Saturday, August 9, 2014

Musical Guilty Pleasures

As I alluded to in my last post, my coworkers now all hate me for bringing in an mp3 player load of the world's worst music to torment them with each and every morning.

Not that I consider any of that stuff bad music, I just work with a much younger crowd. They have no idea what most of the songs are. And the older crowd (read: management) don't get the eclectic mix of country, 80's pop, 90's punk and whatever indie stuff I'm playing at any given time.

Hey, diverse taste in music is a sign of a well-developed intellect. Oh wait, I don't get paid to think!

So I may as well confess to some of the things I've been subjecting the coworkers to lately...

Yes, I posted this in the last blog post too, but The Bee Gees are my jam right now. I will never skip this track and I always turn up the volume one way or another, even if I'm at the other end of the building. Sorry, not sorry. I love this song even if nobody else does.

Anything by Brand New will never get skipped and will always be turned up loud unless it's so bassy that my little stereo can't take it. Not The Sun, Degausser and Soco Amaretto Lime are my usual jams, but anything by Brand New gets turned up. Again: Sorry, not sorry!

Country. Particularly this song. Hope You get Lonely Tonight will never be skipped and always turned up loud. In fact, I like to start the shift with this one as loud as can be at least once a week.

The one guy who's close to my age actually recognized this song. Not that I didn't hear groans from the peanut gallery when I turned it up with a big sideways grin as is my routine when one of my jams comes on! Never skipped, always turned up loud.

Some of the younger coworkers actually tolerate this one. This is another that I never skip and always gets turned up loud. This is one of my first songs of the work shift as well. I have to start the day with this at least once a week.

Roseanne Cash. Yup. I had this on vinyl when I was a kid. This is seriously my jam right now. Coworkers really don't get this choice at all. Midlife crisis jam? Who knows? I love this song! Always turned up, never skipped.

If there's one person I work with who knows this song other than me, they really need to come forward. I love this song. Always turned up, never skipped. Get over it, guys! I love this so hard!

Here's a gem that I'm sure nobody gets but me. Underappreciated 1990 hard rock, right before the grunge revolution made everyone who dug stuff like this into "buttrockers" in the eyes of their peers. It's for that one person who I really adore but fight with all the time.

Like The Bee Gees, I can't help but love this song no matter how much people laugh at me.

I love Luke Bryan so much that it's not even funny. I'd give up every fangirl mancrush I have for Luke Bryan. At least the nearest coworker to me and passing managers have a taste for country. Doesn't matter the song, Luke Bryan always gets turned up and never skipped.

It's official, I just love so much weird stuff that I can't even start to cover it here. Besides, youtube doesn't have most of my obscure favorites so I can't share that stuff with everyone in cyberworld.

I'm like Debbie Hunt from Singles. I have all these things that I love which nobody else does...

And no, I don't have that MXPX song on my playlist. You know, this one...?
 

A Note On The Last Blog Post...

I sure blew it. Wrote a big heartfelt goodbye to people who I thought I wouldn't be working with too closely anymore.

Well, after over a month, I'm still in my place in Purgatory. Guess the company thought they were being proactive by overtraining.

I'm okay, still working, just not getting as much money or work as I had expected. Told the bosses I was going to do whatever I had to in order to make my quality time in Package Purgatory fun.

I started taking a radio to work. My coworkers don't like me anymore. The most common greeting I hear lately is "What the hell is this crap?" with "Thanks for turning that shit down!" coming in a close second.

I don't really care too much about what they think. I'm playing by the rules. No cursing or they'll take away my radio privileges. No misloads or they'll take away my radio privileges.

Supervisor came over and made fun of me for jacking up the volume when The Bee Gees came on. "I haven't heard this song since yesterday. And the day before. And 1970!"

Sorry, I've kept a clean playlist, but it's full of my guilty pleasures and you're going to deal with it! Sorry, not sorry!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

An Open Letter to my UPS Team:

I'm getting sent to a training session next week and I'm filled with mixed emotions. I work with a good quality group of people who I hate to leave, but the opportunity for advancement is too tempting to pass up.



An open letter to my UPS team:

As I’m headed off for week-long training, I wanted to take the time to thank you all publically for putting up with me this past seven months. I know I can be a challenge to work with and for your patience, I commend you.

