graphic novel adaptation of Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451 from my local library.




I have one word for this book:

WOW.

I can't understand why I never read it before. It's a haunting telling of a future where firemen instead of helping put out fires, burn books. And of a chance visit one fireman has with a girl who at first annoys him but later haunts him and has him question his whole purpose.

Anyone who knows me, knows how I hate censorship of any kind. It always bugs me when someone 'tells' me how I shouldn't read a certain book because it's offensive, blah, blah, blah. Most the time the person who relays that message NEVER FLIPPING READ THE BOOK. No, instead they just 'heard' it from someone else. This happens just a few years ago when someone emailed people a message about how to stay away from an anti-Christian movie that was dangerous. The movie? THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

One message of FAHRENHEIT 451 haunted me: What book would you memorize if you knew all books would be burned and labeled dangerous? What book means so much to you that you would memorize the words so you'd never forget it?

Very chilling tale that could very well be our own. A must read. The illustrations in this book are creepY and intense. The vivid red color just intensifies the message of the book, which is sure to stay with you.

A Cybil 2009 nominated book:

Processed 5 films today.

First a pair of 135 rolls as I could get both in the tank at the same time.

Then I started on the 120 rolls.
The first two went OK, though I'm 'a bit' disappointed in seeing that I only exposed every other frame on the second. (My bad... I'm trying to make it a habit of winding the film directly after snapping a picture. I guess I must have forgotten, and wound it again as I was setting up to take the next... )

The third took a bit longr as I only have 4 spools, and the first two hadn't dried off yet.
(Trying to get film onto a wet spool is like pushing toothpaste back into the tube... )
Well... Those spools are bl**dy fiddly to dry off.

I should probably think of buying a couple more the next time I order anything from the photo store.

NCARC will provide the KF4RRY repeater at Further Confusion this coming year! Radio related scheduling will be announced on the machine, and QSL cards may be available from FCAV staff in the Imperial Ballroom, workload permitting.

Full duplex UHF: 441.500, + offset, PL 100.0
Half duplex VHF: 147.555 PL 100.0 (cross-band repeat, simplex)

(For the truly observant, these are indeed the same frequencies used at MFF'09)

Frequencies will be confirmed approximatly two weeks before the convention. Hope to hear you on the air!

Heya folks!

It's just under two months until the con, so if you've got an act you wanna do for the FNL, now is the time to start getting them in wether they're rough or nearly finished. We've got a handful of folks who've already submitted acts, but I know there's more out there.

We do not have forms for submitting acts this year, it's all about sending in your act wether it's a few paragraphs of description or a stageplay of several pages. That will give us a better idea of what to expect and address any challenges or concerns that might come up ahead of time. There will be no at-con submissions this year. Even if you aren't 100% sure you're going to do an act, or you are still working on it--even if it's a video you may not have done until a week before the con--still get a short description submitted to the FNL list to reserve your place, so to speak.

If you want in on the action, subscribe to the FNL list before or after sending your act description in to fnl-2010 at furtherconfusion.org

http://www.furtherconfusion.org/mailman/listinfo/fnl-2010


Also, because I've been a little delayed in the past couple months, I'm not going to be very draconic about getting stuff in by December 15th. If it's a little after, there will be no gnashing of teeth nor flames. :)

Despite the fact that it's not thanksgiving (Canadian or American), I can still be thankful for stuff:

1. I'm thankful that I was only stuck in bed one day
2. I'm thankful that my paper route supervisor is very understanding of any problems I have (she was fine with me delivering half of Wednesday's papers on the day and half the day after when I called)
3. I'm thankful that I can deliver papers late with nobody on the route complaining about a missed paper
4. I'm thankful that the neighbourhood I deliver in is safe, even at night
5. I'm thankful that I can deliver papers "late" (after about 5pm in the winter) and see people's Christmas lights
6. I'm thankful that the weather has been favouring me these last few days. While the weather report has indicated rain, it hasn't rained at all while I've been out.

I fell of the earth, got back up.

