Trips and Picts and Eats

The 5-day weekend was great. A little short, but great. We (C, R and me) drove down Thursday and got there in time to eat at Pappadeaux. I had the crawfish stuffed lobster. It was sooo good. Friday morning we hit the grocery store and then went to pick up Mike at the Atlanta airport. It took a phone call to make it happen (we are at X, meet us there) but it worked. As we were leaving, a taxi blocked us in and we ended up taking an exit ramp that we had not intended (he immediately changed lanes afterward). As a result, we took a tour of the Atlanta airport and East Something, GA. We saw both terminals and some hangars. Whee!

We went back to Pappadeaux with Mike. He had never been and this way we could choose different food. The fried alligator appetizer is pretty good, but it's a little spicy for me; spice wimp that I am.

Back at the hotel, 3 locals met us and Mike ran a Pathfinder adventure. They had recently painted the halls of the hotel, so the doors to the courtyard were open. That made the halls very cold (it snowed Saturday morning a little) but the room got very hot. We had 6 people in there; talking, etc. We even cracked the window open & turned on the AC to get the heat down.

Coincidentally, there was an exotic animal or bird show in the area. I know this because I saw two different sets of birds, parrots or macaws, that people were loading or unloading. Plus there was a truck of bird toys, a dealer. Those people had it rough. Those birds are not known for cold weather tolerance.

Saturday morning it was off to Catch Up Con. C, R, Mike and I played Pathfinder all weekend, except for the one mod that Mike ran Sunday afternoon. Friday night was my first Pathfinder game and I had fun. I do wish that I had noticed the Spirit of the Century game on the schedule though. I would like to have tried it. I've heard good things. The players sounded like they were having fun, too.

I have a book on order. Don't know when I'll get it though. Game book distribution is a little odd, unless it's one of the big companies.

For supper Saturday night we went to the Clay Pot. Oh man it was so good. They were out of bubble smoothies so I had a bubble tea instead; I wish I remember which flavor. I ordered the shrimp & bean thread clay pot. I ate too much, but it was oh so good.

Sunday we did not have much time to eat so we ordered take out from The Palace, an Indian restaurant. Three of us ordered chicken tikka masala; I had it 'spice, what spice?', R had it regular and Mike ordered his 'show no mercy.' They also gave us plain naan, thank goodness. There was a distinct color difference between the three; mine was pale brown while Mike's was quite dark. Even at 'what spice?' I needed the naan to cut the spice down to bearable. Again, it was so delicious, I just kept eating.

Monday, Mike caught a plane back home while the rest of us spent literally all day at the Georgia Aquarium. It was still really cold, but we left our coats in the car so we wouldn't have to haul them around all day. Then we learned that they had a coat check; it was a couple dollars but I think it's worth it.

If we were not the first people in line, we were awfully close. We were there before they actually opened at 10 am. We needed that time. We went through all the exhibits. We petted the skates/rays and sharks in the petting pool.

We even got to feed the rays (cow nosed and southern something). That was freaky. You hold the fish piece in your fist, like an ice cream cone, then hold your hand down near the bottom of the tank (we stood on the shallow side which made it easier). They're bottom feeders so they don't go up very high to eat. They sucked the fish out of your fist. Like I said, freaky sensation.

The Aquarium has a 90-day exhibit rotation. The current one was all about sharks. We spent over two hours in that exhibit alone. They had interactive exhibits, documentaries, models, and so on.

I completely filled my camera's memory card. I kept taking video and that eats memory. I bought a disposable camera to take even more pictures.

They have this absolutely incredible huge tank where they keep a quartet of whale sharks. Those things are almost the size of a football field, can you believe it? The tank also had hammerhead sharks, rays, and lots of other fish that I honestly can't even remember. They had several vantage points; a curvy tunnel that goes underneath it, a 2+ story window, and just nooks and crannies. There was one that was just so peaceful. It had an artificial rock that you could lean against and just look up to watch the sea creatures swim by overhead.

We headed for the gift shop about 4:30 and we left just after they closed at 5 pm. And it was so worth it. I've raved about it to anyone headed to Atlanta.

