This has been a week of differing parties for me. Over the weekend, I went to Daisho Con in Stevens Point where things were... er... a little rowdy. Then, on Tuesday, I went to a bachelorette party here in town where we drank tea and made paper flowers.

Can we guess which one I liked better?

The dichotomy makes me wonder a few things. First of all, why is it that so many people think that fun means loud, drunken, destructive, obnoxious behavior? What is it that people see in that that is completely lost on me? And why do so many people think that is what fun is? I'm honestly beginning to think that I have missed something fundamental, here.

Which, I suppose, is the second thing I wonder about. Is there, perhaps, something wrong with me that I find zero fun in that sort of behavior? Obviously, there must be something to it or so many people wouldn't think that getting drunk and acting like a jackass is fun. I sometimes think that, perhaps, I have missed out on something here.

Now, I'm not exactly a prohibitionist. I enjoy booze. I don't enjoy drunken asshole behavior. And I most certainly don't enjoy it when people use booze as an excuse, like they somehow had no control over their actions, both in the drinking and after they got drunk. And I honestly just can't buy people using booze that way. Really, in what world is this okay?

In the case of Daisho Con, I get the feeling that it happens because most of the attendees are a bunch of younger college students who are getting a first taste of being completely without any sort of parental supervision for the first time. Add to that the fact that most of them are from out of town and won't have to deal with a reputation among the locals and people think they have a go-ahead to do whatever they want. But I worry for the survival of that convention because a good deal of their staff doesn't seem to care to do anything about the resulting behavior. That con has the same sort of feel that State Street on Halloween did before the yearly riots started happening.

Really? What is the appeal!? I don't get it!

So, I guess I know what I like, anyway. And getting drunk and acting stupid is not it.

Went to Daisho Con. Had some fun. Observed some problems. Tired now.

So, it occurred to me that, while I posted a pic of my crazy-fast made garb to an SCA thread on a social networking site, I never posted said pic here.

I give thee reparations.



And, I think I'm feeling just adventurous and confident enough to ask for feedback on making my garb better (aside, of course, from the standard "don't try and make it that fast" tip. I know that one, I just choose to ignore it on an alarmingly frequent basis.). So, garb folks and costumers, go ahead and fire away. Ask me questions and tell me what I done good and what I done bad. Pweety pwease?

So, remember that event a little less than a month ago? Yeah, you know, that one I didn't get to go to because it was a week before the insanity that was Geek.Kon? That one with all the crazy-fast garb-making?

I'm going to have a mini-solo-that tomorrow.

On the way home from choir tonight, I started going through all my garb in my head, trying to decide on what I wanted to wear to Kingdom SUN on Saturday. The answer, I discovered, was none of it. It's just all gotten so blah. Or it's just not anything I really feel like wearing any more because it is made of materials that just wouldn't have been used (yes, Eithni, you've created another monster!).

So, I'm going to attempt to make a new set of tunics in some linen I've had on hand for some time. I may try and do some embroidery on the top one, if I decide I have enough time and if I can find or create a design I like that is un-complicated enough.

Off to search for pretty embroidery patterns. Now, where is my copy of Here Be Wyverns?

UPDATE: I think I've found my embroidery pattern I'll probably be limiting it to the collar for now, but the sleeves at least will eventually get the treatment, too.

Seriously! HP, you SUCK!!!

I don't know if it was just the guy I happened to get or what, but this was just fraking ridiculous!

So, I went to plug in my laptop, Radagast, this morning to check my e-mail and whatnot while catching up on some TV that was waiting for me on the TiVo. I plugged it in and booted it up only to find that it wasn't getting power from the AC adapter, only from the battery.

Now, this is a bit of a problem, since Radagast has become my primary computer in the past year. I take the thing with me everywhere, I keep my entire life on it, including my calendar so I know what is going to be upcoming. Kind of necessary, since my life is pretty hectic.

So, I quick put it in sleep mode to save power and called HP tech support to see what could be done. The very first thing I said to the guy in India was "hey, I'm not getting power through my AC adapter. I'm running off of battery only and that is rapidly dwindling. So whatever you need me to try, it's gotta be fast so I can get data off this thing before it shuts down."

The first thing the guy did was inform me that I have 19 days left on my warranty and that I should buy an extended plan. He then proceeded to try and pitch a bunch of plans to me. I interrupted him and reiterated the time-sensitivity of my problem.

So, we moved on... to dicking around with the software. The guy took me through things that made me turn off and reboot my computer TWICE before I told him "okay, I have less than half of my battery life left now. I'm really not kidding."

Finally, he has me turn it off and try a power drain. Then he has me turn the thing back on using only my battery. More battery drain. And the computer was working fine. Just as I had told the guy from the beginning. Power it off again and try it without the battery in and, oh surprise of surprises, it doesn't power on.

Duh.

So, by this time, the guy tells me that they'll be sending me a new power cord. Yeah, no kidding. And then... then he transfers me to the hardware department!

*facepalm*

This lady basically tells me that, yes, they're going to send me a new power cord. At this point, I ask how certain she is that it is the power cord and not the port's connections to the mother board. She replies "we're sending you a new power cord." I repeat this question several times and get the same answer each time.

So, by the time I get done with HP tech support, I have about ten minutes of battery life left. In that amount of time, I grab my flash drive and get as many critical files as I can and that I think I will need over the weekend off of Radagast and transfer them to my desktop, Blackstaff. I think I managed to get what I will need before I get said new power cord, but I can't really be sure, since Radagast ran out of power and turned itself off before I could go back through and check.

So, argh! Not a happy panda!

Stoopid tech support!

This is kinda funny, actually.

I'm a costumer by hobby, so that means I can't ever keep my mouth shut about any costume I am working on, ever. As anyone in the hobby knows, you get two or more costumers in the same place at the same time and it's talk-city. So, secret? Nope. Not on a bet.

Am I planning to dress up for Halloween? I think that can be considered a "well, duh!" kinda question. But for me, it's not to different from a vast number of other events throughout the year. So, odds are I will probably just raid my closet on the day.

How long do I plan a costume? It varies, depending on how long I have and how involved the costume is. I have one costume I've been working on for a year and it's no where near done. I have another that I haven't even started and I need it in three weeks.

So, yeah. Funny.

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/spidersilk/?src=e_h

Yum.

I just need to ask Past Me one question in regards to sewing...

Gold lame? Really? As trim!?!

That's... gotta go.

Food : foodstamps :: health insurance : _______________

I don't know if this idea has been out there, yet. But if it has, why haven't I heard anything about it?

It seems to me that this could end a lot of the arguments against a government option for health care; that the private companies couldn't compete, that whatever the government runs would be a quagmire of bureaucracy, that people wouldn't be able to keep their chosen doctors (untrue!), and so forth. It would make use of the system that is already in place with a minimum of added structure. And it would use a system model that has already been proven to work.

The only argument against it that I could think of is that the cost of health care is absolutely out of control and it would probably be a fiscal disaster without doing anything to fix the problem that put us here in the first place. At best, it would be a band-aid.

But, honestly, it seems a lot simpler than what I've heard up to now. And maybe it would let us get a foot in the door toward a real solution to all of this. Baby steps may be the way to go about this.