In the movies, there'd be a velcro-type arrangement

[slipjig3]

Why is it that my pants not only routinely split straight up the crotch, but consistently do so only at major crowded social events? At Readercon, I went to say hi to issendai (who I hadn't seen in four years or so) and ookpik, and going in for a hug I went down on one knee and felt fabric giving way in the Delicate Giblet region. Swell. Luckily I was wearing the green striped boxers, so at least I had sartorial panache going for me.

Another trend: I only ever go to Readercon to have Murder Ballads band meetings/rehearsals with cluegirl, and this was no exception. After the business portion of the evening, she and aquila_dominus were kind enough to take me and my now-crotchless carpenter pants to dinner, which was my first trip to Rainforest Cafe. The decor is what you'd get if Busch Gardens yarked on an Outback Steakhouse, but it was a fun time, and the guacamole burger was damn good.

Speaking of crotchless pants, for last week's date night rain_herself and I went to see Magic Mike XXL. She'd seen it already, but she had been blown away by the degree to which it subverts tropes and expectations and she wanted to share it with me. I think there's a full entry in the wings on this one, but she's absolutely right: cultural expectations about masculinity, male and female sexuality, homophobia, body image, race, competition, and even basic notions of screenwriting and dancing itself get inverted and reframed. That, and holy flaming goat balls can Channing Tatum move....

Let's see, what else has been going on? Songwriting out the proverbial wazoo, hanging out pre-Readercon-adjacency with new-friend ourika, a return to KoL for reasons unknown, a frightening first experience with duck eggs (whose yolks should not be that color and consistency, and probably shouldn't smell like sea bass, I'm guessing), and an overdependence on air conditioning, mostly. Andrea's been in NYC this week, which means me having to relearn how to sleep alone (a skill I tend to misplace), but she'll be back on Saturday, which I'm hugely looking forward to. Meanwhile I'm realizing I haven't really gone out all week aside from work—hey, Bostonians, anything going on Friday night that I should know about?

Comments

re: cons

[collacentaur.livejournal.com]

Will you be at Pi-Con?

Re: cons

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

I will! I don't have a room so it'll probably be Saturday only for me, but cluegirl are trying to get a performance slot together, which may end up being a "panel." Will we see you there as well?

[collacentaur.livejournal.com]

I'm planning on it, although like everything else at the moment, it will be subject to changes in Hugh's health between now and then. We both really want to be there, though.

Assuming we make it, you're welcome to our second bed.

[felisdemens.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's Friday happenings! I have just sent you an invitation to a thing on FB.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, invite received! I'm certainly intrigued. Since I'd have to come straight from work, this may be a case where the limits of aforementioned sartorial panache will likely enter into the decision process. (In short, I'm not at all presentable.)

[felisdemens.livejournal.com]

That's easily enough remedied.

[yendi]

How's KOL looking? I'm about a year removed, but still have a lot of nostalgia for it.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

It's pretty much as it was, except totally different, of course. I was gone for a few years longer, and there's so much I don't even recognize: the third floor of Spookyraven Manor, the whole newfangled Orc Chasm thing, the fact that jewelrycrafting isn't even a thing anymore (it's straight-up meatpasting now), and plenty of other stuff. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there have been a TON of changes. It's almost like a whole new game if you've been away for a while. Some of the quests are new, some have been deleted, and there are more low-level stat-builders.

Also, there are "challenge" paths if the regular Normal/Hardcore runs are too easy for you.

[ourika.livejournal.com]

Can the return to Kingdom of Loathing have any connection to sleeping alone?

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Nope, the KoL thing started up again a couple of weeks ago, pre-Andrea's NYC trip. It's all good.

[crewgrrl.livejournal.com]

Do they at least split along the actual seam? That's at least a repairable problem. It's when they split NEXT to the seam that the pants are now garbage.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Fabric, not seam, sadly. The pants are now reclassified as mulch. Siiiigh.

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

My husband has the same problem with pants - not just dress pants, but also jeans. It's very off-pissing, because that's ~$30 down the drain...though I have been known to use the worst of the pairs to patch up the others for knocking around the garden. If you know anyone who is competent with a sewing machine, they could use the patch to create an added "gusset" of materials so that your modesty is preserved and you have a skoche more room to prevent future blowouts. It's not exactly pretty but it makes for functional "it doesn't matter if they get stained or ripped" pants. You could also use flashy plaid or paisley prints for a conversation piece!

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