{Gather Together}

Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for 1987.

If you'll allow me, I'd like to relive the past for a bit. I know I'm going to get a few minor details wrong, but nothing materially significant. And, as is my normal M.O., it'll make sense in a bit.

1987 should have been the third year of my online life, and Aerin would have been about a year or so old. The Eighties were a great time to be into computers, as the BBS scene was thriving. I had already been to a "board party" or two, where one or more sysops would throw a bash for their users. Often, in addition to barbecue, snacks, drinks and the like, there were often some computers and consoles set up.

This party would be different, in that (I hope my memory is not betraying me) tonight's main attraction was the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Not everyone watched, but many of us crowded around a TV on one room whilst others continued their merriment*.

There is something to be said about large-scale shared experiences: The Kennedy Assassination, Elvis's farewell, a midnight movie premiere or product launch, Oprah's last show and so on. You may personally only be doing something with a handful to a few hundred people. But you know that elsewhere, there are perhaps thousands more going through the same experiences.

These board parties were kind of like that for me, since online was usually one or two people concurrently, versus 50 of us around a pool. Add to it something as geekily important as ST:TNG (go Wil!) and you have a shared experience to remember.

As I've said before, XI is like that for lots of people. But through all of the online fun I've had since the BBS days (PS2/PS3/PC gaming), it's been over 20 years since I've been able to meet up with others sharing my experiences. Well, to be fair, I did meet a few XI players at AWA, but not from my server.

Today, I got to meet LordKaosu, and TigerKirara! A few weeks ago, I found out that LK was planning a Florida trip, and after some juggling, Ape and I were able to meet up with LK and TK for an afternoon of fun and food. And some Pokemon shopping.

I want to thank both of them for putting up with our tardiness. I know you said it was no big deal but my WHM guilt is ever-present ^^ 30-odd late minutes notwithstanding, we had fun walking around a mall, then had a fantastic lunch at a brewhouse. Fantastic, I said! And for us, a mind-blowing dessert. There was chocolate. Fudgie stuff. Dark Chocolate. Some chips. Maybe some more chocolate. Ghirardelli (wow, I got that right the first time ^.~) may have been involved.

All joking aside, we all had a great time talking about all sorts of stuff, very little of it being XI-related. Though I finally learned what TK stands for and recall seeing her from time to time :3 I hope the two of them had as much fun as we did, and Kat did her best to steal the show. TK seemed totally smitten with her, and so I've found someone else who is as weak to a baby's charms as I am!

I wish we'd had more time to actually *do* something (we had thrown up Ocala Grand Prix as a possibility) but we made the absolute most of the time we did have. They're scooting back north tomorrow afternoon, so I'm just thankful they were able to take the time from visiting fam to meet up with a nostalgic Mithra and family!

I suspect we could have chatted on for hours, as there's a lot of fun stuff mixed across us with our jobs, our backgrounds and our likes & dislikes. If we ever get New York planned out right we'll have to try connecting with them on their turf.

Side note - I got a kick when I realized *both* LK and I wore con shirts ^^

* My mom informed me that some of the /other/ merriments included heroin, which led to a police raid sometime after she retrieved me - O.O