Citizenship Credit #3: Dragon*Con!

I've been told numerous times to show off my Dragon*Con photos, especially after I wrote about my experience there for my memoir assignment. I took a decent amount of photos, so I won't post them all here. However, I will show off some choice shots. Most of my photos come from generic con running around, while the rest come from my Spread of the Black Plague set. For those of you who remember from reading my memoir, I took my giant microbe plush toy of the Black Death and used it as a silly theme for photos. It was fun. Now if only I can get Flickr to cooperate...



This has to be one of my most shocking photos of the set, if only because this guy had the guts to dress up like a SS Nazi Spock. Yes, Spock as a Nazi. I just had to take a photo of that.


This is Robert Englund, probably better known as Freddy Krueger. He has THE best frightened reaction to Black Plague ever.


Darth Vader!



Last photo I'm posting on here so I don't cause space issues. Steampunk is very much alive at Dragon*Con, and my friend Lindsey had this lovely outfit.

If you want to see the rest of my D*Con photos, you can find them on my Flickr account here, which runs slow at times. Stupid flash.

Citizenship Credit #2: So When Is This Book Being Published?

While Flickr is being slow with me messing with the photos, I think I'll talk about my book! Yes, despite being technically in an English class that is somewhat remedial (at least, that's what Mr. Andy gave the impression of), I actually write. A lot. It's mostly fiction, since I find nonfiction to be a little boring to write about. Anyhow...I'm actually working on being a published author, oddly enough without going for an English degree like most people think is required to put words on paper. If Crichton can be a doctor and write awesome books, then darnit I'm gonna have my engineering degree-shaped cake and eat it, too!

One of my books is titled Urami, which is the Japanese word for "grudge". It is a historical fiction based in the Edo Period in Osaka, Japan, around the late 1600s. The main protagonist is a samurai's wife named Megumi, who is also the mother of two boys and makes kabuki masks. Her husband had a run-in with a yakuza (Japanese mafia) gang in Kyoto, and they had followed him back to Osaka to give him one last chance to work for them. Tragedy befalls upon Megumi and her family when her husband insists on "no". To begin with, her husband is killed that night on the street. If that wasn't bad enough, two goons from the yakuza gang break into her home, kill her sons, raped her, cut off two of her fingers on the right hand for daring to defend herself, and then they burn her house down. Talk about Murphy's Law in extreme mode. The local blacksmith rescues her and cauterizes her wounds as he tells her that they have taken her husband's head. She decides that revenge is the answer, by donning an unpainted Kabuki mask, dressing in her husband's clothes, uses his sword, and disguises herself as a mercenary for hire. On her way to Kyoto she comes across some unlikely allies, like a crazy old hermit that has a knack for explosives and a young ninja who faked his own death to get away from his profession. Will she gain revenge on the yakuza leader that had her husband killed? And if she does, what does she do next?

I've been working on it for...oh...three years now? And I haven't really finished it. I have this nasty plague that seems to attack all writers called "distraction". Usually one thing or another would keep me from sitting down and actually writing. Hopefully I can beat away this nasty habit and get published before I'm too dead to enjoy the rewards. I plan on Urami being a trilogy, and I got the second book mostly planned out in my head. The third book might be a difficult task.

Citizenship Credit #1: Art Gallery

I'm pretty sure I need two extra blog posts, so while I am multitasking with registering a Flickr account (you'll soon see why), I am going to talk about this exhibit that I was invited to at the Joan Derryberry Art Gallery. Alas, I do not have photos, as this was a spur of the moment thing.

Apparently everyone who had a piece on display was enrolled in the BFA program, according to the website. I do remember photos being taken of this girl with a medal around her neck. She was standing next to this beautiful neck piece that had dark fabrics, almost Victorian-esque in presentation. My favorite piece had to be the octopus made from blown glass. There was even a separate display of two tentacles, also made of blown glass, complete with the suction cup things. Another interesting one was this small metal cage with an animal skull in it. There were some abstract pieces, but I'm not really a big fan of the abstract arts.

