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[25 Oct 2026|10:07pm] |
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About three and a half more hours and I'll be home. It'll be just after one-thity then, so I'll not be writing up my con post before bed, lol. In short, though, the trip has had its low points but I've mostly enjoyed it. Looking forward to showing off my haul for you guys.
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[24 Oct 2026|11:54pm] |
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The wi-fi here does not agree with my laptop for whatever reason and I'm not writing up my Saturday on a phone, lol. I'll do a full writeup after I get home. Suffice for now to say that it was a pretty good day overall.
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[23 Oct 2026|11:25pm] |
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Traffic made an already long road trip even longer but we're at the hotel and we're settled. It's... not a nice room, I'm gonna be honest. But, hey, the sheets are clean. And it's not like I plan to be spending much time in it. Silver linings...
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[22 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
Something weird is happening on Twitter. Yeah, I know, what else is new?
Anyway, a bunch of Looney Tunes and Coyote vs ACME fans have been hit with take-downs. Not for posting clips, though, like you might expect. So far, it seems that only fanart has been effected. It seemed at first that it was specifically Wile E and Road Runner shipping art but someone's cute illustration of Road Runner meeting Woodstock from Peanuts was also struck.
There were rumors that it was some rando sending fake notices for the lulz but then someone found out the company cited actually does appear to be under the Warner (or whatever they're calling themselves now) umbrella. Except there are also posts calling them a fraud. So, yeah, Idk. A lot of people are just saying things at the moment without sources and you know how that kind of thing spreads on social media, especially amongst a group that's already been riled up and wants answers.
If this is indeed coming from on high, I find it quite bizarre. Obviously fanwork has always had a vulnerability about it but why go after fanart instead of the actual source material being reposted? Even if the latter is just clips, there is often little enough commentary that Fair Use could be considered wobbly at best. I guess you could argue it's probably a bot behind these notices but what sort of algorithm would it have to be running on and why now, all of a sudden? Not all of these works are recent. And if it is just some person... wtf, lol.
(Dunno if I should be worried about my mini AMV or not...)
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[21 Oct 2026|11:50pm] |
Alright, so. I'm definitely not getting my room done to my satisfaction before I leave, lol. But! I think I can get it to a good enough spot that I should be able to blitz it when I'm back on Monday. At least the room proper. Fixing up my closet into a functional workspace again might have to wait until next weekend. That'll be easier to do with everything else taken care of, though, so I'm not super worried about it.
Maybe I can convince one of the older niblings to come help me out as an early birthday present... lol.
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[20 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
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My mom's car broke down right as she came to pick me up from work because of course it did, lol. My sister's fiancé came out to try to fix it and we thought it was good to go a few times but we didn't get far along the highway before having to pull off and leave it. Didn't get home until almost ten o'clock. I had stuff I wanted to do T_T
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[19 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
This week is either going to feel super slow because of the four (about to be three!) days of work standing between me and my vacation or super fast because of the tidying up I still need to get done. Or maybe I'll get lucky and they'll balance each other out, lol.
I still need to make my spreadsheets and shopping list of the con but at least that won't take long. Tbh, part of the problem is trying to narrow down which Beast Wars toys I most want to look for. Might be best to not try to sort out priorities and just focus on what's available in the best condition at the best price. I'm worried I'll go in for some good deals and then find something I'd have liked more when it's no longer within the budget, lol. Ah, well, still a few days to decide. One thing that's quite helpful is that a lot of the folks in artist alley have put together a directory and some have even posted catalogues of their offerings. With the toys available on the floor being so variable, I spend a lot of my con budget in the artist alley and I do on occasion regret that. Having a better idea ahead of time how much to put aside for the alley vs the vendor hall is a big help.
Of course, it's not all about spending money. The (tentative) panel schedule is up and I'm a little unsure how to split my time. I haven't decided whether I'll do Friday. The venue is about ten minutes from my hotel by foot, per Maps, which is a fine walk but Idk about taking it at night in a strange city. I'd really like to go to the Cullen memorial panel, though, and that's not until eight in the PM. Might see if any other attendees are staying at the same hotel I am and would be willing to walk together. My Saturday ticket gets me into the toys and merch area starting at two o'clock, which would be much more helpful if I was interested in the earlier panels. As it is, there are only two panels I'm kind of interested in attending before the Beast Wars panel at-- wait for it-- two o'clock. Might not even bother to head that way until it's almost time, though I'm sort of interested in the TCG open play. The guys who run that will be offering free starter packs and promo cards and teaching new players (of which I would be one), plus there'll be donuts while supplies last. Could be fun. Not sure I care enough to go early for it, though, and I'd be disappointed if I went and found out I missed the donuts, lol. The only other "must attend" panel for me is the script reading at six, which I just hope doesn't run too late since, again, not super keen to take that walk. Granted, it was a longer walk in Baltimore and I came out of that unscathed... Didn't love it then either, though, even still.
