I met a fellow BDer!!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by Oddwen

Maybe we should start using the code term "International Book Club".

Haha!

Wilwa and I kept sharing these nervous meaningful glances as we tried to simultaneously and silently come up with a plausible and acceptable translation of:

"Our somewhat crazy group of internationals met on the internet, are having a massive party, and now want to cross into another country without the proper travel documents. Please let us."

But really, when the guard lady asked how long we'd all known each other and Wilwa and I were both just like, "Um... it depends on registration date?"

And then I started listing the approximate join date of people until the guard lady clearly decided that if we were going to tell lies, we'd have chosen a better one than, "We all talk about Lord of the Rings on the internet."

Which isn't strictly true anymore, since we mostly all just play werewolf or talk on Facebook! But we really didn't want to explain that we spend most of our hobby time pretending to murder each other!

[wilwarin538]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

But we really didn't want to explain that we spend most of our hobby time pretending to murder each other!

Can you imagine? I don't think she would have found that funny, at all, haha. Especially if we said "hey, see that baby over there? Yeah, she loves that game, and wolves make her happy. Wanna hear her growl?" :P

Then there was the guy getting back to the US. Fea showed her driver's license and he was like "Do you have anything else on you?" and so she said "My car keys and 10 bucks"(since that was literally all she had on her) and he was like "Car keys? What use are car keys? Why would you even say that?" and we both just stood there staring at him, totally confused, and rediculously annoyed. She was trying to get into her own country, haha, and he wasn't being very nice. Luckily that time we didn't let on that we were all together, we just went up in mini groups, so we didn't have to deal with the whole "how do you know each other?" thing.

[Durelin]

To those who are more in contact with the Finns -- they said they would be in the DC area on the 15th of July, and I had talked about maybe meeting up with them. But I will actually be out of the country through the 18th. Rather a bizarre turn of events... I cannot remember if they are flying out right about then? Anyway, it seems I will miss them...

Sorry to cut into the reminiscing. I just thought this the most likely place for word and my apology to get to them before they return home... Or if they are checking emails let me know if I should send them one. Thank you guys!

[A Little Green]

Originally Posted by Durelin

To those who are more in contact with the Finns -- they said they would be in the DC area on the 15th of July, and I had talked about maybe meeting up with them. But I will actually be out of the country through the 18th. Rather a bizarre turn of events... I cannot remember if they are flying out right about then? Anyway, it seems I will miss them...

Our flight back home takes off from NYC on the 20th. We'll probably be in New York from the 17th or so, which means that if you're willing to travel there to meet us we will be ever so happy! (And any of you sweethearts who said you liked us so much, a trip to NYC is never a bad idea.. )

Aww. I don't think I'll start ranting about any of our lovely Downer-meetings quite yet - from my part at least you'll probably have to wait for a super-epic massive post once I'm back home.. For now, I will just say that we have met a bunch of adorable people all of whom I miss already.

[satansaloser2005]

Originally Posted by A Little Green

Our flight back home takes off from NYC on the 20th. We'll probably be in New York from the 17th or so, which means that if you're willing to travel there to meet us we will be ever so happy! (And any of you sweethearts who said you liked us so much, a trip to NYC is never a bad idea.. )

Aww. I don't think I'll start ranting about any of our lovely Downer-meetings quite yet - from my part at least you'll probably have to wait for a super-epic massive post once I'm back home.. For now, I will just say that we have met a bunch of adorable people all of whom I miss already.

Soooo....I dreamt you guys were at my house last night. I think this means something.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Side note: There was supposed to be a super Skype date with me, Stick, Sally, Shasta, the phantom, the Finns, and possibly others, and it failed through almost no fault of mine.

The first time it failed was because when Stick and I got home from work, my house lacked power and thus internet due to bathroom remodeling adventures.

Then they weren't home when my power was back on.

Then we weren't home when Sally called saying people were home and ready. And then though eventually Stick made it back to my house, I never did.

And so, Skype failed. Lo siento. Otherwise there'd be stories from that too. And I doubt anybody wants to hear why I never made it home Saturday night.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

Then we weren't home when Sally called saying people were home and ready. And then though eventually Stick made it back to my house, I never did.

And so, Skype failed. Lo siento. Otherwise there'd be stories from that too. And I doubt anybody wants to hear why I never made it home Saturday night.

She was hippie cuddling, and don't let her try to tell you differently. I apparently totally missed the memo about them calling when we weren't home. Oh wait...

[the phantom]

Thursday, 6:30 PM- I was busy finishing up some work when my phone lit up. I was expecting a call from a friend and so I did not bother to view the screen before answering. But the voice that responded was not that of my friend. It was Lommy!

I was very pleased to hear from the Finns, as I desired to arranged the specifics of their arrival the following day and work out the details of our weekend travels. Imagine my surprise when I was informed that they were nearly to Omaha and were intending to stay there that very night!

I spent the next couple of hours rushing around to get everything prepared, and then there they were, pulling up in front of my house. The wait was over.

****************

Thursday night- The Finns and I settled in and got acquainted and discussed what we would do the next couple of days. We also played some foosball. Lommy showed less flare for the game than did her sister, a fact that Greenie and I pointed out repeatedly. At one point Greenie went so far as to exclaim, "Come on, at least make an effort!" after scoring a goal.

The evening was capped off by the girls all wearing the souvenirs I had gotten them- Nebraska Husker shirts! ♥

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Friday- Aganzir skipped off into the woods to explore, wearing no shoes at all! I am still uncertain how she managed it given the stickers and poison ivy that carpets the forest. Meanwhile Lommy sat down in the yard with her laptop and I threw the football (American version) around with Nog and Green.

