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VicariousE
Wanted to be a simple man of the Earth, enjoying art and literature, the bounty of the Earth. Instead, I have to fend against governments and principalities, global conspiracies and bad social engineering, ree, my autism

Age 51, Male/Penis

dillgent tryhard

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homeless/NE USA

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Pico Day, in Depth, Saturday, April 27th 2013

Posted by VicariousE - May 17th, 2013


Discovery, is the ultimate high, and that's a big part of any good story.

April 1st: Get invited. Really?
April 16th: Brother and Sister arrive to 'liquidate' the family farm, on 2 days notice. They freak, and start wasting money and scrapping real antiques in the mad rush. As the youngest kid (40 y/o), my boots-on-the-ground advice is dismissed.
April 22nd: Inadvertently infected a bad tooth by over brushing my teeth. Not realizing it, I let the infection get out of hand, to the point where I couldn't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time.
April 25th: Sister told me I could not use the truck to go to Pico Day, which was well North of Philly, and perfectly safe to commute to on a Saturday.
April 27th: After my sister missed the turn to the train station, I barely made it onto the Keystone Express to Philly. If I had more than 2 hours of sleep, I would've gotten more familiar with the guest list... and route to the station(s). I managed to find locals and SEPTA employees, to properly direct me to the proper trains... websites can be so imprecise :\ "Glenside! Glenside next stop." It was gorgeous out, and Glenside was not unlike Princeton or any other American, upper-middle class town.

After I grudgingly accepted that the sun was indeed east of me, I turned around on Glenside Avenue and headed West, looking at street signs, on a stunningly bright comfortable day. "Harrison, yeah... Lismore, yes!!", then I saw the Google Street View image of NG HQ. I relaxed even more, crossed over and lurked the facade, enjoying my smoke. This was the place I was promised.

I saw a man with his back turned to me, sitting on a red couch, in a small garage. I ceased worrying and thinking, to listen to the modestly volumed music... sure as shit sounded like something I heard in the Audio Portal alright. Noddingly, I turned around, pitched my smoke into a storm drain, and tried the front door. The address for Newgrounds was locked. Through the glass door, I saw a pebble covered square room, with a split staircase going up.

I tried the next door down, which was in the same building, but under a different number. Also locked, but on the other side, I saw fresh stocks of toilet paper, printing paper and other assorted supplies.. not the hallmark of an abandoned building. I put my knapsack and satchel of gifts on an empty table.

There were more people in the largest room, to the right of the mini-garage. I smiled and nodded my way past the couch guy, and a few others on my way into the party theater. There were a string of unlit yellow construction lamps hung from the ceilings perimeter, the long line of shades on the right were closed, and looked like they always were. The second floor was supported by some impressively close steel beams. Once I made out who Tom was, the atmosphere mellowed, this was the guy who sent for me.

"Happy birthday Tom, thanks for inviting me." He squinted at my dimly lit, self-made name badge, which I made the night before, in the last 5 minutes before the libraries computers (and printers) would be shut down for the night. Luckily, my bee-keeping librarian friend was able to navigate the slip-shot networking just in time. 50 cents a page for color, 10 cents for b/w.... I handed over my tribute to the Mystery Boxes, and set aside my other presents.

After Tom introduced me to the artist I passed on the couch (Sherbalex), he invited us up to the office level. We took the stairs nearest to the make-shift apartment and garage. Tom lovingly toted over a Tank award prototype, to the older craftsman at work. The pleasant fellow remembered my name 10 hours later, right before I took off for the last train out.

Tom crossed his arms, "So, what do you think of the Under Judgement pod, under the Top 5? Do you use it, look at it?"

I was kinda ambivalent about it, since I usually go to right to the classic Portal, to nail down the UJ stuff... "Does that start at the bottom of the list, the entries almost out of Judgement?" It does, sorta. That pod lists the oldest entries still Under Judgement, the one that need voting on the most.

This was the moment. I had so much input to give, questions to ask, and statements to be made... which I did as tastefully and promptly as possible. Would've been the perfect time to get a picture of me alongside "The Creator".

