guendolen

guendolen_sama

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Pending Departure	[Aug. 3rd, 2011\|12:10 am] guendolen_sama
I know I don't post here much, but well, this might be the last night I have free and clear to write in here before I go. Not for good, but for eight days. Those days are going to be spent in Disney World. Yes, it's the first time I've been there. My family never went, when we were kids. I think it was because my Dad doesn't like places like that, and never has. Well, that and a latent familial belief that everything was too expensive. We've made progress on curing one parent of this, but not both. I know as a kid I got so tired of being looked at like I was a multi-headed alien freak when I told my peers I'd never been to Disney World. They'd just gape at me and be all like, "Oh my God, you've never been to DISNEY WORLD?! Well, the fifth time we went...." It was like I had just declared I'd never seen the sky, or something. But I digress. To make a long story short, I'm extremely excited to be taking part in this adventure. :) And yes, I do see it as such. Sure, I've had at least one co-worker say to me "Isn't that a place for kids?" Not so much anymore, if it ever was. From what I've been told, Disney works hard to have something for everyone. Besides, at heart it's a place of dreams and magic, and no one is ever too old for those. At least, I hope not. So if my comments seem a bit silent and what not, that would be why. However, before I depart, I want to ask: any requests? We've got something of a game plan in place, knowing roughly where we're going to at least start visiting and when, and we have some restaurant reservations. Thus far we're starting off on our first day at Artist's Pointe at the Wilderness Lodge (having our "nice" dinner right off!); from there, we're booked for Tony's Town Square in the Magic Kingdom, the Yak and Yeti in the Animal Kingdom, The Rose and Crowne at Epcot, and The 50's Prime Time Cafe at MGM/Disney Hollywood Studios. That's roughly only half the trip, as I leave on Saturday morning and come back the night of Sunday the 14th. Most of the people on this trip have been there before, but anyone know of any hidden gems? Even if it's only some stand that sells the best soft pretzels/hot dogs/funnel cake/random things on sticks ever, give a shout. We're on the meal plan, so we have a lot of leeway. :) But back to requests. Anyone got any? Anything I should look for? A specific character you want me to try to get a picture of for you? A new/revamped attraction you can't get to, and want me to try to check out/experience on your behalf? I'm determined to be adventurous on this trip, so that's possible. :) Don't care if it's silly. I shall do my best to do what you ask. :) And the next few days involve prep. I've already started getting my things together, of course; seeing to all those little things like ensuring I have enough clean clothes for during and after the trip, making sure I'm not going to run out of important things while there, etc. And yes, I know to bring lots of sunscreen and keep hydrated. :) But bit by bit, it all comes together. And soon, I go. It's almost surreal. This trip was booked back in, like, January or so. And now it's almost here. It would feel strange if I wasn't so giddy about it. But the adventure gets closer, and I can't wait. Time to be a kid at heart! :)
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It's Official!	[Feb. 19th, 2011\|09:13 pm] guendolen_sama
As of this afternoon, I am now officially a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. :) I know at least some of you are seeing this in duplicate, as I also put it on my Facebook status. But I figured you'd forgive me the repetition in the name of both thoroughness and happiness. :) Overall, things went well- I wasn't perfect, but there's no such thing as a flawless test, as we're all only human. And it went predominantly well. :) So I have a new rank, a new belt (though the one I initially got is a bit too small; they're ordering me one in my proper size, and this one will just serve as a stand-in until then. Oh, and a new uniform, with a black band around the collar. :) It needs broken in- hopefully some wearing and washing will sort that out. I had a whole team of supporters there to see me, and that tickled me no end- thanks to you all, whether you see this or not! The attendance and resultant celebration made my day. :) Needless to say, I've been silly-happy ever since then. That being said, I do have another announcement in this area, while I've got your attention. This really only applies to those who live in the Pittsburgh area. Specifically, my school is sponsoring a free women's self-defense seminar at CMU next Saturday, the 26th, from 3:30 until 6:30. Anyone can come. You don't have to sign up ahead of time or anything, and no experience is required. Needless to say, I'm going to be participating in this event. If anyone wants to come, and can, I'd love to see you there. I'll let anyone who's interested know about just where on campus it takes place once I myself find out. I'm going to ask next time I'm in class, on Tuesday. Until then, I'm going to go off and just be all happy. :)
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Writer's Block: Say cheese

[Jun. 6th, 2010|01:46 pm]

guendolen_sama

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Say cheese

Do you generally like or hate when people take photos of you? Do you feel anxious when friends post pictures of you online? Is your first inclination to link to them or hide them?

