Spinning on that dizzy edge

I may be a little bit excited to be so close to done with this week. :)

First and foremost, it means the end of this OMGWTFBBQ GoTo shift. ( ARGH ARGH ARGH )

With all the stress of the past couple months, I had to give up on my vague intention to make an entry for Club Vivid. I still have an eye on an idea for a Premiere, so I need to kick my ass into gear and get going on that.

As a last minute reward for surviving this week, I bought a Saturday ticket for C2E2 and a photo op with Ming-Na Wen and Hayley Atwell! \o/ ( Fangirl flailing )

Wish me luck, and have a lovely weekend, all!

It's been almost two weeks since my massive con weekend - can I still remember what happened? Let's see...

( Here I go again... )

To be continued with Saturday, someday...

Part the First - Thursday

(Having typed this out - um, evidently I'm in a really wordy mood. Sorry! I think splitting this into parts is probably a good idea.)

WOW. I had no right or expectation for this past weekend to work out as well as it did, but it did, and it was AMAZING.

My advice for anyone else pondering attending two cons at once: DON'T. Unless you get the amazing confluence of events that I had: they're less than two miles apart (crucial); you have a car (very necessary for even small distances on hot summer days); you have both schedules in hand in advance so you can map out a strategy (barely, as Creation waited until practically the last minute, whereas the Vividcon one was posted months ahead of time, and for that, I thank them); you have friends on both sides who don't mind if you sidle up next to them in line, allowing you to bypass some waiting (please forgive me); you have dedicated seating and/or the con is small enough to not need it; you can prioritize what you want to see, heave a heavy sigh for what you'll have to skip, and best of all, the Can't-Miss Events on both sides don't conflict with each other but instead dovetail beautifully. I cannot emphasize enough how lucky I was that everything I really wanted to do on either side came together perfectly. I could not have asked for a better schedule to accommodate both.

( Thursday. At great length. )

Hey, everyone! I had a fabulous weekend attending both Vividcon and the Creation Stargate con, and I hope to post something about it later. Right now I'm experiencing an out-of-brain error from an overfull couple of days, a late night drive home last night (got in about 12:30, safe and sound), an early morning getting the Emperor off to school (went off without a hitch), and then doing pretty much nothing today but hugging my husband, reassuring my dog that I didn't leave her out of spite, and going back to bed.

For those of you who are discovering a recent subscription or friending by me - um, hi? Please forgive the lack of comment. I'm (mostly) harmless. :)

Quite the opposite, really. Though I am dead tired, with sore boobs and EMOTIONS (ALL THE EMOTIONS). Luckily, the hungry/queasies are subsiding into mainly hungry.

So, yeah, um...( In short, have a picture from yesterday: )

The pregnancy test was positive right before Christmas, but with all the ups and downs we went through in the last round of IVF and the miscarriage, I was not about to let myself feel anything other than "cautiously optimistic". Three ultrasounds later, two of them with a very healthy heartbeat, and a glowing report from the nurse, I think I may be ready to upgrade to "happily pregnant". We still have to get through testing, though (I'm on the older side for a pregnancy, seeing as I'm turning 40 in a couple of months), so I'm not going on any shopping sprees or announcing it on FB yet.

Being OMG tired all the time hasn't helped with the emotional hormone wallop, so I apologize if lately I've been even more of a drama llama than usual at people. Festivids has been weirdly tough for me - I tried really hard with my entry, but I'm disappointed in myself with how it turned out and how few responses there have been. At least my recipient liked it, so I know I should count myself good with that.

I'm also in a weird dilemma, as the dates were just announced for Vividcon. It's going on the same weekend as the Chicago Stargate Creation con, for which I've already bought a ticket. (Amanda Tapping! Ben Browder! David Hewlett! Kate Hewlett! It's like they handpicked all my favorites just for me!) So I may attempt the impossible and pull a Peter Brady, trying to attend both. Considering I'll be 8 months pregnant at that point, who knows how that will go. I want to see all my Stargate friends (Hewlett Harem represent!), but I'm also now addicted to the Vividcon crowd, and I don't want to give up either of you. Especially since this will most likely be my last opportunity to attend cons for a year or two.

First world fangirl problems, I know. I could come down with a bad case of bed rest at that point, in which case I'll have a row D Stargate ticket for sale.

