I'm in the middle of writing the usual "Year in Review" post, and just seems so routine, drawn-out and, frankly, kind of boring.
I guess the short version would be that in 2023, I got help with some metal health issues, worked, stayed on my own for most of a month, and travelled. That's it.
Sorry, just getting a little fed-up with doing the same old, same old, writing-wise. Time for a change, maybe. Something to include for 2024 goals as well, maybe?
Anyway, Happy New Year and Cheers!
Last night was the annual hooking-up of the VCR to watch Mickey's Christmas Carol and ALF's Christmas Special, and this morning I finished gift-wrapping and successfully taped a present independently for the first time ever. All that's left to do is write this post, I guess.
So, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone out there, have a safe and relaxing break, and enjoy.
Cheers!
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I used to find the idea of vision boards to be kind of corny, and I especially thought physically making one would be an exercise in exhaustion and futility.
That changed a couple years ago when, during some of the darker days of the pandemic, I did up a "Before I'm Forty" plan for myself, with some moderately achievable goals in a handful of specific areas of my life to try and accomplish before I reached that milestone birthdate. I even designed a board of sorts, using a slideshow application and Internet photos.
Having already fulfilled a few of those goals since 2022 (new job, Drumheller trip), I thought I would turn "Before I'm Forty" into a yearly exercise, using the same general areas like Work, Travel, Social life, and Health, to set new, more specific, and somewhat shorter-term goals for myself.
I've been working on my "plan" for 2024, and it seems to be coming along nicely.
Cheers!
The other night, I was watching CNN's latest travel show with chef José Andrés touring Spain with his daughters, and my brain went into Bucket List mode.
I've already written about wanting to visit many of North America's major museums, with the Smithsonian in DC likely being my next big trip, but I also had a really neat idea for a long-term goal: a "four corners" tour of attractions in Canada and the US.
Well, it's vaccination time again.
Flu shot and COVID the Fifth booked one after the other tomorrow morning. Should be an interesting weekend.
Will probably make sure to get an iced coffee or something afterwards for my troubles.
Then, probably some heavy streaming once I get home. Thinking more of Star Wars: Rebels or season 2 of Loki now that every episode is available.
Hoping for a pain and/or complication free weekend.
Cheers
I'm all settled from returning from a fantastic long weekend in Nova Scotia for Hal-Con and some family visits.
Had pretty good flights down and back and, with the exception of cold rain on Monday, the weather was near-perfect.
My Dad and I arrived in Halifax Thursday afternoon and got our car, turning Q104 on immediately!
The first stop was to Oceanview, where I surprised my Nanny Perkins.
I hadn't seen her in almost two years, before she had to move to long-term care. I was very impressed by how good she looked, especially compared to Christmas 2021. We stayed for a little bit, leaving just before dinner. I promised I'd be back soon.
We went for our own dinner at The Mic Mac Tavern. This was my second failed attempt at finding fried clams, so I settled on a delicious open-faced meatball sandwich.
The next day, my Dad and I drove out to the Annapolis Valley (sky roof open because of the Summer-like weather) to spend some time with the MacLellan side of the family.
I got to visit my Grammy MacLellan's gravesite, which a few appointments prevented me from doing over the Summer.
Then, we stopped to spend the afternoon with my Uncle Sean and Grampy MacLellan. He came in a little later after a doctor's appointment, so I was able to see my Aunt Shelagh for a little while too.
Chatted about work and my Dad growing up, got lunch, and saw some fun old photos of everyone, before getting a photo with my grandfather on the way out.
We said goodbye and my uncle followed us back to Dartmouth.
Saturday was the first day of Hal-Con. I had spent the night before, and the days leading up to my flight, getting everything ready. I had a rough schedule, binder sleeves for autographs, two nerdy t-shirts to wear (Avengers and Game of Thrones), and a good knapsack with plenty of room for swag. I was pumped!
Once we were all in the building, I bought autograph tickets for the weekend (finally, and very happily using several years of Christmas and birthday gifts from both of my grandmothers to do so 😊).
First up was a signing, and it was a big one!!
Timothy Zahn is a legendary Star Wars writer, specifically known for Heir to the Empire and the rest of the original Thrawn Trilogy. He was the guest that drew me to Hal-Con in the first place, and I have never "fanboy'd" so much in my life!
After that, I stood in a series of rather long lines. My father was incredibly patient.
The waiting was totally worth though, because at the end of the line (pardon the pun) were James Marsters and Juliet Landau (aka Spike and Drusilla) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel.
Both were very nice and chatty, treating me to a behind the scenes story of how/why they were cast in Buffy (she liked him) and the intended (and, in my opinion, kind of better) plot for the show's second season.
A little earlier, while we were finishing lunch, a massive group of Star Wars cosplayers were gathered for photo-ops outside the convention centre. Some seriously awesome costumes!
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| This needs to be a real Star Wars character! |
The afternoon and evening were all about panels. Star Wars-related, mostly and a very random but interesting one about Egyptian Mummy gothic fiction. In between, I got more costume photos.
For dinner, me, my dad, and uncle went to The Narrows Public House, a really nice old restaurant with probably the best bologna sandwich I've ever had.
Hal-Con Day 2 started with me getting two more autographs. Luckily, it was far less crazy than the day before. I met Oded Fehr from The Mummy and Mummy Returns, and Arthur Darvill from Doctor Who and DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
Afterwards, I went on a bit of a shopping spree. Spoils included a stack of books by local authors, a t-shirt from The Quarrelsome Yeti, a really nice small wallet perfect for gift cards, and a shot glass.
There were a couple events later in the afternoon, but I wasn't sure my feet would hold out that long so we left.
