Updates from Frangopolis

Hello friends and (digital?) neighbours!

How are things with you this fine day? I’m doing quite well… drinking tea, ensconced in blankets, sitting comfortably and gazing out of my window into our brilliantly gleaming backyard, lightly dusted with a inch of fresh snow.

It’s been an interesting week. I’ve now worked three shifts in my new IT job, which is going pretty well. Though I’m not ecstatic about returning to cubicle-life, there are certain things about it that I’m quite enjoying. First, it’s actually kind of nice to have a schedule right now. As some of my previous posts have noted, I spent a good portion of October feeling groundless and doldrummy, so the incorporation of more structure into my life is proving helpful. Second, I’m appreciating working with the IT manager, who I’ve known for almost fiften years. He has an implicit confidence in my comptence and abilities, which I’m finding motivational (as well as somewhat life-affirming, given my recent self-doubts). Third,   I’m enjoying learning new skills and hone old ones. Finally, the extra money is certainly going to help balance my books. Not too shabby!

Over and above this, I’ve also written the better part of a grant proposal for CFCR (which is due on Monday), gone to two dance classes (where I learned some *sweet* new tango and swing moves), finished my reading for one of my collaborative papers, went to the gym, and played some games with the crew. All in all, a good week!

Anyway, thanks to everyone that expressed their care/concern following my last post… I am very fortunate to have a caring community of friends and family. Things seem to be looking up.

Wee-ooowh (note: this is a foghorn)

Procrastination… It’s a skill-set.

I told Scott that I’d have a new draft version of a paper that we’re collaborating on finished this evening, but that is looking increasingly unlikely. I have a lot of things to do right now (e.g., the aformentioned paper, another paper (this one about Mao Zedong), a new website for my parents, learning Flash to help my brother with his new website, a grant proposal for CFCR, an entry for a new blog project that I’ve signed onto), but I’m having some trouble focusing on any of them… Gah! I just wish that any one of these tasks was really pushing my buttons, but unfortunately none of them are (with the exception of the blog project, which I’ll talk about later). Moreover, I’m going to be starting a new job on Tuesday (with around 16 scheduled hours a week)… Though I’m not hugely excited by it either, I have to acknowledge my good fortune in finding employment that pays well and has flexible hours. I have some debts coming due, so it will be nice to pay them off expeditiously.

Also, I’ve been having some other issues lately. My body image is in the shitter right now, to the extent that I have a hard time imagining someone that I would be attracted to being attracted to me.  I know that this is kind of silly, especially given recent psychological research showing that it is men who are more concerned with physical beauty, while women tend to be more attracted to signs of affluence… oh wait, that doesn’t actually make me feel better at all… Regardless, I have started going to the gym again, which  I hope will help to increase my self-confidence (if nothing else).

My vision problems have really been bothering me this week too. I’m thinking I need to see a doctor again… the amount of noise in my visual field has increased, to the point that my night vision has declined dramatically.

Finally, I’ve been experiencing these occasional pangs of incredible loneliness, though I know that I’m not going to be in any position to meet anybody until I sort myself out somewhat. Bah!

After four hundred words of whining, I need to clarify something. I have been feeling intermittently crappy lately, but such feelings are still being balanced out by various positive experiences. Some examples: walking in the unexpectedly-warm October sunshine and listening to Anamanaguchi (I find chip-tunes extremely (pleasantly) nostalgic), playing D&D with the crew (Mr. Keith’s most recent session was excellent, providing many collaborative storytelling possibilities), doing my radio show and recording some (rather amusing) commercials, playing games with Hadge, reberk, Ms. Canning and Mr. Keith, cooking a couple of delicious meals (peanut, potato, chickpea and spinach curry; black-bean chili), ballroom dancing (this morning’s foxtrot workshop was great…), and watching Where the Wild Things Are with Mr. Keith and Ms. Naners (note: I think this film was an incredible exploration of the emotional space occupied by young children… I’d strongly recommend that AJ and BJ schedule a bro-date to watch it, as I’d like to discuss it with them). All of this is to say: don’t worry about me… I’m fine… I’m going through some problems right now, but I have a good support structure and a life that’s full of joy and wonder.

