Category: Hobbying

Hobbies and extracurricular activities

It’s October!

Two things I love most about October: Halloween and beer.

So far it hasn’t been a cold “fall”.  Heck, it was like 78 when I got to work at 7:30 a.m. this morning!  I think I will survive in my Princess Leia gitup after all.  Then again, I still have the Jedi cloak from last year to keep me warm and still in theme.

October is building up to be a busy one already.  The Bus Party tomorrow is cancelled in lieu of the debate, so that free up a bit of time.  Hopefully my newsletter will go to print on Friday.

Thriller practice this Saturday and of course, the Trojans are on and pissed off.  Watch out Oregon!

DMV Downtown on Monday…that ought to be interesting.  Haven’t been to that DMV since college!  The girls’ monthly dinner on Thursday and it’s our anniversary.  Another Thriller practice on Saturday on the beach followed by the K9 benefit show back in Fullerton.  Too bad I will have to miss the Long Beach Tweet Up!  Thrill the World LA barbecue on Sunday and, thank god, Columbus Day off.

Wednesday early board meeting.  Saturday USC at Washington and “Octoberfest” at a friend’s house who is a brewmaster.  Probably more Thriller practice in there somewhere through out.  A few Tuesdays at the Irvine practice probably.

Thrill the World on October 25 in the morning at USC at Arizona at night.

And finally, Halloween.

And after that, the Big Gala.

And after that, Thailand.

And after that, company’s holiday party I have to throw.

Not to mention my Monday dance classes.

Holy crap.

I’m a busy girl!

Put out the flames

Support Banned Book Week, y’all!  About time we stop those crazy nutcases from burning them books!

According to the ALA, here are the “10 Most Challenged Books of 2007” with the reasons why they were challenged.

1) “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2) The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence

3) “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit and Offensive Language

4) “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman
Reasons:  Religious Viewpoint

5) “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain
Reasons:  Racism

6) “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,

7) “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

8 ) “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
Reasons:  Sexually Explicit

9) “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris
Reasons:  Sex Education, Sexually Explicit

10) “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons:  Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Hmm…all but 2 is challenged because of sexual content.  Gee..doesn’t this sound eerily like the censorship board MPAA and the rating committe? (If you haven’t seen “This Film Is Not Yet Rated”, rent it.)

And after all THESE YEARS, Huck Finn and The Color Purple are still being fought over.  Unbelievable!

ETA: This reminds me of the list of books I should’ve read/did read/planning to read.

ETA2: From @dananner, the video by the ALA.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa1aUmjf2ns]

Phototastic Friday: What to come

My most impulsive purchase of the year and my first ever full-made costume purchase finally arrived.

Also, probably the most unique wedding present ever bought.

I bought the costume set for my friend.  The groom is a Star Wars fan and the bride is a quite a knock-out.  Somehow, they never thought of dressing her in this.  And I thought of it for them.

A geeky good friend I am!

While at it, I bought me one.  Just in case somebody would invite us to a Halloween party this year, I would have something sexy to wear for a change.  Because, you know, Jedi wasn’t exactly a sexy outfit.

Funny enough, James and Aurora are dressing up Dresden for his first Halloween as Yoda.  At least I’ll be in on their theme!  (Tried to convince Brandon he should be Han Solo, but he didn’t want that.  Instead, he’s been growing his beard out so we’re going to make him Wolverine.)

I also think I’m going to do Thrill The World in this outfit.  A Leia Zombie.  I mean, I might as well maximize the money I spent, right?

James and Aurora came up with a great alternate universe back story for me.  Leia’s attempt to strangle Jabba the Hutt failed and instead he/his cronies strangle her instead!  The other two of my ideas were either that Luke missed the landing and Leia ended up eaten by the sand monster, or Leia showed up on Hoth in this outfit and died of hypothermia.

What’s your vote?  Or do you have an even better idea for a back story?

Now about this lovely gitup.  We will have to do some work on it after all.

