I met a fellow BDer!!

[Aganzir]

I met Mithalwen, Kath and the guy who be short on Sunday.

Despite some confusion with the times, we eventually managed to find one another. The day was sunny and incredibly warm (22 C according to the weather forecast, but I bet it was more), so mostly we just walked around London. We found a shop that sold foreign candy, and I forced the Brits to try salted liquorice (which is kind of a classic in Finland). They had fun reading the Swedish package labels. In another shop Mith bought fortune cookies. I have lost my own fortune and don't remember the others either, but at least tgwbs's was funny. And when the park we were sitting in was closed, we went to a pub and sat there for the rest of the evening.

They were all very nice people and it was great to meet them. Only I was really tired after a night of four hours of sleep (preceded by a week of seven hours of sleep a night at most, usually not even that much) so I wasn't as social as I might have been otherwise.

Mith was really funny and talkative and sweet, and she brought us white chocolate raisins, yay! She made me laugh more than once.

I had never expected Kath to be quiet, but (and now I join the ever increasing number of people who say this) also she was somehow more talkative than I had thought. She was very nice and funny and easy to talk to. But hey, it's not that difficult to say Hanni!

I didn't know tgwbs very well, but he proved to be a great personality, really funny, a bit crazy and such. He should start visiting the Downs more often again.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

Mith was really funny and talkative and sweet, and she brought us white chocolate raisins, yay! She made me laugh more than once.

It is a bit worrying that I can still be described as talkative when I had lost my voice!!! Clearly I overdid it because on Monday I literally could not speak a word... I am still somewhat silenced...blessed relief for all around no doubt...

[Kath]

But hey, it's not that difficult to say Hanni!

Yes it is! But I'm glad you don't think I'm too strange.

So I guess it's my turn to say what I thought!

Agan was really lovely. She is one of those 'Downers I've had a little less interaction with so I wasn't sure how well we'd get on but she was so easy to talk to. She was a little quiet when we were walking around but then it was noisy and the poor thing had been waiting for us for hours, and when we got to the pub where it was easier to chat we were all talking away quite happily. She is another of these Finn's with fantastic English as well.

Jay is one of those who I've planned to meet for ages, we've just never got round to it! He was just as mad, funny and sweet as he seems online so it was great to meet him. We have hopefully managed to convince him to return to werewolf as well!

As for Mith, she was just as lovely as last time and it was really nice to see her again - plus she gave me more raisins!

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

. But hey, it's not that difficult to say Hanni!

I am going to second Kath on this .. it is absolutely impossible :

(after about 7 failed attempts) -

Aganzir "Han-ni"

Mith *whimpering* "Lommie"

Jay was much better but then he is an Oxford linguistician...

After I read Agan's comment at lunchtime I happened to read Treebeard talking about Entish and I think Finnish must be related - "a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it". I did feel like I was doing a Treebeard impersonation, sinking into chest voice to get the long pure "a" sound. It doesn't help that most of the languages I have studied are "hastier".

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Kath

She was a little quiet when we were walking around but then it was noisy and the poor thing had been waiting for us for hours

Haha, I was only one hour too early. Better that than to be on the train a day too early though, I guess...

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

"a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it".

I suppose that's why we have developed so many slangs which shorten the words terribly.

Anyway, here's the pic Mith took of tgwbs, Kath and me in the evening.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

that anything said by Brinn or Mira about me getting us so spectacularly lost en route home from the airport last week that a fifteen minute car trip down NY-17 took over an hour and a half... is utter rubbish.

They are inventing it all. Yes, they may include many believable details, such as, "she missed the exit and decided to take back roads instead," or "I tried to called Kelly in a panic, but by then Fea had driven out of range of cell phone service!!!" but as I said before, these things are simply untrue.

Any mention of the pretty deer that we had to stop for, any discussions about how we cheered when we met with roads that had painted lines again... should be met with a raised eyebrow, as we all know that I - Fea - never get anything wrong.

Of course then we got home, and more or less settled in.

For about fifteen minutes.

At which point my only non-Barrowdowner room mate (how did this happen!? Kelly is Nienna now!) ran outside to greet her father and sister; her sister (age 14) would be staying with us for the weekend.

A few hours after Nienna and Lari got off of work, more of our friends arrived for the weekend! Brinn took it like a champ, I'd merely like to add: when I first invited her down for spring break, I had no idea we'd be splitting the bathroom eight ways over the weekend.

"It'll be insane until Sunday afternoon," I said upon learning how many people would be here,, "and then it will die."

And lo! On Saturday Night of the first weekend, we went to my favorite pub, and that was good.

It was hard getting us all to behave long enough to hold still for a tasteful photograph that barely involved tequila in any way, but - from left to right - Lari, I, Mira, and Brinn did in fact manage to hold still for photographer-Nienna while our various friends looked on in amusement.

