The Littlest Penguin

Christmas Tree Win

Thursday, January 7th, 2010 | Christmas, fun stuff | 2 Comments

These dudes have quite the holiday spirit.

Do you take this penguin. . . ?

Thursday, June 18th, 2009 | family, friends, fun stuff, penguins, pictures, travel | 3 Comments

Last weekend William and I embarked on our second ever road trip together – 4 hours south to Chapel Hill, NC for Kevin and Stephanie’s wedding. We got in late Thursday night (technically it was Friday, but just barely) and checked in to a nice suite. (He spoiled us and got the suite because it wasn’t that much more and we could have friends over that way.) On Friday our job was to go pick up the food for the rehearsal dinner from Chipolte, but we ran into some issues when about 10 burritos and other tasty dinner items seeped through the bag and fell to the ground when lifted. Add to that delay about 45 minutes of running around wondering where in Durham we were, and you have dinner on the table approximately. . . 2 hours late. Everyone was good natured about it, but we did feel bad. Kevin was super stressed trying to get us there and William and I both get a little jumpy when we’re lost. But we did get there, the food was still yummy, and Kevin and Steph said if that was the worst thing to happen they’d be happy.

And I think it was the worst thing that happened. At least that I’m aware of. Saturday’s ceremony was lovely. I had my typical trouble singing (since getting pregnant singing and standing has been a challenge to my ability to stay conscious), but I listened to William and Sheri sing next to me and that was a good substitute. I helped guide folks through the digital guest book interface, which was kind of fun and easy. Then there was a really nice spread of light lunch foods – salads and bree and crackers and some little sandwiches. The bride’s cake was beautiful and had fruit preserves in it, and the groom’s cake was . . . well, look for youself. It is a brownie penguin. Very Kevin.

After the wedding, Jared, Sheri, and Tony came over to the hotel to play some Carcassone and some Gloom before we went out in search for some supper. William’s only other experience with Carcassone involved “the City” version, which we played with Jared, Sheri, and Tony several years ago. It was terrible and I’ve never exponged the guilt of telling him he’d enjoy it. (I thought it was like normal Carcassone!) But this game redeemed Carcassone for William, and Tony taught us how to play Gloom. We’re taking it with us to visit his family for 4th of July weekend – his mom loves silly games like this.

Sunday morning we had breakfast with some of my family on our way home. Uncle Ben took pictures, so I’m sure I’ll have something to link here eventually. It was fun to see everyone. I actually hadn’t seen my cousin Aaron in years; I’d never met his kids! They’re darned cute, by the way. I think William charmed Hannah out of some shyness, too. Hopefully I can do a better job of keeping in touch with everyone, especially now that we’re all on Facebook.

This weekend’s a “break” from trips and visits, but next weekend. . . Southeast Meetup!

Tags: Kevin's wedding

scooter surprise

Monday, January 19th, 2009 | fun stuff, play, pranks, silly | 4 Comments

My neighbors had a little surprise waiting for me when I got home this evening. Isn’t it cute? All he needs is a helmet to keep his snowball head safe.

Tags: snowmen

Steam-powered birthday

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | birthdays, costumes, friends, fun stuff, pictures, steampunk | 7 Comments

It is 1896 in the Year of Our Lord. It has been seventy-four years since Charles Babbage has developed the Difference Engine – a clockwork device capable of making advanced calculations in the blink of an eye. Since that time, the Difference Engine has shrunk from a clockwork tool that filled an entire room to Desktop Counters and Hand-Held Butlers.

It is a world driven by steam and iron. Zeppelins sail the skies. Machines of all manners and sorts are propelled by the power of the piston and pneumatics. It is a world where the Information Revolution took place in the year 1822, instead of the year 1946.

You all are former graduates from Bethlehem University, meeting on the eve of your 10th graduation anniversary. The invitation reads as follows:

Dear Friends,

It has been too long since I have seen all of you. You may not know that dear old Uncle Henry passed on last March. Though his passage from this world has proved untimely, I find that his magnanimity find me even now, after his absence. He has bequeathed to me the estate of Misty Island.

I am most eager to see each of you and discover what great adventures you have undertaken since our departure from University. Can you believe that we have reached the ten year mark? Just a scant decade ago, I watched you all grow into your own and become some of the finest students I have ever known. Though I have no children of my own, I need not say that I see you as my own kin and have such fondness for you that surely only a mother could know.

After the settling all affairs of estate, I found an annuity of sufficient funds that provides me to become a Gentlewoman of Leisure. I have been here at the island since August of last year. I shall count it an honor and privilege if you found it in your hearts to arrange your holidays this year and spend them with me on Misty Island. Should you find it convenient, the week of June 23rd shall be an excellent time in which to convene and reflect upon our fortunes – the very week your graduated from the esteemed Bethlehem University.

