Hmm, what to blog about. A lot has happened today, but I feel like it won’t match up to the past few blogs, hehe. No guys trying on pants. Well, actually, two more guys did come over, but they didn’t model them. And Mike and John came over again, but we just watched Whose Line Is It Anyway? and John and I looked through some architecture books. That was about it.
I did do one exciting thing today, though! I got to meet another internet friend! “PH19” from the Infamous HP4 board came to Washington, DC from way up in Canada to visit some family, and we met up this afternoon at a strip mall in Maryland. It was great fun, but also kind of strange for me. I created the HP4 board when the fourth book came out and it quickly became its own little island. I was the moderator for ages, along with a friend of mine (yet another guy named Mike.) One member of the board put it well, saying it became its own little country. We’ve had leaders, civil wars, pagentry. It’s all in there. But what’s strange is how I was always – and still am – viewed on the board. I was their Mommy, basically. Ruling the board with an iron, yet nice hand. They came to me with their problems, I handled them, and that was that. Which is why I quit moderating after a while. It got to be too stressful. But I’m still the infamous “Madam Meg.” That’s fine, I can handle that online. It’s weird, but I can handle it. But in person, how do I live up to that? As we drove to Maryland I kept thinking about meeting Amber for the first time, the girl I went to England with. I met her through the HP4 board as well, and I still remember the first conversation I ever had with her. She was oooing and aaaahing over how I designed the Daily Prophet, how I managed the HP4 board. It was really weird! Nice, but weird. It’s strange to feel like a Mommy when I was only 15 at the time. Heck, at my age it’s still weird.
So, anyway, driving up to Maryland, trying to imagine what “PH19” would think of me in person. Would I be “Madam Meg” or just plain Heather? How should I act? Motherly? No, that would be weird. There is a bit of an age gap between her and I, but not by *that* much. I just decided I’d be whatever came naturally at the moment and go with it.
Too bad my cold decided to come back. 🙂
I felt so silly, coughing every other second. But we met up at a toy store and we talked about the board while her younger brother ran around looking at the Legos. And what was even cooler was her younger sister is also a part of the board, but she came to it shortly after I left. She still knew me as Madam Meg, though. It felt so strange.
It was still great to meet more internet friends. Nice to finally put faces to names, and real names to pseudonyms. PH19 was really sweet, and her family was really nice. After the toy store we went to Sutton Place and got some ice cream, then wandered around and took pictures. (I’ll have some to post as soon as I get the film developed, or until her Mom sends me the digital images.) It was a nice, relaxing visit.
So now I think I’ve met about 9 or so Internet friends, but I keep thinking I’m forgetting one (and I hate that.) The first was when I was 11, Marx. A drummer in an awesome jazz band in Tucson, he was a coworker of my brother’s at AOL. He and I started IMing for a while and got to be pretty good online buddies, then we met up a few times. He was sweet. Then there was Amber and Mark (we won’t go there), who were both from the HP4 board. Lindsay, the girl who actually is responsible for me starting the Daily Prophet. Then Anna, a Jewish girl I met online and we discovered we lived only a few blocks from each other. Alastair and Matthew, the PotterWar men. And now PH19 and “Draconita”. I know there’s someone else and it’s really bugging me. If you’re reading this and I’ve met you but I’ve forgotten I met you in person, I really apologize. The late hour is playing with my brain.
Good news! I get to redecorate the basement… all on my own! I finally convinced my parents to just go away for a week so I can attack the basement without interruption. I’ve got the plan all worked out – Kevin and I came up with it last night while we were having that joint birthday party. See, I had thought up all these color schemes, but my Mom kept saying she wanted a theme. I didn’t want something cliche or kitchy, but Kevin sparked the perfect idea. The World’s Fair. Almost like what people in the 1950s thought the future would be like. That’s where the idea started, and my how it’s kept going. 🙂
As we kept talking and kept getting more and more animated as we came up with one exciting idea after another, we eventually wound our way around to the World’s Fairs. This is really perfect because not only will it be fun and easy to do, it already fits perfectly with a color scheme I’m already in love with. When I got home I immediately started researching World’s Fairs and I came across photos from the 1939 fair in New York, but in particular, the General Motors “The Exciting World of 1960” exhibit. It’s *perfect*! I remember watching a newsreel on television about the exhibit and it was absolutely hilarious. Four-lane highways in the middle of Manhattan that would replace all walkways and regular streets; a downtown completely devoid of residences and all the people would live in suburbs outside the actual metropolis. It was great fun. I think they even thought about personal jetpacks. 🙂
This new excitement led to even more research and I found tons of fantastic photos. I got all excited again, remembering all the pictures and videos I had seen before about the amazing architecture and beautiful landscapes inside the exhibition. (They *so* need to have another World’s Fair like that, but don’t get me started on that one or I’ll never stop ranting.) I’ve got the basement entirely planned out now, and it’s going to be so much fun. Huge neo-art-deco art work, photos of the trylon and perisphere, funny artwork I have planned that will be absolutely awesome, and cool stripes on the wall… and… and… and… it’ll rule. I’ve been so psyched about it. So much, in fact, that I dreamt about it, and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up. How silly is that? I just love that world’s fair. I would give almost anything to go back to April 1939 for a while and walk around the pavillions. I’d love to take pictures. They really need to have another one of those. And don’t say that it wouldn’t work because the we all already know about the latest advancements in technology. Psh, whatever. There’s stuff going on at MIT that hardly anybody knows about. There’s still a bunch of other stuff we could have at world’s fairs. So there.
And you know what else makes me mad? They made all of these cool buildings for the fair, and what did they do? They tore them all down!!! That just makes me *sick*! That stuff was amazing. They should have left the trylon and perisphere up at least. And maybe even the four freedoms. And the Westinghouse building. And…
I’ll quit now, sorry. I shouldn’t rant about architecture, that just sounds a wee bit silly. 🙂