Tonight, my babies, Festival game signups are going live! I am so excited, I can't wait to see what everyone signs up for. I have my little plan ready, and I know what many people are thinking due to LiveJournal posts, but we're up to seventy-nine attendees for twenty games and there are so many interesting possibilities! I just am buzzing with anticipation to see what happens.
I wonder if it would be in bad taste to set up a betting pool. You know, with categories like "First games to fill," "Longest waitlists," "Most overall signups"...
Yes, that would be in bad taste. I still kind of want to do it. :-)
The magic happens here at 7PM EST!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Someday, a cookbook
Someday, I think I would like to write a cookbook. I enjoy cookbooks immensely, particularly when they contain more food writing than just recipes. It has been a trend in cookbooks lately to include little anecdotes related to the recipe's history in your family or some such, and I often do enjoy those, but I particularly like when cookbooks have interesting information about food in general. The Silver Palate Cookbook, for instance, contains spreads on how to use common herbs, how to pair an appropriate wine with your meal, identifying different cuts of meat and their uses, and all manner of interesting food concepts. It makes it a particularly enjoyable reference for me, because it teaches me about food in general, not just how to make a certain recipe. At the moment, I am not an advanced enough cook to do such a thing. Most of the things I cook are still straight out of the books I got them from, and I do not yet feel confident enough to start really designing recipes. I'm still working on figuring out how to alter current recipes to suit my needs and tastes, and while I'm getting better at it, I am hardly an expert in culinary improvisation. Improving my facility with that is still my current cooking goal. But eventually I hope to get to the point where I am designing my own versions of recipes, constructed entirely by my own experimentation and experience. I think it would be really cool to put together a book of those recipes, and add my own little interstitial bits about my thoughts and viewpoints on cooking.
Not right now, but someday maybe. I'd better keep on cooking, then, right?
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tea and vanity
Noticed last night that my hair is in desperate need of being done. It's long enough that my new sideswept bangs are no lot much different from the rest of my hair, which now falls below my shoulder blades. It doesn't look bad, but it's starting to get heavy and lose its body, as it always does when there's too much of it. I really let these things go for way too long; last styling was in August, for crying out loud. Not the habits of a stylish lady. In the coming week and weekend I should have more free time, so maybe I should schedule an appointment.
I am getting back into the habit of regular tea drinking. I've mostly been having it at work, for several reasons-- it's helps to keep warm in the chilly office, it curbs some of my urge to snack on junk food, and it keeps me hydrated when my tendancy is to dry myself out. I keep my tea is a metal thermos in my desk with a collapsible spoon, a mug, and a cheesy little teapot-shaped tea ball. Still drinking the same Samurai Chat Mate/White Ayurvedic Chai blend from Teavana, because it is fantastic and I am an addict. The only problem is that it's better the longer it steeps, but it doesn't usually develop really strong flavor until it's steeped so long the water's gone cold. I wonder if there's something wrong with my brewing technique. I am only using a stupid little tea ball, while I know that tea steeps best when allowed space to float around, so maybe that's it. It does tend to come out better in the basket in my teapot.
I have not been utilizing my large scarf collection to best advantage. Last winter I did a fabulous job coordinating the many colors of scarf I own to my cold-weather outfits, and felt really pleased with it. Lately I've been focusing more on having matching scarf and gloves, which is a chic look when you're all bundled up, but once I take my coat off that often leaves me a scarf that doesn't really go with my clothes. I got gorgeous red leather gloves for Christmas, so I've been wearing my red pashmina as a scarf a lot, but it's such a bold bright color it doesn't work with just anything. I could just take it off, but as I said my office is chilly, and I find myself wanting the extra warmth. I should do what I did last year and choose the scarf first, then match the gloves to it.
