Sunday, October 24, 2010

A Last Ireland Post....

Ah, one last Ireland blog, as we can't properly do Ireland without mentioning Octokitty. I figured since the Convention was OCTOcon, I should bring it on along.

A point or two about Octokitty to begin. I have NO idea what Octokitty IS. There are many, it is not a singular entity. We have lots lying around the house, they appear. The Bengals love them. To near death. (Which is why THIS Octokitty acquired an eyepatch and prosthetic leg.) I gave one to the Dogs once. Bad plan. Sorry, Dude.

Joan of Dark sends them. (@joanofdarkknits on twitter) I think they are lucky. This Octokitty is, as far as I know, the only EvelynEvelyn Conjoined Octokitty. She knits them. She does Roller Derby too.

Which brings me to a point, if I may digress. (which I can, it's my blog and all) If you are lucky enough to know a Roller Girl personally and she texts you from an After Party, after winning the first bout of the season asking if you are good enough friends for her to spend the next several hours drunk texting you: Say YES.

This will be hours of the best entertainment ever. I am sworn to secrecy and they aren't the sort of texts one repeats on such a Gentle Blog as this, but trust me.

I have a feeling it was probably the next best thing to BEING there.

The Joan of Dark Blog is here. What can be reported, no doubt will be.

Back to Octokitty. Here with Poppets, and a Plauge Rat. And coffee. Octokitty made friends all over the place.

Like Louisa, owner of Raven Books in Dublin.

Yes, there are Poppests all over Ireland. I think most people there carry a couple around. I didn't know this. Brought Octokitty and acquired that Plague Rat myself.

Lovely. SImply lovely. Art even. I should mention that all of these pictures so far were taken by Nathilie, except the first, which was Marjorie. Both of whom know far more about using a camera than I do. The next one is Nathilie I think. Then you get ME.

My little Spirit Guide around Dublin, Anabel, brought Cuthulu. (No Poppests or Rats for this girl, she goes striaght to, um, hell? The Top?) Her mother made this one for her. Especially for the Convention. Again, I say, Ireland is a pretty darn magic place. (Even tho she was Spanish, as is her Mother, who lives in Spain.)

What tourist expierence would be complete without a visit to Molly Malone, who wasn't EXACTLY a Fish Barrow weilder but a Lady of the Evening. Or she may have been both. Not sure. I had to chase off a LOT of tourists, (including one with an Eagle), and a Giant Leprechaun to take this.

Crypt. Entrance. No Octokitty. No pictures allowed inside. This was the one with the Lord Nobody Liked. Not for the faint of heart, this Crypt. No tea. Only, well, I think we all know what lies in Crypts.

Oh, look. Me and Octokitty. And that strange Bunny. On the train to Howth, where we would have climbed cliffs and hiked, had it not been freezing and if my legs weren't about to fall OFF.

Again, no Octokitty. But this is the real actual Crypt where one can get a nice cup of tea. You would have thought I would have say, taken pictures of IT, but no, this was all I have from my several visits.

No clue. But they were in drag and they came running down the street. I liked them. And will always wonder: Where were they going and should I have gone too?

Octokitty in the Yarn Shop in Wicklow, they day of the adventure with the Mad Knitter Siobhan. Not sure there are words for adventures involving Mad Knitters driving about the country in search of Alpaca. I will say this for them: They found it.

Here's a shot from today, Octokitty with my new Weeping Angel figure. Here you can see the Eyepatch, and new Leg that Siobhan knitted for it.

I speak the truth when I tell you I don't know what Octokitty IS. You'll have to ask Joan of Dark, she may tell you. She may not know. She may choose to keep that secret

I do know, I am glad it was with me.

As glad I was to have been in Ireland, which is to say:

Greatly.

Love and Remembering Ireland,
Lorraine

214 Comments:

1 – 200 of 214 Newer› Newest»
At 15:30 Blogger Chantrelle said...

I love seeing the places you went vs seeing the places we went...different yet the same. We went to Howth but given it was w/ a 4 yr old, we played on a playground and got ice cream ;-)

Such a glorious adventure!

Ben's teacher is a roller hockey chickie. Unfortunately she tore up her knee so i think she may be retired....and i don't think i'd want drunk texts from here, that may make for an uncomfortable parent-teacher conference. Or maybe not, i do love that woman, she's awesome!

T-3 days until we are in MN!!

At 15:38 Blogger Marjorie said...

I miss you, and Octokitty.

At 16:11 Blogger louisa said...

I say if Sigourney Weaver can have aliens bursting out of her stomach then I can have an octokitty spewing forth from my mouth!

Very impressed that you managed to get a photo of The Tart with the Cart *without* tourists, no mean feat! They are like moths to the flame to her, um, "cockles". Alive OH! indeed.

I wonder has there ever before in the history of ever been the combination of crypts, Alpaca yarn, Roller Girl drunk texting and a bloke in a tutu. I love this place.

At 16:30 Blogger vampi said...

*twirls* fun pictures!

just saw megamind, boy has a credit and it was a dreamworks showing. it was fun ad i think kids will like it. i laughed a lot.

i can't vouch for the non fiends at HoTr, but the fiends i have met so far are amazing and you should not be scared. the community and interaction here in the comments follows wonderfully in real life.

At 16:30 Blogger vampi said...

oh darn it, tick box.

At 18:06 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Octokitty - Plague Rats - Weeping Angel - Poppets. Fiendish props all round.

Tart With A Cart does appear to have a magnificent set of, um cockles.

Envy building here for all of you who are going to HOTR. *sigh*

And hi to Meg...I'm one of the Fiends from Tomorrowland.

At 19:02 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Well, I wasn't kidding when I said I had to chase away tourists to get the Molly Malone shot.Then they all wanted to know what it was and why I was carrying it about Dublin.

Meg, son't forget to introduce yourself at HOTR, remember, we don't know what you look like.

Heck, not sure I know what ANY of you look like. I saw some of you a year ago at the gathering, but that was long ago and you all have so many NAMES.

We should have a CODE PHRASE so that I know you all.

How about "Nice Ass!" ??? It will do my ego good, and I will know it is YOU all.

Speaking of that, where has Beez been??? I don't like it when people are gone too long and she has been absent.

At 19:02 Blogger Phiala said...

OSS and I were kidnapped!

By Jess and Mr. Jess!

And fed beets! And wine! It was horrid.

And taken outdoors where it was sunny, and into bookstores.

And there were cats.

We were lucky to escape!

At 19:03 Blogger Chantrelle said...

I will totally say "nice ass" to you Q...but you already know me, it'll just be fun to say :)

At 19:06 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Kidnapped??? By Jess and Mr Jess??? Poor Mistress! And OSS! I am glad you got away! Those two are demons!

