[21 Nov 2009|11:21pm] starshine_wd Very tired, had an awesome day with seeing Yan and Raphael Feldman (who are hysterically funny) and Morena Baccarin (who seemed a little overwhelmed?) and Adam Baldwin (AWESOME! and he sat next to me at the meet and greet Desert Party...SQUEEE!). I'll update more when I have time. Btw, this is also a drunk post but I'm using my back button tonight...you know, habit. 2 comments|post comment

Weekends, argh. [22 Nov 2009|04:30am] drummergirl [ mood | chipper ] Yesterday, work was so fucking horrific (and I was so fucking stressed) that by lunchtime I got wine with my meal. The afternoon was considerably better, mostly because I had mellowed out from the wine. Today I will be out for most of the day with my America trip people, filling in CRB forms and goodness knows what else. It's ok though, there will be biscuits. Also, I would post about the Doctor Who preview from Children In Need, but I'm all squeed out. WHAT? 6 comments|post comment

[20 Nov 2009|11:26am] starshine_wd We got to the hotel in LA around 5pm tonight. We hooked up with Laurie and her son and had dinner. They were still on EST so they went to rest after dinner. Patrick and I went outside for a cigarette and met a bunch of other people here for the convention so we stayed outside for a little while. Now, we're just hanging out in our room but we're getting excited for tomorrow. Stupid blurty, still on EST, had to correct the date and time again. post comment

Apropos is a good word. [21 Nov 2009|01:12pm] loki_nb Apropos and as a follow-on to my previous post about Photography and people blocking shots with their hand (Oh, I'm not going to link to it, just look two inches down the page), I add this: On Thursday, Gonzo, while sitting on the other side of the pod from me as I was trying to organise something at my desk, held up his fancy schmancy digital SLR and started snapping photos without looking into the viewfinder. I, being extremely busy as well as annoyed by other things, held up my hand to block him. He then cited the blog entry, saying "Don't you hate people who do that?" This gave me pause, but in my head I can up with an answer. He was not taking photos because he found what I was doing interesting. He did not think I looked good. He was not even looking at the pictures he was taking. He was using the camera simply as a tool to annoy or provoke a reaction from me. This then gave me the right to block with my hand. 1 comment|post comment

[21 Nov 2009|01:11pm] loki_nb I read on someone's Twitter that smart Twitterers and Bloggers were part of the "Douchenozzle Offset Program". This made me smile. post comment

[19 Nov 2009|09:15pm] starshine_wd We spent the afternoon at Sea World today. It's one place we always love to visit and we have to see the Shamu show. We did get soaked but luckily we dried off fairly quick but DAMN that water was cold. We're back at Deb's for the night and we decided to skip the San Diego Trolley Tour tomorrow so we could get an early start and hopefully miss rush hour traffic. I've decided to send some of my luggage back via UPS so we don't have to lug quite as much with us on Monday so we'll stop there before heading to LA and then we'll be at the hotel all weekend. 1 comment|post comment

[18 Nov 2009|11:38am] starshine_wd Okay, I know it doesn't look like I posted yesterday but I did, just take my word for it. I marked it private because it's a copy of the letter I sent to the Better Business Bureau in response to the stupid company who, so far, won't refund my money for that DC AfterDark Tour back in October. As for today's post: Yesterday, we went to Hard Rock Hollywood for lunch with Rian and that went back to her place. She made us chicken noodle with mashed potato and we watched t.v. and played Scattegories and Uno. Good times, good times. Unfortunately, we had to leave her this morning. We headed out around 10:30am for the Wild Animal Park. We enjoyed ourselves and got to see the things we wanted to see and do the things we wanted to do. We both wanted to take the Safari Tour - done, I wanted to feed the Lorikeets - done and Patrick wanted to see the Cheetahs - done. We left there and headed to Target so I could get some hair spray since mine had spilled in my luggage. Luckily, it was in a plastic bag so the damage was minimal. I also ended up getting How I Met Your Mother S2, Religulous and Zack & Miri. (I also bought The Curious Case of Benjamin Button later on at a convenience store). From Target, we headed to Dave & Busters (a restaurant/arcade). My cousin, Debbie, met us there and we had supper and then played in the arcade. Edit: I just noticed that this posting was listed for Thursday, at 2:28am, instead of Wednesday, 11:38pm. Strangely enough, my Blurty seems to still be on EST instead of PST. I corrected the date and time. I'm not bothering to correct the time on the actual Thursday entry since it's still on the correct day. You may now return to your regularly scheduled program. 3 comments|post comment

still here [17 Nov 2009|10:42pm] mr_mctavish had a pig of a day today, work shocking! not one, not two, but three complete disasters, all shocking to deal with! just been in the Lakes for the weekend, in a posh hotel with sauna and jacuzzi. that was awesome! previous weekend was spent in Brighton with some of my oldest mates. and the week before that I was in Manchester to see Green Day. this weekend I'm back in Leek - which will be just fantastic! need some me-time. take care... post comment

