Sup friends!

It's been so long since I updated here D= So rather than actually update, here are a few links to things about me~

So I recently discovered I was asexual. So that's a thing!

Eastercon con report!

Nine Worlds con report!

Worldcon/LonCon3 con report!

Did I mention on here that I don't work for Screwfix anymore? Because I don't! I am now revelling in that bastion of the middle classes, The National Trust (still a retail monkey though!)

How're you all doing?

I know, I know, I'm just too damn loquacious up in here. I need to post less, right?

...

Ha.

Anyway! Hello LJ! How are we all? Good? Good.

Since my last update I have:

Been to Novacon! It was ok! We only really went for one day of the con, and I think it's probably better if you know more people there? It was interesting though, and I'm glad we went! I got to see johncoxon's movember stache, which was impressive! (And gave me to opportunity to say 'stachetastic' which is sadly not an opportunity oft afforded to me)

Turned 24! That's right, on the 25th of November, I officially became a year older. I still live at home, haven't got my degree yet and have yet to find another human being to connect with on a romantic level, but that's ok. I'm doing pretty good, I think.

Gotten a job! That's right, on the 26th of November, I officially became employed! (Third time this year, here's hoping it's the charm!) So I now work at Screwfix, which is a bit like Argos for Trade/DIY, if you don't know it. It's actually a really good job so far, the first two weeks were training/store filling. Store filling is basically labelling shelves/drawers, filling said shelves/drawers and then counting the things in the shelves/drawers. A bit tedious, but I think everyone takes care of the shop better because we all put the work into getting it set up.

The shop opened a couple of weeks ago, and I've been enjoying it! The customers are mostly friendly (although what is up with people walking in with a single, tiny screw and asking for one exactly the same [or the same but in metric]?? I'm not a fucking... manufacturer of screws? How should I know what size it is on sight?? I know we're called Screwfix, but jeeeez) and the whole team seems to get on really well. OTOH I do now say things like, "The team" which makes me feel like a blue-sky thinking middle-manager BUT I DON'T CARE. They pay me and I don't hate them, I'll sound like a corporate spiel spouting shmuck if they keep that up, haha.

Started a new course on the OU - I completed my first course (intro to Arts and Humanities, got a 67 overall, I think), and now I'm working through Ancient Greek Lit and Lang. I'm going to be taking the Language pathway, and I'm enjoying it! I've sent in two assignments and got a 98% and a 72%. Preeeeetty damn proud of myself, NGL.

Started a new night course - Supporting and Teaching Learning in Schools. This is basically teacher assistant training, and I'm doing it with a friend. We both seem to be enjoying it a lot, but neither of us have had much luck finding a placement yet... That kind of sucks, but I'm sure I'll get something in the new year!

Saw The Hobbit! OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS, IT'S AWESOME! I know some people are underwhelmed? BUT I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. TOTALLY IN LOOOOOOVE! I did enjoy LotR? But I SUPER hate Frodo, so having a Tolkien film without him in is kind of wonderful. Obviously I love Gandalf, because who doesn't, right? And Bilbo is great (despite Martin Freeman playing him - as a person, he's such a dick, but he is also a really great actor ;a;). BUT the dwarves were a revelation, ok? I didn't really rate them in the book, but just. Give me all dwarves. All the time. They are the beeeeest ;3;! And yes, I know they were positioning Aiden Turner as Kili as the hot one? WELL they succeeded. I would also like to swoon over Fili and Thorin just turned me into a puddle of goo. HE IS SO MAJESTIC. *_*

( And now, an art dump and some photos! )

So that's you up to date on me, Flist. Was it worth the wait? lol.

Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE~~

Have a seasonally appropriate Spidey (who also happens to be my new icon!)

This Eastercon was an interesting experience for me, I spent a lot more time socialising than going to panels this year, which is pretty opposite to what I normally do. I also did my very first panel \o/ That was pretty exciting, if also slightly terrifying. As with all things, it wasn't quite perfect, and I'm gonna speak a little bit about that later on.

( Friday, Friday, Friday, I got down on Friday. )

I'm not sure what I did for much of Saturday morning - I think it involved a lot of sleeping and a visit to Tescos. Natch.

( Saturday, the day my brother appeared! )

So, as you might suspect, Sunday swiftly followed Saturday and with it came the excitement of being on a panel! For the very first time! In front of actual people! Gad.

( Sunday, which is a day dedicated to celebrating a zombie* by eating chocolate. )

Clearly, Monday happened.

( It wasn't, as it happens, particularly manic. )

So that was pretty much my highlights! Now for some general observations, I guess.

