small days made large

[tiedyedave]

Last weekend I went to Carnival in Pittsburgh.

I met: aij, alanv, aleffert, ayndin, azzil, buoren, cdinwood, chrisamaphone, combinator, demarko, dr4b, dracai, drquuxum, etopiei, etotheipi, fixermark, gwillen, jashar.myopenid.com, jcreed, kahare, klari, lars_chan, lunaratu, moonndragn, mr_wright, mygrane, pfriedma, physics_dude, qedragon, rachael85, rbraun, redglasses, rehana, rjmccall, roseandsigil, rupes, sajasj, sk4p, skydiamonde, sleepsong, styger, theadana

At long last, I met gustavolacerda in person.

I failed to meet: x77303066, rdore

I wish that creidieki, indrani_prime, julia82084, lordm, mrsix, mtolan, naufiel, platypuslord, yannaboo, or the inimitable Mark Stehlik had been there too, but such is life.

It was a lot of fun. There was some Mao, which I have not had a chance to play since the UOregon concurrency workshop last July. I also drank a moderate amount, which had an immoderate effect on me, since I've had almost nothing to drink for the past six months. Good times.

As before, I felt a kind of timeline shear when alternating between social circles from different generations, though it was far less noticeable than previous years. This is partly due to some social reorganizations, and partly due to the fact that the 'younger' generation is not quite so young anymore. Indeed, it's very funny to hear the seniors talk about distancing themselves from the rowdy, immature youngsters. :-)

As Carnivals go, this one was a turning point: next year, I will know very few, if any, of the current undergraduates and other denizens, so future years will largely be an exercise in coordinating a mass reunion with other returnees. I'm guessing this is the same phenomenon experienced by the older generations. Furthermore, this one was also a turning point because I don't miss Pittsburgh anymore. The city has an entropic, rusty charm to it, but I no longer identify it as home, or even one of many homes. Austin is home now.

Highlights:
Seeing lars_chan again at long last
"His Gardening Royal Highness"
Uno's with kahare, ayndin, rjmccall, and Andy
A giant Nintendo on Midway

Comments

[chrisamaphone]

Furthermore, this one was also a turning point because I don't miss Pittsburgh anymore. The city has an entropic, rusty charm to it, but I no longer identify it as home, or even one of many homes. Austin is home now.

This is an extraordinarily odd thing for me to hear, since I grew up in Austin and have taken quite a liking to Pittsburgh, so the exact opposite thing is true of me.

[betaphen.livejournal.com]

but is it truly the city and not the particular people you've grown to like? people move away and change, and the pittsburgh i miss will never again exist.

[naufiel.livejournal.com]

The Pittsburgh I miss hasn't been there since the end of my junior year. I was ready to leave a whole year early, whereas everyone around me was still clinging tight. It was a very surreal experience.

[chrisamaphone]

well, that's exactly my point. the austin i miss will never again exist. the pittsburgh that currently exists is one that i am attached to.

[x77303066.livejournal.com]

Sorry; I wanted to catch you, but ended up not going to the party. I'll be there for future carnivals, so hopefully we'll have more luck next time :D.

I missed Pittsburgh a bit when I was in Austin this summer, but now that I'm back, and even despite lots of exploring in Pittsburgh, I'll be pretty happy to leave it. Yay sun! ;D

[lars-chan.livejournal.com]

Shit! I was happy I made it on the big list! Now I'm swooning over making it into the highlights! *passes out*

[naufiel.livejournal.com]

Aw, we miss seeing you, as well. Hopefully this can be rectified before December. :)

[yannaboo.livejournal.com]

Part of me is sorry I wasn't there, too - I admit when I heard you were going that upped my chances of going as well significantly. Not that similar info from other people didn't have the same effect, but well, you know :-)

I'll be there next year!

And I definitely echo your sentiments about Pburgh not being home anymore. In fact, sometimes it makes me feel downright creeeeeepy.