I went to Wolfe's mom's for Thanksgiving. Had ham, going to have leftover turkey tonight courtesy of housemates (yay!)

I'm selling off IIDX to have some extra cash (which flies so fucking fast its scary)

And...And....and..blah..Its almost december. HOoray holidays.

I'm happy i Have the next three days off of work. ^^

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We just stayed home this year. It's so nice not having to worry about what time to get on that I-15 in order to beat the traffic.

Also didn't do the whole Black Friday thing. Memories of a terrible experience I had in the Target parking lot still stay with me. What better way to kill the Christmas spirit then to have a man in his SUV try to run you over while screaming at the top of his lungs the f-bomb with his wife joining in.

No thank you. Oh, better yet his young son was in the car too. What a great example, huh?

Anyway, here's my five reads of the week. I'm still trying to get in 500 words a day on my sequel to CROSSED OUT. I'll be hitting another revision of GODDESSES sometime next week.

1. BEAUTIFUL




This is one intense story of thirteen-year-old Cassie and what she'll do in order to be noticed. Haunting, Cassie's tale is sure to stay with you.

2. NIGHTSCHOOL




When Alex's sister, Sarah, vanishes and all memory of her is erased, Alex sets out to find out what happened. She decides to enroll at the school where it all started: Nightschool. But Alex finds it's not so easy to sneak around at the school.

This Manga tale has flavors of Buffy sent to a mysterious school where not all is what it seems.

3. DORK DIARIES




Very cute story of Nikki and her journey to a new school. Told in diary form, her adventures and discoveries are sure to keep you turning the pages. One hilarious scene is when Nikki decides to mix together her own ingredients to help her barf. It works but then she finds a letter in the kitchen from her mother. Fearing she's so busted, she only finds her mother thanks her for a yummy breakfast!

4. EDGAR ALLAN POE'S TALES OF DEATH AND DEMENTIA




This graphic novel adaption of three of Edgar Allan Poe's tales is chilling. My favorite had to be The Tell-Tale Heart, a short tale of a man that believes his elderly charge has a demon eye. So he kills him and buries him under the planks of the house, little knowing that in death the man can still haunt him.

**Guilty pleasure of the week:

THE DARK DIVINE




Just when Grace Divine thinks she's over him, Daniel comes back into her life. So much is a mystery on why he disappeared. All she knows is that on the night of his disappearance she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood.

Now that Daniel is back she can't deny the attraction she feels even though her brother and family want nothing to do with him. But that doesn't stop Grace who vows to find out the truth.

This is another fab Egmont read.

Deep fried turkey was awesome. The inlaws' neighbors were also deep frying their own turkey, so we got to see firsthand the fuss that goes into making one. We all agreed that mail order was better. Also omnomnomnomnom. Did I mention it was awesome?

The inlaws have a new dog as well. They lost two of their elderly dogs this past year and their third is on his way out as well. The new dog is a terrier mix with the cutest little pink toes and perkiest little ears. Her name is Mimi and she is adorable. Currently she is thin and energetic, but soon enough I'm sure the parents will have her stuffed and spoiled.

We also went to Thanksgiving mass early in the morning which was nice. I like the quiet little services and today was such a beautiful day. The sermon was really nice and everyone wanted to hug me afterwards. There was something really cute about one of our resident British parishioners wishing me a happy thanksgiving on top of all of that.

I was only semi successful in breaking myself of my nocturnal habits. But I stayed conscious enough to get Friday's Little Tales page finished. When Scott wakes up we will pack up and leisurely make our way to St. Pete. I may send twitters from there via the phone, but probably not much else beyond that. We're staying at a nice hotel that Scott got for way cheap thanks to all of his business travel points, and we have lots of things to do, but not enough planned out that we're going to be rushing and frantic.

And I am going to try not to think about the masses of cardio I am going to have to do next week to undo the damage from yesterday. Sooo worth it though.

There's a virulent strain of Flu going around, H1N1-2009-1, commonly known as Swine Flu. This in addition to the usual seasonal strain. Flu is something you want to avoid. Even tho the symptoms from these strains have been reported as mild. And there can be serious issues if you have an additional condition.