We packed up and headed home on Tuesday. I napped frequently, finished a set of wristlets and read the first Charlie Chan mystery; reprinted. I had another book to read but I didn't like it. Oh well, that happens sometimes, alas. Part of the problem may have been that it's book 10 or so in a series.

Then it was back to work on Wednesday. My poor supervisor, he had to deal with one of my biweekly issues and he suddenly realized just how bad it gets sometimes. He was suddenly, profoundly thankful that I deal with it and he doesn't have to.

Ah well, back to the grind.

BMAC - read at your own risk

BMAC is the acronym for Bitch, Moan & Complain
Yesterday sucked.

I finally went to see someone about my cough on Sunday. She prescribed an inhaler & some pills. I have viral bronchitis. The prescriptions are basically to give my aching lungs a chance to heal on their own. Rather like taking a muscle relaxant so that your tense muscles stop aching, and once they stop tensing with pain, they start healing.

Yesterday however, I woke up with conjunctivitis. I searched for an hour, and tried to navigate voice mail hell, trying to reach my doctor or at least her clinic. Yeah, I finally gave up, reserved a car from zipcar (for the 1st time ever) and went to an Urgent Care. I thought 2 hours would be enough, considering it's only a half hour round trip. It wasn't. Say hello to a $50 late fee. And the next person who reserved the car was as understanding as a badger with a sore tooth. On top of a rainy day without my umbrella, this made my bad day absolutely worse.  I didn't even have time to get my prescription or to grab lunch. I finally got something to eat after getting back to work. I got the eye drops after work. Yes, they sting like the dickens but my eye is better already this morning.

Now on to the good news. Yes, there is some. As long as I focus on that I'll get out of this funk.


First Lord's Fury came out. I've bee looking forward to that. The gaming went well, both the session that I played & the session that I ran.

Okay, I just napped through Thanksgiving instead of doing anything more interesting. However, I did watch the rest of the Falcon movies that I had saved. And even if my cold was kicking me around, at least it did so on a holiday so I could rest.

I finished a 2nd pair of wristwarmers. I've started a 3rd pair, in shades of grey this time. I've gotten the 1st one done but stalled a little on the 2nd.

I'm going to Atlanta this weekend for more gaming. A good friend is flying down from DC to join us. Monday we're going to the Atlanta Aquarium. I just need to do a couple loads of laundry, pack & finish my Pathfinder character by Thursday morning.

One More State Fair picture & wristlet photos

I did not want to post this picture until I talked to Anitra. For me, I don't post pictures of other people, identifiable ones anyway, without hearing from them.

 Here's one of the scarves that I made, both on & off the pocket knitter.

 

And here's the wristlets (see Friday's post), starting, begun and on my hand (I wanted to do this cool, left, center, right thing, but just couldn't figure out how).

They are a little small for me but they'll be perfect for my assistant. Or my niece. Both might get a pair.


More exciting health news. I found the sudafed that I had left from the last cold that I had. Turns out it's 'non-drowsy formula A', that 'A' for 'Awake.' As in, I got 4 hours of sleep & feel completely rested. Since I'm an 8 hour a night type person, you can see why that's a little weird. Although, to be fair, I might not have woken up at 2:30 am if it hadn't been for the migraine.

Early Gifts & Odd Compliment

The drive to see Mom wasn't too bad. It was in the dark, but that's not unexpected. I was a trifle delayed as I stopped to pick up some cold medicine. Turns out I didn't need the stuff that you have to show id to get (thank you very much, meth heads -grrrrr) but I still waited until I got to Mom's house before I took it.

She was glad to get the ironing board cover but the polka cd made her chortle with glee. We listened to it as we packed stuff on Saturday. Mom is working to cut down on her stuff. As she put it, "I'm over 70 years old, when am I going to wear all this?" We sorted clothes & packed them to be given to charity. Polka music did make it easier.

We also hit a really nice yard sale on Saturday. I bought a new rug for the guest bathroom; long enough to go from toilet to sink. That's important because linoleum is cold in the winter. I also got a hooked rung. I'm not sure where I'm going to put it but it was only $5 & I know how much effort goes into that. I watched Sharon Richmond during the State Fair.

