Bit of Ivory

I meant to do one yesterday, one in which I waxed philosophical about how one year ago I met for the first time IRL, which has started a chain of events that I could not have foreseen. But last night did not turn out as planned, so the post did not get written, and now it seems a bit too late. Anyway, a year ago I could not have imagined how wonderful Nimbus would be, or that Wahleecon could ever have happened at all. I was absolutely blown away by OotP, and in some ways I still am. All the reminiscing about OotP, mixed with a bit of the post-Wahleecon letdown, has left me hankering for new canon. Please, JKR. Don’t make us have another 3-year summer.

*sigh*

I would like to announce to the world, however, that I have learned how to purl, and am therefore ready to begin work on a new Ravenclaw scarf. The one I have now is crocheted rather than knit, and is so long that I have a tendency to trip over it. I’m going to the yarn shop on my way home from work today to pick out my colors and buy a circular needle. I think on this one I’m going to stick with the movie!Ravenclaw colors, modified to fit my tastes (dark blue instead of light), to match the rest of my outfit. But I’ll probably make a book!Ravenclaw scarf after I finish this one. I am a canon-thumper, after all.

Finally got around to taking that personality/house sorting quiz thingy. Results as follows:

Gryffindor: 74
Ravenclaw: 91
Hufflepuff: 79
Slytherin: 21

Not really a big surprise, that. I might have expected my Gryffindor score to be lower, but everything else seems about right. Is nice to know I am not a Slytherin.

BAX to WORX. Expect part 2 of the Wahleecon recap sometime tonight. If I’m not too busy knitting.

A lot.

You see, I’ve been taking sleeping pills the last couple of days. Well, they’re not really sleeping pills– they’re actually anti-seizure pills, but in small doses they’re supposed to help you sleep. I think they’ve been helping a bit, except that they do make me a bit more drowsy in the morning. It’s harder for me to get up and get going. Consequently I’ve been getting in late to work every day this week. I think I need to get to bed earlier. Maybe that will help me not have so much of a hangover in the morning.

In any case, I forgot to take one last night. Just haven’t gotten into the habit, I guess. And I had the worst night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. I didn’t ever do more than dose– I seemed to be aware of the fact that I was lying in bed with my eyes closed almost the entire night. And I woke up with the worst headache I’ve had in a long time. Even worse than my Wahleecon headaches. I’ve taken 2 ibuprofen, but they haven’t made a dent. So I’m supplementing them with a Pepsi. *sigh* I usually avoid drinking caffiene, so I always feel slightly guilty when I do, even if it’s for medicinal purposes.

And in the meantime, my head is hurting, and I can’t concentrate on work. Bah.

Unfortunately, since I’ve been taking FOREVER for me to write this up, my Wahleecon memories will have to be broken up into smaller chunks than I originally planned. It’s not as funny as Susan’s, but it’s what you get.

Overall, Wahleecon was absolute enjoyment punctuated by moments of panic and undercut by constant worry. I spent almost 10 months planning it, and all these people had come hundreds and thousands of miles, some at great personal sacrifice and expense, to see a movie that they could just as easily have seen in their home town. I knew I was having a good time, but I was so scared that everyone else was just hating it, but were too polite to say. Anyway, here’s the event from my PoV:

Wednesday

I had to work, because if I didn’t I’d only work one day that week, and let’s face it, I needed the money. I ended up leaving work early, though, and coming home to help get the final cleaning done on the house and get the Wahleecon guidebook printed. I finally made it to the hotel about 6:00, and chatted with Chris and Kelley, who had actually arrived the day before but who I was entirely too busy (making the guidebook) to meet up with, waiting for more Wahleeconners to show. We had a nice comfortable chat, interrupted by a few of the cell phone calls that were constant over the weekend (although you will all be happy to know that even with all the unusual traffic on my phone I did *not* go over my minutes), until eventually Pam showed up. I was pretty sure it was her when we went to look for her, but I didn’t particularly want to run up and hug someone who might have absolutely no idea who I was, so I waited for her to make the first tentative “Are you Emily?” After chatting for a few more minutes, we spotted Susan and family pull into the hotel parking lot. I eagerly went to hug her, because my one regret from Nimbus was that I hadn’t gotten to say goodbye. It was only a few minutes later when Ree and her friend Marla got in, and all was happy confusion for a time. We finally got our act together enough to figure out where we were going to dinner, and we piled into the cars and headed for Tucci’s, a local Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, the location that had been open only three weeks before when I went there with Jen was closed, so we had to pile back in the cars, call a couple of people who were meeting us there, and head to the Jordan Commons location instead.

Once we got there we were met by Krista, who had already warned the restaurant that we were coming, and immediately hugs and introductions started. Eventually Kate, Jen, and Amanda showed up. Kate proceeded to flirt outrageously with Jake, the waiter, who in turn flirted outrageously with Jen (another one) once she arrived with Joie, because he recognized her as being Susy in Wait Until Dark when she was a junior in high school. The service was slow, the food not what I’ve come to expect from Tucci’s, but it was still a wonderful night– because I got to finally talk to these people who I’ve been communicating with for months, even years, on the internet. That was the best thing about Wahleecon– the interaction with all these wonderful people.

