cosplay update
So far I’ve done 5 months of 12 for the cosplay calendar.
sorry for the delay…
it’s been a busy summer! after my derry family reunion, i was off to spicer for a bachelorette party on another lake. i still have to upload pics from the reunion, too. charlie and i tried to get some moon pictures. right now i’m still working on the cosplay pics – i think when i’m done with today’s, i’ll see if i can remember to post what i’ve gotten done so my dedicated blog readers can see how that’s progressing!
finally lake time!
it’s lake time! last year, there was no derry family reunion, which made me sad – i had a severe lack of lake last year. this part of the state is conspicuously absent of lakes. i know i could drive an hour two, or go put my feet in the puddle that resides in the state park, or setup my chair next to the mississippi that masquerades as a lake. it’s just NOT the same.
i didn’t realize how swell i had it in the NL-S area with the multiple lakes, then the central MN area with not quite so many but still more than here number of lakes.
but this weekend is leech lake time, and next weekend i’m heading up to spicer to spend some time on lake george for a bachelorette party. i’m definitely getting some lake time in this summer.
(the only sad thing about this weekend is that nate isn’t coming. he already took a week off this summer and has to work. boo.)
in which there is a fair
when i was growing up in austin, we went to the mower county fair every august. it was a magical experience as a kid growing up. after we moved to new london when i was 14, we went to one kandiyohi county fair and that was it; it wasn’t a free fair, and it was 20 minutes away in willmar. nate and i had gone to the benton county fair in st cloud for a few years, but it never held a candle to the golden standard of my youth.
this week, the winona county fair has taken over the small town of st charles, with cars lining otherwise empty streets and fairgoers mingling til 11 p.m. i’ve been three times. (and had minidonuts and lemonade three times.)
it made me kind of wistful for something that never was. for some reason, the fair to me is for high schoolers, with 4-H entrants and high school sweethearts holding hands on the ferris wheel and girls thinking they’re hot stuff strutting through the midway.
the last regular county fair i’d been to was at age 14 – just at the cusp of prime fair-going age. then it stopped. the fair was never something my friends in high school at NL-S talked about attending; maybe it was the cost? maybe it was too far away? and not that i had a boyfriend in high school with whom to hold hands and steal kisses on the ferris wheel, but i feel like it’s something i missed.
at dusk with the lights blinking on and the smell of fried foods on the air and shiny sundries beckoning, the thought of being 17 and young and hopeful and maybe in like with a boy who’s holding your hand seems like the perfect way to spend a summer evening.
i may have missed the peak time for a nerdy midwestern girl’s fairgoing experience, but it’s still a great way to spend a summer evening.
in which there are garden pics!
in which there is talk about semicolon tattoos
don’t believe the headlines: “see someone with a semicolon tattoo? here’s what it means.”
i KNEW when i got my semicolon tattoo that there was a movement among self-harmers and depression sufferers to tattoo the punctuation on their bodies (most often over their scars). i KNEW this. and i still got my semicolon tattoo because i love love love me a semicolon; who doesn’t love a semicolon? plus i’m a grammar nazi, so it made sense to put my love of words and word rules on my bod somewhere.
however, there has been a lot of attention given to project semicolon recently, and i’ve seen a large push of articles. and what annoys me most about these is that the writers assume that ALL people who tattoo semicolons are doing it because of overcoming their mental health problems.
now, i’m not anti-project-semicolon. i think it’s fine and a lovely way to commemorate starting afresh.
however, i am anti-assume-everyone’s-tattoo-means-the-same-thing.
people can get a semicolon for many, many reasons: mine means punctuation is awesome and word rules rule; perhaps that person had part of his colon removed; maybe she’s a programmer, where semicolons are a huge necessity; could be a reward for getting a ph.d. in english; or, maybe that person did overcome mental health issues and came out better on the other side.
the truth is, everyone’s tattoo means something different to each person who decides to get inked. a better headline would be: “see someone with a semicolon tattoo? start a conversation and ask what it means.”
in which i pontificate on my garden
oh, weedy garden. somehow i’ve gotten you back from the brink and you’re producing vegetables!
yesterday, i pulled a ripe cherry tomato from my plants! it was delicious. there are green beans ready to be picked, and my kohlrabi are sprouting up! my squash selections are going nuts, and i’ll have to thin them out eventually.
it’s raining today, which we needed, so tomorrow if it’s not too muddy, i’ll try to get out and take some photos of the vegs.