Moloch the Maleficient

Hint to artists: saying 'No offense but these are overpriced' to a fellow artist is just tacky.

Woke up out of a dream wherein I was a human married to a Klingon poet, and raising his dead brother's kids. I remember three scenes: (1) picking up a piece of paper with a few rejected lines scribble on it in Klingon and asking my husband why they didn't work (I didn't read Klingon), (2) taking one of the kids to buy a birthday cake for our mutual shared birthday and telling him to pick out our cake and tell me why I should like it, (3) grocery shopping with the entire family, and seeing my father-in-law pick out a pot of color, as he explained to me it was for an upcoming festival during which Klingons paint their ridges in various colors.

Way more domestic than you usually think of Klingons. I don't really expect the pater familias of a Klingon clan to go grocery shopping.

Anyway, I'm finishing up my decadent French toast room-service breakfast and then I'll check out, go back to the con, and commence with coloring the commission (I didn't color last night because the ink has to dry for at least half an hour so as not to smear with repeated application of marker to it. :D)

An amusing thing happened at the shooting range this afternoon.

I was shooting my M&P, which ejects at a retardedly high angle. I was also wearing a fishing shirt with the maximum number of top buttons undone. Not out of prurient reasons, but because it was fucking hot outside.

I shot the last round, and the ejected case bounced off the walls of the lane, and wound up inside my shirt. If you're not a shooter, let me enlighten you: the case off a recently fired bullet is *hot*. Perhaps not hot enough to really burn (especially with the cheap Blazer aluminum shit I was shooting), but hot enough to get your attention. And certainly if it's a hot metal thing on your breasts.

So I drop my 9 and start to do the "Oh crap bees!" dance right there in the middle of a packed shooting range, trying to get this hot burny thing off my tits. I'm hopping around and fishing inside my shirt trying to get ahold of the brass, and I inadvertantly manage to drop it inside the cup of my bra. Now I've got to go spelunking to get this damn thing out, and since I've got enough breast to smother half of china, this is a pretty impressive feat. And because I'm simultaneously hoppign around and fishing inside my bra, I /still/ can't get a hold of this damn brass.

But I finally find it and pull it out, only to discover that at least ten people are staring at me, trying to figure out if I'm having some sort of psychotic break int he middle of the gun range. So I hold up the case, and do the only thing that I can to impress upon a bunch of armed dudes in hearing protection that I've not compltely lost it - I make a sweeping bow, then go back to shooting.


Aside from the boob incident, I shot pretty well - at 25', I shot out the center of the target w/ 20 rounds, again, with the M&P 9mm. I still feel like my stance is retarded, but since I don't have anyone to shoot with, no one's going to critique it.

Still haven't decided what to do with the hair.

Con very slow. Two reasons: (1) the economy, so all cons are slow this year. (2) the dealers' room and artist alley is over in the Conference Center, all the panels are over in the hotel, and to get from one to the other requires going up one floor to get to the parking garage, and then going down one floor to get to the skyway to the convention center. Hence people don't hang out in the AA or dealers' room between panels, and don't do impulse shopping.

Also, the AA and dealers' room are in the same space, so they both shut down at 7, so the AA people can't pick up sales and commissions by staying late, after the main programming. I have finally hit the break-even point, but probably won't be making much of a profit here this year. Will reserve judgement as to next year until later.

Had another very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant tonight, and got carrot cake to go. Of course the very nice young man who waited on me didn't pack any UTENSILS with it, so I am resorting to using two coffee stirrers like chopsticks to eat this because I don't want to go downstairs and badger them.

Now I have to get offline and finish a commission I picked up - I normally don't do them at cons, but the sales were so slow I threw up a commissions sign just to get some extra cash.

See obleighvious's post for a run-down.

Of course, I didn't attend the preconference with her, I just lazed about reading books and watching even more daytime TV. I read Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko, Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress and started reading Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout. I'm going to read Sergei Lukyanenko's next book Daywatch next, I think, when I have time again.

