UnicornFluff's Xanga

Ren Fest 2008

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:13:47 GMT

I missed the Kansas City Renaissance Festival last year because we waited until the very last day to go and it was rained out. I was NOT going to make that same mistake twice! So I grabbed my hubby and my buddies and got there good and early, with a weekend ahead of us to spare, just in case.

The weather was perfect.

AND, once again, we found a way to get in for FREE (thanks to Tyler and his local celebrity).

I love the entire atmosphere. I could live there.

Packaderms!

This was taken for Gillian who, apparently, believes that Jesus' choice mount is a unicorn. I must say, the notion does hold a certain appeal. :)

Bubbles!

You can't really tell what they're selling here (bronze cast statuette fountains), but this was my favorite new shop.

The day wore us out and I caught Greg catching some Zzz while I browsed one of my other favorite shops.

And these are the Sky Chairs - the most comfy outdoor seating in the world! I'm researching them now and hope to have a couple on the porch before November hits.

This is my fav pic from the event. :)

And, finally we attended the Joust! Best acting EVAH! :(

So until next year!

Gen Con 2008

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:04:29 GMT

So it was our first Gen Con and WHAT a blast we had! I can't wait to do it all over again next year. Here's what I snapped of the experience.

On the plane to Chicago...

where we hitched a ride to Indy with Renh, Wit and Ordran. I wish I had thought to snap a pic of us crammed into Renh's Honda. It was the beginning of many laugh-til-we-cried experiences.

Renh/ Rig/ Joliet/ Blogzorz/ Pap @ Hoolihans

Joliet/Blogz/Pap/Ordran/Wit

D&d time! Blogz and Pap got up every morning to play the 8am slots.

Rig/random dude/Blogzorz/Ordran/Wit/Renh

The bottle cap rings signify lasting effects and the candy shows when a mob is bloodied. (Our GM for the special 10 hour module was good at rewarding those who scored killing blows. We needed the sugar.)

Us, getting our buttz kicked.

Look, the joker came!

Besides d&d, we met up with Tamas and Salos for some sweet boardgame action. This game is called Fish Eat Fish. Be sure to ask one of us about that guy on Tamas's left. *shudder*

creepy man/Tamas/Renh/Salos

Wit also hosted an Eidolon d&d game of silliness. Once he killed me, I came back as this perdy unicorn to pwn Tamas MWAHAHA! Kerjath and Kahlen made appearances for this game, but I must have been too busy laughing to get many pics.

True Dungeon!

I uh, ... <3 unicorns ...

And then there was the Vendor Hall. InSANE. This is me and a steam-punked bystander. I just learned what "steampunk" is last month and I think it's totally rad. Did anyone ever see Disney's Treasure Planet? Way steampunk.

Me and Renh in our steampunk goggles!

Foam swords from the Vendor Hall!
Ordran/Blogz/Wit/Renh

And I'll wrap this up with this cool shot from the hottest restaurant @ GenCon - SteaknShake.
Ordran/Wit/Renh/Pap/Salos/Blogz/Joli/Rig

Ok, it's your turn! Let's see what you snapped.

Cleaning up my comp

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:17:29 GMT

So I was digging around in my personal folders, trashing stuff that was old and revisiting some fun pictures, essays and poems - one of which was tucked away in the corner of my "friends" folder in a .txt doc.

What what? I smell??
My dear little brother ...

(insert: piano slide)
Who's farts are known all around town? Rolie... Joelie
OMG, was that from Taco Bell? Joelie ... Rolie
Yes, people have to run away and can't come back 'til the next day, 'cause...

Who's poop can stink for hours and hours? Rolie ... Joelie
No spray or scrub can drown it out! Joelie ... Rolie
No, friends, this is not a joke! This boy can make the worst skunk choke!

Once he farted in my car. Rolie ... Joelie
I thought I'd hit a giant squirrel! Joelie ... Rolie
I even checked my review mirror, but soon I was reduced to tears.
The smell was so unbearable, nothing is comaparble, his butt is unrepairable - how terrible!!!

For you, dear boy, I have much love, but get yourself an anal plug!
Joelie Rolie, Joelie Rolie
*sniff sniff* Eewwww ....

Ahh, good times.

My Sorrow is for Myself

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:14:31 GMT

Welp, I'm lost.

I keep sitting here, digging through old emails, pictures and would-be-amazing-songs-someday, wailing into the deep hollow chasm in my heart expecting to hear my father call back up at me with his infinite words of wisdom. But all I'm getting are the distant echoes of my own anguished voice, sobbing into puddles.

He always had an answer for everything, my father. And it always made sense, even if I didn't particularly want to hear what he was telling me. Even now, as I sink into my headphones to one f his latest songs, his words and his voice comfort me ...

