fahrenheit 911 with joriel this night; found mother, sister, brother (who saw the showing before ours) in the departing crowd amongst the faces of the shocked and angry and energized. there were some passing out fliers in regards to an anti-war, anti-bush march being held in monroe park on the coming saturday. we’ll be there.

never have i felt so equally depressed and optimistic.

depressed because things have gone so wrong and awry. optimistic because if other people are seeing this film and feeling like i do, then change is not only possible, but necessary.

day five

heading home. slept in this morning, given last night’s revels. wanted to do a little more at the con, but got to that inevitable crossroads when a party is winding down: you can either rush around and still feel like you didn’t get around to everything you wanted to do, or hang out ’til the bitter end, to the point where everything gets strained and desperate.

the forever war (i.e., john and dave’s f&e game) came to a close at around noon, but only because everyone was ready to go home. they later admitted that maybe it would be a good idea to have a seperate gathering for just their game; otherwise, they’ll never be able to enjoy the fruits of origins at future cons. while they were wrapping up, i had my last brunch at benevolence – today they had kische and poppyseed muffins. yummy! i also stocked up on food for the road (or ‘FUD’, as chris puts it).

to show our appreciation for covering the cost of the hotel with his accumulated points, chris, john and i gave dave a hat inspired by the ‘tim’ character from the holy grail.

i said my goodbyes to the lab rabbits i’d hung out with, and hope to see them next year.

i officially had a blast at the con, thanks to three of my coolest friends; maybe the four of us will come again in ’05. here we are trying to cram all of our gear into the rental.

well, that’s pretty much it; we’ve reached the city limits of the city of origins. i’m curious as to what life will seem like when i get back; in my life, i’ve learned that whenever a lot of activity is stacked on or near a solstice or equinox, the new season is all the stronger, stranger and (ideally) more wonderous. i’m so fortunate to have the life i do, even though i’m broke and unemployed now – in my heart, i feel happiness that no entropy can touch. whatever trials and tribulations may come, i will face them with optimism and courage; whether i succeed or fail, wisdom will be the result.

day four

slept in a bit today, what with blogging until 3am this morning. put on my jedi robe and headed over to benevolence for another tasty brunch; i was ‘on call’ for chris today, since he’s involved with another big wargame, and needed a lunch runner – he’s playing the japanese in a scenerio in which they focus their military might on taking hawaii in 1941, rather than diverting forces to the phillipines and simply bombing pearl harbor.

i’ve gotten into a habit of wandering, which has so far yielded pleasing results, since there’s just so darn much to see. i discovered an interesting miniatures game called ‘gaslight’, victorian-era steampunk. in battle was the

airship richmond, the ‘iron turtle’, and a steam-powered walker which looks suspiciously like an AT-AT with a smokestack attached. i absolutely love this sort of thing.

this entire hall is dedicated solely to the playing of pokemon-style cardgames. i’ve spent very little time here, but every now and again i poke my head in to witness this phenomena.

and because i walked up at just the right moment, i was able to get in another two games of ice towers, and triumphed in the second round. and again, at just the right time, i walked by one of the entrances just as the gay pride march thundered by today, complete with it’s own chorus. but i’ll let my audiobabble speak to that.

gay parade impressions

i remembered just in time to return to the looney labs booth for the raffle; everybody who won an event was automatically entered in the drawing by receipt of a ticket. there were 3 prizes, and i won the grand!!! it’s a beautiful (small, not giant) ice tower set made of fine rose quartz and obsidian – i can hardly believe my luck! all the lab rabbits and spectators alike crowded around me, giving congratulations and snapping pics. andy looney, the head of this funky little outfit, walked up and shook my hand, and we talked about his company and about how much i enjoyed playing his games. they invited me to come to the grand tournament this evening and show off my prize. glee!

i ran to tell the guys the news, but i’m afraid it was somewhat lost on them, since they haven’t seen any of the ice tower games (and yes, they are still playing the same game of federation and empire, goshlove’em). i’m currently in the looney lab amongst the lab rabbits and tie-die. i was able to pick up a faint access point named ‘stargate’ nearby; perhaps i can use it to post later on, saving me the long trip back through the arcology to the hotel.

the number of stormtroopers and other soldiers of the empire is increasing as the weekend unfolds; they’ve been having fun acting as security here; guarding the doors to the various halls, checking IDs, and waving people through (toy laser pistols in hand) barking ‘move along, move along!‘ in a gruff but muffled sort of way.

the empire is an equal opportunity employer.

there’s a life-sized x-wing fighter in the back right corner of the dealer hall; the owners are charging $ to get one’s picture taken in or beside the craft. most of the troopers i spoke to mentioned some sort of group shot that would take place next to it later on. i was trying to imagine that; what would they all be doing – pretending to shoot at it? guard it? give it the bird? mount it from behind? i mean, i suppose LARPers can’t be choosers, but if i were dressed as a stormtrooper, i’d hold out for an imperial shuttle.

ok, this is just funny. it’s like he’s lost, or a prop in storage.

smile!

update: i finally spoke to someone ‘in the know’ – one of the members of the ’501st’, a group of local stormtrooper enthusiasts (yes, they’re all over the country. no, i don’t know what else they do besides hang out at conventions. perhaps appear in awful star wars fan films?). according to him, they were told that there would be an emperial ship of some sort at the con (along with the x-wing), but it failed to materialize. he also told me that he had a remote-controlled R2D2 as ringbearer at his wedding.