I have not started the wristlets, yet. It turns out that I don't have that size loom. I'll pick it up tonight. I need to run a couple errands after work anyway.

I did a lot of sleeping this weekend. I blame the cold & the cold medicine. It started raining again last night. That made the drive home...entertaining. At least it was a frog killer; just kind of damp & chilly.

The odd compliment? Mom & I had breakfast at this diner. They have good food and for a good price. Their pecan waffles are actually waffles with pecans cooked inside, not scattered on top. Anyway, as Mom & I were enjoying our waffles yesterday, a customer came up and asked me who had braided my hair. Unsure of what she expected, I told her that I did (I frequently braid my hair, it's just easier). She called this information back to her friends but I ignored the conversation after that. As I walked by them later, on my way out the door, one of the gents said what a nice braid I had, not a hair out of place, so nice that they were convinced that someone must have braided it for me. Um, okay?

I've been complimented on my hair before. It's long & it's a lovely color (I inherited it, so I don't take credit for that). This is the first time though that I've gotten a compliment on my hair braiding technique.

It's Friday? Finally!

It's been a long week. The symptoms of my cold changed; not unusual for me. My sinuses started draining. I took a day off to rest, again, hoping to kick the cold. Didn't work. Now I have the sniffles and a sore throat. Can I just say 'oh. yay.'

Gaelic: I lost my flash cards earlier this week. I was up to about 50. I have now started over. On the bright side, with what I learned from the 1st start, they'll be better organized this time. Plus, it will help the memorization.

Gaming: Ran an LFR (Living Forgotten Realms adventure at Sci Fi Genre last night. I hope that it went well. I did not manage to bloody anyone at all in the final fight. Of course, they did have 3 leaders (healing out the whazoo). I did manage to bloody the paladin a couple times in the 1st fight. I also managed to run the adventure in 4 hours, so I got home at a semi-regular hour last night, despite the late start. The adventure has a really great roleplay scene and I had to skim it. That's a pity. I gave them a taste, at least.

I think I'm going to try this \/ Wish me luck
 

Tonight I'm driving to Mom's. I'll be spending the weekend with her, taking her presents with me. The only worry I have is about giving her my cold. But I haven't seen her since September, when we went to the family reunion. I canceled my last weekend with her, when my cough started. That's right. That means that my cough started the first full week of October. It has varied from two deep coughs about 5 pm, to coughing so much that sucking on cough drops rubbed my mouth sore.

Looking Forward to Supper

Does that sound odd? My stepmom has an appointment this afternoon, here in town. She and Dad plan to stick around afterwords to have supper with me. Not dinner. Dinner is eaten at midday, at least by locals. We don't know where we'll be eating yet, Dad made some joke about me cooking.

Friday, I'll be driving down to spend the weekend with my mom. It's going to be a family filled week. I'll take Mom's Christmas presents and give them to her early. Don't tell her, but I found a plain, white ironing board pad. You think that's a mundane present? Believe me, she'll be glad to have it. Have you ever ironed something white on a printed ironing board cover? It always looks like you've gotten a stain on the garment. I also found a polka music cd. I'm not sure if she'll like that as much, but I hope so. She enjoys fast-paced dancing music, of almost any stripe.

I buffed my nails this past weekend. They're all pretty and smooth, except for the length of course. Naturally one has chipped and one tore down to the quick; not into the quick, at least.

It's gotten dark enough on the way home that I'm using my lights again. The one on my bag is still working fine, but the other one is almost dead. I need a new battery in it. At the moment, it kind of, sort of lights up.

I'm gotten through most of the exercises in Chapter 4 of Teach Yourself Gaelic, but I only have my flash cards up to Chapter 1. The main purpose of the flash cards is to fix the vocabulary and rules in my mind. So far, I have not really read through them. I've used more than half the pack of cards already. I am definitely going to have to buy more.

Gaming: Thursday night I'll be running an LFR game at Sci Fi Genre. I guess I should read the module soon. I have played it once, that helps. I'm not exactly stressing about it.

