Gays of Our Lives - AWZ Style

I've received a few requests to join this asylum in the past few weeks, and I suspect it's the result of announcements regarding GOOL 2011.

This group was created as a way for AWZ fans attending GOOL 2010 to get to know each other and make plans for THAT event. As of right now, there is no news about any AWZ participation in GOOL 2011. Until I hear otherwise, I'm going to close this group to new members.

Please understand that I'm not trying to exclude anyone by doing this... I simply don't believe there's any reason for this group to be active right now. If that changes, I'll happily accept new members and start up posting again. Meanwhile, this group will remain an archive.

Thanks for understanding, and feel free to comment here or PM me with any concerns.

There's a new asylum in town, and it ain't for sissies. Come join the fun over at the new home for the Eskimos: eskimo_kiss

I have a feeling this isn't all going to fit in one post, because it's insanely long, but I'll give it a try and see what happens.

( Cut for INSANE LENGTH OMG )

Thanks for reading, and can’t wait for Eskimo Round-Up 2011. *bounce!*

Let me start by saying that I'm HORRIBLE at remembering names and putting them together with faces.

That said, I'm looking for the very lovely lady who was kind enough to take a picture of me with Dennis and Igor... If you're reading this, we wandered about in the gift shop a bit before the Sunday brunch, and you gave Dennis the blinky keychain from Florida (which he showed off to Jovan while *bouncing* like a giddy schoolgirl, which was AWESOME)... I am SO SO SORRY that I forgot your name, but like I said, I'm terrible with names and the weekend was a whirlwind of new people and... well, I'm just *facepalm*ing forever and if I find you I'll be showering you with kittens and glitter in apology.

Ok, so if you are the lovely lady, or know who she might be (from Florida), please let me know so I can pester her for that picture :D

Thanks!

ETA: Found her! Thanks all who helped!

I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ABOUT EVERYONE'S GOOL EXPERIENCE!

BUT! Before everyone starts posting their GOOL wrap-up reports, I just want to encourage anyone to reply to this post if they are ok with people posting pictures of them here. I'd really appreciate hearing from everyone, just so we can all be reassured that we're not stepping on toes or making anyone uncomfortable. I'd also really like to encourage anyone planning to post to do a quick check of this post's comments to make sure everyone's cool with it. I'd really like everyone to feel comfortable having their wrap-ups open, not friend-locked. I'll only flex my Modly muscles if anyone sees a picture and requests it be taken down. Feel free to contact me privately if you don't want to deal with anyone directly. Thanks for your consideration, guys!

I'd also ask that when posting your wrap-up, take into consideration that some of the things you saw or experienced might not be for everyone's eyes. If there are things you'd like to share that might cause embarrassment or discomfort to the people you're talking about, it might be wise to save those particular tidbits for your personal, friends-locked journal posts. Just try to keep it as positive and friendly as possible, particularly in regards to the AMAZING actors who made time to visit with us. If you're in doubt about the appropriateness of something, don't hesitate to message me directly and ask. If I see something go up that I deem inappropriate, I'll chat with you about and we'll figure out a solution. I don't have any intention of removing something without warning unless it's a blatant trolling situation. Once again, thanks for your understanding :)

And of course, I just want to point out the obvious, which is that this request pertains only to posts made here at the GOOL asylum, not to anyone's private journal. That's none of my bidniss. ;)

Please feel free to comment or message me with any concerns or questions. Thank you!!!

Oh! For the record, you can post any pictures of me you want. Especially the Soap Fairy ones! *bounce flit*

Things I learned at Gays of Our Lives:

1-
aldiara, lilithilien, and sdk are the most lovely, amazing, kind, beautiful people EVAR. Thank you, ladies, not only for helping to organize this event, but for making every Eskimo feel like family (whether they could be in NY or not). So much love, you guys.

2-
The Eskimo Whores are the sparkliest, sweetest, funniest, and most awesome group of people I've ever been lucky enough to meet. I love you guys! Special love to my roomie, wing-wrangler, and overall partner at the event, tree1970.

3-
I think it was Shelly who, when describing the Trio's visit to Fictional Essen, dubbed Igor as "a ball of adorkable energy" or something along those lines. YOU GUYS, SHE'S SO RIGHT! My first chat with the boy, I don't believe he stopped bouncing (like, literally bouncing) for 10 minutes. Then there was the practicing of his New York accent (which was shockingly good), and the saying of FUCK quite loudly over and over (just for fun), and the accusing me of doping because I was smoking a clove... the list goes on and on. He also happens to be incredibly sweet and gracious and infinitely patient with the endless pictures and autographs, and his English is awesome for someone who rarely speaks it. And because I am shallow, I have to add that he is beeeeeoooooteeeeful.

4-
Oh, Dennis. Dennis, Dennis, Dennis. Dennis is the sweetest person alive. Hands-down. Yes, he is geeeeeorrrrjussss, like, OMG. He is also pure heart, and frankly, he'll be taking mine with him back to Cologne. I don't even have the words to describe how completely lovely he is. Oh, did I mention that I noserubbed him? 'Cause I did, and it was GLORIOUS.