Thank you all for being so supportive on this wild ride of mine. Some people get a new car or take up exciting new hobbies when their midlife crises hit. Me, I'm gonna have a baby. :D

So if last year's unofficial theme was Vividcry, this was definitely Vividfeels. ALL THE FEELS. (Neville! Avengers! Once Upon a Time! Doctor Who! And tons more.)

I got to meet so many people for the first time (I'd name names, but I'm afraid I'd miss somebody!), and nod'n'smile at a bunch. Attending for the second time, I was relieved to not feel like a n00b all over the place. Many, many thanks to my roomies for squeezing me in at the last minute - sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye! You were excellent temporary companions.

My apologies to those that I incoherently babbled at for loving their vids. It was like reliving that Chris Farley bit from SNL over and over: "You know that vid you made? ...That was really cool." *sigh* I hope I wasn't too obnoxious.

I would love to see you all next year, including those who couldn't make it the past two years. (I feel like my TV show killing curse is spilling over into real life!)

In sorta related news, another month's hopes were dashed today when my period arrived. This means that the IVF machine is grinding back into production. Unfortunately, it looks like my timing is all wrong to try in September, and the October cycle would fall during the Emperor's birthday week, so that's a no go. So the best case scenario is catching at the end of November, which if I can count correctly, means showing up next year eight months pregnant. If I can do it for Joss Whedon, I can totally do it for Vividcon.

Saturday is a quickie day trip back up for the Chicago Creation con. I am looking forward to seeing Torri Higginson for the first time and getting stuff signed, and using up the ends of my gift certificates from vid wins. Of course, I can't wait to hang out with my fangirl peeps, too.

And now, off to shower and bed, before it's utterly stupid late.

The Vancouver con was fun! It wasn't the concentrated giddiness of the Minneapolis con, but neither was it the introverted loneliness of pre-fangirl, Hewlett Harem, con attendance.

Highlights:

( So many good things! )


However, getting there (and back) was decidedly NOT half the fun. ( So many bad things )

One of these days, I will attend a con, and there will be NO DRAMA. At least the Emperor and the dog got fed in my absence, and school was attended. They both missed me a lot, which warmed my heart.

I am still gobsmackingly tired. It did not help when I stepped into an online discussion today, trying to point out the insulting nature of "a little bit pregnant" and how pregnancy is not a binary condition, to counteract a whole lot of mansplaining. I thought I was done with crying at work. *sigh*

Next up: my vid!

I would usually celebrate by taking the day off work, but I'm already burning through my vacation days with the Vancouver trip. Instead, I bought my general admission and Dog's Breakfast tickets for the con, plus I finally got the confirmation letter that they received my vid entry. \o/ There's still the niggling detail, though, where I'll be staying. Anyone have space for me in their hotel room? Please?

In other linky news:

sabaceanbabe posted a delightful, sensual, and porny Veronica Mars fic for me, because she is awesome both at remembering and basically as a person. *GRIN* It's definitely tipping me towards working on a VM vid for Club Vivid.

I can't tell if the creators of this Can I Get a Hell Yeah! T-shirt are Farscape fans, or if it's just that common a saying. I'd totally get it, if I thought the Emperor would refrain from yelling that every time I wore it.

Cate Blanchett is beautiful, full-stop. But it's so refreshing to see a gorgeous woman who has bags under her eyes. We age and we get tired. No amount of expensive creams and lotions are going to fix that. (Note to self: you should still get more sleep.)

The Scale of the Universe 2 is a nifty toy to zoom in and out of. Start at the smallest point of the scale and pretend you're on a massive Katamari roll!

I am having a mellow birthday; it's been really nice. I've gotten a bunch of greetings on Facebook, been useful several times at work, the Emperor called me from school on his teacher's phone to let me know he had an awesome day, and I may even indulge in some greasy carry-out for dinner. But really, I'm pushing forward to the end of the day tomorrow, when I'll be past my annual review (*fingers crossed* for a raise) and some other news.

Have a great Wednesday, all!

The end of day camp, two cons, and the start of school all done - I may yet survive August. Whew!

