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The altar is lit with black candles the darker, the better, so thrilling, it's killing you

It's Sunday morning, and I feel like I was beaten by a shoe. I just popped some ibuprofen, but lets face it, they're not miracle workers. We're in Philly, coming off our second Ghost concert and getting ready for brunch with friends. Okay, mostly I'm sitting here mainlining the coffee. The room has a netspresso machine, and I've gotta say, it's not bad. I'm actually kind of digging it.

Yesterday was a good day. I got up, did my work. I was on admin duties, which means that I was going through the faxes and emails and scanning orders. There was enough that for about an hour I was busy. After that, I took a few calls, had breakfast, it was quiet enough that I was just kind of chilling for most of it. Combined with the OT from last week and next week, I will have paid off either the hotel or the tickets, so yay!

After that, we got ourselves together and headed out. Traffic was a little slow in places, but we pulled up to the hotel/casino right at 2:35pm, and they were kind enough to check us in a few minutes early. After that, it was down to the casino to find a late lunch/early dinner at the Pan Asian restaurant, Luk Fu.

Despite the concept, the food was pretty good. Jess had Char Siu, and had the Korean Short Ribs. Both were excellent as was the lychee cheesecake we finished with.

Then it was back to the room to prepare ourselves for the ritual (that's what Ghost calls their concerts). I went full slutty goth queen, complete with nuns veil. (the veil didn't stay, because I took it off to get on the hotel-provided shuttle bus.)

Pic beneath the cut.

( Read more... )

The boots turned out to be a less than good choice on my part, but I looked pretty good in the fishnets and skirt.

Once we were all ready, we hopped the shuttle bus to the venue and stood in line for an hour and a half. The sun came out and we roasted. But I had fun in line, passing out the bead bracelets I'd made. People got so excited about it! Some traded, but I was passing them out to anyone who wanted them.

I had thirty two bracelets, plus three that were kid sized. Despite the whole Satanic Pope thing, Ghost is a good band for kids. Very theatrical and fairly tame. Sure they're going to be singing what amounts to Satanic choir music, but there won't be profanity or violence or any disparaging of women. It's a safe introduction to metal for them.

The kids bracelets were my favorite to hand out. One went past me, and I offered her a bracelet and she lit up and traded me one. The other two, just as we started moving towards the entrance, there were a couple of girls, and I went up and asked their mother if I could give them bracelets. She agreed, and good lord, for some elastic and plastic beads, they were so happy. The older one told me it was her new favorite piece of jewlery. The people in the line were super cool and super chill.

Eventually we got inside, and found our seats. They were 12 rows up, right beside the stage. They were amazing.

The concert was wonderful. Ghost has a no-phones policy--when you go in, your phone gets secured in a Yondr pouch, so there's no video or audio of the performances. It's just you, and the connection with the band. I fucking loved it both times. No screens blocking your view of the performers, or bright lights facing back at you. Just you and the band and Papa Perpetua V.

It's funny, out of makeup, the singer comes across as a slightly awkward dork. But he puts on the makeup and mask, and boom. He's still a dork, but a magnetic one. Like a tiny powerhouse who just owns the stage. (Good lord, he tiny. His thigh is probably smaller than my upper arm.)

The music was amazing, though again, there were a few songs I didn't know well and one I had never heard at all. The boots started to kill my back, so I sat down for a few of the songs I didn't know and got up for the ones I did. The sets were amazing, more so since I could see them, and they sounded great.

After that, we got a cab back to the hotel, and changed into comfy clothes, and then wandered the casino floor in search of cheesesteaks. Then, we ate and crashed.

All in all, a good and sucessful day. Soon we will go meet up with

poisontaster and chaneen. Everyone have an amazing Sunday!

He Is. He's insurrection, he is spite, he's the force that made me be.

It's Ghost Concert #2 day and I'm super excited. I can't wait to go forth and have a good time. First, though, work.

I did my fit test and makeup test. I wasn't 100% thrilled with the makeup, so I didn't take pictures. I'm will have Jess take some tonight, though. I decided on the vampire palette of reds and blacks and silvers for the eye makeup. I really had problems with the eyeliner. If I can't get the liquid liner to work, I'll go to the dark blue one. That seems to go on super well.

We decided that we're going to check in around 3, and then hopefully go to Luk Fu at the hotel for dinner at 3:30pm. After that, we shall go get ready, and hop the shuttle to the concert. I'm not planning on getting there super early, since we have seated tickets and we're not VIP. You can't get in til 6:30PM.