Anyway, Sunday is the real conundrum. That's usually the day I find the best deals but the panel lineup is s t a c k e d. The first one is about creating stop-motion animation and the second is about making cosplay. I'm not especially interested in actually doing what either panel is teaching but I love hearing other fans talk about their creative processes and I'd like to support the more unusual panels that have been popping up in the con's recent years. I know I don't want to miss the Q&A with Stan Bush and Vince DiCola, nor the panel for fan designs presented through customs and digibashes. After that is the one panel I have no interest in, a TFP Q&A. That gives me at least an hour I can be back perusing vendors without feeling like I'm missing anything. The last panel (minus the feedback panel for the organizers) is about TFA deleted scenes and might be a repeat but there's also a chance that it'll include new information, maybe about the upcoming comic. Still easily the second-most skippable to me (minus, again, the feedback panel that I usually skip and so rarely count anyway), so I might not even bother to stay to see the hall close. Long drive back home, after all, and I'm not sure my mom bothered to take next Monday off like I did.
So, yeah, very much looking forward to my vacation but there is much to be done and much to think about.
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[18 Oct 2026|11:15pm] |
Fell short again today but I feel much better about what I accomplished. In fact, the room looks pretty good as long as I'm looking only a specific part of it, lol. If I can continue through my to-do list during the upcoming week, I should have everything where I want it by the time of my trip. I'm hoping my sister can take me to work at least once this week so I can get the recycling taken care of, too, since I've gone and let that sit too long again.
Aside from cleaning up, I also did some crochet. I... think I like it so far? It's a solid-ish colorway, so I chose a shawl pattern with an asymmetrical shape and some ribbing. I really like how the ribbing looks but I'm not convinced I've got the shape right. Idk how it could be wrong when I'm following the pattern for the rows exactly, granted. It just doesn't look the way I expected it to at this point. Not that I really know what I expected either, lol. I think what's really getting to me is the size. It's going to be on the small side since I'm only using one skein but I thought it'd be bigger by now. Maybe I misread the recommended materials? Ah, well. If i get to the end of the skein and don't like what I have, I can always make something else out of it.
It occurs to me that I intended to post pictures of my latest scarves this weekend. It's late enough that I'm not going to bother with that now but I'm adding this paragraph in hopes that it'll make me remember later, lol. Although maybe posting everything I make this month at the end of the month is the way to go for this. That might encourage me to do more so I have more to show off at once.
Last thing I'm gonna do tonight is fix Phil's screen (for new people, Phil is my cellphone). I meant to do that earlier but, well, I meant to do a lot of things earlier. I'm really hoping this one works out better. Someone be a pal and remind me to get a screen protector so I don't have to worry about this again for awhile.
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[17 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
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Made it to the farmers market today and got almost everything I went for. That's pretty much the only thing I accomplished today but I'm going to bed soon, so here's hoping tomorrow goes better.
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[16 Oct 2026|11:39pm] |
Man, getting home tonight bordered on nightmarish. My sister usually picks me up on Fridays, usually but not always because one of the nieces is having a sleepover. Well, one of the nieces has strep and sister's fiancé wasn't home. So, I had to resort to ordering a ride.
I clocked out of work at six-thirty-five. At seven-thirty-five, I was still waiting to be connected to a driver. Also, Idk if it was that or something running in my background I didn't know about or what but my battery was dying a quick death. From thirty percent to fifteen within about twenty minutes. And of course my charger was at my desk, in the main part of the building that I no longer had access to. I was seriously contemplating whether I was going to have to spend the night in the lobby and walk to the gas station in the morning to buy a charger and then try again to get a ride, lol. I reached out to my sister again, though, and she said her fiancé was headed home to drop off dinner and then she was sending him to me.
Everything was more or less okay from there but my battery died not long after. Which still wouldn't have been that big of a deal except I got myself all paranoid imagining that my sister wouldn't be able to direct her fiancé to our rather difficult to find door and I wouldn't know he was there and they wouldn't have a way to reach me and so they would give up and leave me to rot overnight after all. That is not what would happen, mind you, but try telling me that a couple hours ago, lol. It finally bothered me enough that I decided to just go outside. I had no idea what time it was and it occurred to me I didn't actually know where he was coming from but, hey, I knew he was coming. And I'd just been to the bathroom-- not like there was anything else to stay inside for, right? It wasn't that cold out. The glass entrance sure wasn't going to protect me from a murderer, if it came to that.
