Ok, I'm sure dbvixxen has seen this already, but for the rest of the world:

I'm looking for a new set of tea balls, since the two "good" ones I have aren't so good anymore. I didn't find what I was looking for at Adagio Teas, but I did find something that's awfully tempting...

Dr. Horrible's Tea of Evil

Really, how could I _not_ be tempted by that? =)

I've been delaying my annual BayCon post - Monday I was (predictably) exhausted and would have fallen asleep over my keyboard if I'd tried to spend time on the computer and yesterday I was trying to pretend that I was getting work done. Today I've given up on that work concept for a bit (it really is just that quiet this week) and get on with it before I forget all the high points of the weekend.

This won't be the usual "OMG!! SO AWESOME!! *SQUEEEEEE*" post that I usually do, because while it was a GOOD weekend, it was also very...quiet. I know a lot of folks have used "quiet" to describe the Con this year, and in my case, I think it's because I wasn't disappointed with the weekend, but it was sort of slow by comparison to other years. The overall energy level of the convention just wasn't there.

However, this was the first time that Shar has come out with me, which proved to be quite enjoyable, and I got to introduce him to all the wonderful folks that I really only see at Con for one reason or another. There was also a higher percentage of the "Family" in attendance as well, which was awesome.

( So without further ado, the high points: )

You know you want them...

I think I might be able to be convinced to vote Republican.

Snoopy sent me a link to Starbuck flavored happy.

GwenRose sent me promotional images from David Tennant's production of Hamlet.

My cousin confirmed that she's coming to visit next month for most of a week. *bouncebouncebounce*

There are definitely worse ways to start a day. *grin*

We went to see Dark Knight last night.

It's been a long time since I saw a movie that makes me want to see it again and again and again in the theatres, but this is definitely one of them.

Unlike a lot of folks, it didn't really freak me out or make me shiver while I was watching it, but there's a sort of cumulative effect to the whole thing, and the more I think about it the more it makes me shudder and grin and get all excited to see it again.

Christian Bale has firmly cemented himself as "Best Batman Ever" in my opinion - not just because he's an amazing Batman, but also because he's a really amazing Bruce Wayne as well. None of the other actors I've seen can manage such a seamless transition between the two halves of that personality.

And Heath Ledger...*sigh* Seriously, I know I'm a fan girl and I know that I may be colored by having always liked his work, but oh my god was his Joker good. I don't think I'd say that he was better that Nicholson, just because you really can't compare them. Nicholson was what the first movie needed because it was a bright color comic movie. It wouldn't have worked in this dark new Gotham that Christopher Nolan has built. Ledger's interpretation however is just creepy and utterly perfect for the dark tone that's been set. It's got this cumulative effect that results in this uncanny, frightening, psychopathic portrayal that is all the evil things in the night rolled into one.

That laugh...god...that _laugh_ is freaking haunting. *shudder*

I want to go watch it again.


Edited to add: Am I weird that I wasn't freaked out by the Joker immediately? Seems to be a pervasive reaction in other posts (not just from women) about the need to duck or flinch or otherwise express terror at various points in the movie. I didn't have that reaction. I had more of an avid, "what's going to happen next?" reaction. Am I just a sick f&*k?

for Angelina Jolie fetishism... *drools*

Shar and I just got back from catching a showing of Wanted and if you'll pardon the pun, it's EXACTLY what I wanted in that movie.

Cool cars, a VERY hot chick, a few hot guys, explosions, chases and copious amounts of gun-fu.

And one of the best last lines I've heard in a very long time.

I was smiling all the way home. (Ok...so I've been smiling all day...but I was smiling particularly widely all the way home.)

Worst look ever for David Tennant? (Seriously...he looked better in drag...)

[Edit: Totally SFW]

WHEE!