Yesterday was busy. I took 39 calls, and spent most of the afternoon calling people back to offer sooner appts/and or putting out fires. I've still got a few people to call to try to reschedule after one of our doctors decided to be out of the office when patients were scheduled. So, we're moving the patients that week. That's my project today.

Then we had dinner and took Yoda out for a nice walk. He's still behaving weirdly post 4th of July. He won't go outside without me along with. I'm his safety mama. It's annoying, but he was really traumitized by that and the car alarm beeping. I feel bad for him, because I'm not able to go long distances, so he's getting comparatively short walks.

I hadn't posted because I needed a couple of days to digest, but on the bloodwork from his vet appointment on Monday, Yoda's liver values weren't great. The function was fine, but he showed a lot of a ALT (I think). The doctor thinks it might indicate Cushing's Disease. He wants to watch and retest in 6 months. If it goes up again, we'll do more labs. If it's Cushing's, then he has a 2-4 year life expectancy. Which makes me sad. As much as he drives me crazy, I do love him very much.

Nothing we can do for now, though.

I wish we could do Philly for a couple of days, but alas. Overnight will have to do. Tomorrow, we shall go to lunch with our friends Chaneen and

poisontaster, which will be awesome, then homewards bound.

Hopefully the Live casino is nice, and the shuttle runs frequently.

Okay, on that note, I've got a little bit of packing to do! Everyone have the best Saturday!

Entry tags:

Superman 2025

I very, very rarely go to the movies to see new films these days. The last new film I saw in theaters was 2023, The Boy and the Heron, and before that it was Indy 5. They're just overwhelming from a sensory perspective and I usually end up with a migraine, plus we have to arrange for Rook care.

But. Superman. Rook spent Saturday night at the sitter's and Sunday we went to the Mill Creek Summer Festival and then went to see Superman.

Non-spoilers: It's nearly perfect. Best Superman movie since 1978 per my wife, possibly my favorite Superman movie (altho I haven't seen them all). Go see it, in IMAX if at all possible, and stay through the entire credits.

Spoilers ahoy: ( Superman )

When they finally reach you, you will have seen through, that dark is the season

Happy Friday! We're almost there! I'm a little sleepy today, but overall good. Today (and tomorrow) is for getting through the day so we can begin our little weekend adventure.

Yesterday was a busy day. First we dyed Jess' hair. They wanted a dark blue, but they left the dye on a little long, so it ended up being more of a blue/black. It looks super cool, now, and I'm sure it'll turn great colors as it fades. Not to be outdone, I ordered hair dye. The box showed it as blood red, but the final product was a little less blood and more fire. Despite that, I like it.

The the Torrid came late, so I didn't get to do a fit check, so that will be today. I've got two possible outfits, so we'll see which looks best.

My eyeshadow palette came early enough that I did an eye makeup test yesterday, but today I'll do the full test, with foundation and color correction. Plus, I had an idea for the eye makeup that I want to try. Pictures tomorrow. I fucking love this palette. It's De'Lancie Warcraft red and black. It's gorgeous and heavily pigmented. I'm at the point that I want my makeup to show up on my face. Especially behind glasses. I don't want to look natural. I want to look like I'm wearing eyeshadow, dammit.

Fortunately, the demanding patient called the main line and ended up escalating to management. So that's off my plate. Instead, I had really sweet old ladies yesterday. Which was a nice change.

Tonight, I shall pull out the suitcase and get ready for Philly. I've got a few products that I definitely need to bring, but I'm going to wait for the makeup test tonight before I lock it all in.

Tomorrow, I'm on Admin duty, which just means that I won't be on the phones as much. I'm okay with that. I'll be scanning orders from the fax and email box, and only handling overflow calls if needed.

Then, it will be off to the City of Brotherly Love for a whirlwind visit. I'm hoping to get in right around check in, and take a few minutes to relax. Then, get ready and off to the concert. There's a Phillies game at 6, so I'm hoping the shuttle bus is as good as the hotel says it is. We'll have to get down there early, just in case there's a line.

I have one more thing to get here today, since it looks like my nail polish is not making it in time. That's a purple purse that's a little bit bigger than what I have, because the Yondr pouch they secure your phone in is a little bit bigger than the purse I normally use.

And on that note, it's time to get ready for the day. Everyone have a wonderful Friday!

Because a vision softly creeping, left it's seeds while I was sleeping

Two and a half days to go in the work week. On the plus side, I found that I'm on Admin duties on Saturday, which just means scanning faxes and emails into the charts, which is nice. I won't have to take many calls, which will be much easier. First two days of actual work.

