the uss tyreiron rides again! (or: milton keynes collectormania 2011)

Despite the best efforts of a significant lack of sleep, I am not dead! I have had an immensely busy few days, of which more anon. Firstly, though, COLLECTORMANIA UPDATE OF DOOM. This Collectormania featured a plethora of Stuff What Happened, so I'm going to try and go through it all as logically as possible and only flail like a madowman briefly.

Katie (stupidore) came down on the Thursday night, and we ate copious amounts of Chinese food and then I spent all day on Friday abandoning her to the mercies of my house while I went to work. Work let me go an hour and a half early, time I wisely used to sleep and pack in a panicked manner. Good-o.

( Day 1: 'YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME, SATNAV!' )

( Day 2: 'Hashtag us TrekBabes, for God's sake!' )

( Day 3, in which River Song is made of win )

( Day 4, 'and we shall call it... this land' )

In conclusion, once again, Milton Keynes is cold but meeting skiffy people is AWESOME. There's loads I've missed out, like all the Tribbles we carried around; the awesome cosplayers (Idris! A Dalek! Girl!Sixth Doctor! the lady who basically leapt on me with a phaser rifle shouting 'thank god a female captain!'); the friendliness of the event as a whole, including the stewards willingness to go after the twatface ex-boyfriend; Taylor and Ann's love for David Blue and also Twizzlers; unexpected Peter Shilton; Tali eating Hawaii ice and turning her tongue green; more general awesomeness. This is why I should type things up earlier, as I always remember to put in pictures that way and get it all in order.

Still, I will remember that I had a good time. And that is what counts.

Pictures are here, for anyone who would like to see my badly taken pictures of shenanigans!

the uss tyreiron rides again! (or: milton keynes collectormania 2011)

Despite the best efforts of a significant lack of sleep, I am not dead! I have had an immensely busy few days, of which more anon. Firstly, though, COLLECTORMANIA UPDATE OF DOOM. This Collectormania featured a plethora of Stuff What Happened, so I'm going to try and go through it all as logically as possible and only flail like a madowman briefly.

Katie (stupidore) came down on the Thursday night, and we ate copious amounts of Chinese food and then I spent all day on Friday abandoning her to the mercies of my house while I went to work. Work let me go an hour and a half early, time I wisely used to sleep and pack in a panicked manner. Good-o.

( Day 1: 'YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME, SATNAV!' )

( Day 2: 'Hashtag us TrekBabes, for God's sake!' )

( Day 3, in which River Song is made of win )

( Day 4, 'and we shall call it... this land' )

In conclusion, once again, Milton Keynes is cold but meeting skiffy people is AWESOME. There's loads I've missed out, like all the Tribbles we carried around; the awesome cosplayers (Idris! A Dalek! Girl!Sixth Doctor! the lady who basically leapt on me with a phaser rifle shouting 'thank god a female captain!'); the friendliness of the event as a whole, including the stewards willingness to go after the twatface ex-boyfriend; Taylor and Ann's love for David Blue and also Twizzlers; unexpected Peter Shilton; Tali eating Hawaii ice and turning her tongue green; more general awesomeness. This is why I should type things up earlier, as I always remember to put in pictures that way and get it all in order.

Still, I will remember that I had a good time. And that is what counts.

Pictures are here, for anyone who would like to see my badly taken pictures of shenanigans!

(no subject)

Okay, the rest of my life, LET ME SHOW YOU IT.

Katie stayed over for a week of post-conventionness, so I had a very busy week. She very kindly and patiently put up with being stuck in the house while I was at work, and my house is currently very much in the sticks so there wasn't even anything for her to do. SORRY KATIE.

We spent Tuesday basically recovering from the convention, although we did watch Wrath of Khan with Richie. What can I say, we are geeks. And on Wednesday we saw X-Men: First Class. Short review? Good, though Magneto was ace, can't understand why all the women were rubbish. The Mystique I know would rip your balls off and feed them to you, not whinge about being blue AD NASEUM. To my mind that sort of let the film down quite a lot, which was a shame as I enjoyed the rest of it.