TV: We're almost caught up on Sanctuary, only 1 more episode. The Big Bang Theory last night was hilarious. We're down to only 39% memory of the DVR. We had a problem last week in which it was randomly eating memory. It was up to 95% for no discernible reason. We reset it and it dropped to the 60's.

Books: I'm still having trouble settling to a book. Normally, I'm a book a day person. Recently, I manage half a book, maybe, and then I put it down. This includes books by some of my favorite authors. Except for a couple manga, I only finished one book last week. That's just sad.

1st Spam Comment & Mythic Frustration

I'm been making blog entries for..awhile. And this weekend I got my 1st spam comment. Huh. It's a milestone, of sorts.

Television: This weekend, Chris and I watched the History's channel special "Search for the real Wolfman." It was broadcast before Halloween but it took us awhile to watch. They had a retired police detective & a cryptozoologist examining the case of The Beast of Gévaudan(wikipedia article includes information from show). I was disappointed and frustrated by it. Partly, I blame editing. There was a lot of repetition. How many times do you need to repeat '102 villagers, mostly women and children were killed'? I really don't think that you need to say that more than once every 15 minutes.

The cryptozoologist would say something that made sense, like 'extinction may not be what we thought' or words to that effect (see coelacanth as example of 'extinct' animal). Not two minutes later, although probably taped days apart, he'd say 'it looks like the attack could have been by this animal; but it's extinct.'

The were 2 incidences in the show though that really, really frustrated me. They tested the silver bullet, to see just how deadly one is; as Jean Chastel is credited with finally killing the beast with a silver bullet; the attacks stopped after he killed it. EXCEPT! They tested a silver rifle bullet, not a silver musket ball. That is a tremendous difference that makes their test nigh onto useless.

The other was the way that they stated their conclusion. If they had said 'we are satisfied that we have found the most likely scenario', I'd accept that. I may not agree with it, but I accept it. But they did not. They stated categorically that they had found the solution and frankly, I do not think that is realistic, especially with the History Channel showing a disclaimer in fine print below them. They have a hypothesis which seems to fit all the evidence, but they did not find categorical proof. At this late date, categorical proof would be hard to find indeed. Even the bones of the creature that Chastel took to the French court may not be enough.

Celestial bodies: I would love to catch the Leonid meteor shower, but I'm just not awake at that hour. And definitely not awake & far enough away from light pollution at that hour.

Do you like gargoyles? Then you should see this page of examples, both classic and modern. I did not realize that some of the gargoyles that I had seen so often were from the Notre Dame in Paris.

Music: FYE is having a CD sale right now. I don't remember why we went by the mall yesterday, but when we spotted that we stopped in to look. I bought a few. *ahem* Although one of them is a Christmas present.

Convention Preparation

I'm only working a half-day tomorrow, so that we can drive to Mace. It's only about an hour away so we'll have time to get there before the 1st round of games. I'll be playing Witch Hunter all weekend; specifically my French scholar Solange-Marie, aka almost useless in a fight. Nice thing about Witch Hunter, despite her nigh-onto-total lack of combat effectiveness, she's a very useful character. That's because she's very good at what she does, and what she does is know stuff; like what the group is hunting & how to kill it; usually.

I've created a 2nd character, a tier 1 character. That's another word for a beginning character, in this case. Solange-Marie is tier 2 as I have played her that much, although not recently.

My tier 1 character is an Irish guard who, unlike most Witch Hunters, was raised to be one. Chris, Rosemary & Diana are playing relatives. Their characters became aware of 'the Invisible World' on the same night and Rosemary's character hasn't forgiven mine for not telling her about it. Rosemary's Emmaline is bitter because her husband was killed by the unnatural that night.

Other Stuff
The lawn guys blew all the leaves off the grass and sidewalks. Great. Except. They left the leaves in the lot; to the extent that I was reluctant to park my car, with its hot engine, on the leaves. They were that high. And they were obscuring the parking space.

Other than packing, I have no idea what I'm going to do tonight. Knit on the scarf that I'm making (Operation Gratitude)? Fix the cross that I was tatting (I started to close a ring too early, now I have to open it)? Watch a movie on the new DVD player? Watch something that we taped? Play computer games? I won't know until I get home.