Elaine: thank you for taking the time to answer all of my sometimes redundant questions. I ask a lot of questions because I have a serious craving for knowledge.
I know the process of getting me into training has had a few bumps. I appreciate the fact that while I was stressing over minor things, you always held the belief that things would work out. This opportunity means a lot to me and while I’m a bit nervous, I intend to give my best effort to prove you right.

Jeff: you recognized quickly that I had a good grip on the business end of things, not simply the routine I was expected to follow. You always made me feel welcome even if my previous training didn’t always mesh with the way we do things here.
Thank you for always being approachable and being a fair and reasonable manager. I’ve worked with several people in your position and you are one of the best.

Ryan: I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry. You had faith in me even when I was struggling and I’ve done my best to prove you right in my transition from a different style operation.
At first, I thought your hands-off management style was just a symptom of not caring. Seems to me now that the reason you leave me alone is because you trust me and I appreciate your trust.

Tom: you really made me feel welcome when I nervously returned to the company. I didn’t think you’d take me up on it when on that very first day I told you I wanted a third car because I wasn’t being challenged enough. Oops.
I appreciate it that you enjoy my twisted sense of humor, but even more than that, I appreciate that you’ve always had my back. If I told someone else that I needed a stop moved or there was an issue, it would sit on the back burner for who knows how long. You got things fixed for me when I told you what I needed to be successful.
While we’ve butted heads a bit, I hope you know that kicking you out of my work area wasn’t a personal slight, but simply because I needed to concentrate on the task at hand.
I trust you, even if we don’t always work well together.

Matt: I still don’t exactly know what you do. That said, your twisted smile as you ask me if I’m ready for my add/cuts every day always makes my day a little better. You tied me into things that have helped me to be more successful in my position and those insights are much appreciated. I also appreciate that you know enough about the building I used to work at that we can talk about the differences in the operations.

Philip: We haven’t worked together a lot, but I appreciate your intelligence, your common sense approach and your sense of humor.

My drivers: thanks so much for putting up with me as I was dealing with rookie mistakes from having to learn a new operation. I’ve always tried to have your backs first and foremost, after all, we are a service industry. Your feedback has been very useful to me and I appreciate your good attitudes. I don’t want to name you all personally, but we can all wink and nudge about false walls and add/cuts on the 9000 shelf.

Cecilia: thanks for making me feel welcome and helping me with the safety training I missed between positions with the company. I appreciate your including me in safety even though I’m not an official committee member. I also really appreciate the fact that when I was worried about learning the material for the upcoming training, you went out of your way to get it for me so I could practice.

Crew members: I can’t name all of you separately, but each and every one of you has had an effect on my success. Thanks for making me feel welcome, and for your smartass comments when I really needed a smile. East side, West side, doesn’t matter. You guys rock!

Longtime splitters on the bottom belt: thanks for being my neighbors and being so damn fun to work with. This goes for everyone I was clustered with at peak.
Posse on Broadway forever.
Oh, and you never need to apologize to me about blow-by’s. We didn’t even have those in my old building. As long as it’s not an Over 70, I don’t give a crap, it’s minor in the big scheme of things.
Oh, and thanks for calling out the irregs and bikes for me. And for laughing when I holler “NO!”

Everyone: I know I’m snarky as all heck and can be kind of a loudmouth at times. I also know that the way we did things in my old building are markedly different compared to how we do things here. Yes, it really is customary for hourlies to kick management out of their work areas where I’m from. We also weren’t allowed to talk to each other during shift, nor were we allowed radios. If I’ve seemed a little antisocial, it’s simply because the routine of not talking to anyone has been trained into me so heavily that I’m not used to carrying on a conversation except during downtime.

I know that having come from a different building in a specialized position, I’ve had some really great successes in identifying problems. I’ve also fallen flat on my face quite a bit. It’s sad that now that I’ve finally integrated a bit that I have to leave.

I’m going to genuinely miss all of you, even when I’m doing a happy dance that I won’t have to desperately find a place to cram 47 bicycles once a week or have to deal with the almost daily containment issues on one or many of the routes I load. I know I’ll see you all briefly in the mornings once I’ve returned from training, but I’ll still miss the hours of watching the cardboard masses come down the belt and the sunrise from the loading dock on nice days when the bay doors are open. Oh, and the heaters in winter. We didn’t have heaters where I came from.

Best to you all,
That Girl You Keep Around For Entertainment Value
 

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Degausser (Brand New)

Another song I've had stuck in my head. As with the previous post, giving a video and lyrics highlighted to emphasize the ones that most struck me as fitting these days.


