GSD Mode

Alllllll the way back in December, I was cast in a small role in the local community theatre's production of No Sex Please, We're British. The show closed on Sunday, which means that pretty much all of my time has been taken up at work, and the show, with a few opportunities to socialize, run small errands and, from time to time, sleep.

I've been so burned out, trying to keep all this up, that I've noticed things at work being more difficult for me than they ought to be. And, since I have a decent job that gives me both vacation pay and personal time off, and a fair amount of both for having been there less than a year, it occurred to me that using some of that PTO would be wise.

I was torn, though, because my team at work won a small competition and earned a free lunch for today. I thought that maybe taking just tomorrow off wouldn't be so bad, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted two full days off. I was ready for another weekend, and it was only Monday. So I just sucked it up, got today off, and tomorrow, to recharge my batteries.

It was a fantastic decision on my part. I slept in a few hours this morning, but when I rolled out of bed, I entered Get Shit Done Mode, and I feel outstanding.

My bathroom: cleaned. It needed it badly. My bathtub had accumulated two weeks' worth of heavy makeup for two and was especially disgusting. It took 3 rounds of scrubbing to get rid of it all.

My whole apartment: vacuumed. Two rambunctious kitties ensured that there was plenty to vacuum up, too. There are some patches of carpet that need to be hit with the Folex, or the noisy-ass carpet cleaner, but there's a distinct improvement.

My coffee and end tables: cleared of all errata. This is an especially rare occurrence, as these surfaces are our catch-all for all the things.

Green hair color: acquired. I had to do something for myself, just for the sake of it, and now that I'm not in a show anymore, I can do whatever the fuck I want to my hair again, and I want some damn green streaks. If I'm lucky I'll be able to get it done by St. Patty's Day (how cute is that?), but I need to track down some bleach. That's probably on tomorrow's agenda.

And speaking of tomorrow's agenda, here's what I'm hoping to accomplish:

1. Laundry
2. Bake apple pie for Friday's cast party
3. Bake wild berry pie for Friday's cast party
4. Track down hair bleach
5. Clear kitchen bar-top of errata (another catch-all area)
6. Hang more art

No matter what gets done tomorrow, I'm already feeling so much better. There's something about GSD Mode that is just plain satisfying. You'd think the best way to recharge my batteries would be to relax, do nothing, pamper myself... but it turns out all I really need to do is GET SHIT DONE. 

Fuck yeah!

On Craigslist

As part of my job, I use Craigslist frequently as a resource to help me value vehicles. Most of the time, the ads posted are worthless for my purposes, but there are a few gems that work out nicely. And some are just plain good for a laugh.

The header for this ad alone had me cracking up. What are people doing in this area to those poor Nissans that the owner of this car felt the need to specify that this particular one was UNMOLESTED. All in caps. Is there some sleazy ring of perverts that takes part in rampant Nissan molestation? Are they a plague in this area? Is no Nissan safe?

And then I scrolled down, and took a look at the car itself. I realized then that of course it wasn't molested. It was beaten with the ugly stick. 

My coworker came across this one today, and it had me giggling for an hour after she shared it with me. This person didn't just mistakenly put their ad for shih tzu puppies in the wrong category - they deliberately ran their ad in the cars and trucks section, and added a bunch of random car-related tags. As if someone looking for a Buick Regal or Chevy Camaro is also in the market for a shih tzu. I kept joking with my coworker about wanting to email this seller to ask questions about this particular "vehicle".

What's the mileage on these puppies? 

Can I come by sometime and take one for a test drive?

Have they had regular maintenance done? 

What do they look like under the hood? Would you mind taking some pics for me? I'd like to see what the engine looks like.

Do these run on gasoline, or it it a hybrid? What about bio diesel? 

Would you be willing to trade for my '01 Jetta, or some guns? 

I know I shouldn't be surprised by anything I see on Craigslist - I know the reputation, but damn, when weird-ass things like this pop up, it sure as hell makes the day more fun.

Happy Fangsgeebean!

I have no idea why I love mentally pronouncing Thanksgiving like that, but I don't have to explain anything to you people, so judge me all you want.

