I had a lovely story ready to tell today, but alas, instead of writing it up I sat at the kitchen counter, reading a fantasy novel while eating pumpkin spice truffles.
I struggle with pacing these days. I live at the speed of light, with no time penciled in for relaxing or cleaning or eating or sleeping. My weekends are set aside for doing all the things I can't do during the week. Once it arrives, however, I find myself profoundly exhausted, and I crash and burn.
So I won't be telling you a story tonight. I will, however, tell you that Baby Sister and Little Brother showed up at my place tonight, wearing newsie-style caps. They knocked on my apartment door and, when I opened it, started to perform a lip sync and a well-choreographed dance to the Backyardigans theme.
"We're lip sync caroling," they explained after their performance. They then got back in their car and drove away in search of their next audience.
Sometimes my life astounds me.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Thursday, September 29, 2016
My Seventh Stitch Fix Experience
Well folks, it's that time again.
What time, you ask?
The time where I demand that a stranger in California find clothes for me instead of finding them for myself like an actual adult!
Leading up to scheduling this Fix, I was ransacking the Internet for pictures of pretty clothes in pretty fall colors. Last year, Jessica V sent me three navy blue items for my fall Fix. I love navy blue...a lot...but I was hoping to get a wider variety of colors. Particularly red. It ain't autumn without some red. I pinned all sorts of gorgeous things to my Pinterest board to give Jessica V some guidance.
In my note, I said that I was looking for cute fall clothes. Dresses and shirts and skirts, maybe jewelry...probably not pants.
My Fix came on a Wednesday. Here's what Miss Jessica V said this time:
Hey Awkward Mormon Girl! Cute fall clothes are coming your way! I thought the Collective Concepts blouse was a cute piece similar to styles you have pinned so far. Plus this piece is going to mix well with previous pieces. Try this top with the Le Lis Skirt, I went with an XS in this skirt again since skirt sizes seem to fit you better in an XS.
Which has been consistently true in my Stitch Fix experience, but which is very odd because I don't think I've ever bought an extra small skirt when shopping for myself.
How fun is the Le Lis dress?! Great piece for upcoming fall events, such as a pumpkin patch outing with friends. Pair this dress with tall brown boots and maybe even throw on the Market & Spruce cardigan for a Zoey Deschanel inspired look-- I love her quirky but chic outfits. The Market & Spruce pullover is so cozy, I think this piece would be great with black ponte pants or even paired with the Le Lis skirt. I hope you had a great time in New York, and cheers to a cozy fall! Xo Jessica V
Back to the Xo. I have to say that I've missed it.
Collective Concepts Sayer Ruffle Detail Blouse: It's hard to see in this picture, but this blouse is a really pretty teal color. I immediately liked the style, and it was very flattering when I tried it on. And...
Le Lis Serena Belted Flare Skirt: This is a longer skirt of thicker material in a pretty burgundy color. I put it with the blouse as suggested, and voilà! A super cute outfit in gorgeous fall colors. Verdict (for both): Keep.
Market & Spruce Chuckie Textured Stripe Pullover: How pale am I? Very, very pale. Does gray go with my coloring? No, no it does not, unless I wear the right makeup. This pullover is also a lot looser than I normally wear. However, it's super comfortable, and the looser sweater I bought last year from Stitch Fix is now one of my favorite sweaters, so it seemed worth the gamble. Verdict: Keep,
Le Lis Cambrie Knit Dress: I tried on the dress and, well, it was super elegant and well-fitting and pretty. I then tried it with the cardigan, as seen below. I was a little surprised at Jessica V's suggestion to wear it to a pumpkin patch, though. I could definitely see wearing a dress and a cardigan and boots to a pumpkin patch...just not this style of dress. Unless I was, like, doing engagement photos in said pumpkin patch. Verdict: Keep.
Market & Spruce Bri Knit Cardigan: I liked the look of this cardigan. It was a very pretty color, similar to the blouse's color but a little lighter. It did look super great with the dress. If I'd seen it sitting in a store alone, I might not have bought it, but as a companion piece to the dress and other items I already have, it seemed like a good investment. Verdict: Keep.
Once more, I had such a satisfactory Fix that I bought all five items.