A whisper comes across the water
says to me, "Come away from foreign lands"
A power pours over my being
Wearing down castles made in the sand
I have wandered to a rocky place
for reasons I must say aren't very clear
You have set Your face to find me
And at this moment I sense You are near
So I pray by Your grace You will hear my heart cry

Spirit making waves upon my shore
I am breaking, come and break me more
Truth has pounded through the longest darkness
Grown from ripples to a roar
And finally I am waking
Come and wake me more

Underneath the waves of mercy
You buried me one desperate younger day
Up from the waters to a new land
Setting my destiny on its way
But transformation is a journey
And parts of me have yet to be fully changed
And once again I am seeing
Another place I have been selfish and vain
So I'm asking more of You to reign within me

And should tomorrow I forget You
Please place an anchor on this day
When with clarity I prayed
You would break me till I'm made
in the image of Your Son

But this sorrow is not for him. I've thought far too many times within this last year that he will only ever have peace and happiness as he was intended to have when he meets Jesus face to face. And that is true for all of us. Sin and selfishness will never allow us to live as we were created to on earth. I'm not going to say that my father's work was done. My heart is still too tender to come to that resolution. I feel that I still have many things to learn from him.

On the morning he died, I awoke with an uneasiness and immediately said a prayer for him. "Heal him, Lord." That prayer did not go unanswered. After I prayed that, I felt sick and pleaded with God "Surely, there is more for him to do ... surely there is more we can all learn from him ..." And then the phone rang. I remember thinking, as listened to the choked voice of my baby brother on the other end, "Yes ... of course. I knew ..." You think and say a lot of silly and ridiculous things when you receive a shock as great as this, especially within the first several seconds.

To Greg I said completely calm, "It's you ..." as he held me in our tiny hallway. What I meant was that he was all I had left in the world, which I had to later explain.

I sat down in our living room and thought "What an annoyingly bright day ..." which was true. This entire winter has been dreary and dull, but for whatever reason it was unusually beautiful for those first several days.

I looked at my dog and thought, in sorrow, "You outlived my father."

Before I even started to cry, I spent 30 minutes talking to my dad. I mostly apologized for not being there, for taking advantage of him, for being so hard on him when I commentated his last worship song ... I told him he was not a has-been, he was not washed-up and that he was and is my greatest hero. As I spoke, I kept looking over at God, making sure it was ok to even address my father like this as if to say, "Is this ok? I just want to talk to him."

I was instructed by a friend to talk about him, often. So I have been. I've been keeping a journal of this strange and mysterious experience. I like to think of myself as a student of emotions and of the human Journey. I keep stepping back and looking at this whole mess with a scientific eye, as though that will help me to better understand God's Will. But all I'm achieving is a better understanding of myself. And, as my aunt Debbie put it, I'm just a stupid human.

So what would my father say to all of this? I keep freaking out about my future and the obstacles he won't be there to help me conquer. But in my heart, beyond the chasm, I know what he would say anyway.

My sorrow is for myself, my joy is for you ...

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:30:33 GMT

So my buddy Hillary and I decided to take a weekend trip up
to Chicago. We had done this once before right out of high school
to visit the Ikea furniture store, but didn't spend enough time doing
Chicago-type things. Yes, that's right. Where some folks take trips
to theme parks and historical monuments ... we go to Ikea ... /shrug

So Hjal, Renh and Pappe all reside in the Windy City and spent
the weekend spoiling us rotten. On Friday, Renh took Hillary and
me to the Bongo Room where we ate ridiculously lavish pancakes
and french toast. Yum.

That's a scoop of ice cream on top of Renh's pear and caramel
french toast.

Hillary had the pumpkin nutmeg pancakes and I struck out with
the bacon and egg sandwich. What was I thinking? At least I got
a side of banana-topped pancakes.

We spent most of Friday at the theme park. Err ... Ikea.

If you've never been to this place, you really should go. It's two
floors of build-it-yourself furniture for fairly reasonable prices. If
you're still racking your brain, it's the store "Jack" is obsessed with
in Fight Club. Ying Yang coffee table ring a bell? I wish they still
sold those ...

They also sell stuffed animals .... ? With ... creepy and drunken
expressions ...

Beaver^

At least they were soft!

Fox^

Hippo/Elephant^

After Ikea, we met up with Pappe downtown where I experienced
sushi for the first time ever. It tasted quite good once I got past the
texture. After dinner, we crammed into a cab (Hjal was in the front
seat) and headed back to Pappe's apartment.

This is the elevator on the way up

Once inside Renh proceeded to pwn us all (as usual in most games)
in Guitar Hero. Now ... I actually do dabble in the guitar a bit, so
I've always scoffed at this game, but man ... it's fun.

Here's a day-time view of Pappe and his wife's apartment, btw.
Very oohh ahh.

