So apparently the 90’s are alive at work today, to the point where my manager started singing Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ – even though he barely knew any of the words.  My coworker that knows even less of the words joined in and, let me quote, decided the next line was “Something-something something ends with potato.”

Note: The word “potato” does not appear anywhere in the song.

I, embarrassingly enough, know all the words to this 1999 classic, and now cannot drive it from my mind.

Someone once told me that earworms only had impact because you were stuck on a partial loop of the song, and that by listening to the whole thing from beginning to end you could abolish the need to relive that part of the song because it brought the satisfaction you needed of the full song.

THIS IS A LIE.

Listening to the full song only reinforces the earworm for me.  This may have to do that, when I want to hear a song, I usually want to hear it several times, often on repeat.  One listen through is usually not enough for me.  But even listening to repeated instances does not prevent me from waking up singing part of the chorus in the middle of the night.

I’m also not usually a victim of a single earworm at once, nor am I really ever free from the fragments of song that float through my mind.  I was well into my adult years when I learned that other people did not always have a part of a song circling through their subconscious, resting on the tip of their tongue, taking ordinary phrases from conversation and summoning of a scrap of lyrics, and this happens for me constantly.  Of those for whom that is normal, they are often musical performers, those with some skill to back up their musical malady.

I can barely carry a tune if you give me a bucket to keep it in.  That means having music always itching to be sung from me is a torture for those around me.  I will butcher the words, murder the musicality of the tune, and create suffering for my listeners, so it is an effort to keep it contained and not subject your casual passer by.  It’s embarrassing, annoying, and inevitable.

Because as you know… Only shooting stars break the mold…

Saturday I got to see a production of Into the Woods at the Ahmanson!

So I had purposely avoided the songs and spoilers before, I hadn’t gotten a chance to see the movie version, and I was coming to this with fresh eyes, for the most part. But I did know enough to notice that it was unusual that the program listed so many characters per actor.  Speaking with my friends that were with me it was confirmed that with the exception of Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf overlap this was not standard.

All the actors were wearing fairly general clothes, though each character had a distinctive item that could be added or removed as they shifted through their roles, making a clear visual statement of who they were at any given moment.  Every actor was also playing instruments (even the piano player would step in for a part here and there – and that man had the patience of a saint to continue playing Sondheim while the entire cast climbed over his piano and spun him around and around) so the coordination required to not need an instrument while the character was needed blew my mind.  Every prop was reused again and again.

The stage was nearly bare, the costumes plain with tiny accents, the music focused around that piano, super simple, yet to execute had to be utterly perfect.  Timing, tone, translation to something that started complex.  And in that simplicity was an amazing complexity of it’s own, which was reflected clearly from the story element that “Happily Ever After” isn’t so clear cut after all, too.

The story is a little wacky, but this production took that up to 11, with a visual humor I don’t think would have been matched by a more complicated production.  Something simple isn’t so simple after all, but it worked beautifully.

It appears I am trying to use a toaster, not a computer, right now.

My work laptop was acquired years ago, and even with an upgrade to a solid state drive last year it’s not running games well at all.  I had someone ask if I was playing “Slideshow: The MMO” at one point.  Today I turned on Blizzard’s app (formerly the Battle.net program) to update some games, and my YouTube video went haywire.  Trying to support these two things at once is apparently WAY too much for this poor little engine that almost but couldn’t quite.

It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s slow.  And yes, it runs a little hot, so I probably could use it to crisp a bagel up nicely.

Feh.

I’d already counted on a lazy Saturday, but had plans to game on Sunday.

Saturday night our GameMaster had to cancel Sunday’s gathering.  A half-hearted attempt to find something to do (John Wick 2, mini golf, etc) was conducted, but ultimately, I lazed.

And it was lovely!

Washed my hair.  Used my nail wraps that I bought at WonderCon to do my nails in a fun parchment color with text from ‘Call of Cthulhu” on them.  Watched Friday’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race – and was satisfied with the elimination.  Watched a lot of Critical Role (finished episode 69, watched all of 70, and started in on 71).  I didn’t play Andromeda, though I thought about it.  We went out to dinner.  I cleared some booking issues up with the B&B we’re staying at in October.

So much, and yet so little.  This is the kind of self-care I needed.

Not “Kicking the Bucket” to be sure, but last year’s health scare, combined with loss of an acquaintance to suicide, and the anniversary of a friend’s untimely death six years ago due to an inattentive driver, has me motivated to start to do the things on my “Bucket List.”

But then I  realized, I haven’t written much of it down.  So let me start here, brainstorming some of the items…

French Laundry dinner (set for October of this year)

Seeing the Aurora Borealis with my own eyes

Visit Italy

Visit Ireland

Visit DisneyWorld

GM for a tabletop game (one shots count)

Own two cats at once (always lived in a one-cat household)

Be able to visit a bee hive (non-observation hive) in a bee keepers suit (this requires overcoming a phobia)

Own a home

…

Comic Con and WonderCon have gotten very hard to explain.

They are not really about just comics anymore, but “geek culture” seems so broad and hand-wavey of an explanation. Like, it’s a little cross section on anime, comics, pop culture, geeky pursuits, books, TV, film, and on and on. I attended panels on Disney, nerdy voice actors that play D&D, LGBT culture, Carrie Fisher and Kenny Baker tributes, and that’s just the ones I made it to! How does one put that into a description without being too vague?