Now, you've heard it before: if you decide to try Stitch Fix, please use this link. I will get referral credit. But (and here's the exciting part) Stitch Fix recently started a line for guys. So men, you could use my referral link if you wanted! You too could have a stylist of your very own. I don't know if the guy stylists are other guys or what, but if not, and if you think that Jessica V's a stylin' person, maybe she could be your stylist, too.
Once more, I had such a satisfactory Fix that I bought all five items.
Now, you've heard it before: if you decide to try Stitch Fix, please use this link. I will get referral credit. But (and here's the exciting part) Stitch Fix recently started a line for guys. So men, you could use my referral link if you wanted! You too could have a stylist of your very own. I don't know if the guy stylists are other guys or what, but if not, and if you think that Jessica V's a stylin' person, maybe she could be your stylist, too.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Impossible? Please. I'll Do It with Ease.
A little over two years ago, I really needed a job.
I scoured job posting sites, looking for positions related to writing, editing, history, and anything else in which I had any level of expertise. Fortunately, I was able to get a writing position in a great company.
Prior to my accepting the job, there were two caveats: 1) I would be a part-time employee, which meant that my hours would vary from week to week, and 2) there were no full-time positions for writers in the company. If I wanted to go full-time I'd have to apply for a different type of position.
I didn't need a full-time job; I just needed a job, and I really wanted this one. I had no problems with accepting those terms.
Thus I started my first grown-up job. I loved working part-time. I earned enough to move out and more, and some weeks I had lots of free time. It was a good life.
However, as my second anniversary of employment approached, I started to worry about the future. Eventually, I would need consistency. Eventually, I would need benefits and retirement and all those things.
I wanted to stay where I was. At the same time, I was hesitant to apply for the full-time positions in my company. I'd applied for some of those positions before, but nothing ever came of it. That was fine by me, because in truth I didn't feel I had the right skill set for those jobs. I really just wanted to be a writer.
This was my internal struggle. I wanted to work full-time, to write, and to stay with my company, but I couldn't have all three of those things. I looked at the situation and thought it was impossible.
I didn't know what to do. I prayed. I pondered. I knew that in the near future, I'd have to make a decision.
Then, a few weeks ago, something astonishing happened.
For the first time in the thirty-odd years of its existence, my company was hiring full-time writers. I was asked if I would like to be one.
I was flabbergasted. I almost started crying. All of my concerns had been answered in one swift solution, and I'd had no idea it was coming. What had seemed impossible the day before had suddenly become possible.
I've thought a lot about this since then. I don't know about you, but I regularly attempt impossible things. At least, things that I deem are impossible. In reality, I never know what other people (especially God) have in the works that might make an impossible thing entirely possible.
I scoured job posting sites, looking for positions related to writing, editing, history, and anything else in which I had any level of expertise. Fortunately, I was able to get a writing position in a great company.
Prior to my accepting the job, there were two caveats: 1) I would be a part-time employee, which meant that my hours would vary from week to week, and 2) there were no full-time positions for writers in the company. If I wanted to go full-time I'd have to apply for a different type of position.
I didn't need a full-time job; I just needed a job, and I really wanted this one. I had no problems with accepting those terms.
Thus I started my first grown-up job. I loved working part-time. I earned enough to move out and more, and some weeks I had lots of free time. It was a good life.
However, as my second anniversary of employment approached, I started to worry about the future. Eventually, I would need consistency. Eventually, I would need benefits and retirement and all those things.
I wanted to stay where I was. At the same time, I was hesitant to apply for the full-time positions in my company. I'd applied for some of those positions before, but nothing ever came of it. That was fine by me, because in truth I didn't feel I had the right skill set for those jobs. I really just wanted to be a writer.
This was my internal struggle. I wanted to work full-time, to write, and to stay with my company, but I couldn't have all three of those things. I looked at the situation and thought it was impossible.
I didn't know what to do. I prayed. I pondered. I knew that in the near future, I'd have to make a decision.
Then, a few weeks ago, something astonishing happened.
For the first time in the thirty-odd years of its existence, my company was hiring full-time writers. I was asked if I would like to be one.
I was flabbergasted. I almost started crying. All of my concerns had been answered in one swift solution, and I'd had no idea it was coming. What had seemed impossible the day before had suddenly become possible.
