I only seem to post when I'm recovering from being sick, which means that I only have time when I'm recovering from being sick. Here's what is up with me, in handy bullet point format:

- I had a fabulous time in Japan, made new friends and actually ran into a surprisingly large number of San Franciscans.

- Mike broke up with me the day I got back from Japan. It was amicable, and somewhat a poly-FAIL breakup. Kids, if you want anything to work, you have to be honest about what you need. Ask me if you want more details.

- In other relationship news, I am dating someone (Mark) and have been for 4 months. It's good, though I am sad that it precipitated complicated above poly-FAIL.

- I got a new bed. It doesn't squeak and is remarkably wonderfully comfortable. I finally stopped putting off buying a bed I had been sorta hoping to pick out with Mike. This was good for me. It has slightly different dimensions than my old frame, though, so I keep sniping my shins. Not as great.

- I had the stomach flu this weekend. That was about as fun as you would expect.

- I just had my first post-stomach flu meal, which was an avocado, couscous, roasted chicken, and roasted asparagus. My body still doesn't want dairy.

- Oh, and work's settled down a bit but I expect that to spin back up shortly. Nice to have some breathing time, though.

So, uhh, how are you?

I'm sick and working from home this morning, so I might as well mention what I've been up to. Work is hectic but fun, my personal life is more complicated but also fun. Mike and I have been dating for 2 years now and we still don't want to push the other in front of a bus. Yay!

I've been twittering more; my username is the same on there.

The big news is I'm going to Japan in March to visit isolt! This has been a trip I've wanted to make since I was 16 and in Japanese class in high school... and couldn't, because my mother kicked me out of the house. ;) (Long story.) I am SO EXCITED I HAVE TO USE ALL CAPS. Also it's likely a side trip to Thailand will happen when I'm out there.

So, uhh... that's it for me. How are you?

1.) Do not go on a diet.
2.) Do not waste money on a gym membership.
3.) Continue to spend the majority of my discretionary income on:
* Food
* Books
* Travel
* Booze

Stretch goal:
4.) Light more things on fire.

My friend Damon's got some great photos from the Google holiday party (well, the one for engineering ops): http://flickr.com/photos/spof/sets/72157610781907824/

I think that the California Academy of Sciences is definitely improved by strategically placed bars throughout. And of course chocolate dipped bacon.

P.S. Costumers! I have purchased the Truly Victorian Natural Form overskirt, underskirt, and general petticoat pattern. I may be a wee bit short of fabric for my overskirt based on the yardage but I think I can make it work. I've been wanting to pick these up for a while now anyways.

I know I haven't posted in forever; as for why, I've just been busy, with stuff... and while I'm following LJ still, I don't have as much to say.

I do have a favor to ask of my costuming friends: I have a steampunk themed company christmas party coming up. (Because we are Awesome, that's why.) I have a corset I made years back out of burgundy fabric with white pinstripes, and I think I have enough of the fabric left to make a bustle skirt. The party is the first week of January. Any suggestions for patterns I can get and make before then, or for how to make a bustle skirt, or for what I should put under a bustle skirt?

Also I would like to have a while button up shirt of some kind to wear under the (slightly overbust) corset -- the goal is obviously not historical accuracy so much as a steampunk-y theme, and something that won't look totally stupid like that. Any suggestions?

I hope all you Dickens people aren't too busy to comment on this! Which reminds me... go to Dickens Fair...

I just went through my closet; I had thought I had done a thorough job of it in the spring, but I decided that before I let myself buy new clothes I had better get rid of any surplus I had and assess what I actually owned.

I, umm... don't need to buy more clothes. I maybe should patch a pair of my jeans, which would bring me to 4 pairs (which is definitely enough for my rotation, given that I am basically a boy in that I sniff-test my jeans before I wear them.) I might want to get a new sweater for fall. And I should bleach a spot out of a white sweater that my cousin gave me (... Cute, but god. White! This is why I never buy white for myself.) Otherwise, I have more t-shirts than I know what to do with, plenty of skirts, even business casual stuff that doesn't entirely suck.

