Thoughts from a statistically significant place.

I tried really hard to think of somewhere that was I'd consider my favourite spot. Apart from my bedroom (cause it's where all my stuff is), nothing really came to mind. And I decided that I was taking the wrong approach. I was looking for somewhere meaningful and significant and metaphorically resonant, when what I really needed to look for was where I spend a significant amount of my quality time. Which led me to this place:

 

Somewhat accidentally, the collaborative study room on the ground floor of the library at uni is where a large proportion of my socialising takes place. A close second to its welcoming couches is the adjoining cafe:

Which subsequently led me to the conclusion that since starting uni my social life has consisted of hanging out with a rotating group of five to seven oddballs in either a study room or a coffee shop. In short, it has all the window-dressing of a (very boring) sitcom.

I find it fascinating how groups end up congregating around 'spots' - all through high school, for example, we hung out under the same fixed umbrella in the same courtyard. It seems that this might be a case of Truth in Television. And the geography of those places comes to shape the way your group interacts, what pastimes you bring there, what you talk about and how you talk about it.

Inevitably, you end up defining your group by where they hang out, like the friends in Friends and their coffee shop, or the community in Community in their study room. And it makes me worry about what's going to happen to my group of friends once we don't have some central, constant place - if not to call our own, then at least to temporarily stake claim to over a lunch hour. Where will we meet? Will we find another table, another sofa? Or will we drift apart if we don't have anything physical to force us together?

And what happens to the places? Will they grow new groups to replace us? Is there another group of mates hanging out in our courtyard now, under our umbrella? Will they be anything like us? Will they make the same jokes, about the ragged looking bushes and the stack of apple stickers on the umbrella pole as we did, and will they wonder if anyone was there to make jokes before them? Do they define themselves by that dozen-odd square metres of space like we did?

Because that's the thing about these spots. They seem private and fixed and intimately yours when you're in them, but when you're gone, they just go back to being furniture. I guess ultimately, if I had to come up with a moral for this TfP, it'd be something like this: Places by themselves are meaningless. It's the people in them that make them interesting.

Thoughts From Places: My Little Spot

I am a person who, these days, prefers to stay in her little room instead of randomly venturing outside, making my choice for a favorite place rather limited. I’m pretty sure my actual favorite place is my bed, but while I could write an ode for it, I don’t think…yeah no. So instead, you are getting what is likely my second favorite place. Or third. Or fourth. I don’t usually rate them.

In Helsinki there is a large blindingly white building, raised on a podium of grey, stony steps, looming over the Senate Square. It is The Helsinki Cathedral, designed by Carl Ludwig Engel, completed towards the end of 1800‘s. And on its steps, there is a spot I always choose to sit on, just off to the side, on the other side of the railing, out of people’s way, where I can look down upon the Senate Square without being disturbed by others.

It is a high place where the cooling wind caresses me no matter how hot the weather seems to be. There I could sit through the whole day, enjoying beautiful architecture, and watching tourists and the birds that are all too comfortable with humans by now. Actually, I’ve done that; I’ve spent a day there a couple of times, silently looking at things and drawing. And earning some sunburns since there is no shadowy shelter where I choose to sit. But I find it entertaining and calming to watch the people from the safety of my little spot.

the cathedral as shot from my spot

I can’t help but to be curious about tourists. A lot of them are elderly. What ever the age and nationality, I like watching them as they climb up the steep stairs, huffing as they go, maybe giving me a glance and a quick smile, as if to say, “Man, this climb“ when they grab the railing by me and use their arm to help them up. Then, on the top, they turn victoriously to marvel at the view over the statue of Czar Alexander II of Russia, and the old buildings surrounding the square. They take their photographs, maybe sit a spell, then, eventually, they have to climb down. Something I see all of them slightly dread doing as they realize how high they are and how steep the way down is. But when they are finally standing on the street again, there is another, perhaps more wistful, victorious glance up at the steps. Usually there are more photos too. This is a ritual most seem to do there. Surely it could work as a metaphor for life itself, but I don’t think I will go there.

Then there are the people who want to sit on the steps for longer than few minutes and pick their place in a knowing manner. They the spot, they open their books, dig their lunches out of their bags, or enjoy the sun, pointing their noses slightly upward, seeking the heat. Often these people are Finnish, perhaps students of the university located nearby. I can’t help but to wish I was studying at that university, just to be able to venture over to the steps to read more often than a couple of times a year. Yet again, maybe I would grow bored of doing that, you can become numb to almost everything after all.

