From silentq@nospam.interlog.com Mon Nov 9 14:18:22 1998 Status: O X-Status: Newsgroups: alt.gothic Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 14:18:19 -0500 From: silentq X-Sender: silentq@shell1.interlog.com Subject: Re: Whitby: or: carry on, don't lose your head. In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On 5 Nov 1998, Jennie Kermode wrote: > Okay, so I left this place last Thursday morning, at 10a.m., > and I only just got back online - apologies to those people whom I'm owing > mail to, and to anyone who was expecting followup posts from me - I only > got the last day's worth of a.g. Same here, or close to it, but add in jet lag. :) > So, my Whitby review... I managed to keep a diary while I was there, and take copious amounts of pictures, but no promises as to when that will translate into anything online. > We set off a little later than planned (as usual), but made > good time on the journey down acrosss the border and through the > floodlands of western England, and for once the car didn't break down, it > just sort of hiccoughed a bit from an ill break pad. I, however, got ill > along the way (I guess I'd been ill for a couple of days but had been > working far too hard to notice it, trying to get everything done > before leaving), and I was in lots of pain. :( So, I had to take > antibiotics, which meant I couldn't drink for three days. And that was > most of my Whitby plans screwed. :( I was sick most of the 10 day trip, and was just barely getting better when I was stuck in a plane for 8 hours with people coughing and generally spreading their germs in my general direction. Ah well, I'm always sick anyway. Warded off a crowd-induced panic attack by the skin of my teeth - I've discovered that traveling on three hours sleep in a full 747 does nothing for my state of mind. [re Thurs at the Elsinore] > I did meet the wonderful Silentq that night, but only briefly, > as she was exhauasted too after travelling, so we just sort of stood there > and talked feebly and felt like falling over. An accurate summary, apart from the wonderful part - I was feeling pretty seedy that night as we flew from Toronto to London to Manchester then had to navigate the roads (including tons of roundabouts!) to Whitby on very little sleep due to the over night flight and time difference. I'm just glad Donald managed to interpret my inquisitive glances as I tried to figure out if the tall male and the short female were really Aidan and Jennie. :) Luckily after we both recovered, conversation flourished. :) [re Friday evening] > I met a few very sweet new people, but managed > to lose Silentq again. Friday I think I just sat myself down in a dark corner and rested most of the evening, as my cold really settled in to make me miserable. I managed to dance a bit then fell over and left a bit early. > On Saturday I discovered my true perfect drug, and the solution > to all my stress - shopping! :) Of course, I was saving money by not > buying beer, so what better to do with it than waste it on clothes? I got Even with me drinking more than I usually do, somehow I ended up with other people buying me half pints of cider when I wanted them, or full pints when I didn't specify. :) The exchange rate sucked far too much to buy more than one thing - my very first pair of pvc leggings. :) Managed to talk to Doktor Joy for a bit, then hauled Dylan off to walk along windy heights. I hid again most of Saturday night since I was a bit put off that no one else was dressed in costume when we arrived. I started wandering around a bit as the night progressed, and hopefully the pics I took of some of the costumes turn out - my camera batteries died in the middle of the night. :( > the netgoth meal at Trenchers, where - hooray! - I found Silentq > again. :) The restaurant had forgotten to keep our reserved section, of > course, but they'd only run out of seven items on the menu so it went > rather welloverall. Afterwards we went to the arcades on the seafront for > the annual netgoth spider stomping tournament, and we hit crocodiles with > a mallet, only Silentq hit one a bit too hard and broke the machine. :o > We got a free game out of it, though. :) Sunday was the most fun for me, I think. :) I arrived first for the meal since I wanted to be there well before the crowds, but I ended up outside and piling in with a random group that I managed to make sure included Jennie. :) The croc whalloping was very fun, though I admit that I got a bit too into it. :) Watching net.goths playing arcade games was amusing, and I did get quite caught up playing the coin flipper thingy. I also watched various people actually pay a pound to be 'electrocuted' and get a certificate. > Sunday nights are always the best, most anarchic and thoroughly > silly bit of Whitby because they are 'Eighties Night, at Laughtons, which I swear I felt the whole building bouncing when I was up in the gallery at one point. :) > Later we progressed > to the bandstand, but the rest of our party was kidnapped by the owners of > a chicken shop, so things kind of died, and I said goodbye to Silentq and > gave her the whisky for you Toronto goths to drink this New Year and then > hopped in a taxi home. And it made it safe and sound through customs, though they did stop us for x-rays in Toronto, I think because Dylan went to Amsterdam. :P From talking to various people, it seems like everyone who did show up at the bandstand didn't find anyone there and then left, leaving the area clear for the next person to arrive and then leave since it was quite chilly to sit around waiting. > Everyone usually buggers off on Monday, but this year it was > surprisingly more populated. We figure Monday is the New Thursday, Well, rats, I thought everything sort of died after Sunday - I went to Bristol to visit family on Monday, just making the train at Sheffield. Had a night down the pub with some Bristol net.goths then headed to London to impose myself on Fross and timmie. Most surreal moment was realising I was watching a very explicit special on the porn industry with timmie in London, England, with me tucked up on the sofa bed. Apparently obscenity laws are much looser in the UK than in North America. *boggle* I hung out with rufus or whatever she wants to call herself these days :) and got roped into seeing Death in June. Missed Highgate Cemetery by 10 minutes, but got new combat boots in Camden. Had Sam, who wins the most unexpected encounters award (twice on the streets of Bristol, once in the York in London), sign three of us in to Slimelight and avoided dancing since the smoke was way way too thick. Got a copy of the picture that GothPat took of me all cross-dressed up at Whitby, and felt her husband's skirt. :) Finally collected some head rubs and left to get 3 hours sleep before getting up to catch the plane home. My cat hissed at me as I walked in the door, but she forgave me very quickly, probably because she was so well taken care of while I was away - thanks to Jason. :) I attempted to call to order a pizza (I never had *any* while in England, not sure how, since I should have had a slice after Full Tilt) and couldn't remember my own phone number - luckily the shop was computerised and they just sent me my last order called up from my call-displayed phone number, which of course just managed to scare me due to the state of mind I was in. Thanks to all the wonderful people that I met again or for the first time, and sorry to the people that I never did get to speak to (especially Pete Scathe - I didn't want to interrupt your conversations and then I couldn't find you again :( ). It wasn't a Convergence, but it was just as fun once I found the uk.net.goths. :) silentq, jet lagged and doing massive amounts of laundry, and grateful for her forethought in taking a day off work to recover, and realising that this did sort of turn into a trip summary, and needing to go eat a meal - lunch?