Friday, December 22, 2006

Interim performance review today. Whee

Website: online shopping site, peruse.com

books: Kiss of a Highlander by . I think I started to read it once but didn't finish. I finally did. Pretty good book. I think I'm going to try & find the ~sequel. Read vol 13 of Rurouni Kenshin. Good story. Kept reading Time Traders.

New people: at lunch met/talked with Kim, who works in the old library on campus. Beautiful building, great collections. I'd like to talk to her again.

clothes: green/black Harrington polo, black jeans & tennis shoes, green amber jewelry, black socks. ~rope band, sometimes braided, sometimes loose hair.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

The campus gets more & more deserted every day. I finally brought home my door prize from the department party (football t-).

Tatting Sue H gave me some advice on the rose ornament, so I'm on the last row of chains. Next is the round of ring & chain.

Books I started (re) reading Time Traders by Andre Norton on my Palm. I also have Med Ship by Murray Leinster. That's an older book (you can tell by the reference to space ships with fins). I finished The Wicked Games of a Gentleman by Jillian Hunter.

clothes black tennis shoes, black slacks, burgundy turtleneck (ironic since it's warmer today than it was yesterday), quilted printed bolero vest, clip watch (on a belt loop), braided hair, flower band, fem-power band, ~silver & black bead earrings, & quartz point carved with a feather pendant on long twisted silver chain. I'm also wearing the medium belt/ double-faced with silver buckle (yay).

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Website: Health Info I've only scanned this, but it looks interesting.

Okay, I can't argue with this;
What Kind of Reader Are You?
Your Result: Dedicated Reader

You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.

Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You?
Create Your Own Quiz


Tatting: I made another tiny snowflake with the size 12 thread leftover from Ben's snowflake. I started the rose ornament from Monica Hahn's book of Christmas tatting. But apparently I tat tighter than she does so it's not working very well. I'm going to have to increase the chain length.

Today's excitement: We had a fire alarm right before I was about to head out to lunch. So that got delayed until after the building was cleared. But on the bright side, I ran into Phil again. I haven't seen him in awhile, so that was kind of cool. Since he was wanting lunch, we had time to talk until the fire alarm was over.

Bus re-routing still: I'm still trying to find a shortest route to an alternate bus stop in the evening. So far I have yet to catch the previously 5:10 bus, no matter which stop I try. Whatever route I take, I have at least one hill to climb (stairs or incline, it doesn't matter). After three days of this, my legs are starting to ache.

clothes black slacks, grape Geoff polo, silver feather & quartz chip earrings, flower band ring, ~rope band ring, three ages of women pendant, tennis shoes, & braided hair (needs to be brushed).

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Blog of the Day: Okay, this guy, Aaron, has a much cooler blog than I do. He can only update periodically, something about a 56k modem being shared by about 20 people, but he's a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. Read about his project, too. I think it's great.

Tatting: almost done with Ben's snowflake, I only have one more point to make. Correction, make that 3 rings to make.

Gaming (D&D): Chris finally gave us experience last night. We also finally finished the watery plot. Now we go to our new assignment (our characters are scouts in the Imperial army) at Skyreach (mountain). We're joining the cavalry. This really upset the dwarf before Chris told him that of course the dwarves don't ride horses. They ride cave bears.

Present: Chris & Rosemary gave me Christopher Hart's book on drawing manga villains. I brought it work but haven't done anything with it yet. I played with it at lunch, well that & Draw Great Manga. I really need to practice more.

bus: So yesterday I caught the bus at one of the 2 possible stops. It's 13 minute walk, more or less. This morning I got off the bus at a different place & decided that I didn't like it. It may be the same distance but it's all up & down. By the School of Government is all a straight shot. Today I will try to catch the bus at the hospital. We'll see how that works. I definitely need to leave earlier though.

Book: I finished Worlds of Honor. I don't know what to start next.

clothes: black tennies (still have the extra 20-30 minute walk), black slacks, black ribbed knit shirt, moonstone earrings & ring, tri-moon moonstone pendant & ~rope band. My hair is braided because I washed it this morning & I didn't want to do anything else to it.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Long week Is there any longer week than the one preceding a major holiday? Physically, it's just 5 days; the same length as any other. But I know, at the end of it, I'm getting a 5-day 'weekend.' It makes it a trifle difficult to concentrate.