Sounds worse than being kidnapped by knitters!

Chantrelle, You I will remember. How could one FORGET????

Anyone who doesn't know ME, I am hot, with purple hair and will be hanging with a purple haired roller girl. We will be the ones on skates.

At 19:10 Blogger Phiala said...

No worries Q - we went to a yarn store too. Just like knitters, though the knitters were the kidnappees instead of kidnappers.

At 19:15 Blogger Jess said...

Well hello! Why do I think that visitors have to be lowered into that crypt on a rope? For some reason it looks that way to me, and that seems more exciting, so I'm going to imagine that's how it is.

Yes, you should have gone with the drag people. They're bound to have been headed somewhere good.

I had to release Phiala and Sock. I couldn't work out what my demands actually were, apart from that they keep me company, and eat stuff. They did both, with aplomb.

(There was far too much cheese involved. Chantrelle would've hated it. ;) )

We found you a big weeping angel for your garden, Q, but the shop selling it was shut.

At 19:16 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Wait, you talked your kidnappers into TAKING you to a knitting store? That's just all backwards!

I so need to learn how to knit. I mean, I know how to Knit the knit stick, and I could make the KNIT scarf, but that's it...

At 19:18 Blogger Jess said...

I knew you were just saying you liked the beets to lull me into a false sense of security, Phiala. That's why you didn't eat the leftovers! Curses!

At 19:19 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Jess, you could go BACK when they are open and send it to me for a SURPRISE..

That crypt was a pretty steep climb, you had to be pretty good to get down in it, it was old and had none of the modern improvements.

I think the knitters let me go for the same reasons. Was never sure if they were holding me for ransom because they didn't want me to GO or if they just wanted to make some $$ if I DID go..

At 19:19 Blogger Dragonsally said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

At 19:19 Blogger Dragonsally said...

knit stick?

At 19:19 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I like beets. Quite a lot really. And you've never kidnapped ME...

At 19:20 Blogger Phiala said...

I thought about more beets for lunch, Jess, but was too lazy to look for them.

At 19:20 Blogger Jess said...

Also, we were hoping they'd get tangled in the yarn and be unable to escape. Turns out they really know their way around yarn. Curses (again).

At 19:20 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Sally, you've gone all CRYPTic. Unless THEY know something I don't...

At 19:21 Blogger Phiala said...

These were really good beets, Q. If you have the opportunity to be kidnapped by Jess, she will feed you very well.

And her cats are cute.

At 19:21 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

-I- could have told you THAT Jess. I think you need more planning on these sorts of things.

Was it your first time?

At 19:21 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

All cats are cute. I need something more than Beets and Cats.

At 19:22 Blogger Phiala said...

Beets, cats, and KNITTING.

Duh.

:)

At 19:24 Blogger Jess said...

The big angel is four feet high and made of stone or concrete or something. I do not think we could ship it without having to sell the house. We'd have to come out and steal your house. We'd have to come and take over your house.

You would get beets that way. And kidnapped.

At 19:30 Blogger Jess said...

Hmm, that last comment of mine was unecessarily repetitive. Can I claim literary license? No. I don't think I can.

Yeah, it's the whole "plan" thing I have trouble with. But beets, cats, CHEESE. You'd get cheese. And pumpkin ice cream, which I forgot we had.

My cats aren't just cute. They're frigging adorable. They're little cat-whores. I'm surprised Edie didn't go home with Phiala. She's sitting here wondering where her new pals went, by the way.

At 19:30 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

DRIVE the Angel out, Jess. You can have the house but let me tell you a bit about Madame Mim and her PEE issues...The Bengals come WITH it.

All FIVE of them.

At 19:32 Blogger Phiala said...

I want pumpkin ice cream now.

And yes Edie is a little sweetie. But now her identical twin Morgan is snuggling on me and complaining.

At 19:33 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Pumpkin ice cream? Mistress, that is SO off topic. You know how serious we are here about staying with the subject.

Which is, um, I forget...

At 19:35 Blogger Phiala said...

But Q, Jess started it here on the blog.

And she dragged us kicking and screaming to the ice cream stand so she could buy pumpkin ice cream to taunt us with, and she wouldn't let us have any.

Sure, now Jess claims she forgot. But I know the truth!

At 19:36 Blogger Jess said...

Pumpkin ice cream is never off-topic!

I'll drive the angel out after I buy myself the giant Buddha head, Q.

At 19:39 Blogger meganagitor said...

Ah. A Code Phrase would indeed be good, but I would worry about what would happen to the people who don't understand why I'm saying "Nice Ass" constantly.
Of course, they might be better for it.
Or they might think I'm bonkers.
Not sure either of those are a bad thing, though.

It wouldn't do much good to know what I look like in this case, as by the time Friday roles around, I will be...
Well..
The same, but much different.
There IS a costume party to plan for. And some preparations just don't happen overnight.

Lorraine - All of your pictures make me jealous. I've always fancied Ireland - and other places as well- But it sounds more and more amazing each time you talk about it.
Some day, preferably before I become old and crotchety, I will travel outside of the country. It WILL happen.

At 19:42 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Ok so Jess wouldn't let anyone else have any icecream and she won't drive my Weeping Angel Statue out.

Right.

Intervention time.

At 19:43 Blogger meganagitor said...

So carried away I missed Pumpkin Ice Cream?
WHAT?

I LOVE Pumpkin ANYTHING.

Kidnap ME!

At 19:44 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Meg, you can't say NICE ASS randomly, only to ME. FOr the rest of the FIends, you'll all have to figure it out. I'd look for me and see who's around, bound to be entertaining.

And you will get to Ireland if you want to.

What's your costume, or is it secret? I can't wait to see everyones!

At 19:44 Blogger Jess said...

"Intervention"? Or abduction? Yes, come into my web of beets and cheese. Muhahahaha.

At 19:44 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I know, I missed the ice cream too.

We need MORE KIDNAPPING!

At 19:48 Blogger Jess said...

See, I'm a very lazy terrorist. Come to Pittsburgh, and I'll definitely kidnap you. But if you expect me to come out there to do the abducting, you have to be able to guarantee that I won't nearly die in a plane crash again. THAT PLANE TOTALLY HAD NO BRAKES.

At 19:49 Blogger Phiala said...

Based on this weekend, more kidnapping would be a Good Thing.

I would be happy to kidnap any Fiends who happen to be near central Pennsylvania. There would certainly be dog and cat, and potentially ice cream. And beets.

And, um, yarn is a given. You all know that, right?

I have a shortage of weeping angels though.

And I must depart for the evening. It isn't that I don't love you all, for I certainly do, but I have the new William Gibson book here on my lap with the cat, and it requires my attention!