I have basically become concierge appt setter for this one person, and OMG, I dislike them so much. I called the other day, because the appt got cancelled because it wasnt' authorized. Now it's been authorized, and they seem to feel that we should be able to magically get them back in at the date and time they want. They're very fond of telling themself to take deep breaths, the implied reason being that otherwise they'll lose their shit at me. I'm going to call them one more time. but after that, it's over. If they don't want either of the slots I've got, they can get fucked.

My shit, of course, did not come yesterday. According to UPS, it got there too late. So I'll be doing laundry either later tonight, or first thing tomorrow. Ugh. I one hundred. percent understand that weather delays happen, but I want my stuff!

The rest of the stuff for the concert continues apace. I've got a bunch of bracelets, so we'll see if people will want them. There's a bit of a gatekeeping situation with Ghost. Some of the hardcore older fans think the new fans are goofy and "the reason no one takes Ghost seriously." It's like, my dude, the *band* doesn't take themselves seriously. They encourage the costumes and bead trading and all that. They're happy when their fans are having fun. And being a douchey gatekeeping asshole doesn't seem that fun. On the other hand, with my nuns veil and bracelets, I'm happy as hell. I'm hoping to get a little Mummy Dust, which is faux Satanic Pope dollars (so serious), but we're probably out of the section for it. So I will possibly get the batwing hoodie, and call it a day.

On the plus side, my boots fit. I've been wearing them around the house to break them in. Hopefully, it's enough that I don't get blisters, but we'll deal either way.

I've become a bit of a fan of Londontown Lakur nail polish. The colors are vivid and long lasting, and they go on super smooth. I'm waiting for my next one to come. IT's called around the chimney and it's darkest brown with red flicks of holo.

As you can tell, not much going on over here. I've updated my wardrobe a bit, went on a makeup binge, and now I prepare for concert.

And on that note, I'm going to go put on pants. Everyone have an outstanding Thursday!

Tonight, we're summoned for a divine cause--remembrance, no

Happy Wednesday! I'm very scattered this week. I've got the concert on Saturday, and that's where my attention really is. I'm getting through the day, but it's not easy. Saturday morning is going to be really bad. Especially if it's busy like last week. But money is money is money.

Adding to the overall vibe of the week, my article came out on the Johns Hopkins Radiology internal site. It was really well written and looked nice. I'm not going to attach it, since it was the internal site, though I will put a screencap of the blurb, but it really talked me up and I feel like I came off really well. My boss poked me to let me know that they sent it out to the entirety of radiology leadership throughout the health system, and that it was "Quite the email thread," of people I'd helped singing my praises, and them saying they were going to forward it to other employees to use me as the standard, and proof that we make a difference. If nothing else, the email was sent to our team via the big boss, Peg, who apparently now knows my name and face. (It had a picture I provided.) It was kind of a lot to take in.

After that, I struggled through my 8 hours, and then logged off to make more bracelets for the show. My boots actually did come, and are perfect. They're pretty comfortable right off the bat, and look fabulous. I'm going to wear them a couple of hours a day until the concert so they'll be comfy. They're just your standard shit kicker combat boots, but they'll look great with the fishnet leggings and outfit. Tonight, after the leggings come, I may do a full makeup fit check, just to make sure I'm good for the show. If so, I'll post pictures.

Tomorrow, we have a few more things coming, but nothing for the concert. Jess' hair dye is coming today, so that should be awesome. I think we're going to do it tomorrow, since they have a therapy appointment this afternoon and we have a game tonight.

After this concert, I'm going to have such an adrenaline let down. It's been so much fun to get ready, and I've really enjoyed being involved in the chats for the specific venues.

Okay, time to go forth and get myself ready for work. Everyone have an awesome Wednesday! We're halfway there!

It's the truth of candor shone through the prism of deceit

Good lord, between my brain just refusing to shut off last night, and my cat, I feel like I got almost no sleep. I'm okay, just very tired. But it's okay, we shall deal. I don't have anything exciting scheduled for today. I'm just going to get through work, and then I shall be tired and maybe let Jess cook.

I got a bag from Ipsy last night. It's been fun, playing with makeup. I don't know how what I got is going to be in regular rotation, but it's cool. I found a couple of things last night that I picked up, including one last eye shadow palette. It's reds and blacks and silvers, which caught my eye. I'll give them a go and see how they look. This is possibly my cheapest palette, so we'll see what the quality is. If it looks pretty, I could use it for Ghost on Saturday. If not, oh well.