And I'm giving away about 50 articles of clothing. At least.

Frankly I could have been even more ruthless with the purging, but I think this is just fine for now. My closet even still looks full!

I'm eating pizza at work and thinking about stuff I need to get done. In the mean time, I'm going to do something almost unheard of and actually post a meme. Why?

Because I think it's kind of interesting, that's why. I'll put it behind a cut for you.

Oh! And Mike and I have pledged that will will NOT let ourselves bitch out and collapse before Hubba Hubba at the DNA tonight (Oktoberfest!) -- maybe we will see you there? That would be nice.

From: http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/
(bold means I've had it, strikethru means I'm not interested)( Read more... )

There were a few I had a hard time remembering if I'd eaten (maybe I was drunk?), so I left them out, generally. But I really do love food. The only thing on here I wouldn't likely eat is fugu, because I hear it's really pretty bland, and I'm not interested in bland food just because it could possibly kill me.

I've really not been good at journalling lately.

All I have right now is that there's a goat roast marinating in my fridge for dinner tonight. I... I'll let you know how that turns out.

And I am only peripherally paying attention to politics lately, for the same reasons I can't watch movies which involve characters embarrassing themselves (such as Welcome to the Dollhouse). I don't have enough emotional distance there. I desperately want things to be better. I don't want to shout and cry and throw things in frustration.

So... no, I didn't watch the RNC, thanks.

This weekend should be fun. Going to a friend's belated birthday party on a barhopping trolley tonight, and some time this week I will watch a double feature of The Godfather parts I and II at the Castro Theatre, which should be awesome.

I'm mostly recovered from my illness last weekend, and I've been trying to get enough sleep.

I'm still not used to this ergonomic keyboard. It certainly slows down my typing, but that may be a good thing. It's just hard to change these bone-deep typing habits. Argh.

Oh, another goal for this weekend: take out my film SLR and take some actual photos, and get my rolls of film developed.

Dear whatever-you-are,

I know we haven't talked in a while, but please stop raining shit down on my loved ones and their loved ones.

Love,
Me

I am, in fact, sick.

I'm also working at lot at... work, which is somewhat novel (vs some previous jobs). Today and yesterday, however, I managed to catch Plague (or rather, something with a low grade fever, body aches, and suspiciously swollen tonsils.)

That was not in my plan.

I have a long weekend ahead of me, and I am hoping to do Fun Things (such as cookouts and the like) in it, so I'm crossing my fingers that I get better soon.

I *did* drag myself to Oliveto for the tomato dinner last night thinking that I could do that and be back at work today, but my immune system smacked me down in the middle of dinner. The appetizers of luscious wonderful tomatoes were totally worth it, though. And Mike was kind enough to schlep me home, much in the way he would take home a drunk girl, and put me to bed and make sure I was ok.

Maybe I should take a shower, but I don't want to get all crazy here. Maybe more sleep is in order.

Dear Zipcar,

It just didn't work out. When you said you would be like Flexcar, but better? I'm sorry -- that doesn't appear to be the case.

I noticed a random $15 charge in my bank account this morning. I called Zipcar, figuring that this was something minor and easily resolved. I was told that it was a Zipcard replacement. I said that I had already been charged for a card replacement several months ago (I had lost my wallet, and had to replace everything), and the rep argued with me, told me that I hadn't been charged for that replacement, and that I should call back when I had looked over my bank statement. So I did. I had indeed been charged for a card replacement back in May.

I called back, and was informed that it wasn't a card replacement, it was an annual fee. When you purchased Flexcar, you assured former Flexcar people that they would not have an annual fee for a year. What you did not say was that since there was a $15 difference between Flexcar's $35 annual fee (which, under Flexcar, was waived if you used the account... but that's beside the point) and Zipcar's $50 fee, I was charged the difference on my 1 year account anniversary.

I did not get any notification about this, though I was informed that I "should have". When I asked if this charge could be refunded to me, I was informed that the only way to do that would be to close my account.

So, I did. Sorry to break up with you in such a hurried way, but clearly this wasn't going to work out. I think I will go to someone who makes me feel more valuable, maybe someone who can appreciate a long-term commitment on my part. Someone like City Car Share, maybe.

