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This last weekend was the bestest! So.much.fun! I went out to LA and stayed with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
abandonada who I met for the first time, and also spookystoy, then I went with them to ORC and hung out some with rosamundeb, and met voontah, undone27, lilithlotr, angstslashhope, and met up again with olotie and lalenya. I will list my ORC report in a section to itself in my next entry for anyone who wants to see just that, but this entry will just cover my trip prior to attending the convention.
VRRMMM TO LA
Well, having cut it close in getting to my plane just in time, I have to say that this was the most comfortable flight I've ever been on--so thumbs up for America West--a Wednesday evening flight with the plane only half-full and no one in the seats next to me so I could stretch out and nap when I wasn't reading. It was the least stuffy flight I've ever been on, which was especially good because I was still recovering from a virus and all medicated. LAX was a lovely sight of aesthetic calm after IAD's under-construction mess and long lines of security havoc.
WHEN MUNS COLLIDE
And then I spotted dearabandonada right away as she drove up, and immediately flung bags into her truck as some unpleasant little man was yelling at me and I was about to grab him and tell him to shut up and help me so this would go faster, unbeknownst to me that he was meanwhile threatening Abandonada with tickets--because who would have thought such an unpleasant little man would have such terrible powers! (So sorry Abandonada!) But we escaped in the nick of time, hugging and squeeing like fools at each other.
I was sooo lucky that the floods ended the day before, so that we just had to deal with traffic delays from road closure, which made driving more tense for my poor host, but was fine for me as it gave me the LA driving experience. And there were buildings lit up with lavender lights along the way Just To Greet ME and even a billboard proclaiming BINGO! to make him feel welcome as well! Obviously Abandonda pulled out all the stops.
The only thing marring this meeting for me was the fact that I was still feeling a bit ill, and my period was threatening a joyous early visit, so that my stomach was unsettled in such a way that I feared I might unleash a barrage of chemical warfare upon my unsuspecting host all that weekend the likes of which this earth has seldom seen, which would ensure her gladness that after the weekend I would return to the other side of the monitor screen and remain there. But that didn't seem to occur according to Abandonada, and I must have snuck what must have been lethal past her, unless she is Lying to me because she is from LA and you can't Trust these fuckers because they hang out with Movie Stars All the Time and know All those Acting Tricks! Ahem. So yeah, there was some nervousness of a first meeting on the same side of the monitor that we had to get through. And we did.
THE ABANDONADA IN HER NATURAL HABITAT
But all speculations of Deep Abiding Mistrust Aside ((-;),abandonda is the most thoughtful, considerate host possible and so easy to be with, with a Buddha-like smile and twinkle in her eye, as well as wicked fun as you already know. Her place is filled with all the books and action figures and craft materials and cool stuff you would suspect from her, but did you also know that she is quite the accomplished quilter? She's made these gorgeous, gorgeous quilts with the tiniest most precise stitches in the patterns of leaves on the borders, among other patterns--just amazing stuff! And not just her lovely LotR quilt, but also big, beautiful wall hangings in lush patterns. So now you all know.
THE MISERABLE FAT KOALA BASTARD
So, to appease my ambition to see a live koala for my very first time, Abandonada kindly took me to the zoo on Thursday, after a leisurely morning of happy gabbing between us. We saw some meer cats doing their adorable ADD thing, a komodo dragon, and some cuddly wallabies, and then, because renovations were being done on the koala house, we came to the koala's temporary enclosure. I knew that koalas spent 18 hours a day sleeping (it says so on my granola box) and expected to see little, if no, activity, but the little furry fucker managed to find a spot toward the back where you could only see little indeterminate lobe-ish parts of him. "Do you think that's an elbow, or could be his butt, or maybe there's two of them?"
So we took a break from koala watching, and from our hopes that he might move or breath or something, and went to see the tigers. It was near feeding time and the tigers were full of frisky fun. One of them played a game of very intently trying to carry a metal barrel out of a pond--you know, just the way they retrieve metal barrels in the wild. Whoever figured out a metal barrel was a favorite tiger toy, we may never know, but they just absolutely love it, and were way cute.