Add to that, today was the department holiday luncheon. The food was good (chicken wings, shrimp, jalapeno poppers [none for me, thanks - I value my taste buds], loaded/mashed potato skins, raw veggie platter, beef on a stick, cheese & melon. Dessert also included cookies & chocolate covered strawberries. The giveaway/department present this year was a four-pack of frappucinos. Since I'm not a big coffee drinker, I wasn't interested, until I learned that there was also strawberry & creme/non-coffee flavor. Yum.

The door prizes went well. We had about 30 things & about 90 people. So there was a fairly good distribution on who/section got what. The items ranged from a key chain to a $300+ bike (let's hear it for donations). I got a 2004 tire bowl UNC football t-shirt.

Presents: I delivered most of the Christmas presents to my co-workers. Most of them got the Carolina Stars made by one of the basket-makers at the Village of Yesteryear. A few others got origami cranes. I still need to find & mail the purple snowflake earrings that I made for Linda.

Mike has received his e-certificate. He was quite appreciative. I still haven't received anything that I ordered. I did mail Mitra's present, to her grad school address. I don't know if she's coming back to this coast for Christmas, but this way she has a max of 3-week delay.

Movies: We finally saw Santa Clause & Santa Clause 2 yesterday, plus Richie Rich movie. That's why (& because I was just tired) that I didn't get as much wrapping done yesterday. I did decorate the bags with the stars for my co-workers. I decorated them with Christmas stickers.

TattingI have a snowflake (3) exchange & a brooch (2) exchange to work on. I also need to make certain that I have a snowflake for Mark, Lisa, Hailey, Dad, Mom & Kathy. I'd also like one for Rita & Jeff (Chris's family). I have a doily for Chris's parents made.

Books:
I read Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson. It's about a mermaid (well- 1/2) named Fred. It's really funny.

clothes: One end of the velvet riboon trimming my Christmas shirt has torn, so I couldn't wear that today. So I looked for something else festive. I pulled out the shirt that my mom gave me recently; black cotton gauze trimmed with silver embroidery & sequins. It's gorgeous. I paired it with black jeans & tennis shoes (hey, long walk from bus to work until Jan 8th). For jewelry it's Celtic knot earrings, 3 ages of women pendant, flower band, ~rope band & metal scrollwork hair stick. My hair is in a knotted ponytail with the stick to keep the knot from untying.




Sunday, December 17, 2006

Found it! Found my mom's scarf. I put it somewhere very logical which why I couldn't find it until I settled down & really started searching. I'm still looking for a couple other presents...like Diana's. I put most of my presents in one place, that helps.

I really need to wrap things today. At the very least, I need to wrap the presents for my co-workers. I think what I'll do, to be more ecologically conscious, is Christmas stamps the bags that they are in. At least, if they're one per bag. If not...well, I'll handle that when I come to it. I wrapped Mitra's present, I just need to address & mail it tomorrow.

I'm also catching up putting links & tags on old blog entries. I'm up to October 2003.

Knitting: I did my first knitting frog stitch (rip it, rip it). I screwed up the brown scarf & had to take the whole thing out. So I restarted with the recycled silk yarn that Mitra gave me last year (it's too uneven to tat). It's not working up nearly as quickly but it looks very nice. If I was learning to knit with actual needles, I would not recommend it.

clothes; yesterday was orange Brown's fairy t-, jeans, tennis shoes & Celtic jewelry. Today, well, I've thrown something on to answer the door (we've ordered pizza - Note Pizza Hut online doesn't recognize our address. This is.....[understatement] a disappointment).

Friday, December 15, 2006


Biofuels: the button above goes to an ecologically-focussed ezine's special on biofuels. Grist often has a humorous slant on some very serious stories. I really recommend reading over this. Some of the information really surprised me.

Tatting: I corrected my problem with Ben's snowflake & I'm more than 1/2 done (3.5 points).

Knitting: I did a few more rows last night, in the car to the Mutants & Masterminds game. Speaking of knitting, I'm meeting Carry for lunch today.