ringbearer and groom.

i’ve counted about 3 boba fetts so far – is this the male equivalent of showing up to a formal affair in the exact

same dress as someone else? do they get all bitchy in the bathroom, saying that all the other guys are just clones of them?

met lee butler today, one of the looney lab rabbits. most if not all of the art noveau in the va fine arts museum that i know and love so well was donated by her grandmother; like, it was her own furniture! lee lives in dc; her grandmother is still in richmond. also, there are portraits of her grandmother and grandfather in the ‘friends of artists’ exhibit. her grandmother has memories of waking up (and being startled by) the photo realistic construction guy (also in the museum), back when it was in her old apartment for a time. the other sculpture (of the businessman) also bears a connection – that of the face and hands, which were modeled after her grandfather’s.

lee and i discussed the political climate of origins, and of the country. i told her about my blog, and she told me about her live journal; i hope we can keep in touch, ’cause she’s like, cool and stuff.

i decided to wade right back into the comfest mob and find some dinner – as i discussed before, what a bizarrely different vibe, a scant block from the con! i ended up getting a ‘broccoli burger’ from one of the food stands, which was actualy quite good. a freshfruit smoothie completed the meal, and then i returned to the lab to blog.

chris just called to report in: he made great headway into the hawaiian mainland, but the japanese failed to take the island and were forced to retreat. he and dave came by for a few minutes, and then left to go watch girls. later, the lab rabbits gathered for a group picture, and i linked back up with chris to play a late-night game of axis and allies: pacific.

we played about three turns, and then had a massive battle comprised of all our naval and air units at once. if this sounds silly, understand that it was 3:30 in the morning by this point; besides, we still had fun, and japan got to win. and it’s nothing compared to the fact that i am blogging right now, even though it is now 5:30 in the goddamn AM. i feel a strange sense of happiness and completion, however – a sure sign that i am either totally in the zone, or out of my farking mind.

note: as with all of these origins entries, i’m rewinding the posted date so as to keep it sychronized with the day in question, as opposed to when i actually end up posting.

off to bed; last day here in columbus tomorrow, then the long road home.

day three

i started the day off by picking up the latest tome from the shadowrun folks, who assured me that tomorrow they’ll be dressing up; apparently, today’s outfits (seen above) are pretty much how these young cyberpunks normally dress. i also discovered the source of yesterday’s ‘rules for medieval combat with foam weapons’ – essentially SCA folk who want to ensure they don’t kill any con attendees. chris later spotted a finely rendered model of the reichtag in ruins, much to his apparent alarm.

john and dave continue to play federation and empire, endlessly and forever. they warned me that this was all they’d be doing the entire run of the con, but i guess i thought they were exaggerating. amazing! unfortuntely, by this point chris has already lost too many SFB games to compete in the finals, but apparently he’s learned a lot. he had hoped that today would be a better day for him, since (according to him) he’s wearing an entirely different outfit than yesterday. oh well…

meanwhile, i played my first round of martian chess. it’s a fascinating game which will probably take me some time to master; the goal is to get rid of all your pieces, while simulataneously capturing as many of the other players’ pieces as you can manage. like ice towers, it’s played with little pyramids of different sizes. and like all looney lab games, it has quirky rules; for instance, the player with the reddest hair goes first. anyway, i lost the game, but like chris says, i like to think i learned something from the experience.

ate brunch at the benevolence cafe and bakery, which doubles as a bookshop. nothing makes me happier when i’m hungry than a sign that says something to the effect of ‘we speak vegan’. from there, i visited a sattelite of their shop in the nearby north market, though which they sell vegan dessert items. still another shop (which promotes soy products) sold me a tofutti cutie, and directed me to the ‘ConFest’ nearby. what’s this? a greenie hippie community festival right nextdoor to a geek ground zero? now, THIS is some strange sychronicity… though upon reflection, it goes deeper than that. more on that later.

after some further wandering around, i played another round of ice towers – missed winning by a single point! from there, i did my recycling duties for the day with the looney labs lady, and then bought some lunch at the north market; the soy lady from earlier gave me a free bag of soynuts.

played my first miniatures game, with chris! we were the mongols, who were surrounding a dwarven/human encampment in a reinactment from a forgotten realms tale. it was really cool – you determine your movement and firing range with a tape measure, and all the miniatures were painted with excellent detail. the game ran for about 4 hours, and the mongols emerged victorious, thanks to chris’ strategy and my die-rolling mojo. i hope to play at least one more before the end of the con; we’ll see…

in the bar again. there are a few pirates mixed in with the usual crowd. i’m running on coffee; without it, tonight’s entry ain’t happening. the boys joined me a little while ago, and we toasted to friendship and shameless nerdyness. it’s so cool knowing these guys after so many years, especially with us still able to do the things we love together, despite the many ways we’ve all changed and grown.

i called my sweet joriel earlier today. it was so good to hear her voice – now i’m missing her in that desperate, wonderful way that makes my skin tingle.

tomorrow is the last full day of the con. i almost feel as if i’ve lived here for ages – this is the same sort of wonky timesense that i got at yellowstone. but then, i adapt very quickly to new places, with few exceptions. once i’ve found my groove, i’m solid. remembering this is exciting, given our plans to move to points west next year.

signing off for the evening. sleep is a such a good friend after a long day.

comfest impressions