Cheshyr said
Hey guys!

Yeah, I'm sorry I crapped out on the meetups. I completely forgot that we had made tentative times to meet up at the stage. Honestly, I think it fell out of my brain as soon as I got there and walked up and down those hills a few times. Those fuckin' rocks were *killers! Man, Juggalos are like fuckin' billy goats! There were ninjas twice my size hiking up and down the place while I'm having to take momentary breaks! Fuck that JCW hill!

I tried several times popping in to Scottie's RV site thinking everyone would be there but there never was. Well, until I finally found Scottie there late on the second afternoon. I had to wait quietly as he was being talked up by another ninja for like 10min. before I could even introduce myself. Of course he was busy with somethin' 'er other so after he had politely invited me into the a/c of the RV, I excused myself so he could get to it.

I ran into him again at the wet t-shirt contest (rather, he saw me in the shirt) but again, after he said hello he was back on the phone, heh.

It was after that that you guys yelled me out of the crowd.

I gotta say I still get a laugh out of how that went down, "Who are you?" "My name's..." "Yeah, yeah but [five people simultaneously saying] WHO *ARE* YOU?!"

LOL

It was great to meet you all and chill for a bit (in the sun). Actually, it was the first time I've ever met people IRL that I had only ever spoken to online! Thanks for your compliment entrapped, and as predicted... your kid still lives, ha ha. And thanks to everyone for their hospitality despite my brief appearance. Although I did see entrapped and son again at the ICP seminar... where I got hit in the chest with an unpeeled tangerine, a full (but open) Gatorade bottle to the chest and a turkey leg to the back of the neck. Whoever was in control of the music that had the bright idea of playing Bang!Pow!Boom! when there was ammunition all over the place gets a 'smh'...

Again, I'm sorry for seemingly flaking out on you guys but I was there by myself and didn't have anyone to remind me of shit. It was sensory overload. If I wasn't ragged from the hills with the damn rocks, I was wandering around trying to soak it all in. Serious subconscious auto-pilot. But I wore my shirt proudly hoping to run into other people. And I *did have one other ninja notice my shirt in the crowd and asked who I was on the forums. He said he was mostly a lurker but knew the name and also had tried to find people at Scottie's RV.

If it weren't for my damn batteries, I would have shot a lot more video or at the least had the thought that maybe I should have taken some damn pictures of my own when I ran into you guys.

Now that I've finally got a Gathering under my belt, next year I'll be able to tune in a little bit better and know where my feet should be taking me. But more than anything, again, despite only just running into you guys, it was a really important part of my experience of being at The Gathering and I really thank you all for being so cool.

In the future, I'll try to post a report of my own on my adventures but probably sooner I'll post links to my videos (albeit kinda crappy ones).

MMFWCL! Whoop Whoop!

ps @verytwiztedraven I remember that you did manage to snap a pick of me and I'm sure I looked like burnt shit at the time so... uh... just hold on to that for later extortion purposes, heh ;)

pps @scottied THANK YOU! Next to my Lotus amulet, my Faygoluvers shirt is my favorite bit of schwag I took home with me! You were always busy but you still said "Hey". If I didn't already know that you must love what you're doing while you're there, I'd say you need to clock out before you get to the Gathering next time, heh.

'~'=

@cheshyr, welcome to my world homie!  lol.  I truly do wish I had more time to hang out with everyone!  I hope your brief interaction with me didn't rub you the wrong way.  I appreciate what you (and everyone here) bring to our little FLH community and hope you know that!  I do need to find some gaps in the Gathering timeline to just kick it and be in Juggalo mode instead of work mode, but every time I look at it, there's something else I think needs to be covered.  I'm a workhorse, what can I say?  

I'm glad you got a Gathering under your belt and hope you enjoyed it despite the shitty rock hills and "Fuck the front/back" fights at the seminar.  Hopefully you know what to expect next year so you can prepare for any potential bones.  

I absolutely LOVE what I do at the Gathering!  The fact that we get to bring any little bit of the GOTJ home to those less fortunate ninjas makes it all worth it.  I've been telling everyone who asks that the most stressful week of the year for me is the week AFTER the gathering where I try to knock out all the pics, videos, and my review (which i have mostly outlined ATM). 

Speaking of which, @verytwiztidraven: have you started yours yet?

patjoyce said
Those FLH jerseys are cool as hell. Color me jealous.

 

@scottied, you do an unbelievable amount of shit at the Gathering, more than I could ever accomplish. It is appreciated by all of us at home and the reviews you write are always the shit. Doesn't seem like you ever really have a chance to just kick back and enjoy yourself. I'm sure you do, but the fact that you work so hard to hook others up at home and who are there is just the shit dude. Thank you. Looking forward to the review.

 

And for anyone who got the bone and missed out this year, my #1 fan @verytwiztidraven writes the best Gathering reviews I've ever read. Even a few years after Hog Rock you can read her reviews and it's like being back there again, hard to achieve. We don't necessarily like each other, so the fact that I'm saying this should tell you all something. If you want to know what the Gathering was really like from a fans perspective, read her shit. However, it will take you about an hour or so and if you don't like to read, you're fucked.

 

I never wrote a Gathering review, by the time I would be recovered enough to actually do so I would honestly forget a lot of shit, and I just don't like to write articles about anything, I'd rather read them than write my own. So for those who take the time, thank you. And the t-shirts were a great idea, hope you do it again next year.

I think this might be the nicest thing @patjoyce has ever said to anyone...EVER.  lol.  Thank you though man. That means a lot!  I do enjoy every bit of what I do at the Gathering, even if it's sitting through a JCW seminar which I have no interest in just to make sure it gets out to everyone who might still like fake fighting...

I couldn't agree more about @verytwiztidraven's Gathering reviews.  She really makes you feel like you're there, and I'm anxious to read what it was like from her perspective.  For what it's worth, I do my review more for myself so I can look at it 10 years down the road and still relive everything down to the minor details.  If anyone else gets a kick out of it, then that's even better!  The Gathering review, while tedious, is probably the most selfish thing I do concerning the event. lol.

I'd actually like to see a Gathering review from the eyes of PatJoyce. It would be humorous if nothing else!

I think the shirts should be done every year. Maybe we can base next year's design off of meeting at the strawberry and go from there.  We'll see if it's even at Legend Valley though and plan accordingly.  I came out of pocket about $300 between designs and having them printed up, so next year, I'll probably have to have them pre-ordered.  I can't do that every year, but wanted to hook you all up for showing all the support for FLH through the years.

@one_3rd , I STILL have yours if you want to hit me up via PM.

That's it! Back to the review I go!

Sean Law said
from wanting to go every year, to not wanting to go, to being jealous, and now wanting to go again. lol.

I used say it every year, but it would be amazing, not just for the experience, but just to meet some of these guys, and give @ScottieD and @Punkrockjuggalo a major dap for all they do for us.

@sean-law, I go through that cycle of emotions every year!  I'm like "Do I really want to spend my vacation time going to something I've been to 14 other times?" Then I go, have the time of my life, and never, ever regret it!

I want to meet @punkrockjuggalo myself to thank him for all the work he's put in over the past year or so on FLH, and the time he's put into being awesome on the forums before that!  PRJ: you WILL make it next year!

Well isn't it just one giant fucking love fest in here?