To me, this con was certainly fun, but a surprising amount of the programme items didn't interest me. Luckily, there are more than enough fabulous people there to talk to in the bar that this didn't feel like a genuine problem. Additionally, plenty of con reports and tweets assert that people had a wonderful time and found the programme items a lot more engaging than I did, so I think it's fair to say that this Eastercon really did have something for nearly everyone!

Apparently, I've gained enough social skills in the past year to actually manage to chat and talk to people! I was pretty surprised by this, since most of the time I spend a lot of con time trying to figure out how the hell to even say hello to someone interesting, even if I've met that person before (does anyone else feel like they're instantly forgettable? I know my hair is a bright colour, but other than that I'm pretty sure I don't leave much of an impression because I'm really boring). So it was really neat that time not spent in panels could be spent talking to aforementioned interesting people.

There was a lot of talk about panel parity this year. Partly this is great - because yes, we do need to have fewer male voices and more non-male voices heard. Partly this was a little disturbing - it's so binarist, and I don't know if anyone's addressed this? I'm pretty sure I don't need to go over how exclusionary a policy of equal male to female participants inherently is, and I hope this is something that's considered in the future. Also, there are some cases where one gender's voice should be heard without giving equal weight to another's - if I want to hear about how female writers feel in a male dominated field, I actually don't want to hear a male's opinions, because it wouldn't be about them. In general though, I am in favour of it, and overall I feel Eastercon did well in trying to ensure non-male voices were on panels.

Eastercon is still a really white, mostly middle-class or above space. This is not necessarily a criticism - it's not anyone's fault that lots of white people turn up, but it would be nice to see future Eastercons with more diversity - perhaps by reaching out to Uni's and widening their advertising pool (I don't know if that could be reasonable considering the cost of advertising though).

God damn but there are a shit ton of iPads in the hands of Eastercon goers.

I feel like this post was really text heavy, so here's a picture of Mum and me taken over the weekend:



In summary: Good Eastercon! I'm really looking forward to next year's!


_{It is actually nearly 6am and I think I've been writing this since 6pm, so I am going to stop here, even though I can think of about a thousand more things to say.}


*Is Jesus actually a zombie if we eat His flesh and he doesn't crave ours?

Help me, o FListies! I can't stop buying comics (I spent like maybe, £50 on them today? FIFTY WHOLE POUNDS, MY GOD). I just... I try to stop and then I don't and I DON'T EVEN FEEL BAD.

I've kind of had to stop buying so much in the way of coke and chocolate and crisps, so I guess technically I'm being healthier? That's good?

UM.

Anyway I had a telephone interview today! I passed it! So that means I get to go to a group assessment! And then maybe I'll get a job, and if you need to phone a helpline about Student Loans, you'll be hearing my dulcet tones over the phone. Who knows? Fingers crossed though!

Er, what else... Oh, I volunteered to be on a panel at Eastercon! I'M REALLY KIND OF NERVOUS but also excited. It's about the New DC 52, which is something I'm really interested in! (I would say, see previous FIFTY WHOLE POUNDS spent on comics, but I wasn't even buying DC stuff today! AK:SDJFL:ASF) I'm kind of hoping it's going to be ok? I mean, in general the people who talk about comics at Eastercon are neat people, so I don't think they're going to make fun of me and make me cry, BUT I MAY DO THAT TO MYSELF. I will just sit there blubbing into my free drink, and every time someone asks me if I have an opinion, I will tearfully reply, "I'm not even here, you're drunk and imagining me! WHY won't you stop imagining me so I can crawl out of here like a wounded kitten."

I um. Probably won't do that though.

In other news, I cut my hair and dyed it green! Because I make excellent life choices.



And finally, on Twitter, I followed Liam Sharp and he followed me back! Which is excellent news for me, since I've had a crush on him since I asked for him to sign something for me at Worldcon.

Ok, so uh , there is someone out there who is still waiting on their aar_capslock Secret Santa... Um. I uh... am still... working on it v..v;;;;; I am so ashamed, you have no idea.

In other, somewhat less shameful news, I'm unemployed! The temporary contract I had with Sainsbury's ran out, and they decided not to give me a permanent contract. It's a shame, but my health is so bad anyway, night shift probably wasn't the most ideal working hours for me... I had a nice time working there though, every single person I met was really friendly and helpful. I did walk past a couple of people walking about me (didn't hear what they said, but you know when someone's talking about you), and rather than feeling a sudden rush of embarrassment, I pretty much smiled and carried on. After all, what're they gonna say? I'm slow? I'm fat? I'm single? All true things, and none of them bothered me.

but yeah, that's over, unfortunately.

