- phoenixmonthly is awesome!

- I HAVE A ROOM. AND A ROOM NUMBER.

- FINANCIAL AID FINALLY APPEARS TO BE FACTORED INTO MY BILL.

- I AM ALMOST DONE WITH THIS FRAKKING DOCUMENT OF DOOM!

I THINK THIS CALLS FOR CELEBRATIONS.

So I get into work and the Minions look spooked. I go towards the kitchen to put my lunch in the fridge and they hiss, "don't go in there!" and I realize that there is shouting coming from there. Since our kitchen is attached to a meeting room, I just sat tight. Eventually the yelling stopped and the drama was over. It was still kind of tense for a few minutes and Minion J went on about "there are drills for this!"

I kind of hate this week already, considering that school just switched computer systems and I'm not sure if they get that I'm registered. It does have fees for myself, even for housing, but I don't know what ROOM I'm in, just the dorm. I may need to call the dorm people tomorrow. Also, my financial aid is taking ass forever to get itself through, which is kind of got me paranoid. I discovered on this shiny new system I was supposed to confirm my registration on THERE TOO, which pisses me off a little. But I've got it clicked now and I have charges for my room, which means someone thinks I'm staying there at least. I just need to calm.

( so a few things to do )

~Cendri

P.S. phoenixmonthly's FIRST ISSUE IS UP. DOWNLOAD IT. PRINT IT OFF. SHARE IT.

OMG I managed to keep the majority of my shit packed this summer, but I still have lots of crap. This at least gives me the excuse to go through it. But lord do I hate packing.

( that fandom purity meme so this is not just bitching about packing )

...I... words... fuck it I give up. Work = fail.

One week left of work (OMG WHERE DID THE TIME GO) and I have to go back to school. Realization that I haven't even BEGUN packing has set in. Thankfully Boss #1 managed to calm a little of my hyperventilation, as she was checking in, not necessarily getting demanding. I really need to calm down with the paranoia. I hate office politics.

Also, my left big toe apparently has something arthritic going on. I don't WANT to go to a doctor, but I may have to. Bah. Last time I'm wearing heels that long, evar. Figures, I decide to look cute and I injure myself. XD I may have to figure out a way to do non-heeled boots for my Terra costume--cause that ain't happening again.

~Cendri

There is nothing I am more hedonistic about than food.

I am somewhat particular; not one of those "can eat anything" types, but very certainly not the white bread type. Being of the more Eastern European descent, I can't eat food that's... bland. While salt tends to fix a lot of things, I much prefer paprikas and garlics; if I don't need a mint by the end of the meal, it's bland. XD My favorite little cafe in town has a creole/cajun bent, which is most excellent, because that's another group that believes in strong flavors. Hell, they make me like seafood, and the only other way I'll eat it is, well, in sushi.

This comes up because I decided to go sit in the cafe today, and read my Joyce and generally behave hedonistically. This meant the worlds' most flavorful steak wrap (aka: the reason I can't go to "Mexican" restaurant and order a beef wrap without some sighing) which balances the peppers and tomatoes and actually puts a sauce in as well as doing the well-done just right... I had a very nice lunch, basically. My wallet feels it, but this is the first day I've felt hungry since getting sick, which means I need to reward my returning appetite.

I need to get some more cooking skills, because I quite adore food--I just get caught up in things and don't want to prepare it. Since I've managed to train myself to keep things generally clean (this was a rather hard habit to change, I am scatterbrained and sort of always doing five billion things at once), I figure this year would be a good time to train myself to not always fall back on food prepared by other people. I won't have a normal meal plan this year (or a kitchen of my own, but one will be nearby), so I suppose this is the best time for that. I recall when I lived out in Dayton by myself I was pretty good with feeding myself, but college makes one lazy. XD

In other news, no one is at work today and thus I have not been hassled. Considering that I've gotten more done than just about anyone else and managed a vacation in the middle, I think I've earned back my "girl gets shit done" title. About damn time, it was really starting to irk me. I am not Scotty. I am not a miracle worker.

