Swatted (switten?)
Sep. 28th, 2004 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jere7myI am still not accustomed to the tiny airplanes they're using these days. The bathrooms are so cramped that I had to tip my head way over to one side, Elephant Man-style, when urinating. ("I am not an animal! I am a human peeing!") It's much easier to see these wee planes as metal tubes full of people, hurtling through the atmosphere, which is a little unsettling.
I was on the aforementioned airplanes because I spent the weekend at Swarthmore, chiefly visiting Miriam but also meeting quite a number of formerly net-only friends:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sinsofthedove, foxfour, _swallow, shipwright, and Katy L. (whom I know from AIM, and who is a close friend of flammifera). All of them, it turns out, are splendid and interesting people. I also got to snuggle with showergrrl and meet most of Miriam's social circle, including her welcoming and understanding roomie Blair and their friendly quintmates. (At least one of whom has an odd sense of humor, for which we have nearly forgiven him.) Oddly, I think I hit it off best with the male-type people; Blair's boyfriend Adam laughed frequently at things I said, quintmate Sam was tickled that I recognized the Brazil soundtrack leaking from his room, and I impressed foxfour by recognizing that he was not just a hobbit but, in fact, one Peregrin Took. I enjoyed my time with them all, though as the weekend progressed and I got more and more sleep-deprived I started feeling less social and more...hmm...intrusive, I suppose the word is. "Who is this old codger, and why is he lurking in the halls of ML? Let's all stare at him shiftily." Which I'm sure was 99% sleepy paranoia.
I managed to completely miss seeingflammifera and ultranurd, and only saw other SWILfolk briefly, chiefly because I rarely left ML. (Which is a weird statement: "I rarely saw SWILfolk because I rarely left ML.") Sorry, all; next time?
Regardless, it was a wonderful weekend.
I arrived Thursday afternoon, and got to attend Joanna R.'s English dance class. I did not get to surprise her, since someone had apparently tipped her off about my visit. I did get to dance English with various people, which I hadn't done in ages, and I saw (and hugged) the wonderful Josh B. and MelissaR. Afterward, Miriam and I were abducted byeclectic_boy, tirerim, and fiddledragon and forced, under pain of poking, to watch all three Wallace and Gromit shorts in Greylock 301. Poor us!
Yom Kippur started on sunset Friday, which meant Miriam stopped eating and so on for 25 hours. She invited me to attend Kol Nidre services, which turned out to involve a great deal of standing, but which I thoroughly enjoyed anyway. This was my first Jewish service, and I left with the definite impression that their religion was much much older than my religion: there were many vestigial remnants of practices and sentiments that were born 3000+ years ago, breast-beating and crostic confessions in Hebrew. I found it fascinating, and both Miriam and I left feeling cleansed.
I showed The Dark Crystal in ML lounge that night, since Miriam had never seen it, and it was quite well-attended; it gave me a chance to chat (briefly) with Larry andmegan_powell, too. Then SWIL meeting on Saturday, where Sam, at my suggestion, performed a rousing rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan's When I Was a Lad to prove his sentience. This was followed by a couple of hours in Pitt with Katy and her Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Stephen and Napoleon. At least she claimed they were hissing cockroaches; the little dears refused outright to hiss at me, however much I attempted to resemble a predatory bird. But Katy snuggled with me, and made earrings for Miriam, and let me pick up her pets, so I can't complain too much. Here is a pic of Stephen, perched atop the ball of my thumb:
To break her fast, I took Miriam into Philly for dinner, or breakfast, or whatever one wants to call it. We ate at the White Dog in University City, which was (as expected) deeply yummy: a fruit/cheese/bread plate to begin with, a portobello mushroom and balsamic vinegar contraption for her, St. Peter's fish crusted with crab and shrimp for me, and crème brulée and chocolate mousse pie for dessert. Wonderful conversation; even the 45-minute wait at University City was fun. I was impressed by the stomach capacity of this slender but starving Jew. Also, I was very proud and swaggery to be there with her, as she looked like this:
Unfortunately, there was some grumpiness once we got back, which doesn't need to be gone into here. Said grumpiness was mitigated by a pleasant game of Taboo with most of the ML people I'd met thus far, and Miriam and I did smooth things over before the night was done.
Sunday was a lying-about-reading sort of day, since both Miriam and Blair had homework to catch up on, and I had The System of the World to occupy me (and further develop my wrist muscles). I visited my old rooms in ML, one of which is occupied by Jameson (whose bathroom is the setting for my first-ever porn sale) and was labeled "Isengard" when I saw it. (I'd lived in Barad-Dur, too, as well as a room which has since been declared too small to be anything other than an emergency single. Or a closet.)
On Monday Miriam and I spent the afternoon together, and then she walked me to the train station and I departed. I managed to snap this at arm's length just before the train came:
It's good to be home, good to see K. again and feel comfortable in my own space again, but I am a bit full of wist. Everyone, with a damn few exceptions, was welcoming and friendly, and Miriam and I got along excellently. I may need to visit again before winter comes.
(Incidentally, contrary to rumor and expectation, while JS#s did drop like flies this weekend, none of the changes were my fault. Not directly, anyway. Just wanted to clear that up.)