Lunch: Carry & I managed to miss each other. So I grabbed something from the dining hall & went to the bookstore (25% off) until I had to go back to work.

Attack of the killer cow! As I was coming back to my office from an errand, I saw a young woman with a cow-spotted jacket. Since it's inordinately warm this afternoon, she had it tied around her waist. It wasn't until I was almost back into my building that I realized that I knew her. So I ran & leapt at Heather, crying "Look out, you're being attacked by a cow!" Her friends were much taken aback; so was she until she realized it was me.

clothes: black loafers, knee-highs, slacks, forest green Geoff polo, Celtic knot pendant (lost inside my collar), flower band ring, fem-power ring, silver bracelet & silver, brass & copper earrings (upside down textured teardrop~silvertone with a silvertone ball hanging from it, layered on top of that a textured brass quarter moon with a wire spiral hanging from it & on the top of that is a small copper elephant). I still have my hair French-braided.




Thursday, December 14, 2006

Website of the Day (week, whatever): Worldbuilding for the writer (or game master); a series of questions to ask when designing a setting. Neat.

clothes: brown/black Vorkosigan polo, black jeans, black tennis shoes (in case they really had closed the bus stop today & I ended up getting off the bus 10+ minutes from work instead of 2), onyx earrings, small labdourite pendant, black stone ring & silver dome ring. My hair is French braided again (still).

Tatting I screwed up the snowflake & had to cut & rejoin. The bus was way to bouncy to manage that delicate bit of fiddling, so it's on hold.

books: re-read Changer of Worlds (bk #3 of the Honor Harrington anthologies).


Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Knitting! I finally used one of the knitting looms that I bought. I pulled out the smallest one & some yarn that I bought on sale. The yarn is brown "Jo-Ann Knitting Yarn" (they asked me to change it from 'Cha-Cha'). I've knitted maybe 2 inches so far & it's so soft. It's going very well, after one false start.

clothes: black loafers, socks, pants, & Geoff polo. I've French braided my hair again & it's all moonstone jewelry today, plus flower band & fem-power ring.

Books: I started Nerds Like It Hot but I just wasn't in the mood.

Tatting: eTatters is down for maintenance today so I started Ben Fikkert's new snowflake, instead. I've gotten halfway through since after work. Good for me

Been shopping on Overstock. Wow, I got some good deals. I just hope that the bag is the right size.

Another online quiz:
***Your Vocabulary Score: A+***
Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!You must be quite an erudite person.
How's Your Vocabulary?http://www.blogthings.com/howsyourvocabularyquiz/

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Website: Someone went through Google image search to find pictures to match the words of Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire. The person did a good job, too. That reminds me, I don't own the album. I think I'll buy a copy of the song from iTunes, if they have it.

Another online quiz:

I am a d20

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Christmas cards: I have finished all my cards but the one to Aunt Lillian & Uncle Sherwood (Granddaddy's youngest brother & sister-in-law). I just need to seal & mail them.

Clothes: burgundy turtleneck, navy slacks & trouser socks, brown suede loafers, red stone ring, ~rope band, Celtic knot ring & pendant & the longer Celtic knot earrings.

Books: I finished A Clue for the Puzzle Lady by Parnell Hall. It has a crossword in it. I'm going to copy that & then try to solve it. I also read Vol 1 of Ranma 1/2.

Monday, December 11, 2006

News! I don't have any. Well, except George Bush finally admitted that things aren't going well in Iraq & that a new strategy is required.

Tatting: I've made a few flowers & one snowflake yesterday. I gave it to Laura today (who didn't show up, so maybe I misunderstood & tomorrow is her last day this semester).

Clothes: black loafers, knee-hi's, black slacks, Harrington Steading ~green/black polo, green amber jewelry, paui shell ring & ponytail.

