Thursdays with Mindy: Holiday Haze

Howdy – I know things have been somewhat of a ghost town around here lately. Especially anemic on the nerd front. It’s mostly in direct response to the mad rush the few weeks right before the holidays.

Here is a brief sampling of what’s going on…

FINALS:

This week and next. Finishing up my Publisher and Dreamweaver courses this weekend. Next week I’m writing a Marketing plan for a fake business (Nerdy Knits) and taking an E-Commerce final. By the end of next week I should have more free time to craft a re-awakening of the blog.

FAMILY:

We were BUSY this weekend – volunteering, family portraits and hitting up the Oregon Zoo Lights annual festival. Had a family dinner on Tuesday, shopping with my ladies yesterday. The next few weeks are sparse on that front, but I’m working on our annual slideshow (have sifted through over 8,000 pictures in the last week). The DH Dan has an appointment next week to get a tooth pulled so I will be nursing him all next weekend.

INTERNSHIP/VOLUNTEERING:

Had a volunteer orientation yesterday for the Portland State University Digital Media Conference this coming Sunday/Monday ($200 attendance cost for FREE). Expect some posting about the DMC next week. I’m now solidly into the YWCA internship as well and have a few projects moving along on that front. I’m spending every Friday at the office. It’s been  lovely to meet new people and get out of the house.

HOLIDAYS:

Shopping, planning, putting up decorations. Making playlists. Cooking food. Wrapping presents. Mailing cards. It’s all too much. J/K – it’s a normal amount. But it’s a lot.

JOB SEARCH:

Still bumping along, applying for three jobs a week – haven’t had any interview calls in over a month. Just rejection emails. Can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing at this point. I’m not trying to be picky here folks. Just something Full-Time with reasonable pay that I will be successful at. Maybe I should expect something to pop up after the holidays?

Geek Girl Con: Schedule Preview

Finally decided that we will be attending Geek Girl Con in Seattle this weekend. We were back and forth about it, on the fence for several months…but after once again reviewing the panel schedule and determining there were just too many interesting topics up for discussion, we made the decision to head out. PLUS – there is the issue of unveiling the Captain America costume I’ve devoted months to creating (well, building is a better word to describe the process).

RANDOM INFO:I signed up to participate in my first Masquerade. Perhaps first and last, as was indicated in previous blogs…Cosplay past the age of 30 is frowned upon. Right? I mean, my figure is starting to go (or starting to grow, whichever way you want to look at it). Wrinkles, grey hairs, etc. Soon I’ll only have Halloween as an excuse. And I’ve already started putting together like three different costumes every year.

Getting old sucks.

Anywho – Dan, the DH, will be on hand to snap photos, so you’ll get to see my walk of shame in full color. I’m excited, but more nervous at this point. I think it speaks to something quite irrational when I’m more nervous about the Masquerade than I am about my job interview with Free Geek tomorrow morning.

Here is the loosely cobbled together schedule of what panels I would like to see:

SATURDAY

12-1: Feminism, Race and Geek Culture (NW Rooms, Lopez)

2-3: Scott Westerfeld (NW Rooms, Lopez)

4-5: Character Studies: Geek Girls in Popular Culture (NW Rooms, Lopez)

6-7:30pm: Masquerade (EMP 3)

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I figure this builds in enough time to arrive at the convention, take a turn around the building, get oriented, etc and then have some time between panels to loaf around and enjoy the scenery. It looks like there will also be vendors and exhibitors whom I haven’t frequented before, so that could be fun.

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There are media guests and signings, but aside from Jane Espenson and Scott Westerfeld, it’s either someone I’ve never heard of before or I’ve seen way too many times. And then there’s Gail Simone. I don’t read any DC books but she’s one of the few female comic book writers around, so…we shall see.

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SUNDAY

10-11: GirlHeroes (NW Rooms, Lopez)

11-12: Killing Cattiness, Creating Community (NW Rooms, Lopez)

12-1: Geeks Raising Geeks (NW Rooms, Lopez)

1-2: That Comic Isn’t About Me (NW Rooms, Fidalgo)

2-3: The Importance of Superheroes (NW Rooms, Fidalgo)

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Of course I’ll be updating Twitter and Tumblr during and the blog next week about all the proceedings.

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Really though, I could use some moral support and words of encouragement about this Masquerade thing. Dan practically forced me into it. It’ll be nice to show off the costume, but yikes. Wish me luck?