I'm a slayer, ask me how.

What do they say about "best laid plans"? We all managed to wake up on time, get showered, get cleaned and roll of Becky's house about when she wanted (she had told her office she had guests and might be later than usual).

But then, as we were driving over, she had a thought - what if there was no parking at the T station?

Apparently, this was a recent problem. Boston has been doing a lot of construction and telling people to use the T but their garages don't have the spots. So on a Thursday morning at 10am, they would max out. Which is what happened. We pulled into Wonderland (yes, that is the name of the T station, apparently there use to be a theme park nearby) and the "GARAGE FULL" signs were up. Becky told us to jump out so we could catch the train and she would drive to the next station and get to work.

Honestly, that was the best thing that could have happened though - if we had let Becky go to work and had driven ourselves over, we would have had no idea where to go next.

We managed to navigate the T during rush hour. Weird thing about getting to the convention center is that you have a couple options and we took the most straight forward - we got on the silver line. Problem is, the "silver line" is actually just a really big bus. That can get stuck in traffic. But it wasn't all that bad, the only rough part was how WARM it was with our winter coats in that crowded space. As soon as we got into PAX, we went in search of the coat check.

Let me tell you, Thursday PAX is my favorite PAX when it comes to actually getting to DO things. Friday and Saturday may have the best panels and events, but Thursday during the day is the best time to just meander the expo hall and play what you want.

We walked through the doors and the first game we saw, well, we didn't actually want to play it but I needed a picture in front of the sign because it was too perfect for our first photo:



Right after this, Mathew ran off to find the miniature arena table because he wanted to see if they had any games going on that day. Zac and I entered the fray. It was my intention to play video game demos but we couldn't resist what we saw next - the new game from Cyanide and Happiness, the creators of Joking Hazard, Trial By Trolley.

It is just as messed up as it sounds. Based on the idea of The Trolley Problem (which, let's face it, most of us know about because of The Good Place), players have their own train tracks assigned to them and play cards on that track, trying to convince a third player to kill the people on their opponents train tracks.



My train tracks started out with the little girl that would grow up to be the first female president. Zac got the last remaining honey bees on the planet. Then we had to talk with the demo guy and feel out his likes/dislikes to know which card we should play next. I found out he had a family and he liked them, and I had a card in my had that put his entire family on the train tracks. And it went on from there, us trying to convince him which track to roll down. You could see it being fun with friends that you know how to manipulate. Similar idea to 'Joking Hazard' where you can appeal to their twisted minds.

Mathew caught up with us after this and as we walked deeper into the Expo Hall, we passed Apple TV+ booth with a giant eagle statue, promoting their show Mythic Quest. I didn't really care about the show, but it was a GIANT EAGLE STATUE and we could pose on it and no one was there so heck yeah I got in line!

( lots of ridiculous photos under the cut, you know you want to see the silly! )

It's almost midnight so I'm going to break here for the post. But this is not the end of day 1!

Thanks for reading!

I know for some of you it is already the 26th, but better late than never right?

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Things were a little crazy here, but it all seems to be wrapping up well. Lots of eating and hanging out. Minimal politics talk and only one time where I was directly addressed and then I Snopes that shit and was able to debunk the foundation of the "outrage". I mean, I'm a librarian, it's kind of my thing, looking up the sources and seeing if the facts are straight.

Got to play a couple of games of Flashpoint, which we bought for Tim's sister's family. I think they liked it so hopefully they play it again.

Tim's family got me The Outer Worlds for Xbox which I am very excited to play. They also got me some earrings, which are way too nice but I'm just going to wear them. Tim thinks they have real diamonds in them but I'm going to pretend they don't so I actually use them otherwise I'll just put them away. They also got us and his sister's family the same stuff for the house which I always have mixed feelings about but whatever. Gotta be grateful, right?

Then we went over to Tim's aunt's house (my aunt-in-law?) and that was really nice. I adore Tim's cousins, they are both these really sweet guys who are just willing to chat with me about random crap LOL.

Tonight I learned about the Bigfoot Field Research Organization which is run by a guy named Matt Moneymaker. I also learned about ice climbing. That a bear fell asleep in a spare truck tire and was then driven to another part of the state only to awake in a JC Penny warehouse. And then Uncle Lowell talked about how he both does not believe in ghosts but that he also some some weird stuff while out camping one night.

