i'm goin' to toontown

Every so often I remember that (a) most of you here don't follow me on tumblr, and (b) I don't post the kind of personal stuff on tumblr that I used to post here all the time, and what that means is that people aren't getting updated about important stuff in my life. For instance I don't think I've actually posted about it here at all since my relatively recent health troubles started. WOOPS. Some of you already know bits of it; I think I've sort of been stalling on saying anything here until I could put together a coherent and cleverly worded post about it? For some reason?

1. OKAY SO HI EVERYBODY it turns out I've got kidney stones. Have known this for roughly six months, ish, and have been getting various forms of tests and treatment, punctuated by exciting visits to the emergency room -- most recently last Thursday night, just into the last two days of Pesach. I was able to go home Friday afternoon, after another visit to ambulatory surgery to have some new hardware installed; I already had one on the right and now I've got a matched pair. Whee. I'm really hoping to be able to step up the further procedures to finally get rid of the stones (and thus also the hardware, which isn't terribly comfortable). I am assured by my doctor that this is not-repeat-not in any way likely to be a life-threatening issue, and given successful treatment, shouldn't have any long-term impact on quality of life either. I really hope he's right.

2. Unrelated to my health, another thing I really wish I'd posted about sooner: being the Interfilk guest at FKO last month was an honor and a delight, and I hope we get to go back on occasion in future. Phil Mills got some lovely photos of my concert, along with many others; there's also a video of Mark Bernstein leading and directing a choral performance of "Green Hills of Earth." (If anyone here has video of my concert, or knows anyone else who does, please let me know.)

3. This is neither particularly coherent nor particularly cleverly worded, but if I don't just sigh and hit the Post To button anyway, it'll never go up.

Ugh, you guys, I have gotten so bad at posting to LJ/DW. And even at staying caught up on flist. I blame tumblr. In part at least. (Though I'm also currently failing at NaNoWriMo, so I dunno.)

Posts I should be making:

• A poll: should I link tumblr posts here the way some people do tweets? Is this a thing that might interest people?
  
• Belated OVFF con report
  
• Chessiecon anticipation (I've got one co-moderated song circle with Tom Smith, one concert with ladymondegreen as The Funny Things, and one solo concert)
  
• Recent recipes successes: sugar-free plum jam with rosemary, chicken with peaches and balsamic vinegar, gluten-free bread made with flaxseed meal and oat flour, tomato-and-red-lentil crock-pot soup
  
• Why I'm failing at NaNo

Maybe I should try this December Talking Meme thing. Or a variation on it.

So hey, fellow filker types: who's planning to do Balticon this year?

I ask because I maaaay have a concert slot and might possibly be looking for some backup. >.>

So with just under two weeks to go, I have finally gotten around to this: the DW/LJ entry where I post about going to Boskone 2014!

Want to see me there? Here's where I'll be. (Full schedule is up here, if you want to see what else is going on!)

Saturday, 10:00 - 10:50 AM: Tie-In Novels: Writing Within the Rules. Nancy Holder (moderator), Ginjer Buchanan, Craig Shaw Gardner, Batya "The Toon" Wittenberg. A panel about "the art of writing original fiction within established and well-known worlds," on which I'm going to be the representative fanfic writer. ahahahahahahaha.

Saturday, 4:00 - 4:50 PM: Chapter and Verse: Songs About Books. Gary D. McGath
Edward L. Stauff, Mary Ellen Wessels, Batya "The Toon" Wittenberg. A round-robin-style concert, featuring short passages from books and stories that inspired songs, and then the songs themselves.

Saturday, 11:00 - 11:50 PM: Boskone Filk Fest, Set 2. A concert set with Lady Mondegreen and Featured Filker Bill Roper!

Sunday, 11:00 - 11:25 AM: Kids' Concert with Lady Mondegreen. Pretty much what it says on the tin.

Sunday, 2:00 - 2:50 PM: Nattering About Songwriting. Talis Kimberley (moderator), Mary Crowell, Batya "The Toon" Wittenberg. A panel about the creative process.

I'm also planning to be around at the open filk whenever possible, of course.

So many fantastic people are going to be at this con and I will get to be on panels and in concert with some of them EEEE I CAN'T WAIT IT'S GONNA BE SO AWESOME.

So my fever broke dramatically yesterday evening, leaving me damp and exhausted and still light-headed enough to find hilarity in singing fever has brooookeeeen to a possibly recognizeable tune. We decided to wait and see how I was feeling this morning before deciding, and the verdict was: while I am still not at 100%, sdelmonte and I have made it to Balticon after all!

I don't know how much filking I will be doing -- I plan to be nice to my throat and avoid singing at all tonight, at least; for the rest of the weekend, we will see how things go. If I can manage it, I will be backing up a certain bandmate of mine at her concert Sunday evening. :)

Internet folks: I hope to be back at my usual evening haunts by Monday night. Till then, be excellent to each other and don't set anything on fire that we can't replace. Love you all. <3

Home again, in more ways than one.

Alex and I got home from Concertino a little over an hour ago -- many thanks to scifantasy for giving us a lift both there and back.

And I've been to my first filk con -- my first con of any sort, and my first group filksing -- in over a year.

Damn it's good to be back.

HEY GUYS. Want to know why this year's NorthEast Floating Filk Con (Contata 6 / NEFilk 21) is going to be raw hammered rock-the-house awesome?

Of course you do! And there are so many, many reasons. There's our widely acclaimed con suite and our traditional chocolate-tasting party, but you know about those if you've been to Contata in recent years. There's our amazing guest lineup for this year, including the incomparable Judi Miller and the incredible Tom Smith, but you know about those if you've looked at our website linked above.

But what you may not know, and what I am here (belatedly) to tell you, is that this year's Contata is going to be witness to something that hasn't been seen since 1987:

The Rocky Horror Muppet Show.

Yes, you heard me.

Details here!



P.S.: I'm playing Gonzo.

Off to the wilds of Chicago for DucKon, where I will be performing as part of Lady Mondegreen -- and otherwise enjoying what promises to be a really stellar filk track.

Be back Monday evening, may have sporadic 'net access between now and then.

Catch you later, all!

So um guess what. :D

1. I saw Andrew Bird live last night at Radio City Music Hall (with bookelfe. Oh em gee, you guys. SO GOOD. agonistes, I owe you.

2. sdelmonte and I are going to Concertino this weekend after all!

3. This:
If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

So I never do these -- I always say "more later" and then never do -- and I think I should really start. To make it a bit easier, I will do my con report in the form of a series of bulleted lists.

( Bullet time! )

Does anybody have any questions? Any answers? Would anyone care for a mint?