 "Degausser"

Goodbye to sleep,
I think this staying up is exactly what I need

Well take apart your head
Take apart the counting, and the flock it has bred

Goodbye to love,
Well it's a ride that'll push you up
Right against the wall

(Right against the wall)
Chew it up and swallow it

You're brought back but you're running
I'll find sleep in the end tonight
I can't shake this little feeling
I'll never get anything right


Goodbye you liar,
Well you sipped from the cup but you don't own up to anything

Then you think you will inspire
Take apart your head
(and I wish I could inspire)
Take apart the demon, in the attic to the left.

(goodbye my love)
You're brought back but you're running
(goodbye my love)
I'll find sleep in the end tonight
(goodbye my love)
I can't shake this little feeling
(goodbye my love)
I'll never say anything right

I'm on my own, never say anything right
I'm on my own, never say anything right
I'm on my own, never say anything right
I'm on my own, never say anything right

Well take me, take me back to your bed
I love you so much that it hurts my head
Say I don't mind you under my skin
I'll let the bad parts in, the bad parts in
When we were made we were set apart
Life is a test and I get bad marks
Now some saint got the job of writing down my sins
The storm is coming, the storm is coming in


You're brought back but you're running
I'll find sleep in the end tonight
I can't shake this little feeling
I'll never get anything right

I'm on my own, never say anything right
I'm on my own, never say anything right

Take me, take me back to your bed
I love you so much that it hurts my head
I don't mind you under my skin
I'll let the bad parts in, the bad parts in
Well you're my favourite bird and when you sing
I really do wish you'd wear my ring
No matter what they say, I am still the king
And now the storm is coming, the storm is coming in 
 
...
 
I'm totally not going through insane amounts of stress and a huge midlife crisis. Really. I'm just fine. 

Friday, April 25, 2014

"Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" (Brand New)

Every once in a while, I get stuck on a song. Really stuck.

I'll listen to a song repeatedly for days or weeks on end without exception... unless I'm somewhere where I can't help but hear something different.

So I'll share my current obsessive earworm. Found this after some random poking around on youtube, looking for a band name I couldn't remember. The song title had me hooked before I even listened to it and I was pleased to find the song was even better than the title.

I can relate to this song on so many levels, so I have gone to the trouble of highlighting the most meaningful lyrics to illustrate my point.

Tommy Gun. Yes. Win-win.



I am heaven sent,
Don't you dare forget.
I am all you've ever wanted,
What all the other boys all promised.
Sorry I told. I just needed you to know.

I think in decimals and dollars.
I am the cause to all your problems,
Shelter from cold. we are never alone.
Coordinate brain and mouth.
Then ask me whats it's like to have
Myself so figured out.
I wish I knew...


I hope this song starts a craze.
The kind of song that ignites the airwaves.
The kind of song that makes people glad
To be where they are,
With whomever they're there with.

This is war.
Every line is about,
Who I don't wanna write about anymore.
Hope you come down with something
They can't diagnose, don't have the cure for.
Holding on to your grudge.
Oh its so hard to have someone to love.
And keeping quiet is hard.
Cause you can't keep a secret
If it never was a secret to start.
At least pretend you didn't wanna get caught...


We're concentrating on falling apart.
We were contenders, we're throwing the fight
But I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe,
I just wanna believe, in us.


Oh, we're so c-c-c-c-c-controversial.
We are entirely smooth.
We admit to the truth,
We are the best at what we do.

And these are the words you wish you wrote down.
This is the way you wish your voice sounds,
Handsome and smart.
Oh my tongue's the only muscle on my body
That works harder than my heart.

And its all from watching TV,
And from speeding up my breathing.
Wouldn't stop if I could.
Oh it hurts to be this good.
You're holding on to your grudge.
Oh it hurts to always have to be honest
With the one that you love.
Oh, so let it go..


We're concentrating on falling apart.
We were contenders, we're throwing the fight
But I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe,
I just wanna believe.
We're concentrating on falling apart.
We were contenders, we're throwing the fight
But I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe,
I just wanna believe, in us.


This is the grace that only we can bestow.
This is the price you pay for loss of control.
This is the break in the bend,
This is the closest of calls.
This is the reason you're alone,
This is the rise and the fall.