We returned to the koala enclosure to find that the furry bastard had actually moved! So we sat there, with me intently squinting between the bars, clutching Bingo, and waiting for the koala to move for, what, half an hour, an hour? Thank you, Abandonada for your patience. Then finally, a sleepy koala face slipped down into view then tucked right back up goddess-knows-where, leaving only the lobe that we could now determine was definitely a butt in view. But we saw him, and Bingo had many fine photo ops all around the zoo, so mission accomplished.
MANY MEETINGS
And when we returned toabandonada's place that evening there was spookystoy waiting for us in the apartment! But in the dark so we could reenact the "Gandalf hides in Bag End in order to see if he can surprise Frodo and make him jump high enough to hit his head on the chandelier so Gandalf is not the only one with a bump on his head" scene--no, we won't let you live that one down, dear. (-; Certain that they were related, Spookystoy's virus and my own happily greeted each other for a warm reunion. And I was pretty damn happy to see Spookystoy myself. Do you know that she sounds exactly the way she writes? Funny as hell and easy to be with and quite the sweetie.
So then we were off to LAX to pick upvoontah and drop her off at the convention hotel. Who would have thought that such a pixie-ish bright-eyed thing could harbor such tales of utter devastation and heart-wrenching, down-and-out misery about her life that had us rolling in our seats and howling with laughter the whole trip back? So remember all you who like to keep abreast of karmic balances, a bad day for Voontah means another entertaining evening for her very lucky audience. Did I say she's lots of fun yet?
In the traffic jams that ensued we watched pedestrians pass and re-pass us again carrying plastic bags that Voontah most deftly identified as transport bags for liver transplants--I mean, what else could they be at that hour? Hence all bags that weekend became "Livers!" for us. And let's not forget the action-packed moment when Voontah asked, "Is that car supposed to be flaming like that?" And I looked and "OMG!!!!" because there was a car on a parallel road that had towering flames soaring high up into the night sky. I dearly hope no one had been inside. Quite a site, though! And just another typical night on the LA freeways. Abandonada got us through it all like the pro she is.
And that was Thursday. I will save the convention report and the further adventures of our intrepid heroes for the next entry. So, time to change the dvd. (-;
abandonada who I met for the first time, and also spookystoy, then I went with them to ORC and hung out some with rosamundeb, and met voontah, undone27, lilithlotr, angstslashhope, and met up again with olotie and lalenya. I will list my ORC report in a section to itself in my next entry for anyone who wants to see just that, but this entry will just cover my trip prior to attending the convention.VRRMMM TO LA
Well, having cut it close in getting to my plane just in time, I have to say that this was the most comfortable flight I've ever been on--so thumbs up for America West--a Wednesday evening flight with the plane only half-full and no one in the seats next to me so I could stretch out and nap when I wasn't reading. It was the least stuffy flight I've ever been on, which was especially good because I was still recovering from a virus and all medicated. LAX was a lovely sight of aesthetic calm after IAD's under-construction mess and long lines of security havoc.
WHEN MUNS COLLIDE
And then I spotted dear
abandonada right away as she drove up, and immediately flung bags into her truck as some unpleasant little man was yelling at me and I was about to grab him and tell him to shut up and help me so this would go faster, unbeknownst to me that he was meanwhile threatening Abandonada with tickets--because who would have thought such an unpleasant little man would have such terrible powers! (So sorry Abandonada!) But we escaped in the nick of time, hugging and squeeing like fools at each other. I was sooo lucky that the floods ended the day before, so that we just had to deal with traffic delays from road closure, which made driving more tense for my poor host, but was fine for me as it gave me the LA driving experience. And there were buildings lit up with lavender lights along the way Just To Greet ME and even a billboard proclaiming BINGO! to make him feel welcome as well! Obviously Abandonda pulled out all the stops.
The only thing marring this meeting for me was the fact that I was still feeling a bit ill, and my period was threatening a joyous early visit, so that my stomach was unsettled in such a way that I feared I might unleash a barrage of chemical warfare upon my unsuspecting host all that weekend the likes of which this earth has seldom seen, which would ensure her gladness that after the weekend I would return to the other side of the monitor screen and remain there. But that didn't seem to occur according to Abandonada, and I must have snuck what must have been lethal past her, unless she is Lying to me because she is from LA and you can't Trust these fuckers because they hang out with Movie Stars All the Time and know All those Acting Tricks! Ahem. So yeah, there was some nervousness of a first meeting on the same side of the monitor that we had to get through. And we did.