Reply 578

I don't usually do these, but this one seemed unusually pertinent to me, especially given that my trusty camera died on me last weekend, and I just got a new one today. For the most part, I hate having my picture taken. If someone wants to, I'll typically cooperate. Sometimes, on rare occasions, I'll even have ideas of my own. But I think I can count on one hand the number of final shots that I actually like. I'm the least photogenic person I know, when I get right down to it. Every time I see a shot of me, pretty much, all I can think is how hideous I look, with a few rare exceptions.
This can make things tricky for me, because I'm in the Lolita thing, which is a very photo-heavy hobby. All the other girls pose as naturally as breathing and always look wonderful, for the most part. Then there's me. Maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I usually go all deer in the headlights and don't know what to do when someone points a camera at me. Perhaps it's because I don't enjoy being photographed and know I'll probably look awful, so I don't have the "oh yeah I'm adorable/beautiful/whatever" confidence most other Lolitas do. It's just one of those things, I suppose. My solution at meet-ups is to run around taking pictures of everyone else, so I'm not in very many. I love playing photographer, so that's definitely no problem. :) So I dislike being on the receiving end of pictures, but thoroughly enjoy being the person holding the camera. Hey you, over there- say cheese!

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Picture Time!	[Mar. 6th, 2010\|10:06 pm] guendolen_sama
Evening, ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, we have a rare instance of me sharing one of my pieces of artwork! As some of you may know/remember, our local anime convention, Tekkoshocon, puts out a call every year for people to submit art of their mascot characters to be used in the program, on badges, etc. This year, the call went out later than normal; usually the deadline is in January, not this month. Be that as it may, though, I just got my submission in. This year's established theme was "Tokusatsu," which is a genre of live-action Japanese TV that involves superheroes, monsters, special effects, and other over the top semi-sci-fi adventurey stuff. Here is my end result: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Guendolen/Assorted%20Images/CycleRiding.jpg And yes, she is in fact driving the wrong way on a one-way street. I didn't know what country they were in, so doing that solved the problem nicely. :) The reason I didn't know was because while it's an American con, the characters have Japanese names, and it's a distinctly Japanese genre. A bit of research indicated that Japan drives opposite to us, so... well, the natural solution was to just have it be a one-lane street. The rest of it just followed there. :) No way of knowing when I might hear back from them and how the image may be used. We'll see! Hope you like.
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Winter Smackdown	[Feb. 8th, 2010\|07:05 pm] guendolen_sama
I... hate... snow.... This morning's commute was dreadful. The bus that was supposed to be running wasn't- people from the previous run half an hour before were still waiting- so after another ten minutes or so of waiting, I joined a trek of people hiking down to another street, all making an Arctic slog through the drifts, to get to another bus. I got one pretty quickly, and we made at least reasonably good time at first; not fast, but not horrible either. So I thought okay, maybe I'll be fifteen minutes to a half an hour at the most late, at this speed- not too shabby. Well, after we got out of that one area, things just... stopped. We hit the worst traffic gridlock I have ever seen in my life, where we would idle for fifteen minutes, then move a few inches, idle more, creep forward a few more inches, etc. It took two hours to cover a stretch that's usually done in about ten to fifteen minutes, tops. All the while people were getting so mad and frustrated they were getting off and walking. I ended up doing the same, as soon as I reached the edge of the part of town I work in- I couldn't take being on that bus anymore. It was too slow, too aggravating. So I hiked in through the snow for fifteen or so more minutes. Then, when I was wound up, angry, frustrated, cold, and almost to work, I slipped on a patch of ice while stepping over it and hit the deck, banging my knee. It's not scraped, but bruised and swollen. That just was the straw that broke the camel's back, and I just broke down crying in the middle of the sidewalk. Luckily everyone at work- the few who made it in; staff was skeletal today- was understanding... seeing as I was over two hours late. The reception wasn't "where have you been?" but "Oh my God, are you okay?" They were all marveling at how long I ultimately walked just to get there. Well, to cover that distance, I would have been sitting on that bus for likely another hour, it was moving that slowly. So today was a slow day, because I was frazzled, kept getting problems with the work I was doing, etc. The only good thing was making it home reasonably. They seem to have finally gotten around to plowing roads in the course of today. :P But now I have a quandary. See, at the end of the day, I got an e-mail about how the office was pretty much shutting down for the next two days, and but for a half-dozen "essential" people who the firm is putting up at a nearby hotel so they don't have to commute, they wanted everyone else to work from home. My problem- I can't do that. I'm not equipped with the right programs, and setting them up would be too long and involved to get it by tomorrow. So basically, I'd have two days