I am so extremely grateful that the bottom part is not a thong but booty shorts.  Hooray!  The accessories are all different: they are all silicon rubber, and there is not chain attached to the collar.  The arm band looks a little funny being all rubbery like.

I must admit that the bra part is nothing like the picture.  AND for a small, the bra is fucking HUGE!  I mean, out of proportion to the booty shorts/skirt bottom.  What kind of a body image do these people have?  Sure, I could’ve gone with XS, but I was afraid my booty wouldn’t fit in them booty shorts…which I would’ve been right.

And the best thing about the bra top?  Velcro, baby.  Velcro and halter strings.  On Halloween?

A man must have concocted the assembly of this.  Yeah, let’s put the Velcro on the bra top.  Riiiight!

Brandon and I agreed that I might have to drop a few more bucks in a hunt for a substitute bikini top, farm the silicon rubber adornment off the original and sew/glue that onto it.  Because right now, my top doesn’t look anything like the picture.  It looks more like a faux camouflage granny bra from somebody twice my size with three times the boobs.

I also have to do something to fix the arm band part so it actually stays stiff instead of flopping around, or buy a real one and paint it gold.  Ditto the hair accessories.  The way they are now, I look like a rooster with floppy comb.  And I will need to find me some chains for the collar.

Work to do.  Work to do.

Fun day

Going to bed when I’m supremely tired has been working three nights so far.  It works better on the weekend, I’m sure.  Man, trying to get up to wash the Korean BBQ smoke out of my hair this morning was tough. It’s starting to cool at night in California a little bit. Cool when I left the house and when I got home.  It makes it really hard to get out of bed in the morning.

When I got work, I gave my dad a call.  Of course, I caught him watching his nightly news and he filled me in on Thailand’s current madness.  He recommends the recent article in Time Magazine.

“Somebody’s funneling money into the PAD,” he said.  “Someone’s paying daily stipends for people to not be earning a living but to sit in at the Parliament House.  And it’s a pretty good bet around here that it’s the old-money elites.  They want the Democrats to be government and Abhisit as PM.”

“But I want Khun Mark [Abhisit] to be the PM…” I whined.

“I know. But not like this,” dad replied.  And I agreed 200%.

“Brandon said if this shit is still going on by the end of October, he’s not coming home with me,” I told him.

“Tell him this is the BEST time to be in Thailand,” dad replied.

“I told him the protest doesn’t bleed over to the tourists so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“It’s not just that,” dad added.  “All the other tourists would’ve canceled.  Hotels would be empty, and then we could get any room at any hotel we want in Phuket on the cheap!”

My dad.  There could only be one.

*

And there could also be only one Brandon.

A text message this afternoon sent me into a giggle.

“Hahah. The cats attacked [The traveling Couch] Monkey!  Jumper walked by with Monkey in his mouth then the little ones [Brandon’s folks’ new cats as oppose to Jumper, the elder statesman] ran by and stole him from Jump.”

My poor traveling Couch Monkey, covered in kitty drool!  Later on tonight, as Brandon was reading before bed with the cats, again, Monkey was taken.  Brandon had to chase the cats down to get him back.

And my poor husband, for him to be on his cell phone to text me these things, Brandon had to step outside and down the driveway of their house in the mountains of New Mexico.  It was 27F when he called me an hour earlier.

Now THAT’S love.

*

The day of much love and laughter ended well at my first Lyrical Jazz class with Sizzle at Moondance Studios tonight.

I LOVE Sizzle!  She’s totally awesome.  Not only does she have lessons planned for the next 6 weeks, she also taught us the history of each week’s style.  Today, we learned the basics of Fosse style and did the routine from the first 2 verses of Chicago’s All That Jazz.

Jazz hands. Fosse’s port de bras. Hip pops. And other signature Fosse moves.

Ow, my quads. And my back.