I cannot wait for the rest of my stuff to come in. Tomorrow, Jess' hair dye comes in. They're going to go darkest blue, which should look super cool.

I have an appt on 8/8 to get mine dyed again. I go professional, since most of my hair is grey, which takes dye differently. I wish she'd had something before then, but I just couldn't work it. I'm going like a dark blood red color. Not quite something you can say is unnatural, since redheads exist, but right on the line.

Torrid order #1 comes today, supposedly. When I looked this morning, the last tracking was in Kentucky, so I'm dubious. It would be really helpful if this one came today, but we'll see.

Yesterday, Jess' BPAL order came (in record time). We had so many smellies to go through. I liked a lot of them, especially the ones from the Gourmand imp pack. I do love my food scents. The Incense imp pack was less successful, though Cathedral was nice. My absolute favorite was a freebie they sent along. Scherezade. which lists itself as being red musk, Middle Eastern Spices and Saffron has an amazing scent, and I really love it. It's been on my wrist for almost an hour and has yet to go powdery, which, with my skin composition is fucking amazing. TweedleDee and Knave of Hearts are also really pretty, though I haven't tried them to see if they work on me. Knave of Hearts was a surprise, since I don't normally like rose perfume. But those currant tarts definitely shine in it.

We took Yoda to the vet yesterday. He of course, behaved like a little angel for the vet. The absolute only thing he took exception to was being lifted down after the checkup, when he shrieked in a little piss-baby tantrum. Oh, he also had a tantrum in the waiting area, because I would not let him go meet dogs. (He generally doesn't like dogs, but get him at the vet or the groomer and he's all about going to meet everyone.) It went fine, but was generally stressful, and I'm glad we don't have to do it again for a year.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday!

(no subject)

I was at the gym this morning using the lat pull down machine that's in the free weight section. I'd done two reps when one of the muscle guys came over and said he'd noticed I was using a narrow grip, and he thought a different attachment would work better for me. ( Read more... )

Challenge #4

Fun House
Journaling: What is making you smile these days? Create a top 10 list of anything you want to talk about.
Creative: Write from the perspective of a house or other location.

These guys, MCR! I've been enjoying watching footage and seeing new photos from their concert so much. My love isn't as intense as it was in my height of bandom days, but it's still there, and I still think Mikey is hot like fire.

Seeing him with his bro, how happy he looked throughout that surreal, weird and yet awesome show, well it made me smile, too. Also, comments from Gabe and Travis on Mikey's Insta post, it was like being thrown back in time in the best way.

So, lets go old skool and have a top ten ~~plus four~~ picspam. ( behind here )

A dawn of prossperity, a faded scar, an ended calamity, a slaughtered tsar

Yawn, this morning feels early. Boodle woke me up at 3, but when I shooed her off, she didn't come back til 5:15, which I felt was very kind and considerate of her. She's now had her breakfast, and I'm having mine (by which I mean coffee). Today is sure to be busy, and I need to get ready for it.

It's a full week at work, which is going to be very long, what with the prospect of getting to go away for the second Ghost Concert. I've been very busy getting ready for it. Fans will trade and give away beaded bracelets, so I started making some or them. I tried temporary tattoos, but those didn't work so well. I may give it one more try, but we'll see. I think I may have misunderstood the directions.

I also have been assembling my outfit for the concert. People dress up super gothy for the shows, some dressing as one of the various incarnations of the front man (all the same dude, just different characters.) Some dress in clergy robes or collars, some in nuns habits. I dressed up nice last time, but this time we're going over the top. I found a different shirt in the boxes that's black, adn has billowy diaphanous sleeves. It's super low cut, so I do need to find a necklace of some sort to break up the line between throat and boobs, but I figure a quick trip to Hot Topic will do for that. I also got a nun's veil, which I'm still debating on. I also got some black lipstick, which seems to stay fairly well. I'm going to look a bit over the top, but if you can't have fun, why bother. Plus, I'm also going to look hot. And that makes me happy, even if Bucky Barnes would look at my eyeliner and go "whoa."

I've got a few things coming today, including a big BPAL order, which I'm very excited about. I got the incense and gourmand packages. I'm going to spend this evening sniffing things. Also, my IPSY bag comes today, which should be fun. Usually our mail comes kind of late, but I'm going to stay up til it gets here, dammit.

