The lazy knitter is so lazy she forgot to blog about it.

Wow so it's been over a year since I last blogged.

Which isn't exactly true, I've done quite a few blogs since then, but they've been work related so not hosted here.

In the last year I've done quite a lot.

I got a fitness tracker after I posted about one (Garmin -vivo Smart HR for the record) which definitely helped me be more active.

I separated from my partner and became a single parent, which took up a lot of the year to be honest.

Oh and I started LARPing, which has pretty much taken up all the rest of my free time.

I have done some knitting, but not a lot, the things I've knitted have all been kit related for LARP's, priorities huh?

So yeah, interesting year 2016, and 2017 is already looking so much better.

Fitness Trackers and New Years resolutions

After a few months of friends, family and colleagues all banging on about their Fitness Trackers I decided I should get one. But which one?! 

The Jawbone UP 24 seems to be the accessory of choice at work, friends all seem partial to the FitBit Charge HR and my mother in Law had the Vivofit. 

The FitBit and the JawBone both seemed very popular so that's where I stared my research. I love the look of the Jawbones, they are really pretty, and just look that bit different, not like a fitness tracker at all. Unfortunatly the UP 24 has now been discontinued and the reviews for the following UP devices weren't as good. But the FitBit Charge HR was winning all the top spots in any reviews I read. 

One issue I had is that I have tiny wrists, I mean, I can still wear kids gloves, so I was really concerned that whatever I got would be comfy and not look bulky. So in November I had a trek around town to try on some fitness trackers. Unfortunately I couldn't find ANYWHERE that carried the Jawbone, it seems to be an online only thing, which meant I couldn't try it on. Boots had the Fitbit however, so I was able to try that on, but I just didn't find it that comfy. So I was a bit dejected at that point, and gave up and just went clothes shopping. However, in a running shop I spotted the Vivo range, and actually really liked the Vivosmart, it looked really nice, was comfy and was even waterproof! But I wasn't convinced by the catch on it, which I thought was a shame, nor did it have a Heart Rate monitor. But chatting to the guy in the shop and he said a new version of the VivoSmart would be coming out in December, with a lot of improvements and including a Hear Rate monitor. 

So I went home and started my research. All the online reviews for the VivoSmart were ok, but lost out against the FitBit for various reasons, but in America where the VivoSmart HR was out, the reviews were much better, really good in fact. A watch catch. Heart Rate monitor. Better sleep tracking. An improved ap (which was one of the main complaints previously) etc. etc.

So on the day it was released here in the UK I ordered it. And I've not regretted it. Since getting the tracker I've been much better about eating healthier, about moving around more, not sitting at the desk (or on the sofa) for prolonged periods of time. I go to the gym a few times a week, and I've found it's good at keeping track of the calories I've lost doing workouts. I also swim once a week, and again it's good at tracking that, it's waterproof up to 50 meters. Ok yes, it would be better if it had specific setting for swimming etc, rather than having to record everything as a run and then change it in the ap, but it's not the end of the world. 

It's super comfy to wear, I barley notice it, and I find it needs charging about every 5 days, which is ok. The barometer for tracking how many flights of stairs you climb isn't very accurate, But then my friends with FitBits say the same about theirs, so I think this is a general issue and I'm not too bothered. I thing my one issue is with Garmin, The backlight on my Vivo stopped working after about 3 weeks and I tweeted Garmin about it. The replied and asked me to send an email so they could help. I never got a reply, that was two weeks ago. Now thankfully I had read on a forum that charging the Vivo could fix most issues, so I plugged the Vivo in and lo and behold the back light starting working again. Fab. But it would have been nice to have a reply from Garmin!! 

All in all I love my VivoSmart HR and would recommend it to anyone wanting a fitness tracker to help with their new years resolutions! 

Getting ready to split

So, next year there is going to be a Split Worlds LARP ball, for those of you who don't know what the Split Worlds are, shame on you!

The Split Worlds are a series of novels written by Emma Newman. Link to the books here. They are fantastic, and for NineWorlds this year I cosplayed as Cathy or Catherine Rhoeas-Papaver, from the novels. This is me and Emma Newman. Before you get all clever, I know the dress isn't regency, or Victorian, but it's magic so totally canon for the books! ;) 

Well anyway, it's now been announced that there is going to be a LARP ball based on the novels in May (so totally awesome!) and it's now time to start costume planning. Link to event details here.

As such for the last month I've been looking at patterns and pictures and today I bought some fabric!!  I'm hoping to get two dresses done (with the help of my Gran!) so I've picked a gorgeous turquoise cotton for my day dress, with a brown cotton for the trim and a matching Spencer jacket. 

For my ballgown I've got a lightweight gold velvet (I wasn't sure about velvet, but the internet assures me there were velvet ballgowns in regency times so hopefully it'll be ok). I've got some lovely forest green ribbon for trim and I've just ordered a matching (I hope) shawl. 

