Midwest Brony Fest

We had an awesome time at Midwest Brony Fest in Overland Park, Kansas.  This is Emperor and Elf in the vending room.  Definitely the weak spot of the convention.  There were only perhaps 12 vendors almost all selling stuff that was...

Extremely overpriced!  Are you kidding me?  I know it's handmade, but it's been all worn and napped from too much handling, the pony on the left looks like she's gonna collapse, and... are you kidding me?

We wandered to the cyber cafe nearby and Emperor was browsing more reasonably priced options.

Elf watched My Little Pony videos.  Finally, it was time to look around for a few minutes before "Greggo's Game Show."

We found Waldo!  He's married, and has a family!  Sweet.

Absolutely one of the best things about the convention is meeting other people with similar interests, hanging out and playing games.

Much higher quality merchandise.  Hand made by White Dove.  Nice stuff.

But my kids need to go to college and get smart, so that's it for that thought.

Waiting for one of Greggo's game shows to begin.  The game shows followed a "Wheel of Fortune" and "Family Feud" format, except with a My Little Pony theme.

I don't get it.  It's $2.25 for a soda, or you can get four sodas and a whole pizza for $15. Guess what we did.

Sam Vincent plays Flim on My Little Pony.  He gave a talk and is very accessible and friendly to his fans.

We left after learning a bit of My Little Pony history from an avid collector of the first generation toys.  We really had an awesome time, but I think we'll skip next year because the cost of $45/weekend or $30/day is a bit steep considering the vendor room size.  The homeschool convention is at least ten times bigger and is $40/family.  So the price comparison doesn't work for me personally.

How To Fight a War

Iowa and Missouri had a huge dispute over where the border was located, leading to the Honey War.

"When Missouri mustered 600 militia men, their trip to Iowa was fruitless. There was not yet an Iowa militia organized to fight. Eventually when about 1,200 Iowans lined up with pitchforks, the Missouri militia had already gone home."

When everyone did finally get together to fight, they drank lots of whiskey together and not much got done.   Then the Supreme Court made a decision and everyone went home.  The end.

I know you desperately want to see the everlasting memorial to this great conflict.  Here ya go.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics is Stalking Me.

A letter arrived in the mail from a government agency, "requesting" information.  I ripped it up and recycled it.  Three weeks later, a "reminder" note arrived.  Also pitched.  And another about a month later.  And a new form still later.  And a reminder form, and so on and so on.  I think they spent very close to $30 in postage.  Meh, whatever.

But on Thursday, I was exiting a van in my driveway and minding my own business.  A man jumps out of his car, 1970's movie style, and corners me next to the van door.

This little old man with glasses, blue eyes and a casual business outfit flashed a badge in a little red case.  Apparently the United States Government needs my help to set the Consumer Price Index.  It's important to determine the cost of living! 

Holy crap, really?  I asked if I would be arrested or otherwise prosecuted if I refused to answer their questions.  He told me no, but - and I said, "K. Bye." and turned away until he left.  Yes.  I was rude to the Government Man.

If I disappear, you know why.  Creepy old man in an old gray Ford with a TJ Hooker complex.  Some of the people who work with G were standing nearby gaping and when he left, one said, "Well, that was one of the strangest encounters I've ever witnessed."

Posting Untried Recipes is Now Criminal.

There's a new Missouri law against posting recipes with delicious pictures online, unless the poster has tried such recipe and found it successful.  MO Statute 28147.3 also requires that the recipe made in the poster's home look "reasonably similar in form and appearance" to the pictures posted on any social media site, blog, or other page on the internet.

Ok, I made all that up.  But I'm so tired of coming across posts and going, "Ooh, I want to try that sometime!" and then realizing that the poster has never tried the recipe, cleaning tip, or "how to" tutorial.  Dang. I have a feeling that spraying WD40 or Peroxide on this or that is gonna ruin it forever, and besides, I already have a Pinterest account for all those things I'm never going to get around to.  

Dear friends, I need to keep my facebook and my blogs open for political snark, e-cards, YoVille requests, and "I can't believe some people act so bitchy" and "things my ex-husband just did" rants from my friends.

Thanks for understanding.

Notation, Notation, Notation

Rose wanted to learn it, so Emperor is teaching her.  She still isn't quite sure how to make all her letters without a model, so she has a little motivation now.  Algebraic notation is easy.  Use a K for king, Q for queen, B for bishop, N for knight and R for rook.  Then write down which square the piece went to.  For pawns, you only write the landing square.

Here is part of Emperor's recent game against Dr. C.  Emperor is white and moves his pawn to the d4 square.  Dr. C is black and during his first move, he moved his knight to f6, and so on.

It gets a little harder when you take pieces or castle.  Move 5 shows Emperor doing a kingside castle.  Rose is not even in kindergarten yet and she has many of the basics down, so I'm not exaggerating at all when I tell you that it isn't as hard as you might imagine to learn. 

Bowling!

Woodjie actually beat my score!  It's because the bumpers are up and his ball ricochets.  I'm sticking with that.  :)

Fun times!

Little Rose is so happy, she's flapping like a hummingbird.

Here she is taking a turn!  I think about twice per game, we have to ask the attendant to fish the bowling ball out of the middle of the lane.  Rose just doesn't roll it with all that much force.  She's working on it, but a seven-pound ball being thrown by a 40-pound person just doesn't get that far.

Hello!

I told Woodjie that a present was coming in the mail for him.  In a box.  And it is something he could use every day!  He guessed a puppy.  He loves his new Apollo style Polish pottery plate.  These things are very, very heavy.  They last almost forever, too.  This is Woodjie's very own.

Another view.

D was trimming a bush in our front yard today and he began to hear cheeping.  Can you see the baby cardinals inside the nest?  They are the children of the birds that keep pooping on our cars!  But D didn't have the heart to kill them.  Their eyes aren't even open yet.

G did some yard work with me today as well.  I weeded this area out and G planted the little red Knockout Rose near the mailbox.  Do you see how nicely the pink one I bought has grown over the years?