I'm also going to see an old friend of mine on Friday, which is exciting. I'm bringing her kid some books. Since everyone I knew from way back is married or spawned. Ha, I'm getting old.

Also, phoenixmonthly should be coming out soon! I think we finally have an idea of what's involved, which is good. Look for it on Monday or sooner!

~Cendri

Finished reading my last of the required three books for the herding cats reading challenge Recced by Melissa.

( tale as old as time... alright I won't sing )

Main reasons you should read this:

- If you like prickly female leads

- If you like good family dynamics (this is something I look for, I won't lie)

- If you like fleshed out fairytales

So I was at work for an hour before I decided to come home and work. Because I'm not playing the schedule game and because I'm still hacking up a lung. But thankfully this staying out of a cold office and sitting at a desk that has two monitors did help me feel better and get stuff done. Wahoo.

I have an excuse to make my Terra costume more detailed (and get a green wig, ha) since darcenciel wants to be Shadow and start up an FFVI group. I'm down with that. I may even get a prop sword out of the deal!

And awesomeness! They went with one of my themes suggested for fst! I suggested mentor characters, cause, yeah. This is me we're talking about. I have far too many mentor characters I adore, I may need some help picking when that comes around. XD This is basically silly, but at least that comm is picking up a little again and is full of less fail. I can't help it, I like music, and I like mixtapes. So.

I finished Beauty today as well, mainly because it's due back at the library soon, so I spend a little longer doing lunch break. It reminded me why my favorite moral was always "appearances can be deceiving" because yeah. If there was ever a childhood moral I clung to, it was that one. I guess that's why I'm so utterly and completely turned off when people redeem prettyboy villains--it just doesn't jive with that principle. And I'm nothing if not stubbornly principled. I guess this carries on with my trend of liking facially-scarred regretful types (and I mean UGLY scars) as they exist in a grey area between. It's food for thought at least. Not that heroes can't be pretty, I mean, I like Cecil (he's my favorite because he's flawed probably more than anyone would like to admit). But I have to wonder if less villains would get redeemed if less of them were pretty.

Maybe it's indicative of my own journey of principles. I'm all about balance now. I guess that means for me acknowledging that certain things exist side by side or something existential like that.

Book review to follow.

~Cendri

Since I know some people *cough*cumuluscastle*cough* like to journal about art, and I'm feeling less like death and I was gone for a few days, I figured I would ramble about this artist I fell in love with in Artist Alley.

Meet Alice.

There are two styles of art I've always, without fail, been drawn to; impressionistic surrealism, and stark art deco. I'm well aware these are basically opposites. XD But in a sea of anime drawings (not that there's a damned thing wrong with them) I was rather struck by this haunting and colorful image of a man kissing a woman with a guitar string tattoo on her back. Thankfully she has a deviantart account, because this is what I'm talking about. The inspiration behind it warms my heart a little, though I didn't know it when I bought it. I also bought this one, because I have a thing about people breaking instruments.

So yes. Very much in love. I kind of want the whole series now. Because it's mythology and it's gorgeous and it's very personal feeling.

Plus her husband has an adorable accent and was such a lovely fanboy and helper for her.

~Cendri

Ugh. Stayed home sick, which I prolly shouldn't have done but my balance is all off and I don't want to be a zombie at work. Been sleeping on and off and having a shit ton of broth. Plague is suck.

Will be posting a picspam later, mostly from first_seventhe's pic stash. As she's awesome. And I didn't bring a camera.

So this made me think of how we got lost on Friday, guys.

Alright, time to find pictures and hopefully get better.

I'm cutting this for those of you that have far too many "OMG I WAS AT OTAKON" posts in you LJ or you didn't go or feel bad or something.

( this is the ultimate showdown of destiny or some other inside joke )

P.S. firefly99: I thought of you when I saw this walk by.