So I'll keep you updated on my progress! With photos as we go. 

Nine Worlds - My thoughts and experiences of 2015

So another Nine Worlds is over and done and I've had a day to decompress, reflect and think things through.

Over all my thoughts on this year's con were good. As ever the thing that makes Nine Worlds so great for me were the people. I'm always a bit shy when it comes to meeting new people (those of you who know me at work will laugh at that, but in uncertain terrains it's true) and I tend to just talk to those I know, this year I was determined to overcome my natural defense mechanisms and actually talk to people I hadn't met before. And I did, I met loads of fantastic new people, I stuck up conversations with randoms,  I met new friends, I spoke to one of my all time favourite authors, I even attended the newbie meet up and helped talk to those who were feeling a little overwhelmed by their first con. Go me! The Sunday night was the best night of the con for me as it was great fun just sitting in the bar chatting to friends I knew and friends I'd met over the weekend.

I also made the effort to Cosplay this year, and it was great, the whole atmosphere was very welcoming and relaxed for cos players,  there was none of the pressure you sometimes get, and I really enjoyed it. I went as Catherine Rhoeas-Papaver from Emma Newman's Split Worlds books, and that seemed to go down really well, which was awesome. I even had one lovely lady ask me to sign her books as Cathy which totally made my day. :) 

The photo to the left is me and Emma Newman (Isn't she fab? If you haven't checked our her books you need too! Go on, I'll wait right here...) http://www.splitworlds.com/ 

All the panels I attended were great,  really interesting and varied, at least the ones I could get into were (see niggle 1 below), although a couple did seem a little disorganised this year, they were all really fun. 

There were however 3 main niggles this year for me.

1: Overcrowding, I don't know how ever one else felt,  but to me it felt like a few too many tickets had been sold. Everywhere was busy, 90% of the panels I went too were not just full, but turning people away. There was a lot more queuing this year for things, and those queues were long.

2. Hotel service: (now this one isn't the event's fault, but it was still really annoying) In terms of customer service in the bar and main restaurant there really was none.  Now I will say that on the first night we ate at the Indian restaurant in the Radish on,  and the service there was great, but in the Bijou bar, and the Steak and Lobster bar all I heard about (and experienced) was the terrible service. At one point on the Sunday afternoon we went to the Bijou bar so I could grab some chips. There was no one waiting to order, there was staff at the bar and yet it still took me 15 mins to get served.  I kept getting told they'd be right with me but no apology or reason was given for them taking so long to serve me. I honestly think they were just hoping I'd give up and go away. There were people in the queue behind me equally frustrated.After I got served it then took 45 mins to actually get my chips. After 30 mins I chased them up. After 40 mins a waiter came to ask me for my receipt and admitted they'd forgotten my order. No apology was given. It was frankly astounding. I did hear form others that they had found they got better service if they took their lanyards off, not cool! 

3. And this one us a weird one. The badges: Now I'm a big fan of the 'idea' behind the badges, and last year I felt they were used really well. This year I saw another side to that when I had a bit of a negative experience with someone wearing one.

Let me explain, for those who don't know, that I have Dyspraxia.  As with all things it differs for each a bit, but for me it means my short term memory can be shocking and I can get lost very easily. The Radisson for me is a maze, and several times I ended up sat in the wrong panel. No big deal, usually most people are happy to point me in the right direction (and I will say a very lovely purple vest man walked me all the way to the quiet room on the Thursday when I got a bit lost). But on the Sunday I tried to go to the Historical cocktails panel and got a bit turned around. When I did find the room it was full of people talking, not what I expected from a panel, so I wasn't sure I was in the right room. After standing a bit uncertainly for a few minutes I worked up the courage to ask the lady sat closest to the door if I was in the right place and so I very politely approached her and asked if she could help me and tell me if she was there for the panel. She turned around and glared at me (honestly glared) and then grabbed her lanyard and held her badge up so it was right in my eye line (A red badge obviously) and then turned her back on me.  I  apologised and backed right up but it really upset me.

Now I don't have a "disabled badge,  nor should I need one, at a con like this everyone is usually very friendly. I would never approach someone with a red badge intentionally, but there was no way I could tell from behind that she had one; nor was I trying to strike up a conversation with her, all I was trying to do was ask for a bit of help. I don't know how you solve this one, but for me the badges don't work if you can't see them, even from the front they are too small and easily missed, so maybe we should have coloured lanyards instead, that way they can be seen more easily?

All in all I'd say it was 90% of a great con.

Will we back next year? Not sure yet. I'd definitely like too, but as we are attending Star Wars Celebration in London at the end of July 2016, we will have to see. I've offered to run the Musicals track next year, and if that goes ahead then we'll definitely attend, but if not, I'm currently 50/50, if the venue changes that would make a huge difference (and all the rumours suggest it will) but we will wait and see.

