Please know that we're thinking about you and praying for you all to stay safe and well this weekend.

I haven't been through a hurricane since I was in my late teens but I still remember how scary it was. Please heed all the warnings and take good care of yourselves.

And if we're very lucky Irene will stay offshore and skip happily out to sea!

... given what I do for a living.

... only this time it was the Star Trek 45th Anniversary at the Rio in Las Vegas!

As a long time Trekkie I thought it was important to be there for this anniversary.  It's purported to be Nimoy's next to last fandom appearance and his Spock has always been my favorite.  I'll bore those interested with pics and gory details under the cut.  For everyone else, I can offer a few key differences between Trek and HP events: 

1. The sheer crowd size is larger than any HP con I've ever attended.  There were over 4K in the audience at all the big name appearances - and I hate crowds!
2. The events are highly focused on talent appearances with a sprinkling of corporate messaging thrown in for good measure - the event producers make their profit motive clear in everything they do.  Most of the appearances were fantastic which balanced out the tedious messaging.
3. There is very little fan created content at these events.  I really missed hearing the voice of the fandom in all the programming presented.  It was sorely missed.

Overall, I had a great time but came away NEVER wanting to stay at the Rio again.  I won't go into details but trust me on this one ... avoid it if you can!


( (Pics and Gory Details here) )

Hello everyone!  Sorry it's been a while.  I'm still here and for those who knew I was worried, I'm also still employed!  Hope you are all doing well.

I just returned from seeing DH pt 2 so I wanted to share my thoughts before reading LJ.  Warning, Spoilers Ahead!

( DH film ramblings here )
That's enough of my nonsense. Now I'm going to check out what everyone else thought!

I just read that Outlaw has been canceled and I'm bummed.  I was really enjoying that show - ridiculous premise and all.  Was anyone else watching?

Now I'm worried my other favorite new show "The Event" will be next.  I have a habit of liking the shows that are canceled first!

Dear f-list,

I just found out a young man who worked on my project team 2 years ago has died.  He was found drowned in a pool over the weekend. 

I hadn't seen him since the project ended 2 years ago but his smiling face is all I see in my mind at the moment. 

He was a smart, hard-working young man.  No matter the situation, he always greeted it with a smile.

I didn't know him very well.  We were never more than co-workers.  But right now ... I'm very, very said to know he's gone.  And very confused.  How could such an intelligent young man meet with such a tragic end?

RIP Shekhar.

You will be missed.

Thanks for your indulgence,

Lisa

Okay.  This is my first attempt at posting video on LJ so please bear with me.  And please be forewarned: I am no video artist!  For some reason I decided to try out my camera's video function at the ball and the results are only so-so.  But the content makes me giggle so I thought I'd share it with all of you!

There are two videos around 30 seconds each.  I hope they make you smile too - if this works!

Here's the first one:  www.youtube.com/user/ladyljd1#p/a/u/0/5h5bkROsVTM

Here's the second:  www.youtube.com/user/ladyljd1#p/a/u/1/pGTAdOHCL8E

My comments on the event hotel (poor service), the event logistics (poor scheduling and crowd management), and Night of 1000 Wizards ('nuff said) were not positive.   If felt good to provide the feedback but I doubt there will be much of an impact on future events.  I read the complaint forum on the Infinitus site last night.  Survey aside, my reading made it clear they have little interest in (or respect for) the opinions of their attendees.

I really think we should have a separate con next year.  I'm up for anything different from the HPEF experience right now.

Hello friends!  I know, long time no post ...  Sorry about that. 

As many of you know, I headed out to Florida for Infinitus and wound up delighted to meet up with so many HP friends - both old and new.  Then Amy and I drove northeast to DC before going home.  Many miles, Waffle House's and hotels later, I returned home yesterday exhausted and glad to be out of the Eastern heat and humidity.  Today, I spent the day recovering and am not happy about facing work on Monday for the first time in two weeks. 

No, I'm not looking forward to re-joining the real world.

Rather than boring you all with yet another Infinitus recap, I thought I'd summarize the trip in pictures.  Here's my favorite at the moment:



Yes, it was that kind of party! 

As always, the best part of the con was hanging out with great people.  It was so good to be able to catch up with everyone in person.  When I have more time and energy, I'll upload my favorites to Flikr to share. 

For now, I hope everyone is home safe and sound and recovered from con crud.  I especially hope my travel partner is recovering nicely from her version of con crud!  Between the two of us we shared enough germs to start our own research project!

Off to bed now ... i'm still a bit on Eastern time ...

I'll leave you with this sshg moment of zen ...