Goals for this year:

• Learn to meditate (–> Given the evidence for the neurological benefits of meditation, I think it would be a proactive response to my concerns about my (possibly) declining neural function)
• Study Chinese (–> Most PhD programs have expectations about language competency… Though I’ve taken some classes, I haven’t used these skills in years… By the end of the year, I’d like to be able to struggle through the Xunzi (albeit with a dictionary by my side))
• Do more screen printing
• Learn to play the trumpet? (–> Every since fooling around with a bugle at AJ’s place, I’ve been thinking about this. Even if I only ever used it to play along with jazz records, it would still be fun… That said, this is definitely at the bottom of my list for a reason)
• Submit at least two articles for publication. Between collaborative projects and my own work, this shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

while i’m alive i’ll feel alive // and what’s next // i guess i’ll know when i’ve gotten there

On Location: Toronto (Episode Three)

So, I’ve been back home for three days now and I must admit that my spirits are low. I’ve just been feeling unmoored. I know that there are things that I should be doing, but I’m having a really hard time assembling the necessary willpower to do them. As a result, I’ve spent a fair amount of time moping, walking around, and playing Arkham Asylum and Professor Layton. Sigh.

Regardless, I am the kind of person that finishes what he starts, so, without any further ado, here is the conclusion of my trip synopsis. As an aside, you can find an additional perspective on (part of) this Toronto excursion by moseying over to reberk’s blog, where he is offering his own take on some of the experiences described below.