So, out I went. It almost immediately got windy, which made it feel significantly colder than it was. The street had been clear for the better part of an hour but all of a sudden, there were cars every couple minutes or so and I started getting paranoid that someone would call the cops on me. And I ended up waiting longer than I strictly expected I would have to. By the time my sister's fiancé arrived, I had already coached myself on how to handle three different scenarios in which I might be set upon by overly suspicious and aggressive police officers, one of which involved a semi-serious injury but also a hefty settlement and was wondering if I should write a note to leave in my bag for my family in case I ended up in a scenario I didn't come out of. Just to let you know where my head was in that moment! XD
Of course, this whole situation could've been avoided if I had my license already but of course I've still not been able to pin down any of the many people who'd previously offered to let me practice.
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[15 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
I've just about used up a second yarn of the month club skein. Considering how long I've been letting a lot of them just sit around while I wait to find The Perfect Project, I'm feeling pretty good about that! Just a couple of simple scarves but I like how they came out. Might do a hat next, maybe a bag. There are a couple I want to use for a colorwork bag but I'm not sure I'm ready to commit yet, lol.
Aaand of course I still have a lot of cheap yarn to get through. Gonna use some of the white I've got for Halloween decorations, I know that much. And if my one niece would remember to bring over the doll I made her last Christmas, I'd make it some more clothes.
My aim is to get through enough of my stash to justify getting this year's Yarnia advent set. Wish me luck...
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[14 Oct 2026|11:47pm] |
Saw some kind of exciting Transformers news earlier. The 2007 cartoon Transformers Animated was somewhat abruptly cancelled, leaving a lot of ideas for the prospective fourth season on the table. For the last few years, some fans have been working with the head writer and character designer to bring some of those ideas to life as comics. Well, they just announced they're working on a full "season four" in the form of an ongoing comic series.
I'm not sure how exactly they're allowed to do this, tbh, but they've been doing it this long and so I have to believe there's something behind the scenes that makes it legal. I'm also a little weary of how this will go. TFA did a lot of fun stuff but their writing for the female characters was... not great. And some of what we know about the scrapped season is that a few female characters get some actually prominent roles. Good roles, though...? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
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[13 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
I really do need to make myself a shopping list for TFcon. I always mean to and I always forget. I'm still mostly looking to fill out my Beast Wars collection and I'm hoping to find more of the vintage storybooks, maybe some Rescue Bots books or the TFA tie-ins. I know I started to make spreadsheets for these things but I can't find those notes now. Ah, well, shouldn't be too hard to get that done again. There are a handful of other figures I'd like to look for while I'm there too-- mostly Blokees and Kreons-- and I'm hoping I can find more of the fan club magazine issues I'm missing. I'd really like to bind those once I have them all.
Speaking of Transformers, I actually finished and posted a fic yesterday! Well, "put finishing touches on" more than "finished", I guess. I went in all pumped to get it done and realized it really only needed a final editing pass. Dunno what I've had it sitting around so long for. Anyway, I've only posted on Tumblr so far and it hasn't gotten much attention but someone who reblogged commented that it was "show-accurate" and that made my day. I have a couple others I'd like to post before Halloween but we'll see how that goes. The last time before this that I actually finished something was... well, never mind that ;>_>
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[12 Oct 2026|11:57pm] |
Not even halfway through the month and I've finished two books. In no small part, granted, because I listened to the audiobook versions while I was at work and while I was crocheting... But still! Haven't accomplished that in a hot minute!
If I can keep up this momentum, I might just hit my reading goal for the year. I know, I know, reading isn't about hitting goals. It's satisfying nonetheless.
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[11 Oct 2026|09:07pm] |
You guys, holy flip.
Someone leaked, like. ALL of Cartoon Network, lol. Character sheets and show bibles, concept art, high res backgrounds... There is so frikkin much stuff. I've mostly been taking in the bits and pieces people have been posting but I really want to dig into as much as I can. Behind the scenes stuff is so fascinating and there's so much fun stuff that can be done with the clean artwork. Plus the character line art would make good coloring pages. Maybe that's basic, Idk, but it was a thought that immediately excited me when I saw it, lol.
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[10 Oct 2026|11:53pm] |
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Well, my little nephew was supposed to have his first sleepover tonight. We already had the kids so my sister and her fiancé could have a few hours together. They came to pick them up when it was already a little past bedtime and nephew said he still wanted to stay. He seemed really excited. Ran to get himself snuggled into bed immediately. I read him a story and he seemed fine. Then I asked if he was comfy and I guess the reality of the situation hit him, because he suddenly looked close to tears and said he wanted to go home. Maybe next time?
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[09 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
What do you MEAN a data entry clerk who got fired from our lab went looking for a medical assistant position at our nearby client?
What do you MEAN she told them all kinds of blatantly untrue things about her experience and qualifications??