I am getting back into the habit of regular tea drinking. I've mostly been having it at work, for several reasons-- it's helps to keep warm in the chilly office, it curbs some of my urge to snack on junk food, and it keeps me hydrated when my tendancy is to dry myself out. I keep my tea is a metal thermos in my desk with a collapsible spoon, a mug, and a cheesy little teapot-shaped tea ball. Still drinking the same Samurai Chat Mate/White Ayurvedic Chai blend from Teavana, because it is fantastic and I am an addict. The only problem is that it's better the longer it steeps, but it doesn't usually develop really strong flavor until it's steeped so long the water's gone cold. I wonder if there's something wrong with my brewing technique. I am only using a stupid little tea ball, while I know that tea steeps best when allowed space to float around, so maybe that's it. It does tend to come out better in the basket in my teapot.
I have not been utilizing my large scarf collection to best advantage. Last winter I did a fabulous job coordinating the many colors of scarf I own to my cold-weather outfits, and felt really pleased with it. Lately I've been focusing more on having matching scarf and gloves, which is a chic look when you're all bundled up, but once I take my coat off that often leaves me a scarf that doesn't really go with my clothes. I got gorgeous red leather gloves for Christmas, so I've been wearing my red pashmina as a scarf a lot, but it's such a bold bright color it doesn't work with just anything. I could just take it off, but as I said my office is chilly, and I find myself wanting the extra warmth. I should do what I did last year and choose the scarf first, then match the gloves to it.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Unsettled, trying to be hopeful
Nervous today, unsettled. Brain is going a mile a minute in a million different directions. Have been pretty productive, though; got all my work done so far and even wrote my third Examiner article for the week; that puts me way ahead of schedule. Maybe I channel some of this intensity into writing now. That would be great. Haven't done enough writing this week; the weekend will have to be devoted to it.
There are lots of people I don't know following me on Twitter. Wonder why that is. Maybe it's from my Examiner profile? I think that's the only place my Twitter name is posted with a high likelihood of being seen by people who don't already know me. It could be their way of following my articles. If so, that's cool, I guess. More readers, more hits, eventually more money. It doesn't make much at all, but I suppose it's more than I'm usually paid for writing, eh? Maybe eventually it will work its way up.
Again and again, I am confronted by how against my nature it is to hold out hope. I am a realist on my best days, a pessimist on average, and on my worst certain the universe might as well just kill itself now. Right now I've got something ahead of me that could be really good, something that should be proving to me that there are reasons to stay hopeful. But I'm having a hard time shaking the thought that I have been in this position many times before, and it's never worked out the way I wanted. What I should be focusing on is that this is a new chance, something that came from my efforts to make things better. That should be reason enough for hope. It's just really hard for me to get rid of the thought of "Why should this time be any different?" I am learning. I am resolved in 2011 to try to learn.
I dressed up pretty today to try and feel better. It helped a little. Black skirt with simple tan floral pattern on it, white tuxedo skirt, red leather jacket, black tights, black strappy ballet flats. Amber earrings, anniversary necklace. I look nice, if a little formal. The jacket mitigates that a bit. Would look nicer with heels, but I'm not sure how much walking I'll have to do today. You'd think because the skirt is neutral I'd wear it with all kinds of colors on top, but for some reason I always just seem to pair it with black or white. Should try something more creative. Went with the tights are because they're prettier, and my leggings have finally bit it. Reminds me, I've been meaning to get some new leggings. They're good for wearing certain skirts in the winter, and I like the way they look under my tall boots. I wonder if I could pull off any color besides black. Maybe gray, but I'm not sure I'd like the look of chromatic leggings on me. Who knows, captainecchi* looked fantastic in purple tights on New Year's, maybe it's worth a try.
God, my brain is scattered. Still, I seem to be able to be productive in spite of it. Should be writing something for the projects. Trying to work up The Stand bluesheet. Wanted to see if I could do it in the form of a newspaper, to add to the diagesis without sacrificing information. Wish me luck.
There are lots of people I don't know following me on Twitter. Wonder why that is. Maybe it's from my Examiner profile? I think that's the only place my Twitter name is posted with a high likelihood of being seen by people who don't already know me. It could be their way of following my articles. If so, that's cool, I guess. More readers, more hits, eventually more money. It doesn't make much at all, but I suppose it's more than I'm usually paid for writing, eh? Maybe eventually it will work its way up.
