collacentaur (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
collacentaur) wrote2011-05-13 01:18 am
collacentaur) wrote2011-05-13 01:18 am
Catching up
I keep thinking I'm going to write full-length posts for some of the things I've been doing, but it's just not happening. So, then, here's the essence of it:
Saturday April 9 was the 25th Annual Medfest. Despite the week of rain and ominous forecasts, it turned out to be a gorgeous day. The students did a great job, and there was always something going on all day. Mostly, of course, I ignored the scheduled events and caught up with friends. We did watch the chess game, which was reasonably good. A couple of the fights may possibly have never been done before, which after 25 years is getting pretty tough to manage.
Then that evening was the alumni Reunion Special. There were about 60 of us there for dinner, including the kids. TK was there most of the day and evening. Because of his political career, he spends a lot of time as a guest of honor at dinners and events. He obviously thought it was nifty to be somewhere and be most appreciated as club advisor, second as university president, and for the politics to be ignored.
Near the end of the night, people were singing pubsongs, as is often the case. Jen Green started singing, I think just to share a song with a couple of people. Everyone else went silent. It wasn't planned, it just happened. It was right. Everything felt right, from watching the kids playing together on the steps to Jen singing to the poster we all signed. I think a good time was had by all. And I'm very pleased to have been part of it.
On Saturday April 16 I made my way into the center of Philadelphia for Dorian's Parlor, a monthly event that defies description. The weather was abysmal, as was the parking, and I had to wade through several city blocks -- no exaggeration -- to get there. Once I dried off, I had a lot of fun. It's a place to see and be seen. I don't care so much about the official entertainment. In fact, I usually want to be some distance from it. Why do all performances have to be so bloody loud? So I mostly was out in the hall, for the unscheduled entertainment of people-watching. People are fascinating.
On my way home that Sunday, I went through New Hope and stopped for an hour or so at the New Hope Renaissance Faire. This was their second year. It was adorable, just a dozen or so vendors on one block, with entertainers squeezing in wherever they fit. Still, it looked like they were getting a decent turnout. I bumped into both Keith and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
erinmuse there, and of course daeron who was there working for one of his friends.
Then I got sick, and sicker. Ear infection, perforated eardrum, antibiotics, whee. I just finished off the antibiotics a few days ago, and everything's getting back to normal. The ear's healing, but it's not done yet. Grr.
This past weekend, May 7-8, I made a last-minute decision to tag along withhughcasey to the National Haunters-and-other-things-that-start-with-H Convention. Haunted houses, Halloween, hearses, and I think there's one more thing... I know I can't get it right. Spooky is not my thing. My reaction generally ranges from "meh" to "eww" to "HOLY EXPLETIVE get that spider AWAY from me!" But while I wouldn't have picked this out to go to at random, it seemed like it might be entertaining for an otherwise empty weekend.
I didn't get to see the main floor on Saturday, because I failed at PA highways. Twice. I did figure out what was screwing me up, at least, so maybe I'll get those roads right from now on. I got there just in time to go help set up for the ball. This was fine by me; I like the chance to be helpful. I again spent most of the evening people-watching, as well as doing a little people-wrangling for Hugh's portrait setup. It turned out to be very much an industry-specific event, not a general public event, and the Dorian's folks who were there doing setup and decorations ended up hanging out in the hallway as well. It was a very silly evening. I was particularly amused that we were all sober, the haunters were mostly sloshed, and yet they were wandering by looking at us and trying to figure out what we were doing and why we were giggling so hard.
On Sunday I saw the main floor. And it was, indeed, interesting. But still not my thing. I do see the appeal. It's not really all that different from any other dress-up-funny-and-do-unconventional-things hobby. It's just got a different focus. By about 2:30, everyone was packing up, so when Lynati finished a class, we adjourned for naptime. I'm pretty sure that group naptime is another one of those things I wouldn't be able to explain to mundanes. But, how else would we sustain the energy. Dinner ended up being sushi in Bryn Mawr with an expanding cast of characters. I stayed in PA much later than I should have, and then hit construction traffic on the way home, so I was dragging on Monday. But, worth it.
Nothing much going on this weekend. The following weekend, May 21-22, I'll be at the Steampunk World's Fair. I went last year without really knowing what it was all about. This year I have a better idea of what to expect, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Memorial Day weekend, I'll be just outside Baltimore for Balticon.
The baby-naming in MA is on June 12, not June 5. So I get a week off between the longer trips. I'll probably try to make it to Dorian's on the 4th.
After that, the calendar opens up, and I'm going to try to get some random fun things queued up for the summer. Then at the end of August my lease is up, I'll be moving, and all bets are off. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I'm still working at upping my geek cred. Friday nights withoidhche and palingyuan have temporarily moved to my place. We caught up on Big Bang Theory, and are now watching that and Game of Thrones together. We'll get back to ST:NG season 3 in the fullness of time. On my own, I'm still working my way through Doctor Who. I'm down to one episode each for the 6th and 7th doctors, then I'm on to the new stuff. And will finally have some idea what everyone's talking about.
I've just started using Twitter. (same username) Although I've resisted for years, and am not really sure I have anything worth saying anyway, I do often have 1-2 sentences that are not worth a LJ post and too cryptic or too odd to want to post to FB and have to explain to my aunt or other confused person. So Twitter may fit me well after all.
Other than that, mostly, there's just work. And that is a story for another day.
Saturday April 9 was the 25th Annual Medfest. Despite the week of rain and ominous forecasts, it turned out to be a gorgeous day. The students did a great job, and there was always something going on all day. Mostly, of course, I ignored the scheduled events and caught up with friends. We did watch the chess game, which was reasonably good. A couple of the fights may possibly have never been done before, which after 25 years is getting pretty tough to manage.
Then that evening was the alumni Reunion Special. There were about 60 of us there for dinner, including the kids. TK was there most of the day and evening. Because of his political career, he spends a lot of time as a guest of honor at dinners and events. He obviously thought it was nifty to be somewhere and be most appreciated as club advisor, second as university president, and for the politics to be ignored.
Near the end of the night, people were singing pubsongs, as is often the case. Jen Green started singing, I think just to share a song with a couple of people. Everyone else went silent. It wasn't planned, it just happened. It was right. Everything felt right, from watching the kids playing together on the steps to Jen singing to the poster we all signed. I think a good time was had by all. And I'm very pleased to have been part of it.
On Saturday April 16 I made my way into the center of Philadelphia for Dorian's Parlor, a monthly event that defies description. The weather was abysmal, as was the parking, and I had to wade through several city blocks -- no exaggeration -- to get there. Once I dried off, I had a lot of fun. It's a place to see and be seen. I don't care so much about the official entertainment. In fact, I usually want to be some distance from it. Why do all performances have to be so bloody loud? So I mostly was out in the hall, for the unscheduled entertainment of people-watching. People are fascinating.
On my way home that Sunday, I went through New Hope and stopped for an hour or so at the New Hope Renaissance Faire. This was their second year. It was adorable, just a dozen or so vendors on one block, with entertainers squeezing in wherever they fit. Still, it looked like they were getting a decent turnout. I bumped into both Keith and
erinmuse there, and of course daeron who was there working for one of his friends. Then I got sick, and sicker. Ear infection, perforated eardrum, antibiotics, whee. I just finished off the antibiotics a few days ago, and everything's getting back to normal. The ear's healing, but it's not done yet. Grr.
This past weekend, May 7-8, I made a last-minute decision to tag along with
hughcasey to the National Haunters-and-other-things-that-start-with-H Convention. Haunted houses, Halloween, hearses, and I think there's one more thing... I know I can't get it right. Spooky is not my thing. My reaction generally ranges from "meh" to "eww" to "HOLY EXPLETIVE get that spider AWAY from me!" But while I wouldn't have picked this out to go to at random, it seemed like it might be entertaining for an otherwise empty weekend.I didn't get to see the main floor on Saturday, because I failed at PA highways. Twice. I did figure out what was screwing me up, at least, so maybe I'll get those roads right from now on. I got there just in time to go help set up for the ball. This was fine by me; I like the chance to be helpful. I again spent most of the evening people-watching, as well as doing a little people-wrangling for Hugh's portrait setup. It turned out to be very much an industry-specific event, not a general public event, and the Dorian's folks who were there doing setup and decorations ended up hanging out in the hallway as well. It was a very silly evening. I was particularly amused that we were all sober, the haunters were mostly sloshed, and yet they were wandering by looking at us and trying to figure out what we were doing and why we were giggling so hard.
On Sunday I saw the main floor. And it was, indeed, interesting. But still not my thing. I do see the appeal. It's not really all that different from any other dress-up-funny-and-do-unconventional-things hobby. It's just got a different focus. By about 2:30, everyone was packing up, so when Lynati finished a class, we adjourned for naptime. I'm pretty sure that group naptime is another one of those things I wouldn't be able to explain to mundanes. But, how else would we sustain the energy. Dinner ended up being sushi in Bryn Mawr with an expanding cast of characters. I stayed in PA much later than I should have, and then hit construction traffic on the way home, so I was dragging on Monday. But, worth it.
Nothing much going on this weekend. The following weekend, May 21-22, I'll be at the Steampunk World's Fair. I went last year without really knowing what it was all about. This year I have a better idea of what to expect, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Memorial Day weekend, I'll be just outside Baltimore for Balticon.
The baby-naming in MA is on June 12, not June 5. So I get a week off between the longer trips. I'll probably try to make it to Dorian's on the 4th.
After that, the calendar opens up, and I'm going to try to get some random fun things queued up for the summer. Then at the end of August my lease is up, I'll be moving, and all bets are off. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I'm still working at upping my geek cred. Friday nights with
oidhche and palingyuan have temporarily moved to my place. We caught up on Big Bang Theory, and are now watching that and Game of Thrones together. We'll get back to ST:NG season 3 in the fullness of time. On my own, I'm still working my way through Doctor Who. I'm down to one episode each for the 6th and 7th doctors, then I'm on to the new stuff. And will finally have some idea what everyone's talking about.I've just started using Twitter. (same username) Although I've resisted for years, and am not really sure I have anything worth saying anyway, I do often have 1-2 sentences that are not worth a LJ post and too cryptic or too odd to want to post to FB and have to explain to my aunt or other confused person. So Twitter may fit me well after all.
Other than that, mostly, there's just work. And that is a story for another day.