It's not just Flu we should worry about. There's also Norovirus, Rotavirus and the collection of infectious colds and stomach flus that make up the legion of 'Con Crud'. As well as a lot of other nasty infections you can pick up whenever a large crowd of people gather together for extended time.

So, considering the wide locations people are coming from and will be going back to, how can we avoid people at the con spreading flu or other things.

Wash Your Hands!

And by this I don't mean rub soap into them then rinse. Make sure to rub under your finger nails, and around your wrists too. You're going to want to wash your hands a little more often than normal, because of the number of people you'll be shaking hands with or patting on the back. Do not be the idiot who doesn't wash after going to the toilet, and then starts shaking other people's hands.

Hand sanitizer or wipes can substitute a little for washing your hands, if you're in a pinch. It's better than nothing, but a good wash with soap and hot water is always better.

Carry Tissues!

Catch sneezes, and coughs into a tissue, not onto someone else. Remember to throw the tissue away into a bin, don't carry dirty tissues around with you.

Be safe handling food, especially other peoples!

Yet again, wash your hands. Make sure your hands are clean before you eat.

If you are running a room party, wash your hands before touching anything someone else is going to put in their mouth. (No Sniggering!) Use clean plates, and utensil. Don't reuse things between people, such as glasses, unless you can properly wash or sterilise them first.

Don't leave things that should be refrigerated out for too long before the party. Particularly anything meat or dairy based. Under no circumstances should you serve people pre-cooked meats or dairy that have been unrefrigerated over night! Foods should be properly cooked, and served as soon after cooking as is feasible.

Make it easy for people to take their food without touching others. Ladles and tongs are a good idea!

Remember that it's ultimately up to you to keep your guest's food safe. When you offer someone a candybar, they can ask you if it's okay to ear. They can't ask a table of food if it's safe. So keep checking that table of food is okay. You might want to have someone keep a watch over food if it's a large party, or even handle serving food items. Well meaning people might bypass your keeping the food safe, by noticing the snack bowl is empty, and reaching into the potato chip bag with their hand to refill it.

If you're Ill, avoid people!

Even when the symptoms are mild, that's no excuse to 'slug it out' and by doing so spread it on to other people. If you're ill, don't try to struggle on when it's going to make other people ill too. Something that would exclude you from going into work should certainly keep you away from the con.

If you're feeling very ill before the con, remember that spending all your time laying in bed in a small hotel room away from the comforts of home is not going to be worth it. Yes, even if you have non-refundable train or plane tickets; lying in that hotel bed, you won't be thinking "at least I didn't waste the fare," you'll be thinking "I want my cat/tea kettle/partner/own pillow."

Avoid Hangovers!

Hangovers don't only make you feel crappy, they depress your immune system too, making you weaker and more vulnerable to infection. Drink to your limit, and make sure to rehydrate with water or a soft drink afterwards too.

Be Careful about what you Eat!

First of all, remember to eat. Going all day on just breakfast is bad for you. And try to eat healthily, don't over dose on sugars and fats and make yourself feel unwell at the end of the day.

Remember to watch out for the ingredients of what you eat, if you're new to the area, you might not know what's different in the dishes than you expect. Be extra careful when looking out for things you're allergic or intolerant to.

It's a bad thing when you discover that eating a certain kind of food makes you ill, worse when it spoils an entire event for you. If you really want to go with your friends to try out that new seafood dish they told you about, you might want to wait till the tail end of the convention.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

That IBM made the iMac...

Then you'd end up with the IBM NetVista series 'All In One' machines...
There's half a dozen of the monstrosities in the back of the office car just now.
(Nope, no pictures. I'm not that cruel)

Most of them still works... for a given value of 'work'.
(sometimes they complain about the CPU-cooler, or it just plainly doesn't switch on. Then you have to unplug the PSU for a few minutes to reset some circuitry or other)

Anyway, I won't shed too many tears as I load them onto a pallet to be shipped off for recycling.
They'll be in the company of a Compaq Proliant 1600 server, several 19" CRTs, and even a couple of old Tandberg 15" CRTs.
That, and a HP CLJ4550 colour laser printer.
Now THERE's a monstrosity that absolutely no one will miss...
Slow, loud, cranky... With consumables that mustn't be exposed to sunlight...