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HIRED HER ANYWAY???
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[08 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
Every day this week has felt like it should be Friday, so am I ever glad that it's finally going to actually be Friday tomorrow. Would've been better if it'd been today but whatever.
I've been working on crocheting a scarf and I really like it so far buuut I'm fairly certain I don't have enough yarn left in this hank to finish it. Like, it's not even close to being a scarf yet and I think I'm close to halfway through. I don't have any other yarn that would be a suitable addition either. Argh. The thing is, I'm working the yarn off of my swift, so it'd be a huge pain to frog it now. So, it looks like what I'm gonna do is just... keep going. Work it from the hank into a fabric and then work out of that fabric to make a proper scarf. Alternatively, depending on what size this fabric end up being, maybe I'll just connect the ends to make a cowl. I guess we'll see
Reading has not gone as well for me this year as it did last year, as I think I've mentioned, but I've managed to get on a bit of a roll lately. Reading comics helped, I think. Jump-started my brain with a different format, now I'm back to prose books. Of course, I still have more comics if needed, lol. A couple poetry books, too, actually, which might serve a similar purpose.
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[07 Oct 2026|11:52pm] |
Hasbro showed off some upcoming figures and one of them was my girl, Nautica! And she looks. SO. GOOD. Well, I mean, the face on the model is a little squished but accounting for that, she looks so good TuT I do not love the price that she'll be when she releases next year-- and who tf knows how many more price increases we're looking at-- but I'm still looking forward to getting her. Maybe not for full price... Idk, though, I do want to support the line... Eh, I'll see where I'm at when it happens.
I've already got the first Nautica toy, probably won't be keeping it. I was still in the "it's the best there is" mentality at that time in my collecting. These days, doesn't matter if there's only one choice or if there are ten choices-- if I don't think it's good, I'm not bothering. If that means I have gaps in my lineup, so be it. And, I mean, don't get me wrong. I do like the current toy for what it is. But it's a headmaster, which isn't a gimmick I'm especially fond of, the mold isn't the best fit for Nautica and the color is very pretty but also wrong. That's actually the biggest upgrade to me where this upcoming release is concerned, the right shade of purple being used. Although, on that note, I do hope that we're not seeing the final color layout on the alt mode; looks a little weird.
Dunno what they've got planned going forward for the comic-based Studio Series toys but I'm cautiously excited. If we're getting a proper Nautica now, we could very well be looking at the rest of her friend group in the next few years. Few of those characters would be at the top of my list of priorities on their own, tbh, but I'm chomping at the bit to have all of them together.
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[06 Oct 2026|11:59pm] |
So, reading my bookcase has meant going back over a lot of comics I've not read in a bit. Some I'll be keeping, some I won't be. The usual. But what's really getting on my nerves is the stuff I that I want to keep but not in its current format... only it turns out there's not much in the way of choice.
Like, Impulse is one of my favorite superhero comics. And it's not like I didn't know that the series predated the days where everything that didn't bomb got collected. I knew that. But industry standards have come a long way since then and I was also aware that other DC books from around that time have been collected in trade, omni or even both. So, y'know, here I thought that my guy Bart had been given a similar treatment. I knew I remembered seeing an omnibus of his title solicited at some point and a very short web search even pulled up a listing. Uuunfortunately... a slightly longer web search showed that said omnibus was cancelled. Something about the master files not being able to be converted into the right size for an omni. I think I'd have checked on that before announcing the project but whatever. Whatever! I prefer trades anyway. Only guess what? Almost none of Impulse has been collected. Seriously, fewer than twenty of his eighty-nine issues, two annuals and multiple specials are available in trade and some of the collected issues aren't even in his trades. It's mind-boggling.
Then there's stuff like Spider-Man vs Silver Sable. I forgot how big a disappointment that trade was. I originally got it thinking their first meeting must've been its own arc or at least a significant part of a larger arc. Lol, no. My bad for not looking more into it at the time, of course, but I was new enough to collected editions at the time that I expected trades to be fairly straightforward by default. I learned quickly enough afterward that that's not always the case, at least. This trade collects several meetings between Spidey and Silver and all of them are very small parts of much larger stories. And because they're small parts of much larger stories, the trade hop-scotches across the relevant bits without giving any closure on any of the storylines. It's not exactly incoherent but it is quite jarring. Why in the heck is this thing still on my shelf?? At least I know I could easily find the composite issues collected in much more cohesive trades and omnis, I guess. I won't, because of the space they'd take up, but I could.
Idk, man, there is valid criticism of the current standard for collected issues. Ongoing series are often written to suit the format of six issues to a trade and that can be limiting. But, man, it is so nice to know that if I'm really into a comic these days, I can pretty reliably expect a nice bound volume not too long down the line.
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