There was also a small snack buffet, but since we can't really eat in the gallery I opted to wait until I was finished inside to dig in. They had a few different kinds of cheese, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and other tasty things. I ate a small plate full of cheese and fruit on my way home.

It had actually been a while since I've went into an art gallery. I'm an artist, myself, but I didn't think my skills were good enough to even consider being paid to do commission, let alone have something for all to see. With that in mind, I never really went into galleries due to...I suppose jealousy and lack of self-esteem as an artist. However, I had a really good time that day. Perhaps my jealousy finally passed on.

RE: The Triumph of Hope over Self-Interest

Right. So apparently Blogger ate one of my posts and I didn't realize it until nearly too late. Stupid technology. Anyway.

I'm leaning towards agreeing with Mr. Brooks. Americans seem to have these delusions of grandeur that they're all gonna be rich someday, if not already rich. And then they turn around and worry more about the social aspects of Owning Stuff then the fact that sometimes they can't even afford that meal at the Macaroni Grill. It's amazing how most people don't see what's obviously going on. We may not be a Communist nation, but even in our capitalistic society it should be clear that the rich will get richer and the poorer will get poorer until people pull the veil from their eyes.

Me? I'm moving to Germany as soon as it's auspicious to do so. As much as I have to give credit to America for giving me a free place to be born, the citizens make me groan an sigh everyday.

Some English homework

RE: Craft, Care at Flatbread Company Makes Up for Sparse Menu

Is it sad that it took me a short while to realize that "flatbread" meant "pizza"? Must be a regional thing. Reading this article just made me hungry and lament that I can't even afford the really greasy pizzas I'm used to, let alone these organically delicious creations. Her evaluation at the end seemed to mesh well with her descriptions at the beginning, although it begs me to go off on another tangent when it comes to appetizers. Why do we need to have them in the first place? And why does it matter if there are so few? I'm not at a restaurant to eat an appetizer, I go there to eat...food. Appetizers shouldn't even be necessary, that's almost like saying "Hey, your main courses are insufficient enough to feed me! Bring me more lettuce!" Bleh. However, I must jump back to the original topic and say once again that her evaluation was thorough and thoughtful. She describes everything so vividly I can almost picture it in my mind. Mmm, pizza...

RE: Potter Power

And here I thought I was the only one who wasn't all that thrilled with Harry Potter, although the author never did give his opinions on the books, as he was reviewing the movie version. I feel that my personal views on the material made the article seem boring to read, and I found myself merely skimming through it. I'm not a fan of J.K. Rowling's style of writing, even if I overlooked the fact that she is British and I am not. Some of my favorite authors are British, so that excuse you might give me is right out. I must say that the author was a tad snarky, perhaps the poor guy was stuck in the theatre with a bunch of squealing fan girls. If nothing else, Mr. Outhier, I completely agree with your assessment.

RE: Cookie Master and Johnny Depp

RE: Cookie Master

It depressed me a little that an engineering and business degree toting guy would be stuck in a noodle factory writing fortunes, although the story was written in a way that made me forget said feeling. The lottery numbers incident was hilarious, and it's always fun to read about how people get their inspirations for things. Hopefully no one will ever notice his fortune recycling!

RE: Johnny Depp

Man, do you just feel all warm and squishy inside when he talks about how becoming a parent changed things for him? I sure did. It's amusing how famous Mr. Depp has become despite him trying not to be. The joke about him being the Anti-Tom Cruise was hysterical, if nothing else than because it tickled my "I Hate Tom Cruise" bone. I love how people that worked with him thought he was crazy with how he was on the set of Pirates. I always loved his films, especially when he did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He's no Gene Wilder, but he plays a very awesome Wonka. I guess I can be considered a Depp fangirl, without the squealing and putting posters of him up on my walls. I can't wait for the next movie that Tim Burton is doing, which once again as Depp as one of his actors. This next movie is based off of Alice in Wonderland, where Depp is cast as the Mad Hatter. Awesome!