Since I am the only one on this three-mile isle, you will need to take the dirigible which arrives twice a week. I suggest taking the one from Vancouver B.C. Be sure to arrive early enough to get to Pier 6 at 8:30 in the morning on the 23rd.

I have a full-fledged staff of caretakers on the island as well, so you need not fret with bringing your own manservants, nannies, or chaperones.

I’ll be expecting all of you.

Eagerly Yours,

Gertrud “Mother” Hesseldorf

Ladies and gentlemen, this was the invitation to my 29th birthday party, the awesomeness of which may never be surpassed. I mean, really. How could I not be impressed that my friends dressed up in steampunk gear and acted as players in a murder mystery for me? And to top it off, they managed to keep the whole thing secret until two days before the party. And even then I was only told what was going on so I could choose what character I was assigned and get a costume ready. And aren’t their costumes wonderful?! Jared’s pictures are online here, and many of mine can be viewed here.

Among the presents they gave me were a steampunk style necklace (watch gears artfully repurposed), Nerf guns, a new camera bag, and an iPod interface for my ancient car. But my favorite gift by far was the goat my dad bought in my name for a family in Africa. William visited me for a long weekend, and Kevin for a short one. Ah, and for the curious . . . William (Choryt in the comments section) and I are dating. *glow*

Hey look! A blog post!

Thursday, November 6th, 2008 | costumes, family, friends, fun stuff, pictures | 2 Comments

Oh, um, hello. What’s that? You say I should blog? Right then.

Wow, has it really been three weeks since I blogged? I’m boring. But also maybe unsure of what to blog about. On October 17 I was the dinner guest of the college’s Navy V-12 alumni reunion. I was one of the youngest people there if you count the college’s Heritage singing team and someone’s 12-year-old grandson. It reminded me a lot of when Grandpa used to take Amy and I to the Shriners’ dinners and show us off to his friends. But the V-12 men and their wives are very nice folks and were really glad to tell me about their time on campus in the 1940’s. Being as familiar with the campus during that period made me able to join in the conversations easily. They even made me get in their group photo. I received a copy in the mail the other day. Really nice people.

Mom’s birthday was the day after the dinner. I called her to say Happy Birthday and caught them setting up beach chairs and fetching cold beers so they could watch the sun set over the water outside their hotel at Myrtle Beach. The next day they went for an airboat in the Everglades. Sounds like they had a great time. But a few days later dad went into the hospital after a stress test. They found some significant blockage in his blood vessels. The doctors put in four stints and had to repair some damage they did to one of his vessels before he was allowed to go home. He’s in some pain still, but he’s doing better now.That was a weird week for me. On the one hand I had dad going in the hospital after a stress test they didn’t tell me he was having, and on the other I had a really unexpected, happy development that kept my mind occupied.

This past Saturday, McKenna had a costume party for her birthday. I went in a little bit of steampunk, which was fun. Jared pulled together a pretty rockin’ Vash the Stampede getup, and Tony went as Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer, from Girl Genius. William came to visit me for a long weekend, so he came, too. But he didn’t play Rock Band because I was too nice to tell the others he can sing. Next time, Gadget. You have been warned. More pics here and I’ll post some of my own photos soon.

I came down with a cold on Sunday and spent the rest of the weekend playing video games and watching movies with William. Which was nice, but would have been nicer if I had been able to breathe. Feeling better, but still recovering. Oh well. If that was my one cold for the season I’ll take it.

Edit 11/8/2008: My photos are posted here.

coolest yet

Sunday, October 12th, 2008 | archives, costumes, fun stuff, research | 7 Comments

Photo by Travis Hightower

Last week I received probably the coolest request for archives information I’ve heard yet. A forensics investigator working with some police department in Virginia called me to see if I could help him identify a skeleton discovered in the bed of a dried up lake. The investigator said that they guess the man died sometime in the middle or late 1920s. The body indicates that the man was in his early 40s and may have been the victim of foul play, possibly even a mob murder. The body had a monogrammed pocket watch (or was it a cigarette case?) and a college ring on it, but the ring didn’t have the school name inscribed, just a graduation year and school initials. This guy is calling all colleges he can find with those initials and asking their archives or alumni offices to see if anyone in our 1904 graduating classes matches the initials on the monogrammed pocket watch / cigarette case. I wasn’t able to find anything that would help, but how cool is that? I mean, I get some weird and interesting requests, and I have to tromp around some odd places in the course of my work, but I think this one wins. (And it for sure beats traipsing around the campus cemetery with a note pad or climbing over the library’s HVAC ducts in the attic.)

