Kratzen vom Rathaus

I Swear I'm Really From Detroit

One of the reasons why my husband and I left Ohio is because so many people don't believe in therapy. Not that we're fluffy new-age, get in touch with your feelings type people. But let's face it, if you're gleefully proud of your sociopathic tendencies, there's probably something wrong with you that a little psycho-analysis might help. Or perhaps meds and a nice quiet cell away from sharp objects and other people. But therapy would at least be a start. Of course, you'd have to think above the level of a seven year old to come to that conclusion and the kind of freaks that come marching proudly out of the woodwork there- this week, it's Mike Lunsford and his Klanpride Halloween House- would never put that much effort into such 'in-tuh-lect-chal' pursuits. This leaves me telling my friends that no, really, the majority of Cincinnatians are quite rational and good people. But it falls on deaf ears because this kind of thing is all the rest of the world ever sees of my home town. Thanks, you idiot, for adding one more embarrassment to my heritage.

Because I'd Rather Do Anything But Homework

Yes, it's a different stained glass piece, about 4'x1' for the window
over the steps down to the garage. (Plus a diet coke, of course!) I
spent the morning warpping the foil and trying to convince Marbles that
copper isn't really that healthy to eat. It's about half foiled-right
now (the right side), which is way farther along than the one of Tony.
Sadly, since that's the one with the due date.

Daily Grind

I'm getting really sick of grinding the pieces for this stained glass. So I'm sharing.
This is a picture of Tony at, I believe, Reno-Fernley. Here's the original, which is quite a bit different. Mostly it's switched around, because I was lazy and just took sharpie to a print out of the picture to get a line drawing I could work from. Yeah, yeah, I know there are no hills in the background, but I had very little glass to work with and Nevada makes for boring stained glass, anyway.

Actually, I'm really glad I took this picture. I've already found two pieces which are inexcusably the wrong color. How did that happen? Glad I found it before they got foiled and soldered. Can you pick them out?

LA's Burning. Our Work Here is Done

So, I woke up this morning earlier than expected to the sound of the steel patio chairs on the pool deck dancing around. The wind was amazing, particularly considering the pool deck is protected on all sides by stories worth of hotel rooms. I watched the palm fronds on the trees drift horizontal and the birds of paradise blooms dip and bobble like those drinking bird toys and determined it was time to be heading home.
A short time after that, I discovered there was a wildfire in our general path. Actually, they lied, because we saw three separate areas on fire, with plumes coming off the San Bernadino mountains like they were volcanos. Pretty impressive stuff, but would have been more impressive if every vehicle didn't slow to a crawl while they estimated exactly how far from the road the closest one was. Am I the only human who runs under the theory that if danger is near it probably works better to get the heck out of Dodge than to pause and watch the danger get closer? Move along people and we can all watch it on youtube later.

Coupla BlizzCon Costumes

Met these guys outside when I went for a walk. I love people who make (good) costumes. They're always creative and most often enthusiastically friendly.