Memoir Topic Sketch #3 - Dragon*Con

I'm a geek. If I could find a mountaintop to shout out to the world that I am a geek, I totally would in a heartbeat. I can argue that Picard is better than Kirk, and I swear upon my life that 2nd edition Dungeon and Dragon rules were just fine and 3.5 rules ruined everything. Without going into too much detail, I can say that one thing geeks like to do is take a pilgrimage to a hotel for one weekend and interact with fellow geeks (these are called conventions). One such convention that I wish I started going to sooner is Dragon*Con, a wondrous land of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. There's so many things to do at Dragon*Con that it would be impossible to go to all the events unless you cloned yourself at least ten times.

...I hate timed writing. I got stuck right here due to my severely crappy attention span when it comes to writing about multiple things at once.

Memoir Topic Sketch #2 - Anime Weekend Atlanta

If you're into that whole "Japanese cartoons" thing, then you might have heard about the anime convention down in Atlanta, Anime Weekend Atlanta. AWA, as it's abbreviated to, is a rather large con that occurs every year during a September weekend. I'll mention my first AWA, since your first time is always special.

To go back in time for a bit, I was part of a group of friends that wanted to do something special. Aaron, one of the guys, had it in his head to host a ball centered around the beginning plot point of the video game Final Fantasy 8. He intended for all of us to be cast as the character, to roleplay and interact with other people as if we were really the character. He even got permission from the convention events director to host it! I was excited, but a bit saddened that all the main female roles were taken, even the villains! I was stuck picking the most feminine looking guy: Laguna Loire. In a way, this was to my advantage: I didn't know how to dance, period, and I figured it would be best to pretend to be the so-called village idiot of the story. One of the girls even got to play the part of my character's wife, so hilarity was destined to ensue. Everyone got their costumes made and practiced the Moon Waltz that was in the game as best as they could for the six months prior to the convention. Needless to say, I slept very little as the awaited date drew closer.

Flash forward to September, after large bits of traffic (thanks, construction zone!) and a few stops for food, I finally arrived at the Sheraton. The hotel was big, and there were tons of people there on Friday. Everyone met up at the room the ball was going to be held in and figured out where we were going to be during the two big scenes, and what was going to happen after. We all met up in Aaron's hotel room to get ready. My nervousness shot through the roof when we were told that the ball had sold all of its tickets! That's at least one thousand other people that we were going to candidly interact with. Needless to say, my heart was racing.

Timer ended.

Memoir Topic Sketch #1 - Wedding Anniversary

I used to be a water phobic, which always confuses people when I tell them I lived in Hawaii for twelve years. When I got together with my husband/then-boyfriend, Kenny, he was shocked and wouldn't have any of that. Being a water person, he just couldn't understand how anyone could be afraid of water. As we approached our first wedding anniversary, he would recall the time he lived in Florida. He would wax poetic about how much he loved the ocean, how he wanted to show it to me. I then decided that, sure, the ocean sounds nice; but there was that pesky phobia. We decided to try and cure me. First we got me over being scared in a bathtub, then it progressed into pools. Soon, I got over much of my terrible fear and promised Kenny that we could go to Florida for our first anniversary. We decided on the Gulf Side in Ft. Meyers, which has a more gentler shore. After we flew on an afternoon flight for about an hour (which is a different phobia for a different story), we made it to Florida safe and sound.

And...this is where my timer ends. I got hit with a bad writer's block on all three of my topics (which were all written in Notepad, first), but hopefully as I have more time to focus on just one topic I can be able to wax poetic more.

In which I talk about some homework! Because I couldn't think of an intro post first.

RE: “Us and Them”, by David Sedaris

  I have to admit, I inwardly yay'd in excitement when I was assigned to read this memoir. If nobody knew before reading the blurb about the author before the story, Sedaris penned the book Me Talk Pretty One Day. It's an awesome read that almost became a movie! However, this little reaction of mine isn't about that. This is about Us and Them.