I've thought a lot about this since then. I don't know about you, but I regularly attempt impossible things. At least, things that I deem are impossible. In reality, I never know what other people (especially God) have in the works that might make an impossible thing entirely possible.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Meeting Luna Lovegood
I wasn't sure if I would ever have a reason to go to Comic Con.
In August, I told Porch that I might go to Comic Con if certain voice actors or Muppeteers ever came but that I couldn't think of any live-action actors I cared enough about to spend the money on. I've just never been that into movie stars. For example, I would consider going to Comic Con to see Elijah Wood, but only because he did such a fantastic job voicing Wirt in Over the Garden Wall, not because he played one of the leading characters in a critically acclaimed and financially successful film adaptation of one of my favorite book series.
Just days later, I texted Porch.
Awkward Mormon Girl: Looook. Somebody that I would go to Comic Con for: [and then I sent a link to the Comic Con website but I'm not including it here because it will probably be obsolete soon]
If you read the title of the blog post, you might have an inkling of who this person was. If that inkling is any good, then it's pointing you in the direction of Evanna Lynch, Luna Lovegood herself.
Luna Lovegood is my favorite female Harry Potter character. Why? First of all, when I read through the first through fourth books as a child, I found that there weren't many blonde characters that I liked. Petunia Dursley, Dudley Dursley, Gilderoy Lockhart, Rita Skeeter, Draco Malfoy, Fleur Delacour—they weren't exactly sympathetic. I really wanted a character who looked like me but was likable. Lo and behold, the fifth book came out! And Luna was not only blonde, but dirty blonde—the kind that nobody wants to be but most people actually are. By the time the fifth book came out, the white-blonde hair of my childhood had darkened considerably and only got darker from that point. I cherished that similarity between myself and Luna.
Second of all, apart from the looks, I identified with Luna personality-wise. Over the years, a few people have told me, unprompted by me, that I remind them of the book version of Luna Lovegood because I march to the beat of my own drum and don't make decisions based on what everyone else does. And, as I've gotten older and refined aspects of my personality, I find that I, like Luna, am a little too honest and a little too intense.
Last but not least, Luna adds so much to Harry Potter. Before I read the fifth book, I couldn't imagine how another main character could possibly fit into the story. It seemed like it was too late in the game to introduce anyone very significant. I was wrong, obviously. Now when I reread, I wonder how the first four books are as good as they are without Luna.
Having sufficiently proven my love for Luna Lovegood, I have to warn you that I'm no huge Evanna Lynch fan. Not that there's anything wrong with her, personally. It's just that when I saw the first photo of her ten or eleven years ago, I was disappointed. Luna Lovegood, champion of dirty blondes, was going to be played by someone with white-blonde hair? I told Viola that I thought she looked too much like Tom Felton, that people who hadn't read the books were going to think that Luna and Draco were secretly related, and that everyone would be confused.
When I saw the movie, I found that the variation of vague and serene that the director had chosen for Luna was not the same variation that I'd pictured in my head. However, Evanna did a really good job of portraying what they'd decided to go with. I had to respect that. And, in later years, I followed her on Twitter, and she seemed cool and everything, but I cared more about the fact that she was the face of Luna than about her personally.
After that initial text to Porch, I spent a few weeks in debate.
On the one hand, it seemed like it would be cool to meet her.
On the other hand, it would be expensive.
On the other other hand, I have money to spare.
On the other other other hand, I try to save a lot of that money for the future.
On the other other other other hand, nobody is financially reliant on me but me. I can spend my money on whatever the huckleberry I want.
On another hand, I had no one to go with.
On another another hand, Favorite Cousin showed an interest in going when asked.
Round and round I went in my decision making. Finally, two things decided the question for me.
The first is the connections game. In the connections game, you pick a person and try to connect yourself to them through association. For example, Jim Henson. Here's my connection to him: I know my grandmother. As a child, my grandmother met Walt Disney. Walt Disney worked with Julie Andrews on Mary Poppins. Julie Andrews appeared on The Muppet Show, which meant that she would have met Jim Henson. Or we could do it this way: Runner Bean and his family once appeared on Extreme Home Makeover. The host of Extreme Home Makeover, Ty Pennington, later appeared in a Sesame Street video with Count von Count. At the time, Count von Count was played by none other than the incomparable Muppeteer Jerry Nelson, who worked for years with Jim Henson. Bonus: no matter how you connect me to Jim Henson—and this may be the best part—from Jim Henson it's just one connection to my favorite Muppeteer, Steve Whitmire!!!
