SeekingSolace[dot]Net

Sorry this took so long, everyone.

Album 1

Album 2

Oh, man, y’all. There’s a Greek girl playing Katie in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. What are the odds, I ask you?!

And the girl they cast as Pansy Parkinson is pretty. Her name is Scarlett Byrne. I’m jealous.

Now that everyone’s got their presents, I can show pictures of what they got. The long-awaited “My Goddamn Face” scarf got finished in the nick of time, but I wasn’t 100% happy with it. But Tommy likes it, so it doesn’t really matter what I think. :P And, Erika seemed to enjoy her Slytherin scarf, which makes me happy. I’ve been working on that thing forever. I really enjoyed the glass etching work I did, and I’m pleased with how Josh’s Jack Skellington doll came out. Click on “More” below to look at all the goodies.

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I got this from Erika, who got it from her friend Melinda. Here’s the link to the original: http://noctua.freeshell.org/hp-50-hogwarts.html. I have bolded the ones that I think are most hysterical.

50 Things I Am Not Allowed To Do At Hogwarts

1. I will not poke Hufflepuffs with spoons, nor will I insist that their House colors indicate that they are “covered in bees”.
2. No matter how good a fake Australian accent I can do, I will not imitate Steve Irwin during Care of Magical Creatures class.
3. Growing marijuana or hallucinogenic mushrooms is not “an extra credit project for Herbology”.
4. “I’ve heard every possible joke about Oliver Wood’s name” is not a challenge.
5. I am not allowed to attempt to breed a liger.
6. I will not go to class skyclad.
7. The Giant Squid is not an appropriate date to the Yule Ball.
8. I will not use Umbridge’s quill to write “I told you I was hardcore”.
9. I will stop referring to showering as “giving Moaning Myrtle an eyeful”.
10. Polishing my wand in the common room is acceptable. “Polishing my wand” in the common room is not.
11. If a classmate falls asleep, I will not take advantage of that fact and draw a Dark Mark on their arm.
12. House elves are not acceptable replacements for Bludgers.
13. Starting a betting pool on the fate of this year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is tasteless and tacky, not a clever money-making concept.
14. I will not start every Potions class by asking Professor Snape if today’s project is suitable for use as a sexual lubricant.
15. Adding the name “Bueller” to Professor Binns’ roster is not funny.
16. “Springtime for Voldemort” is not an acceptable suggestion for the class play.
17. Seamus Finnegan is not “after me Lucky Charms”.
18. I will not refer to the Weasley twins as “bookends”.
19. I will not refer to the Patil twins as “bookends”.
20. The Slytherin prefect is named Draco Malfoy, not “Rocky Horror.”
21. It is exceptionally tasteless to tell Professor Lupin that “Once you go Black, you never go back.”
22. I will not call Lucius Malfoy “Jareth”.
23. I will not bring a Magic Eight Ball to Divination class.
24. I am not to refer to the Potions classroom as “Kitchen Stadium”.
25. I will not tell Ron and Hermione to “Get a room” whenever they start to fight.
26. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason.
27. I am not a tribble Animagus.
28. I am allowed to have a toad, rat, cat, or owl. I am not allowed to have a reticulated python, snow leopard, Tasmanian devil, or piranha.
29. I do not weigh the same as a duck.
30. Remus Lupin does not want a flea collar.
31. Sirius Black is not #24601.
32. I will not lick Trevor.
33. I will stop asking the Arithmancy teacher what the square root of -1 is.
34. I am not being repressed.
35. Calling Lucius Malfoy “Luscious Mouthful” is just plain gross.
36. I will not change the password to the prefects’ bath to “Makes getting clean almost as much fun as getting dirty”.
37. There is no such thing as an Invisibility Thong.
38. I am not a Pinball Wizard.
39. Asking “How do you keep a Gryffindor in suspense?” and walking away is only funny the first time.
40. I will not offer to pose nude for Colin Creevey.
41. I will not offer to pose nude for Dean Thomas.
42. It is a bad idea to tell Professor Snape he takes himself too seriously.
43. It is a bad idea to tell Professor McGonagall she takes herself too seriously.
44. Sir Cadogan is not one of the knights who say “NI”.
45. I will not offer to prepare tandoori owl.
46. I will stop asking when we will learn to make “Love Potion Number Nine”.
47. I will not ask Dumbledore to show me the pointy hat trick.
48. I will not greet Professor McGonagall with “What’s new, pussycat?”
49. There is not now, nor has there ever been, a fifth House at Hogwarts, and I am not a member of that house, nor am I its founder.
50. I will not take out a life insurance policy on Harry Potter.