Once we took the other set of stairs back down to the party room, I opened Tom's birthday present before of him: a bag of Toll-House chocolate chip cookies, made the night before. They had been slightly over-cooked and gummy, the worst batch in a damn long time :| Tom looked down into the bag, much like someone would look at a small pet or child, urinating between his legs. I apologetically closed the bag up and put it on the side table, near the coffee.... he couldn't think I was trying to poison him, could he? I never got banned, or took offense at any admin before :P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While there, I met many an amazing people. Tystarr, JakBaronKing, Emily-Youcis, Sherbalex, Louis (who tried to give me a hug, with my stupid ball-cap on), Stamper, Tim, Wade, Evark... and many, many more. I was especially impressed with the young game developers, barely out of their clouts. How could I not stare at these makers-of-games? I played Pong, Dragon's Lair, Pac-Man, all when they came out.

I was especially taken by Tim, the all-in-one-tool of Newgrounds. Someone who can cook frozen burgers, admin the web-stream on Chat, and attend to other matters, all in the course of an evening, says a lot. It says love. Love motivates exceptional action.

Krinkels was also a shockingly impressive fellow. The guy who invented (his words, not mine) grey murder dolls, seemed a self-made man of incredible depth. It's not often you meet a man who has such a pair of rocks at the center of his being. This man had rules in his life, a staunch perception of center, that few people exhibit.... Aspirational.

Emily was another extremely special individual, of the sort I previously described. Though she may speak in ghetto-anecdotal tones, her mind is exceptionally brilliant and sharp, poetic in the most sublime. I would give 10 years of my life, to experience her version of clarity. She's quite short and sexy too :3 To me, the sexiest thing on a woman, is her mind.

Mike I recognized from my research (thanks Luis!!), and was just as brilliant as I expected. I asked about Swivel and smiled my butt off. Codec algorithms. Man I woulda asked him about that, but my mind was double-digit hours spent O__O. I've run into enough techs (with the certs under their belts) to know when I've met a genius. Mike seemed the sort who could dirt bike like a hillbilly one minute, and solve a exception error the next.

Luis Castanon is a mystery unto himself. He is an artist of emotion, and a traveler of societies great and small. Social, but aloof. Friendly, but distant. The journey defines this man, the destination, an oyster to consume. I haven't met many traveling men... most were hustlers, convicts. Luis is a jet-setter in the old, 20th century vein: urbane, poised, seasoned. Underneath it all, lies the child adventurer, who looks towards the next horizon.

Tom Fulp seems a very centered person, but so affable, you might overlook his strong gift of.... just listening. George Washington's secret was, what he didn't understand, he learned. Tom's still got a bit to learn, but his accomplishments since the 2007 peak of NG, have been epic. He is the pinnacle of "indie", the height of integrity and a fellow I'm very, very proud of... even if he is younger than me... Actually, almost all the ppl there were younger than me :\

While trying to get some face time at the Chat terminal, I backed up into a woman roughly my own, short height. I apologized, saying 'we short folk must look out for one another' (or some such). Not long after I made my way home, I found out who this exceptional artist was!

I was kinda disappoint at the fact that many Chatters comments were ignored while this Pico Day thing was going on. The webcam shoulda been another 2 feet back :|

I never caught the guy's real name, but Tystarr was the light of the party. I;m pissed I didn't meet the likes of Timmy, the dude behind 'Stealing the Diamond', or the guy who makes beacon a meal and art to cry for. But the brief company of Rig, MindChamber and Stamper, will live in my memories for the rest of my life.

Stamper was an especially warm, and playful person. He's the one person, I'd would've liked to have known better, and I forgive you for scaring the fudge out of me, while on the roof of NG HQ, begging for a lighter in the darkness :| Did Sabsy share any of those flat, sticky cookies with you, or were they re-gifted? Coffee makes any fat n' sugar go down a treat :)

I messed up RicePirate's real name upon first meeting, but the guy is every bit the man I thought he was, and more. It takes a special sort, to embrace the wilderness (he came from NYC, I believe) for the less traveled portions of the world, when his actual career, meant going back to the urban environs of his youth. He knows what's hot and works diligently at it. He also knows what his talents and time are worth, and that's certainly a respectable quality.

A contingent of Canadians came, well after the second round of meat servings were made available. There were a lot of fashionably late attendees... which did me no good, considering the depleted state I was in.