On Thursday we went into Liverpool on a mad Primark run, as there are no Primarks in Edinburgh which is shocking when you think about it. Katie got a skirt with parrots on it. I realise I am writing down what someone else bought, but PARROTS. It is the best skirt I have ever seen and makes me wish I suited them better. We ate Wagamamas while sitting in the sun by Chevasse, which is a very lovely experience, even when wrestling with chopsticks.

Friday also consisted of going out in the evening. I am quietly upset that just as I have found a lovely new restaurant and cocktail bar in Ormskirk, I am moving to Southport. Alas. We spent the night at my mum's house, as Saturday contained the reason Katie had stayed for so long.

On Saturday, I bought a wedding dress.

It's a tricky task, getting together all of my quote-unquote bridal party. Hell, it wasn't even all of them, but Vicky lives in Aberdeen and is 12 so was probably too big a trek for her. However, with Iona back in the country/continent, Katie down from Edinburgh and my mum with a weekend off work it was time to FIND A DRESS. You see, I am determined that everyone will match me. Although I intend to have a thoroughly equal marriage, etc, and I'm not fussed by a lot of the wedding industry nonsense, I would like to wear a pretty dress and make everything match me, not the other way around.

So I had booked some appointments with some posh shops, and then got an appointment with a very definitely not posh place so that I could work out what looked good before buying something I (well, my mum who has very kindly paid for my dress) could actually afford.

Two things I would advise to the potential bride:

1. Take tissues for your mother, although seeing how much a dress makes her cry is a stonking point of reference.

2. DON'T GO DRESS SHOPPING ON THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR.

I am not keen on people making that much of a fuss of me, and by 'making a fuss of me' I mean 'strangers in the changing room with me and I am in my pants and she is trying to put a dress over my head'. Embarrassment sweat plus being too hot sweat is not good, people. Still, I tried on two very expensive dresses before we headed for lunch (by lunch, read 'wine') and then very nearly went for a dress that was on sale in the second place. Still, I felt we should try the last shop as it was meant to be very good, very cheap, and have a wide range.

We spent about twenty minutes getting there, as we all got badly lost. When we got there, I was beyond the point of no return, so it was mum helping me in and out of dresses with Katie and Iona popping in and out of the changing room. GOOD TIMES. I tried on a few dresses, got stuck in an Austen dress (there is NO WAY it was a size 14) and then I tried on The Dress.

I shall not be describing The Dress as I would like it to be something of a surprise on the day for Richie, although I do have some sneaky iPhone photos of it stashed away. I look really, really pretty in it, and it ticks all the boxes I wanted. I still need to get a veil and tiara, but I can sort that nearer the time, I think. The tricky part is done, and mostly importantly was done within five hours of dress shopping. I think I may be beating my Bridezilla nature!

There was nothing else to be done after this than go and have a drink in the sun before eating enormous burgers. It was a properly lovely day, and I would like it to be known that I love my bridesmaids. THANK YOU LADIES.

I feel I should comment on Doctor Who here, but am still flabbergasted so can't say anything on that. ( Spoilers! )

Katie is now back in Edinburgh, and Richie and I are in full on PANIC STATIONS. You see, we have found a flat in Southport. In fact, we have put a holding fee on it, passed all of the paperwork checks, and will be passing over rent/deposit/etc on Saturday and then moving in. We have packed nothing, own no furniture that isn't an airbed and may be fashioning chairs out of paperback books. Still, it'll be our place and it means Richie won't be doing four hours of travelling a day to get to work, and at least I have a car to get in.

I have the next two days off work to pack. We are going to see Take That tomorrow evening. I suspect very little packing will be done...

(no subject)

Okay, the rest of my life, LET ME SHOW YOU IT.

Katie stayed over for a week of post-conventionness, so I had a very busy week. She very kindly and patiently put up with being stuck in the house while I was at work, and my house is currently very much in the sticks so there wasn't even anything for her to do. SORRY KATIE.