Also, there were some actually decent Snake cosplayers. I didn't have a camera though, but you can feel proud.

Gone to Otakon, leave a message here and I should get to it when I get back.

Stayed home today, so I am doing work stuff and other stuff kind of interchangeably. Had a ridiculously awesome breakfast and didn't have to change out of my pajamas and drive. Win.

So someone posted a few of the Complication soundtracks, and I have to say, I'm a little charmed by the Before Crisis one. Doesn't hurt that I find Before Crisis to be one of the few semi-worthwhile parts of the Complication. It's all orchestral-techno spy sounding stuff, which ah, I love. Anyway, if you didn't catch the link on ff_press, it's right here. There's something ironic about it being posted to a yaoi comm.

Funnily enough, the music makes me think of working on Grow Up And Blow Away. Techno Western Noir, anyone?

Have figured out that I can take a carry-on that's big enough to carry a costume and a change of clothes, will still need to check a bag due to the Edea dress being, well, huge. Also since I'm bringing another pair of boots and stuff like that, I need that suitcase anyway. In order to save room in the hotel room, I'll not take the carry-on with me there, just leave it at Jana's (IS THAT OK, JANA?). Trying not to take up too much room, but Edea = lots of stuff no matter what I do. XD Will put the stuff I've made for other people in the carry-on also, so there's no issues with the stuff possibly getting lost. I hope NOTHING gets lost or delayed, but I run on the pessimistic side.

Also, Otakon peeps, I can't take the new camera, since my parents just got it. But between Sev and Jana we're covered, right?

( to do! )

~Cendri

But a lot of this has to do with Otakon shenanigans. BEST NEWS ALL DAY: my parents got a new camera, to replace the broken one. And got a good little snapshot camera.

THIS MEANS YA'LL GET TO SEE THOSE HAIRSTICKS I MADE.

- THE DRAMATIC CLOSEUP
- A BETTER VIEW OF THE RIBBON
- THE ZOOM OUT

All of that made from these materials. Heck yeah, this is fun.

And I've determined I've run out of creative energy to make myself a necklace. Thankfully I have a nice old style locket that will do.

~Cendri

I mainly just needed something to look at for ten minutes that wasn't related to volume rates. Omg.

That Personality Test :: Your Results
The latest personality test from ThatSurveySite... now featuring more and better questions than ever!
Emotional (69%)	[......||||..........]	Logical (31%)
Concerned about self (33%)	[..........|||.......]	Concerned about others (67%)
Atheist (48%)	[....................]	Religious (52%)
Loner (65%)	[.......|||..........]	Dependent (35%)
Laid-back (28%)	[..........||||......]	Driven (72%)
Traditional (45%)	[..........|.........]	Rebel (55%)
Impetuous (58%)	[........||..........]	Organized (42%)
Engineering mind (19%)	[..........||||||....]	Artistic mind (81%)
Cynical (29%)	[..........||||......]	Idealist (71%)
Follower (41%)	[..........||........]	Leader (59%)
Introverted (42%)	[..........||........]	Extroverted (58%)
Conservative (44%)	[..........|.........]	Liberal (56%)
Logical (33%)	[..........|||.......]	Romantic (67%)
Uninterested (43%)	[..........|.........]	Sexual (57%)
Insecure (38%)	[..........||........]	Confident (62%)
Selective (25%)	[..........|||||.....]	Tolerant (75%)
Pessimistic (32%)	[..........||||......]	Optimistic (68%)
Principled (67%)	[.......|||..........]	Pragmatic (33%)
Tolerant (49%)	[....................]	Opinionated (51%)
Humble (40%)	[..........||........]	Elitist (60%)
Take the test!

Ha ha, we're ALL elitists, kids. Though, some of the questions irked me and made me wish I took the boy version. Just saying.

~Cendri

Ha ha, right, so, today has been weird.

