Across the Universe

I need to catch up my blog on this last week, since I was so busy. First I'll start with the TSC BBQ in Indy.

RedFaery and I invited a friend to make the trip with us, as Cinn's expressed an interest in getting out more. I hadn't spent as much time with her as Red has, but I was happy to find that she's a great conversationalist. The 2+ hour drive to Indy didn't seem nearly as long!

We arrived a little after noon, and started introducing ourselves to the folks we hadn't met yet. I suppose I should mention that TSC stands for Tech Support Comedy, and it's an online community for those in the IT field that want to make friends and vent about the frustrations that come along with the job. RedFaery had been a member for a number of years before discovering the social aspect of it, and after I came along for the ride to the first BBQ we attended, I also joined and made some friends. I'm not a techie - I only offer the "C" of "TSC", but that's good enough for them!

A nice surprise for RedFaery - a co-worker from her days living in Indy was there, and neither one expected to see each other. While Persephone wasn't an active forum poster, she was a regular on the site. They'd talked online once in a while, but hadn't seen each other in six years.

The host of the gathering, RiffRaff (husband of Magenta, for those wondering the origin of the name) stated that in true TSC BBQ fashion, we were going to go "Office Space" on some old printers he brought from work. One of the British TSC gatherings started the tradition of re-enacting the "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta" scene from the movie, and it stuck. When asking for ideas on how to creatively destroy them, I suggested stringing them up like pinatas, and the group seemed to go along with it.

As the Epson Stylus printer dangled from a tree branch, everyone took turns whacking it with a shovel. Many times it got wound up in the tree, but just as many times pieces went flying in several directions. I kept half a roller bar, and it sits above me in the hands of my Darth Tater as I type this. Memento.

After many burgers, brats, grilled corn and conversation, Riff insisted that I get up and entertain everyone. I'd kept everyone on the website informed of the Improv Challenge and how it progressed, and all the while unknowingly planted the seed in his mind that I was able to perform at the drop of a hat. He'd mentioned it to me when we first got there, and I laughed it off. Hours later, he's now standing up and asking, "How should I introduce you?". My response: "Oh my god, you're SERIOUS, aren't you?"

Since all the improv games I know involve at least one other person, I didn't let Riff off the hook and made him my partner. I quickly picked out "Moving People", since it didn't require much set-up. Basically while Riff and I talked about picking up chicks at church (the random subject), two others would move our body parts like man-sized dolls. We delved into picking up nuns and lactating (which was spawned by "me" putting my hands on my chest). At one point Persephone (who was moving me) was laughing so hard she could do nothing but lay her face in my back and gigglesnort. Offhand I'd say it went well - the YouTube video will be up any day now I'm sure.

We left as the bonfire was starting up, so we'd be home by midnight. Cinn had made a few new friends, so it was a great success in her "getting out of the house" mission. This having been our 4th BBQ, we've started to become used to the concept of "driving hundreds of miles to meet people you only know online" and are enjoying ourselves more and more each time. Our goal next year is to host a BBQ of our own and show off Louisville to our TSC friends.