Books: Did I mention that I read Secret Santa? It's an anthology of Christmas-focussed romance stories. I also made it by Foundation's Edge to pick up my manga. I didn't pick up my entire stack (I still need to do Christmas shopping & eat, after all) but both of my Shonen Beat mags (Nov & Dec), the most recent Hana Kimi, two Threads of Time, Godchild & Genju no Seiza.
Lunch: Ate at K&W cafeteria for lunch. We took one of the co-workers out for her birthday (which was last week but she was out with strep throat).

photo Experiment: note that IMG did not work. Just link & be done with it. Two of Lyn Morton's flowers.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Cookies! Rosemary's been holding the same Christmas party for years. This year, due to the con the 1st weekend of December she just wasn't ready to do that. So Chris & I went over to decorate cookies to send to her grandmother. Diana & Colt arrived early for gaming & helped decorate the last tray or so. We got to eat the extra sugar cookies...yum. I had found some cookies cutters & cookie sprinkles so I took them with us to give to Rosemary as an early present. The candy cane ones didn't want to leave the container.

Gaming was fun. Richard got caught in nasty traffic so we started half an hour late. We ended at about 6 pm. It took a while because of roleplaying & simply futzing. Hey, why do it if you don't have fun doing it, right?

Food supper was lasagna & appetizers from Olive Garden. It was delicious, but once again they had the date wrong & it wasn't ready. Since Rosemary doublechecked the date & day when she placed the order on Thursday, she was more than a little peeved. And the manager with the attitude of 'too bad, so sad,' didn't help. Luckily another manager made up for that. So next time Rosemary hosts such a party, she'll order from them again instead of telling everyone she knows about what a crappy job they did. That's good customer service. If you make a mistake, correct it if possible & if that's not possible, find a way to make the customer happy.

Clothes: yesterday it was jeans & t-shirt with a chambray shirt over it. Of course it was frigging cold (below freezing at 10am) so I also wore jacket, scarf, hat & gloves. Since I haven't done laundry since I came back from Confalon, I had one pair of clean jeans; the light blue pegged leg ones. I paired it with 2003 Attack on Gorna Geoff t-shirt. I'd washed my hair, so I braided it wet. Then I wore my Celtic knot jewelry.

Computer game: I've been playing a real-time game called Virtual Villagers & I reached a stumbling block. So I put it on pause, partially because I knew I wouldn't be spending much time on my laptop. Even though it was paused, apparently about 30 years passed during the past 2 weeks. *sigh* Several villagers died. Enough were born to maintain population & the youngest death was 75 years...but still. Until I figure out how make the builders make another hut, the population is stuck at 90 individuals, anyway. I only have 4 more puzzles to unlock until I can end the game. I know what two of them are...the boulder blocking the cave & the fruitless bush. I just can't seem to figure out how to solve them.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Updated! Finally got my on the road posts uploaded. I also have a whole list of things I want to mention, from the trip this past weekend.

Nature Yesterday & this morning I spotted a woodpecker, redheaded I think. It certainly had that red cap & speckled chest thing going. And that noise, the one I thought was a squirrel claiming territory, was that bird. Very harsh, not what I'd call a song. I like seeing it but I fear this means a limited life for that Bradford pear tree.

Movie So Chris started watching his Lord of the Ring DVDs. I had been more or less ignoring them. Until I realized that they made all three books, nigh unto entirety. They just edited them down for the theater. We've been marveling at the work of the director & the editors. Whatever they were paid, however much it was, they were worth it! Now I'm going to have to watch all 6 discs all over again. To see what I missed.

Tatting: I have not gotten any completed the past few days. The reason is simple, in order to start I have to cut off the mis-tat that I currently have active. *sigh*

books: Finished reading Marriage by Design. A pretty good read, although I started to suspect the culprit towards the end.

clothes: black ~ugg boots (Fleece cuff), grey leggings, blue denim jumper, black belt (to cinch in the jumper a scoche), black Origins shirt, dragon pendant, earrings & ring, ~rope band.

Need a Snow Day?
I made some snowflakes online. It's addicting & helps others at the same time (Salvation Army). Wheee.

Updates: I have the blogs that I wrote over the weekend, I just need to upload them. The connection over the weekend was...odd.

Books: Read Viva Las Bad Boys yesterday & a couple ebooks that I bought Tuesday. They were 'quickies', less than 200 pages. I also finished a mystery, called Body Movers. The reviewer didn't particularly care for it, but I liked it. It's the sequel, sort of, to Party Crashers.