We're concentrating on falling apart.
We were contenders, we're throwing the fight
But I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe,
I just wanna believe.
We're concentrating on falling apart.
We were contenders, we're throwing the fight
But I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe,
I just wanna believe, in us.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Abandoning Facebook and Places You Can Never Return To.

Today I decided to abandon Facebook for the foreseeable future. I haven't been posting much over there lately with the two jobs and everything, so I had already had the thought in the back of my mind.

The final straw was realizing the misery I was causing for myself by logging on and looking at the photos and stories of everyone else's happiness, vacations, adventures and general good times.

I haven't had a vacation since I've lived here. In fact, as I was running out to the store earlier this morning, I started asking myself why I had chosen to live in such a miserable place. I know why I did it. Because there's this one little part of town, by the water, which reminds me of a place I used to go during the summers when I was growing up.

I work two jobs, bust my ass and break my body every day just to start worrying about having enough money to make it to the next paycheck two days after payday. And then I tell myself that I chose this life because it's honorable. I did this to myself. I made the choices in this life that painted me so far into a corner that I'll never truly live life ever again. Penance.

So yes, I've left Facebook to avoid having to be reminded that normal people live in nice houses, go on more than one vacation a year and are generally happy. I spent all my happy years ago. I have no idea how to relate other than to rage when I see that photo from someone's vacation in the one place I was ever truly happy in my entire life. The one place I can never return to because I've failed so badly as an adult that I couldn't even afford the gas to return there for a day trip.

I'm nearing 40, it keeps creeping up on me bit by bit. Soon I'll be too broken to continue in the jobs I hold now. And I have no idea whatsoever how I'm going to deal with it when they cut me loose because I'm too old and can't keep up anymore.

I couldn't hack it as a photographer. I see that other photographers I knew back in the day are ridiculously successful. I quit because I couldn't figure out how to make money at it.

I couldn't hack it in broadcasting. I threw myself in wholeheartedly and when push came to shove, I never figured out how to turn contacts into an opportunity.

I really didn't want to be career in either restaurant or retail management. I could have, but I had no urge to live those punishing hours forever.

I went to school for agriculture. Years later and I haven't even come close to paying for school with my work in the industry.

All I have is shitty manual labor jobs. And myriad talents that I could never parlay into anything lucrative.

All my life I've gone head first into those things that I thought I wanted most. And every time, I've burned myself for doing so.

My grandma always used to caution me about burning the candle at both ends, yet, at this point in my life, I have no other choice but to beat myself to death slowly in order to maintain a status quo that keeps everyone happy but me.

Is it too much to ask to go out and have a drink with friends (I have none)? Is it too much to ask to have some of the locals here tell me where the good secret hideaways are after six years of knowing nobody and nothing? Is it too much to ask that I don't have to work every damn paid vacation I may get from my night job just to keep things on even keel while my coworkers are out fishing and waterskiing and lounging on beaches?

I can't even get so far as the damn poultry auction, which is somewhere I need to go from time to time as part of my day job.

I wish I could jettison this life, it's a waste anyway.

So if you don't see me on Facebook, it's because I'm working. All the damn time. Working to pay for other people's happiness. All while I'm destined to be stuck in my own personal hell forever.

I was working on a novel back in November for Nanowrimo. I got pretty far into it before job(s) took me away from the computer. It was intended to be a requiem for the place I'll never return to. And in having not been able to finish the work, I suppose I kept a small sliver of hope alive that one day I'll be able to go back.

That's what's eating at me now. That small sliver of hope that I really need to let go of. Because looking at photos of friends and family in speedboats in that place for spring break is killing me.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Ghosts of Heartbreaks Past... a confessional post.

Been having a bit of a hard time this past few weeks. Car broke down, in trouble at work, allergies are back already and I can't hear a thing out of my left side. All of this has contributed to a melancholy mood and dredged up a bunch of old dirt that I had planned to leave laying dead where it was.

For some reason, I've been pondering love recently. Not practical, realistic love, which is a commitment rather than a feeling. No, I've been pondering infatuation and romantic love and why that feeling eventually goes away, either slowly or in a huge explosion of hurt. Of course, that got me thinking of all the men in my past who have left me emotionally wrecked.

Apparently, I have really bad taste in men. It's improved over the years, but I sure have picked a bunch of bums. Now it's time to admit more than I should to friends and strangers, just as a way to shake some of the weird stuff that decided to clog my thought processes this week.

There were the married men. Oh yeah. I admit it. 