• Wed. the 14th:  this was definitely the low point of the trip… It was the day before the final deadline for the study guide project that I was collaborating on and, as a result, I basically spent the entire day (eight to ten hours) in front of a computer, writing about Chinese religion… which can be fine, but is definitely not what I want to be doing on vacation. Regardless, I had a couple of nice breaks during the day: at 5ish, when AJ came home from work, we trekked over to the Sicilian ice-creamery for another espresso/ice cream delight, and at 10ish, he had some friends over to watch Big Meat Eater: an utterly bizarre, low budget, Canadian horror sci-fi musical. It isn’t good… at all… but it is oddly compelling. If anyone wants to borrow it, I have the DVD. After walking AJ’s friend Jana (sp?) to the subway, I turned in and slept the sleep of the just.
• Thurs. the 15th: Another beautiful day. I woke up, finished up my study guide work, went out to Clinton’s for beer, burgers and boardgames with AJ.
• [Aside: 2 de Mayo is a pretty neat game... We'd never played before, as AJ had just received it (from me) as a birthday present  (I gave it to him wrapped in a pair of pants (I think wrapping paper is wasteful, okay?)). Anyway, it's a well thought-out design, combining asymmetrical player powers, secret movement orders, simultaneous turn resolution, and deterministic combat with a 30 minute playtime. Cool!]
• Thurs. the 15th (cont.): After returning home briefly for a phone summit with my study-guide collaborator, I then went out to meet BJ for a Thai supper (acceptable but not astounding). Later that evening, we went to a modern/ballet performance by ProArteDanza. It was quite good: the performers were accomplished, the music was interesting, and the overall experience was enjoyable. Here’s the thing: whenever possible, I like going to dance shows. I’m the kind of person that tends to overthink things, so I find it refreshing to experience art that I lack the critical vocabulary to dissect. The effect of this is that I just have to sit there and enjoy the aesthetic experience. Uncommon! Refreshing! One thing: whenever I go to a dance show, I leave wanting to be part of a beautiful machine.  “Small World” Aside: as we were wandering around aimlessly looking for the dance theatre, BJ and I ran into a (strangely familiar) woman who was similarly lost. After joining forces, we discovered that she had newly moved to Toronto from Saskatchewan (of course)… It was then that I realized that she had been a performer in the 2008 Saskatoon Fringe. Mystery solved!
• Fri. the 16th: On the morning of the 16th, I hung out and played games with my sickly bro, who – in the clutches of a deadline himself – was overextended and coming down with a pretty nasty cold. At noonish, I hooked up with BJ, got a delicious carnitas burrito from a tiny shop on the Danforth (same speed and ability to choose toppings as Subway, but cheaper, tastier, and not part of a chain… sold!), and bussed up to the Ontario Science Centre. Given that I’m a science nerd, I was – of course – in heaven. There we checked out the various exhibits (some of which have a charming late-70s cheesiness to them), and explored BodyWorlds 3. I’ve seen a BodyWorlds show before, so knew what to expect, but it is always an interesting experience. The sculptures that Gunther von Hagens makes from plasticized human corpses are morbid, and perhaps even grotesque, but they do highlight the astonishing architectural complexity of the human body. Some highlights: the Juxtaposed Couple and Limber Gymnast with Organs. Later, T-Par, BJ and I made an appointment with Dr. Bombay, during which time I made a toast to my incipient move in Fall 2010 (so, I guess it’s official now?), and then headed out for a delicious Korean meal. Also, I met BJ’s boyfriend. He’s a nice fellow… he and B are goofy in similar ways, which works (and is entertaining to behold)… Additionally, I’ve never really seen my bro share a romantic space with someone, which was also kind of nice.
• Sat. the 17th:  Said goodbye to AJ and T-Par… Not only was it great to stay with them due to their exemplary hosting abilities, but it was also exciting to actually interact with so many of their friends… It gave me sort of a snapshot of their shared social life, which seems pretty sweet. Also, I love spending time with both of them. They’re a great couple. AJ is the dude and Tara is (secretly) my sister.  Anyway, I then walked up to the subway station, caught the airport rocket, and had a relatively uneventful flight home. I say “relatively” because there was one (marginally) notable aspect: I was seated next to an *extremely* attractive lady, which typically would have just made me feel nervous and awkward. This time, however, I decided that I’d stop acting like  a mewling child and acknowledge that women (even attractive ones) are just people… they may like or dislike me (and I them), but there’s no point being ridiculous about it… everything is less significant that it appears in the mind of a neurotic. Anyway, to make a long story short(er), I struck up a conversation with her and we talked for a couple of hours. It was nice. So, hey!

On Location: Toronto (Episode Two)

A long satisfied sigh as I crawl into bed tonight (he writes from his bed, using his bro’s laptop)… This trip is continuing to be an exemplary panoply of adventures and joy. AJ and Tara are still incredibly gracious hosts, the city continues to be a delight, and (most) everything is awesome.

Trip synopsis continued:

