Oh Hey There

Yeah. So I’m still around. I’m just busy with that job that I was looking for. Turns out that my major in Costume and Makeup Design can at least get me a job working in the cosmetics depart of Macy’s as an Oncall. Which is sort of like a Cosmetics Nomad. Not affiliated with any one counter but able to go between them all. I basically cover people’s shifts, pick up the extra ones that aren’t assigned to people and do a lot of grunt work while looking fabulous.

I got my AA degree finally. Which feels nice. Took forever but I didn’t give up and I got the damn thing. So now I have a degree in Costume and Makeup Design. So there. Take that world!

I am engaged to my boyfriend of six years and we are getting married this coming July. Super excited about that. Like it’s so cool I can’t even begin to explain how cool it is. Planning a wedding is fun, exhausting and daunting but we are getting there.

I worked at a Mortuary for a bit as a paid intern. That was super cool and only solidified my desire to become a Mortician. After the wedding the next plan is to move to Sacromento where I will go to school to get a degree in Funeral Sciences so I can do my apprenticeship and eventually get my license. I’m really looking forward to that.

On a sadder note I did loose my kitties. Mama died from a urinary tract infection that sort of snuck up on us a couple years ago. Dante died a few months ago after 15 years of love and devotion. I miss them both terribly but such is life.

I still LARP. I still work at Haunt. I don’t do much Cosplay anymore due to time and money constraints and also the negative changes in the culture. Just not my scene anymore. I’ve started a new blog called the Cinemasochist where I review really bad movies so you don’t have to watch them. I’m still working on my first post but when I do it I’ll let y’all know.

For now though it’s a steady grind of retail work and wedding planning and dealing with family stuff. I’m still alive. I don’t intend for that to change anytime soon.

I’ll try to be more active. Maybe. Probably.

 

Gaslight

Today I want to talk about one of my hobbies. LARP, or Live Action Role Playing.

What is live action role playing? It’s kind of hard to put it in a neat little nut shell but I’ll try. Live action role playing is essentially a form of group story telling using impromptu acting. Wherein players create characters with full backgrounds and personalities and interact with one another both verbally and physically. All actions and conversations happen in real time and create an ongoing story. Narrators or storytellers act as game masters, creating plots and non player characters (NPCs) for the players to interact with and react to. Thus adding to the experience. That being said, LARP is one of those things that you will never fully understand til you try it.

Full immersion LARP is a type of live action role playing in which you stay in character the whole time, only going out of character in emergencies and the like. It is usually done over an extended period of time, like a weekend and often uses simulated combat using foam covered fauxcimilies of weapons called boffers.

Or we could go with how I usually explain it to my coworkers, which is: “I run around the woods in Victorian garb pretending to be someone I’m not and hitting people with foam covered sticks.” Which of course makes me sound like a lunatic.

Either way, it’s super fun. It gives me a different perspective on the world around me and allows me to try different sorts of communication and decision making methods in a safe environment surrounded by like-minded people who support me by doing the same. Plus! I get to make costumes for it. Oh so many fancy Victorian costumes. Costumes I will soon have pictures of to share with you.

Also I’m the safety officer for our game. Which means that I basically tell people not to do foolish things that will get them hurt and I oversee first aide and make sure the boffers are safely constructed.

Our next session is coming up at the end of the month and I’m super excited about it. (In case you couldn’t tell by my gushing.)

Obligatory Shameless Plug:

If you are a geek like me and are looking for something awesome to do or you are merely curious about what I’m talking about, please check us out at: http://gaslight.endogaming.net/forums/index.php

or on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/408328925860344/