Two of them. The first I saw for over three years. He introduced his wife to me as his ex-wife. Guess they had an arrangement because neither could afford to pay for the divorce. Things started getting serious when all of a sudden he played the "I need you to pay for my divorce" card. That guy got more than his share of karma and I prefer to not admit to having known him.

The second? It's even worse than a little fling. This happened, presumably, as a rebound after the first married man fiasco. Please understand, this was in my early 20's... I wasn't making good decisions about anything back then. He was so damn cute and sweet and funny. And totally married. I should have known better, but I fell hard for him and suffered for about six months before I would date again after that ended.

Which led to dating an old friend of an old friend. That ended badly too. Which coincided with my incessant chasing of another man who ignored my advances like a pro for years.

Finally, I ended up settling for someone who wasn't right, ending up married and divorced and much poorer and worse off emotionally for it.

In the end, that one guy who ignored my advances ended up giving me a chance. He's stuck with me now... and it was worth the effort.

You have to wonder why the fire and passion goes out of relationships so easily. The longing and need to be with someone somehow exponentially increases when it's a forbidden relationship. As does the heartbreak when everything blows up in the end. Oh, and the longing of a terrible crush that you can't shake.

Relationships are about 10% heart and 100% commitment. It doesn't seem that way in the beginning, but that's what it is. You fall into your routines and the next thing you know, that person you were so crazy passionate about, well, you start to look at them like anyone else you see everyday. Married folks: don't you ever wonder why you look forward to seeing friends or coworkers more than you do your spouse? You look forward to going home, but it's not because you can't wait to be with that person you once so passionately pursued and longed for constantly when you were apart.

You never want that feeling to go away. The feeling of a new, fresh relationship that keeps you wanting more. Yet it does. The fire you feel when you have a new crush - that should last forever. Doesn't the person you chose to be with forever deserve that passion?

It's probably mating instinct that causes those passionate feelings in a new relationship. Sure, there's something logical that explains why that level of emotions cannot continue in a permanent lifetime relationship. Either that or humans are easily bored with one another. Yes, relationships take work.

Hold it here. Work? As in what you should be paid to tolerate? Work.

One of my dreaded exes told me once that a relationship couldn't work if it was 50-50. If both aren't giving 100%, it's not going to work. Good advice, though it was shamefully coming from a player who had several secret girlfriends who I had suspicions about, but was happy enough to ignore. I was such a terrible fool. Once again, I really need to stop talking about *that* one. He had a serious Casanova complex and thought he was above the law, though he always advised others contrary to his actions.

Casanova man... well, he got what was coming to him. I figured out what happened to him by accident one day. I know where he is. I could contact him and let him know I forgive him for all the bullshit. If I wanted to. But honestly, I'm too embarrassed for having been involved with such a douchepuppy that I'd rather not think about it.

I digress.

You've probably heard the term "married, not dead." Yes, I get that. I look. I think, no, know, that hubby looks too. I've got my fandoms and my imaginary mancrushes. I just wish I had more passion in my life... though it's nice to not have the inevitable heartbreak on the downside.

 

"By definition, a crush must hurt. And they do. Just like the one I have on you."




Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Was upset by this...

This morning as I was enjoying a few minutes of time to unwind between jobs, I came across this headline:
"Teen in critical condition after shooting at UPS in Jackson"
News Story Here

UPS goes out of their way to promote safety in and out of their buildings, pushing health and responsible behavior. It's hard to imagine someone being shot as they walked out to their car at the end of a shift. UPS is a weapon-free zone and should be expected to be safe.

I feel so horrible for this kid. Nobody expects to be winding up in critical condition when all you were doing was going out to your car at the end of the day.

I know this blog doesn't have a very wide reach, but could you all please pass this around and see if we can get any witnesses to step forward?

Remember: after dark, make sure to take precautions to protect yourself from assaults. Have your keys out and ready before you leave your destination. I like to have the key ring looped around a finger so I can't drop them, with the car key sticking out between fingers to gouge eyes in case I'm ever jumped. Stay in groups. If you are uncomfortable, have someone walk you out to your car. Check the back seat for intruders before getting in, same with hatchbacks.

The above tips won't prevent a parking lot shooting, but they can help keep you safe.

Best wishes and a speedy recovery to the young man in the story. Bless you, bro.


Monday, February 3, 2014

One of those weird days

I seem to be channeling my inner disgruntled pre-teen fangirl self today. Not good.