Two weekends ago was Vividcon. It blew me away. I was expecting the intense happiness of getting to meet friends finally in person, and talking nonstop of fannish things, but the friendliness and inclusiveness bowled me over. Almost everyone was welcoming and happy to hang out with a complete n00b like me, even the vidding BNFs. And such a world of fandoms! I got to gush about "Grease 2" and SGA and BSG, all in the space of a few minutes. Club Vivid was so much amazeballs fun that I wish it were a monthly event. And the vids! OMG the vids. Someday I aspire to make something half as good as what was shown. I am so going back next year if I can. And next year, I'm not leaving at 11 PM on Sunday to drive home. I was so wrecked the next day at work.

Then this past weekend was the Chicago Creation con, and boy, did they con me out of a lot of money, heh. More and more, I wish for chances just to squee with my fellow fans who have become friends, and not be rushed from celeb event to event. But I can't complain too much about getting to see Ben Browder and David Hewlett that many times.

Lessee, first there was Ben at the breakfast on Saturday, then his panel, photo op, and signing. (Many blessings and thanks to mercury973 and gyri for giving me their Ben autographs. I still think you guys are kinda nutty, but it certainly benefited me!)

On Sunday, while waiting for David Hewlett's meet and greet with ailurophile6, we got to see him come in with his luggage, head back upstairs, then return with coffee and breakfast. The meet and greet itself was the usual outstanding fun. I got to ask him about the uncanny similarities of Paul McGillion's new project with David's ongoing Starcrossed plans. He hemmed and hawed, then stated that at first he "didn't love" how close they seemed, but explained that Paul's thing will be focused on the actor's life and his friends, where Starcrossed would be more of a behind-the-scenes of a sci-fi show. Not only is David Hewlett awesome, he's classy, too.

Then there were autographs (David was very nice and scribbled a Mars pawprint on my "A Dog's Breakfast" DVD booklet, since I had everyone else's signature) first thing for everyone but the day passes, so Joe wouldn't be signing things on his way out the door and David wouldn't be there until 11 PM.

Finally we were treated to the David-and-Joe panel of TOTAL RIDICULOUS ENTERTAINMENT. I swear to God, Creation could make a mint if they just taped their damned panel and sold it already. The panel was supposed to be equal parts David, David & Joe, and Joe, but Joe literally would not let David leave the stage. Why does Creation even bother? They should just let the two be together the whole time. (Wait, there I go trying to apply logic to their motivations again.) I would recap it, but crysothemis did such an amazing job here, you should just go read hers. I love those guys so hard.

Oh! And on Saturday, right before Paul's panel, Creation announced that my vid won! Yay! But then they said it was a Carson-focused vid, which I had to politely refute and explain that it was a team vid. Then Gary defensively asked, "He's in it, though, right?" Technically, yes, for all of two brief seconds. But I had my shiny certificate and voucher, so I was happy. Then we waited and waited and WAITED for it play, and BOO. It had to be skipped due to technical difficulties. Once again, I couldn't win for winning. They played it later after the costume contest, when there was almost no one in the room. *sigh* It did look very pretty on the big screen.

However, I left so late on Sunday I didn't get home until almost 3 AM, and it's taken all week to get my brain back from zombie land. I think there may be suspicious chunks still missing.

My pictures! I have to share my pictures with you, because they make me so giddy.

Me and Ben Browder (I will never tire of hugging that man):

( My happiness, let me show you )

Me and David (who continues to indulge me with goofy poses. I simply asked him to choose his weapon, and he went to this):

( Are you ready for this? )

I LOVE DAVID HEWLETT, AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS.

Many thanks to nakedwesley for being a lovely roommate, and all the rest of you guys for making it so much fun to be a fangirl. I can't wait to see you all next time.

In preparation for making a vid for the upcoming Chicago Creation con, I re-ripped all of my SGA DVDs (stupid external HD literally crashed, from the table to the tile floor, thanks to the Emperor) at a leisurely pace. Then I looked at the due date and had a panic attack.

The result is, I've spent the last week immersed in vidding and finally came up for air today. I haven't kept up with anything or anyone, I'm low on sleep, and I feel a little out of touch with the world, but my first draft is done!

Anyone want to beta a goofy SGA vid? It's two minutes long, so it's not a huge commitment of time.

Thanks!

(Now, off to conquer my reading lists...)