with no pay. (Though luckily I'm not being penalized for being late today.) The quandary comes when, shortly after I left work, my supervisor called me to let me know that his manager said us temp types could come in if we wanted to tomorrow, and it was to be at out own discretion. I don't know what to do. On the one hand, I don't want to go two days unpaid, and part of me worries I might look bad if I take the days when I'm told I can come. But on the other hand, I don't want to risk more trouble. The roads look better now, yes. Even if the evening bus driver hinted we may be smarter to go a bit further and get another bus tomorrow morning.... But I can't guarantee it will be. Besides, the bigger problem is the threat of more snow tomorrow afternoon. It got upped; we can get up to six to ten more inches, now. Which would likely screw everything up again. I'm worried that if I do go, I'll get stranded or something. So I'm debating. I feel like I ought to go, but I don't really want to. After all, while I was disappointed in the no pay, I also felt relieved at not having to risk another commute as horrendous as this one. I need to think on this....
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Swipey-swipe!	[Jan. 25th, 2010\|10:21 pm] guendolen_sama
How about a meme for all of us icon whores out there? Here's how it works: 1) You respond to this post with whatever icon YOU have that you think embodies me the best. 2) Then I reply to whatever you post with whatever icon I have that I think embodies YOU the best. 3) Then you repost this, and get other people to play! Repeats are totally allowed. You will need to type something in the comment box for it to go through, but it can just be a letter, number, or puntuation mark. It's all in good fun, so nobody go getting butthurt or taking things the wrong way. Ready? GO!
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Merry Christmas!	[Dec. 25th, 2009\|02:05 pm] guendolen_sama
I just wanted to take a few moments to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, or whatever manner in which they celebrate the holidays. :) I've had a very nice time of it with family thus far, and I want to send you all wishes for lovely memories, happy times, and good food and gifts for all. :)
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A Game of Christmas Wishes	[Dec. 16th, 2009\|12:03 am] guendolen_sama
Well, all right, not really a game, unless you want it to be. But you probably all know the drill by now. You make a list of ten things you would like to get for Christmas, and post it here. It can be an utterly realistic wish list for your friends, a whimsical exploration of stuff you would love to have but never expect to actually receive, or some combination of the two. This could give people ideas of things you may like, even if it's a variation on a theme or if you get creative (say, you have something you'll never use but someone else would love, give it to them). If anyone desires to continue the tradition, I would love to see your wishes, accessible and whimsical both. :) After all, this list has some of each for me. You no doubt will know the difference. 1. Games and other acoutrements to go with my new Wii; you know, another controller, the adapter box so I can hook the thing up, etc. 2. A slender silver necklace chain, about 18" in length, to go with my silver and manmade opal butterfly pendant from Vegas last year. It's rather small and dainty a pendant, so the chain needs to correspond in delicacy. I've found plenty of gold ones that fit that description, but no silver-tone. 3. Materials to begin learning to use the sewing machine I acquired on Sunday; say, patterns, reference books, cheap fabric to practice with, nice material to work with once I get some education in, etc. 4. Gloves and a scarf to go with my new (brown) winter coat. 5. A nice sushi/hibachi dinner. This could come via gift card for a place, in person, having the appropriate chefs air-dropped into my apartment by parachute, whatever. 6. Some sort of fitting 4E gaming books. 7. Garb for costumerie and cosplay; anime, Steampunk, heck, even just someone repairing the unexpected rip in my Ren Fest skirt would be loved. 8. Lolita stuff. In an ideal world, this would be actual clothes; I especially need blouses and a couple single-layer skirts. But my measurements would likely require customization (my bust is 52 inches, last I knew, and my waist roundabout 47-48, I do believe). Accessories also make me happy; headpieces (no bonnets or ginormous head-eating bows, though), handbags, umbrellas/parasols, socks, even jewelry (you know, a cameo, crown, key, fleur de lis, floral, etc.; it just needs to look Victorian or elegant- but no chokers!). My tastes skew toward the pretty and elegant, rather than the cutesy stuff. I've been wearing mainly black and white, but I also like such colors as burgundy, brown, dark blue, dark green, red, etc. I'm overall dubious of pastels, beyond lilac. And my goodness, for a fantasy wish, this is very specific, isn't it? 9. A Nintendo DS. But not a pink one! 10. A trip somewhere. Vegas, Colonial Williamsburg, and Disneyworld are all places I would love to go.
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Work	[Sep. 28th, 2009\|06:28 pm] guendolen_sama
