Thoughts on the Journey

My last couple of days have been busy as I substituted for middle school drama on Friday then spent yesterday at Arisia then back to fact-checking today. Sadly my energy level hasn't been great as shark week hit and on Friday, my cold decided to go, nope, not gone yet.

Arisia was amazing and reminded me of how much cool stuff there is in the Boston area that I want to try and get involved in along with fascinating people that I know. I went into the con with a lot of holiday money and happily spent it on jewelry, books, a cool antique satchel that made me think of Cassian and delicious chocolates. There was a huge amount of gorgeous cosplay but I ended up not taking a lot of pictures as I was having some shy moments. Though I found it all really inspiring, next year, I want to try and get more involved and spend a longer time there.

Day 11

Share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life.

I'm going to choose two musicals because one of the best parts of yesterday was going to dinner and talking Sondheim with cool people. There was a point where PBS was showing Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George on television and I was caught. In Sunday in the Park, there are a few songs about making art from Putting it Together to Finishing the Hat and they still feel to me so true about how creativity works.

Into the Woods has become one of my favorite soundtracks, I connect listening to the music to starting at Milliways as someone shared it with me. No More and No One is Alone are songs that they always get me. Its oddly hard to describe why, because this music clicks and I think that's how it is. There's that moment of oh yes, you've said it and I always feel better when I hear it again. I just put on the last song of the first act of Sunday in the Park when the painting comes together and my breathing has matched it.

Day 12

In your own space, create a fanwork.

I wrote a Jyn/Cassian fic that I've had in mind since the first cold snap, when it seemed that everyone was writing them snuggling for warmth. I saw a post on Tumblr about men wanting to be little spoons and it gave me the push I needed to write this as Cassian wants to be held by Jyn.

Cold as Home (421 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso
Characters: Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, K-2SO (Star Wars)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Hoth, Domestic Fluff
Summary:

After returning late from a mission, Jyn searches out Cassian for warmth and he shares some truth. My version of Jyn and Cassian together on a cold night.

Day 13:

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year.

These goals are very much inspired by this weekend. No deadlines as I get enough of those with fact checking.
-Invite friends over to my place
-Finish and post more fics
-Investigate and attend meetups and fannish groups
-Figure out how to follow up with friends of friends that I had good conversations with at other events
-See about auditioning or volunteering, something with a theater group
-Spend more time with my relative in the area
-Apply for more jobs, get a reference from where I'm teaching

Live theater is the best and I’m so glad I decided to see Fiddler on the Roof, the cast had such energy and the staging was wonderful. The dancers were breathtaking and I loved how you could tell they were having a great time. It makes such a difference. I ended up buying a book about the making of the musical that I’m looking forward to reading called Tradition. I ended up not doing the stage door because a lot of people were going backstage and it was kind of chaotic. I do have an autograph of the lead from when he was in Cabaret and for me this show was more about the show and its such an ensemble cast.

Tomorrow I have set aside for hopefully connecting with people and fun stuff. I'm going to try and get to the Star Wars costume exhibit and hopefully a museum.

I'm behind on Fandom Snowflake and will do a few of those entries next and maybe some writing. I always have such a contact high from live theater that it makes me very creative.

I just picked a show and booked tickets to see the new production of Fiddler on the Roof on January 14th. I'll be staying two nights and I'm really looking forward to this. Picking a show was hard but then I found a great deal on seats and snapped it up.

New York folks, I will be in contact about possible meetings as I'll have Friday all to myself.

Life has been full with fact-checking and interviews because the job search is always present. Today I had a tough interview that I got through and feel like I presented myself as I wanted to in. I'm also reading a lot of good books and have finished a mix of great and okay books. Also last week, I saw Hal Holbrook's Mark Twain Tonight and the choices he made of using Twain's words to speak about racism was amazing and I want to write in more depth about it. It struck me with the power of theater.

What I finished reading

Uprooted by Naomi Novik, this book hit me in a lot of places I knew. The worry of not fitting, stories, not being who you're supposed to be and how to be yourself when everyone wants you to be someone else. This is one of the best books that has a fairy tale at its heart but is its own thing that I've read in a long time.

I Kissed An Earl by Julie Anne Long, part of her Pennyroyal Green series. I enjoyed reading this book that plays with the tropes of a bored debutante and a captain with a hard past but it didn't hit me as hard as I expected. An enjoyable romance, well written, great characters and a wonderful understanding of certain tropes but not my favorite of her books.

What I'm currently reading

the Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor which is fantastic. The writing is beautiful and the setting is fascinating. I've been meaning to read her and I'm hooked.

The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh, this is her third Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane mystery. When they first came out, I read her books and was impressed with how she wrote Peter and Harriet. This one is definitely hooking me.

Welcome to Paradise by Rosalind James. This is an ebook I picked up because the author's from New Zealand and I was curious. Its caught me which I never expected. The setting is a reality tv show that's a cross between Survivor and those shows where people have to live like its another era. I also find the use of a reality tv show clever as she can play with tropes and intense situations and it works in a way that it doesn't always in contemporary romance.The writing and characters feel real so I think I'll be reading more of Rosalind James.

What I'm reading next
Probably Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold which is technically a reread as I have some ideas about writing fic and RP for Ivan Vorpatril. Before I do that I have to remind myself of the various versions of him and this will turn into an entire canon reread.

I've traveled far too much today and at the moment, I really miss my parents' powerful AC. Today began at around 8 am when I woke up after a really nice dream. Well, multiple dreams about doing theater auditions and in one of them, I ended up next to a cute guy dressed in a medieval/Roman outfit. One of my revelations from this trip was just how much I miss theater. We didn't talk, but it just felt comfortable. So I woke up, had an egg salad sandwich for breakfast and then we drove to the Philly airport and my parents continued even farther north for their own trip.

Since our drive went really quickly, all the traffic was going South, I had a lot of time to kill before my flight. That meant I had a nice lunch of the other sandwich, read all the way through The New Yorker and then found out that the wireless in the Philly airport didn't want to talk to my laptop. My flight was a little bumpy due to weather but we arrived early and I ended up talking a cab back since the_croupier and I had some crossed signals.

I got home, caught up with people for a bit and just came back from a dinner at a brewpub. I was okay, I had fish and chips, good beer and a chocolate cake, but the humidity here is making me feel so worn out. The break was really good for me, I just wish it had been longer. Later I'll do a proper write up of it since a lot of things happened and there are lots of pictures. For now, I'm just hoping that my AC can cool things down and see how long I stay awake.