tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:171716epershandKnowledge, sir! Useful for its own sake, sir!epershand2011-05-17T01:53:01Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:171716:50363Reunion/Wiscon: Care and feeding of the epershand2011-05-17T01:53:01Z2011-05-17T01:53:01Zpublic11(gratuitous icon is gratuitous)<br /><br />On Thursday I'll be leaving for my undergraduate reunion, followed by a week at Olivia's, followed by WisCon. A more detailed itinerary will follow, but in summary I am going to see something like 2/3 of my combined LJ/DW circle in the next two weeks--yay! So, as seems to be the trend, I'm doing a "care and feeding of the epershand." <br /><br /><strong>Recognizing an epershand:</strong> I'm short, at the smaller end of fat, and hyper. I currently have pink emobangs, but I'm planning on chopping them off on Wednesday, at which point in time I will edit this entry with a more updated hair description.<br /><br />Current manner of dress leans towards preppy boy's clothing, but at least part of my geeky t-shirt collection will probably make the journey with me in case it gets too hot.<br /><br />I make a lot of silly faces, especially when I am sleepy.<br /><br /><strong>Identities:</strong> Especially in a fannish context, I am generally pretty cool with this DW being tied to my legal name and the internet alias that is closely associated with it; I do ask that they not be tied together online.<br /><br />I also prefer to not to be affiliated with my employer in primarily-social spaces, so I'd appreciate it if you let me be a bit evasive on that front. :) I'm not going to be able to get away with this at Reunion, which means by the time I hit WisCon, I am going to be *sick to death* of the standard set of blah blah job blah blah living situation blah blah long term plans set of conversations. Let's have our smalltalk be on other topics, shall we? I am in touch with you on the internet, which means we can talk about more interesting things!<br /><br /><strong>Food:</strong> I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian, which is pretty easy to maintain in downtown Madison, but you should probably be warned that I ask lots of questions about whether the food I'm eating has unexpected fish or seafood in it. I also have pretty high protein demands, generally for eggs or legumes. I talk a *lot* about legumes. I have also learned that the proper functioning of the epershand depends on a lot of hydration, so expect to see me chugging water at all times.<br /><br />Based on lessons learned at cons past, I plan on having a stash of high-protein vegetarian snacks and a lot of coconut water in my dorm room/hotel--if you find yourself in need of these things let me know and I'll be happy to share.<br /><br /><strong>Touch:</strong> I am very snuggly with people I know well, and ok with casual touch from strangers (hand shaking, light hugs, bumping into people), but I am not particularly skilled at navigating the space between the two and tend to default to less touch unless I am confident that it's ok. I'm very edgy about unexpected touch, such as hugs or shoulder-grabs from behind. Hugs are awesome, cuddling is great, I just like very much to know that it's coming. Approaching me slowly and in full vision is usually enough, but if you say "hey, is it ok if I hug you?" first, you will get a million metaphorical gold stars. (If we currently have an established hugging relationship, I'm a lot more relaxed about these things, but please let me know if I overstep your touch boundaries!)<br /><br />I startle easily, and I am not often comfortable initiating physical contact with people I don't know well. If I tell you I'm not ok with being touched at any given time, please don't take it personally--it's not about you, it's about my capacity for being in an enclosed space with a large crowd of people.<br /><br />I'm actually kind of curious to see how my touch boundaries play out at WisCon this year--on the one hand I often get edgier at cons in general, but on the other hand, I'm going to be around a lot of people who I am already physically comfortable with, which tends to lower my boundaries. We shall see!<br /><br /><strong>Introversion:</strong> It is almost certain that I will have to vanish into a quiet space alone for a section of each of the next two weekends to recover some steam from being public!epershand. Hopefully I will be able to identify that need far enough in advance that I won't get too wound up/pissy first--this is something that I failed at last WisCon but have succeeded at at both of the cons I've been to so far in 2011, so I'm optimistic about my ability to manage this. If, however, you catch me when I'm running out of social steam, I apologize in advance!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=epershand&ditemid=50363" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:171716:29458Oh goodness2010-10-20T19:41:03Z2010-10-20T19:41:03Zpublic6<a href="http://we-alcatraz.blogspot.com/">There's a theatre company putting on a production of Hamlet on Alkatraz!</a> I feel like I really need to go see this.<br /><br />Apparently they've sold out most of the run, though, so it will take some conniving to get in.<br /><br />::rubs hands together::<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=epershand&ditemid=29458" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:171716:25043Best news all year2010-09-15T20:53:36Z2010-09-15T20:53:36Zpublic0MHC Reunion '11 is going to be May 20-22, not May 26-28 (when WisCon is). I can do BOTH.<br /><br /><span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://eccentric-hat.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='17' height='17'/></a><a href='http://eccentric-hat.livejournal.com/'><b>eccentric_hat</b></a></span>, <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://bluestalking.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='17' height='17'/></a><a href='http://bluestalking.livejournal.com/'><b>bluestalking</b></a></span>, others with an interest in both events--want to do a double weekend adventure, with a week of some sort of New England travel in between?