Today is Christmas.

What did you do today?

Christmas is a great time of year.  It takes all year to get here and is gone in an instant.  What did you do to make it memorable?  I decorated my condo, had lots of good intentions and didn’t do one thing. Did visit with family however.  To me, that is what is important for the holidays.  You never know how much time you or your loved ones have left so to me, spending that time is important.  But I gotta tell you, my hands are raw from all the dishes, pots and pans and silver I washed over the last few days.  When next this comes to my house…….. PAPER PLATES PEOPLE, PAPER PLATES!    I’m not proud.  I can set a mean table with paper plates!!  Can’t you?  ;)

Oh my God, I’m BACK!!!

OK, this will probably send you into hysterical laughing fits, but I haven’t posted in so long because I hit a button somewhere along the way, no idea how I did it or where it is, but when I hit whatever button it was, I couldn’t find where to log in anymore. I just plain haven’t been able to get here (shut up, you know who you are).
Of course if you know me, you know that I have no technical ability at all, so you shouldn’t be surprised. I mean just today, I couldn’t get my car out of park.  Really, I have only been driving for 36 years, and have had this car since 2008, so it should come as no surprise when I say……..I can’t get my car out of park…….. Turns out, there was a true and legitimate reason my car couldn’t get out of park.  The brake switch was faulty.  Terribly embarrassing really.  You sit in a parking lot for a good 1/2 hour unable to get your car out of park.  You get on the phone and call the service department and ask……”how do I get my car out of park?”  After they have finished laughing at you, and you have said, “seriously, I need help here”, they tell you to stand up and jump on the brake with all your might (seriously), so you do to once again uproarious laughter only to have them say, we are sending a flatbed to come get you.  Nice, yes, well thank you very much, appreciate that………. farging iceholes.  Good thing you don’t leave tips for your car service.  (Of course I suppose it is just buried in the price of the repair.)

Las Vegas

It is that time of year again, I am in Las Vegas.  I do love to go on my birthday, so once again, a year has come and gone and I am back.  It looked like this on the runway today.  It looks like there is going to be a collision, but in reality, they were both parked waiting for a Southwest flight to land.  We were parked as well waiting for that same flight so we could cross the runway.  But what a sight.

 

 

 

 

Staying at the MGM Grand this year.

 

I enjoy staying here and have on several occasions. But it is such a very sad sight now, the MGM is dark at night.  The economy being so bad in Las Vegas, the green monster is dark, no longer lit up in that amazing emerald green as in the past, and you can no longer see the hotel from 30,000 feet when you fly over the city.  It truly reflects the times.  However, to me there is no better time than Las Vegas in December.  Crowds are thin and gambling is hot!!  Oh and the food.  ARGH!!!!  Such wonderful places to eat, even just the 24 hour cafes in the hotels have great food.  You just can’t really go wrong.

December 14th
Well today is my birthday and I am getting OLD.  LOL  My birthday will have extreme significance from now on, the Bellagio hotel was robbed today.  Right at the shift change, someone came in to the hotel and held up, at gunpoint, one of the craps tables and made off with quite a bit in large denomination chips.  Have no idea where this guy even thinks he will cash these, but as they say, stupid is as stupid does and crooks are about as stupid as they come.
But on a good note…….. I played quite well today at the Bellagio

Here are some photos of the conservatory at the Bellagio.  So pretty!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next trip here will be in February.  Anyone is welcome to join the party!!!

 

DragonCon!

I do a LOT of conventions every year, and I have a GREAT time at every one.  The exception is DragonCon in Atlanta.  That convention is not only fun, it is OUTRAGEOUS  FUN!!!!!!!!!!!  This is a MUST do convention for people who are really into costuming.  You will see some of the best if not the best costumes anywhere.  The costumes at this show are all about detail. http://www.dragoncon.org/

I am so not a heat or humidity person, but I brave the heat and humidity once a year to attend this convention in Atlanta whether I have actors attending or not.  The show has swelled in the last 10 years to encompass a lot more locals than in years past. (although I was a bit disappointed this year as a LOT of non-convention goers and general hotel guests kept crashing various convention areas)

I arrived on Wednesday so I could have a bit of a rest and watch the zoo unfold all day Thursday.  You know those time lapse photos? Well imagine sitting in the lobby of the Marriott and watching people and costumes arriving from the 4 corners of this planet. I am not exaggerating, they come from all over.  We get the usual Aussies, Brits and Kiwis of course  (glad to see you guys!! Thanks for stopping by!  ) but this year I met people from Sweden, South Africa, and the Czech Republic.  See, everywhere.

