girlofprey

Connotations is over, and it's way too late for the 10th anniversary/last con or its book. But I was going through some photos off my old laptop, finally, last night, and I found some from my first Connotations ever, 2003 I believe ETA: No, 2005 clearly, looking at the cake. So for the perusal of anyone interested, here they are:

( Connotations photos )

In current and much less pleasant news, I don't have great faith in the comics industry much of the time. And yet I was still surprised to learn there's a new series coming out soon using the title "Sex Criminals". Which the blurb assures is, will 'put the "sexy" back in "sex crimes"'

Really? Really?

And I'm also sad all over again about Hayley leaving Coronation Street soon, not just because Hayley's great and it's going to be sad, but because I realised she's been in Corrie for 15 years, and she's still the only trans character in British soap as far as I know, barring Hollyoaks. Certainly the only one in the big 3. And even she's not played by a trans actor. 15 years and much critical acclaim later. Which is a bit of a let-down, really, looking back. And soon there probably won't be any, unless they're going to introduce someone new before she leaves. I won't be holding my breath though.

The weather is suddenly bipolar, and I'm not sure I like it. Mostly I'm just hoping it will be okay on Friday, when I will travelling around. And Monday, when I'll be travelling around again. And next Friday, when I will be going out to volunteer all day.

In other news, I'm pretty sure I'm due a period, and if it starts the day I go away - again - I'm going to be incredibly annoyed.

I finished Bioshock! And got a new pairing. And it went slightly weird at the end, but it's still good. And I found out that the first page of the Bioshock kinkmeme was started before the second game (which doesn't have the same main characters) came out, haha, so I could read it. And there is plenty of fic on there. And plenty for my pairing. The only problem is that now I have caught up to when the second game was released, and I keep seeing sort of spoilers, but I am super used to getting fic for my pairing now, and I know there's more on there in amongst the second game spoilers. So. I should really stop. But I haven't yet. Or, I should start the new game. But I'm still kind of reeling from the first game, and I'm about to go away for the weekend, so it's probably not the best time to try to get into a new game. Hmm.

My other main fandom at the moment is ( Dallas! Mentions of rape and domestic abuse )

Also, I saw an episode of NCIS the other day. I still hate Gibbs and DiNozzo. Which makes it kind of hard to watch NCIS. It's like the Poltergeist: The Legacy of it's day.

Hello. My parents have gone to Portugal. I am on my own again for a week, or most of it, except that unlike last time that happened, when I was supposed to be going on holiday to so had nothing to do except stay in the house, I am going away for the weekend in about five days. I'm looking forward to that. I'm just also aware that on Thursday I have to take our dog to the kennel he's staying at on Thursday and Friday (at 7pm, apparently), have a bath, pack, and try to get a decent night's sleep for the con. Then I have to get up, finish packing, and go get a train.

Also, unlike last time, I basically forgot everything I actually needed to do to take care of the house while my parents are away. Partially I mean I forgotten how to do certain things, partially I mean I forgot I was going to need to do ANY of those things until about Friday night, when my parents were packing to leave. I forgot I was going to have to clean up after the dog. I mostly forgot to ask what to do if the cat leaves a dead bird in the garden (as she has been doing in the last week, again). And I still can't really remember when I have to put the bins out. My dad left a note about putting the recycling bins out on Wednesday. But do the regular bins go out on Wednesday as well? I don't know.

And to top it all off, I have one of the least helpful days I've probably ever had.

1. I mentioned not remembering I had to clean up after the dog. Well, also this time my parents didn't clean up what was there before they went for me. Probably this has more to do with them having to set off for their plane at about 4.30am than any inherent evil on their part, but still. It's meant to be done every day, but since I had to go food-shopping yesterday, I decided not to yesterday, and just to do it all today.
   
   Anyway. So this morning when I took the dog out, he had less clean/comfortable places than usual to do his business in, so I was trying to keep an eye on him, and didn't bend down to stroke the cat like I generally do when she comes over. Yesterday, kind of jokingly, I tried to get her to jump up on the hood of my mum's car so I could stroke her, because I've seen cats on cars before, and didn't think it was that big a deal. She wouldn't do it yesterday, but today - without me urging her to - she did have a try. Except that it was my dad's car, because my parents have taken my mum's car, because dad gets so worried his about being stolen or damaged. The cat didn't manage to actually manage to get on the car, but when I looked, she had left a couple of small scratchmarks in the paintwork.
   
