Rel
Liquid Awesome
Maybe I can "out cryptic" Truth Seeker with that title, eh?
So yeah, 5,000 posts came and went for me today and I'd like to say that I was loving every minute of it but I wasn't. At the moment, I'm feeling kinda bleh, or meh or something that ends in "eh". And yet I feel good about feeling that way. Let me explain.
To say that GenCon was a high point for me this year would be a bit of an understatement. It might not be precisely accurate to say that it was "the" high point for me this year, but it was probably close. Call it top three anyway.
The people I met, the stuff I saw, the games I played, every bit of it was fantastic. I won't go on and on about it (because I've already done that in many a GenCon thread) but it surpassed my expectations in every way and I loved it.
The last few weeks since then have been tough for me, primarily because of the hurricane damage. My thirst for news and the depression I feel whenever I watch it have been at war and nobody is winning. I take solace in knowing that I'm doing what I can. I've donated some stuff and what little money I can afford and I plan to donate more later. Still, it has taken a considerable toll on how I feel.
The silver lining of this whole cloud however was to have been (and still is - read on) the 8th North Carolina Game Day, which many of you know that I've been very involved in organizing and promoting. Unfortunately, as things have come down to the wire, a great many of the folks who have attended past game days have not been able to attend. Adamantine Angel (he probably shouldn't count since he's getting married), Old One, Der Kluge, Nakia, Cthulhu's Librarian and then Henry, have one by one let us know that they couldn't make it this time.
Now of course I bear them no ill will over this. Life happens. More important priorities emerge and that's just the way it is. I know that each of them would enjoy being here tomorrow if he could but he just can't. In particular, I regret that Cthulhu's Librarian and Henry couldn't make it. CL was one of my travelling companions to GenCon and was a big reason why I had such a great time. And Henry has been to every single NC Game Day up to this point and I've gotten very fond of the man (plus I was to have played in his Spycraft game). Both were to have been houseguests of mine and I was really looking forward to sitting around my basement swapping stories, CL and I taunting Henry about not being at GenCon and so forth. It would have been a big boost to my flagging morale of late to have those guys here with me now.
The realization of all this is what makes me happy, even in the midst of the "meh". What it reminds me is that ENWorld is far more than just a website to me. Even far more than a message board. It has become a collection of friends who I have had the priviledge to come to know to an extent I never would have guessed at when I joined this place some four and a half years ago. You folks are people that I care about. People that I truly, genuinely enjoy conversing with and, even better, being around. And I miss you when you're not around. I guess what I'm saying is that I'd rather miss you than not care enough to miss you.
So, to those fine gentlemen who are not making this Game Day tomorrow, I miss you and I wish you were here. And to the many new friends who are not so far away, Universe, Queen D, Xath and others from just a bit further north than convenience and gas prices will allow to be here, I wish you were here too. We'll try to have fun without you and I look forward to when you can next be here. I know we'll have a blast.
In the mean time, I take solace in having ENWorld here where it remains a collection of good friends whose only real fault lies in the fact that I don't get to see you often enough. Take care and wish me luck running my games tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Rel
So yeah, 5,000 posts came and went for me today and I'd like to say that I was loving every minute of it but I wasn't. At the moment, I'm feeling kinda bleh, or meh or something that ends in "eh". And yet I feel good about feeling that way. Let me explain.
To say that GenCon was a high point for me this year would be a bit of an understatement. It might not be precisely accurate to say that it was "the" high point for me this year, but it was probably close. Call it top three anyway.
The people I met, the stuff I saw, the games I played, every bit of it was fantastic. I won't go on and on about it (because I've already done that in many a GenCon thread) but it surpassed my expectations in every way and I loved it.
The last few weeks since then have been tough for me, primarily because of the hurricane damage. My thirst for news and the depression I feel whenever I watch it have been at war and nobody is winning. I take solace in knowing that I'm doing what I can. I've donated some stuff and what little money I can afford and I plan to donate more later. Still, it has taken a considerable toll on how I feel.
The silver lining of this whole cloud however was to have been (and still is - read on) the 8th North Carolina Game Day, which many of you know that I've been very involved in organizing and promoting. Unfortunately, as things have come down to the wire, a great many of the folks who have attended past game days have not been able to attend. Adamantine Angel (he probably shouldn't count since he's getting married), Old One, Der Kluge, Nakia, Cthulhu's Librarian and then Henry, have one by one let us know that they couldn't make it this time.
Now of course I bear them no ill will over this. Life happens. More important priorities emerge and that's just the way it is. I know that each of them would enjoy being here tomorrow if he could but he just can't. In particular, I regret that Cthulhu's Librarian and Henry couldn't make it. CL was one of my travelling companions to GenCon and was a big reason why I had such a great time. And Henry has been to every single NC Game Day up to this point and I've gotten very fond of the man (plus I was to have played in his Spycraft game). Both were to have been houseguests of mine and I was really looking forward to sitting around my basement swapping stories, CL and I taunting Henry about not being at GenCon and so forth. It would have been a big boost to my flagging morale of late to have those guys here with me now.
The realization of all this is what makes me happy, even in the midst of the "meh". What it reminds me is that ENWorld is far more than just a website to me. Even far more than a message board. It has become a collection of friends who I have had the priviledge to come to know to an extent I never would have guessed at when I joined this place some four and a half years ago. You folks are people that I care about. People that I truly, genuinely enjoy conversing with and, even better, being around. And I miss you when you're not around. I guess what I'm saying is that I'd rather miss you than not care enough to miss you.
So, to those fine gentlemen who are not making this Game Day tomorrow, I miss you and I wish you were here. And to the many new friends who are not so far away, Universe, Queen D, Xath and others from just a bit further north than convenience and gas prices will allow to be here, I wish you were here too. We'll try to have fun without you and I look forward to when you can next be here. I know we'll have a blast.
In the mean time, I take solace in having ENWorld here where it remains a collection of good friends whose only real fault lies in the fact that I don't get to see you often enough. Take care and wish me luck running my games tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Rel
Maybe in January or next April.