Yesterday, we had our Strixhaven game. It's a lot of fun, and I finally feel like I have a grip on my character. I'd planned for her to be a kind of sulky goth, but it turns out I'm too practical to even play that. Instead, she's a bit of an Ursula Vernon heroine. She's a lot of fun to play and I'm enjoying her a lot. Our schedules continue to be a mess, so the games are a little way off, but we'll get there. (July-Sept is just brutal.)

This week, we have one possible game on Wednesday, but aside from that, we just have the concert on Saturday. After this, we shall have some quiet time. Games, but no other extravagant outings. Rebuild the savings account a bit.

Then, in August, we have a fandom get together, that I'm very much looking forward to. I'm renting a van, and picking up everyone from DC up at the MARC station and we're going to Rodizio's grill. I love fandom get togethers, and this is a good chunk of people from the TTRPG server. It should be a lot of fun.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get ready for work. Everyone have the best Monday you can Monday!

To the haunting sound of the monstrance clock singing, "Come together, together as one."

Good morning! And somehow we're already to the last day of the weekend. Ew. But it was a good weekend overall, so it's not so bad. Yesterday, I worked til noon, then we took the dog out for a walk and went to see Superman.

Y'all, it's so much fun. It had a little bit of a slow start, but once it really kicked in, it was awesome. Special props to our new Superman David Corenswet, who was an awesome, sympathetic and believable character, in addition to 100% looking the part. But the movie was absolutely stolen by Edi Gathegi (who got to redeem the shitty way Xmen First Class did his character) who killed it as Mr. Terrific. The other standout was the CGI, especially that relating to Krypto, Superman's dog. It was obvious that James Gunn is a dog lover and that he'd dealt with a hyperactive and recalictrant canine in the past. (As the owner of one, I adored the little collections of pixels.)

I felt like the first half of the plot leaned a little too heavy on putting said dog and an equally pixel-made baby in danger, but it didn't stop me from enjoying it. It even managed to make me verklempt a couple of times. In the end, I didn't necessarily believe in the much less complicated and kind world that James Gunn created, but god I wanted to live there.

After that, we went out to dinner, and had a lovely meal, and then came home and relaxed.

I decided that I wanted to participate in the fannish exchange at the next ghost concert, so I got myself a bead kit, and some temporary tattoo paper and am working on making some shit. I don't know that I'll be able to make too much, but we'll see! I've got four bracelets so far.

This is going to be a long week, waiting for the concert at the end. I picked up a third overtime shift for the month, so I'm going to almost pay for the concert or pay for hotel with that, which is awesome.

Okay, it's time for me to go forth and maybe put on some clothes and consider what I want to make for breakfast. Would I prefer pancakes or a dutch baby. I have some bacon to cook, so that'll go with whatever perfectly. Everyone have a stupendous Sunday!

Entry tags:

FIC: Test Flight

Title: Test Flight (Sanctuary #4)
Author: blueraccoon/rebecca
Rating: NC-17
Summary: “So. Your friends want to meet me. At the dungeon, presumably?”

“Oui, I think that is the idea,” Jean-Rene says. “Brent suggested I bring you this Saturday night. There will be a public scene involving ropes.”
Notes: Not exactly a PWP (look! character development!) but there's an awful lot of kink and smut in this one. Note the tags on AO3.

If you are unfamiliar with previous stories all you need to know is I invented a members-only dungeon in Manhattan named Steel Rose that has public and private play spaces, and where anyone who's anyone in the kink scene goes to watch or play.

(no subject)

I've had a very lazy day today as James has been off doing a community overtime event for work. So, I've been tidying up indoors, given the garden a good soak and got caught up online. Well, the DW posts anyway, I've still got so much TV to watch, and yes, I know, the tiniest violin needed for me.

Tomorrow we're taking my MiL out for a belated birthday lunch, so I've enjoyed the quiet do very little day. Even enjoying the sunshine and the heat, due to not having to actually do anything but waft around in it.

Sunshine revival challenge prompt now.

Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods?
Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

The first thing that came to mind here was beach sandwiches. Which were the chopped salad cream, egg and tomato sandwiches my mam used to make for us when I was a kidlet. We'd head off to the beach, and have a picnic, and the sandwiches were always soggy, flat, and always had sand in them, no matter how carefully they were handled. But, at the same time, they always tasted delicious, especially so as mam used to buy a carton of chips to share while eating them.

A more up to date summer food. I was in the garden picking strawberries, raspberries, chillis and pea pods yesterday. There aren't that many of them as I only have a small garden, and the tomatoes haven't started to ripen yet. But, I thought the bowl looked pretty.

In the middle of the night it feeds, in the middle of the night it eats you....