VoicePost 79K 0:24

“This is my not entirely original thought upon watching the Ganguro table across from me for a while. In Japan, Ganguro comes across as a rejection of traditional Japanese feminine beauty. In America Ganguro comes across as black face. That has been your thought for the day.” Transcribed by: heyoka

Rachelmanija theres a guy who looks like Reza running around! I got video!

Wow sales suck.

Poll #1428399
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Haircut?

If I do cut it, how? (Bald is beautiful,but not an option!)

As previously noted, I closed on Tuesday. What's happened since? Well....

Wednesday
I took the day off work. I loaded up the car, the movers arrived by 8am as scheduled, packing and loading was done by 11:20am, unloading at the new place was done by 1:35pm, and the paperwork was completed and payment authorized by 1:45pm. Then the unpacking begun.

Thursday
Mom came to town to be home for the appliance delivery and cable hookup so I didn't have to lose another day of work. While she was here and not dealing with them, she unpacked most of my kitchen. After work, I swung by the apartment to get the mail and the fridge/freezer contents, then I swung by the grocery to restock the non-perishables for the pantry.

The appliance folks showed up as scheduled at 12n. The washer seems to work fine. The dryer doesn't want to power up, though (a) the 220V outlet tested okay during the inspection and (b) when I used the borrowed-from-the-boss voltmeter on it last night it showed it was receiving power; the manufacturer will send out a technician Monday afternoon (12n-5p window) to see what gives. The fridge works in that it keeps stuff cold (and frozen in the freezer), but it doesn't seem to be getting (enough?) water from the water line. The ice maker runs every so often and has produced some ice, but not a full load yet; the in-door water dispenser doesn't give any water to speak of. The current suspicion is the reverse-osmosis filter is somehow not sending water on to the fridge. I still need to figure out who to call to schedule an appointment to get the fridge fixed.

The cable guy showed up near the end of his window, pretty much as I got home around 4:30pm. He hooked up the system outside, verified the digital converter works on the living room television, and hooked up the cable modem in the downstairs office. I confirmed I could get an IP address and he was on his way by 5pm.

Mom and I then went out to dinner at TGIF before coming home.

Friday
Full day at work. Managed to resolve the week-long outage by 8:30am (by rerunning the "create and populate the database tables" portion of the install script for the failing component of all things). Notified the developers, but none of them were at work today (two on vacation, one of whom turned on his out-of-office notification after my announcement and the other of whom didn't have his on all week) and the designers weren't on the email alias I used so nobody who was at work knew to look at it.

After work, ran by the apartment to clean (and power off and open the doors of) the fridge, pack up the last of the cleaning supplies, and get the mail; I also scheduled a walk-through for Monday Wednesday afternoon to turn in my keys if they're satisfied the apartment is clean. Then I swung by the grocery to restock the fridge and freezer. Did more unpacking (including the office library) and rearranged the office (swapping the filing cabinets and the bookshelves for a less-constrained layout). Managed to clip the top of my right foot with a filing cabinet drawer pretty nicely: two bleeding toes, but I don't think either broke. Also moved the library's 22 book boxes into the closet so I could reposition the chair and ottoman and measure the walls to know how much bookshelf I really need.

I scheduled the appliance repairman to come over Monday afternoon so maybe I'll have a working dryer soon thereafter.

Saturday
Woke up early, so I tidied up the office a bit and collapsed the boxes. Unpacked and hooked up the printer and got the desk supplies rearranged. Unpacked the boots, hats, and scarves for the front coat closet; unpacked the rest of the master bedroom contents. Hooked up the living room DVD player and VCR, and discovered that the VCR remote had a leaky battery.

Next on the agenda is finishing up the master bedroom unpacking (boxes MS01 through MS04, plus the TV and DVD/VCR).

I realize it's kind of weird to be posting two genderswap Ryan/Spencer fics in two weeks, but this story is a) older than Yellow on Blue, and b) one that certain persons have been waiting on for a long time, so I figured that y'all could roll with it.