Again and again, I am confronted by how against my nature it is to hold out hope. I am a realist on my best days, a pessimist on average, and on my worst certain the universe might as well just kill itself now. Right now I've got something ahead of me that could be really good, something that should be proving to me that there are reasons to stay hopeful. But I'm having a hard time shaking the thought that I have been in this position many times before, and it's never worked out the way I wanted. What I should be focusing on is that this is a new chance, something that came from my efforts to make things better. That should be reason enough for hope. It's just really hard for me to get rid of the thought of "Why should this time be any different?" I am learning. I am resolved in 2011 to try to learn.
I dressed up pretty today to try and feel better. It helped a little. Black skirt with simple tan floral pattern on it, white tuxedo skirt, red leather jacket, black tights, black strappy ballet flats. Amber earrings, anniversary necklace. I look nice, if a little formal. The jacket mitigates that a bit. Would look nicer with heels, but I'm not sure how much walking I'll have to do today. You'd think because the skirt is neutral I'd wear it with all kinds of colors on top, but for some reason I always just seem to pair it with black or white. Should try something more creative. Went with the tights are because they're prettier, and my leggings have finally bit it. Reminds me, I've been meaning to get some new leggings. They're good for wearing certain skirts in the winter, and I like the way they look under my tall boots. I wonder if I could pull off any color besides black. Maybe gray, but I'm not sure I'd like the look of chromatic leggings on me. Who knows, captainecchi* looked fantastic in purple tights on New Year's, maybe it's worth a try.
God, my brain is scattered. Still, I seem to be able to be productive in spite of it. Should be writing something for the projects. Trying to work up The Stand bluesheet. Wanted to see if I could do it in the form of a newspaper, to add to the diagesis without sacrificing information. Wish me luck.
Resolutions
It occurred to me yesterday that I hadn't made any New Year's resolutions yet. It's kind of a silly tradition, but it's nice to set goals for yourself to work towards, I guess.
Last year's resolutions were to learn how to dress more stylishly and to be less of a grouch. I think I did okay on the dressing one. Not so much on the grouch thing. I think in many ways I just traded some of the anger for depression. I may be slightly less angry, but it's probably because that emotional energy is more often directed into being sad. :-P
So, I guess in no particular order, some things I plan to do/try to do in 2011:
1. Make some professional improvement. I am not going to define this specifically, but I am not satisfied with my current just-okay situation. Have already begun some more serious efforts; we'll see how this goes.
2. Get back into healthy eating and exercise habits. Jared and I have already started eating better; let's see if I can add regular workouts in there too.
3. Write, cast, direct, and put on Merely Players.
4. Write, cast, and run The Stand at Intercon and Festival
5. Help write and run Resonance at Intercon and Festival
6. Make certain that Larpercalia this year is the best Festival it can be
7. Spend time with my parents. They need me right now, and I love them.
8. Be nicer to be people. I'm a bit tired of people thinking I'm a great big meanie, but it's probably my own fault. Keeping the temper in check would probably be a good place to start.
9. Develop some better stress management techniques. I guess I don't have any truly bad reactions-- I don't drink, I don't overeat, I don't hurt myself -- but what I'm doing isn't really enough. My tension and emotional upset level is getting out of hand.
10. Learn how to be hopeful. I really don't know how.
Last year's resolutions were to learn how to dress more stylishly and to be less of a grouch. I think I did okay on the dressing one. Not so much on the grouch thing. I think in many ways I just traded some of the anger for depression. I may be slightly less angry, but it's probably because that emotional energy is more often directed into being sad. :-P
So, I guess in no particular order, some things I plan to do/try to do in 2011:
1. Make some professional improvement. I am not going to define this specifically, but I am not satisfied with my current just-okay situation. Have already begun some more serious efforts; we'll see how this goes.
2. Get back into healthy eating and exercise habits. Jared and I have already started eating better; let's see if I can add regular workouts in there too.