Remember those days when you were a little lovesick puppy staring at a poster of some celeb, listening to sad love songs, or happy love songs, but love songs all the same?

It's Dokken night here. Mushy lyrics aside, those guys could shred.

I'm not succeeding in cheering myself up, but hey, at least I'm in the company of "old friends."

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Pretty Girls on a Bruce Campbell High

The best photo from Portland doesn't even have Bruce in it. This is what happy fangirls look like on a Bruce Campbell high.

I still have photos to sort and edit. This will take a while!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Shatner responded to my tweets!

Ha! Pretty awesome. Shocked that my fellow UPS'ers didn't jump all over this, but hey...


Fangirl attempts to start a UPS vs. Fedex Twitter war...

Yes, I have a bit of UPS pride. I couldn't resist trying to take this conversation between William Shatner and Bruce Campbell in a different direction:

Of course, Fedex was quick on the draw too. And then the puns started...

Ha! Fun stuff.

I'm going to have to head over to the other job in a bit. It's going to be hard acclimating to skipping my afternoon nap from now until November.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Wizard World Portland, Part Three

Sunday morning, I was dragging. Tired from not enough sleep, having woken once again at 3am. 

It became hectic pretty quickly after a cup of coffee. Packing and readying to check out from the hotel, though I was hoping to leave my car with the valet while we did our last day of con adventures.

Our hotel was so good to us. Between the extra shuttle stop at the liquor store on Friday, the repeated pickups and dropoffs at the con, the great service, extra coffee, great restaurant and bar and the awesome valet and front desk staff, it was a great experience.

Once packed and the car loaded, I was ready for more fun. First stop: the ticket exchange line. Second: the main entrance line. Third: the Bruce Campbell photo op line. Finally, this stuff was becoming routine. We got into the photo op area well before they started lining us up, but that was okay, we weren't going to do the same song and dance with the lines that we did on Saturday.

Soon enough, it was my turn again. I didn't blink, didn't freak out, just got my picture. Life was good. And Bruce looked good. Mad professor, anyone?
 After that, we rushed straight off to the autograph line. Things went smoothly and we were able to get our autographs. While Kim waited for her second trip through the autograph line, I ran off to meet Robert Englund.

Robert Englund and the Elm Street franchise basically illustrate everything cool about my childhood. Some of my best memories were of renting horror films with my older cousin, listening to rock music, hiding coffee pots in our bedrooms and staying up all night. 

I was a bit nervous to meet Robert, for no reason in the end. I had chosen a rather obscure picture to have signed, having searched high and low for it since I had once had the poster on my bedroom wall, torn out of a horror fan mag.

I took this photo while I was in line because I was too broke at this point to pay for a photo with Robert. Wish I had been able to get one, but maybe next con...

And here's the gem I got signed:
Yes, that's right. From the Dream Warriors music video shoot: Robert Englund as Freddy with members of DOKKEN!

This literally illustrates the best parts of my childhood.
Seriously. Here's me one Christmas Morning with Nightmare 3... I was so thrilled!
And here's me sporting my Dokken shirt back in the day:
 
 So there I am in Robert Englund's autograph line... 

I say hi and hand him the photo. 

"Where did you get this?"

I tell him I looked all over for it since I used to have the poster on my wall as a kid.

He's excited to see the photo, so I give him the extra print I had.

And that's when Robert Englund starts telling me stories about shooting the Dream Warriors video...

Whoa. I'm standing in front of Freddy Kruger as he's telling me about making a video with Dokken. How cool is that?

Probably as cool as seeing Dokken in a small club about 9 years ago.
 

I could have never imagined such a thing as a young fangirl. Never. In fact, even Saturday I would have never imagined things going down the way they did.

But there you have it. Proof that I've been fangirling for a really long time!

Seriously huge thanks to Kim, Jane, Mike, Bruce Campbell, Mike Estes, Ted Raimi, Robert Englund, the Wizard World staff, our hotel staff and my understanding husband for making it a weekend to remember forever!

Wizard World Portland Adventures, Part Two

Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi gave an impressive performance at their panel. While it was advertised as a Q&A, it was anything but the same old: "When is Army of Darkness 2 coming out?" questions.

No, Bruce and Ted decided they'd just have a little fun with everybody. It seems that illustrating what a bitch filmmaking is was a good theme.