5-
Everyone else was awesome as well, and I managed to get at least a picture, if not have a conversation, with each of them. This event was absolute magic, and I am sooooooooooooo glad I decided to risk bankruptcy to make it there. To say it was worth every penny is an understatement. This was quite simply one of the best weekends of my life.

6-
Woobie!Melanie is woobie. I didn't really cry when saying goodbye to everyone. Then my plane started to taxi away from the terminal at LaGuardia and it suddenly hit me that it was over, and I spent half the flight trying not to look like a crazy person as I randomly started sniffling and leaking from the eyes. I'm still wibbly.

Ok, I'll have a lot more details in some sort of coherent order later (as, I'm sure, will everyone else). Not to mention OODLES of pictures (mostly taken by Tree). Thanks again, EVERYONE, for making this weekend so indescribably wonderful.

*noserubs*

Hi folks!

Thought it only right we do a final hello from GOOL!  I know, I know - we didn't tell you anything about the party last night but it was a party so there was drinking, dancing and sore throats from trying to shout over the music (oh, what - sitting directly in front of the speakers is a bad idea? hmmm....okay I'll accept that!).  And hey...we've seen the video of the guys on EKP - you can see what it's like for yourself!

So today was the goodbye brunch.  Breakfast it's self was....the most food many of us have eaten since we arrived.  (seriously, the GooL diet is the best!)  There were some final fund raising and giving of gifts to the boys (the Eskimo hordes love their actors!) and goodbyes.  

As any who watched the most recent EKP vid will know there was some filming that a few of us got to mill about in the background of and yes that was FANTASTIC.  Of course when the time comes for you to see an episode there will be much chatter about it but we don't have details - we heard 'Igor' and "male function' and just complied.  And as you can imagine, it ended in a big woobie pile of goodbyes.

But darlings I won't talk about that in any detail because every one's story is different and it's up to them if they want to share it with you, today was a big squeey sob fest and fantastic!  

So yes - Euro Eskimo 2011 just don't book your flights yet!

And as always - Eskimos Rock!!!

So it's one day into the GooL experience and I've already giggled so much mu throat is starting to hurt.  But here's the news so far...

Wildepet has suffered terribly at the injustice of the airplane community and anything that involves passing from one country to another.  Cancelled flights, bad chairs and problematic ESTAs... (seriously USA - shall we discuss the ESTA?!!!!)  And we shall mention nothing of the grumpy man who sat beside me and would not swap with her! *grrr* 

My addiction to writing knows no limits - even being trapped in a plane, 38,000 feet above the ground with no internet and a grumpy guy in the chair beside me will not stop me from writing fanfic.  And come 4am I get really chirpy...I even annoyed myself!

We met Lil and Aldi who yes, yes they are surrounded by a cloud of brilliant sparkles!  People stop in the street to comment on it! Shelly has been sparkly by proxy with all the super work on the NHLB party - yes, we all sat in our fancy New York hotel room, forgot to think about what to wear tonight and felt SAD that we were not getting to enjoy the online party.  
We immediately SLAPPED ourselves of course (frankly a few people got over enthusiastic with the slapping, naming no names  *cough* AmyriadfthINGs *cough*)

We met Inga who was oddly quiet at first - of course a few cups of coffee later and she's the bouncy, fabulous person who we all know and love.  She has made us all cry with her tale of woe, missing Ana and the sheer, confusion that is the JFK AirTrain (again WTF).

And can you believe it - RedCouchAddict has RL friends!  I don't know what these are but they intruige me.  She is also adorable and travel size!!!  Yers, this is the vidding genius you can put in your pocket and take with you everywhere (and you want to don't you!).

So now we are refreshing the YT video with nervousness - wondering if people think we are crazy and when exactly the men are coming to take us to the Home for Insane Eskimos. (oh dear, I mentioned men...excuse us for a while)

*mwah*
The real squees will follow soon :)

*steals from Melanie's nametags*

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for having fallen off the edge of the world for the past week or so, I've been vacationing (in theory) in Boston and madly dashing about all over the place and I'm leaving for New York TOMORROW AND TO SAY THAT I AM NOT READY IS A VAST UNDERSTATEMENT.

Anyhoodle. See you all at Swift Bar tomorrow, can't wait!!!

Aaaaaand the real reason for this post is I wanted to say everyone going to the event should (re)watch this clip before Friday:



No reason. Just because :D

SEE YOU SOON, LOVE YOU ALL, OMG IT'S MADNESS!

PS: Appropriate icon is appropriate, lol *cuddles poor Igor*

The only thing getting me through this crazy week is the thought of meeting all of you this weekend!!! And hopefully we'll see a lot of you at the Thursday meet-up at the Swift Bar, 34 E. 4th Street.

It's scheduled for 7ish, but Aldi and I might be a wee bit late - we have to run by the venue for the Friday event and make sure the video equipment works. But we'll be there just as soon as we possibly can. And there are sure to be other Eskimos there. Head in and rub noses and get the party started!