Now, I already had a fairly direct connection to J. K. Rowling. A classmate of mine from college has a cousin who is married to Broadway star Audra McDonald, who is playing the wardrobe in the upcoming adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. As all humans and maybe some inhumans know, Emma Watson is playing Belle in said adaptation, and obviously Emma Watson knows J. K. Rowling. So I can trace myself to J. K. Rowling easily. Yet the idea of meeting someone who was just one connection away from one of my favorite writers—well. That was even better.
And the second deciding factor? It seemed like maybe I should live a little. Meet Evanna Lynch? Why the heck not? Why not do something expensive and unnecessary and oh-so-cool every now and again? Ya know? There are so many things that I want to do with my life that I haven't been able to. I hope that they will come, in time, but I can't put off living a fun and rewarding life until then.
And thus it was decided. And thus Favorite Cousin and I bought tickets to the last day of Comic Con and to the Evanna Lynch photo op.
On the day we were going, I was bouncing off the walls. I wore my Gryffindor/Mulan t-shirt and golden teacup earrings. I'd brought my Luna Lovegood wand and a notebook to take notes at panels. I was rearing to go!
Here are some impressions of Comic Con:
1. There were so many creative costumes! I saw Pacha, Chicha, and Kuzco. I saw Disney princesses galore and Meg from Hercules. I saw Bert and Mary Poppins. I saw Finn the Human. I saw so many Avatar: The Last Airbender characters:Toph, Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, Azula, and Sokka. I saw Wirt and Greg, Astrid and Hiccup, and Schmendrick and Amalthea from The Last Unicorn.
2. Comic Con needs more pens. I usually carry a pen in my purse, but when I arrived at the convention I realized I didn't have one. Favorite Cousin and I scoured the booths, looking for pens for sale. We saw some specialty pens that cost $65, $35, but nothing at a more...reasonable price. Get rich quick scheme: bring a box of Bic pens to Comic Con, sell them for a buck apiece to people who want to take notes at the panels.
3. It was really cool to see so many famous people! I saw the girls from The Hillywood Show. They had a booth selling merchandise, and they were actually selling the merchandise themselves rather than having others do it. Favorite Cousin and I did a walk-by of Billy Boyd's autograph booth and were able to see him from afar! I tried to catch glimpses of Jeremy Shada and Jess Harnell, too, but was unable to.
Now here's the thing. I found the atmosphere at Comic Con to be very strange. Overall, it just...wasn't uplifting. I don't know why that was, because I've heard nothing but good things about it in the past. Yet the overall spiritual impression I got from Comic Con was a dark one.
When we saw Billy Boyd, I was drawn to him immediately. He just...he really stood out, and not just because he's famous. It's hard to describe, but he was really...full of light.
I had a similar experience with Evanna Lynch. We waited in line for a long time for our photo op. Favorite Cousin and I were exhausted at that point; we left shortly after, even though we'd been planning to stay longer.
Now, Evanna's photo op was running late. We always knew that we weren't going to get much of a chance to talk to her, but Favorite Cousin's experience at conventions in the past was that during a photo op, you got to shake hands and at least say hello. As we drew near to the photo area, however, the security people announced that Evanna had to catch a plane. They instructed us to dash up as soon as the flash for the photo before us went off and get into place quickly. We'd take the photo and exit immediately. No talking, no handshakes, no nothing.
As we drew closer, I studied Evanna. She was wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt and a pencil skirt. I noticed that she was even shorter than I am, and (with some amusement) that her white-blonde hair was showing dirty blonde at the roots. She looked exhausted, but she was still smiling for every picture.
It was almost time for our photo. The girl before us stepped forward swiftly. The flash went off. Favorite Cousin and I, tensed to move, started towards Evanna, but she cried, "Stop! Stop! Can we do that again? I wasn't looking at the camera."
It was a little thing, but it impressed me deeply. It told me that she really cared about her fans getting their money's worth. I was drawn to her the same way that I was drawn to Billy Boyd. Even in just a few seconds, I got the feeling that she was a good person worth admiring. Which was so strange...because I'm usually not the kind of person who takes to people instantly.
