August update

Is it autumn yet?  I am so done with the misery that is summer, of not being able to sleep at night because it's too hot, of not being able to take my dog for a walk because it's too hot, of watching my yard die because it's too hot and we're in a severe drought and can't water.  Come on, October, get here already.  End of September will do for starters... the nights finally start cooling off then at least.

Silver is doing well.  Here's a couple pictures I snapped last night, of Rosie cuddling up with him. She love him so much, it's hilarious.  He always cleans her ears and head when she gets close to him.

He really is such a good boy that I have to remind myself he's only 6 months old, and that he will be getting even better as he gets older.  He's rambunctious, of course (puppy!), and so very social.  I've never had any dog who loves other dogs and people as much as he does.  I'm sure he'd love nothing more than if I were to get a second dog.  Some days, I even consider it, as the two would keep each other happily occupied and, more importantly, worn out.  But... I had two dogs for many years, and it was a handful and I'm not sure I want to go there again.  Besides, we have a nice predictable routine right now.  Up at 6, breakfast and play in the back yard awhile.  Take a 1-3 mile walk about 6:45.  I start work at 8 am, and he goes to sleep, and he literally stays asleep until somewhere between 3 and 4 pm.  I mean, come on, how perfect is that?  He's a Husky!  And he's okay with sleeping all day!   I usually take him out around 1 pm to go to the bathroom, but he comes back in and goes back to sleep.  It means I can actually do my job without any interruptions.  Then, after 5 pm, we go play some more, and right now I have to wait until abut 7:30 or later, when we can finally go for our evening walk (and sometimes it's still too hot).  Then I go to my sister's for dinner, and he crashes out again until bedtime.

There's only one problem with this. I'm an ISTP and I hate doing the same thing every day.  It's like a soul-eating torture.  So it's like this blissful, easy way to know what Silver is going to do at any point in the day... while I secretly chafe and stress over the fact that it's so easy and I should really appreciate this but I really want to do something else in the middle of that schedule.  Ah well, I knew when I got him that I'd be giving up one kind of freedom, so I my complaints are really just to vent and then feel better.  The dog comes first.

I got back last week from attending the 50th Anniversary Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, with my sister and my best friend, Hamlette, who has very awesomely posted reports on each day of our activities on her blog, complete with lots of pictures and (as always) more details than I can recall!  It was an absolutely, ridiculously fabulous time with my two favorite people in the whole world.  Wouldn't trade those few days for anything.


Here's one picture: me with a gentleman cosplaying my favorite Star Trek series guest character, Captain Merik, from Bread and Circuses, which is my favorite original Star Trek episode.  I had to get a pic with him!  It was my first time cosplaying anywhere, and it was way more fun than I realized it would be.

Best weekend ever

Last weekend, my sister and I went to Las Vegas to go to the annual Star Trek convention they hold there.  It was our first time attending, and it was a ridiculous amount of fun.

We got to hear all sorts of actors talk and answer questions, from the entire crew of Voyager, half the TNG crew, half the DS9 folks, George Takei, Sir Patrick Stewart (!!!), and Captain Kirk himself, the one and only William Shatner. 

Star Trek, the original series, was my childhood.  It was on constant repeats on television growing up, and we watched it just about every night for years.  I watched almost all of Next Generation while it aired (missed the last season), watched almost all of DS9 (again, missed the last season), and all of Voyager.  Tried Enterprise, but couldn't get into that one at all.  I'm told it got better after the first few eps, but I have not gone back to try it again.

The convention had really cool recreations of some of the sets. 

We really wanted this transporter to work...

There were people of all ages attending and it seemed like at least half of them were in some version of a Starfleet uniform or other character costume costume.  It was awesome.  Everywhere we went in the hotel/casino, there were Starfleet officers.  Of Klingons.  Or Borg.  Or Vulcans.

And the best part?  Everyone was happy and cheerful All Weekend Long.  I mean that in all seriousness.  Smiles, grins, laughs from absolutely everyone we saw, from the vendors, to our fellow attendees, to the actors... everyone was so full of upbeat and full of positive energy, it was rather astounding.  Not once did we see a frown, a complaint, or a hint of negativity.  Not. Once.  We got in line at one of the hotel Starbucks, and there were 40 people in line ahead of us.  FORTY PEOPLE!!!  Not one person complained, no one fussed, more people just got in line behind us, and everyone patiently waited for their turn.  How often does that happen???  (There was a longer wait at Starbucks than to see some of the actors!)

And the actors were so funny in their panels that by the end of Sunday, we were laughed out.  We'd busted a a gut so often, we had nothing left to give. 

It ended up being one of the most memorable weekends of our lives.