We spent Tuesday basically recovering from the convention, although we did watch Wrath of Khan with Richie. What can I say, we are geeks. And on Wednesday we saw X-Men: First Class. Short review? Good, though Magneto was ace, can't understand why all the women were rubbish. The Mystique I know would rip your balls off and feed them to you, not whinge about being blue AD NASEUM. To my mind that sort of let the film down quite a lot, which was a shame as I enjoyed the rest of it.

On Thursday we went into Liverpool on a mad Primark run, as there are no Primarks in Edinburgh which is shocking when you think about it. Katie got a skirt with parrots on it. I realise I am writing down what someone else bought, but PARROTS. It is the best skirt I have ever seen and makes me wish I suited them better. We ate Wagamamas while sitting in the sun by Chevasse, which is a very lovely experience, even when wrestling with chopsticks.

Friday also consisted of going out in the evening. I am quietly upset that just as I have found a lovely new restaurant and cocktail bar in Ormskirk, I am moving to Southport. Alas. We spent the night at my mum's house, as Saturday contained the reason Katie had stayed for so long.

On Saturday, I bought a wedding dress.

It's a tricky task, getting together all of my quote-unquote bridal party. Hell, it wasn't even all of them, but Vicky lives in Aberdeen and is 12 so was probably too big a trek for her. However, with Iona back in the country/continent, Katie down from Edinburgh and my mum with a weekend off work it was time to FIND A DRESS. You see, I am determined that everyone will match me. Although I intend to have a thoroughly equal marriage, etc, and I'm not fussed by a lot of the wedding industry nonsense, I would like to wear a pretty dress and make everything match me, not the other way around.

So I had booked some appointments with some posh shops, and then got an appointment with a very definitely not posh place so that I could work out what looked good before buying something I (well, my mum who has very kindly paid for my dress) could actually afford.

Two things I would advise to the potential bride:

1. Take tissues for your mother, although seeing how much a dress makes her cry is a stonking point of reference.

2. DON'T GO DRESS SHOPPING ON THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR.

I am not keen on people making that much of a fuss of me, and by 'making a fuss of me' I mean 'strangers in the changing room with me and I am in my pants and she is trying to put a dress over my head'. Embarrassment sweat plus being too hot sweat is not good, people. Still, I tried on two very expensive dresses before we headed for lunch (by lunch, read 'wine') and then very nearly went for a dress that was on sale in the second place. Still, I felt we should try the last shop as it was meant to be very good, very cheap, and have a wide range.

We spent about twenty minutes getting there, as we all got badly lost. When we got there, I was beyond the point of no return, so it was mum helping me in and out of dresses with Katie and Iona popping in and out of the changing room. GOOD TIMES. I tried on a few dresses, got stuck in an Austen dress (there is NO WAY it was a size 14) and then I tried on The Dress.

I shall not be describing The Dress as I would like it to be something of a surprise on the day for Richie, although I do have some sneaky iPhone photos of it stashed away. I look really, really pretty in it, and it ticks all the boxes I wanted. I still need to get a veil and tiara, but I can sort that nearer the time, I think. The tricky part is done, and mostly importantly was done within five hours of dress shopping. I think I may be beating my Bridezilla nature!

There was nothing else to be done after this than go and have a drink in the sun before eating enormous burgers. It was a properly lovely day, and I would like it to be known that I love my bridesmaids. THANK YOU LADIES.

I feel I should comment on Doctor Who here, but am still flabbergasted so can't say anything on that. ( Spoilers! )

Katie is now back in Edinburgh, and Richie and I are in full on PANIC STATIONS. You see, we have found a flat in Southport. In fact, we have put a holding fee on it, passed all of the paperwork checks, and will be passing over rent/deposit/etc on Saturday and then moving in. We have packed nothing, own no furniture that isn't an airbed and may be fashioning chairs out of paperback books. Still, it'll be our place and it means Richie won't be doing four hours of travelling a day to get to work, and at least I have a car to get in.

I have the next two days off work to pack. We are going to see Take That tomorrow evening. I suspect very little packing will be done...