   I rubbed them a little with my t-shirt, hoping they'd go away. And I think they did fade a little bit, but I also left a slightly more noticeable smudge on the car. But it's been raining tonight. Perhaps it'll all be fine in the morning.



2. After many days of some of the signs, I've finally gotten my period. Which is nice, because I was worried I would get it on Thursday or Friday or something, when I'm meant to be going away. Except that now I've got my period, on my own. And there is no-one around if the cramps get bad, to look at me and stroke my hair and maybe make me a hot water bottle if I need one. Hmph.



3. I was playing a computer game, and I had my window open, and it started getting dark, but I figured it was fine, it was probably to early for bugs to come in. Then I heard a slight thump and looked up and saw some dust flying down from my lampshade, and thought oh well, I don't mind moths. Except that it wasn't a moth. When I had pretty much finished the computer game and got up, I noticed it was a wasp. Hanging around my light. I didn't even know wasps did that. And I couldn't catch it because it was flying around, I couldn't hit it because it was flying around, and I couldn't turn off my light and hope it would leave, because it was completely dark and I didn't have any other lights, and I wouldn't know where it was or if it had gone out of the window, or if I left my room, if it would still be there when I came back. I finally had to catch it when it landed briefly on the side of the lampshade using a small candleholder of mine, slide that onto a pringles tin lid so it was trapped in there, and then hold it out of an open window, let it go, and then quickly close the window. Thankfully that did it.



4. I have already mentioned the dog and cleaning up after him. I got up late as usual today, went out to get some chocolate, and then decided to do it after playing my computer game. It would only be a couple of hours, and not too late I figured. Then I could do it, then wash my hands and make my dinner. Except I forgot that a time that 'wasn't too late' in August when I was looking after him, would actually be significantly darker now. So, because I really couldn't have left it for another day, for his sake or mine, I ended up having to clean it up in the dark, and in the rain. What I use for this is a small plastic bag used like a glove, and we use it to pick up the poo and put it into another plastic bag. But because I couldn't see very well, and there was so much of it by then, at one point I felt like I'd actually touched something. When I looked, my thumb had been really close to the edge of the plastic bag handle. But there was no way to tell if I'd actually touched something. I have OCD, and am fairly germphobic at times. I washed my hands about three times afterwards. But it still didn't feel entirely clean.
   
   My dog was a complete sweetheart though, he came out with me when I went to clean it up because he wanted a wee, and when he was done and I was about to start I sent him into the garage, with our big garage door still open. When I was finished I was half worried he might have run off and gone wandering around our cul-de-sac, but when I went in he was just laid by the door to the kitchen, waiting. He is quite lovely.



5. However, when I was later on playing with him with his toy bone, he still (accidentally, probably) gave me a bit of a bite on the thumb.

So that was my day. But it's not all bad. I went food shopping yesterday, and even though I'm pretty sure I spent about £40 or £50 last time I was shopping for a week alone, I ended up only spending about £26. I did have one less day to buy for though, and mum had already gotten me some stuff in. Still. It's quite nice. And I have plenty left over from the £70 she left me to pay the kennel lady upfront on Thursday.

Also, I have been mentioning a computer game a lot, which is Oblivion, the fourth Elder Scrolls game, which was released five years ago (apparently) but I never got because I didn't have a computer that could play it. But now my laptop can, and I'd like a chance to play it before the new one comes out and I get it, and I found a "5th Anniversary Edition" including both the expansion packs, for the same price as I could basically get the game secondhand on Play.com. So I got it. This is also probably part of the reason I didn't think to ask my parents much about what to do around the house while they were gone, and why I haven't been posting much lately. It is wicked and I am properly sucked in, as usual with Elder Scrolls games. I'm not loving it as much as Morrowind so far, but Morrowind was set in Morrowind, where the Dark Elves come from, and I always play as a Dark Elf, so that's probably just personal bias. Anyway. It's one of those games you can sort of play for hours and get slightly sick of, but still want to play more of after you turn it off. Or at least that's how it is for me. So I am enjoying it, even if it tends to eat up a lot of my day.

