Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, working, sushi, power outtage, I'm so tired.

I can't get over how beautiful this piece is. Apparently it used to be on sale on Displate but is no longer but the artists name is Jesperish. I will be looking for them more thoroughly later. For now, enjoy!

I've done a thing. I am not usually a person who eats seafood. I'm allergic to shell fish and don't really like the taste and texture of most fish. I do like tuna and salmon though. But I got adventurous- it really was for the sauce and a bit of mild curiosity- and tried a caterpillar roll which has unagi (eel) in it. It was okay. I almost cried at one point, but it was good. I really do love the sauce. Apart from that, I pretty much will eat veggie and fruit sushi and sushi with cooked salmon or tuna in it. 

Saturday was the day of sushi exploration. Kat and Selene talked me into taking a break from work to go to the MAC (museum of arts and culture) which I will make a later post about. I have lots of pictures! Saturday was also the day that we came home and lost power, in fact, several sections of the city lost power thanks to the heat, dust, and a little rain- or so the power company said. And the power didn't come back on until 11:30 pm. Selene and I had already gone to bed, which was fine. What wasn't fine was the fact that some idiots decided to break in and vandalize the red house across the street from us. We couldn't see them and with the way things echo on our street, we couldn't really tell where the noise was coming from. It was kind of scary. Our neighbor's kid told us the next morning that they had come home and seen the perps in the act and called crime check and the police said they would come out only they didn't. So that's fun! 

I've been working pretty much all day, every day, for the last week or so, sometimes working 9-12 hours days with some breaks scattered throughout. I can't just sit all day, my body won't allow it. And it has been very exhausting.  I am so tired and don't feel like I am getting much accomplished. 

On to the more important bit. I have watched the first 2 episodes of the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. I don't hate it and if I pretend that its something else (as in not Lord of the Rings) I am excited for it. It doesn't have the same feel or tone. Close but not quite. That may change the further the series progresses. Still, I am enjoying it and do want to see more.

Because ELVES DAMNIT! 

And I really like seeing the Elven Cityscapes. And I do want to see more of young Elrond. The social structure of the elves seems... odd? There was something that threw me a little and I need to go back and re-watch it to see if I missed something or if it really is odd. As a side note, Selene found a "which LOTR character are you based on your Zodiac" thing. Mine is Galadriel! Hers was Gimli. 

Well, back to work.

 

 

KuroNekoCon 2018

For the last ten years Spokane has put on KuroNekoCon. I haven't lived in the area as long as that, but since I learned about it, I've wanted to go. It is one of the less expensive anime conventions I've been too as well as one of the smaller ones. I've been to bigger and while those cons are a blast, they are packed with people and have long lines. I tend to prefer the smaller cons so I can get to and from places, see the panels I want easier, and well, there are less people. 

Side note: you may or may not recognize this park- which is across the river from the convention center, as the one that hosted a World's fair in the 70s and it was also where they shot some scenes for Benny and June. And no, I still haven't seen that movie. 

I  also haven't been to explore the park proper. I've been to sections on the south side of the river and enjoyed those, but never managed to cross over the bridge or park on the north side to explore there. I am hoping that this spring, I will be in better shape physically, won't have had any surgeries, and can go play there. But for now, on to the con...

First I'm going to say that we had a full house. Our friend, the Twins and their two brothers came up from Moscow, Id for the con and Amanda's  friend from her MFA program in Boston, Marilyn came for the con and to see us as well. 

Here is the KuroNekoCon program. I really liked the cover art for this year it was really cute.  I think one of the reasons I like anime so much is because the art styles appeal to me. 

A picture of the some of the programming available for the first day. Amanda and I both noticed they had a bit of a problem, there were errors all over it. Which meant they either rushed to get the programs printed or whoever put it together, didn't proof it and edit well enough. It bothered Amanda so much she decided we HAVE to join the committee for the con to fix this for next year. I would love to help with that too. 2019 spoiler alert, we are going to see about joining the KuroNekoCon planing committee or board to and see if we can't bring some of our ideas in to help the con run smoother, because its something we enjoy and want to see flourish.  

