Once More, With Context
Feb. 23rd, 2011 09:21 pmHabits I need to grow out of, No.#3054: The feeling that I need to introduce every new post I make. Maybe it's just the writer in me, I dunno. That first line MUST hook the reader. Yes, it must. Except in every good book I've ever read, but what do published and praised authors know about writing, anyway?
I find it's best to start with what my readers are interested in: people who aren't me. It's my Da's 60th birthday on Sunday. And like me, he's impossible to shop for (at least I know where I get it from). Well, nearly did manage to find him one thing, but both Amazon and Ebay wanted €50 shipping for it. Screw that. Fortunately, I have a plan B. And it's a good one, because usually when I have a plan B, the 'B' stands for 'brainless', so there you go. Anyways, he recently got good news last hospital visit (not to mention uncharacteristically completely stoned), and you can't ask for much more than that :)
Oh, and Ronan's coming home Friday, so it's looking like it's going to be a good week for all involved, despite the election that's in it. Argh, have to go and vote for some twonk before we go collect him in Holyhead (road trip!) but on the bright side, if the rising tide of global insanity is any indication, it'll probably be the last election we have to have. ...Ever.
Oh, and I got my hair cut. The flatness and tying it back kept annoying me. Decided it was time for a change (Why not? Everything else is). Turned out a bit more Sammy Winchester than I was expecting, but it could have been worse. I look like a boy from behind again, woo. I think it actually makes me look a bit taller and slimmer when I get it right. I missed my man-bangs, I do admit it.
But the real news, the big news, is that I'm going to Tokyo with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
phoenix in exactly three weeks time! Her idea, actually. Not that she had to exactly twist my arm to get me involved, because hello, GEEK MECCA! Booked the tickets and accommodations yesterday. 'Tis going to be awesome!
She'd brought the idea up a few weeks ago around New Years, and I honestly wasn't expecting to be going this soon. Wasn't expecting to be able to afford to, but January turned out to be such a good month work-wise. Don't need a visa, it's only for a week and we're still in our twenties, so why not? Call me crazy, but I have my suspicions that when the zombies overrun us all, I won't be sitting in a bunker thinking "No, I'm glad I didn't see Japan while it was still there. It was better in the long run to just keep the money and use it for toilet paper as society collapsed."
So, if anyone has any recommendations, tips or advice, do tell. We'll probably only be in Tokyo itself, as travel outside the city by rail sounds prohibitively expensive. I know I definitely plan to bring my camera and tape as much of the trip as possible. I've got some ideas for places I want to see and things I want to do. And hey, we'll even be there for St. Patrick's Day, though whether we'll be able to actually DO anything for it (like finding some displaced Americans to worship us as gods?) all depends on jet lag. Mind you, my mother and aunt spent a week in China once, and said the jet lag upon arrival is minimal, especially compared to the lag you get coming back.
To say we're looking forward to it would be an understatement. So would saying nerves in play, but there's three weeks to work on those. Strange, one of the things I really want to see? The coast. Because I've been to the Californian coast, and I like the idea of having been both as far west and as far east as you can go. Something to cross off the bucket list. Not bad for a Tallaght kid who kicked around the same four streets most of his life, I think.
So, three weeks from now we'll be on a plane to Japan. Four weeks from now we'll be on the way back. Five weeks from now, I'llprobably be hiding in Dragon Age 2 and wallowing in post-Tokyo-back-in-fucking-Ireland-under-right-wing-Fine-Gael-knobend-government blues.
Oh yes, and I've also been causing Sabrina to have "Who are you, and what have you done with Dar?" moments by finally watching Buffy. Yes, I didn't watch Buffy before now. ...Well. I had seen it around on TV before, bits and pieces, usually while waiting on something else to come on. People were talking nostalgically about it a few weeks ago, and you know I loved Firefly, so I figured it was stupid of me to deprive myself of such an iconic show, just because I was an awful angry eejit back when it was on. It's never a good idea to let your past self make your decisions for you.