And, ETA, somewhere in the middle of that last paragraph my parents called, and we sorted out a few things. The bins don't have to go out this week, if I find a dead bird in the garden I should either use a plastic bag to get rid of it or just leave it, and mum didn't sound madly concerned about the scratches on dad's car. Which is nice. Also Portugal is apparently nice, and they have nice room with a lovely seaview. So hurrah.

I'm also - in the midst of all this complaining - sort of aware that I'm probably so stressed at the moment because I ran around doing things and getting things sorted last week. I went to my appointment with my employment coach, I went to see my doctor and got a new medical certificate and got it sent off to the Jobcentre, I sorted out a transfer for the money I need for the Connotations hotel room (despite Santander's every effort to thwart me in doing this), and I looked up the train journey I'll need to take to Durham on Friday, which is basically hourly, and really straightforward. So things are pretty much sorted. And I'm meant to be going to another workshop thing with my employment service tomorrow, but I've pretty much decided I'm not going. It's just too much hassle this week I think, and hopefully they'll understand that. I think it's better if I just chill out and save up my energy for Thursday and Friday.

There's an insect flying around my light again now, but I'm pretty sure it's not a wasp, so I'm happy enough.

Anyway. So now I'm probably going to go off and play some more Wet. I found out some problems with Wet which make it slightly not perfect, the controls are really hard to handle, especially when you're meant to be doing 'acrobatic' moves. And it turns out that not only does True Love die young, so does vague computer game het shipping. Hmph. But it's still pretty awesome. Yay. There's other stuff I wanted to talk about, but I'm pretty sure I've blathered on enough. Or the pain in my arm and the new text size in the posting box is confusing me. Whichever.

I got a call back from the Benefits Office this morning. Apparently it is the three month thing that's the problem - I had thought it might be, because the dates are pretty exact, 23rd June to 21st September. Apparently within the first 6 months of your claim you can't get an 'Indefinite' medical certificate. Which means I don't know if I can get one when I next go to the doctor's, but since I'm guessing I won't win my appeal, that probably won't be a problem. I'd say that I wish they'd said something about the whole thing when I first started claiming, so I had some warning, but the fact is they gave me so much stuff at the time, some of which I didn't read, that chances are they did and I just didn't notice it.

In any case, I've got the doctor's appointment all set up anyway, so all I have to do now is go to it (at 9.40am), and hope the doctor doesn't have a problem with doing something she was basically trying to do anyway. Fingers crossed. And then send it off and hope it all goes through before Connotations. Sigh.

I LOVE NSTF: SD: SUV::. It's not brilliant, but I do kind of love it. Two episodes ago they had ( guest actor spoiler ) on the show. In the last episode, they had ( guest actor spoiler )! Trent Hauser gets the best enemies. No lie.

Anyway. I have only recently returned from Leeds, where I spent £30 on jewellery today. Which I don't really regret. But I am going to have to start saving up shortly, because it's Connotations in about a month. For which I will need £150, if memory serves me correctly. Plus train fare. Plus money for drinks. Yes. So yes. I'm planning for today to be my last spending blow-out for a little while.

But I'm quite happy today anyway, because last night I was checking the requirements for the upcoming Elder Scrolls game Skyrim, and I was on the same site I was on a few months ago, which told me again that my graphics system probably wouldn't be good enough to support the game, although everything else was fine. But then I went on another site, which was basically answering people's specific questions about whether or not their computers would run the game, and they said my graphics system WOULD be good enough for it! It's all just speculation of course, until the game comes out (in November), but it's closer to the release, and that's more hopeful at least. I probably wouldn't be worrying so much, but it's an Elder Scrolls game, which I've been playing since highschool probably, so I am excited. And the nice thing is that even if the PC version won't work on my laptop, I can always now get the PS3 version - but for me the Elder Scrolls games will always be PC games more than anything. I don't know, maybe they're much better on the PS3 and Xbox. But on the PC is how I'm used to playing them, and how I would like to play the new one, so if it will work on my laptop, that would make me very happy. Hurrah.

