inquiry and bloodlust

- So, we moved! Not very far, only about a 45 minute drive, but still. Moving sucks. Ugh. At least it's because Jaime found a job, so now we're both safely away from the horror that is academia. I kind of hate the town we moved to, but that's just because it's not Chicago big and/or interesting. It's really no worse than where we were before. I... yeah. Yeah, that's about it.

- I guess I'm getting married? Jaime and I have been together for over eight years, so it's not like anything's really changing, but... I dunno. We're getting married so I can get health insurance. It kinda sucks. I figured when I did get married it'd be... something. And I was always planning to take his name, but now that it's actually happening, I'm torn. I don't want to go through all the hassle of changing all my official stuff when nothing else is changing. No ceremony, no engagement, no real proposal even. Reality sucks, is the point here, I suppose. I know everyone says this, but I'm planning on only getting married once, and for it to happen with such little fanfare and in relative isolation and for such a mundane, practical reason... damnit. Just. Just damnit.

- I'm hormonal and I forgot to take my meds last night so my brain is a mushed up mess of profanity and nerves and I can't stop crying. Aasdlkfjpaoweijfasdlkfj-

Amazon's top recommendation for me is this. The worst part? I'm actually tempted. I mean, it's terrible and, as Jaime put it, looks like something from a magazine for teenage girls, but that's what makes it awesome.

I'm not sure if I'm ashamed of myself or not.

- This is pretty much the greatest thing ever.
- Working on dolls. They're coming along really nicely, actually.
- Finished and mailed out jengeorge's Alex Day present. Because I'm an idiot, though, I completely forgot to take any pictures, so I guess that one's not going on the craft blog. Balls.
- Jaime's been giving me my birthday presents early and they are AAAAAWESOME. More on that later when I stop being lazy and take pictures.
- Started collecting series 8 Lego minifigs. So far I've gotten the football player and the robot; I really just want the vampire bat.
- Ecofelt is pretty much the greatest thing ever. Just saying.
- Except maybe for Ken Burns documentaries. I am a boring adult, I guess, because I think they're all fascinating. And Lois Long is my idol now.

- Tried embroidering four different mouths onto the doll I'm crocheting and couldn't get any of them to turn out right. When I was pulling out the last one, I accidentally screwed up her nose. So, I had to pull that out too. Tried to redo it, but I couldn't get that to turn out either. She's still noseless and mouthless.

- Attempted for the third time to make a pendant with tags from NHL merch. This one was perfect except for the giant fucking bubble under the epoxy. I practiced specifically to avoid that, and it somehow still happened. That was my last tag, too. So. I don't know what to do there. Wait until I have the excess cash to buy another shirt, I guess.

- Attempted to make a TWEWY pin bracelet, but the glue I used bled into the decals and blurred/washed out the ink. Managed to salvage the bezel base, but I had to throw out all the decals and epoxy stickers.

- Had a panic attack. A really nasty one, too. I haven't had an attack in months. It was triggered by the stupidest thing - I had Lucky Charms for breakfast, and the combination of the sugar crash from that and a couple sips of coffee made me jittery. The jitters, in turn, convinced my brain I was dying. Racing heart, tingling extremities, heat flashes, derealization, the whole shebang. It was awful. I ended up wasting three hours in bed after it was over, just half-napping and trying to feel normal again.

- And now my phone is reminding me that I need three different meds every night just to reach "alive" every morning. Feeling pretty useless. I've been nauseous since last night, too, and I still feel mildly tingly and unsettled from earlier. Ugh. Today.

On the plus side, when I started crying, Benny was at my side in seconds. Dogs are pretty awesome.

Obligatory Ship Flail:
- Everyone ships Sterek.
- Kaner and Tazer are adorbs.

On to the main point - so. I like making stuff. It's kind of my thing. Unfortunately, there aren't any good gift-giving holidays for a little while. Thus, I've decided to make my own up.

Alex Day! Or. Um. Something like that. Basically, I've decided that for my birthday this year (October 4), I want to give you guys things! I'll have fun, you'll get a present, it'll be streets ahead awesome all around. Okay? Okay?

Okay!

[Poll #1858454]

Once it's closer to the actual day, I'll ask for mailing addresses. For now, please just fill out the poll (seriously, I love making gifts - keep me busy!) and be happy. Sound good?

Holy crap, you guys. I made a Kane/Toews rec list. And it is HUGE.