Clothes: Since the weather's turned cold, I've had to abandon the polo shirts. Tuesday it was a blue chambray shirt embroidered with Christmas themes across the chest & trimmed with black velveteen, paired with black slacks & sequined flats.

Yesterday it was pale blue chambray shirt, pale khakis (fixed over Thanksgiving), tan & blue brocade vest with my new dark brown loafers and white textured trouser socks. Blue & metal earrings, red stone ring & unseen (collar) dragon necklace.

Today it's black slacks (another pair fixed over Thanksgiving), burgundy blouse under matching crocheted burgundy sweater (open rosettes), and the charcoal grey boots that I have not been able to wear until now. I can't wear socks, just knee-hi's but my feet fit! Jewelry is black onyx & silver (shockeroo, huh?).


Sun December 3
clothes: black jeans, socks (it's cold!), loafers, & 2002 MepaCon tee (front: MepaCon 'bird' & back: “ooh, looks dangerous, you go first!”). I've washed my hair, so it's loose. For jewelry, I went with my rainbow moonstone trimoon pendant, moonstone ring, ~rope band, Celtic knot ring, & fem-power ring (vaguely Willendorf). The sole of left loafer is trying to come off. I may braid my hair later, using my Celtic knot ponytail holder.

I dreamed about gaming, English history & my friends last night. Did you know that yaua yarn is Keoland home region access only. There was something about King Henry & King John (Lackland) of England & how many kids they each had.

Rosemary had a dream about gaming, too. But her dream was funnier than mine. But it's all in-joke so not funny to others.

Books: in the morning, while waiting for others to finish preparing for the day, I've been reading Watchers in the Night by Jenna Black (autographed). It's a vampire romance & very different. The protagonists were very much in love & were going to be married 3 years ago. He disappeared, because he'd been turned into a vampire. I haven't gotten very far but so far I like it.

Tatting: I started the first angel from Mark Myers book of angels. I think I screwed it up. But then, I was gaming at the same time, so my distraction is understandable.
Still no internet connection here, so it will probably be tomorrow before I'm able to upload these notes.

Con: The author ran our mod & it was fun.
Saturday December 2nd
It's almost 7 am & I've showered & dressed. Oddly enough, although I had a bit of signal last night, this morning I've got nada. So my actual posting will have to wait.

Rosemary is back from walking Duncan. Since he insists upon grass for his business, they're having to go a littler farther, there isn't any near this hotel. There are trees & flowers, in planters, but no grass.

Oh, yesterday someone mentioned that she'd seen my blog. She has something active that alerts her anytime a blog mentions Living Greyhawk, so she saw my post about prepping for the con.

BTW, if you dream about going to the bathroom, you should get up & go.

Clothes: grey/blue jeans, grey 'against the giants' Geoff t-shirt. White tennis shoes & braided hair (too windy for anything else). Today, jewelry is Celtic; earrings, ring & star/tree pendant, plus fem-power ring & flat-rope band.

After midnight & we're back at the hotel. My two-round mod only took 4 hours, at least my table. In fact, we got done early enough that we played another mod. Chris & Rosemary had enough time to go walk on the beach while I played.

We went to a great seafood place, Higgins Wharf for supper & then back for the Battle Interactive. I played Nadia, my Bard 13/Ranger 1 (Beast of the Air Dispatcher) so she could get one of her two Geoff Region only purchases. She now has a helm of command with an impressive rack of antlers, that gives her +3 to charisma checks.

Let's see, towards the end, one character & the hobgoblin he'd been wrestling, had both been turned to stone. One character had died due to con damage from a dread wraith & was coming back in @ three rounds as another wraith. My character was insane, not permanently. Someone else was stable at -46 hp, for another 10 rounds or so. Yeah, it was kinda bad. But some people used favors & we got out okay. Although the really dead guy got reincarnated. Nadia thinks he's kinda cute (cha 18, she made her save).

Isolde levelled to 6th after the second round of the day's play. Which would have been fine, after all, I had planned ahead & figured out what changed. Except. Except I forgot to choose a feat. We talked about that at supper.