Morning

Con: Raced a storm (storm racing IS fun though) and got to work later, because storms suck. Hate living out in the middle of farmland sometimes.
Pro: Had a really awesomely productive meeting! Have stuff squared away for testing and how we're going in another direction for next phase. Remembered why I love my minions.

Lunch

Pro: Had Greek! Sat and talked with Minion J about his ideas for a game narrative, which I may subject select members of my female network to, as he wants something that isn't dumb. Got called "self-confident" in a manner that wasn't an insult. Felt better about myself.
Con: Bumped a car pulling out of the parking spot (I HATE STREET PARKING). Luckily no one was hurt and it was basically A SCRATCH, but the guy I bumped was a bit of an ass. I knew the cop, though, he's a friend of the family and thus made the experience a lot less painful. XD

Afternoon:

Pro: OMG PEOPLE ARE WORKING ON MY FIXES SO I CAN WRITE UP A BETTER CONTENT DOCUMENT. MADE MY DAY. Am communicating in the same language with the curricular people, who are being less assholish with stuff. I think they may have realized that they pissed me off royally and they need my cooperation not to look bad.
Con: None thus far, except calling my dad to let him know I suck at driving. He wasn't upset, so, that's not really a con.

I'm hoping that the drive home doesn't suck, I am not looking forward to it. I may just stay home tomorrow, so I can work on things during lunch break and have two screens to work from. We'll see.

~Cendri

P.S. And no, I didn't wear my costume to work, because even if I was changing into it here, I didn't want to possibly damage it because it was POURING DOWN RAIN. If I go into work tomorrow I may actually wear a costume, but depends on how I feel at the end of today.

OH MY GOD I AM GOING TO DIE IN THESE NEXT THREE DAYS, FOR CERTAIN.

At least I FINALLY got to talk to the developers from the first phase stuff so I can get together the crap for the report. So that's my next two days at work, having that done so that when I leave for vacation there is no bitching. And the Intern finally returned, as he was gone last week, with no particular reason as to why he was gone. I may end up strangling him. This is NOT how people work, kiddo.

Packing didn't happen this weekend, because I'm still writing up the list and double checking things and putting trim on my Terra sash. Fixing up the boots for Sev to borrow is also happening (apparently there was STILL some oil on them... from like my accident in January. wtf.) That's ok, I'd rather take my time packing than forget something.

Done:

- One of my "Comfort Zone" pieces. Rawk.

- Everything in the Edea costume except the last minute lace necklace. Am debating wearing it to work, can't take pictures as camera died.

- The finding of all the pieces for my gangster!Veld costume. Also rawk.

- The finding of all the pieces for my Terra costume. Whoo!

- Hemming the sash for the Terra costume. I am getting good at this sewing machine thing. It took like ten minutes, from pinning, to threading to actually sewing. I are impressed.

- Finding of sexy club wear. One hand-me-down dress from drakonlily actually fits now! YES FOR GAINING WEIGHT (shut up, this excites me).

- Discovering how much of my suitcase the Edea dress takes up (about half, with probability of being able to put light things on top of it... I just don't want to break it).

- All pieces of accessory things promised to kids (also doubles as birthday presents, since two of you had May birthdays and one of you has a birthday during the con).

- Finding of the bling for my Tellah costume. Gaudy grandma jewelry FTW.

( to do )

Also, should I wear my Edea costume to work tomorrow? I kind of want to test drive it.

~Cendri

Imaginary Beasts Issue is up! "Of the Ghost in the Wind" is mine. I'm thinking about downloading the other stories onto my Palm Pilot for reading on the plane on Thursday (as I typically read all the stories if I can). The art's pretty cool (ha, you can imagine I giggled at the cover).

I FINISHED THE HAIRSTICKS. And promptly ran out of batteries and the batteries on the camera died. So, I think I should go get some, because I'm proud of these things. Nevermind, the camera ACTUALLY died. D: They look AWESOME AND HAVE STEAMPUNK BUTTERFLIES ON THEM.

