I have been super-slammed busy and grateful for it. Where do I begin....
In February, I picked up two more days at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science now that KeEMu is fully functional. In addition to completing training on KeEMu, training others on it as well, and streamlining the conchology collection into the new database from Argus, I have been brought on board the entomology department to learn a fourth program, Symbiota. With that, I and a team of about 30 other volunteers are busy digitizing the century-old Lepidoptra (butterfly) collection that is about 80,000 lots strong. Fortunately, I am well practiced in deciphering century old handwritten labels. Unfortunately, I have never learned how to read Japanese. :) It's a challenge that I am glad to be a part of and a fantastic learning experience, especially georeferencing the specimens. I am now obsessed with Rocky Mountain ghost towns, as that is where the majority of what I am working with originated. All toll, this makes me well versed in four database programs (MODES, Argus, KeEMu, and Symbiota) and a master at Google Earth. For what it's worth, the collection database program I created at Titanic: The Experience was in Microsoft Excel, so I am not sure if that would count as a proper dbase or not. During my tenure there, we did not have the funds for a proper program. However, the Excel sheets and Word docs I created and updated worked out quite nicely for our collection of around 7,000 objects and art.
Also in February, I was offered a position on the Leadership Committee for We Are Women - Colorado. My specific duties center around social media (100% creation, posting, and upkeep of our Twitter page, monitoring of our Facebook page, Chief Editor and Writer of our monthly newsletter, as well as one of three on team for grant writing). Our little grassroots group has grown to over 1,000 members, and we are just now beginning to interact with the press. We are a non-partisan organization that watches the state legislature as well as communicates with the public on legislative issues that concern the women of Colorado. We are not yet recognized officially as a non-profit, but that is on our agenda for later this year. This session, we particularly pushed for HB 1163 and SB 227 and won! HB 1163 allots funding for women who are victims of rape to have their rape kits processed. It is federal law that a victim does not have to pay for the kit. However, the lab fees, subsequent doctor's visits, medications necessary, counseling, and other expenses that a rape victim incurs even to simply get the kit processed is not covered financially, usually costs the victim into the thousands out of pocket, and not covered by insurance. This bill provides funding so that the victim is taken care of medically, psychologically, and legally so that the kits can be processed immediately and she can have the help she needs to heal from the trauma. My colleague and I attended Governor Hickenlooper's signing of the bill yesterday in Cherry Creek.
Our press meme for the signing of HB 1163. I'm in the grey suit on the right.
SB 227 denies parental rights to a rapist if a child is born of the rape. It also protects children born of rape who are currently in foster care. Their rapist fathers cannot adopt them now. It gives complete control of pregnancy and possible birth to the victim without fear of the rapist seeking custody. This passed all committees, the House, and the Senate. While 1163 sailed through all the legislative steps easily and unanimously, SB 227 did not and became a political posturing move by a couple of the politicians involved on both sides toward the end. We launched a massive and aggressive campaign to push it through and won at the last minute. Governor Hickenlooper has stated he will sign it and has until June 7 to do so. It has yet to be scheduled. However, as we have learned, public signings such as this often have very little notice on time, date, and place due to the simple nature of finding a place and alerting the media. We are confident that it will be done soon as the Governor is today on day 2 of a massive bill signing tour around the state.
In April, two major things were on my plate. The first was a surprise promotion at World Travel Holdings. The company is restructuring in light of a shift in business due to the recent troubles of Carnival Cruise Line (our biggest selling vacation package). Those of us who have worked the service side of the company for an extended amount of time are being promoted to a higher level of service effective Mid-June. Training is to begin shortly. Currently, I work with clients on a number of service issues. The bulk of the time, they are rather routine such as, booking fellow travelers into cabins close by what is already booked, switching cruise dates, processing insurance claims, cancelling cruises, advising of citizenship requirements, and so on. There are some that are complicated, but those are currently exceptions. With this promotion, those that are current exceptions will become the rule. In essence, when someone calls in and demands to speak with a manager, I'm the manager. I am used to working with upset clients and doing all that is in my power to alleviate whatever the issue is. That is my favorite part of the job. Now, I get to have more access to things that can solve problems of more delicate and complicated natures instead of having to pass them off to someone else simply because I did not have the clearance or protocol within the organization to do it myself. I am looking forward to the challenge as I am a problem solver by nature. I would rather be challenged by this in a museum or educational setting, but can't complain that I'm working with vacations either.
And one of these days, I WILL take that Viking River Cruise down the Rhine in December. But, I digress.....
