Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

For the first time in two weeks, The Gryphon and I had a weekend to get some stuff done and have some fun at home together.

On Saturday, we had brunch at a place in Media called the Koffee Korner. The service was slow, but the food was delicious. I had raspberry pancakes, and they were just filled with raspberries.

From there, we went to my hairdresser's so The Gryphon could get a trim. This would be his last hair cut before my sister's wedding. It had also been about two months since the last time.

They were having a celebration of 19 years being open as a salon, and they had a little table set out with catered goodness. I didn't take much, since we'd just eaten, but I couldn't resist trying the Brie.

After the hair appointment, we stopped at a computer parts store to get the UPS system The Gryphon says will help protect me from power outages during thunder storms. While there, we also got me an optical mouse, since my existing mouse has been acting funny.

Then we drove to IKEA. We were equipped with a wish list from my sister of things that she and her fiancé wanted as wedding gifts. We also needed to get some organizational stuff for our new place.

We had a little trouble finding some of the gift suggestions, but we eventually settled on a few. We have reason to believe she'll like them, since they were, after all, on her list.

For ourselves, we picked up lots of organizational items, such as colorful boxes for me to use in my office, and CD and DVD racks for downstairs. When we checked out, the cashier asked us if it was for home or for an office, and we told her it was for a home office and also for our home.

Before leaving, we ate a light dinner at their eatery. We drove home and spent a little time with my dog, Una, before changing and heading out to a party we'd been invited to, which the hosts were calling the Geeknic. It was a bunch of people who were involved in science fiction and gaming groups in the Philadelphia area, many of whom were the same who'd been at the Halloween party. The event was also part birthday party for three different guests, including one of the hosts.

It was finally warm enough for me to wear a miniskirt I'd bought a little while ago which is a light green with a pattern of purple flowers. I wore it with my Wild Violet tank top, which came in handy several times when I mentioned my literary magazine. I could just point to "WildViolet.net" on my shirt.

The party was in the back yard, and there was a big tent for the food and for the DJ table. This time, the fires only added extra light, as it was warm enough no one wanted to gather around them. They'd done a lot of landscaping since we'd last been there, putting in a pond and a rock garden. There were interesting little touches like plastic skeletons and dinosaurs.

We were warned at the outset not to give alcohol to any of the animals, but I never would have anyway. There were a duck and two dogs outside and two cats inside. The cats would tag team me to get petted every time I went inside to use the bathroom, and they always purred so loudly and acted so happy it was hard to stop. One of the dogs, a little muscular dog named Jake, was only interested in food. I once called his name. He sniffed the ground around me, found nothing, and trotted away again before I could pet him.

But Jake could get aggressive, popping up onto his back legs and jumping on people. He didn't frighten me, of course, because I'm used to talks. I would push him gently back down and tell him no. The Gryphon told me later he eventually had to be taken inside because he was getting so aggressive he was starting to nip at people.

The duck did no nipping, but tried to do some napping. But it was so unnerved by all the people, it kept one eye open. The duck also begged for chicken at the grill for the longest time, which was very disturbing to watch.

We talked to a lot of people throughout the evening, The Gryphon and I. He chatted in lawn chairs for a long time with his friend, who had been the D.J. at the Halloween party and a fellow mad scientist. They definitely have a lot in common. I came over and they were talking about computer programming. I walked away, got a drink, talked to some other people and came back.

"Are you still talking about computer programming?" I asked.

"Hello, Geeknic," Dr. DJ replied.

I tried to insist I wasn't a geek, but then The Gryphon found various ways to point out how much of a geek I was, including working for the biggest anime convention in North America, Otakon and having once served as president of the Penn State Monty Python Society.

At one point, I talked to a friend of ours who is also an Otakon staffer. I don't remember how the subject came up, but I guess we were talking about how a lot of women at Otakon wear costumes that are completely wrong for their body types. Instead of making them look sexy, it just looks wrong.

So she started talking about how she's been trying to lose weight, and I told her that was great, mentioning that I myself had lost 80 pounds. "Really?" she said. "I thought you'd always been skinny."

I told her that, in fact, when I'd met her I'd weighed at least 50 or even 60 pounds more. This seemed to surprise her, but I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

I spent a lot of time in the tent. The current DJ had been a zombie doctor at the Halloween party. While listening to some tunes, I ended up talking to a guy with a buzz cut and a camouflage kilt that I have to call G.I. Joe, since his name is Joe and he's in the service. Even though we had very different political beliefs, we did agree on some things, like the fact that we have to turn Iraq back to the Iraqis and get our troops safely home.

We also talked about such things as Kevin Smith movies. But here we differed once again; he's such a fan, he actually thought Mall Rats was a great movie.

There were actually several guys wearing kilts at the Geeknic, although G.I. Joe was the only one with a camouflage kilt. Most of the guys had black ones. They were utilitarian work kilts, made by a guy who frequents Renaissance fairs and the like. Apparently, they're very comfy.

I joked with The Gryphon that he should get a kilt because I think he has nice legs, but he insisted he wouldn't feel comfortable. That's OK; he wears shorts sometimes.

One of the hosts, whom I believe I've previously referred to as the Film Maker, and who was Elvira at the Halloween party, was in costume once again. She was wearing the dress her mom had made for her to wear to her graduation from her graduate film studies. As you might imagine, it was made from strips of exposed film.

The style of the costume reminded me so much of a belly dancing outfit that I had to tell her so. But I'm not sure it would have worked well for dancing, because of it being so stiff. It had a banded top with some pieces of film that hung down, and a similar skirt, with longer pieces of film.

I joked around a lot with a writer from New York. She's a science fiction and fantasy writer and editor, and she was giddy, having a great time. It was the first chance she'd had to relax in about six months. At the end of the evening, she gave me two of her books to review for Wild Violet.

Once, Jake came up begging food and I told her he wasn't interesting in petting but only food. She bemoaned that she had no food left on her plate, but she'd just eaten stromboli and her hands smelled like it, so she petted him.

I said, "Oh, great, now he hates you. Now he smells like meat and all the other dogs are going to be licking him."

She started laughing and couldn't stop for several minutes.

The zombie DJ played lots of interesting songs that I didn't know. They were great for party music but not necessarily for getting people to dance. When he disappeared for awhile, Dr. DJ took over and played some great tunes that had several people up and dancing.

While we were dancing, I saw some camera flashes going off. I hope that people weren't taking pictures of me but instead of the Film Maker and her sister (the butterfly at the Halloween party), who were dancing sensuously with their friends.

The guy who'd been Dionysus at the Halloween party was up to his old tricks. He was putting cold beer cans on women's backs to see their reaction. The writer from New York loved it, since she was overheated. He begged for more, which he just loved. But when he tried it on me later, all I'd do was shriek, so he went away.

We were having such a good time that at the end of the evening it was hard to break away. But when the clock started to read 1 a.m., we knew we had to get going, for Una if for no other reason. Una was, of course, overjoyed to see us. We all retired to the air conditioned bedroom for a good night's sleep.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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