Hello there, friends! Jme and I just got back from our first road trip, a couple days to Fairplay and Buena Vista and the hot springs there. We did not, obviously, go by car. In fact it would have been silly to go by car when we both had supercool helmets and jackets on. We rode his Triumph Thruxton 900 and it was very Jack Kerouac and late 50s and pared-down adventure. It was amazing!

( Adventure ho! (with more pictures)Collapse )

I have stories, ohyesIdo. Let's get together soon around a table and I'll tell you the story of When Jme Got Cranky... and he'll likely follow with the story of When Skye Got Really Cranky. Both stories end in a pool at the hot springs, though - so let that be a lesson to you, I say.

More road trips, motorcycles, beautiful vistas, cowboy cooking, livin' simply, and hot springs for us all!

So The McLandsborough and I had some bonding time the other weekend with his dad and dad's girlfriend.

( I may be that girl.Collapse )

Heads up, fellow travelers:

Southwest has a great deal on flights from Denver to LA, Oakland, Portland, San Diego, San Jose and Seattle at $69/$79 one way. You can travel until October, I think, but book it by June 4th.

Who loves ya, baby! :)

I just got off the phone with a merchandising manager at AX and as of right now, I am hired to be on the staff of Anime Expo! Like, STAFF, not volunteer. There are all SORTS of perks to being staff but maybe BEST of all I have a hotel room and breakfast and lunch paid for - which means I can just barely afford to go, basically (*cough* Now taking applications for my dinner-date dancecard...*cough*). I'm getting an email with details soon but generally my job is I will be traveling about with a gentleman who will be my manservant carrying the merchandise and I will be selling merchandise to the lines and at large gathering-places.

So basically? A modern convention-version of the 1940s Cigarette and Candy Girl :)

I'm very happy about this - it's an active no-sitting-on-my-buttocks-all-shift job and I get to interact with TONS of people and take money in exchange for stuff they want - what a PERFECT job! I had a great 'phone interview' with my boss, Kacie, which was more about us laughing and joking together. I put quotes around 'interview' because she told me right up front that HER boss (Justin?) loved my application. (There was no formal send-a-resume; the application was fill-in-the-blank and I must have struck the right tone for what they were looking for which would be, I'm guessing, friendly, outgoing, trustworthy, intelligent and with a sense of humor. BIG SURPRISE; I PROJECT THESE QUALITIES.) I wonder if they will be surprised when they see me in person? Kacie told me each department has names for their under-staff and hers she named 'minions' - seemed appropriate, as I guess quite a bit is made of the fact that our department MAKES ALL DUH MONIEZ. At one point in the interview I called her ma'am and she said, "Oh, you don't need to call me ma'am! I'm sure you're due more respect than I am!"

"As my boss, YOU get all my respect and the glory, of course!" I said, to which she replied, "Well, it hardly matters - the attendees are going to say we suck, no matter what."

"Yes," I said, "but those attendees are going to stand in line for 2 hours to be allowed to buy their way into the convention and then line up again to give me money. That's enough 'respect' for me, no matter what comes out of their mouths."

"Good point!" she said, and repeated what I had just said to the guy in charge of Art, who was sitting doing his interviews beside her. To which he said he would NOT call her "ma'am" but he DID think I would make a very excellent minion.

And so I shall!

I know this is sudden but I'm going away for a bit; some much-needed convalescence, I hope. We're leaving tomorrow and I'll be back late late Saturday night because I have to work Sunday. I am so happy but I have a lot to get ready very quickly! To all my usual Friday and Saturday weekenders - sorry for the late notice and I'll catch you next week, ok?

To get to where we're going we're driving for 8 hours and I'm SO looking forward to it! I think the west is beautiful and I find road trips (with adults, of course) to be great liminal spaces - good times to relax, get to know someone better, laugh, talk and make a lot of sweet memories. I don't mind driving, not a bit, but I look forward to sketching in my sketchbook on the way, too. We go south over and through the Rocky Mountains and into the canyonlands - mmm, green and blue pine and granite gray transitions into brown and orange strata and sandstone red, I'm picturing it already...

Cross your fingers that I have a good and relaxing time!