Nightmares, ugh
I almost had one last night. I don't remember anything about it, thankfully, and I managed to wake up before it got really frightening. Unfortunately, as I have learned from past experience, I had to stay awake for a few minutes or when I went back to sleep, I would drop right back into the nightmare, as if I had never interrupted it. And it's a lot harder to wake up the 2nd time. As you can imagine, I'm feeling tired this morning.

Movies, tv, etc
We finally put in the new DVD player. We've had it for a couple months, ever since the last one died. Well, not exactly died. But I did not enjoy my 75 minute movie lasting 10 minutes, as the player skipped from one scene to the next. Chris also finally used the Netflix certificate his dad gave him for his birthday. We watched the 1st DVD last night. It goes into the mail this morning. It's not that it's bad, it's just that we see no need to watch it again.

Chris wanted (& so did I) to see some Anime but neither one of us knows many titles so he picked one at random. He looked at the adult section because he doesn't like the shows aimed at the younger kids, like Pokemon or Toturo's Neighbor. He chose one called Mouse. It had its amusing moments. And while there was some nudity & suggestive scenes, it's no worse than some rated R movies. Just with animation, some gravity defying is possible.

I'm going to check the Netflix listings to see if there's any anime that I recognize & want to see. I'll probably have IMDB open at the same time, just so that I can check on titles.

Gaming
I didn't go to gaming last Thursday. I still have that stupid cough & I'm trying to avoid infecting anyone. Plus, I just wanted to rest. I also took Thursday as a sick day from work; since I got home Wednesday & went straight to bed. I only woke up long enough to eat supper and went back to bed.

Since I and another player were both sick, Rosemary canceled her game on Sunday. She & Chris went to play LFR and I stayed home & rested. Some more.

However, this weekend is Mace. Considering the way that this cough is lingering, it's probably best that I'm not running anything. I had an Ironclaw plot in mind, but Greg, the game organizer, got a lot of Witch Hunter mods. I'll be playing that all weekend, instead. I might have still run at least one Ironclaw game but the Witch Hunter games are linked, not all of them but there's 2 trilogies & a special.

Books:
I gathered up a couple small boxes of books, and one bag, and took them to the used book store. As usual, I got store credit. Alas, they took far fewer books than I'd hoped. It was enough that the credit paid for half the books that I bought and since I gave them the remainder of the books for their free shelf, I even brought home fewer books than I took.

I picked up a number of Charlaine Harris's books, a couple books about photography, one about art and a couple more books, cheap, that I already own. When I re-read those, I'll release them into the wild.

Gaelic
I'm working on my Scottish again. Now I know a couple people on twitter who speak Gaelic and they can help me, on pronunciation (they spell it out phonetically), vocabulary & word usage. As I get better that will help me speak idiomatically, instead of textbook.

Tatting
And just cause: here's the baby booties that I made 5 years ago & entered in the State Fair (children's clothes) with the ribbon that I won.

More Photos of Fair & some of my own crafts & contest alert
tatting & ~knitting & my HallooBoobies entry [cleavage alert]
Not my contest, someone else's
Fangs, Fur & Fey are having a belated 3rd anniversary contest

Go to their site for instructions. Grand prize is a Kindle. Whoot!

Now to Picture fun

Rebecca/Tatmom03's cross - burgundy DMC perle 8. I start with a chain at the top. I leave a picot (using a large safety pin), so that I can end on a split ring & used the ends in a tassel.

Here's my entry in last week's BoobieWed contest (for Breast Cancer Awareness).


Not tatting, but a gorgeous State Fair Entry. And look, there's a matching hat!

TotusMel complained that she never got to see her pieces 'in the wild'. So I spent some time finding wild places & taking photos. The 1st one is just of me, wearing the pendant.

Then, one of my wearing the pendant on a pin (it's on my c.1812 pinafore that I was wearing on Saturday).

I put it on a tree (the one that the rughooker used to show off her ornaments)

Mum's the word

Do you ever wonder is someone is out of her gourd?

Look, the pendant made a friend!

I loaned it to one of the trolls in the Village of Yesteryear & had the dickens of a time getting it back (those trolls are known pranksters).