As I now think about observing these people, I am reminded of a time when I was younger. I used to imagine what it would be like to be someone else, to a point where I vividly imagined what that someone was seeing at that moment. Then I would wonder what really made me me. And as my 9-year-old brain tried to grasp this, I started to feel like nothing chained me to my body anymore, and I’d move my foot, just to make sure, I was still me. With the twitch of a foot, I was back. Though I don’t feel like I’m gently floating away anymore, the tendency to wonder what it would be like to be someone else never quite went away. When I look at those tourists, and those people who carefully pick their place on the steps of the Helsinki Cathedral, I wonder what it would be like to be them. And sometimes, I find people, who make me wish I was them. Yet often I just silently sit there, at my spot, drawing, and hope that someone notices.

"I love being in cities with lots of other people because I’m reminded that there are billions of people like me and we are each stuck inside of our minds feverishly trying to crawl out to make connections with other people." - John Green

ConBravo 2012

So I went to ConBravo this year!

ConBravo is a small convention held at the Holiday Inn in Burlington, I went for the first time last year, and had a pretty awesome time. So this year when I heard it was happening again and more people from Channel Awesome were going to be there I just had to go back.

What is Channel Awesome you say? Well check out That Guy With the Glasses and immerse yourself in the nerdy awesome that is Internet Reviewing. Then get back to me!

This year, The Nostalgia Critic, The Nostalgia Chick, Linkara, Spoony, Paw, Maven of the Eventide, The Angry Video Game Nerd and Doctor Holocaust were on the list of special guests. Having many of times told my old roommate that I needed to hug all of them, this seemed like the opportune time to get that started, in the least creepy way possible.

My kinda creepy photos taken over people's heads.

So the adventure started at 6:30am on Saturday morning, where I made my way to Chelsey's House carrying my life in a suitcase. We hopped in the rented car, stopped off at Tim Hortons and got coffee, tea, ice caps, everything we would need to make it through the first half of our day. We drove to the Con, signed in and got into our very first line. The Linkara and Spoony signing.

After that we went to a very useful panel on "Creating an Online Persona" followed by The Channel Awesome Q&A.

Also, I found Batman, errr well maybe it's Abed dressed up as Batman. When you think of it, it is kind of ridiculous because now you can dress up as someone who is dressing up as someone else. Stop and think about that for a bit.

BATMAN

The last panel we made it into was hosted by The Nostalgia Chick on "Being a Girl on the Internet" This panel was both interesting and important because it focused on how to deal with idiots online. Most of my income comes from video production and blog posts, and given the recent events, which we all discussed on in our facebook group this seemed like an interesting topic to hear from first hand from those who have had bad experiences. The Nostalgia Chick (aka Lindsey) managed to be really funny, but really informative on the subject. Out of all of the panels I went to, this one was the most open and felt more like a dialogue between the Panel Runners and the Audience. I really wish I had managed to record it, but the sound wasn't that great.

After that, we went to the Dance for a bit, got kind of bored and headed off to the Bad Fanfiction Readings. I'm hoping to channel some of that into the wonderful story that we are all writing. The most memorable story we listened to was about a Gothic Vampire Girl who went to Hogwarts, and goes on a date with Draco Malfoy to see a Good Charlotte Concert. Draco then drives them in his flying car to the Forbidden Forest where they have sex only to be caught by Dumbledore.

Instant classic.

Sunday was a little less rushed. We got in line for the Channel Awesome Signing and after waiting for 2 hours we didn't get in. Luckily, the one Reviewer that we really wanted to meet, tweeted that he felt really bad that not everyone could make it into the signing and that if you came up to him he would sign "ALL THE THINGS". We managed to catch him when we were leaving and got his signature in our books.

Also, Linkara was walking around talking to fans and taking pictures. So this happened:

It's not really the best picture of me. But it's very clear that I'm very happy.

You also can't really talk about Conventions without talking about the shopping aspect. I bought myself a PS2! Which I am SUPER EXCITED ABOUT! But the best part of my hall was a replica of the Elder Wand. I really need to start working on a wands display. I have two of them now. The Elder Wand and Voldemort's Bone Wand.

All in all, I had a really awesome time. It's great when you can meet the people who inspire you and it's great to meet new people who can inspire you further:

I mean seriously guys, check this guy out on youtube. I kind of fell in love with him (as creepy as that sounds).

DFTBA!