- 10:32 Planning the summer packing list: but how will I fit my library of books into my Civic? #
June 6th, 2008
June 4th, 2008
- 15:20 Reading the latest Francesca Lia Block novel, Quakeland: her usual amazing imagery, even more than her usual level of bleakness. #
June 3rd, 2008
- 10:46 @deepforestowl I highly recommend it, great fun and I've even seen some flexibility and balance improvements from using my Wii Fit too much. #
- 10:46 Feeling the sting that comes from not having dental insurance and living on a grad student income -.- #
June 2nd, 2008
In exactly two weeks my life becomes total madness again, but for right now I'm in that blissful stage of summer where nothing at all is happening. I'm left with time to contemplate the rather large spider on the ceiling of my parent's living room while watching very old episodes of Sex and the City. I still haven't made it out to the movie--it's only the very start of this short-lived vacation. Naturally, I spent the last couple of hours trying to pull together a few journal submissions but ended up spending a very long time switching my fan games essay over to a different style guide to send off to the new journal of transformative works. Not sure it's specialized enough for what they want, or if it's too specialized, or...ugh. The quest for publication is far more work than any of the old adventure games.
In other news, I went to the dentist for the first time in a couple of years and learned the true cost of not having dental insurance and still having a sweet tooth. o.0 Sometimes still being a graduate student seems great, and a stipend even seems reasonable. Months like this I'm left looking at my bank account wondering if a real job would have been all that bad. It doesn't help that I just sent off my deposit for an incredibly extravagent study abroad program for next summer, aka 2009, which will at least accomplish my goal of spending time in London. However, the whole thing will cost nearly half of my yearly stipend when all bills are in if I can't wrangle up scholarships and the like from somewhere. Sigh.
Off for a walk to the local ice cream parlour to indulge in more treats that will likely come back to haunt me as even more dentist bills.
June 1st, 2008
- 11:36 Heading out to wander lakeside with a few friends, take advantage of the lovely day and such. #
May 31st, 2008
- 17:54 Pretty much recovered from the flu I picked up at Wiscon. Getting manuscripts organized for various purposes now. #
May 30th, 2008
- 14:56 Playing with my Wii Fit - and somehow looking forward to the release of the balance board compatible cheerleading game. o.0 #
May 29th, 2008
- 13:01 Going to the UK for children's literature study next summer-yay! #
May 27th, 2008
- 21:58 Watching Invader Zim on my last night of vacation. #
- 10:48 Maureen McHugh's GoH speech on augmented reality games: we're not successful if there's not one marriage [among players]. #
- 10:56 Sat on the Imagination as Resistance panel at 11:30 last night: great conversation about mythic interpretation of Pan's Labyrinth. #
May 26th, 2008
- 18:43 Gave my paper on gender in adventure games today, now going to the guest of honor speeches, then on panel on imagination as resistance. #
May 23rd, 2008
Yes, I'm posting. Yes, my icon is so out of date it's painful. Yes, I'm a slacker who never blogs anything. Something about being at Wiscon just put me in the mood to throw something out here. I'm sharing the lovely hotel quarters -- complete with a view of a loud rooftop airconditioning unit -- with four fellow fan girls / academics / etc and enjoying everything from my first night ever of Karaoke to teaching ballroom dance to random folks at the Gathering. Apparently, "Cause I'm a Blond" from the fabulously silly 80s movie Earth Girls Are Easy is my karaoke song. It started me on a dangerous path to tracks like "Sweet Transvestite" and "Lady Marmalade". After years of being told how miserable I am as a singer it's nice to go out in a society that's forgiving -- or drunk -- enough to embrace the tone deaf.
Teaching at the Gathering was an adventure of another kind: with the help of a local instructor with far more experience than I have I taught Cha-Cha and single step swing to a bunch of farily enthusiastic folks. [To be fair, he mostly taught the single-step swing, since I don't actually know it...] I think our demos went well given we'd only danced with eachother for a few minutes beforehand. Spinning on carpet in suede bottomed shoes is not recommended, however: went a bit out of control for a moment on swing.
The space was small and carpeted and generally ill-suited to the task, but it was still great fun. Apparently my teaching instincts do transfer, or that associate exam prepped me well--either way, I survived and it was fun. Made it through the rest of my day to sit on a slash fanfiction panel with![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
deepforestowl, who led us as moderator through a fairly energetic and often random discussion of some of the Big Questions of fic as derivative work and as something that is part of a "secret play."
Tomorrow, I must see the farmer's market that I have heard so much about. Giving my paper [part of my thesis--gender and King's Quest] on Sunday, but no panels tomorrow except one I'm crashing, the sequel to today's slash panel.
Teaching at the Gathering was an adventure of another kind: with the help of a local instructor with far more experience than I have I taught Cha-Cha and single step swing to a bunch of farily enthusiastic folks. [To be fair, he mostly taught the single-step swing, since I don't actually know it...] I think our demos went well given we'd only danced with eachother for a few minutes beforehand. Spinning on carpet in suede bottomed shoes is not recommended, however: went a bit out of control for a moment on swing.
The space was small and carpeted and generally ill-suited to the task, but it was still great fun. Apparently my teaching instincts do transfer, or that associate exam prepped me well--either way, I survived and it was fun. Made it through the rest of my day to sit on a slash fanfiction panel with
deepforestowl, who led us as moderator through a fairly energetic and often random discussion of some of the Big Questions of fic as derivative work and as something that is part of a "secret play."Tomorrow, I must see the farmer's market that I have heard so much about. Giving my paper [part of my thesis--gender and King's Quest] on Sunday, but no panels tomorrow except one I'm crashing, the sequel to today's slash panel.
- 10:50 Somehow still awake: at the concourse hotel enjoying the pre-Wiscon quiet. #
May 22nd, 2008
- 07:34 Going to breakfast then on a plane to Chicago. #
- 11:59 At the airport--the problem with being compulsive about not missing a flight is I always end up with an hour to kill. #
- 17:01 Used my meal voucher on pizza and ice cream-a motion sickness special! #
- 17:04 Naturally, I missed my connection and am now in line with everyone from my flight trying to find a way out of Cleveland. #
- 17:12 Used my meal voucher on pizza and ice cream-a motion sickness special! #
- 19:53 In Chicago on nice, solid ground. Haven't been here since the writing conference back as an undergrad #
May 21st, 2008
- 11:58 Getting ready to fly to Chicago tomorrow. Perhaps this pouring rain will end someday... #
May 20th, 2008
- 14:00 @deepforestowl I'm right there with you. With luck we'll both be done with the nightmare by Wiscon. #
- 14:02 Dealing with more of the "stuff" that piles up after the end of the semester. #
May 19th, 2008
- 14:51 Just saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and was happily entertained: great writing, lovely dinner scene, and puppets. #
- 15:03 Quick take on the old Indy game up at CinCity today: tiny.cc/IafNA #
May 18th, 2008
- 11:54 More prepwork for the summer session: Harriet the Spy is a very different book on rereading this many years later. #
May 16th, 2008
- 11:42 A few more hours left in the semester. Starting on the summer to-do list. #
- 18:15 @Vitak Cool, where are you headed to? #
- 18:15 I'm done! Next week Wiscon, then off to Hollins to start my MFA in June. #
May 15th, 2008
- 16:21 Reshaping my new laptop to better suit my mental processes: unfortunately, Vista and I don't mesh well. #