Brain dump.

[saxikath]

Some accumulated brain clutter from the past couple of weeks:

• California apparently requires very explicit warning signs when smoking is allowed somewhere. My hotel had signs everywhere saying "Smoking is allowed on this floor. Smoking is known to the State of California to cause cancer." There were similar signs warning about chemicals in use in the facility.
  
• I am in awe of the teachers I met with in Fresno. They are working in very difficult circumstances (a district that's 80 percent ESL, and in which 70-90% of the students in each high school represented are on free or reduced-price lunch, and where there are few financial resources), and are clearly very dedicated to what they do.
  
• I visited King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks one late afternoon/evening. (They're technically two parks, but they're managed as one park.) I took some photos that I haven't uploaded yet; unfortunately, I didn't get any good shots of the deer I ran into in a couple of places. (It was twilight, and I didn't want to use the flash so as not to frighten them, so it was hard to get clear pics.) The sequoias really are magnificently tall, though they don't have the bulk of the El Tule tree I saw in Oaxaca. It was lovely to get in some mountain time. Admittedly, it's probably rather foolish to go walking around the woods, in a place where there are bears, alone, at twilight, when no one on the planet knows where you are -- but it was good for my spirit anyway.
  
• Speaking of bears, I saw one at the ToV site on Sunday afternoon when I was getting my car.
  
• If you like a good burger, I recommend the Dog House Grill in Fresno. (Technically in Clovis, the next town over, I think.)
  
• Now that I'm out of the knee brace, I desperately need a pedicure. I may wait till the mosquito bites from last weekend fade somewhat, though.
  
• Also now that I'm out of the knee brace, I'll finally be able to wear the new sandals I bought! (I have the bronzey-colored ones.)
  
• Also also now that I'm out of the knee brace, it's time to get back to the gym.
  
• Man, decent-looking LARP armor is expensive. The new character I'm toying with could probably use some, but yikes. I also doubt much of what's out there would fit me (that's what comes from being a plus-size woman with some serious curvature). I particularly like the look of brigandine, but I don't have the money to throw at the good stuff. I may just go with my leather bodice thingy, which would work for leather armor.
  
• I should really clean my house.
  
• I suppose, even out of the brace, I should probably wait a while before I try tap dancing again. :)
  
• I feel very spacy at the moment. Some combination of heat, post-LARPishness, post-travelness, and general lethargy, I suppose.
  
• It's nice to be surprised by someone you wouldn't have expected doing something nice for you. Makes you reevaluate your expectations.
  
• Memo to self: stay out of ditches and watch your footing. You don't want to do this again.
  

Also, I realized that not everyone on my friends list reads all my puzzle-geek friends' blogs, and so I should probably actually remind you all about Wordplay. It's a documentary about crossword puzzles and the people who do them -- but don't let that stop you. It's really a very good movie, and portrays a world I'm part of in what to me is a pretty accurate and sympathetic way. Plus, it has high drama (no, really!), fun characters (including Jon Stewart and Bill Clinton!), humor, and cleverness; besides, it's your chance to see me, however briefly, in a feature film! :) It opened in New York last weekend, and opens around the country this coming weekend. Please, go see it -- you'll be glad you did. (In the Boston area, it's playing at the Kendall theater.)

Comments

[jeffurrynpl.livejournal.com]

I read "tap" as "lap" the first time (it must have been the "LARP", yeah, that's it).

I'm glad you're on the road to recovery!

[cycon.livejournal.com]

Wordplay'll also be at the Embassy Cinema in Waltham come June 30th. I plan to see it there.

[fizzixrat.livejournal.com]

And, indeed, I managed to get out to an advanced screening of the film last week, as evidenced by this post in my own LJ. ;)

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

I hope that you meant that you encountered deer rather than ran into them?

Those parks are where Sheeyun and I honeymooned, BTW. He was still all oedematic from Minimal Change Disease, and the altitude was hard on him, so he got Seriously Catered To. :D

And it was beautiful. And startling to see columbine still in bloom in late July.

[saxikath]

Yes, indeed, I saw deer, rather than colliding with them. I actually cut my walk around the Big Trees Trail short because the path went right past the deer and I didn't want to scare them away from their evening grazing.

[tenwii.livejournal.com]

Wordplay.

I was planning on seeing it. What scene are you in?

Jenny

[saxikath]

I'm in a couple of scenes in the hotel lobby during breaks in the tournament.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Yup, I noticed you in those scenes!

It was a very fun movie, and the sneak last night at Kendall was a spectacular way to see it.

[hariyos.livejournal.com]

I particularly like the look of brigandine

You can get an awesome mercenary look built around a set of brigandine. As long as you're looking for more of a woman-at-arms look and not a knight look (or, I guess, early Paksenarrion instead of late Paksenarrion, because I keep thinking of that) you could build some great kit around that.

[saxikath]

Definitely not planning on the knight look. I've seen some really nice-looking brigandine in poking around; I'm not sure I can afford to buy it, and I'm not sure I have the tools/knowhow/etc. to make it myself. But it's what I'd like, I think.

[torilgrey.livejournal.com]

you might perhaps know people who could help out with armor making, if not in th eboston area (although I think a few lads out there can help) then definitely out this way....

[saxikath]

Well, this is true. :) I'm not even entirely sure where to start. Give me fabric and a sewing machine, and I can figure things out; armormaking's a bit beyond me so far. :)

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

What do Wagnerian sopranos do for costumes? I saw The Ring Cycle at the Met a couple of years ago, and both Brunhilde and Sieglinde were extra-extra-large women.

The cancer warnings sound humorous; don't remember them from last summer's trip to Cali. Isn't it Massachusetts, though, that has warnings about undercooked meat on every restaurant menu? In NY, anyone cooking eggs to order is supposed to hang a similar sign, but it's not uniformly enforced. I certainly have more pressing matters -- I'm constantly seizing and destroying eggs left at room temperature. Usually they're in boxes on the floor in a storeroom or behind the counter, but in one place, the owner had the cartons of eggs just sitting on a shelf next to canned foods, and PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY BUYING THEM.

I guess the signs in Cali are aimed at the non-smokers: you can't force smokers to abstain around here, and if you don't want cancer, then leave!