One of the things I like is Moe Maid Culture (its half fashion, half cute stuff), so I went to a panel about just that. This adorable lady came all the way from New York to talk about a Maid Cafe there. She was super cute and she said the anime Maid Sama was probably the best, most accurate representation of a real Maid Cafe, although not totally like it. Still, that is helpful in knowing what to expect when going. The Maids want their customers to feel like they have come home and to relax and have fun.

One band was present at the con this year and it was Kazha. I didn't know much about them, so I thought I would check them out since I like hearing new music. My friend Tomi was at the Con too and she said she really liked them. Since Tomi and I have a lot of the same tastes in music, I definitely wanted to see them. 

It didn't seem to matter where I stood, I could not get a good picture of Kazha herself. But you can take a listen to her and the band here.

BB-8 was there, rolling around and paused for a photo op!

One of the panels Amanda, her friend Marilyn, and I went to was on Taiko Drumming. We've seen this group preform at the Perry Street Fair a couple of years ago and really liked them. As it turns out, not only were they letting people try it out, but they let people come and learn how to drum and join their group. I got way too shy to go up on stage, so Amanda (in the pink dress) went up. Even Marilyn went up. We'd like to go try it out in 2019.

The must see panel for me was the one on Kendo. I've always been fascinated by it since I learned of it through anime, but didn't figure I would ever get the chance to learn something like that. Guess again, there is a club right here in town and they have classes. I won't be able to go to them for awhile, we don't have the money for it, but I am hoping that I can soon, even if it is just a beginners class. 

One of our Twin friends and her younger brother. We were waiting outside the gaming hall, trying to decide what we were all going to do next.

Someone cosplayed as the Goddess in Moana, her cosplay was beautiful!

An Aggretusko cosplayer. 

This girl dressed as prisoner Shiro from Voltron and since it was just after the Voltron people had confirmed that Shiro is gay, she wore a gay flag too. I loved it, so I asked if I could take her picture. Apparently, I was the first person to do so and seemed to know who she was playing.

Had some girls cosplaying Voltron cheerleaders.

My other must see panel was a Voltron Monsters and Mana (Voltron's version of D&D) game. It was so much fun and this group did an amazing job. The cosplayer playing Lotor was hilarious!

there were three of the T-rexes running about  the con. They were pretty fun too.

A better look at the Voltron cosplayer panel I enjoyed so much.

We took the bus one of the days we went to the con. In sunlight, I really do look pale. 

The beautiful Marilyn

Amanda being silly and going to the con Goth style.

I didn't have a costume for the con but I did decide to make myself a stencil of the Fairy Tail guild's tattoo (from the anime Fairy Tail) and used eye liner, eye shadow, and a setting spray. It came out pretty good and lasted all day! 

One afternoon we went to Sushi Sakai for lunch. Because I can't have any shell fish and don't like fish in general, I was pleased to find vegetarian sushi on the menu.

We also shared a bottle of sake.

This artist, Charamath, has some beautiful work. The blue, yellow, and orange elf picture in the bottom left corner came home with me. When I saw it, I knew it was mine. Here's a link to her shop on etsy if you want to see more Charamath's Art Corner.

I can't recall the artist who did this print, but I made Amanda get it. It was the best Keith print at the whole con.

Two key chains Amanda and I bought. Mine is Shiro and her's is Keith. 

When I walked into the Vendor hall I saw this Dakimakura and had to know what the character was from. I love his design and as it turns out, he's from the web comic Phantom Paradise. Its in the fantasy genre. As soon as we came home from the con, I looked it up and so far, I am really enjoying the comic, which you can find here if interested.

We bought more art and a few trinkets from the vendor hall and went to the gaming hall a few times to either sit and relax or play games. We also sat out in the convention center's 'cafe' area and watched people come and go. It was a lot of fun and reminded me how much I miss doing things like that. 

Hospital, homework, and home

Happy Thorin

You'll have to forgive me, I don't have any photos of the house yet, it's not put together much less completely unpacked. We've been a bit tired and run down, everything is catching up to us and we've slowed down a good deal. Things are coming in from the garage to be unpacked pretty much one box at a time. It is what I can manage. But even that has been pretty slow because we haven't figured out where to put everything or don't have certain things set up just yet. It will happen when it happens. I'm hoping I'll get a little more pep in my step after a couple of days, but we will see. 

