My plans to begin my dive training hit a little snag a while back (the money I was saving to do it mostly got spent @ FanExpo), but I've managed to get back on track now. Yesterday I bought the last piece of equipment I needed to complete my basic kit (the wetsuit I had previously posted about but was unable to purchase at the time), and now it's time for phase two.

The shop where I intend to do my training has an intro to diving course for $45, and an open water course for $450. Together, and with tax factored in, it comes to $520. I had most of the money saved up back in April, but as I said, most of it got used for FanExpo swag instead, so I had to start from (almost) scratch. Thankfully, I've worked out a plan whereby, with a little skill and luck, I'll have the money I need by the end of next month. Then, one clean bill of health later, and I'll be ready to begin my journey under the sea.

I'll be heading to the pool on the weekend to test out my complete kit. It should be interesting to see how well the wetsuit works underwater. I've never worn one before. Should be fun.

Here's a couple of pics of me in the gear.

Hey, everybody. As you may or may not know, my birthday is on Saturday. I just wanted to request that if you are planning to send me a birthday message either in a PM or in a blog post, please refrain from saying "May The Fourth Be With You". Yes, I am a Star Wars fan. No, I do not find that joke amusing. Thank you in advance.

Well, FanExpo Vancouver has come and gone. And despite only getting an hour's worth of sleep the entire weekend and spending Sunday operating on a combination of energy drink buzz and good wishes, a fun time was most assuredly had. The main reason I went to the con was to meet Juliet Landau and James Marsters. James told me that he loves coming to conventions. It's nice to know that celebrities love to do cons. And Juliet was incredibly gorgeous, in an elegant kind of way.

I attended a number of panels: one on Continuum (a locally shot sci-fi show) the Landau/Marsters panel (which I left halfway through, as I hadn't eaten at all by that point in the day and was hungry as hell) and the Stan Lee panel (where someone swiped the question I was going to ask him.) Apparently, according to him, the reason The Avengers made so much money was because we were all searching for his cameo appearance.

Also got a chance to hang out with Aadie and Chevvy, who were there to promote Jack of All Trades Clothing [/Cheap Plug Ala Mick Foley] on Saturday, and Alkaline on Sunday. Gave Chevvy and Aadie some of my old comics. (Chevvy's a big Buffy/Angel fan, so I gave her some of my old Spike comics, while I gave Aadie some of my old Transformers comics.)

Oh, and then this happened.





Feel that? That's your mind exploding after seeing the epic awesomeness of these pics.

Some more random pics from the con:




















And my swag.

Sunday is my one year anniversary on SuicideGirls, but seeing as how I’ll be out all day @ FanExpo Vancouver (hopefully), I figured I’d do my blog post commemorating the event now. I was originally planning to post this tomorrow, but I might not have time to do it.

You probably know the story of how I came to be part of this website (if not, click here to read it). In the year since, I’ve had a lot of things happen in my life, both good and bad. But one thing that’s kept me through everything has been the friendships that I’ve formed here. I’ve made a lot of friends, and though I’m thankful for each and every one of you, I wanted to take a moment to single out a couple of you in particular.

Tita: It’s not too much of an exaggeration for me to say that, were it not for you, I never would have come to SuicideGirls. When I first met you @ Taboo 2011, you made me feel so welcome, and in the time since, you’ve always gone out of your way to make me feel special. You certainly are one of my favourite people on the site, and I’m always happy to see you whenever we meet in real life.

Aadie: Words cannot adequately express how much I’m glad to have you in my life. I feel ever so humbled that someone as awesome as you would be friends with someone like me. I also want to thank you for your encouragement as I work on my current life goals. You helped spark the inspiration that started me off on this journey, and knowing you did it keeps me going whenever things get tough.

Cruella: We never really get a chance to talk in real life whenever I come to a SG event, but I always enjoy the time we get to spend together. I hope we continue to get more chances in the future.

Rydell: I remember how much fun it was hanging out with you at The Astoria. It was just after I had gotten let go, and I was feeling kinda down and out of it. But on that night, you helped me to forget about it, at least for then, and I’m ever so thankful for it.

Chevvy: I remember when we met @ Taboo 2011. Sadly, I was in a world of my own that day, so I didn’t really get the chance to get to know you that well. Thankfully, the year since allowed me more than ample opportunity to do so, for which I am thankful, for I consider you one of my best friends here. And now I look forward to seeing you every year @ Taboo, knowing that it’s also your birthday that weekend.

