Late to the Game

PAX East was great, but I’m still getting over the whole “I got into an accident on the ride home” thing … I’m fine, just shaken. My dad’s car has cosmetic damage, but it can be fixed. I’m just … still processing things. Need sleep. After ‘Walking Dead’.

More on PAX later this week.

So … been a little busy as of late, folks. If you couldn’t guess from the Instagrammed photos, I started an internship on Monday and it’s great so far, but it has taken a toll on my Internet time … well, that, my karate workouts, Anglerfish stuff, and the fact that I’ve gotten halfway through season 1 of ‘The West Wing’ (in terms of discs; I probably have 6 episodes left but won’t get through them in the next few days). And things are going to be even more busy because I’m heading up to Boston for the weekend for PAX East! … Wow, I’m going to be a 3-PAX vet …

Anyway, PAX should be a blast as it has been in previous years with giveaways, free swag, game demos, doling out cookies for charity, and the like. Expect some pictures here and there. And maybe end-of-day recaps.

I’ve been serving this past week as a high school substitute teacher. It’s been my first (and most likely only (mostly full)) week on the job, and it’s definitely been interesting, so why not recap things for the internet?

Monday: Italian - All classes had busy work (mostly out of a textbook). Some decided they’d hand in the work the next day. There was a good deal of talk about the upcoming junior/senior proms, as well as dieting for prom. There was also a good bit of phone use, but as long as the students kept relatively quiet, didn’t cause major disturbances, and at least handed something in …

Wednesday: English - Mostly busy work (with a bit more noise in one or two of the classes), too, except for the class that watched more of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. One piece of busy work was to define what a classic film was (in their own words) and list ten with brief explanations. Needless to say, there were some interesting choices for top classic films, but there were a number of what I’d consider to be classic films in the top. Also covered a physics lab, which cooperated, did their work, and kept quiet/relatively off their phones.

Thursday: Tech - All watched videos (one on small gas engine repair and the rest watched a Disney-produced documentary on Robert Goddard). There was also talk of Harry Potter-related stuff in the smallest (and quietest/best) class of the day, which made me more than happy!

Friday: English (another school) - Small, yet mostly cooperative classes. Busy work, too, starting with a ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ review sheet (during which I started the novel), continuing with a ‘Shawshank Redemption’ vocab quiz and free reading time, and ending with library research time. Also covered for a World History period (which was a free study period, if anything). And I finished ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ by the end of the day.

And now, I think I’ll take in a touch more ‘West Wing’ (just over halfway through season 1; already loving it and having intense feels) … or maybe work on the latest Jim Butcher or Maureen Johnson novel(s).

You know those umpteen application tabs I had open at the start of the Stupor Bowl?  Well, I got one in and have two in progress, but the Puppy Bowl is still on … maybe a few more in the next hour?  I’m hopeful.

And speaking of the game itself, it was a good game and the commercials were decent.  I was tweeting my favorites in general, if you’re at all interested.

Or when I pretend to watch the Super Bowl but only watch the commercials and send out applications during actual play. I’ve got 14 tabs open that I’m considering … let’s get those all in before the game ends.

Breaking down my birthday:

• Got around 166 well-wishes on Facebook. Got a few through Twitter (and Instagram), Tumblr, Boothica, and the comments of today’s YouTube video.
• Caught up on some new Deadpool, the newest issue of Revival, and the newest Witch Doctor. Also tried out Temple Run 2. All good things.
• Helped out a neighbor with a little dog walking. Tess (the dog) is pretty well behaved.
• Deposited a birthday check and hung out at Starbucks for a few hours sipping my birthday venti chai tea latte. Did a little job searching and applying there, and also had some good conversations with seat neighbors (a 40-something motivational speaker/relationship counselor and author of a soon-to-be-finished zen book, and a 20-something high school dropout who is doing freelance makeup).
• Picked up a new cassette adapter (my now old one has been on the fritz these last few months) before meeting up with Jared (who painted the portrait), Joe (could only stay for dinner), and Ryan (could only make the movie) for dinner and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (which was very good; longer review to come soon).
• Finished up the celebrations at home with cupcakes from a local bakery (split a chocolate mousse cupcake and a red velvet cupcake with the brother), followed by a bit of TV (‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’ after a new Daily Show and Colbert).

Yeah, it’s been a good 23rd birthday.

So, Tumblr, it’s close to 3 in the morning and I’m still up, but will be turning in shortly. I had plans to maybe proofread a friend’s essay or read more of ‘Casual Vacancy’, but instead it’s been YouTube videos, thanking the first wave of Facebook birthday wall posts, and reading the newest issue of Deadpool. So, yeah, it’s my birthday (and I’ll have a video about turning 23 up in the morning/afternoon/probably after I get my freebie chai tea latte; also, I’m accepting showerings of birthday greetings here, too, but I’m not holding my breath) and I know how to celebrate it. XD

• Already received one make that two early well-wishes on Facebook (Thank you, former Welsh sleepaway camp division leader!), as well as one early card (Thank you, snow-bird grandparents!).
• Quite pleased with the comic industry’s early gifts: Image’s ‘Chew’ and IDW’s ‘Star Trek Countdown To Darkness’ and ‘Memorial: Imaginary Fiends’. Still waiting on Image’s ‘Revival’ and Skybound’s ‘Witch Doctor: Mal Practice’.
• Filmed a little “On Turning 23” vlog of sorts that should be going up mid-day tomorrow or thereabouts.
• Looking forward to my freebie drink (Come to me, Chai Tea Latte!) at Starbucks tomorrow, along with the little get-together I planned with some college/local friends: an early dinner, followed by ‘Silver Linings Playbook’.

Oy, so much reading today … first, there was Jeff Lemire’s ‘The Underwater Welder’ interspersed with Lemony Snicket’s ‘Who Could That Be At This Hour?’ (which was finished hours after ‘The Underwater Welder’) … and then I grabbed the copy of volume 3 of ‘The Unwritten’ I have on loan and blazed through that. And I’m probably about to start ‘The Mysterious Benedict Society’ (which is due on Wednesday).

But I also need sleep because of job-related things tomorrow (a workshop which may or may not help and a networking meeting). And also sending out more applications. And fine-tune birthday plans for next week (Holy crap, I’m going to be 23! AGH!), which are already in the works.

But on the upside, I had a productive Thursday for the most part. There was the reading, some networking/job hunt-related e-mails, an application or two, and some sample proofreading/evaluating. I still need to get cracking on proofreading/copyediting section articles for the next issue of The Anglerfish … and possibly write up whatever it is I’m going to write up for the next issue.

A little word vomitus I tossed up on the blog last night/this morning about a classic Rolls Royce I passed heading to a New Year’s Eve party about 2 weeks back.  It’d been nagging to be written up.  Not my best or necessarily most focused, but it’s just a musing, anyways, nothing serious.