When The Red Light Shows

It's difficult to know what to make of the Manchester Meet yesterday. It encapsulated all that is good and all that is bad with the Fandom in one handy package. It was incredibly surreal in places but ultimately I am glad I went.

Firstly I don't really like Canal Street. It's full of tacky bars selling overpriced mainstream lager whilst you get pestered by purveyors of roses and pink sunglasses every five minutes. Their honking horns soon became annoying. King of this scene is Crunch, a bar I refuse to patronize after a couple of unsavory incidents which happened to me in the toilets there 18 months ago. They will never get my money again so it was somewhat inconvenient that this was the meet venue.

Facing an afternoon sat outside with no drink, I went into the city centre with Baloki to buy some desperately needed shoes. It gave us a good chance to catch up before we headed back to the meet where I met SDF, a close twitter friend who I hadn't met before. I also spoke to loads of other furs but sadly for not long enough such was the busy nature of the meet.

Looking on at a crowd of people I largely didn't know was overwhelming and without drink I developed a very rare sense of social awkwardness. I feel distant from some of the younger members of the group and it was hard at times to foster a sense of belonging. Some good friends were there though, like Enteirah, and I still cracked some funnies before the meet turned for the better thanks to Lone Wolf, Widor and Fen.

They were sensing food and I was sensing alcohol so we went to Eden, one of the few good bars on Canal Street. What was going to be a light snack turned into a three course meal which ended with port and cheese, and some very sophisticated conversation. Meanwhile I was wearing my new collar which Wolfie had made for me which was slightly at odds in polite company.

Fen's work colleague was due at the Meet so he went to fetch her from the station as we sat with some cans next to Alan Turing's statue in the nearby park. We met two flamboyant homosexuals, one of whom was throwing around a pale pink vibrator which didn't actually vibrate. We also met a drunk old gay Scotsman who hated me but loved Lone Wolf when we were espousing political and philosophical arguments at each other. In truth drunk Scotsman was either illegible or living in a utopia world. Lone Wolf was nice so gave everyone drink. He had been drinking himself as it was his birthday and I trust he had a good time.

Fen had taken his friend to Manto by this point, not the park as arranged, so we headed there to meet up with many good friends and have some beer. I had a nice chat with Aremay whilst Kiffy, Ska and I laughed at Manchester United's defeat to Barcelona and the United fans trudging dejectedly along Canal Street.

After this we went home happy. The day started poorly and picked up, which is probably the best way to be. What I noticed though was how out of touch I am these days and how little time I get to spend with friends. Hopefully I can improve on this over the summer.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

When The Red Light Shows

It's difficult to know what to make of the Manchester Meet yesterday. It encapsulated all that is good and all that is bad with the Fandom in one handy package. It was incredibly surreal in places but ultimately I am glad I went.

Firstly I don't really like Canal Street. It's full of tacky bars selling overpriced mainstream lager whilst you get pestered by purveyors of roses and pink sunglasses every five minutes. Their honking horns soon became annoying. King of this scene is Crunch, a bar I refuse to patronize after a couple of unsavory incidents which happened to me in the toilets there 18 months ago. They will never get my money again so it was somewhat inconvenient that this was the meet venue.

Facing an afternoon sat outside with no drink, I went into the city centre with Baloki to buy some desperately needed shoes. It gave us a good chance to catch up before we headed back to the meet where I met SDF, a close twitter friend who I hadn't met before. I also spoke to loads of other furs but sadly for not long enough such was the busy nature of the meet.

Looking on at a crowd of people I largely didn't know was overwhelming and without drink I developed a very rare sense of social awkwardness. I feel distant from some of the younger members of the group and it was hard at times to foster a sense of belonging. Some good friends were there though, like Enteirah, and I still cracked some funnies before the meet turned for the better thanks to Lone Wolf, Widor and Fen.

They were sensing food and I was sensing alcohol so we went to Eden, one of the few good bars on Canal Street. What was going to be a light snack turned into a three course meal which ended with port and cheese, and some very sophisticated conversation. Meanwhile I was wearing my new collar which Wolfie had made for me which was slightly at odds in polite company.

Fen's work colleague was due at the Meet so he went to fetch her from the station as we sat with some cans next to Alan Turing's statue in the nearby park. We met two flamboyant homosexuals, one of whom was throwing around a pale pink vibrator which didn't actually vibrate. We also met a drunk old gay Scotsman who hated me but loved Lone Wolf when we were espousing political and philosophical arguments at each other. In truth drunk Scotsman was either illegible or living in a utopia world. Lone Wolf was nice so gave everyone drink. He had been drinking himself as it was his birthday and I trust he had a good time.

Fen had taken his friend to Manto by this point, not the park as arranged, so we headed there to meet up with many good friends and have some beer. I had a nice chat with Aremay whilst Kiffy, Ska and I laughed at Manchester United's defeat to Barcelona and the United fans trudging dejectedly along Canal Street.

After this we went home happy. The day started poorly and picked up, which is probably the best way to be. What I noticed though was how out of touch I am these days and how little time I get to spend with friends. Hopefully I can improve on this over the summer.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.