It wasn't long after - a few hours at most, of french fries and cocktails- that I went to the bar to buy a drink for one of the girls, only to return with two drinks in hand! The flannel-clad smoke-scented drunk fellow at the bar had insisted I try what he was drinking.

Eyebrows raised upon my return. Why did Fea have this spare double shot of bourbon in her left hand? She already had a concoction that tasted - cloyingly - like bubblegum. I briefly explained.

Have you heard of awkward turtle? Well, it was a bit more awkward than awkward turtle... With nine young women around some pushed-together tables in a pub with a band and a spiky haired bartender, this uninvited and thrice-declined drink signaled the commencement of an awkward hurricane, in which awkward turtle (me), awkward palm tree (the as yet unintroduced Libby), and awkward balloon (Nienna) all get blown around in an awkward storm!

The next morning, we made art.

As is typical for a Sunday in the Household of the Peredhil, we went to the ceramics studio on campus and made things out of clay. Nienna, Mira, and I went straight into teacher mode, as Brinniel and all three of our non-Barrowdowner companions had never thrown clay on a wheel before!

As Nienna wandered and taught widely, I moved in closer for more tailored teaching. Elbows in, girls. Show that clay who is boss! A little bit wetter, that's the trick. And then, once I'd satisfactorily thrown a few porcelain cups of my own, Nienna settled in next to Brinniel to trim a bowl and to offer aid that was barely needed. Brinn learns fast. She's certainly better at bowl-making than I was when Nienna first taught me.

And then... well, then the week exploded, as school weeks are inclined to do. With all of us busy but Brinn, the apartment exploded a bit as well. There were some classes skipped, some groceries purchased, some meals cooked (you'll have to ask the others for a review of my cooking), until on Friday I brought Brinniel to the Corning Museum of Glass, mostly so that I could take pretty pictures of her making things.

A visit to the Peredhil Household, you must understand by now, means obligatory art making. You see this very brave gloved hand? That was a Brinniel hand that was working with glass that was hotter than lava! You read that right: when that molten glass came out of the oven, it was over a hundred degrees hotter than your average lava flow.

Which leads me to Friday night, once we'd returned from Corning.

Early in the week, Brinniel had noticed Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit, DVD Edition sitting on one of our bookshelves. Friday night, we sprawled on the living room floor for a nerd battle of epic proportion.

"It's not the Misty Mountains..." you might hear hesitantly thought aloud.

"Ered Nimrais, guys, Ered Nimrais!"

"I can't remember," the occasional Barrowdowner would groan, at which point another might yell out, "The answer is 'doubt'!"

One of my favorite moments was surely Mira joking that she ought to do herself in for not knowing the answer to a question we all obviously knew but her: the answer was Denathor.

I doubled over in my chair in a fit of giggles, "Are you going to do it while on fire by throwing yourself off a cliff?"

I tell you all this, yet the highlight was certainly yesterday's road trip to visit Rikae and half of Mac's genetic material.

We packed up our various purses and items of import, doubled back for a forgotten iPod so that we need not listen to Cindy Lauper on the radio, and followed the applicable Finger Lake north for a little while.

Upon arrival, we thought it best to acclimate our favorite little 'Downer-in-training to the terror that is Glaurung. She is a braver one even than Brinniel, who faced an art making process that burned hotter than the fires of Mount Doom! The child feared the avatar of Glaurung not even a little. Not even when it began to sing!

Of course a group photo with SkypeMac was obligatory, particularly given the amount of time we spent teaching him about awkward turtle. In honor of Lommy, Mac is now the world's leading expert on awkward penguin. I consider it a great tragedy that I did not manage to video Bubbles as he performed each awkward movement we described for him.

In effort to show you how difficult it is to organize a group photo of such proportion, I humbly offer my favorite of the batch, in which we are not all looking at the camera.

Of course in such instances wherein people must cram together as Nienna admonishes them to hold still, certain close relationships develop: Mac and I, it appears, shared a few accidental longing glances. I happen to believe, and others perhaps agree, that the most appropriate caption for that image is, "Fea haz cheezburger! Big Mac no haz cheezburger." This is, of course, subject to debate.

And now, I leave the details to the others...

[Lariren Shadow]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

that anything said by Brinn or Mira about me getting us so spectacularly lost en route home from the airport last week that a fifteen minute car trip down NY-17 took over an hour and a half... is utter rubbish.

They are inventing it all. Yes, they may include many believable details, such as, "she missed the exit and decided to take back roads instead," or "I tried to called Kelly in a panic, but by then Fea had driven out of range of cell phone service!!!" but as I said before, these things are simply untrue.

As I am neither Brinn nor Mira I can be trusted with what I say. She did get them horribly lost. Yet it turned out to be a circle. For about an hour. During which Mira freaked out a lot and Brinn actually, apparently, took it in stride. I was only there for the frantic phone call to Nienna.

