Spinning on that dizzy edge

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.

Being a fangirl on vacation is so liberating. I've been assured multiple times by the husband that he and the Emperor are doing fine, so I'm attempting to quash the guilt of abandoning my parental post and enjoy this tourist abroad thing to the fullest extent.

I've taken goofy pictures out of car windows, snapped the required shot of McKay Avenue outside the hotel, and asked newbie questions about the money. Hello, Canada!

I saw David Nykl and Patrick Currie last night, both of whom were very charming and funny. I missed taking shots of the latter, but did get some great ones of Nykl.

( Pics here! )

I'm skipping Alex Zahara (bad fangirl!), and lounging until it's time for Andee Frizzell, and later on Kavan Smith. I have to ration out the quiet, as tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

Sunday was as deliriously happy-making as Saturday was failworthy.

( Pics and it DID happen )

David Hewlett, however are you so entirely Awesome?

Dudes. DUUUUUUUDES. Please bear with me as I wax rhapsodic about my son.

Today's pre-dinner activity was messing around with the measuring tape. I didn't even see what he was doing until we were sitting down to eat.

( Could be Katamari stats )

During dinner, he informed us that he doesn't want to have Halloween costumes at his birthday party this time around, as we've inflicted on him every year. (It's in the last week of October - it's inevitable.) Instead, he wants people to dress up like things from a birthday party. "Cake, presents, sprinkles, balloons..." We'll see how it goes.

Then he asked that the next time we go to the dinosaur place (the science museum in St. Louis, where we went over a year ago), we should wear T-rex shirts so the T-rex thinks we're dinosaurs, too.

How awesome is the Emperor? He amazes me every day.

(I know we're long past Christmas here - this was prompted by the long-overdue DL of pictures from my camera to the computer.)   

In my family, any interests you develop inevitably result in similarly-themed Christmas ornaments.  Since I've been a sci-fi and fantasy kind of girl for a very long time, this means I've racked up a lot of Star Wars, Star Trek, and celestial ornaments over the years.  

Sometime after I moved out on my own, I decided to devote a tabletop tree entirely to my crazy collection and proudly labeled it the Space Battle Tree.  (It couldn't be anything less with that many spaceships from that many sources!)  Over the years, my collection has only grown, and now it has a full-size (though skinny) tree.  The ornaments in boxes take up one full tote, with another couple partial totes for the lights and sundries.
( Many, many pieces of geeky evidence )

I love my tree.  It's one of the top reasons why I look forward to Christmas every year.

D00D! It's got an integrated webcam! Schweet!
( Not a terribly good picture... )

The following would be why I'm reluctant to spend time outside at night. I am too damned delicious for my own good. (And this was WITH bug repellent!)

( Mosquitoes, WE HATES THEM )

Feel free to admire not only the copious quantity of bites, but my Calves of Doom and attendant contortionist abilities.

A couple of weekends ago, our good friends the_sween and hecateuse proposed that since it was such a beautiful day, we should go fly kites. They drove over with revjack and we took the wagon to our nearby park, along with their dog Lance and our Mika.

In the rush to get everything together (snacks, drinks, bubbles, kite equipment), we completely biffed on bringing a camera. Luckily, revjack brought his.

We had a great time that day, flying our cheap kites and dashing back and forth from the playground. The dogs even behaved themselves. However, the Emperor now wants to fly kites every chance he gets; when I pointed out last weekend that the cold and rain would not be a good day to go outside, he suggested that we put on warm coats and boots. *sigh*

Anyway, we recently got copies of the pictures from revjack, and it being Friday and all, I figured I'd share some with you guys.
( Pictures: Cute Kid with Kite. )
Happy Friday, everybody!