• Mon. the 12th: Woke up and did some work on the study guide project. Later, I helped make a vegan chickpea and squash curry: my contribution an afternoon potluck for Tara’s choir friends that I was invited to attend. After an enjoyable meal, we played an amusing party game that combined “Broken Telephone” and Pictionary. They were a really pleasant group of people and I had quite a few enjoyable interactions over the course of the afternoon. After the guests left, Aaron, reberk and I played a round of Ubongo and a game of Thurn and Taxis, both of which were enjoyable. Later in the evening, reberk and I ventured out to a tavern called the Rhino to meet up with a couple of lovely Torontonian ladies that we had become acquainted with during the Fringe Festival. It was a real pleasure to see them again. In particular, I spent most of the evening talking to Ms. Bradford, which had a surprisingly bolstering effect upon my psyche. Here’s the thing: lately, I’ve been feeling really down about relationships (in general) and my relationship prospects (in particular). In fact, just that afternoon, AJ, reberk and I had engaged in a long conversation about precisely this topic, wherein I realized that my first response when seeing a pretty girl these days is just to feel sad… “Romance is something that happens to other people” (and all that whining self-pitying crap that I sometimes tell myself)… Anyway, my evening reminded me how enjoyable it is to banter with someone, to have good interpersonal chemistry, and to have a conversation where you are continually engaged by the wit and verve of your interlocutor (and, by association, with your own thoughts, words and responses). Now, here’s the thing: I know that this isn’t going anywhere (in the “big picture” sense): not only is she here while I’m there, but we also have some utterly incompatible philosophical stances. Nonetheless, after that conversation, I’ve felt better than I have felt in quite a long while, as it reminded me that the whole relationship-potentiality-thing can actually be something exciting and possibility-filled, instead of simply being a frightening cavalcade of compromise and discomfort. Sigh.
• Tues. the 13th: AJ’s 27th birthday. I woke up at 10 AM (after falling asleep after 4:30 AM the previous night (reberk and I needed to postmortem the evening after getting in at 3:45, after all)) and promptly got down to work, which occupied much of my time until 5ish. Note: I did part of my work in a little Sicilian cafe, where I found the most delicious confection: Cafe Fresca… imagine this: coffee mug + scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream + steaming hot espresso. Awesome! Anyway, after AJ and Tara left for a birthday dinner, reberk, BJ and I got to work executing the surprise birthday party that we’d been planning since just after I’d arrived. The theme: a wholesome evening of family fun. The name: Aaron’s Annual Autumnal Birthday Mixer. After decorating the place with streamers and balloons, we planned out various wholesome parlour games (including hide the thimble, headbands, squeak piggy squeak, and charades). We also tried to get a game of Snapdragon going, but it unfortunately fizzled because we cooked the brandy for too long. Anyway, I got to meet another cotillion of Aaron’s friends (BJ did the Facebook invite work) and, once again, had a totally killer time. Life is grand.

Anyway, I should be turning in. Not only will I need to get up in four hours to lock reberk out (he flies out tomorrow), but I also have the final stretch of study guide work to do. My goal: finish in 5-6 hours so that I still have time to grab a nice supper in the evening and then go to the opera. We’ll see what happens.

Goodnight world! Today was a dilly.

On Location: Toronto (Episode One)

So, I’m currently in Toronto, land of a sunshine (I’m still wearing shorts), one million restaurants, and sweet hangouts. I’ve been told to keep on the lookout for sleazily-dressed Torontonian nightlife and their hoochie-earings, but the big city doesn’t seem to be doing any worse on that score than back home.

So far, my trip has had a breezy pleasantness to it. My brother and his lovely girlfriend (aka my honorary sister) are very accomodating hosts. Ever since I’ve arrived, I’ve been treated to considerable hospitality and have enjoyed numerous family hangouts (which I always appreciate). Also, I love this city, and always look forward to immersing myself in the ever-changing spectacle of Toronto life.

Itinerary (thus far):