Luckily, that's a very patient duck.
I'm keeping my eyes open for other 'wild' places to put the pendant.

Last year, I ordered a basket for my tatting. Janet made a lipped basket with a secure lid and, well, here's a couple pictures.

A tisket, a tasket, a custom tatting basket

As you can see, it has a bar across the handle, so I can put a ball of thread there to either load my shuttle or as the chain thread, without it rolling away or getting tangled. The bar is high enough that I can fit a ball of size 10 knit-cro sheen without it hitting the lid handle. She made three baskets, although with shorted handles and sold two of them by the 1st Saturday of the fair. She started another basket for me, with a longer handle, and the 3rd one sold. If she'd had a 4th one, she would have sold that one, too.

I did a little knitting (Operation Gratitude, care packages for our soldiers in Afghanistan & elsewhere). I made a couple scarves. The first one is about 3' long and 3" wide. The 2nd one is about 2.5' long & 5" wide.

I have a horrid cough and am quite tired (I went home Wednesday & immediately went to sleep, woke up long enough to eat supper & then back to sleep - after 2 nights of full sleep!). I stayed home yesterday & that's when I finished the 2nd scarf. I didn't go to gaming either; I needed the rest & why chance infecting the others.

If you're interested this is the yarn that I used:

Here's a shot of the Fair, not far off the midway. Can you see the oak tree? It's huge.

Another ride photo:

NC State Fair & Tatting goodies
Warning: this post is picture heavy

Actually this is a jacket that I did years ago. It's a man's jacket with calico roses appliques.

Stump of the tree that used to shade my bus stop.

Rides at the fair, reflected in the mill pond


State Fair tatted entries (or entries with tatting) I don't know who made any of these. But I like looking at them.
It's hard to see, but that cloth on the right (pillowcase maybe) has a row of tatting with ribbon running through it.

This one is pretty, but I wish that it was mounted on a darker color.


I think that it's a tatted lady


Sorry about the glare. I think the piece in the back is a skirt with tatting on the front of it. In front of the skirt is, I think, a tatted collar.

The category was 'Angels.' This one has tatted wings, stiffened with wire, with a matching halo & trim on the bottom of her dress.

I made some lace for my pocket; it's pearl size 5 made by the Star company. The thread is older than I am & might be my Mom's age. The pattern is from p 29 of A Tatter's Workbook. She didn't have it as a trim, but more as a single point, so I had to join the 'points'.

That's more than enough for now, right?

I'm Baaaaaack, Did Ya Miss Me?
Or yes, my home internet has gone wonky and unreliable. That means that I am only online while at or near work. Since my employers have expectations, that really cuts down on the amount of time that I can work on my blog or read the blogs of others. I feel dreadfully, dreadfully out of touch.

I have finished tatting two more of Rebecca/Tatmom03's crosses; one burgundy & one off-white. I think I will tat a blue one next. It's my version of having a casserole (it's a Southern thing) in the freezer.

I was hoping to join Anitra at a local park for their heritage day last week. Alas, I spent the time cleaning and making trips to the thrift shops, donating not buying this time.

Gaming has been going pretty well. Met a couple people new to RPGA last night. I hope that we provided a fun game for them. I got to play my very old drow again.

I'm supposed to go see Mom again tomorrow. That is in jeopardy because I really started coughing this morning. It's gotten worse & I feel like three kinds of um, [mild expletive deleted].

Maybe Monday I can post pictures of the crosses that I've made. I want to also take a picture of my cleavage (what there is of it) as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Don't worry, I'll put a warning in the header.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month
aka Save The Tatas! Check out this blog; loved today's story. Really made me tear up. I've lost family to cancer, but not to breast cancer. Nonetheless, I check ever month & my mammogram earlier this year came back clear.

Gaming: More jokes last night about my character's inability to use tech. She broke her communicator, hoping that would summon her teammates. In our Mutants & Masterminds game, the GM rarely gives us true villains. For example, the last villain (not last night's, the one from 2 weeks ago), was targeting the Mob for not paying him for the computer security that he installed in their casino. The non-payment was legal; there was a clause about no backdoors in the program, which he didn't catch. Hey, he's an electronics/robotics supergenius, not a lawyer.