It's Saturday! We decided to switch Superman to today, since we were both still a little hung over from the concert yesterday, and neither of us was excited about being out late. Today, I work from 8-12, and then we have the movie at 1:30, then the MD German Festival for dinner. It should be a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to it.

Yesterday, the person who normally makes calls for the team was out, so I was kept jumping. At any given time, I'd have four or five emails of people to call. I got all of them done, so that's something. Scheduled a lot of people for STAT tests.

At about eleven, my boss thanked me again for helping out. He said he'd depleted his balance of points for our in house recognition system, but when they replenished, he was sending some my way, but he also wanted to do something else. He's trying to decide what. (Money is always a good thing. lol)

( Cut for some mental health thoughts )

Tomorrow, I have my Strixhaven game, which is always fun. It's a game light weekend, but that's okay. We're going to actually go. out and do things! Movie! German festival! It's going to be a good weekend, I think.

On that note, I'm going to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an amazing Saturday!

This is what dreams are made of this is what they're afraid of

Day two post concert, and I'm still stiff and sore. I guess I really overdid it during the encore. I had off yesterday, so I'm not as tired as I was, at least. Around 4:30, my energy totally tanked and I was just wiped out. People were lucky that there wasn't much prep work left in dinner, otherwise, we'd have been having just cupcakes. (Yesterday was my father's birthday, so my sister felt we needed to have cupcakes.)

But I pushed through and made a really good French onion soup. I had bought little handled ramekins offline, which is always dangerous, since it's hard to tell how big they are from a picture and from ounces. It worked out well, though. They're just right size., and they're pretty! They handled the oven like a champ, and I melted a nice thing of cheese on top.

The rest of the day was pretty chill. We went to the bank and added Jess to the account, and then had a very low energy, easygoing game. I relaxed for a bit and then chopped a shitton of onions and sauted them while I made some broth in another pan, and added that in with pepper, sherry and a fuckton of thyme. (might have overdone that a bit, but it tasted good.

Today, it's back to work, for what will hopefully be a quiet day. Afterwards, we shall go see Superman. It's gotten great reviews, some from people I trust, so I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow, I work til noon, and then we shall go see the Ooompah bands at the German Festival. I'm looking forward to trying the food and walking around. I'm sure it'll be super fun.

The Londontown Lakur continues to be pretty solid. My nails are still pretty, even after a concert and typing a lot. My sister fell in love with both the formula and the brush, and bought a few, including a moonstone chrome topper that I covet.

I'm still wandering around the house singing Ghost songs quietly to myself. There really isn't anything I would have done differently for the concert. The sedan service, the VIP tickets, everything was stellar. I'm looking forward to seing them again in Philly. We don't have sedan service there or VIP, but we do have good seats and a hotel shuttle, which I am appreciative of. I'm seriously considering getting a crafty side and making some bracelets to give out/trade. I have no talent, but since it's just stringing beads, I think I could do it.

Okay, time to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an absolutely banger Friday!

A candle casting a faint glow, you and I see eye to eye. Can you hear the thunder?

Greetings on this somewhat gray Thursday. I am returned from the Ghost concert and good lord, I'm exhausted. I am not young anymore. I found to my annoyance that I cannot stand for 2 hours straight--I had to take breaks to sit here and there.

The day went well. I had work in the morning, which was good. Otherwise, I think I would have been vibrating all day. As it was, I only had four hours. We relaxed for a couple of hours, and then I started getting ready. I went all out on the makeup, full Bucky Barnes eyeliner, and some pretty blue and gold eyeshadow. I got my Laura Geller foundation, and I really like it. Next time, I might get the lighter shade, but it still looks good and it didn't get cakey. Then I slid on my outfit, picture below the cut. Finally, my nail polish arrived, and I got pretty nails. Side note, Lakur nail polish? Goes on super smooth. We'll see how it wears, but no complaints so far. Jess had their therapy session and not long after they finished, the car had arrived to whisk us to dinner. (I say car, but it was a big ole GMC SUV that you had to clamber up into.)

I did not plan dinner well. We got there about 4:15, only to find that it didn't open until 5. Whoopsie. It was okay, we just went somewhere else, but no tapas for me. We got down the arena around 5:45, and quickly found the VIP entrance. They had a pretty well oiled machine, you went in, gave your name and ID, and they welcomed you and handed you a cool VIP lanyard, and your free gift, a Ghost branded Yeti bottle and a bag, then you moved down to get your wristband, and the concierge asked if you needed anything off a list of things that included earplugs, bandaids, hair ties and something I appreciated, feminine hygiene products. I didn't need any, but it seemed somehow a little revolutionary that a metal band actually thought about that for their fans.