The zombie moves I was going to practice before I go to bed should look awesome now that my back is a little bit stiff…

Calling all zombies

With less than one hour notice, I rushed off this afternoon to join a few people in practicing the Thriller dance on the beach at Dockweiler State Park.

Yes, you heard me.  Thriller. On the beach.

I am joining the Los Angeles group in Thrill the World 2008 where folks gather in full make up and costume to dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller at the exact same time all over the world.

For LA it’s Saturday October 25 at 11 a.m.

I saw the video last year and have always wanted to do it.  Finally here’s my chance!The LA group is trying to break the record of having 200 people at the event.  The Irvine one is closer, but I’m all about breaking records so I will be joining the crew to the north.  Still, I’m hoping to be able to practice with the south crew so I don’t have to drive too far.  We shall see!

There might just be an event in your neighborhood, so check out the World Event section.

Thailand hasn’t signed up for an official event yet.  It’ll be Sunday, October 26 at 1 a.m.  But I’m sure someone is going to start it up.  (I’m so sending this to Kitty’s magazine!)  Can’t you just see a herd of zombies doing this down Kao San?

No, those in yellow shirts at the Government House doesn’t count.  That said, it would be a lot better for everyone if instead of stirring shit up, they would learn to do the dance instead.  But I digress.

Life as we know it

Coworkers congregated in my cubicle over some chocolate covered almonds.

“Have you seen Oakley’s article in the Daily Breeze?” Coworker #1 referred to my 15 seconds of fame.

“No,” Coworker #2.

CW#1 continued to tell CW#2 about Temple of Fresh & Easy blog.

CW#2 snorted.  “Who has time for that kind of thing?”

And of course, CW#2 ranted on about how he doesn’t have time to do the Facebook or “such nonsense” because of his busy social schedule, implying along the way that folks who do those things don’t really have a life.

That did it.

Seriously, I am getting tired of the whole implication that because I put my life online that I have nothing better to do with my time.

Do I talk down on your hobby of fixing up classic cars, pimping rides, antiquing, woodworking, gardening, or, in CW#2’s case, hanging out at bars and clubs?

You choose what to do with your free time.  You make time for your hobby.  Mine happens to be blogging, social networking, and video gaming.

Yet, these “normal people” constantly talk down to us geeks.

I used to just laugh it off and went with the “Oh, I know. I don’t have a life,” as a reply.

But I’m not going to do that any more.

Fuck you and your “normal life”.

I *do* have a life.  It’s not the same one you live or the one you think it’s “cool”.

My life is online, digitized, and pixelated.  But it’s a life I’ve chosen to live.

I find my meaning in writing and sharing my thoughts with the world, whether the world wants it or not.  I find my meaning in sharing my life with other I don’t know as a window into some new experience that is not my day-to-day.  I find my meaning in squashing the bad guys in my games with my controller until my hands cramped up.

Like I discussed with fellow Twitter-ette SallieB before, some of us have the ability to build relationships both online and off.  Some of such relationships only get better with the reinforcements from the other source.

I have human interaction with my local friends, and even better relationships with my long distance buddies.  I actually get to “meet” new people across the world I would never would have met in a bar like Rude Cactus, Steve and Richard of Thai-Blogs, Chef House, and many readers that I have come to “talk” to like Irish Cousin Robert and Amy of the Q Family.

And there’s also the new circle of friends we built around Brandon’s World of Warcraft guild and occasion gathering of the geeks at James’ house.

I put my life online originally because half of the people I know live half the world away.  Blogging was the best way to keep everyone in touch.  Not that they really swing by here often either, but I give them an option to be updated.  I know going in that if I put this online, everyone gets to see it.  I know that since I started my first website back in college.

My blog and other social networking media is a newsletter or a zine that happens to be online.

I’ve always “printed” some kind of zines since I was in 3rd grade.  It’s the same concept with a new medium.

Still my hobby.  Something I love to do and make time for.

So, go on out with your cool kids to the hip bars, “normal people”.  I’ll be right here with my computer and game console, enjoying my own life my own way.