Good evening all! [Phiala Local Time; yours may vary]

At 19:50 Blogger meganagitor said...

Okay. Nice Ass only to you.
Got it.

I don't know if it should be a secret or not?
But it involves having long hair.
Something that has not happened since grade school.
Oh and blonde. But I finally tried that route last year, and it wasn't nearly as frightening as I expected.

Ah I'm so excited!
And now I'm also really craving a Pumpkin Blizzard.

At 19:53 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

As long as we get to meet you, Meg, that's all that is needed!

Jess, Lazy, that's what you are. Sometimes kidnapping requires ENERGY. And what a plane ride without DRAMA?? I ask you..

Night Mistress..

At 20:20 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Ah, all alone again. Here on my blog. Like that. Don't need any pesky Fiends commenting and all. I enjoy being by myself here..

At 20:24 Blogger vampi said...

mmm pumpkin icecream

At 20:24 Blogger dabbler said...

ACK! A Pumpkin Blizzard is much worse than a hailstorm. And I can totally say "Nice Ass" as long as no one has to perjure themselves and say it to me.

I have figured out a great, interactive costume... but I'm not giving hints.

At 20:26 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

AH, I knew the pumpkin ice cream would lure you back.

Well, actually, that was jess. Can't take credit. One must be honest.

At 20:31 Blogger vampi said...

have the bengals forgiven?

At 20:38 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Hard to tell. Magic bit the heck out of me tonight. I think it was affectionate tho. Venus is clingy.

We have a fire, and I am home, think all is forgiven for the moment.

Just saw the Animal Cops episode on Bengals again. I get so mad. BAD BAD BAD. Ratings not truth. ANY cats in the conditions the Bengals were found in, 70 in a Hoarders home, would have reacted them same.

BAD spreading myths. It makes me mad.

At 20:42 Blogger Jess said...

Actually, I'm finding that passive kidnapping works rather well. You just say "pumpkin ice cream", or "beets," and all of a sudden they're beating down your door. Come on in! Handcuffs and yarn are over there. Be a dear and hog-tie yourself while I sit here, would you? Thanks.

Time to feed the cat-whores! Then bed. Nighty night. If I wake up and find you all here, well, that's much easier, isn't it.

At 20:50 Blogger meganagitor said...

I hate when fall ends, because in so many places it takes the Pumpkin with it.
If I could have a Pumpkin latte and ice cream year round, I would be the happiest lady EVER.
If I were a super hero, that would be my weakness. Or puppychow. At least in a food sense.

For now, I ready myself for work. Yay 3rd shift.

G'night to all you with normal schedules! [And similar time zones..]

At 22:01 Blogger EmilyOliveP said...

Crap, since my laptop decided it hates me guts, I'm going to have to come back and comment much later some other time, although I know I said I wanted to see more Ireland. Well. Not verbatim but STILL. I am here just not reading the post, not yet.

At 23:10 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Had Halloween Soup Night here tonight. Small but more a dress rehearsal for our costumes. Mine worked. Ben's worked. Ralph's needed a little help. But I think we're good to go for next week!

Oh, and NICE ASS! (just practicing)

At 00:11 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Gee, I have a visitor for a few hours and miss all the activity.

Quiche, you were the one who went CRYPTIC with the knit stick...

Hey, I'm up for being kidnappee or kidnapper if any of you come down to Or-straaalia.

And I'd really like some non-dairy ice cream now you've mentioned it.
I can even take you to places with books and yean and weeping angels. Also drop bears, killer sharks and so forth.

At 00:16 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Funny enough, looking at Molly Malone, When I took a picture of that statue (mostly her tits) I thought it was too bad I did not have Octokitty to have it fondle her.
(That Giant Leprechaun was an ass, wasn't he? He tried to get in the way of my pictures too. I had to give him a stern look.)

At 00:24 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Come to Rome fiends, and I'll gladly kidnap you, which is bound to entail forcing you to eat pumpkin pasta and to cuddle the kitties THEN taking you around the city to try all the ice cream flavours. Particularly hellish, that last one: You might never want to eat another ice cream in your life. And walk.

At 06:27 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

GOOD MORNING FIENDS!!!!!!

Gads, I am sleepy.

Wake. Ride. Tea. Coffee!!!!

Riding my teachers horse this morning! From the video!! SO excited!!!

At 06:38 Blogger Phiala said...

Good morning.

That's very exciting; I hope you have a great deal of fun and learn something cool.

At 06:47 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Scary too, that horse is BIG!!!!

Wish I were awake for it.

At 06:53 Blogger Marjorie said...

Enjoy the ride. I am sure it will be interesting (if tall!)

On an unrelated subject, is anyone else finding that the bog displays oddly? It is right over to the left of my screen, with the left edge cut off. I had thought this was down to my netbook, which is a bit tempremental, but it's looking that wau on my PC at work, too...

At 06:56 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

My Dad mentioned that too...It's good for me tho.

At 07:01 Blogger louisa said...

Morning! Blog shows fine for me, I do have quite a wide screen, don't know if that makes a difference.

At 07:53 Blogger Fluffy said...

Okay, I just want to get this straight, because I don't want to be shunned and deprived of ice cream: It's only Meg who is limited in her "Nice Ass"-ing, right? Am I correct in thinking the rest of us are free to spread our "Nice Ass"-es all over the place? We need to know these things.

At 08:19 Blogger EmilyOliveP said...

Marjorie, my laptop will not show the whole screen; it's only the right part of the post. Which is not enough for me to make a proper comment. But I finally got onto the family computer and read the whole post. Whoot for Ireland and weird knitty poppets! My creepy dolls: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1413710626126&set=a.1069498261032.2010722.1333363326&ref=fbx_album Possibly the link will work. Possibly the link will not work.

At 08:43 Blogger Marjorie said...

I can read it just fine on my phone, oddly enough
( and LiEm, I find if I click on comments & then 'Show original post' that works too (although doesn't show the pictures)
it started with the 2nd Ireland post, for me.

At 10:03 Blogger Jess said...

The Blogger forbids me to post! Oh noes! I shall persevere.

Good morning peeps. What are we doing? How was the big horsie?

You'll be pleased to know that I haven't actually eaten any of the pumpkin ice cream yet, out of GUILT and SHAME. And also due to not being very hungry.

I want to go to Rome for a kidnapping.

I have also now seen Phiala's story in Rigor Amortis, and it is very fine indeed!

And that is all I've got.

At 10:21 Blogger Phiala said...

I would march across the street right now and buy pumpkin ice cream of my own so that you would cease feeling guilty if only I liked their pumpkin ice cream. It's pumpkin pie, meaning it has nasty soggy bits of pseudo-crust in it. The ice cream itself is fine and pumpkinny.

I did have a pumpkin latte; that should be adequate anyway.