The next day, Renh accompanied us to the Threadless store.
Up until this last spring, this was an online only t-shirt manufacturer
that I had fallen in love with while in Germany. All the designs are
submitted by .. well, whoever wants to submit one, then voted on
by the public and printed if it scores well. The designer is credited on
the tag of each shirt and paid. I haven't had the guts to submit my own
design yet, but maybe soon. Anyway, I wanted to see their first (and
only) RL store.

(Btw, if you join Threadless, tell them unicornfluff sent you.
I'll get points!)

After a little bit of shopping, Renh went home to help Hjal prepare
for their Halloween party and Hillary and I headed downtown to see
Millennium Park. We hung around "the Bean" for lots of photo-silliness.

Alright, enough of that.

THEN this tall, strange and mysterious guy came out of NOWHERE
and ...

Nvm, it was just Pappe. And yes ... he is taller than you think ...

So we shopped, walked around, I fell asleep on Pappe's
couch watching Spaceballs, and we headed over to the
Halloween party at Hjal and Renh's..

Meet Lucy and Agnus. (Agnus refused to take off that scary
mask *sigh*)

Here are the costume highlights! Mine is b&w to emphasize the
I-thought-it-was-more-obvious-that-it-was yellow aspects of my
flight-form druid. Pfft!

Obi Hjal Kenobi (<<click to compare!)

Snow White Renh

Your Guess is as Good as Mine Pappe

Bill the Pirate! Yarr!

A mummeh!

And this is Jason. He hardly spoke a word all night and
never removed his mask. Very freaky and well-played!

Oh and Hillary came as my blind date. (That's a cane in her hand.)

Super fun weekend. Burz and I might just move out to Chicago
to have more of it.

Happy Halloween!

S.Dakota

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:19:02 GMT

Joel's Band plays Lincoln

Mon, 28 May 2007 18:49:44 GMT

And this is Josh, right after he was shat on by a pigeon.

My latest weekend in KC

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 02:44:56 GMT

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:52:39 GMT

Eidolon Party!

Let me start out by saying that this party was really a lot of fun. You never really know what to expect from gatherings such as these, but no matter what I went in thinking, I never expected to spend 10+ hours with these guys on Saturday, never suffering a dull moment. And that's excluding the lunch we had at Freebird's on Friday, Grind House at the Alamo Draft House with Jason (Kerjath), Tom (Pappe) and Nathan (Ity) in the afternoon, watching the urban bats and eating New Orlean's style seafood on 6th street in the evening. (I'll post those pics as soon as Brad [Burz's random brother] gets them off his cell phone.)

On Saturday, we ate amazing fajitas (thank you Kahlen and thanks to Suvaaco for his mad grill skillz), hung out in the sun and played Wii.

Pappe/Kerjath Video

Besides Jason/Kerjath's mad skills (oh and Amak's as well), Renh pretty much decided to start dominating the day by pounding Pappe in Wii Boxing.

Other Wii players included Hjal and Amak (cow racing?):

Burz and Ity (pong, I think):

And many many more of which I did not capture on digital film. :P

Mostly we just hung out and got to know each other better. For example, I discovered that you can't take the leader out of Pappe, that I laughed harder at Kerjath than anyone, that Tamas is super sexy in RL (hawt red jacket), that Renh and Suvaaco look JUST like their WoW counterparts (creepy) and that Ity's explaination of how he dual-boxes his mages is insane and mind-boggling. Oh! And that my fingers are not worthy of Kahlen's new car. Erm ... guitar.

When the sun went down, most of us headed to the Main Event, a super huge and super fun arcade where we played mini golf in the dark,

rode a virtual roller coaster (thanks Tamas!), Renh kicked my butt in imitation DDR,

the boys shot guns,

and Christina (Ity's wife) kicked all our sorry butts in bowling.

Oh and Renh kicked our butts too. (BIG surprise there - ugh!)

(Ran = Brad, the random relative, btw.)

In fact the only time Renh lost was to Rig in Wii Tennis. The irony about this is that Renh actually plays tennis irl. Ha.

Renh Loses

So that was our weekend. If you weren't there, you really missed out, but don't fret! We'll have another one soon. I <3 Chicago, btw. I'm all over that idea!

A Slight Update

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:06:25 GMT

I'm sorry, but I had to post this again. If you need a laugh, this should do the trick.

I got a new job - yay! I'm working at a law firm as a ... well, I'm not really sure
what my official title is, but let's just say I'm a multi-tasker specializing in filing,
answering the phone and monitoring the messages, ect. I pretty much do whatever
the heck they ask me to. I work for 6.5 hours a day and get to listen to my beautiful
iPod for 90% of it. So hey, if you have any musical recommendations for me, I'm
open to just about anything new. List them below!

I miss all ya'lls in Missouri and I promise to visit sometime in March. PROMISE.