They did the photo over. Then it was our turn. We said a quick hello as we got into place for the picture. The cameraman snapped the photo; the light flashed. And I said, "Thank you!" to Evanna, and she said, "Thank you," back, and now I have an experience that I will always remember.
The photo turned out great. I was practically crying, I was so happy. Favorite Cousin seemed to share the deep thumbprint that had been pressed in my heart by the brief experience, because he, too, was nothing but giddy as we rehashed it through conversation over sushi.
Later, I went to visit Porch. I tried to explain how great Evanna was, but it was difficult. I felt like I sounded completely ridiculous; after all, I'd only been in her presence for a few seconds. However, Porch's face lit up, and he started gushing about Evanna. He'd gone to her panel the day before, and he seemed to share my sentiments exactly.
So that was my experience meeting Luna Lovegood. I'm not sorry I did it, in fact I'm very very glad, but I don't think Comic Con is going to become a regular haunt of mine. Unless Steve Whitmire comes. In which case I am going to buy all the tickets and go all the days and follow Steve Whitmire around and probably get arrested.
In August, I told Porch that I might go to Comic Con if certain voice actors or Muppeteers ever came but that I couldn't think of any live-action actors I cared enough about to spend the money on. I've just never been that into movie stars. For example, I would consider going to Comic Con to see Elijah Wood, but only because he did such a fantastic job voicing Wirt in Over the Garden Wall, not because he played one of the leading characters in a critically acclaimed and financially successful film adaptation of one of my favorite book series.
Just days later, I texted Porch.
Awkward Mormon Girl: Looook. Somebody that I would go to Comic Con for: [and then I sent a link to the Comic Con website but I'm not including it here because it will probably be obsolete soon]
If you read the title of the blog post, you might have an inkling of who this person was. If that inkling is any good, then it's pointing you in the direction of Evanna Lynch, Luna Lovegood herself.
Luna Lovegood is my favorite female Harry Potter character. Why? First of all, when I read through the first through fourth books as a child, I found that there weren't many blonde characters that I liked. Petunia Dursley, Dudley Dursley, Gilderoy Lockhart, Rita Skeeter, Draco Malfoy, Fleur Delacour—they weren't exactly sympathetic. I really wanted a character who looked like me but was likable. Lo and behold, the fifth book came out! And Luna was not only blonde, but dirty blonde—the kind that nobody wants to be but most people actually are. By the time the fifth book came out, the white-blonde hair of my childhood had darkened considerably and only got darker from that point. I cherished that similarity between myself and Luna.
Second of all, apart from the looks, I identified with Luna personality-wise. Over the years, a few people have told me, unprompted by me, that I remind them of the book version of Luna Lovegood because I march to the beat of my own drum and don't make decisions based on what everyone else does. And, as I've gotten older and refined aspects of my personality, I find that I, like Luna, am a little too honest and a little too intense.
Last but not least, Luna adds so much to Harry Potter. Before I read the fifth book, I couldn't imagine how another main character could possibly fit into the story. It seemed like it was too late in the game to introduce anyone very significant. I was wrong, obviously. Now when I reread, I wonder how the first four books are as good as they are without Luna.
Having sufficiently proven my love for Luna Lovegood, I have to warn you that I'm no huge Evanna Lynch fan. Not that there's anything wrong with her, personally. It's just that when I saw the first photo of her ten or eleven years ago, I was disappointed. Luna Lovegood, champion of dirty blondes, was going to be played by someone with white-blonde hair? I told Viola that I thought she looked too much like Tom Felton, that people who hadn't read the books were going to think that Luna and Draco were secretly related, and that everyone would be confused.
 |
| I believe this was the first photo of her that I saw. |
After that initial text to Porch, I spent a few weeks in debate.
On the one hand, it seemed like it would be cool to meet her.
On the other hand, it would be expensive.
On the other other hand, I have money to spare.
On the other other other hand, I try to save a lot of that money for the future.
On the other other other other hand, nobody is financially reliant on me but me. I can spend my money on whatever the huckleberry I want.
On another hand, I had no one to go with.
On another another hand, Favorite Cousin showed an interest in going when asked.
Round and round I went in my decision making. Finally, two things decided the question for me.