After that we visited Buffalo Wild Wings during the afternoon football matches (non-American version). The food was tasty as always and then we took the long way back home. We had some time to kill before Sally and Shasta arrived, so we messed around with YouTube videos and musical instruments and just generally had fun.

****************

Friday night- Sally and Shasta arrived and the group was complete! After a raid of the grocery store Nog master-minded a lovely meal and after filling our tummies we set about making epic Werewolf fun. And we were more than a little successful, I can tell you.

No lie, the very first day of our first game was possibly the best Day 1 ever! It lasted a good 20+ minutes, and rather than random votes and people complaining about how random Day 1s are, the votes were cast with conviction and there was lots of legitimately great discussion. We started the game by closing our eyes and putting our heads down and counting to ten. During this time the two people who drew Werewolf roles were to put their heads up so that they would know who was on their side on Day 1.

Well, I heard a certain Downer's voice change direction during the counting, telling me that this individual was a Werewolf looking around to find a partner. In addition I heard this person smile when they were almost fully turned my direction, telling me that the other Werewolf was most likely directly to my right (we were spread out through the living room).

So, armed with this information I launched directly into an accusation to open the day and things were off and running. It was... well... you just had to be there. Incredibly epic.

The first day of our second game on the other hand was the worst Day 1 ever. It lasted around 25 minutes or so, and I may actually be exaggerating by saying that 5 minutes was spent on topic. Somehow or other we continually ended up telling "pants" jokes or jokes involving "the clap". And just so everyone understands why we were making such jokes, after the events of the first game we did not wish to count aloud at the start of this game, and so we resolved instead to clap ten times with our eyes shut before day 1 so that the Werewolves could find each other.

Well, a certain one of our number gave an extra couple of claps at the end. Naturally, I quickly accused this individual of being a Werewolf on the grounds that he was too busy identifying his fellow wolf to keep track of the number of claps. Someone else bemoaned the fact that I had yet again been handed a free reason to suspect someone from the get-go, phrasing it something like, "First it was the counting, and now Phantom's been handed the clap!" After that it was chaos, and I don't think there was a laugh-free second the rest of the day. The Wolves won that game, but I'd just like to point out that I supported lynching them every day, and the other villagers just didn't obey me properly. *shakes fist*

(Funny quote- At one point Greenie said that something Agan had done caused her to look suspicious, and Agan dismissively responded, "Well, that's really not my problem."

****************

Saturday- It was time to hit the road. Shasta and the girls piled into Sally's car and in far too short a time we reached the parting of the ways, where we were forced to say farewell to Sally.

Upon reaching our destination (Valentine, Nebraska) we discovered that there was a big event going on and no rooms were available. I had foolishly joked earlier in the drive that such a thing would happen, and so it was decided that it was my fault. We ended up driving for another couple of hours before stopping that night, but that was fine as it gave me more time to get to know the Downer that was currently riding with me- Greenie. It turns out she isn't nearly as boring or mean as I was expecting her to be.

****************

Sunday- We took a couple of lovely walks in the badlands and I got to ride with Agan and Lommy, who taught me a new travel game that pleased me greatly. After the badlands we moved on to Mount Rushmore, and then we ate an excellent picnic lunch on a rocky hill. After the picnic we set about exploring the hillside. Both here and in the badlands Shasta took every opportunity to climb upon a high rock and pose for a picture.

****************

Sunday night- We checked into rooms in Gillette, Wyoming and kicked off a night of games. First we did something I had never done before- combined story writing! We each started a story, but limited our writing to two lines, and then we folded the paper in such a way that only one line could be read and passed it to the next person. The next person was only allowed to look at that one single line before adding two lines of their own, and so on down the line.

Our stories turned out to be quite amusing. I would post them on here (we did 12 of them), but if I'm not mistaken every last one of them contains something that would make it unsuitable for the forum. Not surprisingly the unsuitable parts were mostly all in the same hand-writing, but I won't point any fingers (and I'm sure you can figure it out anyway ).

After that we played a couple games of Werewolf featuring Werewolf, Cobbler, Ranger, and three Ordos. Both games were fantastic, but I'll leave it to someone else to give a blow-by-blow account. Summary from my point of view- everyone I ever declared innocent turned out to be so, and I was a fantastic Ranger! *toots own horn*

To cap the night off we played Apples to Apples.

****************

Monday- Shasta and I said goodbye to the Finns and headed back east. We were very sad. The first part of the trip was spent talking about online games and listening to Nightwish. At some point my throat took a turn for the worse (I had been feeling rather ill since the night before), and so Shasta did a lot of napping and reading after that. As we neared Omaha my throat began feeling better and we chattered away once again. Shasta made his exit the following morning and the moot was officially over.

****************

Sally- She was as funny and cheerful as ever and I'm sure I'll be seeing her again in the coming months. Having another Downer living close is quite nice.

Shasta- He was just as entertaining and fun as he was in Bostonmoot, which anyone who was in Boston will tell you is high praise.

Nogrod- I finally got to meet my Arda Cup cosponsor! He was very much his Downs self- smart, responsible, and very polite and gracious.

Agan- She was... Maria. She had her own patented facial expressions and even her very own accent, as well as extremely long nails. I still wonder how she types.

Lommy- She was big on insults. I lost track of the number of bad things she said about me in our short time together. But she was just kidding around of course. I think.

Greenie- Perhaps the best travel companion I've ever been granted. Sharing music and conversation with her was quite enjoyable, and I'm sure she'll report that I am even more dark and evil and such in real life than on the Downs.

****************

There is much more that could be said for each person and each day, but I'll let others have their chance first. Long story short- the whole thing was fantastic! Totally worth coming down ill.

And lastly- moon, lightning, stars, Westside Story.