Still have to pack and stuff. Got a little tripped up doing work yesterday. At least the laundry is done, my work time has been put in, and I got the last piece of accessory made for someone. I like making things, I think I'll offer to make stuff for next con (which'll prolly be Otakon for me again, as school is going to suuuuck this year).

Right. Back to work.

~Cendri

Have about three hours of work left (because I decided to just go home instead of staying super late on Friday, due to leaving early for headache and hanging out with my mom other days) for today. Might take care of the annoying sort of tendious things that take a while so that starting Monday I am all set for things. Considering I only have a three day week and all. XD

Because of Otakon and all that, I felt very dramatic yesterday, so I wore my Edea hat to work. And played around with my tripod (it's a mini-pod) since I found it and the timer function on the crap camera my parents have. Darn Wardrobe Remix you're such an addictive little community. Then again, I used to be very camera-shy (I preferred to take pictures than be IN them), so maybe this has been a good thing.

And here's Step 1 of my process of making those hairsticks. Because it's fun to take pictures. Lord, I miss having my own camera. But there's talk of me getting a Canon Rebel for a graduation gift, so that's one more incentive to graduate. I'll get my own little snapshot camera for those times when I'm not being an Artiste.

Back to sewing and packing and working now.

~Cendri

P.S. Working outside is awesome. Thank you battery life on computer and parents for building this deck.

I have been following with some amusement the epic struggle at work between the minions and our Political Game guy. The minions, while sometimes annoying, do get their shit done, and done well and cause me the least amount of problems. I went and had lunch today, where the gloves were off and they got to air their frustrations. We also shared humorous stories of weirdos we've known.

Granted, when I talk about "weirdos" it's with a certain sort of self-deprecation. Teasing is a family past time, and to keep it from abuse, you have to offer a little of your own strangeness. Minions apparently want Otakon pictures really badly for this reason.

Anyway, there was a comment about Political Game guy being a middle-aged prima donna (he is). So I took a sip of my tea and suggested they buy him a tiara and leave it on his desk. This idea seemed to please them greatly and there was much plotting. I may have inadvertently started something, due to being somewhat dry humored.

I'd like to think I have a healthy level of fantasy vs. reality, and like having reminders that I am in fact a dork (but I like being one). Hanging with the minions provides good perspective. I just wanted to say, I appreciate all my friends, and their quirks and everything. I enjoy knowing quirky and varied people. The world can look so grey otherwise. A lack of self-consciousness is something I'm getting back and I enjoy finding people that I don't have to worry about looking silly with.

In other news, hairstick materials all found, I laid out the materials and took a picture (which I haven't uploaded) in order to do some in progress shots. Because those are fun. I am excited about some of the materials I've found for them. ^^

And random fashionista picture. I have worn that purple sweater several times lately. But it's so comfortable. Plus, I love the couch at work. I may go sit on it later today.

So far so good today.

~Cendri

Today is going much much much better--we're all communicating and speaking the same language and no one's bitching about what I do and it's all wonderful. It's about damn time, I felt like I was speaking Sanskrit or something.

Some things:

- For the .05% of you that missed Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, they put the whole thing up on Hulu. It's nifty seeing it all together. I can't help it, I like mad science. XD

- Put an FST up. Didn't have time to either get a cover or make one, oh well. I like the music.

- I am excited because I have some new boxes. Seriously, that'd dorky.

- Updated my WIPs to reflect the requests. And doom. Lots of doom.

- Kind of want to make my "20 most impactful works" list, as it's not always books that do it for me, as I'm kind of a multimedia whore (book and film snobs would be abhorred by my influences. XD)

Maybe I should go to the cafe again (not to eat though, I just did that). Have some tea. I work much better when I'm not freezing to death (it's so COLD in this part of the office). Maybe later. Time to get something done.