The first is the connections game. In the connections game, you pick a person and try to connect yourself to them through association. For example, Jim Henson. Here's my connection to him: I know my grandmother. As a child, my grandmother met Walt Disney. Walt Disney worked with Julie Andrews on Mary Poppins. Julie Andrews appeared on The Muppet Show, which meant that she would have met Jim Henson. Or we could do it this way: Runner Bean and his family once appeared on Extreme Home Makeover. The host of Extreme Home Makeover, Ty Pennington, later appeared in a Sesame Street video with Count von Count. At the time, Count von Count was played by none other than the incomparable Muppeteer Jerry Nelson, who worked for years with Jim Henson. Bonus: no matter how you connect me to Jim Henson—and this may be the best part—from Jim Henson it's just one connection to my favorite Muppeteer, Steve Whitmire!!!
Now, I already had a fairly direct connection to J. K. Rowling. A classmate of mine from college has a cousin who is married to Broadway star Audra McDonald, who is playing the wardrobe in the upcoming adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. As all humans and maybe some inhumans know, Emma Watson is playing Belle in said adaptation, and obviously Emma Watson knows J. K. Rowling. So I can trace myself to J. K. Rowling easily. Yet the idea of meeting someone who was just one connection away from one of my favorite writers—well. That was even better.
And the second deciding factor? It seemed like maybe I should live a little. Meet Evanna Lynch? Why the heck not? Why not do something expensive and unnecessary and oh-so-cool every now and again? Ya know? There are so many things that I want to do with my life that I haven't been able to. I hope that they will come, in time, but I can't put off living a fun and rewarding life until then.
And thus it was decided. And thus Favorite Cousin and I bought tickets to the last day of Comic Con and to the Evanna Lynch photo op.
On the day we were going, I was bouncing off the walls. I wore my Gryffindor/Mulan t-shirt and golden teacup earrings. I'd brought my Luna Lovegood wand and a notebook to take notes at panels. I was rearing to go!
Here are some impressions of Comic Con:
1. There were so many creative costumes! I saw Pacha, Chicha, and Kuzco. I saw Disney princesses galore and Meg from Hercules. I saw Bert and Mary Poppins. I saw Finn the Human. I saw so many Avatar: The Last Airbender characters:Toph, Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, Azula, and Sokka. I saw Wirt and Greg, Astrid and Hiccup, and Schmendrick and Amalthea from The Last Unicorn.
2. Comic Con needs more pens. I usually carry a pen in my purse, but when I arrived at the convention I realized I didn't have one. Favorite Cousin and I scoured the booths, looking for pens for sale. We saw some specialty pens that cost $65, $35, but nothing at a more...reasonable price. Get rich quick scheme: bring a box of Bic pens to Comic Con, sell them for a buck apiece to people who want to take notes at the panels.
3. It was really cool to see so many famous people! I saw the girls from The Hillywood Show. They had a booth selling merchandise, and they were actually selling the merchandise themselves rather than having others do it. Favorite Cousin and I did a walk-by of Billy Boyd's autograph booth and were able to see him from afar! I tried to catch glimpses of Jeremy Shada and Jess Harnell, too, but was unable to.
Now here's the thing. I found the atmosphere at Comic Con to be very strange. Overall, it just...wasn't uplifting. I don't know why that was, because I've heard nothing but good things about it in the past. Yet the overall spiritual impression I got from Comic Con was a dark one.
When we saw Billy Boyd, I was drawn to him immediately. He just...he really stood out, and not just because he's famous. It's hard to describe, but he was really...full of light.
I had a similar experience with Evanna Lynch. We waited in line for a long time for our photo op. Favorite Cousin and I were exhausted at that point; we left shortly after, even though we'd been planning to stay longer.
Now, Evanna's photo op was running late. We always knew that we weren't going to get much of a chance to talk to her, but Favorite Cousin's experience at conventions in the past was that during a photo op, you got to shake hands and at least say hello. As we drew near to the photo area, however, the security people announced that Evanna had to catch a plane. They instructed us to dash up as soon as the flash for the photo before us went off and get into place quickly. We'd take the photo and exit immediately. No talking, no handshakes, no nothing.