Good night. Off to bed. The internet signal is off & on. I finally managed to post yesterday's entry. Who knows when I'll get tonight's. It's taking forever to respond & I just don't have the patience.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Friday December 1st
Ocean City, MD: We took our time getting up this morning & we ate in the restaurant, on the top floor. It was nice, but expensive. I have now tried scrapple. I don't particularly care for it.
After that, we found the post office (again) & I mailed the letters to the Spain & Pakistan. Once that was taken care of, we headed to the beach, public access was across the street from our hotel, which by the way is the only hotel in 20 miles of the con that accepts pets. But only in off-season.

Beach: We had a lovely, brisk 3-mile walk. OMG it's windy. The flags are all stiff and the tracks that we'd made coming one way were almost gone by the time we got back. I picked up a pocketful of shells. Unfortunately the wind & my braid conspired to give me a headache. Despite that, I really enjoyed it.

Confalon: The first game started at 2 pm. We made it in time. Our first game ended a little early, hey, we played APL 6 & most of us were 5th level but it was a gnome mod. Michelle, our gm, was lots of fun. We all enjoyed ourselves.

2nd round of the day: our table did not make. The 4th person never showed. So instead we played an intro mod, so that their table would make. Christian A(something non-Anglo) ran for us, despite being tired. Since everyone's 1st level it's pretty easy. He wrote the mod, too & he kept making jokes about what kind of idiot the author is/was. We finished pretty quickly & sat around talking, about really bad &/or scary mods we've played or run & about really stupid tech support calls.

Tourists! We went to the Bull on the Beach for supper. Maryland Crab soup is very good if a trifle spicy. The clam casino was very good, if a bit salty. I liked it & would gladly eat it again. Too bad I spilled some of the soup on my t-shirt (Trinic-con 2006). Luckily, I'd gotten a Geoff 'attack on Pregmire' t-shirt & I wore that the 2nd round.

I bought a polo shirt; Ocean City, MD Carousel souvenir type. The cashier is Russian & going to school here. We had a little convo about the difference between American & British.
As we were leaving the hotel parking lot we saw a fox run across the road & through the hotel parking lot. That was a trifle unexpected.

I was going to play midnight madness, special mission, but I'm just too bloody tired. I even took a short nap between the 1st & 2nd round. Doesn't matter. It's almost midnight & I've got to go get some sleep.

Tatting: Made another 3 or 4 of the small snowflakes & one different one from Vida's book. I added beads to the pattern as I made it. I gave that one to Eric & Amy Menge for Christmas. Eric still has the one that I gave them last year, in his dice bag. He says that it gives 'Arlene vibes' to the dice. Since they're his gm dice, that keeps players alive as they roll very badly.
Note: I need to get a picture of it for my portfolio.

Clothes: blue jeans, white tennies, Trinic-con 2006 tee/'attack on Pregmire' tee, silver tri-hoop earrings, lapis flower earring, lapis earrings (dangly), flower fairy pendant, flower band & circle band.
Friday December 1st
Ocean City, MD: We took our time getting up this morning & we ate in the restaurant, on the top floor. It was nice, but expensive. I have now tried scrapple. I don't particularly care for it.
After that, we found the post office (again) & I mailed the letters to the Spain & Pakistan. Once that was taken care of, we headed to the beach, public access was across the street from our hotel, which by the way is the only hotel in 20 miles of the con that accepts pets. But only in off-season.

Beach: We had a lovely, brisk 3-mile walk. OMG it's windy. The flags are all stiff and the tracks that we'd made coming one way were almost gone by the time we got back. I picked up a pocketful of shells. Unfortunately the wind & my braid conspired to give me a headache. Despite that, I really enjoyed it.

Confalon: The first game started at 2 pm. We made it in time. Our first game ended a little early, hey, we played APL 6 & most of us were 5th level but it was a gnome mod. Michelle, our gm, was lots of fun. We all enjoyed ourselves.

2nd round of the day: our table did not make. The 4th person never showed. So instead we played an intro mod, so that their table would make. Christian A(something non-Anglo) ran for us, despite being tired. Since everyone's 1st level it's pretty easy. He wrote the mod, too & he kept making jokes about what kind of idiot the author is/was. We finished pretty quickly & sat around talking, about really bad &/or scary mods we've played or run & about really stupid tech support calls.

