So I've been commenting, but the amount of energy needed to create a post like some of the ones above? Wasn't quite there yet! Had some nasty jet lag which is fading now. I thought you were supposed to get it when you went from the UK to America not the other way round, but whatever. Anyway here goes. It is 2am, and the only reason I'm up is because this lag business meant I slept 12 hours last night and now can't sleep - so we'll see how far I get.
I arrived after a very boring plane ride into the welcome arms of
Brinn. They were very welcome, as I had no way of contacting any 'Downers since my phone turned out not to work internationally, so I was filled with relief to find her stood there! I'd met
Brinn before so we hugged and chatted very easily all the way to my new home for the week.
Brinn's a great talker - ooh and I thought of a quote for you after going through my pictures: "Why is the rum gone!?" (As it happens, the rum was gone because
Shasta and I had drunk it.) She's also very funny and was very generous in giving up her room to those who liked to sleep past about 9am! And poor sick
Fea.
Upon arrival at said new home I met
Rune, Nienna, Mira, Boro and
Form. Do excuse me if I'm getting times/places/order of 'Downers wrong but it all blurred together so nicely I can't remember!
Rune of course I have met far too many times already so we got on easily, and I immediately ruined any chance he had of being taken seriously by the others to his dismay and their delight. Finland all over again eh
Rune? But no,
Rune is hilarious, teasing, teasable and just generally good fun. I may have felt a very badly disguised desire to slap him when he was being all that and my tooth was hurting but apart from that short incident all was well! Given my reunion with
Rune I'm afraid I spent less time than I should have speaking with the others, but I'm actually shy with those I don't know so I think I was mostly with
Rune and
Brinn that first evening. Then I passed out on
Mira's couch (totally dressed and with my T pass still in my pocket!) and thus woke up the next morning terrified that she was going to murder me.
Luckily,
Mira is a gem. She informed me that death was not a natural effect of stealing her couch and after that we got on famously! I have also met
Mira before, but on that occasion we only met for a few hours and she was practically bouncing off the walls because
Lari was there too. This time, she was still bouncing off the walls, but we actually got to spend quite a lot of time together on various trips and just in the apartment and it turned out that we have a lot in common! Mostly food I'll admit, but that can be a very strong bond. I may have sat and whispered snarky comments in
Nienna's ear the whole time her and
Boro's American football game was on, but it was only said with love. Our chance meeting in the kitchen in search of food and our subsequent other two trips and the feeding of both ourselves and the others with bacon cemented our relationship and we're now awaiting our rings.
Nienna I saw less of than I would have liked for she is very funny and so lovely. Her reactions to my tired grumblings about rugby for wusses, ahem, American football and my total lack of respect for the very silly pictures the commentators were drawing on the screen showed a shared sense of humour and during the last couple of days when there were fewer of us and she was joining us in card game magic we got to interact a bit more, only confirming my view of her as a person I'd love to see more of. I'm also immensely impressed by her organisational skills - I saw that spreadsheet and it was, to use the word of the Moot, epic! She kept us all in line beautifully. She also has excellent taste in books. The Library Lion? Awwww.
Boro I have but two words for. Master chef! To me, who cannot (well, will not) cook this is an accolade indeed. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I would happily have
Boro live with me just for the food! Except not just for the food, for he is also very good company. I had never really interacted with Boro much outside the 'Downs so I had no idea whether we would get on, but as it turns out he's an incredibly easy guy to get along with and very generous, happily going out to get lost with
Glirdan on that lost-
wilwa occasion that I am still feeling very guilty about!
Form I feel to have spent little time with. I suspect this is due to our conflicting schedules. He naturally gets up, oh, 4 hours before I do! And for someone who claims to naturally be lazy he seemed to be constantly on the move! Actually, to be fair, he was mostly picking people up from airports/stations and doing a very fine job of it. On the odd occasion we got to sit and have a nice chat he was very funny and it was hilarious to watch him reveal his subversive humour to a newcomer who would stare in shock and giggle nervously for a bit. Having spoken to him on MSN this sense of humour didn't surprise me. That said, reading his Annotated Twilight would shock anyone! There is a picture of
Glirdan and myself reading it, and I think our expressions say it all! This man has a healthy career ahead of him writing satire if he ever wants to!