[16 Nov 2009|09:04pm] starshine_wd Arrived safely (and a little early) in LA this morning. Got to Rian's around 12:30pm. Went to In&Out Burger for lunch, took a nap and am now stuffed from a delicious dinner after taking a much needed nap. Jenn's chicken fried steak is well worth the trip and I'm totally going to be spoiled because Rian's making chicken noodles w/ mashed potatoes tomorrow. I'm going to burst by the end of this trip, let me tell you. Now, just hanging out with friends and having SUCH a nice time. 2 comments|post comment

Mars Needs Women [16 Nov 2009|09:19pm] bally [ mood | excited ] [ music | Air - Mike Mills ] Apologies for the title, but I've already used Life On Mars, and, well... yeah. ( Doctor Who episode 4.16/30.16 The Waters Of Mars review ) 6 comments|post comment

I could blog about important stuff. [16 Nov 2009|11:03am] drummergirl [ mood | annoyed ] I mean, a lot has happened since I last had a proper update. I went to London and saw WDers and got John Barrowman's autograph via Christine, and then a load of good stuff happened at work, and I could even talk about this house-hunting malarkey. BUT INSTEAD I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT PONIES. You see, Hasbroken (as they are maturely referred to on The Pony Boards) have decided to set up their own TV channel to brainwash kids with. And one of their Maybe Certainly Most Definite brands to get its own show? OMG PONIES!!1! You'd think that I'd be punching the air about this, except... well, the ponies have changed In the 80s, the ponies on TV looked like this, this and this. Then in the 90s came My Little Pony Tales, which we don't talkabout. Then, when the Pony line was relaunched, we got a pretty middle-of-the-road cartoon with inoffensive design, such as this (y hallo thar, Pinkie Pie.) Then. Hasbro rejigged the line, trying to make it cooler for older little girls. The result is a style which has caused uproar in really pissed off the Pony Community. The ponies in the cartoon, accordingly, now look like cartoon versions of THIS. RUN AWAAAAAY. Seriously, What is wrong with their heads?! And why are their hooves so freakishly huge?! Kiss mine, Hasbro. TL:DR version: They Changed Ponies And Now They REALLY Suck. 9 comments|post comment

[15 Nov 2009|02:35pm] starshine_wd I'll be in California in less than 24 hours! WOOT! I'm almost completely packed, just have those few odds and ends you can't pack until just before leaving. Also, I still think I've over-packed so I may go through things one more time. It's so much easier for guys. [sigh] According to my son, he's packing one pair of jeans (in case the ones he's wearing get too dirty, he said with a smile) and enough shirts, socks and underwear for the week. Knowing him, everything will just be crammed in the suitcase too. 4 comments|post comment

Bring it, essay. [15 Nov 2009|09:59am] drummergirl I've got about 1000 words left to produce on this wretched essay, then go through and standardise/check all my footnotes, work out some kind of bibliography and attach appendices. Then I have to print the bastard, post 2 copies to uni, and send it electronically for marking. (Obviously I can't do any of the posting until tomorrow.) DOCTOR WHO IS TONIGHT. :-D 1 comment|post comment

Mull Of Kintyre [14 Nov 2009|10:15am] bally [ mood | apathetic ] [ music | none ] Help settle something for me, team. Michael McIntyre: funny, or the complete opposite? 5 comments|post comment

All's well that ends well [14 Nov 2009|02:59am] starshine_wd Just spent over three hours in the Emergency Room again. Only this time it was with my mother. My husband came home around 9:30pm and asked me for my parents address. I answered him and he told me that there was a call to my parents' address for someone having chest pains. It had just come over his pager so he came right home to tell me. I called my parents' number and my mom's neighbor told me that my mother was having chest pains. The ambulance wasn't there yet so I said I would meet them at the hospital. They got there very shortly after I did. My mom was talking and her color was okay. She wasn't in pain anymore or anything. Their still not sure what caused it (possibly it was just really, really bad heartburn). They drew blood and took a chest x-ray and an EKG. The blood work and x-ray were fine but her EKG was "slightly" abnormal so the doctor told her she could go home if she really wanted to but since he didn't have any previous EKGs to compare this one too he recommended she stay. She chose to go home. She said her last EKG showed a slight abnormality too. My mom worked as a medical assistant and was an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) for years so she knows the signs of a heart attack and considering where the pain was and what it was like, it doesn't really point to heart attack. I trust her to know her own body so I was okay with her deciding to go home. We had sent my dad home about a half hour after she got there because there was no way he would have been able to stay awake so I brought her home after they released her. My first thoughts when I heard "chest pains" was my dad because he has a history of high blood pressure. So, all in all, not a bad night after all considering what the alternatives good have been. 2 comments|post comment

