Assorted items

[oyceter]

Exciting news! After this year's WisCon, con_or_bust is expanding to more cons! Basically, kate_nepveu is awesome, and going forward, fans of color should be able to apply to go to any con they like. Bidding is still going on, and they are short of the deadline right now. Check here for items with no bids and etc.

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I was also trying to brainstorm for a Con or Bust logo, and was thinking maybe a dinosaur with a unicorn horn and a "Con or Bust" sign? I tend to like my logos more graphic and less illustrative, but was wondering what other people thought. Also, important question: what kind of dinosaur?! I always think T-Rex, but that is because I like T-Rexes. Maybe the sign can dangle from the horn? Maybe the dinocorn is holding the sign with a hitchhiker's thumb? Maybe this is a crap idea and you guys have way better ones? /so not a graphic designer

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Fogcon POC meetup: I know some people volunteered to help with making and/or handing out flyers for the POC meetups. Could you guys email me at oyceter at gmail noting what you're willing to do? I can design something fast (and probably ugly), although I don't know if someone has a paper cutter or something for printing out half-size sheets?

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OMG. Ratlings are now nearly as large as Ed, and Ed, sadly, is no longer the tallest rat in the cage, as both Haru and Momo can flip him over and groom him by themselves! They don't even have to gang up any more!

Also, I know I keep bemoaning how unsmart my rats are, but I think I have to take it back now, as I accidentally litter trained the ratlings. They still pee everywhere, since boy rats do that to mark territory, but I put a travel cage with litter and a water bottle on the couch where I play with them, and Haru and Momo both just started using it as a litter box without any prompting from me! Ed, alas, is too old to learn new ways. Unforeseen consequences of trying to make sure they have food and water whenever they want!

In other news, Haru has now figured out how to escape from the cage without even popping the door open. ARGH. I was hoping he would be too bored by the outside to do it much, but when I got home, there were droppings on my bedroom floor and a Haru-rat hiding under my bed. I couldn't even get him to come out with lures of food, I think I flopped around on the floor for half an hour before figuring out what to do. In the end, I hit upon it! I dragged Ed-rat out of the cage and put him on the floor, and lo and behold! Haru raced out immediately to play with Big Rat!

Comments

[via_ostiense]

The rats sound so cute! I can hardly believe that they've grown so much so quickly!

[oyceter]

They are so big now! Really, they aren't much ratlings any more so much as nearly-full-grown rats,but OMG still so hilarious! (Seriously, when I plunked Ed down, I could totally see Haru thinking, "BIG RAT EEEEE!!!!" and running out.)

[willow]

Would your Dinocorn T-red, be feathered the way they're saying T-rexes were now? **is curious**

[oyceter]

BWAH! That would be so awesome! Although I suspect I'm just trying to go for an infographic-esque outline of a dinocorn so the focus is still on the "Con or Bust" sign, so it'd probably be hard to do the feathers.

[cychi.livejournal.com]

That's an awesome trick!!! If I was sulking somewhere, and you dragged my friends over, I would totally come out to play! Very smart ;P

[oyceter]

OMG BOTH ratllings ran away this morning and hid under my bed! Haru came right out when I dragged poor Ed out, and Momo took a little longer, but he ran out too!

[jinian]

Hee! Bait Ed! Capybaras approve of ratlings.

[oyceter]

For Haru and Momo (BOTH of whom escaped this morning): Big Rat >>>> food!

[kate_nepveu]

♥

I like the idea of the sign from the horn but I have mild legibility concerns about how that would work; holding might be better?

[oyceter]

Yeah, I have legibility concerns too! Especially since I can't figure out a way to hang the sign from the horn without obscuring the dinosaur head! (I guess it could be a really long string? But then, it might as well just be around the dinocorn's neck...)

Also, I was like, "Is a predatory dinosaur a bad metaphor for POC? But other dinosaurs are harder to draw! Maybe dwircle will know...?"

[kate_nepveu]

Well, maybe a herbivore but a bad-ass one, like stegosaurus or brontosaurus.

[oyceter]

Clearly this calls for a DINOSAUR POLL!

[lady_ganesh]

Aww, ratlings!

What about a unicorn horn, with maybe the top of a dino-head, with the sign hanging from it? Not as funny but better at a small size.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I was mostly thinking just the dinocorn head + horn + maybe dinocorn hands to hold the sign and/or have a hitchhiker's thumb.

BOTH ratlings escaped this morning ARGH!

[lady_ganesh]

YES HITCHHIKER'S THUMB.

Eeek! I hope they're back where they belong now. I took my daughter to an animal show yesterday and they had a couple of rats as performers, I thought of you. :D

[oyceter]

I lured them back with Ed-rat!

[lady_ganesh]

Awwww!