And Jane Espenson's tweets made me want to see more of her work. It's an awesome show, I missed out. Though I will say, I like how doing things I thought I wouldn't when I was younger makes me feel. It's not the further distancing who I am now from who I was, though that is a part of it. There's also the feeling that it makes the world seem more open. Like there's more to do, because you opened all those doors you closed to yourself.
And I like being able to surprise people.
I find it's best to start with what my readers are interested in: people who aren't me. It's my Da's 60th birthday on Sunday. And like me, he's impossible to shop for (at least I know where I get it from). Well, nearly did manage to find him one thing, but both Amazon and Ebay wanted €50 shipping for it. Screw that. Fortunately, I have a plan B. And it's a good one, because usually when I have a plan B, the 'B' stands for 'brainless', so there you go. Anyways, he recently got good news last hospital visit (not to mention uncharacteristically completely stoned), and you can't ask for much more than that :)
Oh, and Ronan's coming home Friday, so it's looking like it's going to be a good week for all involved, despite the election that's in it. Argh, have to go and vote for some twonk before we go collect him in Holyhead (road trip!) but on the bright side, if the rising tide of global insanity is any indication, it'll probably be the last election we have to have. ...Ever.
Oh, and I got my hair cut. The flatness and tying it back kept annoying me. Decided it was time for a change (Why not? Everything else is). Turned out a bit more Sammy Winchester than I was expecting, but it could have been worse. I look like a boy from behind again, woo. I think it actually makes me look a bit taller and slimmer when I get it right. I missed my man-bangs, I do admit it.
But the real news, the big news, is that I'm going to Tokyo with
phoenix in exactly three weeks time! Her idea, actually. Not that she had to exactly twist my arm to get me involved, because hello, GEEK MECCA! Booked the tickets and accommodations yesterday. 'Tis going to be awesome!She'd brought the idea up a few weeks ago around New Years, and I honestly wasn't expecting to be going this soon. Wasn't expecting to be able to afford to, but January turned out to be such a good month work-wise. Don't need a visa, it's only for a week and we're still in our twenties, so why not? Call me crazy, but I have my suspicions that when the zombies overrun us all, I won't be sitting in a bunker thinking "No, I'm glad I didn't see Japan while it was still there. It was better in the long run to just keep the money and use it for toilet paper as society collapsed."
So, if anyone has any recommendations, tips or advice, do tell. We'll probably only be in Tokyo itself, as travel outside the city by rail sounds prohibitively expensive. I know I definitely plan to bring my camera and tape as much of the trip as possible. I've got some ideas for places I want to see and things I want to do. And hey, we'll even be there for St. Patrick's Day, though whether we'll be able to actually DO anything for it (like finding some displaced Americans to worship us as gods?) all depends on jet lag. Mind you, my mother and aunt spent a week in China once, and said the jet lag upon arrival is minimal, especially compared to the lag you get coming back.
To say we're looking forward to it would be an understatement. So would saying nerves in play, but there's three weeks to work on those. Strange, one of the things I really want to see? The coast. Because I've been to the Californian coast, and I like the idea of having been both as far west and as far east as you can go. Something to cross off the bucket list. Not bad for a Tallaght kid who kicked around the same four streets most of his life, I think.
So, three weeks from now we'll be on a plane to Japan. Four weeks from now we'll be on the way back. Five weeks from now, I'll
Oh yes, and I've also been causing Sabrina to have "Who are you, and what have you done with Dar?" moments by finally watching Buffy. Yes, I didn't watch Buffy before now. ...Well. I had seen it around on TV before, bits and pieces, usually while waiting on something else to come on. People were talking nostalgically about it a few weeks ago, and you know I loved Firefly, so I figured it was stupid of me to deprive myself of such an iconic show, just because I was an awful angry eejit back when it was on. It's never a good idea to let your past self make your decisions for you.
And Jane Espenson's tweets made me want to see more of her work. It's an awesome show, I missed out. Though I will say, I like how doing things I thought I wouldn't when I was younger makes me feel. It's not the further distancing who I am now from who I was, though that is a part of it. There's also the feeling that it makes the world seem more open. Like there's more to do, because you opened all those doors you closed to yourself.
And I like being able to surprise people.