BlizzCon Roundup

Whoops, haven't been posting as it went this weekend. Blame twitter, since it gets most of my random comments these days.
Anyway, arrived in Anaheim after an easy drive to and a long slog through LA Thursday. Tony was quoting the 90/10 maxim but I don't think it was that bad. Quite that bad, anyway.
The Hilton connected to the convention center is amoebalike in that it was added to over the years and the bizzarre contortions of that kind of crazy quilt process remain. We are lucky enough to be around the pool area- Ceej and David not so much. They are around a giant concrete patio area. I dunno, extra pool that was filled in? Ballroom they forgot to enclose?  I blame the sixties for that one. Anyway, the Hilton, typical of most city hotels, does its best to nickel and dime the guests. I don't like it much, but figure things are tough all over and the beds are acceptable here. But I'm sure you don't want to hear about the hotel.
BlizzCon itself was lots of fun and worth the trip. It also accomplishes the goal of making you think 'What a great company' despite the high ticket price and absolutely screwy ticket sales system. Saturday seemed more crowded than Friday for some reason, which I found bizarre since tickets are full weekend only. There can't be that many people who were willing to pay so much for a single day event. Or maybe everyone was just standing in the BlizzCon store line on Friday. I finally gave up and did it in a moment of weakness Friday night because I knew no one else in the group would do it and I was worried the shirts would sell out. Three and a half hours later I got my shirt. C'mon Blizz, up my ticket price for it if you have to, but just give out the damn BC shirts so people don't have to wait in those lines. I kind of expected a golden light to envelop me at the front of the line as I dinged the next level in line-sitting.
The panels were excellent, and set in an open area with many monitors so you didn't have to be in seat to get the  goods. This is the opposite implementation of PAX, and I think middleground would be best, closed rooms with monitors outside. But, my goodness, BC spent all the ticket money on A/V! It was over the top and gorgeous. The main area took up three convention halls, and there were lasers, lightshows and over a dozen rear projection screens constantly playing cinematics, panel discussions and other relevant content. It did make for a dimly lit hall. I decided next year I'm entering the costume contest as a Kobold just so I can wear a light on my forehead- I felt like a mole every time we spent more than a few hours in there.
Speaking of costumes, there were some amazing ones. I got my best look at them when I was running around outside Friday afternoon. It made for some interesting images, like the friends of the Tyrael trying to fix his drooping tendrils which I found hysterical- but that might have been lack of sleep. Most people worked very hard on their costumes so they were more than pleased to have their picture taken. Sadly, I only had the heepy, so I only grabbed a few. Sadder still for the entrants, they knew they weren't going to win before they ever came on stage- the last entrant had spent three months on an animatronic, robotic turtle mount. She had a good costume, but let's face it, that was secondary. You gotta love LA, if BlizzCon was in Ohio, someone who'd gone a little better than standard greasepaint and hand sewing would have been a shoo-in. Here, most of the entrants were professional grade. Anyway, that kind of thing is what I love cons for because they're contributory and there weren't a lot of options for attendee participation in BC like in PAX.  Here, it's pretty much all laid out for you at the show itself, which is nice in its own way. But it left me feeling a bit ancilliary since I like to get involved. Maybe if we manage to get tickets next year I'll enter a few of the contests.
We had only one spontaneous event all weekend. Last night when we cut across the pool area to our room. We came out the double doors and suddenly it was like coming out of the Aldor bank in Shatt. (The parallels are there: there's something in the middle you and circumnavigating and this huge congregation of people you suddenly have to walk through.) Someone named Dino had decided to throw down the instant dance party ball, and there were tables of food and drink and we were introduced around by one of his friends and shown where to start. Tony and I didn't have the heart to say thanks but no thanks, so we politely let our host lead us around and escaped as soon as the guy turned to greet someone else.
Of the panels, the PvP interested me the most, which I find interesting because I don't do a whole lot of it. But I like it a lot more than instances and raids because it's less structured, and the new arenas are probably going to be a bigger incentive for me to hit 80 than anything else except peer pressure from the guild. We'll see. I've got a month before I have to worry about that anyway. One of the new dungeons looked Cthuluesque enough I wondered if I could get Lynn finally interested in the game- I admit it, I'm angling for that zebra mount. But again, the more high end things got, the less I listened. I just don't have the same priorities as the majority of players. I also don't have the same theories, since one of the blizzguys mentioned rogue poisons were all but forgotten and that's one of the things they were addressing in the ovehaul. Whatwhatwhat? I based most of my play on those poisons, being almost full assassination, and not making them makes me really worried because part of the game for me was pick pocketing my materials. I loved the idea of stealing the items I needed to do my job as a thief. Anyway, I never did get up to ask about that since the lines for q&a were too long and most people had to spent an inordinately long time thanking blizz or 'giving a shout out' to their guild, or their friend, or even blizz. Jeez, guys, the Oscars are held in the spring... But monologues happen at every con. I'm only assuming they were worse here because the questioners knew their friends were watching at home on tv. That might actually be an awakening for them if those friends tape it. I hope not, the world needs more geekery, not less, and that kind of thing is just part of the build. ;)
So BC is over now. Ceej and David decided to cut their vacation short and go home today. That leaves Tony and I at loose ends because we were expecting to do something together until they said something at dinner last night, but it's giving Tony a chance to sleep in and that's part of vacation, too. We never get the bonus day in Seattle because of PAXtrain, so this is nice. Maybe we'll go to Disneyland. Of course, since it's already eleven, maybe we'll just order room service and play Warcraft... I mean, what could be more of a geek holiday than that?