Also in April, I took a *gasp* vacation! I'm one of those people who rarely takes a legit vacation. My definition of a vacation is usually a couple days where I don't have to set the alarm clock, never get out of my jammies, eat junk food, and catch up on Dr. Who. This time, I traveled. Granted, it was just to the other side of town, but there was a four night stay in a hotel involved. :) You may have gathered by this point, or if you know me personally, that I am a consummate nerd. I LOVE going to nerd conventions and have been attending since I was in 7th grade. My first was a Star Trek convention in 1987 where I met George Takei in Johnson City, Tennessee. This was before you had to pay to meet the stars and it was only Trek, nothing else. In Orlando, I never missed FXCon (until they stopped a few years back) and MegaCon. I never could make Screamfest as I was always working when it was going on. I kept wanting to attend DragonCon in Atlanta, GenCon in Wisconsin, and, one of these days, I WILL make it to San Diego for the granddaddy of them all, ComicCon. I almost had a chance this year, but it fell through. *pout* At the rate that Emerald CityCon in Seattle is growing, it's on my radar too. When I first started attending cons, it was just us nerds, mostly of the Star Trek or Star Wars variety. Although, you sometimes saw Dune, Dr. Who, and Battlestar Galactica references. Then, the mainstream caught on. A few years back, Entertainment Weekly started doing a ComicCon issue. That marked the time when the mainstream collided with nerd territory..... and about the time they started having Glee and Twilight forums in the cons as well (seriously).
When I moved to Denver two years ago, one of the first things I did, even before I got my clothes unpacked, was look for cons. I juuuust missed Starfest 2011 by a couple days. The following year, I attended and was completely blown away. Out of the cons I've attended or seen by way of video, Starfest is by far my favorite. It takes place over three hotels in the Denver Tech Center on the south side of town, the Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt. It's actually six conventions in one, Starfest, Comicfest, Horrorfest, Digifest, Robofest, and Gamefest. In addition to "getting my nerd on", I attended classes on digitally reconstructing photographs and honed my airbrushing technique. Centered at the Marriott DTC, the attendees who are lucky enough to get atrium rooms are encouraged to decorate their balconies and compete. There are two categories, one is themed (this year it was Superman) and one non-themed (everyone else). I came in second place for non-themed with my balcony based on the Black Veil Brides' mini-movie Legion of the Black. I hand painted the banners and "stained glass" (plastic sheeting), carved the jack-o-lantern via soldering iron, and painted the masks. Photos are below.
I had a blast as usual at Starfest and, of course, did it all in costume. Below are my characters for this con. I love building costumes and doing theatrical make up. When I worked at Titanic, I was in charge of the costume department.
Me as Harley Quinn from Batman. Make up and hairpieces are my design, the rest is store bought.
Me as Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. Pants and boots are store bought, the rest I created by hand. The shoulder armor is theatrical leather, skirt is theatrical suede and chain, bodice is car upholstery and curtain tiebacks, dragon is store bought and touched up/sewn onto the armor.
Me as Steampunk Mad Hatter. I took my inspiration from Kate Shindle's role as the Hatter in Broadway's short-lived Wonderland and steampunked it. Everything is my own creation except the pants and shoes. The rings are my favorite. They are hard to see in the picture, but they are a miniature porcelain tea set. The Stormtrooper is a member of the 501st Legion.
And, yes, there is a video floating around youtube of me singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the character of Harley Quinn at the Klingon Karaoke.
I post this to show you what I do for fun. I like making costumes, painting, carving pumpkins, and being a nerd. Next up is Denver ComicCon at the end of this month. I hope to unveil another new costume of mine there as well. This one is Pris from Blade Runner. I am also tweeking the Mad Hatter costume with some new beading I found at my local Michael's craft store. They introduced a whole aisle that is nothing but steampunk stuff.
Prior to Denver ComicCon, I will be doing our first fundraiser for We Are Women - Colorado. We are holding a community garage sale where half of the money raised will go to the organization. The other half goes to those who donated things to sell. Right now, we have a very tiny overhead but that will grow as we get more established. This will give us a feel for how we can work within the community. The following weekend, Memorial Day weekend, I will be working with another charity I have picked up. This is Love, Hope, Strength which gets people to sign up to be bone marrow donors. They had a booth at a concert I attended in early April, and I was so impressed that, since I cannot donate, I wanted to help. So, I will be working their event both at Denver Day of Rock.
Well, it's time for me to sign off and send out some more resumes. I have a total of 464 out since I started my search. That will go to 471 by the time I start my travel agent shift tonight. The links to We Are Women - Colorado and Love, Hope, Strength are below. The webpage for We Are Women is under construction for the next few weeks, so please bear with us on that.
Wish me luck and all the best to you. Thanks for reading.