<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=epershand&ditemid=25043" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:171716:17749This is not a con report.2010-06-01T04:29:10Z2010-06-02T14:35:14Zpublic11I'm beginning to come down from my WisCon high. I definitely had more of a lobby con than a going to panels con, but it was absolutely the weekend I needed to have.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://epershand.dreamwidth.org/17749.html#cutid1">Things About WisCon</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=epershand&ditemid=17749" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:171716:16207Everything I know about my Wiscon plans2010-05-11T04:19:44Z2010-05-11T04:31:32Zpublic0All in one place. Mostly for my own benefit, although possibly of use to others who I will see at WisCon. Possibly too far in advance for people to care, but I am dealing with travel and work logistics and so it is on my mind.<br /><br />- I fly into Chicago on a red-eye Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I'm working from Chicago on Thursday (fortunately this coordinates with a full week of new hire training for New Job, which means I don't actually have to DO anything at work on Thursday except be vaguely present during videoconference trainings).<br /><br />- Thursday night I take the bus up to Madison and meet up with <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://oliviacirce.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://oliviacirce.dreamwidth.org/'><b>oliviacirce</b></a></span> &c. I think that night I am staying at her and <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://sasha-feather.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://sasha-feather.dreamwidth.org/'><b>sasha_feather</b></a></span>'s house and not yet at the hotel?<br /><br />- Friday we move to the hotel. I am rooming with <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://oliviacirce.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://oliviacirce.dreamwidth.org/'><b>oliviacirce</b></a></span> and <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://bluestalking.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='17' height='17'/></a><a href='http://bluestalking.livejournal.com/'><b>bluestalking</b></a></span> [thanks Olivia for correction].<br /><br />- Friday my sister comes up to Madison from Chicago for her Separate Nefarious Purposes.<br /><br />- Saturday is <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://oliviacirce.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://oliviacirce.dreamwidth.org/'><b>oliviacirce</b></a></span> and my three-year breakup anniversary. We are going out for drinks to celebrate how wise a decision it was, and how glad we are to still be best friends. All and sundry are welcome to join us. [Warning: we may or may not use our tacky acronym of choice, "BXF" or "best exes 4-eva". Scratch that. We will definitely use our tacky acronym of choice. High-fiving is optional though.]<br /><br />- There will be a convention and it will be awesome. There will be awesome people at that convention and it will be awesome to see them.<br /><br />- Monday, my sister's birthday, we team up and leave Madison for Chicago. Birthday hijinks ensue.<br /><br />- Tuesday afternoon I fly back to the Bay Area.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=epershand&ditemid=16207" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:171716:9909Joining the American Legion2010-03-26T14:56:45Z2010-03-26T14:56:45Zpublic6Ok, current mission: join the Alexander Hamilton Chapter of the American Legion (post 448).<br /><br />Obviously, I am not a Veteran. So, amended mission: join the Auxiliary. But it is not clear that I actually have any ancestors who served in the US armed forces. Close relatives, yes. Direct ancestors, research pending. Russian armed forces in the 19th century, most certainly. US Armed Forces in the 20th? As I said, research pending.<br /><br />So, you might be asking, why the American Legion? I'm glad you asked! The reasons are manifold:<br /><ul><li>The Alexander Hamilton post is for GLBT vets. They are the only GLBT vet chapter of the American Legion in the nation. They are named after Alexander Hamilton because of the Hamilton/Laurens letters. Based upon that evidence alone, I can only conclude that they are made of win.</li><br /><li>There is a free rehearsal space for my chorus to sweeten the deal. They asked that some of our members join so that they could be our official sponsors like they are currently the sponsors of the Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. They are particularly interested in having more women members because they have very few <small>(:cough: just like every other LGBT organization in the universe :cough:)</small>.</li><br /><li>Cool group, cool way to support the armed forces, cool opportunity to get involved in service work in general (For instance, the American Legion Auxiliary runs Girls State).</li><br /><li>Man, those hats are so sweet, I can totally use them to impress the ladies. "Hey baby," I will say. "Have you seen my sweet Scotty cap? We can totally go on a date to the War Memorial Opera House. Not to see an opera, just to hang out in the SECRET AMERICAN LEGION CLUB on the first floor." Ok, maybe not. But I bet my grandmother would love to see the secret clubhouse.</li><br /><li><a href="http://www.post448.org/">Check out the flash into on their page.</a> It has an eagle with a flag across its face AND text in an animated rainbow. SMITTEN.</li><br /><li>Instant points and credibility when people accuse me of being anti-American on the basis of my political beliefs. (Less of an issue under the current President than it was under the last one.</li></ul><br /><br />So, as soon as I resolve the challenge of no military ancestors, I'm pretty much good to go. But since it was ambiguous for so long who Grandma Margaret's father even was, maybe I do! (Fear not, we now know via DNA evidence.)<br /><br />And if all else fails, they have the Alexander Hamilton Association for people who just want to support them.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=epershand&ditemid=9909" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments