The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post

Aganzir · 08-15-2011, 04:04 PM

I am sitting alone at home, eating leftovers (salad, sweet potato chips, cookies that Oddwen left here...) and drinking tea (not the delicious blood orange maté I got from Pitch but chai). I feel empty. As I said on Facebook, the great Finlandorgy seems almost like a dream that has slowly faded. Also, this is the first time I visit the Downs since March. Eek.

Way back when I created a Facebook event called The Big Barrow-Downs Finlandorgy, I didn't know how appropriate the name would be. Strictly speaking it wasn't an orgy, but the running jokes have never been so dirty in any other BD get-together I've been to. I am fairly sure this was because the average age of the participants was quite high (29 as opposed to like 22 as it was in the first Finlandmoot in 2008). Also, we started using considerably less alcohol when Esty and the grown-ups left (but to be fair, she didn't consume that much of it either).

I had met most of the people before, but seeing them again was fun and meeting previously less-known Downers even more so.

Legate, Rune and skip have been to Finland so many times that there probably isn't much new to say about them. It actually feels stranger when Legate isn't here than when he is, and it was odd that he wasn't the last one to leave. He should probably just move to Finland and be done with it.
It was great that Rune made it here too even if he could only be here for a few days. We were actually starting to get worried when the moot started and he was still of the opinion that he wasn't coming, but fortunately he didn't let us down.
Even if skip doesn't entirely understand my love of public transport, it was nice to meet him again too. He took me (and Squatter) fishing and it was fun even though the huge fish we almost caught managed to escape before we got it out. :-(

Kath is just as nice to cuddle with as I remembered, and I did that a lot. She's also funny, especially when she plays a dog. Woof-woof! I don't think I'll ever be able to forget her frustration when we played this 'guess which Tolkien character you are' game and she always got these weird animals etc.: "Am I a saucepan?"

One of my absolute favourite parts of the Moot was the day we came back from the cabin. I got up before 6am after two hours of sleep (one of which in the sauna - I was freaking cold after talking about politics and stuff with Squatter in the lake for an hour). Those of us with a comfortable pillow slept in the car but I think everyone was still quite tired when we got to Helsinki. It could have been a dreadfully dull morning with me replying to important-ish emails and Oddwen, Hookbill and Shasta drowsing in the kitchen, but the turning point was when Hookbill showed us a ri-pixie-dicilously funny, if rather vulgar Harry Potter video that enriched my vocabulary a lot and indirectly led to us sending the phantom a very rude message. In the afternoon we & Squatter marched in Slut Walk Helsinki with Amnesty International's banners and played a game called Truth Be Told, which is basically about being nasty to your friends. We were good at it - and learnt all sorts of things about one another.

Oddwen is hilarious and wicked. As usual, we wrote these stories (write two lines, fold the paper so the next player only sees the latter line, they write two lines and fold etc.) and the nastiest things were without exception written by her. She's my dear Malice Horace Manfred Manflesh and I look forward to meeting her again soon.

Hookbill is a demented nutter and it got quieter immediately after he left - besides it felt weird when there was nobody insulting Jon Snow (from A Song of Ice and Fire) anymore. In spite of having met Hookbill briefly before and reading the Downer regularly, I had no idea he would be so much fun to be around. I think the whole Wurst thingy started when he told a wacky story about how the only phrase he knew in German was Das ist eine Wurst.

Shasta sang songs as always: Be Prepared, his own version of My Favourite Things, his own version of Hey Jude (granted, he wasn't alone in inventing the new lyrics)... He and Oddwen were an insane team, they actually started to runefy classic fairy tales. They'll probably tell you more about it themselves though. Oh and guess what happens when it falls to Shasta and me to do the grocery shopping? On our way back home we sold the wine box we had bought to three alcoholics who offered to pay €5 extra for it. We had to go and buy a new box and the cashier guy looked at us very disapprovingly, but hey we got money!

Squatter is a sweetheart who put up patiently with me and the Wereduckling playing violent games with him. When at me & Lommy's place, he was kind enough to help damsels in distress and consume the disgusting bottle of pre-mixed Cosmopolitan that had been in our fridge for half a year since a friend of ours left it there. He really knows his Tolkien (which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone) and has a crazy sense of humour. Also, he wears boots.