I was on the aforementioned airplanes because I spent the weekend at Swarthmore, chiefly visiting Miriam but also meeting quite a number of formerly net-only friends:
sinsofthedove, foxfour, _swallow, shipwright, and Katy L. (whom I know from AIM, and who is a close friend of flammifera). All of them, it turns out, are splendid and interesting people. I also got to snuggle with showergrrl and meet most of Miriam's social circle, including her welcoming and understanding roomie Blair and their friendly quintmates. (At least one of whom has an odd sense of humor, for which we have nearly forgiven him.) Oddly, I think I hit it off best with the male-type people; Blair's boyfriend Adam laughed frequently at things I said, quintmate Sam was tickled that I recognized the Brazil soundtrack leaking from his room, and I impressed foxfour by recognizing that he was not just a hobbit but, in fact, one Peregrin Took. I enjoyed my time with them all, though as the weekend progressed and I got more and more sleep-deprived I started feeling less social and more...hmm...intrusive, I suppose the word is. "Who is this old codger, and why is he lurking in the halls of ML? Let's all stare at him shiftily." Which I'm sure was 99% sleepy paranoia.I managed to completely miss seeing
flammifera and ultranurd, and only saw other SWILfolk briefly, chiefly because I rarely left ML. (Which is a weird statement: "I rarely saw SWILfolk because I rarely left ML.") Sorry, all; next time?Regardless, it was a wonderful weekend.
I arrived Thursday afternoon, and got to attend Joanna R.'s English dance class. I did not get to surprise her, since someone had apparently tipped her off about my visit. I did get to dance English with various people, which I hadn't done in ages, and I saw (and hugged) the wonderful Josh B. and MelissaR. Afterward, Miriam and I were abducted by
eclectic_boy, tirerim, and fiddledragon and forced, under pain of poking, to watch all three Wallace and Gromit shorts in Greylock 301. Poor us!Yom Kippur started on sunset Friday, which meant Miriam stopped eating and so on for 25 hours. She invited me to attend Kol Nidre services, which turned out to involve a great deal of standing, but which I thoroughly enjoyed anyway. This was my first Jewish service, and I left with the definite impression that their religion was much much older than my religion: there were many vestigial remnants of practices and sentiments that were born 3000+ years ago, breast-beating and crostic confessions in Hebrew. I found it fascinating, and both Miriam and I left feeling cleansed.
I showed The Dark Crystal in ML lounge that night, since Miriam had never seen it, and it was quite well-attended; it gave me a chance to chat (briefly) with Larry and
megan_powell, too. Then SWIL meeting on Saturday, where Sam, at my suggestion, performed a rousing rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan's When I Was a Lad to prove his sentience. This was followed by a couple of hours in Pitt with Katy and her Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Stephen and Napoleon. At least she claimed they were hissing cockroaches; the little dears refused outright to hiss at me, however much I attempted to resemble a predatory bird. But Katy snuggled with me, and made earrings for Miriam, and let me pick up her pets, so I can't complain too much. Here is a pic of Stephen, perched atop the ball of my thumb:To break her fast, I took Miriam into Philly for dinner, or breakfast, or whatever one wants to call it. We ate at the White Dog in University City, which was (as expected) deeply yummy: a fruit/cheese/bread plate to begin with, a portobello mushroom and balsamic vinegar contraption for her, St. Peter's fish crusted with crab and shrimp for me, and crème brulée and chocolate mousse pie for dessert. Wonderful conversation; even the 45-minute wait at University City was fun. I was impressed by the stomach capacity of this slender but starving Jew. Also, I was very proud and swaggery to be there with her, as she looked like this:
Unfortunately, there was some grumpiness once we got back, which doesn't need to be gone into here. Said grumpiness was mitigated by a pleasant game of Taboo with most of the ML people I'd met thus far, and Miriam and I did smooth things over before the night was done.
Sunday was a lying-about-reading sort of day, since both Miriam and Blair had homework to catch up on, and I had The System of the World to occupy me (and further develop my wrist muscles). I visited my old rooms in ML, one of which is occupied by Jameson (whose bathroom is the setting for my first-ever porn sale) and was labeled "Isengard" when I saw it. (I'd lived in Barad-Dur, too, as well as a room which has since been declared too small to be anything other than an emergency single. Or a closet.)
On Monday Miriam and I spent the afternoon together, and then she walked me to the train station and I departed. I managed to snap this at arm's length just before the train came:
It's good to be home, good to see K. again and feel comfortable in my own space again, but I am a bit full of wist. Everyone, with a damn few exceptions, was welcoming and friendly, and Miriam and I got along excellently. I may need to visit again before winter comes.
(Incidentally, contrary to rumor and expectation, while JS#s did drop like flies this weekend, none of the changes were my fault. Not directly, anyway. Just wanted to clear that up.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-29 12:12 am (UTC)Even though it's my fault, I blame you and your meddlesome meddling. Except it's not my fault because nothing happened because I don't exist therefore anything I did didn't actually get done so there. :P
no subject
Date: 2004-09-29 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-29 12:39 am (UTC)Missed Visitors
Date: 2004-09-29 02:45 pm (UTC)Re: Missed Visitors
Date: 2004-09-29 06:21 pm (UTC)