Then we were into the venue and they got our tickets scanned and headed down to the Yondr booth, where they bagged our phones into little pouches. Ghost is very strict on no phones in their shows, and honestly, I agreed, it made it a much more immersive experience to not have the screen lights and all the people filming. Then, we sat for a while.

Our seats were floor, which was not my best decision, as we had a pretty heavily obstructed view. In my defense, for wrestling, they've always used risers for the floor seats.

The show was excellent. They sounded amazing. I started sitting for the songs I didn't know, which was a handful. I'm going to have to brush up before Philly! The first half, I was sitting a bit, but then towards the end, the hits really kicked in, and I was up and dancing. The encore was three of my favorite songs, ending on my absolute favorite.

The set design was amazing, and the band sounded SO good. It was 100% obvious that they don't use any vocal tricks on the album, because they sounded just the same.

All in all, loved it, can't wait for Philly!

And having the car service to deal with the ride home was so nice. We just headed out and met him at the designated spot, and he took care of the rest. It was awesome.

Today will be a mostly relaxing day. We do have a meeting at the bank to add Jess to the new account, and then we have a couple of hour game. Hopefully they don't mind if I'm a little hoarse.

Tomorrow, since my meeting was pushed out, I'll be at work, then we're going to see Superman.

Pictures of my outfit beneath the cut.

( Read more... )
I felt totally fancy.

And now, I shall go forth and get myself somewhat together. Everyone have an excellent Thursday!

(no subject)

I've just had a good lymphedema appointment. ( cut for details )

It was the second new day and time weight management class this morning, and along with two new people a few more of the regulars turned up, which was great. We talked about getting back on track if you've lost progress, and goodness knows, been there and done that multiple times.

It was a good talk, though as usual dominated by the overbearing couple. The exercise part was good, too, with a lot of arm strength focus. So my arms felt like spaghetti afterwards.

Something of interest, in a few weeks or so Rosie is going to offer exercise only sessions on our original Monday time, and also on a Thursday evening, which is great, but also a lot of classes. I'm not sure if I'm going to all three yet, but I really appreciate they're putting on these classes for free.

Rosie finally asked if the gym staff would put a sign on the door asking people not to come in while a class was in progress. She said she was fuming last week at the woman who arrived really early and walked through the middle of the class and then just stood watching as she waited for her own group to start. That must have been the straw that broke the camel's back because yeah, there's now a sign saying keep out.

More gym stuff, which I'll ( cut for those not interested )

The guidance of the morning stars will lead the way into the void

It's Ghost concert day!!! I had trouble sleeping last night, because I was so excited. I was on the Reddit forum before bed, and people were talking about what they're wearing and the bracelets and stickers they're making to give out, and it just made me more excited, which might not have been the brightest thing to do before bed. Instead, I listened to some music and wound down, but that took a while to relax me, so I got to sleep late. I'm a little tired this morning, but the excitement will carry that.

I'm working for the first half of the day, til noon. Then, I will hop off and relax for a couple of hours til around 2pm, when I'll start getting ready. I'm not sure what I'm doing with my makeup. Heavy winged eyeliner, outlined in gold, I know that much. Fenty lipstick. But beyond that, no clue. I haven't decided on eye shadow. I think that'll depend on whether my nail polish comes early. if so, I may go purple for the eyes. Or, I may go blue. We'll see. I'll have Jess take a picture when I'm ready.

My pinafore actually came, and it makes my bustline look freaking amazing. I am pleased. I will look pretty for dinner and Papa Perpetua V. (By the end of the concert, I will probably have sweated it all off, but that's okay.

We're going to have to sneak in, so as not to awaken Yoda.

Tomorrow, I'm going to sleep in a bit, probably til 7, and then we'll try taking the dog for a walk. Since the beeping and the fireworks, he's gotten very tentative about going out. We've been having to take him on a little ride up to the school to get him to leave the house. It's very strange, and very stressful.

Then, we have to head over to the bank to add Jess to the account. After that, we have a game to play for a couple of hours. Once that's done, I think I'm going to make some French Onion soup for dinner. I've got cheese and bread, and little ramekins to bake them in. It should be very tasty.

And on that note, I'm going to get myself together. Everyone have an amazing Wednesday!