So, I give you: bb!lesbians.

Title: My Baby Loves Me (Just the Way That I Am)
Pairing: always-girls!Spencer/Ryan
Rating: NC17 and make no mistake
Summary: "Stop talking," Spencer orders, and when Ryan breaks off, staring at Spencer with wide eyes, Spencer surges forward to kiss her.
Warnings: Femmeslash ftw \o/
Notes: Written to go with this lovely art (alternate link here) by the even lovelier evocatory, so you should all go tell her how awesome she is. Thanks to fictionalaspect for the beta and to sock_wha for the final read-through. 6600 words.

( "I hate this store," Ryan grumbles. )

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Drove 5 hours to Tulsa today. Managed to find my hotel, no thanks to Google Maps who route you around downtown as if there weren't this GIANT NEW CONVENTION CENTER right on top of the streets they tell you to drive down. Was not expecting my hotel to be quite this nice, as I bid $50/night on Priceline and got it. :D I'm at the Crowne Plaza. After checking in, I went down to the (old) Convention Center where the con is being held, and checked in with no fuss. Stayed a couple of hours but between having found parking in a garage that was closing at 6:30 and being incredibly tired and hungry, I decided that cutting out early and heading for food and sleep was the better pat of valor, as if I ende dup with a migraine from lack of food and sleep, I wouldn't be able to sell on Saturday.

Sold 3 things right off the bat before I finished setting up, then ... nothing. Ah well. The person next to me said that last year, Friday was really busy, and it was very quiet today*. I suspect it's having the same problems as all cons are this year. We'll see how I do Sat and Sun - I'll decide later if I think it'll be worth coming back next year.

Just had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Was expecting the hotel prices. Was not expecting the amazingly good food. I had chicken piccata, and it was the best-cooked chicken piccata I have ever had in my entire life. And while I paid almost $10 for a glass of wine, it came in a little carafe that held a bit closer to 2 glasses than 1.** So while I paid hotel prices for the meal, I ended up with fine-dining quality. I may have dinner tomorrow here - there was a skirt steak on the menu that I decided not to get for fear of it not being cooked correctly (it's tough if you don't get it right), but now I have a lot more confidence.

The exhibit hall with the dealers' room and artist alley opens tomorrow at 10, but we can get in at 9. My entire goal for tonight is to stay awake until 9PM, then crash. I may even indulge in breakfast tomorrow down in the restaurant. :D



* Except for the guy who drove a motorcycle around the exhibit hall. The inside of the exhibit hall. There was, inexplicably, some sort of motorcycle display on the other side.

* My Washington, DC and NY readers are now laughing at me for thinking $10/glass of wine and $20/entree is extremely expensive, :D It is, down here in the heartland!

#37: Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase


I know, I know, I swore I was going to lay off the trashy romance novels for awhile. But much like a similar resolution regarding sausage, you can guess it was short-lived and rather futile.

The plot of this book is that following a socially disastrous divorce, Francesca Bonnard left England for Venice and set out to become the most highly-paid and successful courtesan she could be. One of the few things she took with her from England was a packet of letters illustrating her former husband's treasonous dealings with the French. No that said ex-hubby is moving up in the government ranks, those letters are a liability to him and an asset to his opponents, who send the gentleman spy James Cordier to retrieve those letters from Francesca - using any means at his disposal.

She finds him dead sexy and considers taking him to her bed, but is concerned that he's not rich enough to keep her. He finds her dead sexy, but refuses to be treated like a toy for her amusement. So for the next several chapters, they bicker and fight and fuck and fall into the Venetian canals with an alarming frequency. Their interactions are a constant wrestling match for control, but they are so equally matched in terms of intelligence, wit, and ballsiness that it's exhausting just watching them. And unlike a lot of other romance novel pairs, they don't buy into the whole Stupid Misunderstanding bullshit. They don't keep secrets (save for the obvious one about James Bond Cordier's job as a spy), and they deal with problems like how to deal with a vicious female thief logically and rationally.