The next day we met
Shasta, wilwa and
Glirdan, and in the days after
phantom, Di and
Encai. Well not all on the same day I don't think, but fairly close together!
Shasta is one of the funniest guys I've met. He slotted in to the group like he'd always been there.
Brinn and I were on duty to meet this particular 'Downer, and it didn't go well as we went to the wrong terminal and then we were eating when he arrived. Also, I had no idea what he looked like so I was relying on
Brinn entirely! When he arrived, he didn't see us until he was already on an escalator and then when we finally met him I accidentally exploded a packet of frozen biscuits - don't ask. Luckily he found all of this hilarious so I realised we'd get on well! He is a master of card games, and will one day have to tell
alona and I how on earth he manages to make California Speed a
short game, and was often a member of the 'stay up all night so I can be awake to say goodbye to those leaving early' crew. Which is actually surprising given how much the boy sleeps! It also turned out that he liked English musical shows that I have watched so we bonded over that. He was also a wonderful companion at the Science Musuem and played with everything.
wilwa - ah
wilwa. I don't think that anyone who meets
wilwa would ever be able to say a bad word against her. She is an absolute sweetheart and I can see why
Glirdan is so protective. I got to spend a little more time with her as she shared
Brinn's room too - which was brilliant because she turned out to be an early riser so whoever was on the floor got to steal her bed space when she left - so we had some nice chats. Her reaction to the condo prank by
Glirdan (aided by
Fea) was brilliant, she got
phantom to show his soft side and she allowed us to take photographs of her with alcohol even after demanding that we didn't when she arrived. To be honest I think we corrupted her a little, but then she probably made us better people! I love
wilwa, and I'm so glad I wasn't there when she and
Glirdan left because it sounds like it was devastating!
Glirdan was just a joy. I'm thinking the constant singing and general 'up' ness might have caused me to try and murder him, if it hadn't been for the fact that he was just so funny with it all! It's thanks to him (and
Shasta) that I'm now hooked on Glee and our joint reading of
Form's Annotated Twilight was brilliant. He'd have it open, I'd be reading one comment, he'd be reading another and we'd both feel it was imperative to point the comments out rather than just waiting for the other to get there. Therefore it took us about four times as long to read each page as it should, which just added to the joy of it all. New Year's Eve was just hilarious, the love between
Glirdan, Rune and
Boro was simply beautiful. I have also never met anyone who, while somewhat distraught as well as utterly lost, takes pictures of their lost state! Definitely one of a kind this chap.
phantom was a funny one. When he arrived he was very much 'the
phantom' as he comes across online and a little distant, hiding behind his laptop and his werewolf book. Now, I'm as much a fan of werewolf as any other 'Downer that plays, but unlike most I have a complete inability to remember what happened in a given game. I truthfully do not remember who won the game I modded, despite the fact that when I mentioned this at the Moot
Brinn actually told me. Therefore, after about 3 hours of discussing the finer points of individual games courtesy of his book, I wasn't feeling overly warm toward him. However, over the following days and especially with the arrival of
wilwa and
Fea, phantom became less his online persona and more himself and with that much easier to get along with. In fact he and
wilwa made a very sweet pair, especially as she just could not stop stroking his head! After New Year's Eve he seemed to be more relaxed around us, and even played with the wereduckling a bit!
PAUSE: Ok, so it's now 3am and while I'm not sleepy I feel sleep is called for. Therefore I shall take a break here and continue later on today! Hmm, bolding names first though.
By the way, how many times did you others read through and discover you'd put real names down instead of 'Downs ones without realising even though you were trying not to? I found two occasions, and am worried I have missed more!