As always, I have more to say about BayCon and what a wonderful weekend it was than I could possibly ever fit into one post - which is probably just as well, since some things should just stay at BayCon. :D

It was the usual fantabulous weekend of geekery and good times. As in years previous, I was traveling with the incomparably fun and beautiful redminx and va_peterson, and Ms. Vicki's boy K as well. This year, dalisair was along for the ride as well, and I was blessed with poeso, cjl101, gwenrose, jeebachu and adnate coming out for the first time and stride and snoopyh42 making a return visit. I also got a couple of drive-bys on fallen42 on Friday night and got to see a good cross section of the Sta Maria crew, which is always nice. (chelleann77's ring is really gorgeous...if you haven't seen it yet, you really should.)

And this year, unlike prior years, there are already pictures up! Yay! (Thank you Snoopy and Dalisair!)

The Minx, Ms. Vicki and I decided to do a trio of Gotham City's bad girls this year for our Saturday evening costumes - Minx was Poison Ivy, Ms. V was Harlequinn and I reprised my Catwoman costume from Halloween. We also had Ms. V's man and cjl101 as not one, but TWO Jokers, which didn't bother Harlequinn one bit. And on the "good girl" side of the comic book, poeso was a SMOKING hot Zatanna and stride turned heads as Dark Phoenix.

Captain Tightpants, aka waywardbound, joined us for much of the weekend as well, which was tons of fun as always. I think Poe charmed him, but Gwen and I made sure to properly abuse him so he wouldn't get a swelled head or anything. Wouldn't want this BayCon to be any different for him than prior years. =)

And I owe him big time for one of the highlights of my weekend...turning Stride into an elder god. *grins like a maniac* The man is the (proud I hope!) owner of the original Illyria costume from Angel. I was in a state of hyper fan-girl squee for most of Sunday afternoon. (Still am really...and I'm absolutely holding you to that t-shirt promise from ComicCon! ;P)

Other highlights -- school girl night was fun, as always. I even found out that I'm not really as horribly awful at swing dancing as I thought I was, and I have decided that I really enjoy having bows on my stockings. (Now I just need cuter panties if I'm going to be picking up people's keys in that skirt.)

I gave in to temptation and picked up a third corset, because apparently I don't _need_ a velvet corset...I must.have.one. - because it's a _moral imperative_. And because, as I said any number of times this weekend, it's so _f&&king PETABLE_! (Mmm...velvet...mmm...fondling velvet...mmm...clothes that beg to be touched...)

Other lessons of BayCon:

- lipstick makes a pretty good imitation of leaving marks, without leaving marks
- spandex may be a privilege for most people, but the committee has voted and for some folks, it really is a right
- life continues to be good in the Ottoman empire
- it is still possible for me to be stunned by my own reflection...which sounds really arrogant (and probably is) but it's nice to occasionally look at myself and think, "Holy shit! I actually AM hot..."

Further notes:
-- redminx...thank you again for organizing the rooms, sharing your booze and for getting me into the BayCon experience to begin with. I have never failed to have a wonderful weekend and not the least of that is due to the pleasure of your company. *hugs*
-- waywardbound, if they get the Companion's Guild off the ground, let me know. I spent my entire drive to work thinking about how to build an Inara costume around that new corset!
-- poeso...we need to do the Firefly costumes again some year. See above comment to WaywardBound re: Inara. I have IDEAS! *plot plot plot* (and I think you might not object if the last few of your garnets went into jewelry for such an outfit? *grin*)

Now...I'm supposed to be working. But first, must go add a couple people to my f-list. *waves at dalisair*

*insert fan girl pout here*

http://www.mythadventures.net/

Probably one of the key influences in drawing me into fantasy books...*sigh*

I regularly play in a couple of RPGs with people who tend to be very creative and inventive. Favorite characters are often drawn and there's the occasional playlist of songs that the group thinks are particularly appropriate to certain characters or character relationships. Lately, there's also been some writing of fan-fic pieces (assuming it still counts as such when you're writing for a group of 5 people).

