MCM Expo tomorrow!!!

Well we’re finally here, the MCM Expo is tomorrow! I’ve been counting down the days since last expo for this; it will be my third time going and first time going for the whole weekend.

I mentioned in my last post that this expo I’m cosplaying as Zexion from Kingdom Hearts and Professor Hojo from Final Fantasy VII. I’m still not completely sure which I’ll do for two days yet. I think Zexion will be on the Saturday because I think that’s when my friend is going to be Xion.

The expo is already going to be a lot more awesome because another friend’s mum booked us a hotel for the three of us for the weekend. It’s right next to expo and looks really nice. Not only that, but it saves money since we won’t have to travel there and back every day. We were going to book a hotel for ourselves before but had then decided to stay at my place since two of us couldn’t afford it, so this came as a wonderful surprise. This also means no more posts until Monday because I’m not taking my laptop.

Already we have so many plans for expo including various meets with different people, ice cream and pizza. There are also a few things I’m looking forward to seeing there. I also have around £100 spending money, although the only thing I know I’m getting so far is a new wallet since the old one is broken – either money keeps falling out or the zip is refusing to open.

Time to get packed then. It kinda seems crazy, the extra stuff I’m taking. Aside from my cosplays, spare clothes, snacks and everything else you’d need for staying at a hotel, I’m also taking a book and a game with me. I know I probably won’t have time for them but I like to be prepared just in case. I’m also taking a pen and paper but then we usually find reasons to use that too so, that’s not so bad. All this additional entertainment stuff though…

Oh, and these snacks, I have noodles for every day I’m there. I have these really tasty Asian ones. The reason I point that out – I love this flavour but I have absolutely no idea what it’s supposed to be because that part isn’t translated. And then for the day I have giant bags of popcorn to pick at. Luckily for me I’ve needing less food lately. I think it’s because of the heat.

Oh and the weather! This is perfect expo weather! Let us hope it lasts all week!

I also hope it’s like this next year, since a lot more of my body will be exposed. That requires a lot of warmth… and sun cream.

Stacey xXx

Trixie Has Come Home

So about 3pm today, just over two weeks after I took him in, I got a call from the vet to say that they had Trixie’s ashes back and I could pick him up whenever I wanted. Needless to say, I immediately threw my shoes and coat on and hurried over. I would like to add here how nice the vet staff are, both when I took him in and collected him and on the phone. I mean, they have been as far back as I can remember but I thought I’d mention it because I like nice people, especially in matters of death (not that I’ve been involved in many). I do hope the grim reaper is a friendly chap. Anyway, I’m getting off topic.

His urn is wooden, with a lovely little gold plate with his name on. I’m not sure if the gold is real but I think it may be. It’s some kind of golden coloured metal anyway. It’s also nicely sealed so I don’t have to worry so much about accidentally knocking it over and getting ashes everywhere (a real worry I had). It’s a little smaller than I expected but then I never really knew before how much smaller cats get after… well, cremation. Obviously, they do lose a lot of mass. It doesn’t sound right the way I’m saying it, does it? And they gave him to me in another lovely box in a similarly lovely bag, which I was thankful for, it was so much easier than just carrying a box home, and as my mum said, no one would know what was inside.



There was also a card from the cremation people saying the typical sorry for the loss, which I thought was really nice, and certifying the date that he was cremated and that it was done individually. That was part of the reason I paid the extra price, aside from just so I could keep him. I think I mentioned in the post I wrote when he died how obsessed I am with death rituals and how important it is to me and such. So one of the ideas I have on this is that it is disrespectful to burn multiple bodies together and mix the askes. This isn’t in all cases but, for people/pets who have never met or had anything to do with each other and whose ashes will be kept by someone close to them, I really don’t like that, but apparently some do it. Yes, I know it’s ‘just an animal’ but to me that makes no difference, especially considering this cat was with me for over two thirds of my life so far. And I’m getting off topic again.

The card and the box the urn came in also had this really nice little poem:

In case you can't read it properly:

'Your presence we miss,

your memory we treasure.

Loving you always.

in our thoughts forever.'

How sweet is that? So the urn is now sitting nicel on one of my favourite shelves in my room. I actually feel a lot better now he's there.

So that's all for now then,

Stacey xXx



Weekly Update 06/05/12

The Bad

I mentioned in my last post that my cat Trixie died this week. I’ve recovered now for the most part but it was really hard for a couple of days. Right now I just can’t wait to get his remains back. I’m still deciding where to put them. I think I might try to find a special pillow to put the urn on, because he liked sleeping on comfy things like that of course.