Homework is going well, so far. My text book just arrived so I have a bit of reading to do today and tomorrow. I need to do an assignment in grounding today and then write about my experience. The tech we use for school is interesting. We use Skype for business, Second Life, Moodle (which is just like Blackboard), and Office 365. I really didn't know if I was going to like Second Life, but its actually kind fun and a brilliant way for the school to bring all the students and teachers together- give us faces and voices to names. Well, we all have avatars and I am sure not all of us look like them- I certainly don't, but still. 

Anyway, aside from that I've asked a couple of friends who are going to the school as well, if we wanted to do a study group. At the moment, it's set for Friday mornings and I am excited to see how all of us approach our lessons. One of the ladies coming is a year ahead of the other girl and I but she's taking a World Religion class and I'm looking forward to seeing what she says about it. 

Okay, on to the hospital. I drove myself to a smaller emergency room in my local area yesterday while Amanda was at work. My right leg has been bothering me lately. At first I thought it was because of how I have been sitting, or maybe even that I aggravated my old shin splints, but when I rubbed my shin, I found a warm spot and under it what felt like a knot and that hurt to touch. I gave it a little time to see if it would go away but it didn't. Since one of my Grandma's died of a blood clot and I'm not taking blood pressure meds, I thought I better be safe than sorry, and get it checked out. My ultra sound looked great, no blood clots, and they checked both legs. As far as the lump in the leg, well the doctor isn't quite sure what it is, could be a nasty knot in the muscle or a cyst. He sent me home with instructions to ice it frequently and get in touch with my primary doctor to let her know what's going on.  

Other than that, we've explored our new area a little bit, discovered a store called Hobby Town USA that looks to have a ton of games inside, and went out last night for a friend's birthday. We met up at a place downtown called Sushi Sakai. The sushi was delicious! I had Inari, Miso soup, and a Avocado, beet, and daikon radish roll.  I keep forgetting how filling sushi is. After that, we walked down the street to the Piano Bar where they had a 'Dueling Pianos" event going on. Two guys were taking requests and playing pianos opposite each other. It was a lot of fun and once again I was reminded why the hell we don't go out to bars. Drinks were crazy expensive! Amanda and I had a shot, got one for a friend, and then we split a disappointingly small martini concoction. We spent 40 dollars. That's nuts! But we did have fun and I certainly hope our friend had a nice birthday. It was also the birthday of an older Asian lady. She reminded me a bit of my Mom when my Mom has had a bit to drink. Her birthday request was an Elton John song and she danced and played a cow bell. She was so adorable and fun! 

Well, I've put homework off long enough. I'm still playing catch up on everyone's blogs, but I am getting there. Oh, and Amanda got a cell phone ordered for me. It is on the way!    

 

Finished and celebrating a little

Last night I finished the 1st draft rewrite of my fanfic story. It ended at 396 pages. While that might not seem like a big deal to some, for me it is something worth celebrating. 1. I'd struggled with writing for a couple of years due to living situation and a crippling lack of self confidence. 2. I can always seem to start stories but never complete them.

To celebrate Amanda went to the store and bought me ice cream sandwiches. I ate two last night while trying to decide what to do with myself. I wanted to keep writing but I need to take a little bit of a break plus we have E. here and I don't want to be glued to my computer the whole time. 

I'm having a little trouble trying to decide what to do with myself today. I feel a tad lost. Writing that story kept me sane while I was going through some really tough shit and yeah, I used it as a crutch. I'll admit to being a little scared of not having it. Except I do have it. I still have editing to do and I have other writing projects I want to embark on.

Speaking of other writing projects, I need to take some time today to go through the library/Bowie room and try to locate some world building notes for a novel I need to write. Somehow I've managed to lose them somewhere and I know they are in this house. I also have some reading to do. 

But aside from that, we are heading out to Sushi Maru tonight. Its a conveyor belt sushi bar restaurant in the mall next to the river. While I can't have shell fish and don't like fish anyway, they do have some alternatives that I can eat, like fruit sushi and an orange chicken roll. Our friend Rachel is going to join us and we might come back to watch a movie after.