![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A Puppery Biscuit Base
Nov. 17th, 2014 10:36 amThis Saturday was the Leeds Meet, a much smaller one than usual as it turned out, assumedly due to the double-header last month and the fact Christmas is starting to become higher on people's agendas. The Meet felt much more relaxed than usual, indeed the ambience was quite different, and this may have been due to the smaller numbers as well as the front window being replaced by a giant board which darkened the bar somewhat (apparently it was caused by a regular getting angry and kicking the shit out of it last weekend - he's currently being detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure). There was also little fursuiting, with no walk this time, as there was only a small number with suits. I didn't bring my own, partly due to it being damp underfoot and partly due to the fact I was going away the next day and wouldn't have time to wash everything before I went. Furthermore, it gave me an opportunity to just sit and talk to people rather than suiting, which can severely impair general social interaction. It is something I had missed and perhaps one of the reasons for my recent feelings of disassociation with the fandom. I've always said that a furmeet doesn't have to have suits and so this proved, although there were one or two later on angling for a go in the giant inflatable snow globe. Sadly I fear a few people may now form negative opinions of the Leeds meet - which admittedly I'm probably too passionate about - due to the lack of fursuits.
In the end, I spent most of the meet talking to Aremay, with our discussion of politics, architecture, history and philosophy putting most other people off. They came, loitered around for a few seconds and went off again, and kinda proved my point a little about me struggling to connect with people due to having dissimilar interests. Aremay suggested that I was having my mid-life crisis early, partly due to my analytical brain and my "intelligence" questioning and reanalysing my current circumstances. He may have a point although I have had these feelings off and on for most of the last eight years (although the intensity of them has increased of late). It was telling later on, after Aremay had gone home and nine of us had decamped to a bar on the south side of the River, that I found it more difficult to make a connection, particularly when topics such as gaming and Doctor Who reared their heads again. As I told Aremay, it is difficult for me to find people in the fandom with whom I have empathy and he offered some very constructive viewpoints on my current feelings. Indeed it was great talking to Aremay as I have felt guilty about some of this for a while, particularly when my gut feelings and the thoughts in my head have been somewhat contradictory, especially on specific moral issues. The gut versus head battle is a nightmare when this inconsistency exists but at least it is a common battle many people have, as Aremay reassured me. It's trying to find a way through it that's proving problematic. There were other reassurances too - I feared I was somewhat politically naive to be discussing politics with someone who is doing a PhD in it but Aremay does not concord with that view, while he also had similar opinions to me on some of the more politically active furs who pontificate on Twitter yet seem to display a rather naive or unrounded view. This reassurance - like Arc being impressed with my language skills on Friday - really does mean a lot to someone with as pitifully low self-confidence as me. I like talking to Aremay, due to our common interests, and he's one of the few furs to whom I can generally relate. It's like being back at university again somewhat, such is the level of discussion we have. It is something I miss from university life but that's another era now and I guess I need to utilise my current situation to the best advantage.
I spent most of the afternoon with Aremay, probably keeping him with us for a good few hours longer than initially intended as we all went to Trinity Kitchen after the meet where I got a rather disappointing duck burger and fries. The duck itself was succulent enough, perhaps disintegrating a little too much into something resembling gourmet cat food, but the pickles as garnish tasted a little weird and the richness didn't quite work in burger form. The chips too tasted like those you would get from an itinerant fairground set up in a disused car park, more akin to the caravan from which they came than a hipster gourmet offering in a chic city centre eating hall. The size of the portion too was quite small, forcing Aremay and I to go to the cake stall to find to our horror that the cake lady was closing and there was no more cake to buy. Compare this to the German Market, which had opened on Friday and which I visited for lunch prior to the meet, and Trinity Kitchen could not compete, and that's in relation to the generally inflated prices at the German Market. The Knobibrot was as fantastic as ever and you can't really go wrong with German snausage. Despite it being Saturday afternoon, the market was surprisingly quiet, but it was a little disappointing to see that it was exactly the same layout with exactly the same stalls as last year. Still, this does allow us to choose more different food as we struggle to get beyond the snausage and Knobibrot in all honesty. Taneli had chips with ketchup and mayonnaise, always divine, while the Hahnchen and Schnizel much surely be sampled too. Sadly I'll be out of Leeds for most of the next month so not much German market for me this year, I'll just have to cram it all in to the last week it's here. No doubt my sister will want to come again too.
