Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, Wolf

It has been another busy weekend, as July often is in Berlin. On Saturday, we headed over to Grunewald for the Berlinfurs Sommerfest. We went last year, but Wolfie could not make it due to his ongoing foot issues. Fortunately, he could make it this time, and could even use the fast-track table as they had already verified his age (which they hadn't done as he wasn't here last year). It was a little weird walking up and not having to take a COVID test, like we had to last year, but the arrangement aside from this was largely the same. There was some good conversation, tables laid out and a pinata beating session. The first one was a derpy brown otter while the second was a blue fox. I didn't do any of the hitting - and in the end the children whose families had rented the other side of the complex ended up scrabbling around for the candies - but it was fun watching blindfolded fursuiters struggle to hit open the pinatas, which were attached to wires and moving about. I did manage to grab the detached tail of the otter pinata though, which is sat on my kitchen counter and looks like a Mexican burrito due to its colouration.

I learned from last year that alcohol wasn't served until later, so we brought four beers of our own and Fiasco had home-brewed a 7% blond called Frisky Friar, inspired by Friar Tuck from Robin Hood (whose image adorned the bottle). This tasted as good as any store-bought beer but it was a shame the charity donations did not exceed his costs of brewing it. Still, he was happy to raise some money at least and we were grateful for the beer. However, as the food wasn't served until 9pm this year, I did get increasingly drunk, which wasn't aided by the excellent alcoholic slushies and cocktails they were serving in the main hut area. There was also karaoke going on here too, largely Disney-style musicals, and many of them were in English. I did wonder whether non-native speakers would understand some of the nuances in language.

The food was 'divine' - sausages, turkey steaks, pasta and potato salad - plus chatting with friends was fun too. We also got to register for Furvester, with us getting a room in the lottery. It was a really weird way it was done - with us having to pre-load our registration information and then be logged into the site at 8pm for the allocation to take place. Oddly, even though I had registered on my desktop, it had not registered on my mobile phone so I had to do it again. Anyway, Wolfie got a room, I didn't, but we were able to transfer my ID over to the room so we are in. Sadly, a number of our friends have not made it, which makes me wonder whether we will do it. Still, we have two weeks to decide as that's when the first payment is due. Hopefully, I'll have a new job sorted by then, but even if I don't, it's only the €130 registration fee that's due now, with the hotel costs not being borne until New Year.

There were a few people fursuiting but not many. I decided to refrain as the Berlin authorities had issued a heat warning on account of it being 35C. This was a shame as I have never suited amongst the Berlinfurs apart from that one time we did minigolf. We could also have gone in the pool - we were told to bring trunks and towel - but no-one else was bothering so we didn't either. I did meet a few new people though including Brusco and Thygrr, although I got involved with a rather robust conversation about AI with the latter where I was perhaps a little too forthright. The fact that Aremay calls it 'The Devil's Typewriter' reflects my view, while saying my job was pretty much obsolete is sure to get my hackles up, particularly as I am currently looking for something. Still, I didn't embarrass myself or anything and it was the nature of the discussion so all's well. Sadly, I didn't get chance to speak to the organiser Takeru much, hopefully we'll get more opportunity soon, even if he is rarely in Berlin these days.

We left about 1:30am, with the alcohol starting to kick in. It was an hour journey back, a little less straightforward than our way in (when we had met Seebass and his American friend and walked the last 15 minutes together). By the time I had gotten back, the feeling of alcohol was really taking its toll and I stayed up most of the night sobering up. The sheer heat and sweating probably didn't help. I also wore a skirt for the entirety of the day, and felt far more comfortable in doing so, so I am going to wear more female clothing when I am out and about going forward.

The LGBTQ+ festival in Schoneberg was taking place this weekend and although Wolfie wanted a day in the house, I didn't want to miss out. After a languid morning (and early afternoon) in bed, I headed down at around 5pm just to check it out. It was largely the usual collection of stands, sadly with no BRLO this year, with politics, social justice, help centres and kink all represented. I was wearing normal clothing as I went on my own, although I did see Seebass for an hour as he was en route elsewhere. I had to dodge the Rammstein crowds heading to Olympiastadion though as today was the second of their three headline gigs. We did get alerted to more tickets being on sale, and while it would be great to see them in their own city, I thought €119 for standing was a little steep, particularly at a time when I am still looking for a job.

I then headed back to Spandau where Wolfie and I went out for a steak dinner at Salt & Pepper. The prices were a little higher than before, but I had forgotten how good this place was. Alas, all of the meat this weekend is affecting my stomach and bowels very badly, plus the inability to get out of the heat is starting to make me feel woozy. At least next week, it should be cooler. I don't know what I am going to do next week, but my father and Wolfie both insist I should take most of it off. With some more sights to see in Berlin, I might just do that.