Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die...

Well not really... I just have that particular line from Firefly stuck in my head at the moment.

So today marks 7 days left until I leave this sunburnt country for a land of ice and snow. I finished work a week ago now and have been packing frantically to move out of where I'm living. 4 days of the last week have been spent essentially in transit to and from where my belongings are being stored. My dad and brother spent today moving another load.

All that's left to move now are basically the things I will be taking with me to Finland.

As I started packing my suitcase today it kind of hit me what I am doing. This is a major move. It's a one way ticket. It's the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm freaking excited!

But at the same time I'm kinda scared.

I won't be able to just call my parents up at any time or even just jump on a bus to go visit them. I won't be able to just call up some of my best friends and ask them if they want to hang out and catch a movie or anything like that.

And then I balance it against what I am doing.

I am moving to a country I love.

I am going to be doing something that 10 years ago wouldn't have even crossed my mind.

I am going to be catching up with friends  haven't seen in 5 years. I can call them up if I want to hang out.

I am putting myself out there.

Talking to a friend tonight I asked her if she felt the same thing when she moved to the centre of Australia for a job. She did, but she settled and I know she loves what she does. I guess it's just a matter of getting settled into my job in Finland and back into the country as well. I guess the best thing about it is that I will be in an area that whilst I am not entirely familiar with it, I am familiar with the region and I have friends around who can help me if I need it and who I can just chill with if I need it.

I guess the biggest motivation behind all of this move is the fact that I felt a little bit stuck in a rut. I love Australia for sure, and I have made so many amazing friends here over the past couple of years, but it's something beyond friends and family. I have had a couple of jobs since I finished high school and my youth exchange. I never seem to stick in the same kind of industry either. The only constant is that all jobs have been administration based... something which I do not want to be doing for the rest of my life unless it is in a position that I absolutely love and adore.

I'm looking forward to this more than it scares me and I think that is the best thing possible when all is said and done. I know I will have an amazing time and the experience of a lifetime.

So I will go back to packing secure in the thought that life goes nowhere unless one is willing to a take a chance, and we are all in charge of our own future even when it seems like we aren't.


~~Random Logic~~

Sydnova 2012!

IT'S SYDNOVA TIME ONCE MORE!

For many people in Australia who are massive fans of science fiction, fantasy, anime, comics, and various other fandoms that fall under the general pop-culture banner, Supanova Pop Culture Convention is the go-to event of the year. It travels around and 5-6 of the major cities/population centres of Australia get a taste of Supanova throughout the year.

For those that don't know what Supanova is- It is basically an entire weekend(Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday) devoted to anything you would commonly attribute to geeks. From computer games to books to movies, comics and tv shows. If it is in the category where it can get a massive following then it is generally represented. The main events of the weekend are special guest stars, with photo and autograph sessions as well as individual panels. The next major thing of the weekend is cosplay(costuming up as a favourite character from a particular fandom or even just in something original). Hundreds of people come in costume to these conventions and there is a massive cosplay competition for people who choose to cosplay and many people start planning their cosplay for the following year as soon as one convention is finished or they build on a cosplay and just improve it again and again each year.

Anyway this weekend was the weekend for Sydney Supanova... or Sydnova for short. It is probably one of the most attended of all of the Supanova events being that it is in the centre of Sydney and people do travel from far and wide to attend, even interstate.

I attended Sydnova for the third year in a row this year. I've only ever attended one day of the event but have been getting more and more into the spirit each year. The first year I went as myself, last year I went as a pirate in a generic pirate costume I bought at a costume shop, and this year... this year I went as Vala Mal Doran from Stargate SG-1.

It started with a friend introducing me to someone via Facebook... we got talking about Stargate and Supanova and then I mentioned I was thinking of going as a Stargate character. Someone else chimed in saying I should go as Vala. I agreed as long as someone went as Daniel Jackson and then someone volunteered to make the costume for me and we went from there. This occured back in March. So over the past few months the costume was in the works and I got more and more excited. It was made without using any specific costume patterns, she basically created it from scratch with the dvd's for reference.

It turned out fantastically! She is a genius!

I was recognised by a few different people over the course of the day and took many photos... mostly with Star Wars cosplayers(Darth Vader photobombed my photo with the Emperor!) and I guess that was mostly by choice of my own. I am a self confessed Star Wars fan. There was a harem of Slave Leias and they were all amazing! They had made their costumes from scratch and planned it out together and they had heaps and heaps of attention. Somehow I got roped into a whole bunch of photos (not that I am complaining) and it was pretty entertaining.

The other big thing for me this year was getting some of my hundreds of books signed by their authors. The 2 big drawcards to the Dymock's stand this year were Christopher Paolini who wrote the Eragon series and Matthew Reilly who has written several series including Scarecrow and Seven Ancient Wonders. The other author drawcard for me was Garth Nix who is the author of the Old Kingdom Trilogy of Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen.

I waited in line for about an hour to get 4 of my Matthew Reilly books signed, I accidentally left one at home meaning I now have only one of his books which remains unsigned. I also managed to get a photo with him and some of the Slave Leia harem later on in the day.

I got my brother's Eragon series signed for him and then I got my own Garth Nix novels signed as well. I have been wanting to get a chance to meet Garth Nix for several years now but somehow any book signing he has had in Sydney has always been when I haven't known or been able to attend if I have known. It was awesome and he was a really nice guy. I also went to his and Matthew Reilly's panels which were both fairly interesting. Garth Nix certainly had some good advice for budding authors.

There is only one thing that threw me off today. I was on my way home and at one of the train stations when a guy asked if he could get a pic of me. I said sure and then he decided to tell me I was pretty 'hot' for a cosplayer... I am not sure what world he is living on or maybe I am just modest but I definitely think he may not have been seeing the same people I saw at Sydnova today... good looks are not lacking in the female cosplayers, and many of them are much better looking than myself!

Overall the day was fantastic, and fun. Probably went the quickest of any of the Sydnova days I have attended thus far and definitely something I look forward to in the future. In the meantime I will keep an eye out for any photos lurking about of myself from this year. I know there are sure to be quite a few with the Leia harem... it's just a matter of tracking them down.

~~Random Logic~~

Goodreads

So I'm packing my books, and one night I decide I will just randomly browse the Market on my android phone... and I discovered the Goodreads app... I was already a member on there from earlier this year so I decided why not download it.

Then I discovered it has a barcode reader on it. YAY! Now I can just scan my books onto my shelves on the site... unfortunately I'd already packed 4 boxes or so. Now I'm unpacking just to scan and repack. I think I'm a sucker for punishment.

So here's to the next few weeks of scanning and packing the hundreds of books I own into Goodreads.

~~ Random Logic ~~