Trust I seek and I find in you, every day for us something new

It's Tuesday, and creeping ever closer to the Ghost concert. I'm very excited about it! Sadly the meeting on Friday got moved to next month, so that's a lot of preparation for nothing, and no half day. But when it comes, I'll be ready!

Today, I need to do a bit more laundry, and also find time to make French onion soup for dinner. IT should be a stretch, but we'll make it.

Yoda has been very difficult since the twin traumas of the beeping noise and the 4th of July. He will only go out once or twice per day, and only if both of us are with him. It's somewhat inconvenient. We'll keep trying and working with him, but good lord, our dog is neurotic. He has a vet appointment on Monday to discuss upping/changing his medication. He definitely needs more crazy pills.

Tomorrow, I shall work half a day, and then I shall relax for a couple of hours before I get ready for the concert. Between now and then, I need to get some makeup wipes, because we will be sneaking in after the show, and I don't want to run water to wash it off and risk waking the dog. We're going to be little church mice.

I'm a little annoyed that they cancelled my meeting, though I was not looking forward to driving downtown in the rain and bad weather. Maybe I'll be lucky and the one in August will be less icky. Plus, I'll hopefully have a foundation that doesn't go cakey by then. I'm not fond of the Patrick TA foundation that I have right now. I don't think it's formulated for old person skin. It never seems to really settle onto my skin, always feels tacky--even with setting spray or powder. I'm going to try Haus Labs and Laura Geller to see if one of those works better. We'll see.

Geller markets itself for older skin, so we'll see. I just want something that will look natural. I don't mind it being a little stark for Ghost. That's just the way it's supposed to look, striking and a lttle stark. I found the best Fenty lipstick for it. It's a really dark red/brown. It looks really good, but very striking. It'll be perfect for nights out. The downside is that it takes at least two makeup wipes to get just it off, and in between getting it off and the first wipe, you look like the freaking Joker.

I'm hoping all my stuff comes in time. I've got Lakur nail polish due to come tomorrow, with a lovely color called Black Thorn that I really would like to wear for the concert. Normally Fedex comes early, so we'll see. I'm less hopeful about the pinafore dress that I got. It's supposed to come today via UPS, but it's not even in MD yet.

My Ipsy box will probably come on Friday, which is fine. I didn't have anything in particular I needed for the concert. It'll be here in time for the Philly concert on the 19th, which is fine.

My much needed box for makeup will be coming today. It was desperately needed. I've actually got two coming, one for travel and one for the countertop. We'll see how many things they'll fit. I got a LOT of makeup, which is currently taking up the majority of the bathroom counter on one side.

Okay, time for me to get myself together. We'll be walking the dog shortly, so I should get ready. Everyone have an outstanding Tuesday!

What's goin' on on the floor? I love this record, baby, but I can't see straight anymore

Welcome to T's short week! Sadly, Monday and Tuesday are not two of the short days. I'm sure it's going to be bugfuck, being the Monday after a long weekened. I'm not looking forward to it. I could use another hour of naptime, since Boodle kindly started waking me up at 4am. Little fucker. I rudely picked her up and put her off the bed, multiple times, because I was not ready to get up. Last I saw her, she was sulking over the 5am round wherne I nudged her off me yet again. I am a little bit yawn-y. Oh well. It'll improve soon.

Yesterday was a fun day. First up, we had game with

coyotegestalt during which I inadvertently changed the entire course of the game, because DM's are chaos muppets every time. It may end up TPKing the party, but whatever, it was hilarious.

After a little while, I went to the pool for a little while and did some swimming. Of course, I realized while I was swimming that I forgot to wear sunscreen, so I cut that trip short, but it was still fun.

Then, we had some quiet time, and then I DMed for the homebrew. It went well, though we didn't get into it as far as we could have. It's a fairly large group, and the battle took a little longer than I'd planned on.

This week will be very busy. But first two days of normal work. Then the beat drops, and we get ready to go forth and get our ears blown out. (not really, we have earplugs.) I really love Ghost, but I'm not willing to lose hearing over them. But, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm just hoping there's no visa problems for the band. We'll see. We're going to take a sedan car down, because I don't feel like fighting traffic on he way down or the parking garage on the way out.

I got all my clothes and washed them, so I'm ready for Friday. I've got all my good stuff. A nice teal blouse, a pencil skirt, nice shoes, and some nice copper colored nail polish coming that will look striking against the shirt, and match the eye makeup I'm going to use. Fingers crossed that everything goes well.

And on that note,I'm going to hop off and get myself together, maybe lay down for another half hour. Everyone have the very best Monday!