• Wed. the 7th: arrived late, surprised to see my brother waiting for me at the subway station. Like I said: hospitable!
• Thurs. the 8th: explored the Distillery District with my whole family. Gallery hopped for most of the afternoon, stopped in for a beer tasting at the Mill St. Brewery (note: beer sampling + fresh baked pretzels = awesome), visited a chocolatier  and purchased a sampling of all of their non-standard truffles (top picks: douglas fir, olive oil, bergamot). Had a lackluster dinner and went to a halfbaked Tom Stoppard play (Rock and Roll), though both experiences were totally redeemed by the company. For example, though the play had quite a few rough edges, my dad, my brother and I spent an hour deconstructing it on the walk home and wrang some interesting nuggets from it.
• Fri. the 9th – My dad and I trekked out on a mission to buy an organic turkey and luggage. We found a suitable bird at the Saint Lawrence Market (one of my favorite places in the world) and a suitcase in China Town. Success! Later that evening, reberk arrived in town and my entire clan (+ berk) headed to my brother’s girlfriend’s mother’s house for supper. Incredible food! Excellent company! Later, we attended a performance by my brother’s a cappella group, which was also quite good. Every time I see him perform, he’s grown as a singer, which is really exciting to see.
• Sat. the 10th – Stayed in during the early part of the day helping my family cook a ridiculous Thanksgiving feast (on the menu: turkey, stuffing, gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, roasted yams, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, mango salad, wheat salad, guacamole and baguette, brussel sprouts and cheese sauce, and fresh pumpkin pie). Once again: it was all incredibly delicious. Later on, AJ and I went to an excellent Danny Michel solo concert, then met up with his lady friend, reberk, BJ and a friend of his. After some adventures, the evening concluded with AJ, Tara, reberk and I carrying a discarded couch several kilometers, during which time we took numerous entertaining breaks (sitting on the couch, obviously) watching the crowds go by and being heckled by incredulous Saturday night party-people. Once we got home (at 1:30 AM), we were pleased to discover that a local Sicilian ice-cream shop was still open. Late night ice cream = best ice cream!
• Sun. the 11th: Another good day today. After breakfasting on leftovers, we attended a performance of Mimi: A Poisoner’s Comedy, a clever and engaging original musical currently playing at the Tarragon Theatre. Later, we met up with BJ (the other bro), bought some Korean walnut cakes, and went out for an excellent supper at Utopia. Finally, AJ, reberk and I walked down to the Drake Hotel (a vaguely swanky and utterly atmospheric venue), where we caught a Mike Doughty show. Now I just need to see Tom Waits and my concert checklist is officially completed. As an aside, I saw something on the way to the Drake that probably would have appealed to Steph: in the window of a gallery, there was a sign reading “Cirque des Hiboux” overlooking an entire minature circus, featuring thirty or forty tiny knitted owls performing various feats (e.g., balancing acts, trapeze, etc.)… It was quite endearing.

Anyway, that’s the current synopsis. Tomorrow is going to be a little more lackluster, as I’m going to be spending a healthy portion of it working (confounded telecommuting), but in the evening I’ll be spending some time with a friend I made over the summer (during the Fringe), which should be enjoyable.

In addition to the goodness, I’ve also had some time to feel lonely (brought on by some of Doughty and Danny Michel’s lyrics, as well as the surplus of babes in TO) and to fret about my mental health (once again, I feel like I’m becoming less and less interesting as the pauses in my conversation grow and my command of language (seemingly) decreases), but I’ve been trying to keep these tendencies in check. Regardless, I know that I get more depressive (and also less (socially) useful) when I’m overtired, so I guess I should cut this off.

Note: one should not read too much into the previous paragraph, as my overall assessment of the trip thus far would still give it full marks: A+… I think it is just what I needed.

… I just wanna bang on my drum all day…

I am having a *really* hard time getting motivated today (he says as he sits down at his computer at 5pm, only to promptly start blogging). Another night of insomnia, coupled with a general lack of enthusiasm is kind of sapping my willpower… Bah!

I shouldn’t complain. There are a lot of sweet things going on right now (which I will talk more about later), not the least of which is that I’m going to be heading down east in seven sleeps.

Anyway, I have a meeting a 8pm and work to do before then, so I’ll have to cut this short. I know… I should do something that I enjoy… like listening to Architecture in Helsinki. Day improved!

By the way, I apologize for my last few whiny posts. I’ve been in a little bit of a funk lately. Hopefully it passes soon. Also, I’d like to thank my bro for his helpful (and amusing) comments on my previous post.  My family rocks!

Toot toot! All aboard the emo-ship ‘Frangibility’…

Hey everybody… I haven’t posted for a while, in part because I haven’t had much to say.  Maybe I should be keeping my silence right now, given that I’m just going to be mewling forth onto the internets,  but I kind of feel like talking… Given that it’s noon and most people that I know are off working or studying right now, this unidirectional conversational surrogate will have to do.

What’s up with me right now? Nothing that will come as news to any faithful readers out there… I’m feeling kind of lonely (despite my surfeit of sweet friends), I suffering from doubts about my career path, I’m not terribly enthused about the work that I’m doing (despite the  fact that I get compensated for it reasonably well), and I’m worried about my mind (or, more specifically, about the neural substrate that houses it).