And I'm glad you liked the story. :) I know more of you want the zombie book, but I was kidnapped this weekend instead of figuring out who that was and sending them. If the people who already asked would email (again) me that would be most helpful. Except LiEm doesn't need to. If you don't know my email it's easy to find.

Sorry for the chaos.

At 12:33 Blogger meganagitor said...

ah!
good morning. or noon. to you folks.

although it will be goodnight for me.
one more "day" of work before my gloriously long weekend.

and i'd just like to throw out there, that i am down for any kidnapping that takes me outside of the midwest. or even outside of my hometown.
i promise i'll go quietly. no kicking or screaming.
and if you're really enthusiastic you might be able to grab a few ducks or geese in the process as well.
but i can't promise their silence.

yup. i think it's bed time.

enjoy your day everyone!

At 12:39 Blogger Chantrelle said...

One more day of work. Tomorrow is packing mayhem (trying to get costumes into suitcases!!) and we'll be in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening! I can't believe it's here already. Excited excited!

I'll be easy to find, Ben will be with us. He'll be the cutest kid there, I'm the mom w/ purple and black hair :D

At 12:48 Blogger Jess said...

Is that Meg? I so not think I have met Meg properly yet. Hallo Meg. And good night. I take it you are a nightshifter.

At 15:41 Blogger Precision Grace said...

just a quick hello, I've been reading blogs of ireland and that, but not much time to comment anymore

anyhow, been learning new skill, all about correcting body imbalances and whathaveyou; now need a skull to aid me further in my learning (anyone got spare skull - this HAS to be the right place to ask?)


In the meantime, this place has become my new window shopping emporium /is it wrong to sigh over internal organs?

At 15:48 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

A little old lady in my apartment building is using all of the washer machines in my laundry room. I snuck my clothes in one, but now she is also using all of the dryers. There is one free, but she is taking each shirt in the dryer out one by one, and putting them on hangars one by one. I stood awkwardly in the laundry room, standing with my dryer sheets, and she looked at me and said, Oh, this is going to take a while.

She was ignoring the folding table two feet away.

Doesn't she know I need socks and underwears for a night out?!?

At 16:54 Blogger Jess said...

Wendy - Could offer to help. Or "help" (the version where you throw all her stuff on the floor and yell, "Let's see you pick it up, Grandma! BEND!!").

We are looking for Christmas plane tickets for Foreign Parts. There's not much, and the not much ain't cheap. I miss the days when you could get there and back for $500 or so. Sigh.

At 17:23 Blogger meganagitor said...

hello back, jess!
you are multiple kinds of correct-
i AM meg and indeed a nightshifter.
and unfortunately a bit more awake that i had originally intended to be for this time of night.
oh well.
these things happen, and are easily remedied by a pumpkin latte!

wendy- i like jess's idea of helping, although in that such case i might've just replied to her with a simple "okay" and then just stared at her in a creepy fashion.
the kind where you make odd faces, and they think they see them out of the corner of their eye
but when they glance over, nothing.

it doesn't work quite the same, but if someone has ever done that to you while driving, it might've been me.

At 18:14 Blogger Cecily said...

tick

At 18:19 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

I am pretty socially awkward, and I was thrown for a loop, because she wasn't a little ickle old lady who was having a hard time bending over, which made the process painfully slow. She had a PROCESS and laundry TOOLS with her. Like a wire mesh wheeled laundry cart. A folding rack holding 80 plastic coat hangers.

Her process was this:

Bend over.

Pull out one shirt.

If she happened to pull out more than one shirt, ball it up and place it back in the dryer.

Smooth out the shirt.

Place the shirt on the hanger.

Smooth out the shirt again.

Hang the hanger on the collapsable rack.

Smooth out the shirt one more time.

Probably why she does her laundry on a Monday when most other people are at work, and I am inconveniently home from school.

Also, I got an A- on my midterm!

At 18:38 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

Now off to incite a firestorm of controversy by one again insisting that describing someone as "black" actually does nothing to describe them. I did this last week and was told by an older woman (an English teacher at a local school) that I was being ridiculous.

At 18:39 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

The firestorm of controversy will be in my writing group, not caused by me stopping random people in the street.

At 19:21 Blogger vampi said...

i would like to throw some tinder on that firestorm. i think it depends on the story, the character, and the intended audience as to whether that adds something to the description of the character. i would think it could help certain stories in identifying with the character's ethnicity and prejudices.
in my mind it depends on the goal of the author to either make a character universally sympathetic, or play into the character or the readers built in prejudices.

i do think it is becoming a bit over used and simplistic or lazy description. i would be upset if that was the total description used.

At 19:22 Blogger vampi said...

p.s. i'm so not a literary critic or anything even close to being an english scholar.

At 23:58 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

One of the ladies in my group has described two characters in the same chapter (while introducing them) as black and nothing else that helps you see what they look like. I keep saying that unless they truly have skin the color of pitch, using that as the only descriptor doesn't really say anything about them.

The description goes something like, "Two nurses walked in. One was a blonde lady with a ponytail, the other a black man."

At 00:04 Blogger spacedlaw said...

This gyuy is black too but I don't think he belonged to that story. So elaborating on the appearance might have been a good idead. Not that saying somone is blond - even with a pony tail - goes much in the way of describing someone.

But then again, who am I to say? I rarely describe my characters anyway.

At 00:19 Blogger vampi said...

unless she is cousin it blonde is a pretty vague description.

At 00:44 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

I like describing people in detail in my stories, or not describing them at all and letting the readers decide.

I always bring up descriptions that don't mean anything. Like, "She was a perfect beauty." "Her face was flawless."

At 04:49 Blogger louisa said...

Something that stayed with me about descriptions in books was something an author - you may have heard of him - Neil Gaiman said in relation to transferring the Other Mother from page to screen - in a book you can say what a character isn't leaving the reader to imagine what he/she/it is. Can't really do that in a movie. I'm all for working the reader's imagination so long as halfway through the story you don't throw in some important detail like "her horribly disfigured face" or "his missing left arm" forcing the reader to completely change their mental image.

At 08:38 Blogger Arwenn said...

I agree Wendy, the descriptions she uses are the kind of thing you use in real life after you've actually seen someone. "Which nurse told you to take out your IV?" "The one with the blonde ponytail". For literature that's no help at all.

At 10:01 Blogger Jess said...

Well, unless you're talking about point of view. The fact that it's straightforward, unadorned description isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself. (In fact it's fairly concrete, and it would be indulgent to say much more than that.) But Two nurses walked in. One was a blonde lady with a ponytail, the other a black man isn't meaningless if those details means something to the protagonist, or to another character. If skin color and hair color become an issue as the scene develops, the description is relevant.