As I was sitting in the lobby watching the people, I saw so many people I recognized from years past.  Maybe not their names, but con goers in general.  Such a different breed of person.  They are fun, and never judge another for being different. Because after all, what are they but different themselves!  And I suppose I need to include myself in that group because I do love a good sci-fi program.  Heck I will even watch a bad one if it lends to a good discussion. But enough of that. Attendees arrived, actors arrived and the party slowly got started.  Thursday night was really a get together and catching up with old friends and introduction of some new ones.  Actors appeared in the bars and restaurants to mingle and say hello to yet another generation of fans.  Such a pleasant beginning to the convention.

Then comes Friday……..and all good kinds of hell break loose!  Costumes start coming out of the woodwork and they are just great! The thought people put into their costumes is fantastic, and once they get the idea, the detail comes along.

I am always blown away by the creativity that comes through in these. Of course we have Alien……

And because I do love Futurama, how could there NOT be a Zap Brannigan, the ego maniac.

True Blood was also well represented with a great Lafayette and Jessica!!

I had my own geek moments……..but I will talk about THEM later…. LOL

For your enjoyment, check out this blog, the costume photos there are wonderful!!! http://www.epbot.com/

Blue Angels

Just a short note, I got a shot of the Blue Angels flying over the house.

Are these planes awesome or what??

Here is Fat Albert!!!  Awesome plane.  It hauls all the Blue Angels gear.

Just being able to see these planes is just amazing.  I love watching them fly.  This year because of the weather, they could only fly their flat show, but it was so good!!  I like it better because the planes were right in front of you the whole times.

Support those Angels!

August in Seattle

If you come to visit Seattle, come in August.  It is “generally” a time of sunshine, parades,  street fairs, Seafair (the hydro races) the Blue Angels and of course whale watching in the San Juans!!  Every weekend something is happening.  Whether professionally sponsored or just a but of high school cheerleaders holding a car wash to earn uniform money, August is busy.

This weekend is Seafair.  Pack up the picnic, go REALLY early to get a good spot on the lake, set up the chairs, umbrellas and other paraphernalia and you are ready to watch the preliminary for all the races…… except today it is POURING RAIN!!!  Overcast we sometimes get in August, but RAIN!!!  Not in a lot of years during Seafair and it has been here for 63 years.  I have long since outgrown the NEED to pack up a picnic and camp out to see the races.  The TV does a spectacular job of showing them live for me, and picnicking in the TV room is just as good as anywhere else, AND it’s not wet.

This weekend also kind of unofficially launches all the various high schools going out and having car washes to raise money for various projects. Whether cheerleading uniforms, band uniforms, you name it.  I saw 4 different high schools this morning trying to lure people into their particular washing space for the cars, AND today it is raining…………  ironic really….. of course, they would save a lot of water by just soaping the car and letting nature wash it off.

San Diego Comic

The convention is over, everyone is home, the convention center is one big empty building (well till the next one).  Once again, it was a sea of people, endless waiting in lines, but overall, a TON of fun.  Already looking forward to next year.  I have my ticket and my hotel, I am ready.

Wednesday night was preview night.  Time was, you could actually go onto the floor that night and actually preview items on the floor.  Now it is like a Saturday, crowded, obnoxious and you can’t get close to any of the vendors. We all met up, had dinner, tried to wander the floor for a bit and then headed back to the hotel.