Anyway, eventually the party broke up, and I took the people I’d driven back to the hotel, then went home to try to get some sleep. I had just gone to bed when my kind-of-back-door-neighbor, Duane, called and asked if we would still be up for a while– he wanted to bring my cake over. I’d asked him to make me a Ravenclaw cake quite a while back, and he said he would. I didn’t expect him to get a new church calling and be graduating the day of the party. But he insisted on doing it still. Anyway, I got dressed again and waited for him. You guys, this cake was amazing. I almost cried when I saw it. Scroll down for pics. I’m giving he and his wife free babysitting for a couple of nights to say thank you. He wouldn’t let me pay him, either. Such a nice guy. I went to bed happy.

A closeup of the top.

A slightly wider shot, with a view of the bottom side.

A view of the left side.

A view of the right side.

Unfortunately, I was stupid, and didn’t take a pic of the top side. Sorry, Duane. Maybe one of my friends managed to snag a pic? Also unfortunately, these pictures were taken the morning after I got the cake, and some of the frosting had fallen off in some of the words. Anyway, when you looked all around the cake, it said “Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you’ve a ready mind, where those of wit and learning will always find their kind. . .” which is, of course, from Sorcerer’s Stone. Which I did NOT supply to Duane, mind. He found it all on his own. See. I told you he was an amazing guy.

P.S. to Duane– I’ve got these in high-res, if you want them. I’ll burn them onto a CD and bring them to church on Sunday.

Because I couldn’t resist. . .

Go to ff.net and search for your name by summary in the HP and LotR categories. Pick your favorite summaries and post them here!

Harry Potter:

Kiss the Girl, As Interpreted by James and Sirius by Insane Jewish Werewolf

James and Sirius and their friends notice that something is going on between Remus and Emily. So what do they do? Perform a Disney song, of course!

But. . .wait a second! I thought it was only in Lou’s story that I was dating Remus. . . I mean. . .heh.

Moving on by SimplyMe

This story takes place in Harry’s 5th year, its going to be adding a new charater to the group of friends. The new character is Emily, a shy Ravenclaw who may just be the trick to make Harry forget Cho and fight Voldemort. Please Read and Review!

Ooh. I get to date Harry Potter!

The Truth Can Sometimes Kill by BriteGurlBlue

Emily is from America and is going to have an interesting year. The curse put on her will lead her into situations with people that she’ll regret. Full of friendship, betrayal, and a bit of lust and love, Emily has to let the truth out before time is out

Don’t know who I get to date here, but a curse is always fun.

Harry Potter and the Chosen One by Amber PotterHannie Grange

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are enetering their 6th year. To their surprise there surprise they meet two exchange students from America. Emily Smith and Fiona Hermsdale. Emily is the Chosen One aka The Slayer. Will Harry fall in love with Emily?Chp15 up soon

Oh dear.

Lord of the Rings:

Traveling Blind by I’Haldaandir

Fourteen-year-old Emily hits her head and mysteriously ends up in M-E unable to get out….but when she is rescused by the man (or in her case, Hobbit) of her dreams, will she really want to? kinda typical but at least no mary-sue(Rated PG-13 just in case

No Mary Sue, huh? You think that, l’Haldaandir, if it gives you comfort.

Emily, lady of the damned by Chelwad

Alright, so the race of men survived Saroun, the dark Lord, but Emily might be another story..

*giggles* I read some of this, and it’s the most awful tripe! Emily turns up in Middle Earth about a year after the War of the Ring, and immediately starts calling King Eomer “E” and referring to Eomer and Aragorn as “dumbasses”. Yikes.

Friends & Lovers by Shadow Angel2

A slightly AU fic. Please don’t go on about the things not in the movie/book! Emily and Amber had been friends since 7, Emily is hiding a very ‘strange’ secret, and they meet up with Legolas and Damien(oc) Will becom Amber/Legolas & Emily/Damien

Oh, man! I don’t get Leggy? Just a stupid OC elf? Not even a canon elf? Boy! I think I’ll go back to “Emily, lady of the damned.” At least Eomer is still single. . .

Wait!

Well, That’s Interesting by Jessy-J05

Emily gets zapped by her hair dryer and ends up in ME. Not to happy about it to say the least. Meets a man, well she thinks he’s a man, with a little aditude problem. Not mary sue. Well maybe it is… I really don’t know.. Please RR

Hah. The man with the “aditude” problem is LEGOLAS, PRINCE OF MIRKWOOD!! Oh yeah. *this* is my story.