Also, I’ve been working on pulling together something for McKenna’s birthday costume party. I don’t have a terriffic steampunk ensemble yet, but it’ll be passable I think. I already have a skirt and blouse that can pass for Victorian, and I called mom yesterday to see if she would mail me her cameo pendant to use. I have tall high-heeled boots that’ll pass for button-up boots if you don’t look close, Llama said he’d buy me steampunk goggles for my birthday, and I bought a corset. I need some little gear-laden trinket things and I’ll be set. Oh, and a hair cut. I’m starting to look a little shaggy.

a better day

Monday, August 25th, 2008 | DragonCon, car, fun stuff, gaming | No Comments

I left my car was at the Igloo all weekend. I wasn’t willing to ignore the slight shake I felt while driving anymore, but when I called the mechanic on Thursday he wasn’t able to give it a look until today. Since the Igloo is halfway between my apartment and my mechanic, and since I needed to avoid the temptation to drive the car instead of the scooter, I left it there and committed myself to driving the scooter all weekend. Being convinced that I was facing a major (and expensive) car problem did not lead to a stress-free Thursday, Friday, or weekend. (And boy did I pay for it.) But today I drove it to the mechanic’s before work and they gave it a good look over. After lunch I got the diagnosis: my tires need to be balanced. Routine maintenance. Doh. So tomorrow I’ll get that done and all will (hopefully) be well.

And that takes a lot of stress and guilt off my shoulders about DragonCon this weekend. I mean, how irresponsible would I have felt carousing at a Con knowing I should be putting the money towards my car instead? Not that I’ll be spending heaps over the weekend, but every little bit counts. (Especially if that little bit isn’t coming from a credit card.)

Right now I’m trying to discover a leak in my air mattress and laying out a weekend’s worth of clothes to stuff in my backpack. (Including my first truly girl geek t-shirt, which I bought as a treat before the whole car scare.) DragonCon is going to be an adventure, I can already tell. The texts and emails being passed back and forth about who will be sharing the room; who’s bringing what snacks, drinks, drinks, and camping gear; who’s attending what sessions. . . just wow. It’s like summer camp on steroids, only with more Firefly cos-players and fewer of those pesky camp divas who insist on wearing makeup to go canoeing. Bonus!

Another dancing post

Thursday, July 10th, 2008 | fun stuff, silly, video | 3 Comments

Maybe it’s because I myself can’t dance, but these really make me smile. I found this one through Improv Everywhere’s Urban Prankster site.

Tags: dance, flash mob, Urban Prankster

Because why wouldn’t you?

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 | BoingBoing, fun stuff, silly, video | 2 Comments

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

This dude videoed himself doing a silly dance in 42 different countries. BoingBoing was right: This video has been the best 4 minutes and 28 seconds of my week!

Tags: silly dance, Where the Hell is Matt

Marvelous Mondays

Monday, April 21st, 2008 | books, fun stuff, movies, nephew | No Comments

Ok, funky. I can’t say I quite get the new WordPress back-end design. Oh well. I’ll get used to it eventually.

I just got finished replying to an email from my friend and former GM. We might meet up for some fun when he’s in town next month. It’d be good to see him again. Which reminds me that I need to email a few other people I haven’t seen or heard from in a while. Oh, and Season is thinking about a visit this way, too.

Saturday we organized a picnic, which ended up being in Robb and Edie’s back yard. It was a pretty decent day, though some clouds rolled in and chilled those of us determined to wear shorts. A little later some of us got together and saw Forbidden Kingdom. It was a silly kung-fu flick, but the premise was fun and the costumes and sets were fantastic. Then we came back to my house to eat desert and play Game Cube games ’til it was late.

The end of April is just around the corner. Wow. They canceled classes today for Marvelous Monday. There was a sort of China – Japan mashup theme. We closed the library for about an hour and ate brunch in the cafeteria. Emily challenged me to eat my biscuit and gravy with chopsticks, which is actually really easy. And they had some sort of Japanese extreme challenge competition going on the television screens. Brunch was otherwise very American except for the lo-mein eating contest a few students participated in at the end. (Food competitions make me a little ill. I’m glad I wasn’t able to see through the crowd.)

I worked through lunch today, which probably wasn’t wise. But brunch was at almost 11, and it was heavy. I’ve also been in knots about a few things, so stress and a slight overdose of caffeine weren’t helping me get hungry again. Instead I worked on my book ordering and responded to a situation between me and an alumni-donor in the archives. Confrontation between us was somewhat inevitable, but I hope I responded diplomatically. I also went searching for some photos for a former president’s memoirs. Found one, but the second is being elusive.

Gibson actually talked to me a little bit on the phone the other day. Usually he just shakes his head “no.” But I got an “oh wow!” and something resembling “hi.” Less than a month before the trip south to see everyone.

Kevin recommended another fantastic book to me – Glasshouse by Charles Stross. Actually, this is one of the best ones K’s recommended. I was up til nearly 1am Thursday night/Friday morning finishing it. Then I lent it to one of the math professors, who read it in two days. Mary has it now, and there is another math prof next in line. Yes, it’s that good. Go read it. Now.

And now I’m going to get ice cream, play Zelda while my laundry finishes, and go to bed.

Tags: Glasshouse, Marvellous Monday, picnic