I found myself.

Apparently, yesterday was Programmer's Day. Heh.

In other news, class is... okay. I actually feel bad for my professor, even though she's driving me a bit batty. She JUST got her doctorate and is teaching her first class, and this class focuses almost entirely on IT business models. So her concept of what she can cover in a given area of time isn't quite up to par yet. Class ran 20 minutes late because she overestimated how much time she had left and kept practically reading the slides to us until someone from the class that was waiting to get in the room finally stopped her. And unfortunately, the one time I had the urge to ask a question was when she was running over, and I didn't want to get flak for dragging it out. Seriously, her example of IT business models - the video game industry and the PS2/Xbox competition - was interesting, but there was a class waiting to get in.

As a techie who has no desire to become a manager but understands that it's still a good idea to get familiar with the business end of IT, this is going to be an INTERESTING class. Oy. We even have to do a debate, and lunatic that I am, I picked the "Consumer advocate" position of the Privacy vs. Marketing topic - in a class devoted to the business aspect of IT, that's not going to be an easy topic to defend. I may have to take the stance that in this sue-happy society, which so many people blindly panicking over identity theft but having no real clue of how they are really at risk, companies need to make customers aware of what they collect and give them the option to opt-out so they don't have to deal with screaming consumers who threaten to sue. (Not to mention that targeted advertising sometimes equals more spam, which drives a lot of customers up the wall.) Since the guys taking the opposing position seem pretty aggressive, I hope Dr. G grades us on how well we present our side and back it up and not on who "wins." I suck at debate, but I can back up my points if I do enough research.

Oh, and I have been totally sucked in by Chris Baldwin's comic Little Dee. Hence the title. *snerk*

After having to listen to him nonstop since Tuesday, I have finally solved the ( Case of the Loud Cricket Houseguest. )

I need to have a word - SEVERAL words - with Roger at Sunrise Home Inspections. Specifically, on the distinction between a ( functional and non-functional heating system. )

Okay, I need to go get a shower.

You tend to get annoyed when you sleep in on a nice weekend when you had plans to get stuff done - but sleeping until 2 pm doesn't bother you at all.

It's a beautiful day and you want to go out but you end up going BACK to bed at 5 and getting up again at 7.

You lose all restraint and call the family member who sold you the house from hell and burst into tears over the latest screwed-up problem with the house.

At least it waited til the day after D&D to do more than aggravate my throat.

And this has given me the excuse opportunity to watch a whole bunch of Bleach episodes. And now I've changed my mind about Ritsu Sohma - I want to go to Otakon next year as Orihime. Problem is, I'm going to need someone else from the series... Ishida's the most likely candidate, but I don't know anyone insane enough to make his Quincy get-up.

Thank goodness I don't have to go to work tomorrow. I think I need to go pass out again.

Okay, I have finally caved to the temptation of this meme. I'm a bit frightened since I intentionally picked a random list and the hints I've gotten warn of 'ships. Gah. Snagged from half of my friends list:

First write down the names of 12 characters. Don't even click on the cut 'til you've done this.

I'm specifying the shows all characters are from, even the obvious ones.

1. Elisa Maza (Gargoyles)
2. Sado "Chad" Yasutora (Bleach)
3. Cam Watanabe (PR Ninja Storm)
4. Teal'c (SG-1)
5. Lisa Davis (Tomorrow People)
6. Dawn Summers (BtVS)
7. Dr. Theodore Morris (Now and Again)
8. Miyazawa Yukino (Kare Kano)
9. Han Solo (Star Wars)
10. May "Mayday" Parker (Spider-Girl)
11. Cordelia Chase (Angel)
12. Gregory House (House)

( No peeking at the questions until after you've got your 12 characters picked! )

Didn't really kick-start anything. Mostly because I spent a lot of time trying to scrub my brain clean of the mental images I was getting. Questions this 'ship-fixated should not be applied to such a random list of characters.

Good Lord. I meant to be able to post this part on August 11th. Even with getting sidetracked by the pool party and Otakon, I had no idea it'd take this long. I'm almost afraid to see how long Saturday's going to get since this is just Friday's part of the con report - but I couldn't skim over the quotes!

Friday, July 29
( Pre-con running around )

( I did go to some actual panels, too. )

( Opening Ceremonies: 'These are the people with nothing better to do.' )

( Blue Mug-A-Guest, which gets its own cut because of its nature )

Geez. Think this was bad? I haven't even gotten to Saturday. :)

1) Plan ahead. If the schedule's posted prior to the con, check it out ahead of time. And actually make plans to meet up with folks ahead of time - I got so sidetracked by stupid stuff like my car and the exploding kitchen light bulb I didn't manage to contact jonathlee and several others who went to the con so we could meet up.

2) If you cosplay, be practical. A costume with decent pockets is a GOOD idea. It's harder to lose track of something if it's always in your pocket. I'm just glad my wallet wasn't MIA as well. (And I'm reconsidering my idea to go as Ritsu Sohma next year. Even if I do manage to make his kimono, I don't think another pocket-free costume is wise.)

3) If you want to advertise, don't get sidetracked. Had I not been freaking out over the car, I'd have been able to get my act together to have fliers for G2006 to drop around the convention center.

4) Neck strap for camera = good idea. Seriously, I think that's the only way I'm going to be able to take a nice camera to a con: it's the best way to keep it on hand without having it taken from me. I no longer think that I should not own and use a camera of that caliber, I just need to have a way to store it easily and safely when I take it with me.