Because my dad is currently putting Ginny back together. Those of you at Wahleecon will remember that her lid is VERY noisy when I open and close it. We tried to figure out why tonight. Took the poor notebook to pieces. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a problem we can fix. The hinges are so tight, you can’t even move them with your fingers. The only way I’ve been getting the lid open and closed is because of the leverage of the screen. In fact, the torque is so great that the flange which connects the right-side hinge to the chassis completely snapped off because of the pressure. And we can see absolutely no way to adjust the tension. If I keep using it like this, it’ll just break worse. Plus I could never use it in the library. It would drive everyone around me crazy. The warranty ran out in April (of course), so my dad’s going to call Best Buy and see what our options are. Last time we sent one of our laptops back to them for repairs, they lost it. So we’re not too keen to do it again (even though all our prior experiences have been fine). Hopefully what they can do is send a new case and Dad can do the work. It would be cheaper, methinks.

Anyway, I was going to post my write-up of the Pre-party Party and the first day of Wahleecon, but it’s on Ginny. So that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Hmph.

And Harry’s going downhill, too. The soundcard hasn’t worked for months, and it’s starting to crash. I probably need to do a complete reinstall– the poor computer has so much junk on it from my undergrad days. If I do that, though, I’d like to put XP on it (it’s running on 2000 now). Might as well if I’m going to do all that work. Then I can start with a shiny new system for my post-grad.

Ah, computers. Don’t we just love them?

Am slowly but surely recovering from Wahleecon. I wore myself out, both emotionally and physically, last weekend. Hopefully tonight I will have enough energy to do a proper write-up on at least the first couple of days. I’ve been too darn tired so far this week.

But like I said, I am making progress. For instance, my eyes actually let me put my contacts in both yesterday morning and this morning, although I had to take them out at about 9:30 last night. I didn’t have to buy a Pepsi at 3:00 yesterday to keep from falling asleep mid-sentence on my computer, like I did on both Monday and Tuesday. I have high hopes that I’ll be able to wake up at the normal time tomorrow instead of half an hour late like I have been the rest of the week.

Oy, vey.

I did manage to finally make one of those picture-maker avatar, things, though. Unfortunately, it makes me look entirely too pretty. I tried making my nose off-center, but the result didn’t make it look any more like me, so I left it. Ah, well.

I’m watching a rain storm make its way across the valley. It’s raining in the Oquirrh mountains right now, and the effect is beautiful. Only problem is, the rain is bringing cooler temperatures, which is making it very, very cold in my office. Have already drunk one cup of Stephens Hot Cocoa (hazelnut), and I really shouldn’t have another one. Maybe this afternoon.

My coworker has been coming in every morning to discuss HP. He’s reading them for the first time. Finished GoF last night. He’s not sure he wants to read OotP before we’re sure of a release date for 6. I told him he should, though, as it will help answer a lot of his questions. I’m kind of interested to see how OotP looks to someone who didn’t have to wait for three years between books. It’s nice to be spreading the love of HP, though. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to be an HP missionary.

I did an inventory yesterday, to see how far along we are on this project. It looks like we’re about halfway. Considering it’s taken them 2 years to get this far, that means a lot of work. Hooray for job security.

Speaking of jobs, I better get back to mine. . .

I am pleased with how it turned out, and incredibly sad it’s all over, and utterly exhausted. I miss everyone already. When I’m not so tired that I can barely stand up straight, I’ll post a full recap. For right now I’ll just say that it was marvelous, and everyone who came is even cooler than I thought they would be, and I hope that a few new friendships have been started, and others strengthened. I hope everyone had as good of a time as I did.

I have the greatest friends EVER.

4:30 am bedtimes do not a happy Wahlee make. But dude, it was worth it.

Brief Wahleecon drilldown:

The people are *awesome*. Everyone is as cool or cooler than I thought they would be. So exciting to have everyone around me, and so cool that I still get to hang out with them for two more days.

The movie was spectacular. I still have a few quibbles (as we dissected late into the night at Denny’s), but overall, amazing. More detailed reviews to come when I’m not (a) braindead and (b) under limited time. The line was very fun. I bought some sherbet lemons at London Market that morning, and I sold them down the line for 10 cents a piece. I think I only made about $5, but it was still rather fun. Dobby attracted quite a bit of attention. When the people around us weren’t taking pictures, the news guys were. In fact, he makes a rather prominent appearance– along with my sister Lisa– in this article in the Deseret News. Note the Wahleecon t-shirt. Hee. also thrust him into Fox 13’s live broadcast– he got a very good closeup. I hope it makes up for him having to travel here on a luggage rack like Malfoy.

Today we’re going to lunch at the Mayan, then the matinee, then a pizza buffet at Litza’s, and finally cake and ice cream at my house. I have a feeling we’ll all be going to bed early tonight, though.

Dude. Wahleecon. People are already here. More people are arriving today. It officially starts tomorrow. Gah. I’m excited and anxious and nervous all at the same time. This is going to be the best weekend ever, as long as I don’t screw it up (which is entirely possible).

I’ve been supremely unproductive today, and it’s only going to get worse as the day goes on.

SQUEEEE!!!!!

Done.

I’m done.

This huge, gigantic project that has been giving me nightmares because I was sure that I’d be going two weeks beyond the deadline and not be able to take time off for Wahleecon because June 4 was the day it was due is DONE.

More than a week ahead of the deadline.

*grins*

I’m DONE.