Good times.

Sylvia bought us matching Christmas pajamas but decided at the last minute not to wear the pajama pants so here we are wearing our matching shirts in front of the tree.



Tomorrow we head back, but first we will stop and visit our friends in Chicago and then we will find a hotel somewhere in Ohio.

Anyway, my computer is still on Maryland time, reminding me that it is really 11pm and not 10pm like my phone says so I should probably go to bed sooner rather than later.

And to all a good night <3

Rey comes in tall, grande, and venti.



I have more Reys than this...I should put them all together for a photo op.

I just bought the one up front at Target today. She might come to live with me at work.

I stayed up until 3am yesterday. Didn't get home from D.C. until close to 2 and them I was just so full of adrenaline, I kept puttering around the house. Probably didn't help that Tim was up playing an online game with his friends so it wasn't like I needed to turn off the lights. I went through the photos I had taken during the concert to see if any actually turned out and then I spent way too much time making that gif of Dan jumping lol.

And here it is, 10:40pm and I am ready for bed. I have all these idea of things to type posts about but then I run out of time in the day LOL.

So, instead of a Bastille post, I am just going to show you my Spielberg movie shelf that I had to re-arrange yet again to make space for the JAWS Shark Funko Pop.



Lots of fun questions coming in for the October AMA! I'd love to have more! Deep thoughts or silly things, I want a mix of both!

Anyway, I can barely keep my eyes open.
GOODNIGHT!

Didn't make the time for a photo and post yesterday because it was a holiday and we were keeping busy. Tim got a shiny new phone!

ANYWAY, here's the photo request, submitted by dance_the_dance



( Read more... )

ACK! Forgot my last selfie!



That's my manager, my mentor, and my hero. Happy retirement, Karen!

She already had a local bike trip and a cross country trip planned starting right away. She never sits still, that one.

I debated going by the library yesterday. It was my day off but we were hosting the Drag Queen Story Time, which I knew was going to be a huge deal. I ended up texting back and forth with my manager (it was her last day before retirement LOL) and things went relatively smoothly until the the second one started, then a protester came inside the library to start crap. BUT the police removed the man quickly. And let me say I now have a lot of respect for our new board member who was there with his granddaughter and also stepped in-between the shouter and the children. I'm just hoping they post another article with the positive things from the program and photos from the days event (the picture here was from the previous DQST that another of our branches hosted last October).

The staff in charge of the program put their hearts into it 110% and I'm so glad it went well apart from that one tiny incident. Both shows were FULL, so that is over 300 people who came to the library for the program so you can't deny that people wanted to see the program, that they wanted their children to have a fun time and learn that it is okay to be who you are, embrace the real you.



And this is my face as we approach my final week at my current library branch. I'm excited for the change and, of course, freaking out more and more every day. I've already decided that the toughest thing I will make myself do that first week on the job will be choosing which action figures come to live on my new desk to keep me company.

Today, I bid farewell to my manager for the past ten years. She's retiring and we're having a party this afternoon. I've been trying not to cry on her but I probably will today. She's just been an amazing mentor, so supportive, the kind of manager everyone should have and the one I will strive to be like as I start my career in that position.

I'm hoping my final selfie of the month will be with her as my special guest.

...though I should probably go shower or she isn't going to want to stand next to me! LOL TTFN

I bought my Bastille concert tickets during the special "fan" presale and each ticket came with a free copy of their new album! They finally arrived today (thank goodness for Spotify so I've already heard the album a few times). I'm taking my Mom with me as she is a fan too and it is also right around her birthday so BONUS! I'll bring her the CD next time I see her. Not sure if she has listened to the album yet - I bought her Spotify but I have no idea if she actually uses it.

Steam summer sale started today and I'm trying to figure out where to hide my wallet! I don't really need anymore games, as you all know, but I did play 'Two Point Hospital' during the free weekend a few months ago and LOVED it and it is 50% off right now and I am SO TEMPTED! It's a ridiculous hospital management simulator. I mean, I played it pretty much that whole weekend non-stop so I guess I liked it!

It's back to being summer here again, in the 90s today, mostly because of the HUMIDITY. So sticky.