This becomes especially true when random tourists want to know why everyone is dressed so weird, so the clarification has to be brief and easily digestible in passing.  I was able to do it, but it made me realize how vague I was required to be in delivery.  I think I erred on the side of hand-wavey.

Also I apparently hit the right blend of “weird enough to be part of the everyone dressed so weird, but not so very weird as to be unapproachable” – I consider this a success! (I was not really Cosplaying or Disneybounding, but I did have on dark purple lipstick and one of my black and white stripped dresses acquired with Beetlejuice Femme in mind)

So last year I put together a clever DisneyBounding outfit – BB-8!

Yes, I was the droid he was looking for!

So I revived the outfit this weekend for WonderCon (oh yeah, I’ve been radio silent because work was crazy and then I was away at a con for the weekend – hee hee!) and wore it Friday to the DisneyBounding panel, which was totally fun.  Since I’d put a lot of work into getting all the pieces, I was pretty proud of this outfit and felt great when people commented or appreciated it.

Out on the floor some people “got it”, one woman even noticed the detail that everyone else misses – the chopsticks in my bun were set to be different heights to replicate BB-8’s antennas.  A couple requests for pictures, it was cool.  I felt good.

Then Saturday I work my Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff necklace with a Hot Topic Tardis dress:

WHOA!  I was stopped regularly for compliments and pictures!  It was seriously a noticeable difference, my outfit, simple as I thought it was, was an absolute hit.  I felt good, but also a little sad that the “lazy” one got so much more than the high effort Friday wear.

That said, I think next convention I want to work up some high-effort and high-notice cosplay, to combine the best of both these worlds.  Just no idea what has the recognizable impact, realistic for me to accomplish outcome, and is compatible with my fandoms, interests, and body.

WonderCon is this weekend!

I have to decide what to wear!

ACK!

Friday there is a panel I want to attend about Disneybounding, so it kind of means I have to try to do the BB8 dress.  I hope I can find the accessories and make up while I’m packing tomorrow.  But panel is 10 am.  I have to be dressed, make upped, and in Anaheim by 10 am.  Can’t check into hotel until afternoon.  Tricky.

Saturday is a busy day, so I’m going to go easy with the Tardis dress and Wibbly Wobbly necklace.  Main event is harassing friends at the Talks Machina panel, and I have no directly relevant clothes.  So Tardis!

Sunday I’d LOVE to do Femme Beetlejuice.  But makeup takes an hour, at least.  I have to be out of the hotel by check out (11 or 12).  It’d be an appropriate day for anything Star Wars (Carrie Fisher tribute day), too, but I don’t want to do BB8 twice, and I don’t have anything else.  Fie.

I think Cosplay-light is the name of the game for this weekend.

So in all my musings about “IRL class” choices… I forgot the one that fits me best…

BARD!

I play with words, weaving magic with them whenever possible.

Entertaining is something I delight in, it’s important to me that the people around me have a good time.

While a Sorceress would have a familiar, I don’t think Pixie gives me any distinct advantages (save for the sanity that having a cat brings me).

There’s something about me that loves and hates being the center of attention, but I think I like it more than I bristle at it.

And there’s even a 3.5/Pathfinder feat called “Bardic Knowledge” that addresses the diversity of tidbits that they acquire over time, much as I have a host of trivia floating in my brain space.

So while I can’t carry a tune unless you give me a bucket to keep it in… I think I’m a Bard!

When I played Gauntlet: Dark Legacy back in the day, I was always, without fail, the Blue Valkyrie.

To this day, I will utter “Blue Valkyrie needs food badly.”  It was especially pertinent when I worked for a company that was known as “Big Blue”, Blizzard Entertainment.  Even though I have moved on from Blizzard, I am still fond of blue above other colors, so I remain Blue Valkyrie… especially when I’m very hungry or feeling sick (“Blue Valkyrie is about to die”).

But really, when I look at fantasy gaming classes, I know I am no Valkyrie.  So what am I?

I have some limited skill with a bow from my childhood archery lessons, but I am not an Archer or a Ranger, and definitely not a fighter.  My weapons are words and weirdness, so clearly I’m a caster of some sort.  On the one hand, when something comes up I like to do my homework – whether it be prep for getting a tattoo or a new medical issue – and I am intently anxious to Google it all.  On the other hand, I am also a kind of “go with the flow” kind of person.  A certain amount of planning and research is okay, but sometimes you just need to adapt and take the hits as they come.  I’m not the kind to fix myself to a daily routine, so I’m not sure I could prep the way a Wizard does.  I’m not of strong faith, so I’m no divine caster, no Cleric or Paladin.

So I guess that makes me a Sorcerer?  A spontaneous caster, not as strong or focused as those who went through the formal schooling (after all I didn’t go to a 4 year university and my career has felt some impact from that), but still someone that believes in the magic of the world.  Willing to use trial and error to find their best bet in a tough situation.  Charisma based, best off with a team to support but still a strong solo contributor at need.

Yeah, I think I’ll take that.  Blue Sorceress, has a nice ring to it, eh?