Still, that leaves me with more time to make use of my subscription to Marvel's back catalogue of digital comics. I have a whole year to basically read everything I can get my hands on, hahaha. It's fun, and I've been reading Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man and Invincible Iron Man. Sometimes the art has made me want to claw my own face off, but it's mainly been fun! I don't know if I've mentioned on here that I've been steadily getting into comics, but I have! It's a pretty even split between Marvel and DC, and I've been trying to read more indie titles, but I haven't found many good recs for them, yet, so my collection of those is still pretty small.

Annnnnd finally, the OU is going ok? I just submitted my third assignment (4 hours late! THE SHAME). I really need to just dedicate a couple of days to sitting down and working through some of it, since I'm really far behind. Once I start reading it's fine? But getting the motivation together to actually sit down and make my way through is difficult. Still, I'm determined! I will finish this, and hopefully with marks over 60. My last two assignments were marked at 73 and 79 respectively, which I'm really pleased with, but I think if I don't start getting more prepared and start managing my time better, I'm going to end up getting lower and lower marks )=

Right then, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! ♥

Ganked from suzie_shooter!

RELATE ME! When you think of me, what is the first thing that pops into your mind related to me in the following 10 categories:

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Alsooo~~ I have a new job! I'm gonna be a General Assistant at Sainsbury's! It's only a temporary job, but they said if I work hard, I could end up with a permanent contract. I really hope so! It seems pretty perfect pay/hours wise. Cross your fingers~

I will update about London soon! Probably.

Anyway my mum really made me laugh earlier:



I mean, I know it's a reference to QI, but does anyone ELSE know that? lol.

1) I've booked tickets down to London~ I'm gonna be there from Friday 14th - Sunday 16th, so it's not a long trip, but I just wanted to get away from home for a while, lol. chairman_wow and pola_bear have both said they'd like to meet up and do something, so if any other Post Slash Panel Feminist Ranters would like to meet up on Saturday, that'd be ace~ I was thinking of maybe finding a museum, but pola_bear suggested a picnic (if it's not raining?). Anyone have any ideas, or know of any neat exhibitions that are on? I'd kind of prefer to do something late morning/lunch-y, so I can spend the late afternoon/evening with my brother :)

2) I have switched Tumblrs! So if you wanted to follow me on there, it's silver-pistols.tumblr.com. I only really changed it so I could use a coherent tagging system, as unfortunately Tumblr hasn't given me a way to organise/change my tags =/ Sucky.

3) I've been watching The Fades! Mostly because pandaemonaeum said it was good. I'd been curious, but since I'd missed it on tv, I'd figured I'd just skip it. Still, I watched it on iPlayer, and I've been enjoying it. It's creepy, and once again the leads are dudes (and white, and straight! so surprising), and also two fairly major female characters die violently, but other than that it's pretty cool. It's a neat take on zombies, at least.

4) Oh, and because I find this hilaaaarious: we have to part-exchange our car a year earlier than we thought we would. We've actually driven it out of its warranty. It's racked up 66000 miles in just over two years... Warranty ends at 60000, lol. When my Mum told the guy at the garage this, he apparently hung up in shock. So uh, we drive a lot? Oops? Anyway, it basically means we're exchanging it for a new car today, rather than in a year. Yay new car! \o/ Boo higher monthly repayments.

Ummm yep, that's it. How's everyone else been?

I went on holiday! It was great, my mum and her friend and the dog and I went to a caravan park in Southerness, which is near Dumfries. I read some comics and finished Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik.

Uggggh, Laurence, you beautiful creature. I love that he's getting a bit sassier, and he calls Tharkay Tenzing (like it's nothing! just in casual conversation!), and at the end of the book he just gets a rest. Oh man, I'm so glad I didn't give up on this series, but now I can't wait for the sequel! Laurence! With a beard! But basically more about Laurence and maybe Kulingile and Demane who I looooove ahhh, tiny badasses the both of them.

*cough* And I am just going to leave my bandom OT3 here:

So uh, I haven't posted in here for a super long time, huh? ._.;;

Um, well, on Friday, my grandmother died. She'd been rushed to hospital a few days before, seemed to be recovering and then picked up another infection (on top of the two she had), and passed away on her 90th birthday. I'm not actually upset or anything, because for years she'd been saying she wanted to die and I mean, 90 years is a good run by anyone's count. I suspect I would be more sad if I were surprised or if I thought her quality of life would be acceptable had she recovered.

So yeah. That happened.

I also applied for a job, got two interviews, and ... no employment =/ That sucks.

UM. In better news.

I went camping a couple of weekends ago, and that went well. It was nice.

Ahaha... I have nothing to say v_v;; I'm really boring right now, guys, but if you wanna keep up with me there's always Twitter and Tumblr. I'm more active on those sites.