I really liked the character of Francesca. A lot of reviewers bitched that she was unlikeable because she was a courtesan. Not because she had no *other* choice, but because it was the only logical choice that would allow her to be both wealthy and absolutely independent. I see no shame in the world's oldest profession, and I liked that the character chose it wholeheartedly.

She's not a heroine who's looking for love. Francesca likes sex, she likes the flattering attentions of men, but she's adamant that she's going to live life on her own terms - and she's open and honest about both sides of her personality. She's passionate and wicked (even has a tattoo!) and not at all apologetic. As someone who is avowedly evil, crazy, capricious, cold, and utterly independent, I can quite relate to a character like that.

As a last thought, this book gets full marks for making me literally LOL at the opening line to the first chapter:
Penises. Everywhere.

I just like to laugh. I don't know why some people do not like to laugh. It seems they are very sour, almost to the point of resisting admitting anything in the world might be amusing. Why are people like that? Is it somehow cooler to be a sour person who never smiles or laughs?



I don't really know what it is that makes a person funny. Maybe an openness to laugh at themselves. Maybe a sharp wit or a sharper tongue. I know that a hunchback is funny, especially if the hunch itself plays a happy little jig of a tune while you walk. Cancer and rape are not funny. Though, a clown being raped with a giant phallic tumor might be funny. It might also be disgusting, I guess, depending on who you are.

Please don't eat me dear Ladybug

Currently, I am avoiding going to look at my new shop on Second Life. It was build for me by the lovely owner of Dilly Dolls, Miss Oriana Kuhr. It's shaped like a giant ladybug, and the shop is going to be inside the ladybug... I'm merely avoiding doing this because a) I am worried it is not going to look near as cool as I hoped and b) It's such an annoyance to have to set up my shop again.

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Things I can now say in Manderin:

Hello
Thank you
My name is...
Fuck

#36: Armor by John Steakley

There were several reason I picked up Armor. One, it was a title I recognized when I was combing the local Half Price books. Two, it was by John Steakley, who owns a kickin' rad yellow sweater and great fun at the bar at the first conDFW. And three, it superficially resembled Starship Troopers, and Old Man's War, both of which I have read and adored.

I say superficial, and that's about true. Although all three novels explore the ramifications of interplanetary war supersoldiers (either through exo-armor or creative genetics), but that's about where the similarities end. For the most part, I enjoyed the book, although the intertwining of the Felix and Jack Crow story arcs didn't quite jibe for me. I could sort of see where Steakley was going , he kept letting a bunch of little side-plots and details get in the way. Also, while Jack Crow was deeply changed by his interaction with Felix, Felix does not seem to change at all - throughout the book, he chooses the role of the immortal - but doomed - paladin. His motivations for doing so are only lightly alluded to.

In the Jack ?Crow section, there are a lot of characters who don't seem to have much of a function, such as Jack's lover Karen. He's portrayed as being the cleverest, toughest SOB in the galaxy, but he sure seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time running around doing a whole lot of nothing. (As a side note, couldn't help but read all of Crow's dialogue and inner monologue in the voice of James Woods. I think that this only made the book a better read.)

So a good book, but the flaws of fuzzy plot threads and unclear character growth make it far from a great one.

So, I got brave.  We had local food last night!

First off.  Dumplings are *AMAZING* here.  A-Maze-Ing.  I tried the Salmon Skin with Sweet and Sour Sauce.  It's served cold and it's really chewy.  But it was good.  The thing that shocked me for being so good were the turnip cakes.  They looked like Magic Erasers on the plate, but they were VERY good.

So yay me. 
Also I slept in til 6 AM today (YAY).  And was woken up only once last night, and that was due to my hotel neighbor's um..*cough*...nocturnal activities.
Clearly there are people here having more fun than me :-D