It sounds like that isn't the case, though, and more a problem of unnecessary description. It sounds as though the writer doesn't really understand the focus of her scene yet, or realise that she needs to choose her details carefully. So she's sort of describing everything, rather than drawing the reader's attention to significant details. That's a pretty common beginning-writer mistake to make, to think that lots of description is the same thing as vivid description. But effective description isn't just a matter of tossing together a load of beautiful language and stunning imagery. It's a deliberate drawing of the reader's eye to the elements that matter most, like a movie camera zooming in on an object. The question, I'd say, really isn't whether or not the writer is "saying" anything, but whether or not the details she chose are really all that significant to the scene.

At 10:29 Blogger Chantrelle said...

I love the way you all talk about writing.

Speaking of writing...Did anyone see Boss on Arthur? I LOVED it! Funny thing is ben hasn't seen it yet, I watched it after he went to bed :P

I'm packing today. Packing for 3 people, cold weather (to us) and Halloween. That's a lot of luggage.

At 10:59 Blogger Jess said...

I missed it! Argh! Crap crap crap. I knew it was on yesterday, too. Just was off doing something else at 4:00 and forgot to turn the TV on. Ah, they'll rerun it or something.

When do you guys go, Chantrelle? (Yes, tell us when your house will be empty, and where the gold is hidden. Bad question in hindsight. Never mind.)

At 11:13 Blogger Phiala said...

Fiends and fiendcats.

Very pleased with the pic of Jess.

At 11:33 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Great pictures, Phiala!

At 11:38 Blogger dabbler said...

Oh dear... I see I don't meet the Fiend standard for hair. Mine is short, white and fuzzy rather than long, brown and with a center part.

Seriously, great pictures!

At 11:42 Blogger meganagitor said...

so. uh..

dear fiends.
you may or may not know that the person meant to join me this weekend no longer will be coming.
initially i attempted to see if any other friends might NOT have halloween plans.. and. well. one word - FAIL.
so uhm.
if you. or anyone you know. would like to acquire access to the whole event shindig. i have that stuff extra.
the q&a, costume party, and unlimited hotr access.

just thought i'd throw it out there?



ps phiala - i LOVE your kitties.

At 11:42 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Morning! More or less.

Having an interesting morning and I must say not a half bad one at that. Had worse.

No, I don't care to elaborate. Perhaps later.

What's up with the midwest? Tornadoes? Blizzards? High winds? Thunderstorms followed by snow?

Is this the Apocalypse??????

At 11:47 Blogger Jess said...

Those winds are supposed to come our way later. And a thunderstorm, apparently.

Dabbler - the hair is supposed to be red, but it all went wrong after the first week. So far I am very disappointed with the whole hair-colouring experience.

Oh, and my kitchen is not pink! In my head. Just haven't been arsed to realize the dream yet.

Meg, those are my kitties. We assume. Unless they go through the wormhole more often than I thought.

At 11:47 Blogger Cecily said...

I don't know about the mid-west, but there is apparently a penis storm over Texas.

http://gizmodo.com/5670939/sometimes-the-weather-can-be-a-real-dick?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29

At 11:52 Blogger Jess said...

"Phishkaix" has added a photo OF MY CAT to his favorites? Who the hell is Phishkaix? Does Phishkaix have a wormhole, too? Dear Fod. Now I feel exposed and dirty.

At 12:00 Blogger Jess said...

(Nota Bene: Phishkaix appears to enjoy cats and leather-clad ladies. Apparently he's one of us, at least in spirit. So that's all right.)

At 12:03 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Jess - it's ok, someone's watching the house for us. We fly tomorrow night but are leaving tonight to stay by the airport (we're not morning people, we know we'd either not make it or stress and *barely* make it if we left from home).

I'm packing and doing last minute fixes to costumes. We had our "dress rehearsal" on sunday night and some of hubby's costume fell off...d'oh! Sewing a little today :)

Can you all make sure this nutso weather is gone by the time we land? I don't do weather....thanks.

At 12:33 Blogger Phiala said...

Oh, no, those aren't my cats.

This is my cat.

The difference is obvious, really.

Glad y'all are enjoying the pictures.

At 13:03 Blogger dabbler said...

Oh . Oh. Thanks, Cecily...that's rather terrifying. Maybe it IS the Apocalypse.... Nope. Not taking that thought any further, no thanks.

Jess, I've toyed with the idea of hair color for years (more since the white is no longer premature) but have always worried that if wouldn't go away if I wanted it to.

And Phiala, I hadn't read that blog post of yours, and really like it.

Now I must go and do things in the world.

At 13:18 Blogger Jess said...

Oh yeah, completely different cat. It's obvious.

Tornado watch. Now I gots the fear.

At 15:09 Blogger Chantrelle said...

ugh...I can't find my copy of Neverwhere and I know that one still needs to be signed. BLARGH!

Ben's taking Crazy Hair and Instructions to get them signed. He read Crazy Hair to me last night! He needed help on a few words but read almost the whole thing. I was so ecstatic :)

At 16:44 Blogger dabbler said...

Welcome to freedom in the world of words, Ben.

Chantrelle, I think you'd better have lots of warm gear. The last forecast looks decidedly chilly for Weds and Thurs.

At 16:54 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Yes, damn cold weather makes it way harder to fit all our crap in the suitcases. Our biggest suitcase is almost entirely filled with costumes. I filled in the crevices with other things that won't fit elsewhere!

Still no sign of Neverwhere :( If I had my wits about me when shelving, I would have put it next to London Labour and the London Poor. Alas, I did not. It also isn't on any of the 4 shelves with boss's books on them. I need a Fabulous one to organize my books! *sigh*

At 19:50 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Clearly Neverwhere has fallen into that crack of which we must all take care Chantrelle. I understand Neverwhere books are good at that.

Jess! Mr Jess! OSS! Kitties! Lovely things to see when I get to the blog.

At 22:11 Blogger Cecily said...

So apparently my mail hasn't been working properly and my mailbox just got flooded with a LOT mail.

Wish I could take the HOTR ticket...but I would wager that last minute flights out there would be WAY out of my available cash. *le sigh* On the bright side I will be at the Rally To Restore Sanity this weekend. :-)

At 22:30 Blogger ariandalen said...

That particular storm system traveled through Texas on Sunday. The tornadoes were northeast of us, though we did have a brief period of hail, pea and quarter size hail. We have a few hailstones in our freezer. It was 90F here Monday, and 80F today. Looks like snow in Minnesota and Wisconsin tomorrow. I know y'all were just dying to know that.

Hi, Meg! Welcome to Fiendom! Hi, all the other new Fiends over the past couple of weeks! If you look over there, you'll find a pile of nice white, buckled jackets. We each have one. On that table just past the jackets you'll find whatever you need to individualize your jacket.

