Well, okay. Not so much a pond as a bridge.

A very short bridge, but still a bridge, so I did technically cross water to get here. Here I am, at Vcon, on the very creatively named Sea Island (from the minds who brought you Asphalt Highway and Sick People’s Hospital), at the Delta Something Or Other Hotel, with time to spare and the kind use of Joe’s laptop upon which to give you nice people a blog entry for today.

So I might not be able to do a video today (unless this thing has a hidden webcam…. hmmm… ) but I can at least shoot you nice people your 1000 words for today.

Con’s been fun so far. Went to a couple of panels, hung out in Horse Brutality, said hi to some people I know, went to dinner with La Gange plus Amos and Rainrsat, and in general did my con thang.

Had a lot of trouble getting to sleep, despite having remembered my sleeping pills this time. Quel surprise. I usually have some trouble adjusting to a new sleeping arrangement, even if it’s a very nice and comfy hotel bed. So much of sleep is based around habit. We come to associate our usual sleeping arrangement with sleep, and over time that grows so powerful that it becomes hard to sleep anywhere else. All the sensory cues are wrong. This not The Sleeping Place!

Plus, I have been having a hard time getting to sleep lately anyhow. I honestly think I might be in a hypo-manic phase right now. I have lots of energy, my mind is fairly clear and zipping along, and for the most part I feel great.

But when I try to sleep, I just can’t seem to turn that overstimulated mind of mine off. It just keeps racing and racing, generating idea after idea after idea, and I get the feeling of trying to close a suitcase which has far too much packed into it, or trying to close a book whose pages keep multiplying.

Of course, now that it would be inadvisable for me to go to sleep, I feel quite sleepy. Well fuck you, evil circadian devil that makes me need an afternoon nap no matter what. I have a panel I want to go to at 3 PM, and then the almighty Elrons at 4 PM, and I am sure as hell not going to miss THOSE.

So I will endeavour not to nap, tho I know that will be tricky with nothing in particular to do. This blogging is helping with that. I figure habits are something you keep up whenever possible, and with a computer I can use right here in the hotel room and a couple hours to spare, I might as well keep up the blogging part of my daily creative output routine.

Oh right! Fabulous and amazing news! I got a letter yesterday. (That’s not the amazing part. )

It was from the Ministry. I have been approved for full disability! I am moving from PPMB (persons with persistent multiple barriers) to PWD (persons with disabilities) status as of November 1.

That means roughly another $2oo per month in income for yours truly, and seeing as I am getting by fine now (just barely, most of the time), that extra money is pretty much all gravy. It can all go to making various life-improving purchases, like for instance upgrading my computer chair, not to mention my computer itself, and finally getting a green screen that works, AKA one that comes with its own stand and therefore does not have to be stuck to my wall.

If I wasn’t renting, I might consider just getting Chromakey Green paint and painting the wall. I don’t know much about painting, but I have done a little bit of it in my past, so I would be willing to at least give it a shot. The trick would be getting it to go on perfectly smoothly and evenly.

But the walls I live in are not my own, so a standalone green screen will have to do. A green screen, a nice bright even light source, whatever I need to get my camera hooked up to the computer again, and I could make some far more slick and groovy videos with real production values.

Or who knows, maybe I will just spend it on little luxuries like sugar-free sweets or baked good. Either way, this new money will make life so much nicer.

Plus, I will be able to get a bus pass for just $45 a year, and that is all zones, so I will be able to go to anywhere the transit systems goes. That does not guarantee that I will go out into the world more often, any more than leaving the cage door open guarantees the animal will get out.

But it sure as hell opens the door, anyhow.

So I am pretty stoked about that. The only flaw is that because it does not kick in until November 1, it will not bump up my next cheque on the 23rd of October. Dammit.

So I will have to wait six weeks or so for the extra dough. Oh well. It will sure as well make the Xmas season a heck of a lot nicer!

There is a buch of other stuff that comes with being PWD, I think, but I have not checked that out yet. I am really hoping it gives me access to both education and some kind of therapy for my poor sore back, which is bugging me as I type these very words.

Meh. I think the Nap Monster is going to get me no matter what. I only hope that I wake up in time for Elrons and whatnot. No alarm clock, so I can only have faith in my inability to stay asleep for more than a few hours unless I take a sleeping pill.

Glad I got to talk at you all today. Seeya tomorrow, I hope!