I was looking forward to talking to Rikae more, and I did. She's someone I absolutely adore. I seem to remember threatening to steal her from Mac, but she said he wouldn't mind.

I'm so happy they could make it to Finland - and that they brought the Wereduckling along. She's a delightful girl and I had a lot of fun with her. At the end of the week I realised to my joy that her roaring had really improved during the time she spent here and she had learnt at least one new word: tyhmä which is Finnish for stupid (and a name for Hookbill who wouldn't die when we told him to). I also told her about Scar.

I really like Mac too even if I spent more time with the female members of his family. He's nice, helpful and funny, and he doesn't look as scary anymore as he used to. At least in real life. It's always been photos he's looked the scariest in anyway.

I can't remember who it was who first called Pitchwife Tom Bombadil, but they were more right than they knew! There's something really really Tom-like in Pitch - personality, looks, hat, you name it. What Legate said about his voice is also very true. And there's something kind of mysterious about him. I'm sorry about not getting to talk with him more, but that will hopefully happen in Wurstlandmoot. Or Britainmoot. Whichever is first.

Esty is drunk and disorderly. Not really. She just got the card in Apples to Apples. She's a kind, warm, lovely person - and really fun to be around. On our way to Tallinn, I ended up having a three-hour girl talk session with her which was something I had never expected but enjoyed tremendously nonetheless. It's a pity she couldn't be here till the end (but then again, that's the case with everyone else who had to leave early, too).

Here's a smaller group picture from Suomenlinna. It features Shasta, Kath, Oddwen, Hookbill, Greenie, Pitchwife and Legate.

And here's a photo of skip spence and Pitchwife dancing tango:

If someone wants to see the rest of the pictures Volo took and I posted on Facebook, the link is here.

I want to thank everyone who cooked, helped wash up and clean and carry stuff, brought us gifts etc. I'd also just like to thank everyone who came here because I had a wonderful time. Thanks for existing. Thanks Barrow-Downs. Thanks Professor. ♥

08-15-2011, 04:04 PM	#1101
Aganzir Woman of Secret Shadow Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells Posts: 4,511	I am sitting alone at home, eating leftovers (salad, sweet potato chips, cookies that Oddwen left here...) and drinking tea (not the delicious blood orange maté I got from Pitch but chai). I feel empty. As I said on Facebook, the great Finlandorgy seems almost like a dream that has slowly faded. Also, this is the first time I visit the Downs since March. Eek. Way back when I created a Facebook event called The Big Barrow-Downs Finlandorgy, I didn't know how appropriate the name would be. Strictly speaking it wasn't an orgy, but the running jokes have never been so dirty in any other BD get-together I've been to. I am fairly sure this was because the average age of the participants was quite high (29 as opposed to like 22 as it was in the first Finlandmoot in 2008). Also, we started using considerably less alcohol when Esty and the grown-ups left (but to be fair, she didn't consume that much of it either). I had met most of the people before, but seeing them again was fun and meeting previously less-known Downers even more so. Legate, Rune and skip have been to Finland so many times that there probably isn't much new to say about them. It actually feels stranger when Legate isn't here than when he is, and it was odd that he wasn't the last one to leave. He should probably just move to Finland and be done with it. It was great that Rune made it here too even if he could only be here for a few days. We were actually starting to get worried when the moot started and he was still of the opinion that he wasn't coming, but fortunately he didn't let us down. Even if skip doesn't entirely understand my love of public transport, it was nice to meet him again too. He took me (and Squatter) fishing and it was fun even though the huge fish we almost caught managed to escape before we got it out. :-( Kath is just as nice to cuddle with as I remembered, and I did that a lot. She's also funny, especially when she plays a dog. Woof-woof! I don't think I'll ever be able to forget her frustration when we played this 'guess which Tolkien character you are' game and she always got these weird animals etc.: "Am I a saucepan?" One of my absolute favourite parts of the Moot was the day we came back from the cabin. I got up before 6am after two hours of sleep (one of which in the sauna - I was freaking cold after talking about politics and stuff with Squatter in the lake for an hour). Those of us with a comfortable pillow slept in the car but I think everyone was still quite tired when we got to Helsinki. It could have been a dreadfully dull morning with me replying to important-ish emails and Oddwen, Hookbill and Shasta drowsing in the kitchen, but the turning point was when Hookbill showed us a ri-pixie-dicilously funny, if rather vulgar Harry Potter video that enriched my vocabulary a lot and indirectly led to us sending the phantom a very rude message. In the afternoon we & Squatter marched in Slut Walk Helsinki with Amnesty International's banners and played a game called Truth Be Told, which is basically about being nasty to your friends. We were good at it - and learnt all sorts of things about one another. Oddwen is hilarious and wicked. As usual, we wrote these stories (write two lines, fold the paper so the next player only sees the latter line, they write two lines and fold etc.) and the nastiest things were without exception written by her. She's my dear Malice Horace Manfred Manflesh and I look forward to meeting her again soon. Hookbill is a demented nutter and it got quieter immediately after he left - besides it felt weird when there was nobody insulting Jon Snow (from A Song of Ice and Fire) anymore. In spite of having met Hookbill briefly before and reading the Downer regularly, I had no idea he would be so much fun to be around. I think the whole Wurst thingy started when he told a wacky story about how the only phrase he knew in German was Das ist eine Wurst. Shasta sang songs as always: Be Prepared, his own version of My Favourite Things, his own version of Hey Jude (granted, he wasn't alone in inventing the new lyrics)... He and Oddwen were an insane team, they actually started to runefy classic fairy tales. They'll probably tell you more about it themselves though. Oh and guess what happens when it falls to Shasta and me to do the grocery shopping? On our way back home we sold the wine box we had bought to three alcoholics who offered to pay €5 extra for it. We had to go and buy a new box and the cashier guy looked at us very disapprovingly, but hey we got money! Squatter is a sweetheart who put up patiently with me and the Wereduckling playing violent games with him. When at me & Lommy's place, he was kind enough to help damsels in distress and consume the disgusting bottle of pre-mixed Cosmopolitan that had been in our fridge for half a year since a friend of ours left it there. He really knows his Tolkien (which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone) and has a crazy sense of humour. Also, he wears boots. I was looking forward to talking to Rikae more, and I did. She's someone I absolutely adore. I seem to remember threatening to steal her from Mac, but she said he wouldn't mind. I'm so happy they could make it to Finland - and that they brought the Wereduckling along. She's a delightful girl and I had a lot of fun with her. At the end of the week I realised to my joy that her roaring had really improved during the time she spent here and she had learnt at least one new word: tyhmä which is Finnish for stupid (and a name for Hookbill who wouldn't die when we told him to). I also told her about Scar. I really like Mac too even if I spent more time with the female members of his family. He's nice, helpful and funny, and he doesn't look as scary anymore as he used to. At least in real life. It's always been photos he's looked the scariest in anyway. I can't remember who it was who first called Pitchwife Tom Bombadil, but they were more right than they knew! There's something really really Tom-like in Pitch - personality, looks, hat, you name it. What Legate said about his voice is also very true. And there's something kind of mysterious about him. I'm sorry about not getting to talk with him more, but that will hopefully happen in Wurstlandmoot. Or Britainmoot. Whichever is first. Esty is drunk and disorderly. Not really. She just got the card in Apples to Apples. She's a kind, warm, lovely person - and really fun to be around. On our way to Tallinn, I ended up having a three-hour girl talk session with her which was something I had never expected but enjoyed tremendously nonetheless. It's a pity she couldn't be here till the end (but then again, that's the case with everyone else who had to leave early, too). Here's a smaller group picture from Suomenlinna. It features Shasta, Kath, Oddwen, Hookbill, Greenie, Pitchwife and Legate. And here's a photo of skip spence and Pitchwife dancing tango: If someone wants to see the rest of the pictures Volo took and I posted on Facebook, the link is here. I want to thank everyone who cooked, helped wash up and clean and carry stuff, brought us gifts etc. I'd also just like to thank everyone who came here because I had a wonderful time. Thanks for existing. Thanks Barrow-Downs. Thanks Professor. ♥ __________________ He bit me, and I was not gentle.