Dragons, Ferrets, and Kittens... Oh My!

On the last Thursday of August I drove up to Atlanta with Carl and G-, Allen's best friend, to attend DragonCon, the largest general SciFi convention in the U.S. and the only decent one anywhere in the South. Although I've been to a lot of conventions, but mainly just here in New Orleans, this was my first DragonCon so it was a very big deal to Carl that I go with him this time. I would have gone with him last year when we first started seeing eachother, but I was stuck in bed for a week sick with West Nile Disease (it's not nearly as much fun as it sounds) so wading through a bunch of freaks and geeks at a con was the last thing I wanted to do (well, maybe not THE absolute last thing); He did bring me back an autographed picture of Boba Fett from that year's con, which I cherish (I suffer from a sick, twisted Boba Fett fetish).
Overall, I had a really good time at my fist DragonCon even though I didn't have a whole lot of money to spend on all the nifty stuff I wanted (I never do, but hey, stuff isn't the most important thing in life), but I did get a few cool board games (I'm absolutely nuts about board games) and several stashes of Icehouse pyramids which can be used to play a multitude of different very fun and addictive games (www.looneylabs.com). I also bought a toy Mokona, the little, magical rabbit-like creature from Magic Knights Rayearth and a statuette of the Golden Age Catwoman (I'm also completely fascinated by Catwoman, but not quite in the same way that I am by Boba Fett-- he's so hot); It's difficult to find cool Catwoman merchandise, she's just not as popular as she should be despite having had her own title for years. I also picked up some small gifts for friends who could not attend, but who really would have had a fantastic time at the convention, just to let them know that I was thinking of them while I was there. I didn't attend many sessions while at DragonCon, but I did stop in on a few relating to the comic books industry; Most of the time I just played in the games hall with strangers or hung around with various Looney Labs volunteers learning new pyramid games.
If I can I will definitely attend next years' DragonCon, but that depends on how much time off from work I can afford to take.
In fact, the only experience I had at the convention that sucked was an argument between myself and Carl, which started because he doesn't like it when people ask him "what's wrong." Apparently by the time I asked so many other people had already asked him that he just lost it and blew his top with me. It was incredibly inappropriate and very abusive, especially since I was only voicing concern about his feelings and had done nothing to incur such a violent reaction. He made some very mean, nasty comments, which is completely uncharacteristic for him. I was so shocked and hurt that I told him immediately that I wasn't sure I wanted to continue living with someone who could act so hurtfully. As soon as I hinted that I might leave him as soon as we got back to New Orleans, he made an effort to calm down and actually thought about how he was acting, then we were able to talk about what had just happened and he apologized profusely. Apologies just don't mean that much to me, however, so even though I accepted his apology sincerely I made it clear that it was still up in the air as to whether we would remain in our current situation or not. In fact, even though we have worked out all the issues wrapped up in that argument and he has apologized sincerely on multiple occasions, it is still known that our living arrangement may drastically change once I go back to school. Carl's a wonderful man and I've never experienced that side of him before, but it's unacceptable that I should need to worry about some day possibly feeling that kind of ugliness ever again and I won't stand for it. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from one man, but I only expect from others what I expect of myself.

Orbit came to live with us on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Orbit is a silver mitt Gib (a neutered male ferret) who is suffering with a prolapsed rectum, which is why the pet store that owned him gave him to me. I've been treating his rectum with hemorrhoid cream and feeding him soft food and he seems to have already greatly improved. I think all Orbit really needs is a solid routine, less stress, and attention from a loving owner to get better, but I'm still taking him to the vet on Tuesday. Hopefully Orbit's condition won't require surgery, but if it does I'm sure I can scrounge up the money I'll need for it in time. Orbit's too sweet, well-mannered, and funny to be allowed to suffer like he was at the pet store.

The very next day after Orbit came to live with us, Carl's co-worker dropped off a fourteen-week-old, pinkish-orange, female mackerel tabby kitten with green-gold eyes to live with us, as well. After I got to know her for a little while I decided on the name Kira, which, according to one translation, means 'sun.' Kira has adapted quite well to life here amongst the animals and Musashi, my Siamese cat, has finally adjusted to Kira. At first he was so terrified of the little kitten that he would go limp or cower if she came too close, now she's still the boss, but Musashi and she also play and sleep together, it's very sweet.