A Great day (and then there was today)

[hobgoblinn]

Well, first a report on my first ever real life meeting with an LJ friend. And not just any LJ friend-- one of the first authors I read and followed and loved in any fandom: nwhepcat. I was so nervous, and I am so glad I didn't break our meet up plans with some lame excuse, like automobile accident, bubonic plague, or ficathon deadline. Because, at least for me, meeting a kindred spirit like her was a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

I must say, comparing notes with a Real Author was enlightening. She has finished a Novel, folks. Ok, yes, it has certain Marketing Difficulties, but still. She's finished it. I have some real hopes to see published work from this woman sometime before we both die, and I kind of see what I would have to do to give her, and my other friends the pleasure of seeing some of my published work before we all die, too. I had a thoroughly delightful time. Even though I'm still blown away by the little ficlet things she starts in her journal-- she really Doesn't have any idea where those things are going when she starts. (In fact, if *shoes* appear in Tantor and Tarzan before the end, I will dance a gleeful dance of triumph. I had a lot of fun throwing out wild things, and now that I know the story direction is not set in stone, I'll probably comment a lot more just to stir things up.)

I suppose I should mention-- you know how you get a mental picture of someone you only correspond with or deal with over the phone? And how they never match that mental picture when you meet them in person? Well, I thought she'd be a lot shorter. And much younger than me. And very cool. I only got the very cool part right. Which, I guess, is the important thing.

Anyway, I hope it will become a tradition to meet up for BBQ every year when she comes back to this neck of the woods to visit Hepmom and Hepbro. And I am officially game for a meet up with anyone on my flist who's coming to greater Cincinnati for any reason and who isn't an axe murderer. (I may make an exception on the latter, but only if you leave the axe at home.)

But coming back to reality REALLY sucked. I had to go work a church festival after I left the great Lady nwhepcat, and there I did a good deal more "leading by example" for the Boy Scouts than I'd intended, bussing tables for the chicken dinner. My new Scout Uniform kinda rocks, though, If you're into the paramilitary vibe. Sadly, teenage boys still do not listen to a word I say. Or preteen wee hobgoblinns.

And today, Good Lord. My best friend at work, a guy who knows everything and does the work of 3 supermen now, has gotten pissed off enough to really be actively contacting recruiters. When he leaves (no question of if-- this place put the D in Dysfunctional), his workload will fall to me, and I ain't that smart, damn it. It was a very scary and depressing day. I need this job, and I never went to school to learn programming, so all I have picked up is very ad hoc and my gaps of knowledge are ludicrously wide. I'm not sure I could *get* another job in a less dysfunctional place, where they will let me relearn and learn basic stuff as I go, as long as I get stuff done eventually. Things are so chaotic that I really can take a day to figure out a simple "how do I use this module from CPAN to do this simple date calculation" and get away with it, because some of the simple text manipulations I can do faster than other people, and nobody's working very fast to start with because they're all more burned out than me. It is a Bad Situation.

Ah well, back now to the ficathon additional entry-- antennapedia just informed me the person I was pinch hitting for has come through in the clinch with a story. But I'm still going to finish mine, now that I'm into it again. Wish me luck. I certainly thank everyone for their comments and support over the last several of my entries.

Hob

Comments

[headrush100.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad your meeting with nwhepcat went well! I knew it would. :-)

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, thanks. Shame you live so far away-- you're another I'd love to meet. How have your short story competitions and such been going?