I've had a couple ideas for stories related to my character in my Saturday game, and ladyofdragons and poeso have generally convinced me to write out one of them. Here's the thing though -- while I write a LOT for work (emails, memos, etc) and I make the occasional lengthy LJ post (like this one), I don't really write fiction. I never have. And more importantly, I don't usually write for a casual audience or purpose. The vast majority of my writing is work related and is pretty formal. The rest is very casual emails and other correspondence, which is a style unto itself. Aside from the lengthy LJ posts, I don't write much of any length that's designed for a non-technical purpose.
( And I continue at length... )

of Dr. Who. (Our copies of Seasons 2 & 3 arrived on Saturday.)

I watched something like 5 episodes yesterday and, predictably, had time travel related dreams.

I'll be picking up Torchwood as soon as it's available, but in the meantime (thanks to Punning_Pundit), I have pictures of Captain Jack snogging "Captain John" (aka James Marsters aka Spike from Buffy).

Now if you'll all excuse me...I'll be in my bunk.

I should probably be finding something to eat. I made the mistake yesterday of not eating between when I got up (around 8am) and about 4:30pm. It was a bad thing. I suspect however that the minute I pull something together, my phone will ring - so while I'm waiting for calls or email from the office (no, I won't be ranting again just yet), I figure it's a good time to take a few minutes to note that this week has been, in majority, a Very Good Thing(tm) and perhaps remind myself to be grateful of that fact.

First off - reason eleventy-bazillion and one why lairian totally wins: chocolate drizzled cinnamon roll shortbread cookies. o.O Seriously... I know I've said this before about his cookies, but these are little bites of heaven, or possibly mana, or probably both. They're amazing! *hugs tin protectively*

Secondly - rasharmyr gets triple husband brownie points for putting up with me (and my profession in general) yesterday. Not only did he NOT have a screaming hissy-fit about me spending most of a vacation day on work (and I think he might have been well within his rights, since I assured him I'd only need an hour or two), he also tolerated MY screaming hissy-fit about spending most of a vacation day on work and he reminded me to take breaks and he accepted that occasionally shit happens with far more grace than I did.

And in general, it's been a good week. There was dinner and a movie with Poe, Killian and the little one on Sunday, and then the holiday (mmm....beef) and then Japantown (again with Poe, Killian and munchkin) and then cookies and a movie with Shar. There were many many things that balance the things that I am continually tempted to complain about.

Best of all, I'm back to relaxing as of 3 minutes ago and there's New Year's Eve to look forward to! (Better known as "the night where I get to kiss EVERYONE*!" (* assuming they're willing)

So now...breakfast...and snuggling my hubby...and the rest of season 1 of Dr. Who which I am now thoroughly hooked on and will probably require that we obtain a copy of season 2 with all due haste and as much of Torchwood as I can get my grubby paws on as well. *fan girl squee*

My limited collection of Halloween pictures, including shots of the Catwoman costume and most of the crew of Serenity, are up on my Flickr page for those who are interested.

I have a very small memory card in my camera right now, so there's only a small handful of pics - mostly of the Serenity crew - but I'm sure there will be more available when Poe and Dragoness and LadyJ and others get time to post...which will be good since I don't have pictures of several folks including Stride, Gianni and CuddlyClthulhu.

Just finished watching the pilot for Bionic Woman.

What is it about tough blonde chicks with just a touch of psycho and a definite sense that they could kill me without blinking that gets me so hot and bothered? *shudder* *sigh* YUM.

(Of course, she's barely a supporting character...I suppose I'll have to decide if I like the show without her. But not just yet... *happy place*)

*whimper* SciFi channel has announced that they're canceling The Dresden Files after one short, but amazing season. *pout*

More details over here in ladyofdragon's post.

They always cancel my favorites...and for what? ECW? What the hell does fake-wrestling have to do with SciFi any how? Are they going to start cage death matches and call it "Thunderdome"? *growl*

I just spent three very happy hours on a wooden bench, so utterly entranced with what I was watching below me that I didn't even notice my backside going numb.