JackRabbit_: SO honoured to have your friendship, Jackie. You’re definitely one of the special people in my life, and you’re someone I can always turn to whenever I need to talk about anything. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.

CleoKat: So happy to have your friendship, Cleo. You’ve definitely had a role in helping me break out of my shell. Thanks for that.

Cheshire_: You were one of the first people to become friends with me, and I’m so happy that you did. You’re an awesome person, and I’m so glad to be friends with you.

Cadavre: You’re a recent addition to my circle of friends, so I don’t really know you all that well yet. I hope I can get to know you better in the coming year.

deadlyash: You’re a stunning beautiful woman, and I’m happy to be friends with you.

Georjah: I consider you a “friend of a friend” since I only know you through Aadie, and even though we met at The Astoria SG event, we haven’t gotten the chance to properly get to know one another. Hopefully that will change in the near future.

Hexxus: I remember checking out your profile and noticing that someone had made some off-putting comments about you. I just had to give my two cents, because anyone who would be dumb enough to do that doesn’t deserve your friendship. But I’m glad that you think I’m worthy of your friendship. Thank you.

kas: When I made my first blog posting (six months after signing up) you were one of the first people to respond to me. That helped me feel a lot more comfortable about doing it. Thank you.

Electrohead, MorbidNYCKid, MutantBaby1, Laurelin and PeachySweetLove: I always enjoy discussing wrestling with you guys. Thank you so much

Luna: Thank you for the signed print. It’s truly one of my greatest treasures.

Perr: What can I say about you? I was a little hesitant to talk to you at first, but I’m so glad that you did, because you, along with Cleo, have made me feel more comfortable about expressing myself, as it were. And then you made me aware of the fact that you fantasize about me, something that truly humbles me, because I’ve never considered myself fantasy material. SO glad that I’m friends with you.

Squeak: I’m an admirer of you and your work, but never thought to send a friend request to you, because I wasn’t sure you would accept it. But then I did, and you did. Every time I message you on Facebook, you always like what I have to say, and for that I’m truly honoured.

Toxic: Much like Squeak, I’m an admirer of you and your work. And like Squeak, I wanted to send a friend request to you, but was unsure whether or not you would accept it. But then I decided to do it, and was so happy that you did.

ZoelieLynn: You are a truly exotic beauty, and I’m glad to be friends with you. I hope I can get to know you better in the future.

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone else that’s either sent me a friend request or accepted a friend request from me in the past year. You guys are awesome.

Alkaline
Ambz
Atari
BetsyLaLa
BlytheBonnet
Bob
Blu
Caspiann
Casshas
Cavort
Ceres
ChelseaCupCake
Clio
CourtneyRenae
DeDe
Drave
Eryss]
faeriebarista
Faery
Femme
Frambuesa
Fridah
FuschiaShock
GI_Jo
Harajuku
HarlyQuinn
Indica_Tokes
Ituit
Jacklin
JackStraw
jaruki
juggalosic
KillaKourt
Kornalina
Kush
LaceyK
Liu
LuckyLu
Macabria
Maisie
Mattilda
MeggieRay
Melliemelle
Mikaela
Milou
mrwnorris
Natius
Nymphia
Offbeat
Peatrie
Pesky
Physis
Pthalo
Radeo
Rambo
Rielle
RiverSong
Robotsatemyhair
Rubix
SailorV
Shanti
SkyeAnnelise
Smite
SweetP
TeriLyn
Ternura
Tore
Uvita
Vivid
vastybass
Voodou
Zebrah

I’m very happy for the friends that I’ve made here in my first year, and hope that I will make many more in the future.

This site has become my home away from home. The community here is so accepting, I don’t feel like I have to hide who I am, unlike in my real life or on other websites I frequent. And that is something I will forever be grateful for.

My account will be going inactive on Sunday, but I’ve already bought another code to reactivate it. Probably won’t do it till Sunday night/Monday morning, as I’ll be too busy either having fun (again, hopefully) or recovering from it. But I will be back. I’ve had too much fun here to stay away for long.

Here’s to another year of awesomeness.