Wish I could be at HOTR, but I won't be there. I know I'm not alone. :) Have fun, everybody there!

At 22:35 Blogger vampi said...

yes! the not at hotr party on blogger

party hats will be issued

At 00:46 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Party hats? Of goodie, I like party hats.
We shall have a party hat competition, yes?

At 08:08 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

I was in The Quarter a couple days ago and bought a bracelet that is made out of a red string with blue evil eye wards on them. In the Kabbalah, a red string signifies something important (I know nothing about Kaballah) and evil eye wards are blue glass beads that look like eyes and are supposed to ward off the evil eye. Yesterday I went to an appointment with my rabbi.

Me: Since this bracelet has a red kabbalah string and evil eye wards on it, I'm invincible when I wear it, right?

Rabbi: [startled pause] HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

HAHAHHA.

No, Wendy. You are not invincible when you wear your bracelet.

At 08:13 Blogger Cecily said...

Are any other Fiends going to be at the Rally in DC this Saturday?

At 08:25 Blogger Cecily said...

And yes Chantrelle I did watch the episode! LOVED it! Even my 12 year old loved it. And you know she's "too old" for such things.

At 13:00 Blogger Na said...

awesome ireland thoughts and pics, Fablor.
and Molly Malone, hubba hubba!
and awesome fiend and kitteh pics, Phiala.

i want to travel, see people. waaanh.

have a blast you lot goin' to HotR.

i am in a fog. miserable head cold. can't sleep. loads of work. and it started snowing a couple days ago. wrecked car is finally in shop, and rental car finally acquired with some sturm and drang. i am shambling, but please don't shoot.

tried turning on the tv for company, but Animal Cops made me cry, for all i love Star Trek i don't care enough for Voyager, and what i seem to be left with is Elmo.

i'd offer to kidnap folks coming this way, but i'm pretty sure i'm nowhere that's on the way to anywhere, unless yer headed to the North Pole, or to see taun tauns, or the frozen, desolate wastes of Hel. (did i mention there's snow on the ground?)

wendy - your invincible bracelet idea make think of Wonder Woman.

oh fods - Sid the Science Kid! nooooooooooo!

At 13:08 Blogger Jess said...

Hey peeps. New stuff in the Night Garden!

A poem by Anabel the Spirit Guide,

and photography from a fella by the name of Gene Hyde, who was sent our way by Cindy Toy and Sharon/Jane/Qitou.

Deadline's coming up, you know! Though if you know that, you also know, perhaps, that the deadline is arbitrary, and actually I'll still post your stuff even if you send it late. I'm magnanimous like that.

At 14:20 Blogger Marjorie said...

Hurrah for Nightgardens, and the magical magnanimous moving deadline. Do you have any patent writers-block unblocker?

And When I Am Rich I shall go on a World Tour, and be kidnapped by all the Fiends (who'll have me) in turn.
I hope your cold goes away soon, Na. Mine seems to be slowly improving. I think the 14 hour nap helped.

At 14:22 Blogger Marjorie said...

Wendy, I have some anti-evil eye worry beads which I bought in Greece, that live in my car, to try to protect it.

At 14:57 Blogger Jess said...

Marjorie - I don't have any patent writer's block unblocker, in an aerosol or otherwise. But did you read this?

At 15:25 Blogger Hellie said...

Pumpkin ice cream? Why didn't I think of that; I just made boring soup! It is Exploding Soup though, made a lovely mess over the hob.

I'd like to do have a go at doing some sort of knitted-Night Garden thingy, it can be a winter project now if the deadline is magnanimously moving :o)

Happy nearly Halloween and enjoy HOTR! I'll be thinking of you all as I have a spooky weekend in Edinburgh.

At 15:34 Blogger Jess said...

Heh. Been meaning to give you a prod about that, Hellie. Seem to recall we talked about you doing a knitty thing yonks ago.

Not so much that the deadline is moving as that I'll choose to ignore it. :D

At 15:45 Blogger Fluffy said...

I just made five Night-Gardeny tea cozies. I don't know why, because I have other things that need to be done before Friday. I guess I was so excited I cleaned (sort of) my sewing room I had to mess it up again.

Will bring them to HOTR. One is for Chantrelle.

At 15:49 Blogger Hellie said...

I think house moving things rather took over my life for a while! Now things are calming down again I'm making time to start knitting again! And my friend just opened a yarn shop that will have a weekly knitting group so I've really no excuses now!!

At 15:59 Blogger Jess said...

Hey Fluff: send pictures. I'll add them.

At 19:34 Blogger Ms T said...

Oh dear. I've been a little bit evil - I walked out on a saleperson partway through filling out a finance form.

I didn't think I could justify being late for work to buy a laptop just so I could make a submission to the Night Garden. *sigh* And I was a bit narked at letting myself be bullied into the extended warranty.

Moral of story: if you really, really want to make the sale, don't let the customer cool off!

At 19:44 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Hello dears, very tired Quiche here. I had to do a bit of work-work that involved a plane and tho that went well, the getting BACK did not.

Cancel, delay, cancel, bad airport hotel, no sleep.

That's pretty much it.

The errand was private, but I have to say, I sure didn't mind. Warm. Met up with a Fiend. (who got sworn to secrecy, don't blame HER)

(You'll have to, sadly, wonder who for a bit yet, I don't mean to tease, but one must respect one's job, and it feels like coming home here, at the end of a day, so I want to talk about what I can.)

Next few days are going to be WILD! HOTR with guests coming before and after.

Those of us there tho, will take you with us. PROMISE. Every step of the way.

It wouldn't be a party without you.

At 21:02 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

Marjorie:

I have an alligator hand that protects my car. It used to protect my ex's car, but he was beating the car up one day, and it stabbed him in the forehead. He still had the scar the last time I saw him.

Also, I just had a letter for you come back. I will add a stamp and send it back out.

I'm not sure if my bracelet is working. I just cut my finger and bled all over.

Also, Serious Black is protecting me from monsters!

http://plixi.com/p/53289593

At 22:37 Blogger dabbler said...

First bit...on the road to HOTR. We have arrived in Minneapolis despite the best efforts of weather and airlines to keep us home. Flight delayed an hour, (77 in Philly, 40 in Minneapolis!)

Found the luggage, found the rental car...big airport! Found the B&B which is in Columbia Heights. (Um. Low heights...) Great place, host is a long term part of a reggae band, Ipso Facto. House was a "genteman's club" in the early days of the last century.Walked a block and ate. Tomorrow, with any luck we meet up with Chantrelle and her family for lunch and check out the MIA. And see what adventures ensue!

At 22:39 Blogger dabbler said...

And, FLUFFY! I didn't remember you were coming to HOTR. I want a tea cozy.