1. I'm thankful for being able to review for YA Books Central! http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/

2. I'm thankful for my health even though the doctor's office did call me yesterday to tell me that my cholesterol is high. I know I can beat this by changing my diet and being more careful.

3. I'm thankful for such shows as VAMPIRE DIARIES and even GOSSIP GIRLS. It's fun to watch shows that aren't all dramas and serious. VD is like addictive candy. Two vampire brothers and one girl who's attracted to both. What's not to love?




4. I'm thankful for the gorgeous cover to my upcoming YA paranormal CROSSED OUT.

5. I'm thankful for friends and family. These are people who keep me grounded whenever I might get a bit full of myself.

6. I'm thankful for such writer sites as The Writer's chatroom and Verla Kay's board:
www.verlakay.com

7. I'm thankful for those who believe in me and are there to encourage me even when I feel like saying to hell with it all.

And what's Thanksgiving without Charlie Brown? Here's a little something to enjoy!





Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!

While I'm feeling a little better today, I'm still a little dizzy and the lump in my throat is still hard to talk around...
(started yesterday as a sore throat, today I stayed home from class, though I should have tried delivering newspapers anyway...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%27s_Naughtiest_Home_Videos

Kerry Packer, owner of Nine Network, was informed of the show's content by friends whilst at a dinner. He tuned in to watch the show, which was being transmitted on TCN-9, and was so offended by its content that he phoned the studio operators and ordered them to "Get that shit off the air!"

The episode count is a FRACTION. WOW.

When I was planning out my monthly budgets I thought this month I might actually have 'extra' money. Somehow, most of that has disappeared as expenses seem to crop up like cardboard figurines in a shooting gallery. With FC on the horizon most of the money is spoken for. Now I'm certainly not in any kind of trouble, but I have to wonder where it's all going???

I think it's elves, and when I find them I'll squish them flat and get my money back. :P

Maybe you even own one of those dinky little juicers?

THIS is how it's supposed to look...



If anyone wonders, yes, it's a V8...

Look! Art!



And there's a few more over here! http://suerankin.deviantart.com/

Yep. I finally did it. I got myself a DA account*. Which, of course, means that, if it hasn't happened already, it will very soon become Decidedly Uncool because I waited so long that it's coolness factor has pretty much run its course. But there you have it! Low res for now because I want to examine their marketing options first. Has anyone had experiences with their printing and all? Good, bad, indifferent? Please, dish.

What else. Oh! My next showing will be in the dealers room at Further Confusion! I've got a table right inside the front of the room! Just be sure to turn left when you go in, eh? I'm thinking of making signed prints of my mini paintings available, fully framed. Maybe have a collection of sketch work printed and bound through Lulu to have there as well. Naturally, I'll also be sketching in sketch books, so long as my eyes and head co-operate.

Speaking of which, I FINALLY have an appointment at UCSF's Headache Center for next week! Here's hoping they figure out what's causing these pressure related headaches on the left side of my noggin, hm?

Today's Find: _50 Years Playboy:The Cartoons_, $20!


*Wow. I have a Watcher already... ToasterFetish...? *fear!*

I recall a discussion mentioning that there will be no FCTV telecast in the rooms. This is a bummer. I, for one, love being able to chill out in my room and watch the masquerade and variety shows. Tuning into random things reminds me that there's tons going out outside my door and I need to put exhaustion aside and go hop around some more. :)

An idea that I had tonight while eating dinner is that it might be possible to rig up something and do a webcast of the masquerade and variety show. Of course, you might have to tell the SL'ers to chill out during those times. ;)

I'm hardly the person to turn to for this, but I know for sure that FC has enough knowledgeable and skilled people on staff and in attendance to make this idea a reality -- and hopefully it can be a reality.

If not, cheers to you all anyway! FCTV rocks!