I was thankful this year for having a job that allowed me enough time off to enjoy the holiday, as it's been a rare thing for me these last few years. I went with my boyfriend out to Rapid City, where his parents are now living - they moved out there 3 or 4 years ago, and I hadn't had a chance to see their new home until last week.

We took Isis with us, as it was more feasible than conning a friend into coming by and feeding her, or shelling out for boarding. I was concerned about how she'd handle being in the car, but she was surprisingly calm about it. She spent most of the drive checking out whichever parts of the car she would reach (we had her in a harness, and on a secured leash in the back seat, so she couldn't get underfoot while Nick was driving) or sleeping. Mostly sleeping, really.

 

Just as we got on the road, and at a gas station once we got into Rapid.

I really don't have much of this weekend to talk about, but I do have a lot of pictures. It was your standard Thanksgiving holiday, with turkey, pie, and lots of time spent catching up.

It didn't take long for Isis to become Queen of the House, especially when she went into heat on Thursday morning. Her normally rambunctious and bitey temperament was replaced by one that was much more cuddly, needy, and whiney. It worked out, though, because that at least meant that nobody got viciously attacked and/or mauled. And I woke up on Friday morning to discover that I could now afford to get her spayed, so that'll happen on Monday and we'll all be very happy indeed. 

Speaking of Friday, we went to the SD School of Minds on Friday afternoon and hit up the Geology Museum. I had so much more fun in the half hour that we spent there than I would have doing any shopping at all. And, admittedly, I did buy some stuff there, but they were trinkets for my desk at work, so I hardly think that counts as contributing to the rampant American consumerism that liberals like me are always bemoaning.

We also went to downtown Rapid City to kill some time and give us a chance to get hungry for supper - we talked the in-laws into going to a hibachi restaurant so we could get some sushi and they could try something new (but not sushi, alas). And I was able to walk through Artist's Alley and got many many photos, in spite of the failing light. And here's a ton of them.

 

 

We ate and went home, and there was more catching up, and then it was bedtime. In the morning, Isis was still cuddly and needy.

And then it was time for us to come back to our home. It was a lovely holiday, and I'm delighted to have been able to enjoy it this year.

Snyders Portraits

Last weekend I got a chance to try my hand at actual portraiture. My stepsister needed some family portraits done and was willing to let my inexperienced ass take their pictures. Obviously, even the ones that I like the best are nowhere near as good as they could have gotten with a professional, but I think I can be happy with them right now.













It was surprisingly cold and rainy out, so everyone was on their best behavior in order to get it done quickly.

Corporal Cuddling!

Isis: IMMA TEAR AROUND THE GORRAM APARTMENT LIKE AN ASSHOLE!

Nick: I'm going to hold you until you calm down!

Me: You're going to be holding her for a few weeks, until we can afford to get her spayed, you know.

Nick wraps Isis up in his shirt.

Me: Awww, she looks like a babushka. ... She's plotting murder right now...

Nick: This is different from any other time how?

Isis: And these jerkoffs wonder why I constantly bite them...

Nick devises a new method of kitten containment.

I start laughing so hard it becomes difficult to take this picture.

Nick decides it's even funnier to let her tail free.

We will not live through the night. Will someone please ensure that what little remains of me is buried with pie?

There is no end to the humiliation. 

Adventures in Vertigo (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Tell Doctors When I Know More Than Them)

Last Saturday, October 20, I went up to Brookings for a girl's night out, and I had quite a time. When I woke up the following morning, I felt surprisingly fine - not much of a hangover at all. As the day progressed, however, I started feeling rather worse. I had to face facts - I'd overdone it the previous evening, and I had a hangover that needed to be dealt with. I haven't had many hangovers in my life; I've been remarkably lucky in that regard.

At one point I'd made some food, but decided I wasn't up for it, so I set it aside and took a nap. It was about this time when I first started feeling especially dizzy. When I woke up, I ate the food (very slowly). From that point on, the rest of the day is kind of a blur. I just remember the dizziness being very bad, and thinking that I needed to throw up, and hugging the toilet in the hopes that I would. I couldn't sleep. At one point, I did start to throw up, and I lost everything I'd eaten at all.