Regretfully not your customer any longer,
Joy

<3.

... and so far I've added 61 new books to Delicious Library.

Now I'm resisting the urge to read some of them until I get some more filing done.

And sorting. And making of lunch.

My good friend hungerf9, who I have known almost as long as his older brother, pathwalker (*mumble12years*) is taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe, again. Only this time, he's going to do the entire run rather than one week, and he's not going to try to make Scotland understand about Ice Fishing (no really, the play was brilliant, they just don't have it there.)

Details about the show, entitled "Anna the Slut and the (almost) Chosen One", here. It deals with Sumerian legends, really.

I really can't say it any better than he does, though, so I will include Andy's words:

The Big Ask or: Edinburgh is Expensive.

As many of you may know, I'm taking a little show that I wrote to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. We had great reviews in our first run at the Cincy Fringe, and now we're on our way to performing in the largest arts festival in the world: We will perform in Edinburgh from August 2-25, taking only the 13th off in an attempt to preserve our sanity.

We will be one of nearly 3,000 shows competing for audiences and attention. It's an incredible opportunity both for myself and the company; for two of our actors, this will be their first time out of the country. Period. They haven't even been to Canada.

But it's also incredibly expensive. Our actors are all providing their own transportation to the festival, but as a company, we (this is the editorial we, buy the way) are paying for our venue rental, housing, and all advertising costs. This would be pricey in the best of times, but with the weakness of the dollar, well...

These costs come to about $15,000.

We're expecting to make maybe $3,000 in ticket sales.

But! The Know Theatre of Cincinnati, where I am resident designer for most of the year, has generously agreed to act as co-producer, offering us the umbrella of their 501(c)3 status to allow us to accept tax deductible donations.

We've already received an amazing $5,000 contribution from some wonderful supporters in Cincinnati. Now if we could just get 200 people to donate 25 bucks each, we would be pretty much set.

So now, I pose this question to you: Do you pay taxes? Would you like to pay less in taxes? If so, please consider heading over to the convenient web donation page for the Know to throw a couple of bucks in the hat via credit card or bank transfer. If you do, be sure to write "Hunger Warrior Theatre - Anna the Slut" in the comment box so that the Know can tell it's meant for us.

Not only will you be helping a group of wide eyed young actors realize a late summer's dream, you'll be giving my career a big boost.

And you will also be ensuring that I don't have to eat Ramen for the rest of the year.

I understand the uncertainty and tightness of these economic times, so I certainly don't want to imply any sort of obligation. Any and all help, whether one dollar, twenty dollars, or simply emotional and moral support, is appreciated.

Thanks. We now return to our irregularly scheduled LJ.

Also, if this sounds neat to you, maybe pass this along? See if anyone else wants to chip into the hat for a bunch of young actors?

Interesting article on sunscreen effectiveness: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/

I'm pretty happy that the stuff I have most recently bought (the Olay Complete Defense Daily UV Moisturizer, Sensitive Skin, SPF 30, thanks elusis!) is recommended. Mike's Kiehl's actually is not, and it costs more than twice as much.

I need to remember to always apply sunscreen. I actually got my first (minor, fortunately) burn in a long time the other weekend when I was outside in a sundress and forgot to cover my shoulders. Oops. Fortunately I'm pretty good about at least remembering my face, ears, and neck, and other stuff is generally more covered.

Edited to add: Oh, great. Now that I've looked more closely, Olay's manufacturers do conduct animal testing.

I happened to notice that in the time I've had my YouTube account, I've only added 4 things to favorites.

But I do happen to really, really like them.

In most-recently added first:

Discovery Channel: I love the world

How To Irrigate Your Nasal Passages

Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - "Thou Shalt Always Kill"

And, last but not least (in fact, going to watch it again):
Elvis Costello - Lipstick Vogue (live)

One more reason disastrid rocks:

London Bananas

Londonist writeup

I personally am convinced it is some sort of Slapstick Conspiracy. BEWARE. Will be cream pies next!