5) A simple costume will work if it's accurate. I was really, really surprised how many people recognized who I was and wanted my picture. Even without a stuffed Peropero. (I was one of the two Yukino Miyazawas in "slob" mode wandering around the con - the one whose headband apparently was glow-in-the dark.)

6) Layers are happy things. Friday was actually cool, but on Saturday I was glad I had a white tank top on beneath the red zip-up sweatshirt for my costume. It was good to be able to take it off when we left the convention center to find food.

7) If you don't have a specific costume in mind, do something different. Anyone see the married couple, both wearing corsets and skirts, and the guy in the couple wearing the fairy wings? Yep, Vengeance got more people wanting to take his picture than the rest of us combined. *grin*

8) If you have a kickass costume, be prepared to spend 75% of your time getting hijacked for pictures. Enough said.

9) You can get better and potentially cheaper food outside the convention center. Not knocking the Terrace Cafe, but we only ate there when we were desperate - and the restaurants in Harborplace were passing out coupons to con attendees to get them to return.

10) The Light Rail is your friend. If you can't get to the con early enough to find a space in the convention center lot - which is relatively affordable - it's only $2.20 for a day pass with a student ID on weekdays, and $3.50 for a day pass on Saturday and on Sunday. Also, no traffic.

11) It is possible to have some restraint in the dealers' room if you really are trying. I spent a total of $31 on stuff this year. Just $31. Got a Fullmetal Alchemist mug, a Kare Kano book and a Trigun beach towel. That's about it.

12) If the cab company has NO QUESTIONS about how to find the place you're staying at, verify they know where to go anyway. Dude, I am never recommending Columbia Cab to anyone ever again; I should have been suspicious when they didn't ask for clarification when irenak gave them the address. Idiots.

Anyway, Otakon WAS fun. I am sorry we didn't have the time or energy to go back on Sunday, although I concede that it was better for my wallet that we didn't. It was marred by a couple of incidents: the camera hijacking, and the spectacular Saturday morning lightbulb explosion in the kitchen light fixture.

The latter problem has been solved - this was the first time the upstairs shower was used with any regularity, and my cousin and I discovered that it was due to the seal around the temperature control knob doing nothing to keep water from getting into the light fixture. The problem has since been caulked thoroughly.

On another note, congrats to laurean on getting married this Saturday. :)

In case you haven't seen this news:

GANG - IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

Buena Vista Home Entertainment has authorized me to reveal the following:

The Gargoyles Season 2 (Volume 1) DVD was announced to the BVHE sales force this past Friday.

Here are the details:

First 26 episodes of Season 2
3-disc DVD set
Available on DVD December 6, 2005
$39.99 SRP US
Bonus Features:
Episode Introductions by Greg Weisman.
Audio Commentaries on "City of Stone" Four-Parter.
The Gathering of the Cast and Crew (featurette).

More info as I get it...
Greg Weisman

December 6!

I should get back into KoL just to pimp the DVD in my store.

Maybe.

So, I went to get my car today, but again, even with the heat advisory, they could not get the car to duplicate the hiccup or the self shut-off at red lights. John advised me that the computers in newer cars tended to "learn" new drivers, so maybe next time I should test drive it with one of his guys in the car.

I was about to back out of the lot when Mom called, so I put the car in park to answer the cell. While I was sitting there, the engine kind of "shuddered" but didn't stop - first warning. I got done talking to her, then took my car out of the dealership and turned onto Route 40.

Twenty feet down the road, I stopped at a red light. Guess what my car did?

Yep. Shut itself off.

After teaching my car a whole new vocabulary and starting it up again, I took it back to the dealer. This time, John hopped in the car with me and we took it for a test drive - down the Beltway, then back using the back roads. We were at the last light before the dealership when Jewel finally did her shuddering thing again, then hiccuped when I made the turn - and John was able to witness it for once. Victory! A service tech finally sees it happen!

So I've got my car back for the weekend, and he's got a few ideas as to what it could be - and told me to bring the car back next week (I need it tomorrow, or I'd have let him keep it overnight). None of his ideas are as frightening as a vague loose ground wire, and he said they'd replace the main relay at no charge for starters.

I have errands I could run, but it's too hot now and I would like nothing better than to go home, collapse on the couch and watch the copy of The 13th Warrior that Pestilence loaned me last week. Oh, wait, heat advisory, shouldn't be out there anyway. Darn. And I feel justified in this. :)

*thud*

Okay, here's the first part of the Gathering 2005 con report I promised. I only took notes for Friday, Saturday and Sunday - bad Mandi, no biscuit - so it'll be a bit disjointed.

This year's primary lesson - When attending a con in a place like Vegas, take off an ENTIRE WEEK. Five and a half days is not enough. Also, to everyone else who was there, if I drove you nuts playing with my hair, sorry. It's already a long-standing nervous habit, and the day before I left, I got fed up with my hair and had it chopped back to chin-length - about three inches shorter, which made the tendency even worse than usual.

Tuesday, July 26th

Or, ( the Day Mandi Went Crazy. )

Wednesday, July 27

( Whee, time zones! )

Thursday, July 28

( 'Hey, people I haven't seen since last year!' *glomp* )

Next: The actual con begins, and I have notes to work off of instead of trying to rely on my Swiss-cheese memory. :)

Not dead.

Got in from Vegas after midnight last night, and am spending the day running errands, trying to pick up stuff around the house and discovering that yes, I can still access the Internet from UMBC. :)

A full con report is pending. I have lots of photos, but will wait til I can get pictures from jennies who has many better shots of Vegas courtesy of her much better camera.

And I need to go buy some food and put my Target gift cards to use. Later, all...

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