OK, so I'm starting to get worried about FanExpo on Saturday. I just got home to find out that advance tickets have sold out, and that they will only be releasing tickets at the door in limited quantities throughout the day. I knew I would have to get down there pretty early, but I never assumed I would have to be down THAT early. It's bringing to mind flashbacks about what happened last year, when I was just barely lucky enough to get tickets for both days.

I REALLY don't want to miss out on this (especially since I've been looking forward to it for a while), but, as with many things lately, I'm sadly starting to prepare for the worst.

Sunday is my one year anniversary being on this site, and I've been prepping a major blog post to do then. I hope you guys enjoy it.

In the meantime, this happened today.



First time I've ever worn one of these. It was pretty exciting. Sadly, my training may end up taking a little while longer than anticipated, as I forgot to factor in taxes to the cost of taking both the Intro and Open Water courses, which means I have to save more money than I had originally planned on doing. Ah, well. All this really means is that I'll be waiting till both the weather and the temperature of the local watering holes is more agreeable.

Still excited about it, though. Kinda hard not to be.

Had SO much fun last night. I was at the Electric Owl club in Vancouver, attending West Coast Geeks versus Nerds Episode 8 - Powerful Princes and Princess Problems. It was a great event, where a group of people got together and had two debates about who was the better character: Finn from Adventure Time vs. Mario and Thor vs. Iron Man. Obviously, knowing nothing at all about Adventure Time, I rooted for Mario the whole way. The second debate, Thor vs. He-Man, was obviously more difficult, as I'm a fan of both characters and their respective franchises, but by the end, I clearly had to root for the team debating for He-Man. Sorry to the guys debating for Thor, but while I do love the character, I didn't really get the sense that you did a good enough job.

Got a chance to hang out with Aadie, as she was one of the people involved in the He-Man debate. She rocked a wicked Teela cosplay, and raised a lot of good points about the show that I agreed with.



This experience has shown me that this is something I wanna get involved in. I think it may be too late to do it for the next show, but I'll try anyway. If nothing else, when they start again, I'll want to be a part of it.

Well, about a half an hour ago, I got a call back from the manager I met yesterday for the job @ the Thrifty Foods. And sadly, I didn't get it. I'm bummed; no doubt about it, but there will be other opportunities.

In the meantime, gotta look forward to what's going on this month. Still getting into shape in preparation for my dive training, and I'll probably go back to the pool in the near future. By the end of the month, I should have the money together to start taking the Open Water course. Looking forward to it.

WrestleMania coming up this Sunday. Should be a hell of a lot of fun, though unless Punk is utterly squashed by the Undertaker, I will no doubt feel like a opportunity has been lost. Not too much else I want to say about that, other than the fact that it's all but obvious that Cena will win the WWE championship.

In other news, FanExpo Vancouver is just under two weeks away. I'm looking forward to going, as I'll be able to meet some of my favourite stars. James Marsters and Juliet Landau are going to be there, and they just announced that some of the cast of the locally shot TV show Continuum will be there. (I can't wait to meet Rachel Nichols.) I know that Alkaline will be there, so hopefully I'll run into her during the weekend. If anyone else is going to be there, stop by and say hi.

Also, SO happy to know that friend Blu (formerly Posca) has gone pink. Check out her set Blue Monday.

Got a call yesterday for a job interview earlier today. Just got home from it. I have a good feeling about this. I could be back at work by the end of the week. *crosses fingers*

I spent the better part of the day today at the Coquitlam City Centre Aquatic Complex , the first in what I hope will be many trips there in order to improve my swimming skills and overall heath in preparation for my dive training. I've got to say that I was kinda nervous about it, because it's been a long time since I was at a pool, but I guess it's true that swimming is like riding a bike, because I more or less picked it up immediately.

It also helps that I picked out some stylish gear in order to help get accustomed to breathing and swimming underwater.



The mask and snorkel I already had, and I bought the fins yesterday at the shop where I hope to eventually start my training. The whole purpose of my outing today was to see how well they worked in action. I must have done over 100 laps in a meter long swimming pool, so I guess it's safe to say that they work pretty damn fine.

I've worked out a partial budget plan whereby, assuming nothing terribly irritating happens in the near future, I should have the money I need to start my training course by the end of April, and possibly take my first dive on or around my birthday.

What a great present that would be.