I think the Leeds Meet proved that bigger is not necessarily better, but I do hope that the December meet on the 20th will be a big kick-ass one to see out the year in style. I think 2014 hasn't been as good for Leeds meets as 2013 but it has still been a great year. This one has boosted my enthusiasm with furry slightly and helped me gained some perspective on why I'm feeling the way I am. Others understanding my view has made me feel more accepted too and less guilty about my current feelings. I've said for a while that I think it's best to focus on the handful of really close friends that I do have and I think that's the best going forward.
In the end, I spent most of the meet talking to Aremay, with our discussion of politics, architecture, history and philosophy putting most other people off. They came, loitered around for a few seconds and went off again, and kinda proved my point a little about me struggling to connect with people due to having dissimilar interests. Aremay suggested that I was having my mid-life crisis early, partly due to my analytical brain and my "intelligence" questioning and reanalysing my current circumstances. He may have a point although I have had these feelings off and on for most of the last eight years (although the intensity of them has increased of late). It was telling later on, after Aremay had gone home and nine of us had decamped to a bar on the south side of the River, that I found it more difficult to make a connection, particularly when topics such as gaming and Doctor Who reared their heads again. As I told Aremay, it is difficult for me to find people in the fandom with whom I have empathy and he offered some very constructive viewpoints on my current feelings. Indeed it was great talking to Aremay as I have felt guilty about some of this for a while, particularly when my gut feelings and the thoughts in my head have been somewhat contradictory, especially on specific moral issues. The gut versus head battle is a nightmare when this inconsistency exists but at least it is a common battle many people have, as Aremay reassured me. It's trying to find a way through it that's proving problematic. There were other reassurances too - I feared I was somewhat politically naive to be discussing politics with someone who is doing a PhD in it but Aremay does not concord with that view, while he also had similar opinions to me on some of the more politically active furs who pontificate on Twitter yet seem to display a rather naive or unrounded view. This reassurance - like Arc being impressed with my language skills on Friday - really does mean a lot to someone with as pitifully low self-confidence as me. I like talking to Aremay, due to our common interests, and he's one of the few furs to whom I can generally relate. It's like being back at university again somewhat, such is the level of discussion we have. It is something I miss from university life but that's another era now and I guess I need to utilise my current situation to the best advantage.
I spent most of the afternoon with Aremay, probably keeping him with us for a good few hours longer than initially intended as we all went to Trinity Kitchen after the meet where I got a rather disappointing duck burger and fries. The duck itself was succulent enough, perhaps disintegrating a little too much into something resembling gourmet cat food, but the pickles as garnish tasted a little weird and the richness didn't quite work in burger form. The chips too tasted like those you would get from an itinerant fairground set up in a disused car park, more akin to the caravan from which they came than a hipster gourmet offering in a chic city centre eating hall. The size of the portion too was quite small, forcing Aremay and I to go to the cake stall to find to our horror that the cake lady was closing and there was no more cake to buy. Compare this to the German Market, which had opened on Friday and which I visited for lunch prior to the meet, and Trinity Kitchen could not compete, and that's in relation to the generally inflated prices at the German Market. The Knobibrot was as fantastic as ever and you can't really go wrong with German snausage. Despite it being Saturday afternoon, the market was surprisingly quiet, but it was a little disappointing to see that it was exactly the same layout with exactly the same stalls as last year. Still, this does allow us to choose more different food as we struggle to get beyond the snausage and Knobibrot in all honesty. Taneli had chips with ketchup and mayonnaise, always divine, while the Hahnchen and Schnizel much surely be sampled too. Sadly I'll be out of Leeds for most of the next month so not much German market for me this year, I'll just have to cram it all in to the last week it's here. No doubt my sister will want to come again too.
I think the Leeds Meet proved that bigger is not necessarily better, but I do hope that the December meet on the 20th will be a big kick-ass one to see out the year in style. I think 2014 hasn't been as good for Leeds meets as 2013 but it has still been a great year. This one has boosted my enthusiasm with furry slightly and helped me gained some perspective on why I'm feeling the way I am. Others understanding my view has made me feel more accepted too and less guilty about my current feelings. I've said for a while that I think it's best to focus on the handful of really close friends that I do have and I think that's the best going forward.
