Haitus announcement

I am currently abroad for the first time.  But most importantly, I'm on my own.  Posts will be postponed until my schedule normalizes and I can stand sturdily on my own feet again.

Writers Write and I Quietly Panic

John Scalzi over at the Whatever blog posted an article today that I wholeheartedly agree with.  I have no further comments on the matter because he pretty much sums them up in the entire body of the article.

Now, I would address my own problems of procrastination, but I'm going to make the excuse that I'm about to depart for the other side of the world in a few days and sort of panicking in a very quiet making-paper-cranes-and-watching-documentaries-on-the-universe sort of way.  (Interesting documentaries too; there was one about time travel).

Happy Birthday to me

I turned 21 last Saturday.

Please take a moment to say a prayer for all those who lost their lives on that day.

Finished?  That's okay, I'll wait.

. . . . . . .

Are we good now?  Awesome.  Now let's take a moment to focus on me and my awesome gifts.  I got Pokemon SoulSilver for my birthday.  Also the movies Whip It and Troy.  Then I got Robotech Protoculture Collection and the Fafner in the Azure boxed set.  And then I bought myself a bottle of wine just because I can.

Did you know that people don't tend to buy hard booze in a store when they turn 21?  They usually go to bars, but I figured that since I'm now officially legal, I can do what I want.  So a bottle of white zin for me it is.  Even so, I was kind of surprised when the woman checking me out said not many people buy stuff on their actual 21st birthday.  Who wouldn't want to exercise their right to walk into a store and confidently show their ID that says "this person is clearly 21, but thanks for checking."  Perhaps it's only me, though.

I'll be looking for fellow Pokewalkers to link up with.  Keep an eye out for them if you have one too.  I hear you get cool stuff.  By the way, does anyone know what the watts are for?

Hugos and Conventions

My congratulations to the 2010 Hugo Award winners.  I didn't really follow everything that got nominated, but I will definitely follow this in future years.

Got back from my first ever convention today!  Geek.kon is held in one of the first weekends in September in Madison, WI.  It was small-ish and it is close to where I live.  My friend talked with Chris Ayres about concept Shakespeare, how illegal fansubbing and bit-torrent downloading is destroying the anime industry, and marvel at Sheila the turtle who dressed as the turtle from the world of Terry Pratchett.  Seriously.  There was also a Victorian Tea Party which included a sabotage mystery not solved by me, Death Note mafia which is worth playing if you ever see it at a con (look for it in the Midwest), and a panel about the manly men of anime (in all its testosterone glory).  The con raised about $800 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association; $300 from the Masquerade Ball I attended and the rest from the charity silent auction.  I wanted to participate in Kon.Quest, but alas, I kept forgetting about it.  Here are some pictures of awesome costumes.

She called it the Dress of Doom.  It's very complicated.

No Face going to the Masquerade Ball

Dr. Horrible in the video game room

Ash and Pikachu chillaxing in the lobby.

Eric Vale and Chris Ayres at their Q&A Panel