We took a drive to the Halifax Seaport, saw a couple cruise ships, and got some snacks at a farmer's market. We got back to my grandmother's house, where my Uncle Sean packed his stuff, said goodbye, and drove home.
That evening, after searching since Thursday afternoon, I finally got fried clams for dinner! My Dad and I then drove to see my Uncle Bryan.
Before catching our flight home the next day, I paid my Nanny one last visit and brought her a coffee. She was at Hymn Sing, so that was an experience. But it was nice to just sit with her for an hour.
Then, we left.
It was five years since my last comic convention and around two since I last saw any extended family, so I definitely needed this.
Cheers!
A few weeks ago, I got COVID for a second time, and it was a vastly different experience than the first.
I felt unwell Wednesday morning, tested (faintly) positive that evening, kept my distance from my family and phoned my doctor to be safe. tested very positive the next day.
Unlike last time, there was no fear or panicking. It just sort of sucked.
The call to the doctor was one of the biggest, positive, differences, and went a long way to alleviate any anxiety. Unlike a year ago, where she asked me an extensive series of questions related to symptoms, then went above and beyond to phone my Respirologist in order for me to get the proper medication, this time I was simply told to get tested, and if it was positive, get the same medication (now through my local pharmacy).
My family got me my medication and some snacks, and I made myself a tiny nest in our basement after notifying work and home care.
Symptom-wise, I had the same bad head-cold as last time, along with a scratchy throat, but I was way less tired. And it all lasted only about a week and a half in total, maybe less.
I just took it very easy, worked from home, snacked and watched TV. A weekend alone with lots of Fearfest slasher movies helped the recovery process immensely.
Cheers!
Next week is Hal-Con, so that means I've only got this last weekend for horror movies.
I did my slasher-fest last weekend, so this time I'm going old-school but with a twist.
Rather than re-watch all the classic black and white movies from Universal, I thought I'd take those monsters and try and watch their updated versions. It took a bit of thinking, but I've got the following flicks ready to go:
Okay Disney, you win.
I just recently finished Ahsoka on Disney+ and have started watching Rebels and, nearly a decade since they bought out Lucasfilm, I must admit that I'm now a full-fledged fan of Disney Star Wars.
I've been a life-long fan of the old Expanded Universe (now Legends), still owning a vast majority of the novels, comic books, and Essential Guides.
In the last eight years, I've watched the sequel trilogy and other films, as well as shows like The Mandalorian. I've liked them, but none of them have given me those same, deep, fanboy vibes like the older stuff did.
Even when Ahsoka debuted, I kind of rolled my eyes at what I thought was just another Disney cartoon turned live-action, but it was seriously great! Good story, good acting, and clear set-up for some kind of future story. What finally won me over was that some of the finale's action scenes brought back memories of the old Dark Forces and Jedi Knight computer games.
Like I said, I'm already several episodes into Rebels (Ahsoka acts as a sequel to the cartoon) and enjoying it. I might even be tempted to follow that up with a dive into the new wealth of novels, which I've so far avoided.
Cheers!
Fitting Joubert syndrome Awareness Month, here's a short, interesting story from the 2017 JS conference in Phoenix.
After representing the Board and conference's adult attendees at a scientific event one evening, I attended the Dad's Night.
Amidst all the fun, I overheard a conversation between two guys I've known for many years. One has three daughters with JS, the other has one who's affected and three who are not. For anonymity-sake, let's say Dad 1 and Dad 2 respectively.
Dad 2 asks Dad 1 how he does it, day to day with three girls with Joubert syndrome. Dad 1 says that they just do it, explaining that all three are close enough in age and similar enough that the family can usually just all go in one direction. He then asks Dad 2 how HE does it, with a family going in multiple directions. Roughly the same reply (they just do it), adding that everyone does their best to include his affected daughter.
I've kept the memory of that discussion in the back of my mind ever since that night. It serves as a good lesson in perspective, and how we tend to see each other.
What I take from it is that everyone has their own set of challenges and, for the most part, seem to deal with them the best way they can. Also, when you think you have it rough and are admiring someone in a "better" state, that same person could be admiring you for a similar reason.
Cheers
Stealing from a writing prompt about random dreams, I decided to think of half a dozen random things I've thought would be fun to do. These range from realistic and probably achievable at some point, to just a little bit out there and weird.
Dream vacation!
6. Try out for Jeopardy
Using the buzzer would be a nightmare if I ever actually got on the show, but it would still be neat to try to apply.
Cheers!
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| New accessible hiking trail at Bonnechere Provincial Park |
Blogtober is here for another year.
I've already got a lot of writing ideas, a good mix of nice disability-related stuff, some geekiness (including a Hal-con post to cap off the month!), and maybe even a couple of posts I've been a little nervous to write until now.
It's looking like a busy month outside of the blog, so it might be a fun, efficient idea to combine some writing nights with anticipated Fearfest movie marathons on the weekends.
Cheers!
Last week, after visiting Science North in Sudbury, I had a fun, and probably accessible and affordable, travel goal: Visiting all of Canada's major museums (and possibly some in the US as well).
I've been to all of Ottawa's major museums, The Museum of Immigration/Pier 21 and the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History in Halifax, and the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. I'm sure there are plenty of other interesting places across the country. I've always wanted to see Montreal's Biodome. Next trip, maybe?
If I can somehow manage that, it would be awesome to then expand to the States, specifically the American Museum of Natural History and The MET in New York, The Smithsonian, and the La Brea Tar Pits/George Page Museum in Los Angeles.
Lofty goals for sure, but fun if doable.
Cheers!
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| Yo! |
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| The goose in Wawa |