Also, last night I watched the end of Hollyoaks Later, and I love Seth more than ever now, and have a lot more love for Warren (the nutcase that set him up), and I love Mitzeee, as usual. And I also watched Totally Tom, which is a pilot for a new sketch show on E4. It's a bit dark, but I thought it was quite funny as well. I hope it gets a series. Although I haven't watched many other new comedy programmes lately, so I have no idea how it compares to other stuff that's out there.

Also, I completely missed the first rugby match of my team in the world cup yesterday, due to completely forgetting it was on until sometime late in the evening. I hear that we lost though. Bugger.

Oh, also, I registered for Connotations. And completely forgot to mention it. Duh, and also hurray!

I got back from Connotations yesterday. It was a bit odd this year, I think because I hadn't made sure to have enough sleep before going so I was tired a lot, and because I'm not really watching any shows at the moment apart from soaps. Between the Wylde storyline on Emmerdale finishing really soon and the Ste/Brendan storyline on Hollyoaks just starting up and them doing quite a bit with them onscreen, I'm a bit soap mad at the moment, and suprisingly few people wanted to talk with me about Nathan Wylde (OH I LOVE HIM) for 3 hours. But it was lovely to be there and lovely to see everyone, and we had a fancy new hotel I was incredibly impressed with. I was with jekesta and cakesy, and our triple room (aka double room with a camp bed) had a sitting room/entertaining area. I kid you not. Also, there were three course meals basically every night, and suited hotel staff kept bringing random trays of cake and smoothies out every time we had a break. And I think the rooms only cost about the same as they did at the Park. It was awesome, especially when we learned our way around.

I don't have much to say about the panels, except that looking back it's kind of hilarious how quickly the Anti-Heroes (Not Villains) panel became all about villains. Also, we learned a bit more about what that The Losers film katemonkey keeps talking about is all about. Also, I found out about the Futurama Citihall vid. Also, jekesta, cakesy and I all looked Moderately Tidy at the Moderately Tidy Dinner. Also, it was pretty awesome.

cakesy and I were going to go see a film together or something yesterday after leaving the hotel, but we were foiled by the fact that Durham only has one cinema with two screens, and there was nothing on there till 3 and there was nothing we really wanted to see on. So we decided getting the train was probably the best thing to do, especially with our suitcases and whatnot. An extra exciting bonus of the week for me was that on the way up on the train, I saw a couple of deer out of the window, and I couldn't decide if they were fauns or not. They were quite small. And on the way down I saw deer again, and then a fox, and then another fox. It's probably a bit ridiculous how pleased I am about seeing random wildlife, but I spent most of my childhood in my bedroom, and I didn't exactly start going on nature walks when I got to be a teenager. And apparently when I was young there was a fox living somewhere near our cul-de-sac which used to wander around the houses sometimes, and when I was living in Beeston with K and J she said there were urban foxes about which she and J saw once or twice coming back from nights out, and I never saw either of those. So it's nice to actually see apparently really common animals now and then. Also, DEER. That was really lovely.

Today I mostly ventured out of the house to go uptown and get the new soap mags, which I buy totally for the articles, and by no means for the pictures of Ste and Nathan Wylde. That doesn't make it better, does it? Anyway, there's a couple of really hilarious interviews in there with Amanda Donohoe insisting that Natasha Wylde is at heart an honest person, and that everything she's done she did to protect her family, and then giving really vague answers to whether or not Natasha would confess to killing her husband if she found out Nathan might be tortured or killed over it. YOU HAVE TO THINK THESE THINGS OVER.

In other news about what telly I've been watching, I had an incredibly ITV night last night. It started out with Hollyoaks at 6.30, then at 7.00 it was Emmerdale, at 7.30 it was Coronation Street, at 8.00 I went upstairs to watch Ray Mears' new thing, then back downstairs at 8.30 for Coronation Street again, then new Whitechapel at 9. This year's plot seems slightly more ludicrous than last year's, and some of the tension has gone now that the whole team seems to love Chandler, but it's still pretty enjoyable. And I quite love Chandler/Miles. Although Chandler/Kent is quite sweet too. And this year there is Suprise Peter Serafinowicz. ( Slight character spoilers ) So we'll see how that goes.

Last night, I watched ( Casualty, spoilers for this and future episodes )

And I booked for Connotations this year. Woo hoo!