Last night's thieves are from another dimension that has been conquered by superpowered folks from yet another dimension. Seeing the way that our characters' world reveres its heroes made them believe that they couldn't trust anyone so they were stealing what they need to throw off their oppressors. Not exactly the Bwahaha School of Evil, huh?

Sunday is R's game. More fighting drow and maybe some undead. We have a Lolth-worshipping ally, much to my character's dismay & disgust (the cleric/holy warrior of the anti-Lolth).

After the game, we take C out for his birthday. His natal anniversary is not until the 15th but I'll be working at the fair over the weekends, so that's out. Maybe I'll get him this book. It's not on his list, but I think that he might like it anyway.

Presents: I ordered this book in mid-September for J's birthday. It was due out in August. The publication date has now been moved to Nov 1st. Maybe I'll give J a card & an IOU.

I have wrapped two children's books for my namesake. I want to mail them to her as Wednesday presents. They are wrapped in a promotional world map. I have more books to wrap & I'll send them in one box if it's not too expensive.

ebooks & hardcopy: Pathfinder had a very good idea. The hardcopy of their core rulebook is about $50. But the PDF of the same is only about $10. What does that mean? That means that I'll buy both. I already bought the PDF and I have the hardcopy on order. Other game companies: take note.

Holidays: It's October & time to break out the decorations. I have a resin witch that someone gave me; she went on some shelves in the corner of the office. I have a little ceramic jack o'lantern with marbles in his eyes, that went on the counter. My Puss in Boots mug has some candy in it now.

Banned Book Week
What book that has been challenged, have you read?

I've read several of them; some because they were required in some class or other and some for pleasure. Some I've liked & re-read, several times. Some I couldn't stand (I still hate Lord of the Flies, partially because of my own expectations before I read it).

Family stuff:
I went to see my mom this past weekend. We had a nice visit & drove to the family reunion on Sunday. We were a little late, but everyone else was still eating. Aunt Lillian was happy to see us, she'd almost given up. This reunion is for my grandfather's family; he was one of 12. There were not as many kinfolk there this time but I did meet a cousin who's also working on genealogy. I need to send him what I've gathered so far.

Tatting:
We have doorprizes at the family reunion and I made one of tatmom03's crosses, in cream perle 8. It's one of my favorite patterns. My uncle Sherwood won it. I've made another one, so that I'll have it on hand when/should I need it.

I'm still making progress on my edging. I have 1 full side (or 2 half sides) & 1 corner yet to do.

Thanks to the state fair deadline moving up two weeks, I missed the deadline again this year. This time I missed it by 5 minutes, also known as the time spent to check that I had the right category. Not that I'm bitter, much.

Gaming:
I've been reading the Pathfinder rules. It's sort of D&D 3.7, sort of. 4th ed D&D is okay, but it just doesn't grab me the way that the 1st edition (aka AD&D) & 3rd edition did. As a result, I'm looking at other games to play for when I go to conventions; Shadowrun Missions, WitchHunter & now Pathfinder.

Book Meme & Old Movies
'We encourage you to be creative with this! Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today!'

1. Do you snack while you read? Only if I'm hungry

2. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? Um, bookmarks! Use them!

3. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open? Does scrap paper count, or


4. Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? 99 out of 100, fiction.

5. Hard copy or audiobooks? Hardcopy but sometimes 'reread' audio.

6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? Usually, end of chapter.

7. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Look it up later.

8. What are you currently reading?


9. What is the last book you bought? Above & 2 manga

10. Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? I used to only read 1.

11. Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? Whenever I have light.

12. Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? Serial a tad more.

13. Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? Bujold, Bardsley, Nora Roberts (like she needs it), Shelly Laurenston, Jim Butcher & Terry Pratchett

14. How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) Um, do stacks & stacks count?

Meme over.

I watched The Trouble with Harry last night. It's not a rollicking comedy but it's definitely amusing. I suddenly realized, Weekend at Bernie's has a vaguely similar plot. Er, they both involve inconveniently dead men. I guess it's not that similar after all.