It has been an incredibly lovely weekend, all told.

On Friday, after work, I went to go see a production of the play Dancing at Lughnasa at my former high school. Going to see it was a curiously mixed experience. Seeing all of the familiar faces, though I'd only been gone for a year, was wonderful, but at the same time there was an odd sense of distance; a boundary between us that had maybe begun in senior year, when there were only a few seniors and only one junior in the group, and especially when I had directed a show. This was different, though. I was now classified as "all grown up" and "gone away," though still attending a nearby community college for various reasons that still make me bitter.

Despite the distance, however, it was a great experience. Reading through the playbill, I saw how the characters could have been one-dimensional, and feared that each of the sisters would be very different, and I would once again come away from a play or movie feeling that I had more than one of the characters as various aspects of my personality, and that it was completely unfair of the playwright to act like there were such clean divisions in traits. Nothing of the kind happened. Though the character of the teacher was stern, she also had a lot of love and kindness in her. Though the flighty sister was raucous and bawdy and more than a little saucy, I still had moments of connection with her, and appreciated why she was who she was. Though the homemaker was motherly and took care of the lot of them, she still had her moments of bitterness and anger. And though the young mother of the boy was a romantic, she was still often not a perfect mother, though she cared for her boy. I am not sure whether it was the writing or the acting that made the play so great, but I suspect it was both. The characters were too well-written to ever be one-dimensional, and my former colleagues had increased in their abilities by miles and bounds; the one going so far as to make me cry during a particularly intense scene. I may be a bit of a softie, but it still takes a very good emotional connection to push me to tears, and by golly, she did it.

After the show, I hugged and congratulated my friends effusively, though still feeling that disconnect a bit. Then I walked to the train station to catch the bus, feeling actually glad that I hadn't thought to bring my ipod with me. The quiet, slightly chilly but not cold night was perfect for walking, and it gave me time to mull over the play and my experiences with it. On the bus there was a man with a drum, beating out a repetitive rhythm that somehow fit. And walking from the bus stop home, I was filled with a sense of satisfaction and peace. I rather feel that seeing that play was the missing piece, the little bit of the jigsaw that I needed to tell me that it's okay to be who I am, and who I am becoming. There may be many paths in life, but all have their merits. I am not settling for something less by having found a path that will suit me, and one that I will comfortably and quietly enjoy, while my friends still struggle to make sense of who they are and how that will apply to the world around them. With light feet and a feeling of anticipation for the future, I made my way home.

Saturday, I went to Wondercon. Big leap, I know. Still.

I woke up at around 8 or 8:30, despite having gone to bed quite late, because I believed that Hero would be bringing a foam wrench made for a previous game over. Upon waking, I saw a message he had sent me saying that he didn't feel like waking up that early, so he had biked over the previous night and left it then, instead. Looking outside, I saw it gripping the doorknob to the garage.

I went in, got made up, lopped a bit of my hair off to form bangs for the character I was to be cosplaying:

From:


To:


So it was a bit of a sudden change. Felt good, though. I'd been meaning to do something to my hair for ages. Haven't dyed it in over a year, and cut it in over two. [/girliness and vanity] Then it was off to the con.

I had mostly gone to see various webcomic artists. I started with the Foglios, obviously, as I'd been going as one of their characters. (You may think it's Agatha, but without the locket it's kind of Lucrezia possessing Agatha. Didn't get a chance to act as such, though. Pity.) I asked them to sign my book, and they were kind enough, but I was shy, and hared off quickly.

I saw the people at the Blind Ferret Entertainment booth, made a quip about how they were all wearing pants, and moved on, hoping to see Alina Pete. Found her, but again was shy, so I made a little small talk, and bought three more buttons for my bag (stopping short at buying the pink one emblazoned "gamer grrrl" because I felt that was going a little too far).

Jostled by the crowds, I made my way back to the Blind Ferret booth, and hung around there for a good while. They told me I was completely welcome, wearing a corset as I was, though it was just plain silly to wear a shirt under a corset, and that I should take it off. Taking the comments in good humor, and appreciating them for the compliments they were (after all, I do hang around with theater people and larpers), I pretty much just stayed and knitted, feet growing sore, and at one point taking it upon myself to be a booth babe as I hadn't bought anything and felt kind of awkward just hanging around. They're good people, though. In all seriousness, you should check out the webcomics Least I Could Do, Looking For Group, and Gutters. They're entertaining, and made by some nice guys. They may be my second- or third-most favorite Canadians, after the Loading Ready Run crew and after or tied with Alina Pete.

Finally, Ariel told me he'd gotten into the con after all, so he came to meet me. We checked out the Foglio's booth again, both of us a little awkward because we'd each been there separately before, but while there, I found out he had some round glasses that made my costume infinitely better, so that was cool. He also showed me where Willis of Shortpacked!, It's Walky!, and Dumbing of Age was, and got a drawing of Mike, which he gave to me. Then we went off to have lunch/dinner with our other friends and I completely missed out on seeing The Meek and Lackadaisy booths. Drat. Still, though, an awesome time.

At lunner, Kitty drew a freaking awesome picture of me, that I am determined to have framed, and then Ariel and I headed back to catch a train, while the others went back to the con. I hung out with Ariel at his place with Wolf and Bard (who I hadn't seen in a while, and was a lot cooler and nicer than I remembered. He saw when I was really lagging from being tired, and made sure I was okay, and gotten home alright.), and later Overlook. We watched some youtube videos, played some music, had some tea, and completely failed to getting around to playing Pathfinder, but it was a really wonderful night all the same. I am once again convinced that I have the best friends. They're a lovely bunch of people who care for and about each other, and are creative, awesome, and basically all-around great guys.

And that brings us to today. It's lovely and sunny out; practically summery. I have an essay to finish revising, and some reading for Anthropology to do, but that doesn't spoil my enjoyment in the least, because it's just so nice out. The wind chimes are ringing, the plants are rustling, and if you step out the front door, the wisteria makes the whole world smell pretty. I finished re-reading Roald Dahl's Boy because it was a lovely memory from my childhood, and because the sheer enthusiasm in his writing makes everything really awesome. And later tonight I might see Ink with my mother, even though I recently saw it, because it's such a good movie and deserves a re-watch to see all the subtleties.

I don't like indulging in petty recounts of my days on here, because I'd rather it was an outlet for profound thoughts, but considering how often I am likely to have profound thoughts, and what a nice weekend it was, I'm allowing it this time. And I still feel that my coming to terms with who I am and who I will be was a pretty major development, so it kind of still fits. Shush. It's my blog, and I'll do what I want.