Every fiber of my being that loved my English Lit studies or my Shakespeare class or my Chaucer class or ever wanted to be a theatre major or ever loved a good British or Scottish accent was swooning with pleasure. Every bit of me that's been to faire and listened to costuming gossip/wisdom was thrilled. Every nerdy, geeky, pentameter loving bit of me was utterly consumed with the masterpiece unfolding on stage before me.

This was Shakespeare on a level that I have never seen it performed before.

Amazing, period accurate costuming. Skillful and expressive acting. ALL THE MUSICAL CUES from the original script! Singing, dancing, audience participation...it was...indescribable. *swoons*

I am filled with jealousy for every person who lives in or near London and has the opportunity to see this every summer. If/when I'm ever back here, a performance at the Globe will be on my agenda, no matter what they're playing.

( Lest I gush you to death )

Went to see Transformers tonight with Shar, Gryphon, LadyofDragons, Jeebachu, GwenRose, Snoopy, Thumper and Stride.

OH. MY. FREAKING. GOD.

I didn't really get into the cartoon as a kid. I've seen the animated movie because of Gryphon.

This was about 18 BILLION times cooler than anything the cartoon ever was!!!

Seriously.

Just...WOW.

Then we came home to find out that if you leave the heater on long enough, not only does the hot tub get pleasantly HOT, but the entire pool gets to about the temperature of bathwater.

I couldn't resist that and spent almost an hour in the pool. This is pretty close to bliss as far as I'm concerned. I'm _really_ going to enjoy having water to dive into whenever I choose. *happy sigh* We've turned the heater off for now, but it'll get turned back on tomorrow. I'm sure I'll regret that much energy usage when my next PG&E bill arrives, but for now... *bliss*

Oh, and Poe likes the necklace. =) She and Killian and their little one joined us for dinner.

So, as usual, my weekend at BayCon was JUST AWFUL! *overly dramatic hand-stapling gesture* *huge grin*

God I love Con. =D

I had my usual round of fun with corsets and velvet and short skirts and dark make-up and hotties, and this year our Saturday costumes went particularly well. I think we're going to have a hard time topping this year in fact -- I'm not sure what we could do to follow up Orion Slave Girls, but it's going to have to be creative.

And the set up worked every bit as well as we hoped. It took about 3 hours of prep time, but it was absolutely worth it considering we were stopped for pictures within 100' of the elevator and then about every 5' after that for the rest of the night. It was PERFECT. *glow* redminx deserves a huge amount of credit for coming up with the idea.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful too -- got to floor Snoopy with a troop of about 15 school girls, received back and foot rubs, got to snuggle and kiss on cute boys, danced like mad, had a chance to hang out with some of the Sta. Maria crowd that I don't see that often and really enjoy (including a nice opportunity to hang out with Cesare which I haven't really had a chance to do before), and generally had a fabulous time.

Killian, Poe and Stride all dropped in to visit at various times, which was fun -- and I bought fangs! *toothy grin* God damn but I was having fun with those on Sunday night. (Fortunately I had a couple of very attractive "test subjects" giving me a chance to play with them.) And did you know it's possible to do a full backbend in a corset? Doesn't hurt to have a spotter (thanks Waywardbound) but I got close even without.

And I closed out the weekend with a showing of Pirates (SOOO worth 3 hours in the theatre!!! Mmmm....eye candy...) with the gang and some hang out and socializing time after - including a wonderful opportunity to snuggle with the boys. I didn't get my usual post-Con nap, but I'll live, and it was worth it to end the weekend on such a pleasant note. I think it's helping to ease the post-Con hangover this year.

Now it's back to reality. It was a bit jarring to realize I wasn't going to have FireOpal to gush to when no one was listening...but I guess I'm going to have to get used to that. Besides, that's what LJ is for right? =)

And I'll post pictures from the weekend as soon as I have them.

[EDIT: Pictures have been posted by other LJer members here:
http://pics.livejournal.com/rmjwell/gallery/00019er1 and here: http://pics.livejournal.com/rmjwell/gallery/00019er1?page=4 -- I'll put up my favorites in my journal and when I have a complete set]