May This Never Happen To You

It’s ironic that just a month ago I wrote about scams and cons.  Today I was a victim of one.  These trolls made me miss two hours out of my work day and caused me an enormous amount of emotional distress.  While my post in January was about multi-level marketing schemes, this was an entirely different ballgame.  Before I begin my story, let me just say that I had never experienced anything like this before, and these people were VERY convincing.  I write about this in the hopes to educate others about the specifics of this scam, and warn you that this can happen to anyone.  (Quick disclaimer– They did not receive any money from me whatsoever, and did not get any information from me beyond what they already had.)

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Gallifrey One 2015

I went the route of comfortable yet dressy con-goer this year. Photo credit to Blue Adept Photography.

Over Valentine’s weekend I attended the Gallifrey One Convention in Los Angeles, CA.  For those who don’t know, Gallifrey One (“Gallifrey” or “Gally” for short) is the world’s largest fan-run Doctor Who convention, having been around since 1990.  Over the course of 3 full days, nearly 4,000 fans descend upon the LAX Airport Marriott.  This post might sound like an ad for the con, but it really comes from the heart and personal experience.  With the rising visibility of the show and its spinoffs in recent years, the convention has gotten so popular that a couple of years ago they started having to cap attendance numbers.  Some people were disgruntled about that, but ultimately it’s for the good of the fan experience.  The convention runners don’t want our little con turning into something as massive in proportion as the San Diego Comic-Con, because they don’t want to lose that smaller fan-run feel.  Keeping the con at a manageable size definitely helps the fans feel closer to their community and to the talent in attendance throughout the weekend.  Of course it also helps the halls from being overcrowded, overwhelming the hotel.  There are already enough attendees that people are spilling over into renting rooms at neighboring hotels.

Nostalgia

I frequently reminisce about the past.  Sometimes I even long for it.  But there’s this thing we do as humans where we leave out the bad bits and just remember the best bits, which I think, is what’s so responsible for nostalgia as we know it.  I realize that some people do just the opposite where they had such traumatic events in the past that they either block it out or choose to only remember the negative bits and let it rule their lives.  Which kind of human you are, which of these two paths you take, is really up to you, and up to what kind of experiences you’ve had in your life.  Maybe it’s also up to how your brain functions.

I Do Mind

On Friday I was at CharLi Beauty Bar for some eyebrow shaping that involved hot wax being applied to my face with paper strips, and the hairs being subsequently ripped out by the roots.  Yeowch!  But not so bad really.  CharLi is a nice person and she knows what she’s doing.  While we were chatting, a song by Usher came on the radio–  “I Don’t Mind”.  CharLi said she hated this song.  “I mean, have you heard the lyrics?”  Admittedly I’d never heard the song before, so I took a closer listen…

Podcasts I Listen To

Image credit to NPR.org

At any one time I have at least 4 podcasts in my playlist queue on the Podcast Republic app on my phone, and at least 12 total in my library.  I’m always adding more too!  My favorites are usually the NPR podcasts that usually tell some kind of story.

Without further ado, here are my current Top 12 podcasts:

Crafting with… WHAT??

Here’s a bit of backstory that’s never really been told publicly.  It’s the story of how in the world I came to translate such a book as “Crafting with Cat Hair”?  I’ve been interviewed by people from Buzzfeed and The Wall Street Journal, and they’ve asked me the same question…

Music I Grew Up With: First in a series

Occasionally while I’m listening to KCRW‘s Morning Becomes Eclectic or other public radio music show, a song will come up that brings back the feelings and memories of my life growing up as a kid in Pittsburgh.  The songs don’t necessarily evoke memories of the city itself; it’s just a sort of nostalgic feeling.  There are so many of these that I decided I’ll make this into a series.  Not every consecutive post will be about personally nostalgic music, but you’ll see it come up every now and again.  I’m really glad now that I didn’t get rid of that old shoe box of cassette tapes that’s sitting in our closet at our apartment.  It’ll be a good resource for me to remember what I used to listen to.  Also a note on soundtracks:  I loved buying and listening to soundtrack albums when I was younger.  I notice that there tended to be a theme with these–  soundtracks from movies starring actors I had admiration for, or crushes on.

Today I’d like to cover Björk (Debut Album), Toad the Wet Sprocket (In Light Syrup and Dulcinea), and the original Dumb and Dumber soundtrack (I had a comedy crush on Jim Carrey.  Oo…comedy crushes… good topic for another time).  Read on…

“Scam” is One Letter Away from “Scum”

…and for good reason.  It’s an unfortunate fact of life that there are just so many scams out there, masquerading as a product or program that is supposed to enrich or improve your life.  Some are a little more in a gray area than others, since they work for some people and not others, but either way I’m of the opinion that their ultimate goal is to bilk you out of your hard-earned money.

All About That Bass… Rankin/Bass

Many people know Rankin/Bass Productions for the stop-motion holiday specials they grew up watching, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  But I grew up enchanted by their 2D animated features.  Their versions of The Hobbit and Return of the King, along with The Last Unicorn did a lot to shape my love of fantasy and storytelling as a young child growing up in the 1980s.  One listen to Glenn Yarbrough’s smooth vibrato, and John Houston’s turn as Gandalf bring the feeling of those films instantly rushing back.  (John Houston was absolutely my original Gandalf.)

Highway to the Danger Zone

My husband and I have lived at this dangerous intersection for about a year and a half now.  When I first saw the apartment I only thought about how spacious it was for the price, for a one-bedroom in a great central location of Los Angeles.  Sure, there was no dishwasher or laundry on site, but I could cope.  (Never again will I live in a place without laundry on site, but that’s a topic for another time.)  I even went to take a look at the place at night– from the outside, grant you.  There are a lot of good things about this place, like the fact that you can always find parking on the street (not always easy in the city) and that it’s only 2 to 3 miles from each of our workplaces, as well as being in walking distance of some of the best museums, the Japan Foundation, and lots of kosher markets and restaurants.  It has a 1930’s/40’s charm to the interior, as evident in certain features of the kitchen and bathroom.

BUT– and that’s a big but, folks….