THE ABANDONADA IN HER NATURAL HABITAT
But all speculations of Deep Abiding Mistrust Aside ((-;),
abandonda is the most thoughtful, considerate host possible and so easy to be with, with a Buddha-like smile and twinkle in her eye, as well as wicked fun as you already know. Her place is filled with all the books and action figures and craft materials and cool stuff you would suspect from her, but did you also know that she is quite the accomplished quilter? She's made these gorgeous, gorgeous quilts with the tiniest most precise stitches in the patterns of leaves on the borders, among other patterns--just amazing stuff! And not just her lovely LotR quilt, but also big, beautiful wall hangings in lush patterns. So now you all know.THE MISERABLE FAT KOALA BASTARD
So, to appease my ambition to see a live koala for my very first time, Abandonada kindly took me to the zoo on Thursday, after a leisurely morning of happy gabbing between us. We saw some meer cats doing their adorable ADD thing, a komodo dragon, and some cuddly wallabies, and then, because renovations were being done on the koala house, we came to the koala's temporary enclosure. I knew that koalas spent 18 hours a day sleeping (it says so on my granola box) and expected to see little, if no, activity, but the little furry fucker managed to find a spot toward the back where you could only see little indeterminate lobe-ish parts of him. "Do you think that's an elbow, or could be his butt, or maybe there's two of them?"
So we took a break from koala watching, and from our hopes that he might move or breath or something, and went to see the tigers. It was near feeding time and the tigers were full of frisky fun. One of them played a game of very intently trying to carry a metal barrel out of a pond--you know, just the way they retrieve metal barrels in the wild. Whoever figured out a metal barrel was a favorite tiger toy, we may never know, but they just absolutely love it, and were way cute.
We returned to the koala enclosure to find that the furry bastard had actually moved! So we sat there, with me intently squinting between the bars, clutching Bingo, and waiting for the koala to move for, what, half an hour, an hour? Thank you, Abandonada for your patience. Then finally, a sleepy koala face slipped down into view then tucked right back up goddess-knows-where, leaving only the lobe that we could now determine was definitely a butt in view. But we saw him, and Bingo had many fine photo ops all around the zoo, so mission accomplished.
MANY MEETINGS
And when we returned to
abandonada's place that evening there was spookystoy waiting for us in the apartment! But in the dark so we could reenact the "Gandalf hides in Bag End in order to see if he can surprise Frodo and make him jump high enough to hit his head on the chandelier so Gandalf is not the only one with a bump on his head" scene--no, we won't let you live that one down, dear. (-; Certain that they were related, Spookystoy's virus and my own happily greeted each other for a warm reunion. And I was pretty damn happy to see Spookystoy myself. Do you know that she sounds exactly the way she writes? Funny as hell and easy to be with and quite the sweetie. So then we were off to LAX to pick up
voontah and drop her off at the convention hotel. Who would have thought that such a pixie-ish bright-eyed thing could harbor such tales of utter devastation and heart-wrenching, down-and-out misery about her life that had us rolling in our seats and howling with laughter the whole trip back? So remember all you who like to keep abreast of karmic balances, a bad day for Voontah means another entertaining evening for her very lucky audience. Did I say she's lots of fun yet? In the traffic jams that ensued we watched pedestrians pass and re-pass us again carrying plastic bags that Voontah most deftly identified as transport bags for liver transplants--I mean, what else could they be at that hour? Hence all bags that weekend became "Livers!" for us. And let's not forget the action-packed moment when Voontah asked, "Is that car supposed to be flaming like that?" And I looked and "OMG!!!!" because there was a car on a parallel road that had towering flames soaring high up into the night sky. I dearly hope no one had been inside. Quite a site, though! And just another typical night on the LA freeways. Abandonada got us through it all like the pro she is.
And that was Thursday. I will save the convention report and the further adventures of our intrepid heroes for the next entry. So, time to change the dvd. (-;
