Menu

Subscribe

real life

A 3621-post collection

We're having "fun"

It seems like Mayhem's medication only really worked for one night. I found out why when I looked at the packet - it only works for kids aged 9 to 12. Mayhem is 14.

So we're seeing the doctor again about getting something to help him sleep. After I see the doctor about getting something to help me breathe.

Meanwhile, the fun and games he used to get "to keep him awake" is not happening, today. I figure if the motivation goes, so might the sleeplessness.

Which means that a lot of laundry and dishwashing is going to get done. And if he runs out of any of that - there is still garbage to round up. Inside or outside.

I'm going to edit last years' Year of Instants for something to do, today. And twiddle with the title page so that it looks a little different from the other two. You know, along-side the usual 500 words and today's Instant.

It needs to get done, and I'd rather be able to point to a series of Instants if anyone asks me about my writing when I'm in the States.

I need a hat box capable of safely transporting a tophat... and all the places that might have it are in frelling Narnia or some shit. I might not be allowed to wear it on the plane because there's brooch pins involved.

The list of things you're not allowed to fly with is ridiculous.

And all the dollar shops have rectangular/square boxes. I already looked.

I might have to pay another visit to the costumery place or go to Spotlight and see if they have anything. Which means I need to bring my hat with me when I go...

...with a tired and grumpy kid in tow...

Fun times, children. Fun times.

Getting there S-L-O-W-L-Y

There is fun times to be happening today. But first, the costume checklist:

  • [ ] Dress
  • [X] Striped Hose
  • [X] Corset
  • [X] Shoes
  • [ ] Petticoats
  • [ ] Gloves
  • [X] Hat
  • [X] Wig
  • [ ] Makeups
  • [X] Makeup accessories
  • [X] Bloomers
  • [X] Functioning Heart
  • [X] Rose-enhanced Mask

Yes, dear readers, I finally figured out how to do Bitzer's Rosy Cheek(tm) and Beloved and I conquered the Arduino programming for the sparking lights in the heart.

Check out this test video:

We've finessed the code since this test run, but

Read more »

Progress with technology

Stand back and brace your routers, it's a PHOTOBLOG!

That's right, dear readers, I have done some things. First of which was shopping for a shoes, and some other bits and bobs that cost a lot of money. [Donate today and you can fund this author having food to eat during WWWC5!]

But first, the twiddly bits:

[Shown here: two Adafruit(tm) circuit boards, six 7-micropixel LED 'flowers' and two rechargeable battery packs]

These were ordered by post. The wires, wire strippers,

Read more »

The best laid plans...

I was going to go on a minor shopping spree, today. And visit MeMum to pick up those bloomers (and maybe have a gasbag).

BUT, yesterday afternoon, some dillhole thought it would be funny to push Mayhem - who then tripped over someone's bag and fell badly. The arm he landed on is still aching "just as bad" as yesterday. The arm itself is sensitive to touch. And there's purple discolouration.

I thought it might be his wrist, but it's his radius

Read more »

Finally! Sleep!

Mayhem and I have had restless nights for a majority of the week, but for different reasons. Me, because not being able to breathe tends to wake me up. And Mayhem because something, somewhere went agley and he couldn't sleep.

Medical science is still trying to find out why it went agley in the first place.

The medication finally recommended by the doctors has worked enough to give him five hours of actual rest. Yay. I recommended some meditation stuff and white

Read more »

It's 4AM and my life sucks a little

Got woken up by another asthma attack at two in the morning and didn't take a nebuliser dose until 3. I'm going to need another dose long about 6AM. This is indeed a Bad Air Day.

I'm now worried that I may cause alarm and despondency if I need to use my machine in public at Tucson. And to that end, I've warned Miss Bennett about me and put an FAQ on my phone.

I still have no idea if Bunny sees

Read more »

...ow

I'm not a happy camper, today.

The asthma attack that will not end is still not ending in a timely manner. After four runs on the nebuliser, yesterday and one this morning, I can feel something loosening up in the bronchii, but it's taking its sweet time shaking loose.

Meanwhile, I shake so much that something has to fall loose, but it isn't.

I'm changing approaches to editors again. Beloved says that working from a MarkDown copy is way easier than working

Read more »

Why do I hurt myself?

I could not get to sleep, last night. I thought I was anxious about getting my cosplay together, but it turns out I was having a Clayton's asthma attack.

Clayton's(adj): The thing you have when you're not having a thing.

In my case, it's not realising I'm having an asthma attack until I look at my fingernails [instead of glance at them] and say, "Holy fuck, those are purple!"

I was probably one very bad night away from full-blown cyanosis. And

Read more »

If I don't do anything today...

I know the reason why. It's called Kingdom and it's a 2-D side-scroller RTS adventure game.

The graphics are heavily pixelated, but there is detail and wonder in that, all the same. The parallax happening when you go exploring is so beautiful, it's been the cause of my monarch's death many a time.

I've already learned not to upgrade stuff during a red moon. That's when all the nastards come out.

The three things you need to balance are archers, builders, and

Read more »

Hark, hark, the dogs... don't bark?

I had a curious incident of the dogs in the neighbourhood, this morning. Like in the Sherlock Holmes adventure Silver Blaze, they did not bark.

Not a single hound decided to greet me this morning. And I'm very used to the local canine population reacting like I'm Bobby The Serial Killer whenever I toddle by their particular patch of fence.

On one hand, it means that my neighbours around two blocks don't curse my existence or the goddamn cheerful "Good Morning!" I

Read more »

Ugh it's muggy

The storm last night wasn't that amazing for us. Nor did it give us any respite from the humidity. Even though it's currently 28 degrees [84 Fahrenheit], it's that bloody humid that perspiration is literally dripping off me.

This is the exact kind of weather that has me skipping meals because I feel too awful to eat anything. Or has me snorking down ice cream by the bucket load because it's just too hot to think of eating anything else.

Pre-hydrating seems

Read more »

Ermagerb...

Cosplaying when you can't fucking sew is expensive. When I have the free time, I am going to have to get myself some lessons on sewing and drafting.

I just spent almost $180 on a dress from HelloCosplay. It's a very nice dress, too. I still haven't got the corset because the sizing chart doesn't match the sizes when you order one 9_9

At least the prices are better than the potential angst of ordering from a place like FanPlusFriend.

I

Read more »

Argledy blargledy.... Wwaaaaaahhhhh...

We have ONE MONTH to get everything together for WWC5 and I'm already panicking. Beloved has agreed to help me with the heart and I have the sinking suspicion that we will be making the dress because NOBODY sells gothic lolita togs anywhere near me. At least none that I can go to and try on.

There's one place that will make a dress for me, but it involves ordering and I have no idea if it's going to take less than

Read more »

Brace yourselves

I finally finished 2015's year of Instants [now currently in the editing stage, coming out soon to a Smashwords near you] and I begin on this year's Leap Year of Instants because it's a leap year this year.

Which means a whole new brace of serial numbers and some confusion to new readers. It's OK. The numbering system is mostly for me. And they're a fairly unique identifier so there's no such thing as two stories with the same title and number.

Read more »

Ffffffffffffffffff...

Not just a noise of frustration, dear readers, but also a recurrant problem I have encountered with the running of this site. And it's a weird one.

This publishing system has trouble with F words. And not the F word you might be expecting.

Just take a look. This is what my editor sees:

[Image shows correct text with the proper spelling of a certain typo in the published version.]

And this is what happens when the exact same text gets published:

Read more »