3. Write, cast, direct, and put on Merely Players.
4. Write, cast, and run The Stand at Intercon and Festival
5. Help write and run Resonance at Intercon and Festival
6. Make certain that Larpercalia this year is the best Festival it can be
7. Spend time with my parents. They need me right now, and I love them.
8. Be nicer to be people. I'm a bit tired of people thinking I'm a great big meanie, but it's probably my own fault. Keeping the temper in check would probably be a good place to start.
9. Develop some better stress management techniques. I guess I don't have any truly bad reactions-- I don't drink, I don't overeat, I don't hurt myself -- but what I'm doing isn't really enough. My tension and emotional upset level is getting out of hand.
10. Learn how to be hopeful. I really don't know how.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Finally eating healthy again
Since Jared has gotten back, my eating habits have taken an unexpected turn for the better, and accordingly his have too. We've resolved to help each other stick to a sensible budget, and I am proud to say we have cooked dinner and made most lunches almost every day since we've been back in Waltham. We've been very busy, what with all the errands we've needed to run in order to get his new living situation in order, so we have been active and without a lot of extra time to snack between meals. Also because we haven't had a lot of time, we've been eating a lot of salads because they are quick and easy to prepare. My vegetable intake has been way up, and my calorie intake has been way down. Physically I feel better and healthier than I have in a long time. I'm hoping that if we keep it up we will both take off the little bit of extra weight we've put on. Plus, a pleasant side effect of cooking at least once day is that it forces us to keep up with the dishes, because we know we will be needing the kitchen clear again shortly when we prepare the next meal.
Monday, January 3, 2011
My personal Larpercalia plans
So, in the midst of this depression, let's try to focus on something positive. The Festival schedule is up and looks absolutely gorgeous, thanks to our wonderful GMs for bidding so many fantastic games. It's going to be a really good con. We currently have seventy-one people already signed up. That's less than I am expecting in total, which ultimately is around a hundred, but I'm uncertain of whether or not everyone usually signs up in advance, or whether they wait until they can actually sign up for games, or whether we'll get many people late rather than early in the process. Still, I expect a full complement of attendees by April.
Now! My personal plans for the con. As I said, there are so many good games, but alas, I have two slots taken by what I am running, and even then great games had to run opposite each other. Alas, there is nothing for it. Here is what I have elected to settle upon:
Friday night I am excited to play in The Prince Comes of Age. It looks very fun, and I am delighted to support the writing team, which is headed by morethings5*, who now holds the title of newest larp writer to come out of Brandeis. A Crown of Hearts also looks fantastic, but I will have to wait to play that one later, as I am already promised to Prince. :-)
Saturday morning I will be running The Stand, my newest solo project. It's shaping up to be one hell of a game, and since this will be the second run, hopefully by then it will be totally-fine tuned. Hope you'll consider playing, if you weren't among those kind enough to go for the Intercon run!
Saturday afternoon I have also promised to play in Epoch's Waning, Chapter 1: Ruins of Grandeur. Frankly I hate the title, but I am interested in the setting and tone of the game. Again I want to support the writing team, and since this is Bernie's baby, I have agreed to play and give what suggestions I have.
Saturday night I am running Resonance, the experimental brainchild of natbudin*, emp42ress*, and simplewordsmith* that they have graciously asked me to help write. It should be intense and novel, not to mention with a really unique structure, so if you're in the mood for something weird and deep, give it a try! I'm sorry to miss Better Off Dead and the others, but them's the breaks sometimes.
Sunday morning I will probably sleep like the dead, like usual. Still, all the games look pretty fun. Might have to break my no-Sunday-games rule, but we'll see.
So. What are you all playing in?