I'm not sure when it became necessary to call a local nurse hotline, but I did have my boyfriend make the call, and based on my symptoms, they suspected I was severely dehydrated, and should be taken to the ER. Good fuckin' times.

Once at the ER, we were told that it looked like I had a nasty stomach virus of some kind. Given that I'd thrown up repeatedly between the tortuous walk down to the car and my arrival at the hospital, this seemed like a reasonable diagnosis, but it bothered me that they didn't see the debilitating dizziness as any kind of major symptom. From where I was laying, it was the only symptom, and the real source of my nausea. When they gave me a proscription for something for nausea, I was skeptical, but too weak to ask if I could also have anything for the crippling waves of vertigo that kept me from wanting to move any part of my body. They recommended I go on the BRAT diet (crackers, toast, and a whole host of bland food) and sent me home with my 'scrip. I threw up again in the parking lot outside our apartment, and was put to bed.

The next few days are much a similar blur. I was barely able to make it from the bed to the bathroom without assistance. I couldn't sit up or even open my eyes. I had my boyfriend play episodes of The Simpsons on the bedroom tv just so I didn't have to lay in silence with my active mind but crippled body. I developed aches in my ribs from spending hours on one side or another - it was too miserable to try to lay on another side until it became absolutely necessary.

My diet was pretty limited, but I did deviate from the BRAT diet enough to start getting me kind of cranky about the ER diagnosis. I had absolutely no problems eating frozen fruit, or peanut butter on my toast. By the time Wednesday evening rolled around, all I could think was that they'd seen my vomiting, looked at the twelve other patients in the ER that night with the same symptoms, and didn't think much further. I took my last anti-nausea pill and forced myself to focus on the ER discharge papers we'd been given. There was no mention of my dizziness.

Thursday morning, I had my boyfriend call the ER and explain the situation - what I'd been treated for, and that while the last time I'd vomited had been on Sunday evening, the dizziness hadn't eased. They had me go to a walk-in clinic. Because my boyfriend had spent the whole week afraid of catching the virus, he'd been sleeping on our crummy 8-year-old futon that I'd bought for $100 at Walmart, and was exhausted, so my mother took me. The drive over there was total misery. I couldn't bear to open my eyes at all, and had to be guided everywhere. They offered repeatedly to put me in a wheelchair, but I knew that that would only make me sick. I had to be under my own control, or the dizziness would get the better of me.

The woman who saw me seemed quite surprised that they hadn't even done any blood work at the ER. She ran some more tests, recommended that I return to the ER for an MRI, and off we went for another wretched car drive.

This is getting to be longer than I'd expected. Here's the TL;DR for the whole thing: Drinking. Hangover? Dizzy, dizzy, dizzy, puke, ER, three goddamn days of dizzy, ER, CAT Scan, finally pills that work, and... still dizzy.

I'm seeing an inner ear specialist tomorrow at 9am. They're going to put me on a table and ... I don't know, but I hope it'll fix things. For one thing, I can't afford to miss any more work, but the main thing is that I want to be able to walk in a straight line. I'm better than I was three days ago, but I'm still quite a ways from being totally well. It really comes to something when brushing your teeth on your own feels like a major triumph, and taking a shower takes everything you've got.

Crypticon 2012 in Photos

Motherfucking raven!



Crazy bird eyes. Eye.



Tony Curran! I met van Gogh, y'all! Incidentally, he could only stay a few hours due to other conflicts, but he was ridiculously charming and delightful, and it is a tragedy that he couldn't do a Q&A.




Badass Evil Dead 2 bike.



Getting ready for Zombie Prom. I had to redo my makeup 3 times, which is why it is so crummy right now. I just got sick of cleaning it all off my face and then starting over. I really could have used a lot more blood, but that goes without saying.



Zombies invade... the exercise room... We were really drunk and it seemed like a hilarious idea.



Still really drunk.

Our swag this year was pretty reserved, because we were on a serious budget, so I haven't really taken a ton of swag pictures like I did last year. It's mostly art anyway, and we're still deciding where to hang everything. However:

Crappy cell phone pic, but fucking awesome posters!