YetiCon 2016

This past weekend I spent several fun-filled hours at YetiCon, up near Collingwood, at Blue Mountain. My very high expectations were in no way disappointed. This con did everything right, in my opinion. I'm sure even Thor Odinson was impressed.

Some highlights for me include the gift of a watergun I was given for registering early, the frankly adorable mascot, the stellar location, the opportunities to avail ourselves of some of the top-quality activities at Blue Mountain, the friendly, informed, open, and just plain awesome staff. Also, this fantastic Fem!Bucky whose hair game was rocking my world.

I also got to spend time with some awesome con pals. The above shot is of Castiel (left) and Gabriel (right) from Supernatural. I made both sets of wings. It was intensely gratifying to be able to cosplay with my dear friend after so much time searching for exactly the right coat.

On Sunday I got to try out a new closet cosplay. Pictured here alongside colonial Jack Frost, I managed to pull off early Daredevil, before he gets his cool suit.

I also hosted another panel. Thanks to everyone who came out and made it (hopefully) a good experience for all involved.

The only monkey wrench in the weekend was the fact that my rear right tire went mysteriously flat during Friday night. However, with the help of one of my hotel roomies, I was able to change it for the spare. Definitely leveled up in adult-ness.

Anime North 2016

(Captain America)

There is no way to capture any Anime North weekend in one blog post. But I'll try.

This was the first con I'd ever attended as a panelist and it went better than I ever could have dreamed. My other three fellow panelists were all brilliant and erudite. My panel audience was full of fantastic stories and successes. My venue was huge and not even a little intimidating. Not at all. Nope.

(I want to say Sansa Stark. Forgive me. I only just watched season 1.)

The heat was intense and the sun was brutal. I heard stories of heatstroke and shuddered at the sight of skin-tight pleather, fur, armour, and full-face helmets. Cosplayers are warriors who daily battle the elements and their own fatigue in pursuit of their art.

(Auditore Assassin)

One of the most amusing things that happened to me this weekend was me and my hotel-room-mates' reaction to Saturday. After being at the con since 10AM, we all headed back to the room at about 5PM. We somewhat intended to return for the masquerade, but we ended up ordering pizza, playing cards, and then going to bed. We had just as much fun chilling out with con pals as we would have back at the con. Such is the life of introverts.

All around fantastically fun weekend. Special thanks to the AN staff who are a hard-working bunch of folks, to my fellow panelists (especially Abbadon who picked us up our badges), and to everyone who made my con special.

Captain Motivation!

ADHD has a hard time with procrastination and this is a relatively well known fact. What isn't as well know is why this challenge occurs. Recent research has suggested a factor might be our reward systems. This is a neurophysical term that basically means motivation. Dopamine is a neurochemical that allows the brain (ADHD or not) to sustain motivation.

The ADHD brain produces lower levels of dopamine ordinarily, however it has no trouble working on something fun, because the enjoyment is producing dopamine which allows us to focus. But take away that enjoyment, and the dopamine it produces, and it becomes significantly harder to sustain focus, sometimes to the point of a physical impossibility.

I was faced with a challenge of dopamine production this week. I am working on an extremely boring task and was flagging in attention and motivation. To make matters worse the task was also extremely mentally taxing. When my brain works harder, it requires more dopamine to function, which means the small amount of dopamine I had was being used up faster.

I had been working on the task for several days when one day I saw that Canadian Netflix had added Captain America: Winter Soldier. Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of my top fandoms and I hadn't been able to see the film when it was in theatres, so I was very excited. Due to issues of morality and technological incompetence, I do not stream or pirate media of any kind.

So I decided Captain America would be my reward for finishing my task. The prospect of being able to watch this movie provided me with the dopamine I needed to finish the task in increased mental comfort. I finished in 3 days.

What do you use to leverage your motivation?

The Art of the Geek Ninja

Here's the deal: not everyone cares about the things we love. They won't be counting down the hours until the next Star Wars movie, they don't cover their bodies, their homes, their cars, and their lives with references, and they won't necessarily want to hear about the book you were reading last night. Even if it was really good, and... No. Some people, incredible as it may seem, just don't care about that stuff.

It's sad for them, but take heart! You have recourse! You can begin your training in the stealth arts of the geek. No murder required!

The art of the geek ninja sometimes requires patience. Laying in wait for the perfect outfit that you can wear to work but more importantly is actually a perfect feminine version of your latest cosplay.

It sometimes requires bravery. That oil painting might look abstract to the casual observer, but you know it's actually an exploding time machine, painted by a mad-man.

And sometimes it requires just the right moment...

When I was married, my now husband and I knew we wanted to make the wedding our own, wanted it to reflect who we truly are. And who we truly are is a couple of geeks. The shirt I made for him to wear is part of a cosplay, my dress was a medieval pattern, he cut the cake with a lightsaber, there was a Pokemon reference in our vows, but my favourite stealth geek part of our wedding was the most subtle of all.

As our guests assembled in the church, a musically-inclined cousin played the piano. We'd given him a stately, slow piece that sounded perfect for entering a church for a wedding. Or, you know, entering a temple devoted to time in order to go back and save your kingdom from the darkness you can only fight as a child.

Every piece of music was from a game both of us had played. At the reception our gaming friends ran up to us, demanding to know where they’d heard those pieces before. And I'm certain all the non-gamers had no clue what they had been hearing.

Now, go forth, and spread your love of all things geek upon the world. But do it... Stealthily.

The Lesson of Deadpool

Chanimaille Deadpool.

The entity known as Deadpool (real name: Ryan Reynolds) has something the world can learn from. So sit down, and let me tell you a thing.

Be you. Forget the rest.

Deadpool: in theatres Feb. 12th 2016 (Rated R)

Five Reasons You Want an ADHD Brain on Your Zombie Apocalypse Team (Part 1)

First installment of a 4 part series. Part 2 is here.

Disclaimer: Not every person with ADHD will have any or all of these. Displaying anything on this list doesn’t mean a person has ADHD. The things on this list aren’t unique to ADHD.

1. Built in alarm system

ADHD as a whole takes in a ton of information at all times. That’s why we can be prone to be Highly Sensitive Persons. This also means we will be the first to notice the footsteps of the approaching dead. In addition, our physical hyperactivity means we make fantastic perimeter guards. Just make sure to leave us with a buddy or we might get bored and wander off.

2. So. Incredibly. Useful.

Because boredom is our worst enemy, it’s likely we will continuously make ourselves useful around camp. We tend to be jacks of all trades and have random bits of knowledge and skills, at least some of which will have to come in handy during the apocalypse.

3. Intuition is off the charts

We will just know when something is off. Maybe the fauna around the camp stopped making noise, maybe one of our team is acting slightly off, maybe that water isn’t safe to drink. All these things will be evident to us without any explanation. Trust these random flashes of intuition, they might just save your life.

4. Fantastic in a crisis

The zombie apocalypse is just one crisis after another. This is good news for an ADHD brain which thrives under the instant adrenaline rush caused by a sudden emergency. We react and jump into action before other types of brains have even realized something is going down.

5. The nerd factor

Interest in a subject is key to ADHD success so when the end of times arrives, grab your nearest zombie apocalypse nerd with ADHD. They will be an expert in all things zombie and survival and remember everything they learned with perfect clarity.