Yes, I’m finally getting them up. Sorry it took so long to take care of it.

And here are all the pictures from the Star Wars Costume Competition. My friend Julius was the MC and I was his escort, so I was in costume, but didn’t compete.

HAHA, DONE! Three days down, one more to go.

Saturday, things got even awesomer.

Photo Album for Day 1:

I didn’t take many pictures on Friday. That will change.

This is essentially how I told this to my friend Jason, who I usually see at Dragon*Con, but, alas, he had to miss it this year.

Aaron Douglas gave me a hug in the middle of a 300-person fan panel. He got down off the stage. Also, I got to chat with Aaron, and then with the Weasley twins and Neville Longbottom as I got all their autographs. Jamie Bamber was also very funny in the BSG panel. I got a rad picture of Mark Sheppard as he walked by me on the stairs, and Richard Hatch called me “Darlin’,” when he squeezed past me in the Walk of Fame. John DeLancie walked past me on the way out of the Miss Klingon competition. Brent Spiner looks REALLY OLD, Gates McFadden looks like she’s 30, and she weighs about 2 pounds. Jonathon Frakes, however, seems to have picked up Gates’ slack. James Marsters is just as funny in a panel as I thought he would be, and Juliet Landau is just as beautiful and classy as I thought she would be. And I got to spend a ton of time with my friend Nate who I very rarely get to see. I got a corset! And I came home with a decent chunk of money still in my bank account!

For those of you who may not know, Aaron Douglas plays the flight deck chief in Battlestar Galactica. He is by far my favorite character in the series. Oliver and James Phelps play the Weasley twins and Matthew Lewis (who is the awesomest kid in the world, very nice, very cool) plays Neville Longbottom. Jamie Bamber plays Apollo on Battlestar Galactica. Mark Sheppard is in Battlestar Galactica as well, but I knew him as Badger on Firefly. Richard Hatch was the original Apollo on the first Battlestar Galactica series, and now he plays Tom Zarek on the new show. John DeLancie was Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Brent Spiner was Data, Gates McFadden was Beverly Crusher, and Jonathon Frakes was Will Riker. James Marsters was Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Juliet Landau was Drusilla.

I’ll say this about Dragon*Con. It’s the one place I can be in the world and I won’t get judged. Everyone there understands the pull of our favorite television series or books or movie. Everyone knows what it’s like to pay the $85 (unless they pre-regged) to be somewhere with people who understand you. Everyone wants to be there, so everyone gets it. Whether they’re jonesing for swag from the dealer room, or they really dig wearing corsets and big chunky boots and black dreads, or they love Stargate SG-1 and want to know about all the collectibles you can get, or they want to see the celebrities from their favorite show, or they want to argue about which incarnation of Dr. Who is best…they all WANT to be there. They all have an intrinsic reason to be in Atlanta with their fellow sci-fi and fantasy fans, and they are compelled to be there. Around 40,000 of us this year. And we’re smaller than ComiCon in San Diego.

More than Tallahassee, or Thessaloniki, or California, the convention is home. Not because of location, but because of environment. It’s a specific distinction. I get the impression that San Diego will be the place I feel the most at home. It’s California + convention + kickass ren faires within driving distance. Just thoughts I’ve had.

It’s a double birthday today!!!! Everyone welcome to the family my two new babies:

Bellatrix:

Narcissa:

Ratpile!!!