Catharsis
ca·thar·sis (plural ca·thar·ses), noun: an experience or feeling of spiritual release and purification brought about by an intense emotional experience. In psychology, the process of bringing to the surface repressed emotions, complexes, and feelings in an effort to identify and relieve them, or the result of this process.
So, first up, I made ETC. It was a long day, longer still over the fact that the plan was changed and instead of a morning and afternoon session we had a full day with all the group, and dinner afterwards. Made pics, though, am happy and have my certification. Was very tired but satisfied. The Friday afterwards I felt very... cleansed, for some reason. Slept long and well, packed and picked up Ren & Cora to go to the EE weekend in Parc Loohorst, Center Parcs. We were there as the first group, and the housie was pretty cool. The rest arrived as the afternoon progressed, with brave Olga coming by bicycle. *grin* So we had a weekend of chilling together, dreaming of things to come (such as Extinction), watch decent horror to the absolute worst horror movies, had a traditional pool tussle, grilled food, played midget-golf and had a general good time. It was a good idea to put the weekend after our event-cycle, for it allows for a far more relaxed athmosphere. It thorougly regenerated me.
The week following that was fairly quiet but full of unexpected events. Had a flat tire, a good talk with my dad, a sleepness night, an Eldar vs. Imperial Battlefleet Gothic fight and no Crossfire. Watched all of Dexter, helped deal with a few logistical things for Myriad, cleaned my laptop and those kind of things. It was a weird week, but a good one.
Saturday I went to the Elf Fair, as a visitor for the first time in 5 years (the first in the Archeon and the first in De Haar were the only one's I actually attended as a normal visitor), and I enjoyed myself well. First on the program was Prof. Rotherham offc, with an interesting lecture about dragons in the beautiful Chapel, with Boris Valejo drawing in the background. Also recieved a call that my mother and her partner were on their way as well, so hung around with them a bit, too. Ran into several good friends and had all the time in the world to have a good chat with them, and shopped a bit at a few stands.
The Elf had a very disjointed feel, this year. Science-Fiction and Manga were thrown in the mix, too, and it appears as if the Elf wants to project itself more internationally and as a platform. Was happy with the increased amount of big stands for larpstuff, but a lot of the smaller bookstands that I generally find most of my loot was not present. Costumes were pretty cool, though it is weird to have sci-fi, manga and fantasy mix (I like Spock as much as the next trekkie, but when wearing my Oehoe costume it doesn't feel... right). Only thing I raised a few eyebrows over was the 'crossplay'; had heard of - and admire greatly - cossplay, the act of dressing up as characters from various manga related things. The costumes are hardly larpproof and practical, but sport truly fantastical designs and impossible curves, which I can appriciate as a design challenge (okay, okay, AND severe cuteness factor). Crossplay is basically crossdressing as a manga character; androgynous Japanese can get away with throwing on some cat's ears and a pink mini-dress to look the part, but seriously, guys, a bit more effort for my eyes sake. Thank you. Did drool over the Stargate uniforms, as usual. I wants one.
Loot was dissapointing over the aforemented reasons, only a single computergame: Command & Conquer III - Kane's Wrath, the expansion to C&C III. Guess I am going to have to loot my books somewhere else. All in all, I had good fun at the Elf and spent most of the time socializing and rummaging around; the coin system of previous years had been dumped, leading to more streamlined queues at foodstands, and I had no trouble parking and getting off the carpark again. Good show, at least from the visitor side. A good day, but not over yet.
Lies wanted to catch the final movie of the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, so we went to Amsterdam, first eating at Gauchos, then having icecream desert at the Hagen-Daz, and then catching Doomsday, a movie about a killer virus on the loose in Scotland, forcing the Brits to close Scotland off from the outside world, reducing it to a barbarian state. It was a fun movie with cyberpunk, post-apocalypse and fantasy elements, all with a lot of British humor a la Mad Max, and I had a hoot. We were home around 11.
Sunday I mostly rested and chilled, running a partial Heroic with Jo, JW and Lies, and playing both my new C&C as well as Sins of a Solar Empire, a combination between Battlestar Galactica and Civilization, and its really scratching my itch. Check it out of you like those kinda series / games.
So, that leaves me in the week before the 'Three Weeks of Larp', the larping high-season, so to speak. First up will be Myriad, where I will be assisting Jules as SL and Lorekeeper. Looking forward to the whole new ballgame there, and the fact that it is a whole new playground for me, and the players. There is a lot of experimentation in the mix, though, and it will be interesting what will be concocted.
After coming home on a Sunday to two free days and Queensday before diving into four days of Symbols. With a new set of Alchemical gear, a new costume and a few new accesoires, I am very well prepared. Was able to take my sweet time, this time, without overly stressing, and that really gave me a good boost in planning for my coming Symbols. Having experience with both the Summoning and DF when it comes to 4 day events I know I will have to pace myself, but this being Symbols and a village it should work just fine. If I get really tired I can always go OC for a bit to play Symbols - The Card Game...
After that I have a fairly relaxed week and then Aon with the Schnoodaert family. We are organizing the famous 'Biggenwerp Festival' (pigthrowing) this event, and we hope to have a good turn-out for this day of merriment and alcohol consumption. I have a few parts in the greater whole, and I am looking forward to all of them. It is just a great group to hang in, and my hair will be long enough for my plans by them. Wait and see.
In the background I am also playing around abit with Yoshida Masuo thanks to Ro and Suus passing the Clan a few downtime snippets, and it is fun to keep my character 'warm' this way. With the Summer Vacation creeping closer I really feel like this year, and now things are reaching a stable platform I feel happy. And that is important.
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sna) wrote,
rejuvenated