Thursday, up early, time to wait in line to get into the building so you can run to get in line to hopefully get into the room where you want to see your panel.  They open the doors to the building at 7:00 am when you come in, only to then wait in line at the room where you want to be.  If the panel starts at 10:00 am, the open the rooms at 9:00 so you can go in and sit down.  On Thursday, I just kind of hung out and waiting for David, Virginia and Gigi to show up.  They were signing that morning so I didn’t have to worry about waiting in line.  I could just park it and read till they came.  We were pretty busy on Thursday.  I do love busy!!!

Friday, off to waiting in line again, just to get in……hung around and waited for the crew for another day of signing.  It wasn’t quite as busy, lots of people wanting things signed for free. Fortunately, the only thing we have to sign for free is the program book.  That worked pretty well.  Then, back to the hotel to try and get rid of a really bad headache.  Lots of noise!!!

Saturday……woowho!!  I got to wait in line to get into ballroom 20.  I had all day to kill before having to work at 3:00.  I was inside the building in line already, but this is another part of the line that extended outside the building and wrapped around the area a few times.  The lines snake back and forth.  Got to see the Chuck panel….it was awesome of course, but I still think last year’s opening was the best ever.  This year was cute of course, but I don’t think it beat  last year’s.

Isn’t he cute??

REALLY enjoyed the Chuck panel.  And good God……Linda Hamilton as Chuck’s mom!!!  Now that I am looking forward to! She will be awesome!

Then I saw the Family Guy panel.  Loved that.  Seth MacFarlane, what a hottie!  LOL LOL

I truly think between him and Matt Groening, they have some of the best writing teams ever.  Extremely brilliant writing of Family Guy and The Simpsons (and Futurama) respectively.

Here is the cast from Futurama.  LOVELY!!!!

Futurama

Anyone watching the new season of Futurama? Man I love this show!  Absolutely died laughing over the eyePhone ……. so incredibly relevant.  I really cracked up at the end where Mom has made millions of zombies who are “forced” to come forward and buy the eyePhone 2.0!  LOL LOL  Oh my God.  That was definitely a laugh out loud moment.

Wicked Whoopies!!!

OK, shut up, it is not what you think.  These are Wicked Whoopies. http://www.wickedwhoopies.com/index.php Can I stop eating them?  NO…. Are they good.  Oh my God yes…… Am I going to die from chocolate and cream overload?  Probably.  Finally, the most important question of all, do I care?  NO, NO, NO!!

Wicked Whoopies!!!  Hmmm………. more……….hmmmm……

Pet Memories

I was talking today to one of the neighbors about pets.  She had just gotten rid of her dog and I was telling her how I missed mine. Now granted, mine has been gone a very long time now so I really only remember the good things, I don’t really “recall” the times he peed or pooped where he wasn’t supposed to, or got into cupboards or the like.  I just seem to remember the “cute” things.

So here is one of mine.  When I was married, once upon a time, in a land far, far away……. oh wait, wrong story, anyway, we had a cocker spaniel.  He was so cute, and OK, spoiled rotten. We took him everywhere, but when we didn’t take him, he let us know it in some say or another.   He had beds all over the house and one in the garage as well as that is where we would put him when we left him home.   One time when we went out for just a couple hours, we came home to an interesting new “look” in the garage.   As we pulled in the driveway and hit the button for the garage door to raise, we could see “white” everywhere!  As the door went up, there was the dog, sitting right in the middle of the garage with his paw on a roll of toilet paper.  We got out of the car and just stood there as he gave the roll a “push” and it rolled out of the garage, under the car and straight out on to the street. (as we lived on a hill, the roll continued down the street, but that’s another story)  We both stood there and just looked at the dog and the garage.  There was toilet paper EVERYWHERE!!  He had gotten into the package and every single double roll was undone and rolled around the garage, AND there was paper hanging from the rafters!  Honest to God! How in the hell he got it up on the rafters still baffles me today.  I just looked at the dog and said, “what have you done?” (like he is going to answer). He answered me by ignoring me and going to sit by the door to get into the house.  I opened the door and he went in, straight to his bed and lay down with his back to us and went to sleep.

I think he was pissed off…….. not sure, but I think so……