I’ve complained about this last issue before… I’m worried that I’m getting stupider. I used to be a blue whale of information gathering… I’d just suck it all in and some unconcious, baleen-like process would filter out the relevant data, itemized and ready to implement. There was a time that I only had to read (or hear) things once. Now, I feel rusty… atrophied… I’m not accessing stored information as quickly or easily as I once did. Many times a day, I’m struck with the maddening sensation of knowing that there are better words than the ones I’m using, but being unable to access them in time. Likewise, my ability to do mental arithmetic has declined and my spelling  (which I’ve never had a problem with before) has gone to the shits as well. When combined with my vision problems (which have been acting up this week), it makes me worry that I’m experiencing some sort of neurological decay, that perhaps my myelin is being worn away. Or maybe I’m just getting older and experiencing a decline in neural plasticity. I don’t know. But it sucks.

I’ve always identified myself very strongly with my intelligence and when I can’t depend on that, I feel kind of worthless. Analogy: It’s like Superman… Imagine that one day he lost his super strength. You might be surprised to discover that he is also a competent cook or a good listener, and there is certainly nothing wrong with these other attributes. But he isn’t Superman anymore.

There are other things on my mind, gentle readers, but they’ll have to wait. I need to get down to work for today.

Prepare for mundanity!

At present, not much is going on here. I’m feeling a little run down and have a slight pain in my sinuses (never a good sign), so I’m going to be taking it really easy today. I’ve already gone for a little walk (vitamin D for the win!) and will try to get 10-12 hours of sleep tonight.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful, though fairly productive… I’ve gotten a fair amount of web-work done, hosted a 1950s themed party, prepared and ran a small D&D campaign, wrote a section of an academic article, and also got some sweet hangouts in. Not too shabby.

Just to downplay the uninteresting nature of this post, I’ll conclude it with some photos of the food from our 1950s potluck:

The items pictured include: various pickled vegetables; vegetarian meatloaf (I’m still really curious about the recipe for this dish); a vegan jello mold; pasta salad; Waldorf salad; vegan scalloped potatoes (topped with crushed potato chips); toasted tomato, feta and pine nut salad; baked beans with Dr. Pepper; corn, tomato and cilantro salsa; vegan sweet-and-sour “meatstuff”; and two layered salads (first, the seven layer salad, which includes layers of cheese, eggs, peas, mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce, and, second, the Elvis salad, which has layers of lettuce, sliced bananas, peanut butter, mayo and pecans). I’ve got to say: I was very impressed by everyone’s dedication to the theme. Though I couldn’t eat like that every day, it was a very delicious. Kudos all around!

Also, I’d strongly recommend the Tom Collins as a delicious party cocktail. The recipe I used was quite simple – combine equal parts gin and fresh squeezed lemon juice, sweeten slightly with a sugar syrup, pour over ice and top up with soda water. Delicious! I made a pitcher of them and they were quite well received. For more photos, see Danger’s flickr set here. Included there is one reasonably nice picture of me… which is rare!

Divergent Perspectives!

As promised, here are a few photos from my birthday-extravaganza (described in my previous post). These particular shots, taken by DangerDuke, capture the feeling of the evening really well (as well as being generally sweet candid photos)… the only problems are that there really aren’t any shots of the tavern itself and that some guests (including Danger herself) were somewhat under-represented… hopefully, both of these issues will be rectified in Jaime or Carlan’’s photos (which have not yet been posted). Anyway, I’ve only selected a few of my favorites, but you can see the whole set here.

For a different perspective, which highlights some of the merits and demerits of setting giant arbitrary tasks for oneself, please see mr. keith’s diary entry on the topic. As always, his philosophical perspective is both intriguing and well-considered.

Hadley and Gill

reberk and nicole

The Ogre

Carlan and Matt

Laura and mr. keith (aka the Trusted Friend)

Steph (the Good Witch)

frange vs. ogre (note: check out my sweet robe!)