And tonight I watched ( BBC Sherlock, episode 2 (spoilers for this and last week's episode )

Also, it's the Nottingham Riverside festival this weekend, and I was half-thinking about going down, staying overnight in a Bed and Breakfast or cheap hotel or something. It only yesterday occured to me that I should probably decide now if I actually want to do that. And indeed, book now, if I do. Hmm.

Thanks to the Steampunk Home, I know where I'd like to live if I ever had tons and tons of money - the Clock Tower apartment in New York. Although actually, I might like the Triangular Smith Tower a bit better. And I hadn't seen the Brooklyn Clock Loft. Hmm.

If I had tons of money, I'd also decorate my apartment with a bunch of stuff from Etsy. Like this. And these. And one of these.

Anyway. I have a new fandom. You guys know I like demonslash and monsterslash and ghostslash and stuff, right? Well, you do now anyway. It turns out that if you like that, Silent Hill fandom is the PLACE TO BE. One of the main pairings is some guy and the demon that follows him around the place. The other main pairing, which I've looked into too hard, involves a serial killer And I know that rape jokes really aren't funny, but it does sort of amuse me that the main fandom catchphrase seems to be "Rape Time!". The only problem with the fandom is that, instead of it being a film or series I could buy and watch to get to know the canon, it's a game. And although it's quite cheap at the moment I either don't have the console to play it on, don't have the memory on my computer to really be installing a new game, and am not sure it would play on my Microsoft system anyway. Leaving aside whether or not I'd have the guts to play it long enough to learn about the story anyway. It looks sort of horrifying.

The post for suggesting panels for Connotations is up, and I've already suggested one for Soap Opera slash, but I'd like to suggest one for stuff like demon/monster sort of slash, and how it's different to regular slash - assuming there would be any interest besides mine - but I can't think of any title besides "Supernatural slash" which I think would be misleading, and I can see it turning into a conversation about Immortals, which I know nothing about, very quickly. Oh well.

Other things that have been amusing me - during my looking around for said Silent Hill pairing I came across the Memetic Molester page on TV Tropes. I never knew before how wrong a Burger King advert could be. Ohwait. Also, you've seen the t-shirt, now watch the Three Wolf Moon video. And everyone's probably seen it, but also the JK Wedding Dance video. It is great. And the JK Divorce parody video. Also great.

I have to go get a shower now. And get ready for work and stuff. I forget that this goes along with having a job sometimes.

Re this Connotations post, you might have noticed I'm not modding the Multi-fannishness panel. After all that. Essentially, I decided that while I was having ideas and feeling pretty good about it now, closer to the time I'd probably get anxious and freak out slightly. And that I'd maybe like to do without it, and just go. I still maintain that Nerdcakes did most of the talking last time. Anyway, no modding. Unless they can't find anyone else to do it and ask me again, in which case I'll probably do it out of guilt at bringing it's curse on them in the first place.

Also - we'll be discussing "the future of Connotations"? Zomg.

Today we took Jack to the local farmshop. I was assaulted by an aubergine. Seriously, I went to pick it up, and it stabbed me with tiny spines! You know, all those TINY DEFENSIVE SPINES NO-ONE EVER TOLD YOU AUBERGINES HAVE? And we bought honey with honeycomb in it. And saw some sheeps! And a pony! And calves! And a flock of hens that followed us around a bit terrifyingly! The only problem with it, as I pointed out, is that you're never sure if you're buying something you were petting the week before. But if you can close your eyes to the "slaughterhouse" side of it, it's really a lovely place, with lovely food. I might be sticking to honey for a while though.

Tonight I went for pizza and to see Talladega Nights again. I have decided that Jean Girard might not be the suave, pissy, Tybalt-esque driver of my dreams, but he's still Deeply Awesome all the same. And he ( Spoilers ). Also; I have got to get my hands on that soundtrack.

Our TV is a bit broken. The screen has gone blue, so everything is a bit like watching The Smurfs. Dad is quite irate, but I'm sort of enjoying it, at least until I realise I'm halfway to tripping watching Futurama. Possibly I'll be less pleased when Emmerdale comes on and Carl's all strange and blue. I've still got my TV upstairs, though.