At 00:57 Blogger Marjorie said...

Hey, if Dabbler & Chantrelle have arrived this whole HotR thing must really be happening! Have Fiend-meety fun:-)

Glad you got home safe, Quiche. Hope you get a chance to catch up on some sleep before you have to rush off again.

AndWendy, I shall look forward to it:)

At 05:07 Blogger louisa said...

IT'S NEARLY HALLOWE'EN!!! Woo+Hoooo! Siri's skull is filled with skeletal chocolate, shrunken head balloons are in the window, spooky stories are *everywhere*, LOVE this time of year. Have fun all you HOTRs, anyone know if there's a flikr group set up yet?

At 06:57 Blogger Jess said...

Good morning.

I am feeling curmudgeonly about Halloween this year. Getting tired of being passed over by 90 percent of the trick-or-treating kiddies because we're on the less popular side of the street, and ending up with all the high school seniors dressed as hookers, Jason Voorhees, (most commonly) as themselves in plaid flannel shirts. And then there was that kid last year who kicked over my pumpkin lantern, in a contemplative, experimental fashion. It was not an accident, and his parents did not apologise. I think they were too embarrassed at the idea of their boy nearly setting my porch on fire. I do not blame them.

I still bought candy to pass out this year. But it is GRUDGING CANDY. It is CURSED, BITTER CANDY OF CYNICISM. The curse is that when you eat it, you feel older, jaded, and vaguely dissatisfied with your choice of career. That'll learn 'em.

At 08:02 Blogger Phiala said...

Now Jess. Leave the bitter and cynical candy for others, and have some more of the boozy chocolates of happiness.

Seriously. These things are candy shells full of liquor. I don't think they're legal to sell in the US.

At 08:07 Blogger spacedlaw said...

*Covets*

That makes me miss the time I used to go on mission to Sweden once a month and come back with vodka filled chocolates.

At 08:12 Blogger Phiala said...

These came from Sweden, but were made in Finland. Some have rum, some cherry brandy.

At 08:16 Blogger Jess said...

The rum ones remind me of the chocolate rum balls my grandmother used to make at Christmas. You could get seriously drunk off those suckers. I have got to get that recipe! Mom has it somewhere.

At 08:18 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Finlandia? Or Fazer?

At 08:21 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Italians make "cunesi al rum", which are choclate bonbons filled with rum based chcolate cream (and possibly rum infused sponge cake, I don't remember). A delight and caloric bomb (which is why I don't remember - last one I had was in 2004).
There are new versions involving other flavours of alcohol.

At 08:22 Blogger Phiala said...

Fazer.

These are not cream centers. As far as I can tell, they're straight booze.

I promptly dissected one to figure out how it was made. :)

At 08:25 Blogger spacedlaw said...

They are straight booze. In a capsule of crystal sugar and then coverd in a layer of chocolate.
*sighs*
I managed to find some at the Baden-Baden airport last year, vodka filled (plain, lemon, or cranberry flavoured)

At 08:28 Blogger Phiala said...

Exactly.

And to make them, they must form the dish-shaped side of crystal sugar sitting in a mold. Fill it with booze, then glue a flat sheet of sugar over the opening. Finally, coat the whole thing in chocolate.

One could easily get drunk on these.

At 08:28 Blogger Jess said...

They've got some kind of sticky-crunchy-sugar thing going inside, too. I think the alcohol's there so you don't mind when cavities erupt.

At 08:29 Blogger Jess said...

Ah. I see we've covered the crystallised sugar angle already. Can't keep up!

At 08:34 Blogger Cecily said...

Oh you can buy those in the US!
I have only ever seen them at liquor stores, but I have indulged in their pure liquor goodness.

http://www.amazon.com/Anthon-Berg-Liquor-Chocolate-Valentines/dp/B002PA6GV0

At 08:38 Blogger Marjorie said...

Hmm. Am I in the minority in not much liking boozy chocolates, then?
Mostly I'd sooner have my booze as booze and my chocolates as chocolates.

I admit I am a little Grinch-like about Hallowe'en, although this may partly be due to the fact thata lot of the kids round where I live don't bother to dress up, and start asking for sweets about a week before hallowe'en.

I do, however, have some goo-filled eyeballs and some skeletons & ghosts waiting in Siri's skull for the weekend.

At 08:39 Blogger Phiala said...

Those look a bit different, but hard to tell from the description. Turns out you can get the ones Jess and I have been eating in the US though.

At 09:07 Blogger Cecily said...

OMG Frazer Mints are like one of my all time favoritest chocolates EVER!

I grew up hanging out in the wharehouse of the store my mom managed. The Nut Man Company. And I would get to sneak small amounts of different things if the box was open for packaging. *drools* They had the best chocolate covered gummy bears I have ever eaten. And the Frazer Mints, and dried pineapple rings, and, and, and....

At 10:20 Blogger Na said...

i've got Siri's skull ready to go too! :D it's full of Smarties.
(that is, what we call Smarties in the US; the candy the locals call Smarties are awful wannabe M&Ms. i think they're better used in art projects.)

chocolate covered liquor i think i could get behind. one would be just the right amount of liquor for me. or, well, maybe two.

tonight i am going OUT! with my guy! to see live music!! a fellow named Slaid Cleaves from Austin is in E-Ville today. thankfully my head cold is receding - and thanks, Marjorie, i didn't get 14 hrs of nap (whoa!!!) but a solid 7, and that was a good start. glad you're on the mend, too.

dabbler, i hope we'll see pics of your interactive costume; i am very curious about what that may entail.

At 10:24 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

I would rather have chocolate as chocolates and, instead of booze, more chocolates!

At 11:07 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Umm... So there ARE people who can actually eat those Fazer liquor things? Huh. I remember being a wee girlie and innocently taking one when visiting my grandparents, yuk. (No, the adults didn't see this happening. They would have stopped me.) But going to Fazer candy factory... That was always fun =) Probaply almost every kid in Southern Finland has been there, at least once. Lots of tastings and free bag of goodies to go home with. Compleated with a toothbrush...
(Lurking back to hiding, ducking the ToothFairy while doing so..)
- Kirsi

At 12:03 Blogger ariandalen said...

I don't think they are Fazer liquor filled chocolates, but you can buy liquor and/or liqueur filled chocolates at Sam's Clubs in the US. So it's not just in liquor stores. I know I've seen Jack Daniels filled chocolates.

Maraschino cherries were originally alcoholic. They were marasca cherries preserved in maraschino liqueur. Just your trivia fact for the day. :)

At 12:39 Blogger louisa said...

As we speak, I am munching on rum-laden German chocolate which is... well, I'm not 100% sure, might just have to have ONE more piece to be certain it's OK...