And, as a bonus, here are a few shots from yesterday’s early morning demolition derby:

The Tavern (now in a sad state of disrepair)

A View of the Demolition From My (Filthy) Window

A Night of Mysteries!

Last night, I was treated to an incredibly thoughtful birthday surprise, perpetrated by the entire group of lovely, wacky individuals that I am fortunate enough to call my friends. This is not to say that I was entirely caught off guard; after all, they needed to send me a cryptic note telling me not to look in the backyard yesterday. This (needless to say) piqued my curiosity, though I avoided the temptation to sneak a glance. If I would have looked out of my window, however, I would have seen the following [note: I live on the second floor]:

View of the Tavern's roof from my bedroom window

What is that, you might ask? It is the peak of a ten-foot tall roof, which was outside of my window because my friends spent yesterday building an entire medieval tavern on our deck. I will repeat this for emphasis: they built a medieval tavern on my deck.

The madness doesn’t end there. When I arrived home yesterday evening, I was greeted by a “trusted friend” [note: more on this later] who escorted me into the backyard and presented me to the assembled patrons of the Staff and Shield – a motley crew of townsfolk (van de Raadt and Williams – the proprietors of the establishment), wandering adventurers (a blustering warrior, a flighty bard and a misanthropic druid), mystical creatures (a fairy and a pixie), and magic users (including a Tarot-reading white witch, an irascible gypsy and a taciturn sorcerer)… You see, it wasn’t just that they built a tavern… they actually scripted an entire medieval murder mystery, with everyone present playing a specific character, slowly revealing more and more information over a series of “rounds” (subtly demarcated by reberk’s toasts throughout the evening). My goal when interacting with this environment was to discover the murderer of Dartmouth (the town lush) and attempt to recover the Orb of Knowledge.

Though it was obviously entertaining to simply improv with the assembled guests (which is how I found out about the daily lives of forest druids, the reproductive peculiarities of pixie culture and other extemporized minutia), the evening built to an exciting conclusion, wherein the sorcerer, the warrior and I confronted a giant ogre (played by Mr. Keith on stilts, wearing a costume that he’d spent the better part of a month refining). It was all quite overwhelming. As soon as photos of the evening surface, I’ll be sure to post them here.

As noted above, I’m simply dumbfounded by the ridiculous hijinx that this crew perpetrates… I am tremendously fortunate to be where I am right now and to have the pleasure of interacting with such a (literally) incredible group of people. Live is awesome.

As an aside, I need to compliment the group on their attention to detail. All of the assembled guests stayed in character all night, making up backstories and life details as necessitated by the story. This meant that “van de Raadt” and “Williams” spent the entire evening making sure that everyone’s cups were full, that Marcoux (the gypsy) continually spoke in a patois of English and Russian, harrassing the bar’s patrons about the conditions of their auras (“arochka” (sp?)), that Hadley spent the evening telling tall-tales about his  adventuring exploits, and that Gill suppressed her typically sunny disposition to get into the role of the sullen druid. Likewise, Mr. Keith’s character, who was referred to only as my “trusted friend,” was a gigantic in-joke. His costume was patterned after a character card in Notre Dame (a boardgame that we play fairly frequently) that we’ve always joked looks quite a bit like him. Apparently, he brought this image with him to ValueVillage, as he somehow managed to find exactly this costume (which was added to by the fact that he avoided shaving for a month in order to match the facial hair properly):

Trusted Friend / Andrew Comparison Image

Likewise, reberk spent the two previous days writing lyrics to an “overture” song (based on a tune from Disney’s Hunchback) that summarized all of the events which led up to the evening in question. Not only did this song work well, he actually did so while maintaining the internal rhyme scheme of the original. Impressive!

Anyway, I could gush about this further, but it sounds like we’re going to play some games this afternoon before I get down to work…

I know, I know… I lead a charmed life. I wouldn’t deny it for a second.