Well, today I had my first day at my new job. I'm now spending the next year (well, roughly year) doing data entry for Bank of New York Mellon. I know a lot of people were happy for me about that- and again, I thank you- and so I felt I ought to provide a run-down of my perceptions of my first day. Today went okay. It was all about getting set up in the system and everything. So I spent a lot of the day on the phone- or rather, on hold- to get set up for passwords and the like. I and my fellow temp (they hired on two of us to work on this project) both concur that they should have done that ahead of time instead of making us do it ourselves, as it wasted over half the day, but no sense complaining about it. In fact, a little part of me worries that in the institution of Mellon, temps are a bit of a second-class citizen. I thought of this is the combo of the set-yourselves-up thing and the fact that when I first got in, I told them at the main entrance des that I was new, and they sent me to a floor that proved to be an orientation group for a whole bunch of new employees on their first day. I gave them my name... and I wasn't on the list. It was this nice display, with a table of refreshments and everything, but we weren't to take part in it because we were temps. I'm trying to tell myself that maybe there was material in there that we didn't need to know, like to do with banking or whatever. But still, it seems a little unfair. And as I said, these few details together makes me wonder if, in the eyes of Mellon bank, temps should be hustled off to the side and just aren't as good as everyone else because they're not hired on for permanent. Heck, as it is, no one's even gone over company policy or anything like that with me, as yet. With my last temp job, it was one of the first things they did. My entry was just almost... disorganized. Like they didn't plan for us or make arrangements for our presence like they would have a regular hire. Now, all the people I met in the office were quite nice to me. I got a whirlwind tour of our floor, informal greetings, and even the second interviewer stopping by at the end of the day to ask me how my first day was and be sure to tell me not to sweat the small stuff, I'd get there, and "we don't bite." So even if the institution itself proves to shunt us aside, at least the actual people I'm with seem to be pleasant sorts. So we'll see. I'm still settling in, and my suspicion may well proved to be unfounded. I do know I didn't get the same sense of warmth and welcome I did in my last job, but at least no one's giving me the cold shoulder or anything like that. And this place is huge, so that likely makes a big difference. I just wish I hadn't felt sort of at a loss for a lot of the day because I was plopped at a desk and largely left to figure things out on my own. Now, they are going to spend a full month on training and acclimation, so it's not like I'm just being thrown to the wolves. I'll have time to adjust and learn how everything is done. So that's good. Also, my desk is kind of off to the side, which, once I get everything down, I'll love, because it gives me a hint of privacy. It's a nice wide-open desk, too, with plenty of space. So today had ups and downs, but I'm going to see what comes of this. I'm going to give it a few months before I come to a final conclusion. And if nothing else, even if I decide in the long term that bank work isn't for me, it'll be a year of experience and other such things. So we'll see what comes of it. So that's that. Like I said, we'll see. I may be doing something else after this ends, anyway. There may be a windfall coming my way, which I won't speak of just yet. But that may make a big difference in my life, to the point where I may not need to worry so much about office work. But again, we'll see. For now, I just hope that this will ultimately prove to be a good experience.
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(no subject)	[Sep. 13th, 2009\|01:33 pm] guendolen_sama
Okay, just to open this, I'm not sure what day I'll be starting my new job. It depends on how quickly I can be gotten into systems and all that other stuff. Not tomorrow, but possibly the day after. Again, it all depends. But after that brief real-world update, I decided to share a bit of art I just finished. This is an image I did of one of my regular D&D characters. I actually drew the line drawing months- in fact, I think verging on a year- ago, but only decided to do the coloration of it the other day. I have to admit this is at least in part because it got lost in my gaming folder, amidst character sheets and what not, and I forgot about it.... However, I played said character on Thursday night, and pretty much on a whim decided that I'd take advantage of all the spare time during the day to work on the final version of the image. As there are people I play with on here (as well as on Facebook, which I'm cross-posting this image to), I thought I'd share it here. And here she is! http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Guendolen/Assorted%20Images/?action=view¤t=rhiannon.jpg Her name is Rhiannon Shae, and she's a quarter-elven... well, sort-of cleric. I say "sort of" because she was built under those stats, but really, she's more of an earth-spiritual sort, having mysterious powers not definitely bestowed by one specific deity, nor does she adhere to one rigid spiritual path. She also has portentious dreams and visions, though that really doesn't come up in game too much.... I dreamed her up years ago- she was in fact inspired by the character Liadan in Juliette Marillier's novel "Son of the Shadows"- but I only started seriously playing her about a year ago. The group she's in has had sporadic meeting, but I've been having fun playing her, and I'm very glad this portrait came out as well as it did. Now I need to come up with renderings of other characters. The last time I drew a lot of them was several years ago, and my art has improved a good bit since then. So I think they need re-imagined, in a sense. Plus I still need to do character art for other people, as well. I hope I can get said characters to cooperate with me! :)
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