Stream of Unselfconsciousness
Friends have been greeting me all week by asking "How'd the squid thing go?" This is in the aftermath of ToV, which was last weekend, where I made a calligraphy student of mine extract ink from several whole squid in front of an audience. He was a total champ, too... just grabbed the scalpel and went right for it, and I don't think he got so much as a drop on him. ToV was awesome. The weather was awful, but the fog and rain kinda added to the atmosphere. Most of the staff were in really good form. We have a few newish staffers who look like they're really going to contribute a lot to the game. I did a lot of fun little stupid, spur-of-the-moment plots, a thiefy module, a big Zombie Curse plot that I wasn't entirely sure would survive first contact with the enemy, and a lot of other fun stuff. There are some people there that are just a total pleasure to work with.
The bad parts were: getting a lingering cold from prancing around in a kilt and boots and nothing else early Saturday evening. That was stupid, but I got major insanity points from people and a lot of nice post-event-letter recognition. I seriously hope it's a lot warmer next event. Also not so good was some seriously unsafe and aggressive fighting, but I have a feeling that's been addressed.
I have been experiencing the Gamekiller a lot lately. The Gamekiller, as we in the industry call it, is when you're talking to someone socially, reasonably articulately, usually about something obscure or involving detailed knowledge of a subject matter, and that person asks what you do for a living. And you say, "I'm a mover," and everyone listening says "Oh..." in the same tone they'd use if you told them you were a child molester, and conversation grinds to a halt. Because suddenly, your choice of profession lowers your IQ by thirty points. Usually if conversation continues after an initial awkward pause, people speak to you a little more slowly, and try to avoid using polysyllabic words. This is funny, because I kind of enjoy the reaction and cognitive dissonance I can evoke with a single word, preying on stereotypes. This is not so funny, because the company I work for is staffed largely by well-educated, polite, disciplined, extremely competent young men who have traveled well in excess of the American norm, and because they happen to have ripped physiques and work on trucks they get talked to like they're chimps. They do not deserve this. It must be a lot worse if you're actively dating.
I am so excited to get married.