And lo! On Saturday Night of the first weekend, we went to my favorite pub, and that was good.

And thus followed the first and second commandment of the pub: thou shalt do tequila shots and thou shalt consume massive quantities of french fries.

The next morning, we made art.

As is typical for a Sunday in the Household of the Peredhil, we went to the ceramics studio on campus and made things out of clay. Nienna, Mira, and I went straight into teacher mode, as Brinniel and all three of our non-Barrowdowner companions had never thrown clay on a wheel before!

Since when did it become the Household of the Peredhil? Twoish other Downers live there as well (I say twoish because Mira generally tends to spend more time in our cottage than in her own room). There are plenty of other names to call it! Besides Benjamin 1!

And then... well, then the week exploded, as school weeks are inclined to do. With all of us busy but Brinn, the apartment exploded a bit as well.

Stupid History of England paper...and senior sem paper...crap I need to work on that. I plan to die in the following week.

Early in the week, Brinniel had noticed Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit, DVD Edition sitting on one of our bookshelves. Friday night, we sprawled on the living room floor for a nerd battle of epic proportion.

"It's not the Misty Mountains..." you might hear hesitantly thought aloud.

"Ered Nimrais, guys, Ered Nimrais!"

"I can't remember," the occasional Barrowdowner would groan, at which point another might yell out, "The answer is 'doubt'!"

One of my favorite moments was surely Mira joking that she ought to do herself in for not knowing the answer to a question we all obviously knew but her: the answer was Denathor.

I doubled over in my chair in a fit of giggles, "Are you going to do it while on fire by throwing yourself off a cliff?"

Now Mira's selfesteem is crushed even more. And it is my game. Because I need to state that. And it was hilarious playing. It should be done more often.

I tell you all this, yet the highlight was certainly yesterday's road trip to visit Rikae and half of Mac's genetic material.

We packed up our various purses and items of import, doubled back for a forgotten iPod so that we need not listen to Cindy Lauper on the radio, and followed the applicable Finger Lake north for a little while.

I get it! You don't like Cindy Lauper and I should have given you my iPod sooner! I was half asleep at the time!

Upon arrival, we thought it best to acclimate our favorite little 'Downer-in-training to the terror that is Glaurung. She is a braver one even than Brinniel, who faced an art making process that burned hotter than the fires of Mount Doom! The child feared the avatar of Glaurung not even a little. Not even when it began to sing!

And then it had to be hidden from Mira, who kept trying to attack people with Glaurung and not amuse the 'Downer-in-training.

Of course a group photo with SkypeMac was obligatory, particularly given the amount of time we spent teaching him about awkward turtle. In honor of Lommy, Mac is now the world's leading expert on awkward penguin. I consider it a great tragedy that I did not manage to video Bubbles as he performed each awkward movement we described for him.

Yes, it was fun teaching SkypeMac the awkward movements. And I think we should use awkward penguin all the time. Hehehehe Bubbles oh how that is going to be so much fun later.

In effort to show you how difficult it is to organize a group photo of such proportion, I humbly offer my favorite of the batch, in which we are not all looking at the camera.

But there does exist a picture of all of us looking at the camera, even Bubbles.

It was a pretty fantastic week. I really have nothing else to add, considering I spent much of it either working or doing work for classes.

[Thinlómien]

I'm soooooooo envious. Seriously. But I'm glad you had fun.

[Kath]

I am ridiculously jealous - but very glad that you all had a great time.

[Mirandir]

Originally Posted by Lariren Shadow

Now Mira's selfesteem is crushed even more. And it is my game. Because I need to state that. And it was hilarious playing. It should be done more often.

Mira has no self esteem. Mira NEEDS no self esteem. Grr.

Originally Posted by Lariren Shadow

And then it had to be hidden from Mira, who kept trying to attack people with Glaurung and not amuse the 'Downer-in-training.

Fantastic job you did hiding it, too. Under the table in plain sight was a bloody brilliant place for it.

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

that anything said by Brinn or Mira about me getting us so spectacularly lost en route home from the airport last week that a fifteen minute car trip down NY-17 took over an hour and a half... is utter rubbish.

You, my dear, are rubbish. But of the very pretty variety, of course.

All in all, a fantastically fun week.

[Rikae]

It was, indeed, tons of fun meeting Brinn, Fea, Lari, Mira & Nienna! Something about Skype seems to bring out people's goofy sides; that plus six downers and a snake-toy, and you can imagine. Or see - I think Fea has a video...

They even brought me birthday presents - Brinn made a tasty pie (and I don't mean that in a wolfish, cannibal sort of way) and Fea some amazing handmade (downer made!) bowls. They taught me some - er, sign language, and I in turn taught them a little German... *evil snicker*

Lari left out my favorite two photos, so here they are:

Mac realizes he is the only guy among half a dozen women...

- and -

Annika overpowers Glaurung with her hypnotic gaze.