At 13:35 Blogger Cecily said...

Ari, it all depends on the state/county. Here in MD most counties won't even sell alcohol on Sunday. In the ones that do you can buy alcohol in the groceries stores which is unheard of in the ones that don't. For instance our BJ's does not sell any alcoholic beverages. In VA, where we will be moving as soon as someone buys our house, you can buy your wine and beer in grocery stores and all other alcohols in ABC's, which apparently have very odd hours and I am told are annoying.

And because we have mentioned BJ's I have to post this picture. Gotta love store names...

http://cdn.static.telepixtv.com/photos/ellen/gallery-images/2010/07/421079_34_325941_full.jpg

At 14:18 Blogger vampi said...

hahaha one stop shopping

At 14:22 Blogger ariandalen said...

::snort:: Great picture. ;)

In Texas, wet/dry* areas can change by precinct, not just county. There are areas, last I checked, of Dallas County that are wet, and some that are dry. Grayson County, in North Texas was like that when I was in college, and may still be. Austin College is in Sherman, a dry area, and Denison is wet, just 10 miles north. So, yes, it would depend on where the Sam's Club/grocery store/convenience store is located. :)

*Just for clarification: "wet" refers to areas where alcohol can be bought without belonging to a private club; "dry" means you won't be finding alcohol, legally. Much of eastern Texas is dry.

At 14:27 Blogger Fluffy said...

Well, Dabbler, I guess it's good I made 5 of them.

And I like liquor-covered chocolates. It's more of a DIY thing. Drink liquor, eat a truffle (or the other way around.) And you can make what I call a Mounds Bar with coconut rum and Godiva liqueur. Do they sell spiritous liquors in Wisconsin?

I bought our Halloween candy on sale a few weeks ago, and have hidden it so the chocoholics do not eat it all. I told them I would give them directions at the appropriate time.

And Jess, you make me laugh out loud. The cursed bitter candy of cynicism. Man - it took me three tries to type that word.

Ahahahahahaha! Packing. Tell me, Fiendly Ones, black leather jacket or black pea coat?

Can't wait to see who is there. And I'm unhappy we all won't be.

At 14:50 Blogger Fluffy said...

Okay, here's what I'm packing, in order of importance:

1. My friend Cara, who is very cool (I am not actually packing her - she is bringing herself as far as the airport, and she's a great sport to get in a car with me after San Francisco)
1.a. Tiara
1.b Green party laser like the one we had at Charlie's last year (last? or earlier?)
2. Tea cozies (numerous)
3. Books for signing (is more than two wishful thinking on my part? Is 20 too many? jk)
4. Clothes and stuff.
5. Caffeinated candy
6. Camera, other electronics and all chargers
7. Life-saving medications
8. Credit cards

So, that really is NOT in order of importance. 5, 6, and 8 should be higher up.

At 14:55 Blogger EmilyOliveP said...

Hehehe, eighteen and I love strawberry-filled chocolates or chocolate-covered strawberries. I'm still soooooo innocent.

At 15:53 Blogger ariandalen said...

Yeah, Fluffy, it was just last year (2009). ::sigh::

Travel safely, fellow Fiends! Have fun, whether you're at HOTR or WFC!

At 16:06 Blogger EmilyOliveP said...

I am excited for the HOTR peeps.

At 17:06 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Lovely day so far. We got into Mpls last night. Went to dinner w/ the friends we're staying with. Today we met dabbler and mr dabbler at Hell's kitchen for lunch (far too much food!). Then went to Dreamhaven and spent far too much money...I'm glad they ship

We'll hang w/ our friends here again tonight and drive to HOTR tomorrow!

I'll be twittering (@vampandora) much more than posting here since that's easy from my phone.

At 17:22 Blogger Hellie said...

All the talk of liquor chocs made me very hungry this afternoon at work!

Enjoy HOTR! Can't wait to see pics and hear all about it! I'm very excited about going to Edinburgh tomorrow for my birthday/halloween weekend :o)

At 17:54 Blogger Fluffy said...

It's not unreasonable to bring 80 lbs. of stuff for one weekend, right?

At 18:19 Blogger Hellie said...

As long as there is still space for it's perfectly reasonable to take as much stuff as you want Fluffy! :oD

At 18:20 Blogger Hellie said...

Whoops what I meant was still enough space for you to fit in the car too!

At 19:26 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Well thanks girls, I am craving chocolate liqueurs like crazy now - and its not even lunch time *sigh*
Kirsi, you are not allowed to lurk again, once you're out here you're out.

I think I might have to keep my eye more closely on twitter this weekend than I've been able to recently because I really want to feel like I'm at HOTR.

At 20:44 Blogger Pi R Squared said...

Hi everyone! Hope all the Fiends have a swell time at HOTR...I've wanted to see that place ever since reading "American Gods" (one of my favorite books ever, actually) and thought the idea of the party and conference(?) out there to be pretty swell...but alas my pockets are thin.

Jess, love the "cursed bitter candy of cynicism" but I think the locals here eat that all the time!

I look forward to the photos and Twitter feeds!

At 22:05 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Booze and chocolate. I see how you are. Glad you have your priorities straight.

Not sure about packing for the weekend. Am hoping to at least shower. Too tired for more. I don't really NEED to bring, you know, things. Kitty got in today and she said she will simply not UNpack and bring her entire suitcase.

Sleep now. Shower, and pack things tomorrow.

At 22:14 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Kitty!! I totally forgot kity was coming! Yay!

At 01:00 Blogger meganagitor said...

ah. i've missed much fiending the past few days...

i already am up much later that i planned, given the busy and early day ahead tomorrow, so i'll just say this:

i am extremely excited to meet all of you coming to the HotR this weekend! i hope i don't scare anyone off <3

At 01:10 Blogger Marjorie said...

So excited about HotR, and I'm not even going (except viacariousky through the fiends)

i think I may be channeling travelling fiends, tho. I had an exhausting and very detailed dream about trying to catch a flight, last night. Got as far as going through security, in life-like detail, then met someone I didn't recognise but who dream-me clearly knew (and she had poppets!)
then I woke up, but when I got back to sleep I will still in an airport, running like mad for a distant gate...

I feel exhausted now, as if I've been travelling all night.

At 01:27 Blogger spacedlaw said...

While I had a dream about cat&house sitting for Neil (you guys - and the dogs - had all gone off to something - possibly to HotR?) and meeting the ghost.
Then Caos started to purr in my ears because he wanted food (a legitimate request at 02:00 AM) so she could never tell me her story. Although she taught me a piece of piano music.
Wish I could remember...

At 07:08 Blogger Fluffy said...

AAAAHHH!!! Gogogo!! Weigh my suitcase! brb

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And a new post is UP!!!!!!

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