Tourists! We went to the Bull on the Beach for supper. Maryland Crab soup is very good if a trifle spicy. The clam casino was very good, if a bit salty. I liked it & would gladly eat it again. Too bad I spilled some of the soup on my t-shirt (Trinic-con 2006). Luckily, I'd gotten a Geoff 'attack on Pregmire' t-shirt & I wore that the 2nd round.

I bought a polo shirt; Ocean City, MD Carousel souvenir type. The cashier is Russian & going to school here. We had a little convo about the difference between American & British.
As we were leaving the hotel parking lot we saw a fox run across the road & through the hotel parking lot. That was a trifle unexpected.

I was going to play midnight madness, special mission, but I'm just too bloody tired. I even took a short nap between the 1st & 2nd round. Doesn't matter. It's almost midnight & I've got to go get some sleep.

Tatting: Made another 3 or 4 of the small snowflakes & one different one from Vida's book. I added beads to the pattern as I made it. I gave that one to Eric & Amy Menge for Christmas. Eric still has the one that I gave them last year, in his dice bag. He says that it gives 'Arlene vibes' to the dice. Since they're his gm dice, that keeps players alive as they roll very badly.
Note: I need to get a picture of it for my portfolio.

Clothes: blue jeans, white tennies, Trinic-con 2006 tee/'attack on Pregmire' tee, silver tri-hoop earrings, lapis flower earring, lapis earrings (dangly), flower fairy pendant, flower band & circle band.


Friday December 1st
Ocean City, MD: We took our time getting up this morning & we ate in the restaurant, on the top floor. It was nice, but expensive. I have now tried scrapple. I don't particularly care for it.
After that, we found the post office (again) & I mailed the letters to the Spain & Pakistan. Once that was taken care of, we headed to the beach, public access was across the street from our hotel, which by the way is the only hotel in 20 miles of the con that accepts pets. But only in off-season.

Beach: We had a lovely, brisk 3-mile walk. OMG it's windy. The flags are all stiff and the tracks that we'd made coming one way were almost gone by the time we got back. I picked up a pocketful of shells. Unfortunately the wind & my braid conspired to give me a headache. Despite that, I really enjoyed it.

Confalon: The first game started at 2 pm. We made it in time. Our first game ended a little early, hey, we played APL 6 & most of us were 5th level but it was a gnome mod. Michelle, our gm, was lots of fun. We all enjoyed ourselves.

2nd round of the day: our table did not make. The 4th person never showed. So instead we played an intro mod, so that their table would make. Christian A(something non-Anglo) ran for us, despite being tired. Since everyone's 1st level it's pretty easy. He wrote the mod, too & he kept making jokes about what kind of idiot the author is/was. We finished pretty quickly & sat around talking, about really bad &/or scary mods we've played or run & about really stupid tech support calls.

Tourists! We went to the Bull on the Beach for supper. Maryland Crab soup is very good if a trifle spicy. The clam casino was very good, if a bit salty. I liked it & would gladly eat it again. Too bad I spilled some of the soup on my t-shirt (Trinic-con 2006). Luckily, I'd gotten a Geoff 'attack on Pregmire' t-shirt & I wore that the 2nd round.

I bought a polo shirt; Ocean City, MD Carousel souvenir type. The cashier is Russian & going to school here. We had a little convo about the difference between American & British.
As we were leaving the hotel parking lot we saw a fox run across the road & through the hotel parking lot. That was a trifle unexpected.

I was going to play midnight madness, special mission, but I'm just too bloody tired. I even took a short nap between the 1st & 2nd round. Doesn't matter. It's almost midnight & I've got to go get some sleep.

Tatting: Made another 3 or 4 of the small snowflakes & one different one from Vida's book. I added beads to the pattern as I made it. I gave that one to Eric & Amy Menge for Christmas. Eric still has the one that I gave them last year, in his dice bag. He says that it gives 'Arlene vibes' to the dice. Since they're his gm dice, that keeps players alive as they roll very badly.
Note: I need to get a picture of it for my portfolio.

Clothes: blue jeans, white tennies, Trinic-con 2006 tee/'attack on Pregmire' tee, silver tri-hoop earrings, lapis flower earring, lapis earrings (dangly), flower fairy pendant, flower band & circle band.