Gothiness

[dangtri]

No, not "Gothness" as on the T-Shirt -- but I am getting ahead of myself; this sort of stuff is the neology mechanism I have in mind.

But neo or not, the weekend before last needs a mention here. It's all graylion's fault of course. He asked me a number of months ago, "are you coming to Whitby in April?" and I -- well I just said "yes" and then, belatedly, "and what's Whitby"?

Never before had I even contemplated going to a 6-day-weekend-long Gothic music (etc.) festival. Oops. I hardly know which way to hold an eyeliner, am not particularly interested in Victoriana, am pretty much a vanilla sort of sexual being (for a dyke) and, well, not a Goth. I think. (Shouldn't I have realized something before, otherwise?) Some (more than one) say that denial is the first step down that road. And admittedly, those goggles always make me smile.

So I properly lost my Whitby virginity, sharing a cottage with graylion, antipodienne and fluffymark, and the refreshing asw909, whose acquaintance I was very pleased to make -- his rare brand of down-to-earth argumentativeness just the right addition to our temporary household.

With graylion of course it was assured that we would be well fed and kept in good shape for the nightly events. Lovely music, nearly all I listened to worthwhile, if not necessarily the greatest of the great. Of the gigs, Crüxshadows (my first live gig of a band with the heavy metal umlaut!!) were a cut above the others in professionalism and sure laid on a fun show. The Last Dance are one to watch. And the Soho Dolls ... well I didn't care much for the blather between the sets, but they're a musical bunch and, maybe not exactly true to the venue, a surprisingly good Rock band.

A scary 80s night at Laughton's (a Goth conga line, and an end of the evening with everyone, Irish included, singing "Jerusalem" -- need I say more?). 80s stuff always raises very bad connotations for me: I'm supposed to have grown up with the stuff but was in reality a near-total social outcast back then. Maybe I'm getting over it. Though give me some electronic music any time, it's easier to listen and dance to.

Be that as it may, I've rarely had such a refreshing few days before. Photos (except of the football match, which still await uploading) are available.

And ... see you in October.

Comments

[m-nivalis.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you had a good time!

[dangtri.livejournal.com]

I did indeed. Plus, it may sound a little patronizing, but I've never seen such a polite and well-behaved bunch of otherwise wild people. For ex. on the coach back towards York, there was of course a whole bunch of us, all in various states of sleep-deprivation and alcohol-haze from the night before. Yet there wasn't even a hint of unpleasantness. On the contrary, the entire bus had a good laugh -- black-clad travellers, local grannies and kids, when an employee of the coach line tried to distribute some of us on a second vehicle and tried to disentangle the copious luggage with the words, "and who does that suitcase belong to -- the black one?" I admitted that mine was, in fact, blue: another collective chuckle.

In other news, I've finished the dragon book, and am on vol 4 of "Y", with 5 already bought.

York's a mere 1:55h from London by the way. Would make a great weekend trip. Want to come along some time?

[celemon.livejournal.com]

And I might come along in the future, and the sight of me and graylion cooking together will scar the audience for life...

[dangtri.livejournal.com]

Well, we don't have to look, do we, she said practically. Isn't it enough if we eat?

(Or maybe take pictures.)

[celemon.livejournal.com]

Will be hard taking pictures wihtout looking (I can be practical, too). But yes, eating is the mandatory part....

[adamw]

down-to-earth argumentativeness

...that's a new one on me!

Anyway, good to meet you too :)

[dangtri.livejournal.com]

I had "unapologetic bone-headedness" in mind, which sounds much better but I was afraid might appear as an insult instead of the compliment it was meant to be.

[celemon.livejournal.com]

And nice pics of graylion, also - I'm putting one of them on my desk at work...'look, that's my fiance, the one with the tight shiny pants.'