"Oh, don't take a photo!" [13 Nov 2009|11:14pm] loki_nb [ mood | frustrated ] [ music | 1000 BPM - Beck ] I’m finally taking a stand.   I hate, hate, HATE people who:   1.   flinch away, or try to block their face with their hand when you try to take a photo   -or-   2.   people who, upon seeing a perfectly fine-looking photo of themselves that you just took, will exclaim “Oh, God! I look ugly/fat/stupid! Delete that!”   Seriously, I’m over it.   As someone who takes a lot of pictures (nearly 4000 this year alone), nothing frustrates me more. This is especially bad when I’m trying to take a candid photo to actually capture a funny or interesting moment that I feel would make a good and well-composed picture. That candid photo is ruined when the person becomes a cringing blur as they exhibit behaviour A. Yes, I know that everyone’s image is their own business and that I shouldn’t be taking photos without permission, but come ON. Behaviour B seemed to be more of the ingrained body-conscious insecurity that’s drilled into people (of which I myself am an occasional victim) in which we must automatically downplay ourselves as ugly for fear of being considered arrogant and conceited (or worse, actually believe that we are unattractive and dismiss ourselves out of hand).   In any case, it comes down to this:   1.   I am a photographer and therefore (for better or worse) am an artist (of some sort). 2.   The pictures I compose and attempt to compose (for better or worse), are art (of some sort). 3.   Therefore, the people and objects in the picture (for better or worse), are part of that art (of some sort) and are worthy/interesting. 4.   Therefore, shut your face about it. I think you look good/interesting in this photos and that’s that.   These thoughts were kicked into action by a farewell I was at last night, and two friends of whom I took a candid photo of two people I know sitting by a wall and laughing at what a person standing nearby had said. The candid photo was natural and looked great. They then noticed I was taking photos and got quite embarrassed saying “Oh, delete that, I’m sure it looked terrible.” Despite having not seen the photo. I tried to downplay the situation by saying “Well, if you don’t want me to take a bad photo, let me take a good one.” (my mantra of sorts), and they posed. Then viewed the picture. “I look terrible in that one,” one said. “Take another.” They posed again. Repeat times 5. In the end, I just walked away. When I looked at the results, the two best-focused and best-looking photos were the first two I’d taken. Also, after putting the photos on Facebook, I got a narky comment about the candid one, stating “When did you take this, how dare you, I’m going to kill you when I see you next OMG.”   I can’t win. Frankly, I miss my old camera-phone, where you could take a picture without making a shutter sound, so people wouldn’t know (though, the camera was no good, and I know they auto-enabled the noise to stop locker-room shots and such).   So yes, if you’re one of the people like Craig and Stevie and Ted, of whom I can take many many photos and just love the attention, then I salute you.     Lucas Brown | Proxy Champignon Master of Brainthinking   4 comments|post comment

Blaaargh [13 Nov 2009|03:12pm] drummergirl Today I came up with 600 (fully footnoted) words. SIGH. 2 days left for this essay. Of course, instead of contonuing to write, I am now drinking wine and watching the Doctor Who Greatest Moments (Martha). Oh, Martha, you were pretty awesome. And Ten was kind of a douche to you. NEW WHO ON SUNDAY, YOU GUYS. :-D 3 comments|post comment

[13 Nov 2009|03:05pm] starshine_wd Went to the pharmacy to pick up a script for my thyroid med and there was a script of Tylenol with Codeine waiting for me there as well....since last Friday...when I had called my doctor saying the pain was severe and I needed something...and never got a call back so went to the emergency room. Nice to the nurses were on the ball in letting me know my doctor HAD done something besides ignore me. I did call the dr's office when I got home and the receptionist apologized but also gave me the excuse that they're "crazy busy" on Fridays. Ummm....that's an excuse for incompetence? I also dropped off my insurance paperwork to them to fill out and get back to me. The person to whom I gave it to tried to argue with me that my surgeon (who I don't even have an appointment with yet) needs to fill out the form because my primary care doctor doesn't know when I'll be able to return to work. I must have explained three times that I had called the insurance company and that it was okay to leave the return date blank. Once all this is done and over with, it's time to go on the hunt for another doctor...again. I just want one that I feel listens to me (doctor AND receptionists/nurses) and takes my complaints seriously and doesn't treat me in a condescending manner. post comment

[12 Nov 2009|05:31pm] starshine_wd Went to the specialist today and I'm going to need surgery. This will be probably the beginning of December. Luckily, I pay for disability insurance and so I called them today about filing a claim and what needs to be done. I also need to bring paperwork to my primary care doctor so she can fill out her portions. What a headache (not that all the pain is in my head [doh]). Also, still leaving on Monday. post comment

How time flies [11 Nov 2009|06:43pm] starshine_wd Twenty-four years ago today, I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl. TWENTY-FOUR YEARS! Yet, I can still remember it perfectly. Tonight, I made her her favorite dish: tuna casserole. I never understood people's aversion to it. My family loves it except for my youngest. I think it might be the recipe which is my mom's. It's just tuna, medium egg noodles and a cream sauce (flour, milk and a bit of salt). I know others make it with Cream of Mushroom soup and that does sound icky to me. Happy Veterans Day! Happy Remembrance Day! Happy Birthday, Megan! 1 comment|post comment

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