Because the cremation cost so much I also had to miss my Kingdom Hearts roleplay group’s meeting this week, since it was going to cost a bit. I feel really bad about it and I hated missing it but I was really tired yesterday anyway so maybe it was for the best. I feel like I missed out on so much. I’m also sad I didn’t get a prank call, which is what usually happens to members who don’t turn up.

The Good

I’ve been cleaning and rearranging my bedroom. I’ve gotten a bit obsessed with keeping my room neat and tidy since being in Liverpool and my room here in London was a disaster. So far I’ve got all of the recycling and rubbish out and the things I’m keeping are now in a pile on the floor (except the plushies, who live on my bed). Of course, the bed isn’t against the wall anymore so I do wake up with half of them on the floors some mornings. Now I just need to put everything away. Shocker, I also got rid of my massive magazine collection. In all fairness, I’m never going to read them again, but there was a time they were so important to me. Most of them were still in great condition even.

This week TV time with dad started again. Well, it actually started at the end of last week but still. What I find awesome is that my dad likes a lot of the same anime as I do. So far since being back we’ve watched the entire first series of Bleach and Naruto (both of which we got through in almost one day) and we’re now watching the second series of Bleach before going on to the third. We would get through this one sooner if dad didn’t fall asleep every three episodes hehe. Bleach is probably one of my favourite shows right now, I don’t remember it being this good the first time I watched it.

Also this week I received all the stuff for my cosplay at the end of May. I’m so excited about it. Pictures will probably come soon.

And yesterday (despite not having enough money to get through summer as it is) I pre-ordered the new Kingdom Hearts game. I’ve been promising it to myself for months, I couldn’t just not get it now. I’m so excited about that too! I can’t wait to play it!

Plans for next week

-              Finish the room, if I don’t manage to get it done today.

-              Get shoes for cosplay, the only thing I have left to get.

-              Start planning for Camp Nano, because that starts in June and I haven’t even thought about it yet.

-              Play more games, particularly finish Birth By Sleep. I haven’t been spending as much time playing as usual because I’ve had assignment deadlines and other things, now that I have nothing to do (sort of) I’ll be making up for that. I especially want to go through all the Kingdom Hearts games again before I get a new one.

So there’s the update for the week, lot’s to do now, think I’ll try to make some progress in my room now.

Stacey xXx

R.I.P. Trixie

I know just a few days ago I said I was going to get back to posting every day, but at least this time I have a good reason for not doing it. My cat died. It happened on Tuesday night, very suddenly. One minute he was fine and the next he was curled up beside mum's bed, dead. The only good thing about it is that it seems like he didn't feel any pain or anything. Thinking about it later that night, I wondered if he knew he was going to die. Only the day before he had been acting more loving than usual toward everyone, and had been laying closer to us. I wonder now if he knew it was going to happen and was taking the opportunity to be with us a last time and say goodbye.

Now, usually in my house when a pet dies, my parents - who are not as connected to either animals or the process of death as me - simply throw the bodies away, since there's nowhere around here anymore to bury them, thank you park renovation. But those are usually small pets, and that was not happening in this case. Since we didn't have anything to put him in, they wanted to put him in a bin bag anyway, to put out on the balcony. I happen to believe that's disrespectful to the body so I insisted on first wrapping him in an old towel (it would have been a blanket if I had one). First though, I had them take one last photograph of him. As you can see, I have a bit of an obsession with death traditions.

The next day we took him to the vet to be cremated (I would have voted for taxidermy, but that was way out of my price range). The price for this was £143, almost half the money I had left for the whole summer. I had to pay for it myself because my parents didn't have the money. It would have been a lot cheaper (£25) if  I hadn't chosen to keep his ashes afterwards, but I had to. Personally, I think the price was a bit much (then again, of course I'd think that now I have a lot less I can do in the summer) but it was worth it. I should be getting him back in 2 weeks.

Our other cat Sonny also had a really hard time for a couple of days. All Wednesday he just laid on the sofa quietly, and when he wasn't doing that he just wasn't himself. I sat with him a lot, stroking him, talking to him and trying to play with him, just trying to make him feel better and get back to normal. He seems fine now though. It was hard for me for a couple of days too, still is when I think about it, but I'm good too.

Trixie  6th June 1998-1st May 2012

(This is the final picture taken of him, the one after his death. At this point, he still looked alive.)

I've had Trixie since I was 6 years old (I'm  19 now). So he was a big part of my life for pretty much all my life. It's weird not having him around anymore. I thought we'd still have a few years with him at least, even if he was getting old...

Not really sure how to end this so I'll just leave it here...

RIP Trixie

Stacey xXx