Speaking of pairings I'm way too invested in, I encountered a Skyrim glitch the other day that actually worked in my favor. Many of the NPCs you meet in Skyrim you can marry if you're wearing the proper amulet and they're friends with you. For most of them, building a friendship is as easy as completing a quest related to them. The one character I had my eye on for a hubby, Quintus Navale, has two quests connected to him. I don't know why, but at some point I decided he was absolutely the one and only true love of my character. So when the game appeared to have glitched me out of obtaining his second quest (and thus removing my chance of marrying him), I was heartbroken.

I kept playing, though, and I bought a level-up perk that lets you invest in shops. Since Quintus is a shopkeeper, I figured I could at the very least show my platonic support of him. After I handed over 500 gold, though, a funny thing happened. I'd been wearing my Amulet of Mara for a while, just to see which characters were interested in me, and suddenly Quintus was one of them. Without ever getting his second quest. I don't know what flag got flipped incorrectly in the game or how, but investing in the shop turned him into a marriage prospect.

So I said I liked him. And we got married. And he's living in my house in Riften.

Seriously, I can't count the number of times I've had to reset because I sank into a mountain or a key item was knocked irretrievably behind a table or a quest item got stuck in my inventory... actually, that one's usually not fixable with resetting. I'm stuck with Finn's Lute and Pantea's Flute forever, it seems. Anyway, the point is, I'd never encountered a glitch I liked. Finally, the game's bugginess worked in my favor.

And yes, this means Nurelion's death never happened. He's still "asleep and dying" in The White Phial, while Quintus is baking me apple pies in Honeyside. Love it.

... I actually came close to crying with joy when I got to marry Quintus. I mean, I've sunk over 200 hours into my main character, and I'd been hoping to marry him for at least 150 of those. So. Happy.

TERAVAINEN IS A BLACKHAWK APDOIFHA;SLKDG;KLAWPEOFI ALL MY FEELS OH GOD

Also, this tumblr makes me think I should actually watch Teen Wolf. Damnit.

Ashley, Dave, and Chad draw amazing things. Seeing their stuff made me want to draw things. Less amazing, granted, because those three are wowzers, but still things. And so I did!

( Comics: My Life is Not Interesting )
( Fanart: Shirtless Boys Kissing and a Teenage Demon )

By the way, what's the commonly accepted behavior when it comes to fanart? Do you let the author know you drew some, or just leave it to float on the internet? Which path is less rude?

There are a bazillion articles out there detailing just why adopting a dog rather than getting one from a breeder or pet store is the right choice and a fair amount on why you should consider adopting a dog who's past the puppy phase. I agree with the majority of those arguments, of course, but they're all so serious and legitimate. I mean, you're inviting a big-fanged carnivore into your home. Let's not be purely logical; let's get stupid.

I present to you five decidedly awesome advantages of adopting a non-puppy.

#1: The Backstory
Not only are you adopting a dog, you're adopting a protagonist. My girl Opal lived in the woods with her mom and littermates before joining my pack. Kinda badass. My boy Benny, on the other hand, is a mystery. We know he was adopted once before us, but before that? It's a blank. I choose to believe he was an experimental government project attempting to create the perfect dog. Unfortunately, they let one variable get out of hand: LOVE. So he broke out in search of the perfect home et voila. My faithful mutt.

#2: The Excuses
"Oh no, what is he doing? I've trained him better than that! He must've learned it from his previous owner/other dogs on the streets/that Russian circus he starred in."

#3: The Toys
Dogs, like people, have preferences. My dogs, for example, ignore rubber toys. Well, Benny ignores toys completely, but that's not the point! The point is that I had no way of knowing this until I offered them a rubber toy. You want to have the happiest dog possible, right? So you really should just get one of pretty much everything in the toy aisle. You know, to test the waters. It has nothing to do with how cute that dragon plush is. Really.

#4: The Ego-Boost
You weren't there for those formative months. This dog met you as a mature pup and its mature brain loves you. How neat is that?

#5: The Brainular Superiority
People love babies. The big heads, big eyes, tiny little toes... our brains are wired to gobble that junk up. We also love what we, well, love, though. Your dogs will probably end up looking cuter to you than any others in the world. (This doesn't apply to me, as my dogs truly are the cutest in existence, but I've seen some other poor fools stuck in their delusions.) This "cuter than" deal includes puppies. That's right - the awesomeness of your dogs can overcome your brain's innate wiring to love babies. Don't think about it too hard; just go with it. Dogs trump brain. Suck it, gray matter!

Bonus: Why You Should Adopt Two Dogs: A Diagram