As we drew closer, I studied Evanna. She was wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt and a pencil skirt. I noticed that she was even shorter than I am, and (with some amusement) that her white-blonde hair was showing dirty blonde at the roots. She looked exhausted, but she was still smiling for every picture.
It was almost time for our photo. The girl before us stepped forward swiftly. The flash went off. Favorite Cousin and I, tensed to move, started towards Evanna, but she cried, "Stop! Stop! Can we do that again? I wasn't looking at the camera."
It was a little thing, but it impressed me deeply. It told me that she really cared about her fans getting their money's worth. I was drawn to her the same way that I was drawn to Billy Boyd. Even in just a few seconds, I got the feeling that she was a good person worth admiring. Which was so strange...because I'm usually not the kind of person who takes to people instantly.
They did the photo over. Then it was our turn. We said a quick hello as we got into place for the picture. The cameraman snapped the photo; the light flashed. And I said, "Thank you!" to Evanna, and she said, "Thank you," back, and now I have an experience that I will always remember.
The photo turned out great. I was practically crying, I was so happy. Favorite Cousin seemed to share the deep thumbprint that had been pressed in my heart by the brief experience, because he, too, was nothing but giddy as we rehashed it through conversation over sushi.
Later, I went to visit Porch. I tried to explain how great Evanna was, but it was difficult. I felt like I sounded completely ridiculous; after all, I'd only been in her presence for a few seconds. However, Porch's face lit up, and he started gushing about Evanna. He'd gone to her panel the day before, and he seemed to share my sentiments exactly.
So that was my experience meeting Luna Lovegood. I'm not sorry I did it, in fact I'm very very glad, but I don't think Comic Con is going to become a regular haunt of mine. Unless Steve Whitmire comes. In which case I am going to buy all the tickets and go all the days and follow Steve Whitmire around and probably get arrested.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Panguitch
I texted Little Sister.
Panguitch is this highly insignificant town in southern Utah. Here's what I wrote in my journal about it when I was a teenager (spelling has been corrected as applicable; apparently at the time I thought Panguitch was spelled "Penguitch"...like a penguin):
...we reached a small town we've visited before called Panguitch. I estimated that the population was 12. Today Little Sister and I counted every person we saw except those in cars. Panguitch has a grand total of 27 residents from what we saw. Two were girls and one was a young boy. I named him Gavroche and Little Sister and I made up the details of his life. We decided Panguitch has just one school that is an elementary, junior high, high school, and college. Gavroche is the only member of the basketball team; also the team's coach, cheerleader, and mascot.
Why was such a small town trending on Twitter? Well, for some reason a tornado chose to pass through Panguitch. I don't even know how a tornado found its way to this state; we had one tornado here once when I was a kid and that's it. Probably today's tornado got lost on its way somewhere else.
They say no one was hurt, and I hope that's true. Little Sister and I would hate it if something bad were to happen to Gavroche.
Panguitch is this highly insignificant town in southern Utah. Here's what I wrote in my journal about it when I was a teenager (spelling has been corrected as applicable; apparently at the time I thought Panguitch was spelled "Penguitch"...like a penguin):
...we reached a small town we've visited before called Panguitch. I estimated that the population was 12. Today Little Sister and I counted every person we saw except those in cars. Panguitch has a grand total of 27 residents from what we saw. Two were girls and one was a young boy. I named him Gavroche and Little Sister and I made up the details of his life. We decided Panguitch has just one school that is an elementary, junior high, high school, and college. Gavroche is the only member of the basketball team; also the team's coach, cheerleader, and mascot.
Why was such a small town trending on Twitter? Well, for some reason a tornado chose to pass through Panguitch. I don't even know how a tornado found its way to this state; we had one tornado here once when I was a kid and that's it. Probably today's tornado got lost on its way somewhere else.
They say no one was hurt, and I hope that's true. Little Sister and I would hate it if something bad were to happen to Gavroche.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Today
I intended to do a lot of things today, most of which didn't get done. Life is frustrating. Life is hard.
BUT Goldfinger brought me this Over the Garden Wall sketch/print thing, so we can all be glad about that.
BUT Goldfinger brought me this Over the Garden Wall sketch/print thing, so we can all be glad about that.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
The Genetic Makeup of an Obnoxious
Like most LDS people, I am obsessed with my ancestors. I constantly ask questions about them, such as "Who were they? What were they like? Where did they live? Why did some of their parents name them Saloma Bisbury which is not a good name?" and so on and so forth.