It was also my last Babies in Bloom program today. As a manager, I probably won't get to do as much programming though because I am in a pretty small branch, I could conceivably be the ultimate backup person. But, yeah, kinda sad about it. I mean, I was exhausted afterwards so if you had asked me right after I probably would have been relieved to be done, but now that I'm sitting here, I'm kinda sad.

But who knows! I know that they picked me for this position because of my programming and outreach skills and making connections so I'm sure I will be in charge of some fun events. Or at least be a part of them while my staff runs them and I just help out. IT IS GOING TO BE SO WEIRD!

I think I'll go play video games to distract myself. <3

STILL NEED QUESTIONS AND/OR PHOTO REQUESTS FOR JULY! DW // LJ

SUPER TIRED SELFIE



Want to know why? Because it was the LONGEST DAY EVER!

Tim's 2007 Honda Civic scared us into thinking it was going to die the day before but turned out to just be an problem with the A/C so we woke up early on Friday to go get it from the mechanic.

THEN we went to the bank to get a check for a car loan we were already pre-approved for but for some reason we just sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes. (I did find out my credit score is at 850, so that felt good to see).

THEN we drove to the dealership Tim had been in contact with. The dealer was so proud because they had sold the model we wanted a couple days before but had managed to get a new one on the lot right after that so we could test drive it. Honda Insight, hybrid. Tim liked it but the color was wrong - WHITE! No, thank you. So we said we wanted "Cosmic Blue" and "Crimson Pearl" (red) and they had one in Baltimore. So then we sat around there doing paperwork, making awkward small talk while he waited for the other dealer to call back with the VIN etc. and it was like 3pm before he finally said "Okay, it will be another 2 hours, did you guys want to go and come back when the car is here?" (at that point, we had signed away our money so they felt safe to let us leave).

As luck would have it, my parents live right around the corner so we got Chick Fil A and went over to say hi to my now-retired Dad. He was having a rough time, got some gross rash that he let get out of hand because he didn't want to use leave right before he retired (*sigh*) so he was on lots of medication. But we chatted for a few hours. He is worried about my brother and it shows so there were a few awkward moments where he would flip from being in tears because of something nice my brother said to being in tears because he was worried about him. I think some of it was the medication.

ANYWAY they finally got the car and we finally got to go home with it!

We were out and about from 10am until 7:30pm. LONG DAY!

Anyway, I'm fudging the definition of "selfie" for today because if I did a real selfie you wouldn't be able to see the car!



And Sylvia will get to drive the 2007 Civic tomorrow back up to her Mom's so she will have her own car. (no photo because she vetoed the ones that we took LOL, I think she was facing right in the sun and was all squinty...not that she reads my blog and would ever know but still)

Here's a bonus picture of Tim because why not <3



STILL NEED QUESTIONS AND/OR PHOTO IDEAS FOR JULY! DW // LJ

Whoops! So, who got sucked into playing Horizon: Zero Dawn this weekend and neglected her friends list in favor of fighting giant robot monsters? THIS NERD!

But now I've come up against a Deathbringer and you can guess how much fun that boss battle is going to be so taking a break tonight so I don't go to sleep frustrated. Instead I will post the selfies from the last few days to catch you up! :D



Movie night - watched ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which felt like a whirlwind Queen 101 lesson and, of course, had a very bittersweet ending. And a meta-Mike Myers/Wayne’s World joke that I’m glad they couldn’t resist.



Sleepy selfie. Almost forgot to take a picture! I did that classic Sunday move where you wake up late and have breakfast at 11 and then by the time you’re hungry again it isn’t quite dinner time so you just decide to hold out but then when you do finally eat, you crash. At least, that is what happens to me! Doesn’t appear to be a problem for Tim. (My Dad was not feeling well today so we postponed father’s day shenanigans until a later date. Goodnight!



It’s a little blurry but that’s because I was waiting for him to smile! Caught him!



Y’all sick of my face yet? Over halfway through a month of selfies! I treated myself to ‘Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney’ to celebrate my promotion. farrantula raved about it on outsidexboxofficial and during the panel at #paxeast and I knew he wouldn’t steer me wrong. Completed the first case and giggled every time Phoenix shouted “OBJECTION!” Very different from anything else I’ve ever played but already lots of fun!