I am WAY too pleased with myself about this...



I'll provide a black Sharpie or two so everyone can write their YT/IJ/username (or real name, if you want) on them yourself. I made 5 sheets of each, with 8 tags per sheet (so 40 of each). Don't worry, no one's obligated to wear them. As far as I'm concerned, they're worth every penny for the amuse-Melanie value alone. ;D

OMG 3 DAYS CAN'TWAITCAN'TWAITCAN'TWAIT

love, Melanie

Ok, I amuse myself way too much sometimes... this is my calendar at work:

 

All I need is a pink highlighter to make myself giggle.

For anyone who hasn't already seen it:



All are welcome!

One of the Eskimos has put together an incredible raffle for us, just to raise money to give the guys something special when they get to NYC. I LOVE OUR PEOPLE!

We had a decent first day, but we've got to sell more -- and there's no good reason why we can't! These prizes are fantastic! There's a Gay Day in NYC, which looks like tons of fun for locals; if you're not in NYC, then just make a note in your comment, and you'll be in the draw for online gift certificates at some awesome stores, including SockDreams (where I want to buy the entire store) and a $200 gift cert from Fredflare.com!!!

BUY A TICKET! MAKE THE GUYS HAPPY! WIN COOL STUFF!

I did a little research after a conversation thread mentioning the perceived need for name tags, and found a web site where I can design custom "Hello, my name is" name tag stickers. YAY! I'm planning to get them made up before jetting off to New York (OMG A WEEK *FLAIL*), but before I do I'd like to hear the opinion of the Eskimo Whores!

I'm thinking of doing half and half:

"OH HAI! My name is"

and

"HELLO THAR! My name is"

What do you think? Any revisions? Any other ideas? I can change the color and was thinking of either pink or purple, which do you like? And how many should I have made of each?

*BOUNCEBOUNCEBOUNCE*Way too excited about this*BOUNCEBOUNCEBOUNCE*

I just watched this video and it really put me in the mood for New York...



Anybody else got any vids that offer a good taste of the Big Orange?

Besides the obvious (BOYS).

I would love to do the romantic movie trip up to the top of the Empire State Building.

Also? A few blocks from my hotel there's something called "The Museum of Sex." o_0

I'm thinking if anyone would like to coordinate a bit of sightseeing either before or after the main events, this would be a good place to do so. Safety (and more fun) in numbers!

I'll leave this post open to the public unless requested otherwise.

So! What do you want to see?

Hey all!

I'm going to make this comm Eskimos Only from now on, so any new members will need to go through me to have permission to join the club. This is so that we can feel reasonably safe putting up hotel and contact information without having to worry about stalkers/ wankers/ jealous Chrolli fans knowing our every move and detail.

If you have any objections to this, I'm willing to hear them and come up with a possible solution. I'd also STRONGLY encourage you to change any post containing the aforementioned hotel and contact information (as well as details about meet-ups) to MEMBERS ONLY. Again, this is purely for the safety of our members, not because we're snooty, unfriendly bitches. *whistles innocently*

Thanks for joining the madness, folks!

love, Melanie
Your Friendly Moderator

First off, AWZ fandom totally rocks -- thanks to geekchick1013 for taking initiative and setting up this community!

Second, if you're coming into town early, please join us for the

SPARKLERRIFIC EKP MEET-UP OF AWESOMESAUCE!!!!!

Where? The Swift Bar, 34 E. 4th St.
When? Thursday, March 25 (omg 3 weeks from today!!)
What time? 7-ish on (depending on trains and planes and automobiles)
Why? To rub noses with the Eskimo whores, why else?

We seriously cannot wait to meet you all -- it's going to be complete love overload! Prepare to be thoroughly groped. (We're not joking.)

Also, just because several people have asked, this is an AWZ/EKP only event. Not to be exclusive but... okay, we are being exclusive, but this is the time when we want to celebrate our own glittery fandom. The official GOOL event begins the next day, and we'll be mixing and mingling with all the other fandoms then, but this meet-up's for us to bask in DeRo (and MaJe and Betja and Anningo and Olars) sparkle. There's a separate event planned for the Chrolli crowd, there are discussions about it at the GoDT message board and more info will go out in your registration packets this weekend. (Of course you're welcome if you like both DeRo and the other couples. Just we don't think you'd have much fun if you showed up and said, "Who are these DeRo people?")

OMG JUST THREE MORE WEEKS!!!

Greetings, Eskimo Hordes!

I created this community so that we'd have somewhere to go for planning purposes for the upcoming trip to (!!!) New York City (!!!). Hope this proves to be a useful resource for you.

If this works out as I'm hoping, there might be some more specific who-what-when-where info on this comm. The comm is currently open to anyone who wants to join, but if we start getting too personal I'll happily make it members-only.

I'd also love this to be a place to post our thoughts/experiences/SQUEES/pictures/videos/frustrations about fitting Igor into luggage/desperate attempts to quit smoking, after the event.

Happy posting!

*noserubs*

love, Melanie