  The tale begins with Sedaris taking us back to the third grade, and moving to North Carolina. I believe his mother may have been emotionally cautious about encouraging him to not make many friends due to time restraints, but I suppose a lack of email at the time might validate that sort of thinking. He briefly jumps from that point to comparing this to his previous place of residence, New York. I simply cannot imagine New York ever being “out in the country” with how it is today. The story then jumps to, what I assume is, the main focus of the story: the Tomkeys.
  It starts out innocently enough. The Tomkeys don't believe in television, which is to say they don't own one. Now, I hate television. I believe most of what television spews out destroys whatever intelligence people have these days, save for a few pearls such as Discovery, TLC, SciFi, and the like (movies are a different story, however). So when I read up to that point, I didn't really notice anything amiss, much like his mother. They had to have been doing something else, right? Right? Why do I hear crickets?
  Young Sedaris had it in his head to spy on the Tomkeys. First he notices that they actually sit down and talk during dinner (for shame!), and later the children don't react like the rest when the teacher imitates a character in a popular show. How barbaric! They must be saved from their lack of understand of the wonders of civilization! Or...maybe not. We continue with Young Sedaris to Halloween, where we get a taste of typical children behavior about being told what to do with candy you don't even want. I shamefully admit that I've behaved this way in my younger years, especially when a few adults thought they were oh-so-clever with their tiny tubes of toothpaste. Yes, I said toothpaste. What is up with that? I can't imagine why the Tomkeys couldn't just appease their children and buy them candy from the store (heck, a boat ride would have sounded way more exciting), but they wound up showing up at his door the night after. With much heartbreak on the boy's part, his mother insisted that the children give their hard earned candy to the Tomkeys. How dare she! And how could you figure out what candy you could possibly give away in such short notice? Sedaris didn't know the answer, either, and so proceeded to devour as much candy as he possibly could before his mother could step in. Despite his valiant attempt, he managed to lose a bit of candy to the enemy. The story ends with the children returning to watching the TV with their parents, the lesson in greed and gluttony quickly forgotten in front of the glowing box.

  I had to laugh. This story is so amazingly like how a child would recall this unfortunate event that I had to wonder if Sedaris truly has a photographic memory. It shows, within myself, how much I have really changed as I recall my own tales of childhood. How I'd treat the foil-wrapped chocolate coins like they were real gold, or hated anyone that took a red piece of candy when they asked if they could have one (red was always the best flavor). These days, I'd rather hoard fruit than candy, although dark chocolate still has a special place in my heart right next to pastries. And I still don't understand why his mother insisted on being polite to the Tomkeys if they weren't even going to be staying very long before moving on to the next home. I guess it's just how I was raised, but I would have given some apology for not having anything and then banishing them from my doorstep with a half-hearted “Have a good night” and that would be that. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it really took me back to my own silly memories.


RE: “Mick Jagger Wants Me”, by Sarah Jane Gilman

  Before I begin my reaction to this little number, I have to say that I love the Rolling Stones and have listened to them since I was a child (my parents had wonderful taste, bless them). Sympathy For the Devil is still one of my favorite songs, especially when they performed it during their Bridges to Babylon tour that I got to see when I lived in Hawaii.

  I would practically kill to go meet the Stones in person, so I had a faint feeling of jealousy toward the author as I read the story. Thankfully, I never had the lack of sense to do anything these girls did. I was never into drugs, or boys (until I was almost 20, anyway), or making out for whatever reason. Call me old fashioned, I'll gracefully accept the title.
  I found it hilarious that the author would freeze up the way she did, the second thoughts that filled her head and insisted that the fantasy not be broken. If I had to choose who to be behind in a situation like this, it would have to be Michelle. Some things only come at a once-in-a-lifetime package deal, whether you want it to be so or not. I have met a few celebrities, but only within the safe confines of a convention. I never met anyone out on the street or stalked them until I could pounce. I wouldn't know what to say, even if I did randomly meet someone I admired. Probably much like Susie, I'd curse myself for not looking more “proper” and freezing like a deer in the headlights.