Ohio

Well, I’ve returned from my vacation for the year. Friday, I left Dallas and flew to Columbus, Ohio for a gathering put on by people from Kingdom of Loathing. It wasn’t sponsored by the official powers that be, but it was put on by several people in positions of trust and authority, including one staff member. There were about 150 people there, and my little subgroup had about 10% of them.

My subgroup, or clan as we’re known in-game, is the Garden of Earthly Delights. Our mascot is a flaming goat cock. This requires a visual, so people don’t exactly get confused.


Anyway, our group is made up of a bunch of people who are quite simply awesome individuals. In some ways, this group knows more about our idiosyncracies and issues than other people do, because it’s one place where it’s just okay to be human and to fail. The group has several interesting members in different situations in life: gay, straight, polyamorous, married with children, divorced, unattached, etc. There is nothing like open confrontation of your predispositions with a group like this. The barriers will be met and probably stormed over. About the only thing we don’t tolerate are things that are illegal and things that are destructive.

Frankly, these people are a second family to me, and getting to meet them, including my doppelganger from Wisconsin, was amazing. We talked, we played games, we ate. It was all good.

I even got the chance to do a good deed. One of the members brought her 2 year old daughter, and I (by choice) designated myself as meal helper and even babysitter such that mom could get some down time. Yeah, I missed a game. But I helped someone, and that’s more important.

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