☆paging doctor gorgeous☆

Last night, since I knew I needed to be up early today, I decided to try a new kind of melatonin that I'd recently acquired. It's melatonin that comes infused in tasty little chocolates! I was careful to make sure I took the correct dosage, as one must when trying something new. One chocolate = one mg of melatonin, which is my standard dosage. Cool.

Not cool. Oh man. It wiped me out fast, but every time I closed my eyes I would get really dizzy, and then I would feel really nauseous. It got so bad that I was sure I was going to be sick, so I crept downstairs to hole up in the spare bathroom as not to wake up everybody if I started throwing up. I didn't, luckily, but it was close. As long as I remained upright with my eyes open, it was fine, but it was difficult on account of the melatonin doing its job and making me really, really want to fall asleep.

It was rough, but the effects faded after about an hour or so, and I was finally able to go to sleep. Had an insanely wild, vivid dream, too.

But I was able to get up early with no real issue, and I made it to Riverside for The (Inland) Empire Strikes Back just before it opened.

What a fun time! It wasn't huge, but it was big enough: around fifty or sixty vendors, half a dozen food trucks, and tons of photo ops. They even had the landspeeder that all the actors on the set of Ahsoka liked to right around in, autographed by everybody, and I got to sit in it and take pictures and stuff.

Some droid builders brought their fully functional remote controlled droids, so there was an R2D2 and a Rex roaming around. The cast of Skeleton Crew was there, they had raffles for cool stuff, and there were lightsaber demonstrations. Plus, there was lots of great cosplay. I'm very glad I heard about this event at the last second and was able to go!

It was HOT out today though, and the event was held outdoors in a fenced off park that was closed to non-event people for today. Unfortunately when I thought I had packed two water bottles, I had only packed one, so when I was done with it I started to get very thirsty. I could have patronized one of the food trucks but drinks were hella expensive and the lines were oppressively long. So I just stuck it out.

Then when I left, I made a bee line for the nearby gas station, bought two Gatorades, and pounded them both right there in my car. Ya girl sure enough got her electrolytes back in order, and those cold blue Gatorades were sublime.

Now I'm sleepy.

I'm reading a Star Wars novel called Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson, and this passage felt particularly... relevant.

-

"The First Order?" Dolin asked. "I heard they weren't even real. Just people wearing old Imperial costumes to frighten children."

At that, Vi sat forward and pinned him with a dizzy but firm glare. "The First Order is very real. They blew up the Galactic Senate on Hosnian Prime. They blew up the entire Hosnian system. I lost friends in the cataclysm. I saw the rubble left behind. And if they're on this planet now, you're going to want to stay out of their way. Believe me. I know."

"If the First Order is real, they would never come here," the old woman said knowingly, shaking her head for emphasis. Her earlier good mood had fled. "There's nothing here they want. We're a quiet place. Mind our own business. Not like those rich planets. Not like Coruscant." Her nose wrinkled up as she said it.

Vi closed her eyes, her head in her hands.

That's what everyone always believes. It won't happen to us. We don't look for trouble. We're not doing anything wrong. We're not important enough. That's what the skittermouse says to itself as the ebon hawk glides overhead, right up until it feels the chill of shadow and bite of talons.

-

So! I adore these little guys.

These BD-X droid models have been a long-time work in progress. They were finally released officially into Batuu at the start of the Season of the Force event, running from April 12 - June 2nd. They underwent frequent "training" sessions, wherein people could watch as they learned how to do various things such as interact with people and other droids, jump, dance, scan items, and identify objects based on prompts of color, size, ect, and even just play with one another.

Their names are based on the first letter of their color, in Aurebesh. So, the blue one is called Besh, which is 'B' in Aurebesh. The green one is Grek, for 'G,' and the orange one is Osk, for 'O,' though they call him Osk-er (said like Oscar). There is rumored to be a red one also, but I never saw it, and I have heard that it rarely ever appeared due to several serious mechanical malfunctions.

They have independent personalities! Besh tends to be a little full of himself, loving attention and often hamming it up by striking dramatic poses for onlookers. Osk is very playful and silly. Grek tends to be a little more timid, and can be easily upset; he is frequently seen cowering when afraid, drooping when he fails to correctly complete a task, or discouraging excessive silliness in the other two.

Over time, frequent observers will begin to learn more of the finer details. They are often competitive with one another, for example. It is also seemingly a part of their programming for them to, upon spotting a small child dressed as a Disney princess, bow to them. I've also seen them react to roaming Stormtroopers; Grek crouched down with his antennae back and quivered in anxiety, while Osk actually executed a rather impressive (and amusing) side-stepping maneuver to try and sneak past them. If they see something they don't like, their eyes will flash red and they will make a displeased sound, sometimes shaking their heads to convey their dislike.

Basically, they insanely cute and honestly, kind of a marvel of engineering. I really hope they return, because for Disney to go to the trouble of creating such incredible little additions to the land and then just shelve them after a few months seems insane to me. I love them very much.

I couldn't get the videos to embed, but you can view a handful of shorts where I've uploaded them to YouTube: HERE!

Also a pair of photos under the cut.

( Read more... )

Alive!

May the 4th was a lovely lil' holiday for this SW nerd.

Otherwise, really my life hasn't been all that interesting. Working, sleeping, doing chores, working on my cosplay, and trying to keep plugging along at my IT courses. I'm not as far along as I'd hoped to be by now, but I'm still trying!

We had a series of earthquakes where I live, the other day. That was kind of exciting.

But also, the AC at work broke last week, which means we were all toiling away in tiny, stuffy, hot rooms doing hard physical labor and sweating through our scrubs all day. I am hoping against hope that they've fixed it by the time I go in tomorrow.

Thinking about trying acupuncture. We have an in-house acupuncturist at the clinic where I work, and as an employee I'd get a really steep discount. I've heard nothing but good things and accounts from people who swear by it. Has anyone here had any experience with acupuncture? I'm severely needle-phobic and all my instincts are telling me to stay away, but I really would like to give it a shot if I can swing it.

I've only got two more visits to Disneyland before my Magic Key blacks out for the whole summer, boo. I'm gonna have to really make them count!

I also just signed up for intoabar and am immediately anxious about it. I haven't written anything other than drabbles in a really long time.

So!

Some of you might know this, some might not, but a new(ish) trend at conventions of all kinds is to hand bracelets out to actors and artists, cosplayers who are cosplaying from the same Thing as you, or really just anyone you want to trade with or befriend.

As That Person and I are working on our cosplays and getting hype for the cons we're going to wear them to, I thought I'd dig through the garage and dust off some of my old crafting supplies. We're cosplaying from Star Wars, so I figured (at least to start) that's where I'd focus.

This is what I've got so far.

This Is The Way
Shin <3 Hottie
<3 Sabine <3
Jedi
Sith
I Am No Jedi
Rebel
Rebel Scum
WolfWren
Padawan
Nightsister
Bright Suns
Trust Only In The Force

So, I pose this question to any SW fans who might be reading this: What else should I make? What would you like to receive, as a fan, if you encountered someone passing out friendship bracelets? Barring that, what do you think other people would like? I'm really only super active in a couple of strategically placed areas in the fandom, so! Opinions sought.