For those interested in attending, here's the link to the Nine Worlds site here. I would definitely recommend it! 

Give me Something to Sing About - The Music(als) Pitch for NW2016

The whole idea for running a Musicals track came from a conversation with friends at last year's Nine Worlds, about how many shows had musical episodes now, which led to a wider conversation abut Musicals (not that I ever need an excuse) so I mentioned the idea to one of the Nine Worlds staff and they told me to submit a pitch. 

Once I got home and started having about Musicals, and running a Musicals track, I cam up with some things I thought it would be interesting to discuss that were not related to musicals strictly, so much as were music related, so I widened the pitch a bit! 

So, this is the pitch I submitted to Nine Worlds last year, and have sent off again this year:

Panel ideas: 

1. Feminism in Musicals. So looking at everything from Calamity Jane to Disney.

2. Do villains get the best music? (Ursula, Oogie Boogie, Darth Vader!)
3. Celebrate Disney (join with Kids track, prizes for costumes, sing a long to Disney songs, coloring in, pick you favorite hero/ heroine/ villain ?)
4. An analysis of musical episodes   (Lexx, Fringe, Xena x 2, Buffy, Scrubs, Community) 
5. Driver picks the music- How important is music in genre? (Supernatural, Buffy, GotG etc)

6. Films that straddle the border - Is it a Musical or just a film with music? 

7. When the Soundtrack is as famous as the film (A celebration of Queen)
8. Songs in literature (GoT, Tolkien, Hunger Games etc)
9. Songs as parody and homage (Not Literally, taking the hobbits to Isengard, weird Al Yankovich, filk etc...) 
10. Guilty pleasures (songs you sing in the shower) 
11. Representation of LGBTQIA+ in musicals. (Hedwig and the angry inch/ Cabaret/ Rocky Horror etc) ((Join with LGBTQAI+ track))

16. New Hollywood vs Old Hollywood  (Rogers & Hammerstein vs Hairspray etc)

17. Use of classical music in Sci- Fi (although this would probably need people with actual music knowledge/ actual musicians involved!)

18. Williams vs Elfman (pick a side and defend your choice!) 

Other things to do:

1. Showings/ Sing along's: (Lots to choose from- Repo/ Rocky Horror/ Little Shop etc as well as Buffy / Dr Horrible) 
2. Create the soundtrack of your life (nominate songs to create the ultimate soundtrack)    ((This could be a white board outside the room that people can write on, similar to the cookbook idea this year))

3. Musicals quiz

4. Parody Party (dance along to the parody songs)

Guests:

Well if we could get Anthony Stewart Head that would be amazing! ;)

Other than that I'd suggest we just ask if any of the authors other guests etc like musicals and want to join in?

--------------

So what do you think? What am I missing? What more could we do if given the chance? 

Obviously there's been some great comments on Twitter, but I thought if I put the blog up we could discuss it here, which might be a bit easier (certainly easier for me to look back on if this actually goes ahead!) 

Busy Busy Bsy

Well this year has certainly started with a bang.

I started a new project at work, and then got a promotion. I've spent the last few weeks dual running roles which has been a bit hectic to say the least.

My other half has also got a new job, and then on the day before he was meant to start he got kidney stones and was rushed into hospital. He's mostly all better now thank goodness but still, as I said, busy, busy, busy.

Certainly hasn't left much time for blogging or knitting that's for sure!

Let it go, let it go....

So Christmas has been and gone,

Happy new year everybody!

I got three of my four projects finished on time, and the fourth is still on-going as there was a hitch with the pattern I was using so I ended up having to frog it and start again with a different pattern. I've got to admit when I realised I wouldn't get it finished on time I may have got a bit lax. *slaps hand* Easter presents are a thing right?

I'm not one for resolutions really, I think people tend to not stick to them, they're a bit clichéd, but this year I have one clear resolution, stop over thinking things and let them go. Stop dwelling. Look for the positive.

I'm one of those people that hates bottling things up, if there's an issue I would rather tell someone so that it can be dealt with. But I know I also tend to over think or over analyse things, I look for issues where there may be none, I worry. A lot. And you know what? I need to stop.

While I still firmly believer that bottling things up doesn't help anyone or anything, and there is a need to talk things out. I also think I (and many people) just need to stop worrying what others think about me, and stop looking for issues or insults where there are none.

I think, if there really is an issue in your life it'll become obvious. If it's not obvious, then it's probably not a thing you need to be worrying about. If someone forgot to mention something to you or was a bit off last time you talked to them, stop assuming you've done something wrong. Maybe they were busy, maybe they have a lot on, maybe they're stressed. If they do have an issue with you, they'll talk to you about it, and if they don't, then they're probably not the friend you thought they were anyway, so does it matter?

Move on, let it go.

That's my resolution.

And do more knitting. Obviously.

*wanders off singing "Let it Go"* Damn Frozen soundtrack.