They chose people from the audience and decided to make a hypothetical two-minute movie with a $25 budget.







 It was absolutely hilarious. I told Bruce on Sunday how much I liked the panel and how nice it was to see something other than a standard Q&A.

Other fun parts of Saturday Comic Con:
Cosplayers:

Cassandra Peterson doing photo ops and signing as Elvira:

After an exhausting day, drinks and dinner with good friends!

Jane: it was good to meet "Precious."

Falling into bed at 11pm never felt so good... until I once again woke at 3am out of habit.

Wizard World Portland Adventures, Part One

Was fortunate enough to attend Portland Wizard World over the weekend. What a nice little break from real life!

Drove out Friday after work and got to the hotel early enough to check out the con with a friend and get a photo taken with Cassandra Peterson (Elvira).

  
 
 Since we had both traveled a distance, we were both out cold by 8pm. Working graveyards makes it hard to have a life on Friday night. That said, I woke habitually at 3am and had a heck of a time getting back to sleep, which left me a lot of time in the early morning on Saturday to goof off and drink a little coffee with rum added.

I look like a nightmare in the morning. Just think: this is what I look like when I go to work in the morning. Sorry, Faux Bruce Campbell and other unfortunate coworkers:

We had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel, I stuffed myself because I knew I wasn't going to have time to eat again until late. After that, we were in the shuttle and off to the con. I'm so lucky to have a friend like Kim who manages to keep better track of things than I am. Even with my minor OCD, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing when we walked back into the convention hall.

The Bruce Campbell photo op line was our first destination, where we were lucky to meet my online friends Jane and Mike who are new to the U.S. and new to cons as well. They had VIP tickets, so they got to go ahead of us at every stop and we didn't actually get to visit much until the end of the day.

Professional photo ops are a new thing to me as far as cons go. I had been through one with Sam Trammell a couple years back, but that con was small compared to Portland. The line seemed to take forever to move and then all of a sudden, it moved way too fast. Next thing I know, it's my turn. They ask you to take off your glasses to avoid lens glare, so there I am, half blind, trying to pose with Bruce Campbell, looking so dapper in his blue suit. Put my arm around Bruce, SNAP!

The photog hollers out, "We've got a blinker here!" Oh no, I was mortified. Three tries later, a decent photo was taken.
 I'm happy I managed to get a little extra Bruce time, but I was so mortified that I was blinking, probably squinting really, because I'm blind without my glasses. I think I look awful. I have to focus on Bruce, because he's beautiful no matter what.

Then it was a mad dash to the autograph line which they had already cut off. First they told us to come back at 2:15, then 2:30, then 2:45. Finally, we just started lingering as the con staff kept trying to get us to move along. Somewhere along the line, they hadn't managed to inform us that we were supposed to exchange our printed tickets for different ones. Oops!

Hours go by and finally we're near the front of the line when a staff member informs us that our tickets are no good and we need to go back to registration. Luckily, Mike Estes rescued us and allowed us through.

Mike, you rock! I have to publicly thank you for being so kind during the entire weekend.

I left out the fact that we chatted a bit with Ted Raimi and got photos with him somewhere in the process. Honestly, my timeline is a bit messed-up with all the confusion.
 Yes, I blinked. This graveyard shifter was having a hard time keeping her eyes open for the camera.

But back to Bruceness. They were making a big deal of not allowing photos to be taken of Bruce while he was signing, which was a real disappointment. I had wanted some more candid photos to share, but such is life.

Bruce signed an Army of Darkness photo for my son, who wants to make movies when he's older. I told Bruce about my son and we chatted for a short time before I had to move along so the next person could have their turn.

By then we were in a situation. Kim had to go back through the line again due to con rules that said you could only get one autograph per trip through the line. Worried about getting seats for the panels, I covered Kim while she went to exchange her tickets in order to be legal coming through the line again. When she returned, I ran off to get seats for the panel.

In the end, they cut the autograph line off early and Kim didn't get her autograph, joining me at the Sons of Anarchy panel. Our seats weren't that great, the first six rows were VIP. The plan was to jump forward between panels, but we ended up out of luck on that end.

Lucky my camera was fairly kind to me.
 This is Ron Perlman and Kim Coates doing the SoA Q&A.

Bruce and Ted were up next with their Q&A, which turned out to be anything but the standard Bruce Campbell Q&A.

Due to space, I'm going to break up the reviews into bits, so this is officially To Be Continued...