Now! My personal plans for the con. As I said, there are so many good games, but alas, I have two slots taken by what I am running, and even then great games had to run opposite each other. Alas, there is nothing for it. Here is what I have elected to settle upon:
Friday night I am excited to play in The Prince Comes of Age. It looks very fun, and I am delighted to support the writing team, which is headed by morethings5*, who now holds the title of newest larp writer to come out of Brandeis. A Crown of Hearts also looks fantastic, but I will have to wait to play that one later, as I am already promised to Prince. :-)
Saturday morning I will be running The Stand, my newest solo project. It's shaping up to be one hell of a game, and since this will be the second run, hopefully by then it will be totally-fine tuned. Hope you'll consider playing, if you weren't among those kind enough to go for the Intercon run!
Saturday afternoon I have also promised to play in Epoch's Waning, Chapter 1: Ruins of Grandeur. Frankly I hate the title, but I am interested in the setting and tone of the game. Again I want to support the writing team, and since this is Bernie's baby, I have agreed to play and give what suggestions I have.
Saturday night I am running Resonance, the experimental brainchild of natbudin*, emp42ress*, and simplewordsmith* that they have graciously asked me to help write. It should be intense and novel, not to mention with a really unique structure, so if you're in the mood for something weird and deep, give it a try! I'm sorry to miss Better Off Dead and the others, but them's the breaks sometimes.
Sunday morning I will probably sleep like the dead, like usual. Still, all the games look pretty fun. Might have to break my no-Sunday-games rule, but we'll see.
So. What are you all playing in?
Ten Day Meme: Day Ten
Day ten: one confession
1. Sometimes I hate myself for not being perfect. I hate my acne and my cellulite, I hate my temper and my judgmental tendencies, I hate my average intelligence and my weaknesses of character, fortitude, and ability. I hate myself for everything I can't do well or can't be well. Sometimes I can't understand why people can stand me at all when it's so glaringly obvious how imperfect I am.
1. Sometimes I hate myself for not being perfect. I hate my acne and my cellulite, I hate my temper and my judgmental tendencies, I hate my average intelligence and my weaknesses of character, fortitude, and ability. I hate myself for everything I can't do well or can't be well. Sometimes I can't understand why people can stand me at all when it's so glaringly obvious how imperfect I am.
New year, no progress
I was going to do the meme I did last year, where you examine the first line of the first entry of each month of the previous year and examine how it represents what was going on in your life. But when I looked back, I not only didn't feel like they did much to represent my life, but reminded me of what really went on all last year-- and that is, no progress. I find myself with the exact same set on problems on my plate as I did last New Year's, and I am incredibly disappointed and frustrated by that. It's not that nothing good happened last year-- I helped write a new weekend-long game, and I got to direct a fantastic version of my play, to name a couple things --but I didn't solve any of the issues I knew I wanted to deal with this time last year. I knew what was wrong and even though I resolved to fix it, I look at them now and I'm not in a different place with a single one of them now. It's not that I haven't tried, but everything I could think of to do didn't make a difference to such a degree that A WHOLE YEAR LATER I'm still in the same place.
I don't know what to do now. It's getting to the point where I'm out of ideas, and losing the will to keep grinding when no progress is being made.
I don't know what to do now. It's getting to the point where I'm out of ideas, and losing the will to keep grinding when no progress is being made.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Festival schedule is up for viewing!
Hello, lovely larpers,
This is just to let you all know that the schedule of games for Festival of the Larps is up on the website (http://larpercalia.festivalofthelarps.com/events/431) for viewing! Game signups will open on January 10th at 7PM, so get a look now and get ready! Also, pass the word around to your fellow larpers to sign up for the con before everyone descends on the games. :-)
Thanks for everyone's help in making this awesome schedule possible. Looking forward to seeing you all in April!
Your loving con chair,
Phoebe
This is just to let you all know that the schedule of games for Festival of the Larps is up on the website (http://larpercalia.festivalofthelarps.com/events/431) for viewing! Game signups will open on January 10th at 7PM, so get a look now and get ready! Also, pass the word around to your fellow larpers to sign up for the con before everyone descends on the games. :-)
Thanks for everyone's help in making this awesome schedule possible. Looking forward to seeing you all in April!
Your loving con chair,
Phoebe
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