My dad's brother recently submitted some of his DNA to an ancestry company. For a fee, the folk at this company analyze DNA to figure out a person's racial makeup and where their ancestors come from. Here are the results for my dad's brother (and, by extension, my dad):
25% - Ireland
20% - European Jewish
18% - Europe West
12% - Italy/Greece
10% - Scandinavia
7% - Great Britain
Before you begin to judge the company on its math skillz, I should explain that each estimate is +/- 4%.
This pretty much matches what I've always known about my dad's family. My dad's grandpa is Jewish, so my dad is a quarter Jewish. +/- 4% of 20% goes right along with that, especially if some of the Jewish ancestors chose to intermarry with other members of the Roman empire (uncommon for faithful Jews but not impossible; that could be where some of the Italian/Greek comes in).
The Irish was a surprise. And then, at the very bottom of the image my uncle sent my dad, there was a little note explaining that trace amounts of East Asian ancestry was found in my uncle's DNA, adding up to less than 1%!
That means that I am half of less than 1% Asian! Which, actually, is still less than 1%. But no matter. All of those times that I joked that I should have been some kind of Asian persuasion because I love so many types of Asian food, and it turns out that I actually was, somewhat, all along.
Anyways, I found this to be pretty marvelous. I'm hoping that someone in my mom's family will choose to also try it so that I can get a full picture of the other side of the family. We'll see.
My dad's brother recently submitted some of his DNA to an ancestry company. For a fee, the folk at this company analyze DNA to figure out a person's racial makeup and where their ancestors come from. Here are the results for my dad's brother (and, by extension, my dad):
25% - Ireland
20% - European Jewish
18% - Europe West
12% - Italy/Greece
10% - Scandinavia
7% - Great Britain
Before you begin to judge the company on its math skillz, I should explain that each estimate is +/- 4%.
This pretty much matches what I've always known about my dad's family. My dad's grandpa is Jewish, so my dad is a quarter Jewish. +/- 4% of 20% goes right along with that, especially if some of the Jewish ancestors chose to intermarry with other members of the Roman empire (uncommon for faithful Jews but not impossible; that could be where some of the Italian/Greek comes in).
The Irish was a surprise. And then, at the very bottom of the image my uncle sent my dad, there was a little note explaining that trace amounts of East Asian ancestry was found in my uncle's DNA, adding up to less than 1%!
That means that I am half of less than 1% Asian! Which, actually, is still less than 1%. But no matter. All of those times that I joked that I should have been some kind of Asian persuasion because I love so many types of Asian food, and it turns out that I actually was, somewhat, all along.
Anyways, I found this to be pretty marvelous. I'm hoping that someone in my mom's family will choose to also try it so that I can get a full picture of the other side of the family. We'll see.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Mija Alexa
Maybe I should make a tag just for wrong number posts.
I haven't heard anything about Kathryn for a few weeks, but I have been called at least four times in the past week or so by a school attendance office telling me that my fourth-grade student, Alexa, was not in school during Period Zero.
Also, the messages are in Spanish.
Now, I could call the school and tell them that they have the wrong number, that I don't have any kids least of all a fourth-grade age daughter named Alexa who sluffs school. However, I am at work during normal school hours and therefore not on able to use the phone. Also, there seems to be a chance that whoever answers will be speaking Spanish, and I don't speak Spanish suficientamente to explain myself.
At the moment there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to correct the mix-up. So I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. (Plot twist: What if Kathryn is Alexa's mother? Dun dun dun!)
I haven't heard anything about Kathryn for a few weeks, but I have been called at least four times in the past week or so by a school attendance office telling me that my fourth-grade student, Alexa, was not in school during Period Zero.
Also, the messages are in Spanish.
Now, I could call the school and tell them that they have the wrong number, that I don't have any kids least of all a fourth-grade age daughter named Alexa who sluffs school. However, I am at work during normal school hours and therefore not on able to use the phone. Also, there seems to be a chance that whoever answers will be speaking Spanish, and I don't speak Spanish suficientamente to explain myself.
At the moment there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to correct the mix-up. So I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. (Plot twist: What if Kathryn is Alexa's mother? Dun dun dun!)