I had 3 full cups of "Booty Juice" and a glass-kept beer or two. I cringed when tHiS got played O__O Thank Gob Tom was checking on Tim's shredded pork... last years Pico Day stream was definitely a PG-13 matter. I fucking applauded the shit of Emily's music video!!1 You get over a certain age, real art is evident :)

Although I glared at my watch for the last trains departure, the dark hours were magical with surreal communion. I had packed a light jacket, but it was unnecessary... I had even thought, a young woman would be in need of such a thing. Vidgamedude was an especially active participant in the days festivities, and suggested, he might crash at Stampers, despite the fact Stamper was thoroughly fagged out, at home, allegedly passed out.

The last train out of Glenside was less than 10 minutes away. Amazingly, Tom was still around and conversing. I said all my goodbyes, and bolted back the way I came :\ Being without a vehicle and in a strange urban environment, compelled me to run, when I should've stayed and been myself.

Luckily, 3 Newgrounders of undeniable descendantcy, guided me to the hotel I had reserved by debit-card, few days before. Had it not been for these fellows, I would've taken a different, incorrect path to the place of refuge, in a strange but civil, joyous city. On the train out, I asked them if they had gotten any of the first run of NG stickers... I had two to give them, and I did, out of love and envy for their relationship. And the journey.

We had a very pleasant trek to the Best Western. Being the unattached elder, I would've happily laid down my life to protect these kids. My 9 LED bulbed flashlight turned out to be handy, as the girl in our foursome had no shoes :o It was still an urban, rubbish strewn landscape, despite the municipal upkeep. I did everything in my power to make the conversation wistful and joyous. Regardless of their guidance, the journey with them, was as if we were righteous, holy pilgrims on the homeward bound, basking in what was. Their names are a mystery to me now (I'm such a turd for names), but I revered them as comrades of the highest caliber. Thank you all.

"As long as the card goes through, I don't care about much else." I have instinctively learned to ask questions (or perform actions) that reveal intent. It's my way of coping with undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome :p The room had several burn marks and several sprinkler heads. Luckily, the double occupancy, smoking optional room, was the same price as a single non-smoking room (about 100$). I had hoped to shelter someone... even a single female attendee, maybe? The shower was great, but the full bodied cigars from a certain bearded individual, as well as a few unwrapped stogies from Luis, stayed in my damaged sinuses till early Monday morning :)

I set the alarm clock's time, but not it's ringing function... perhaps a subconscious action to gain restorative sleep. Had to get up several times, to swab my tooth infection with q-tips doused with rubbing alcohol, simply to numb the pain. Under normal circumstances, it would've killed the infection within hours, but I had let it go too far and too deep :\ The previous weeks unsettling chaos and meddling, had ruined me utterly.

After turning in my room card, I asked for the number of a cab company they deal with (everyone likes kickbacks, don't they?). While waiting outside, I ran into Vidgamedude, who had his own odyssey to the hotel last night. I was one stop late, for getting to last train out of Pennsylvania, thanks to my oversleeping by half an hour.... The cab driver was an old wizened sort, and I did my best to match his conversation, despite my dry and tired throat. Older folk were meant to be courted and learned from. But most of his speeches were of his professional, livery life.

My previous adventure at the 30th Street Station, prepared me for the acquisition of the proper train birth. The man ahead me confirmed my departure route, "I'm going on a two week vacation to 'The City'". His virtual steam-trunk would be ample storage for his stay in New York City.

After finding a seat and stowing my lightened gear, I noticed another young threesome sitting across from me. It got my mind to thinking. How could I express the love I have for Newgrounds, in one sentence, to a bunch of young strangers, ogling their smartphones and trading gossip? If I had a business card of the websites address, my explanation would be simplified to the point of a sure sale.

For that moment, the joy of Newgrounds was all my own to relish.

Despite all the shortcomings, my attendance was a red-letter date in my so-called life. Over 12 years of membership, and I finally met the man (men) behind the curtain :) How often can you say something like that?

Sixty (60) crappy Pico Day Pictures.
Luis' Party page of the event (plus or minus a few attendees).
Internal Situation Report: The Viability of Newgrounds

Oh, and I got really drunk while writing all the 'character descriptions'... just thought you'd like to know.

June 16th, 2013 - Check out this sweet gif I got for Father's Day! Not really a dad IRL, but I'm proud to be one here lol!

Pico Day, in Depth, Saturday, April 27th 2013


Comments

im sorry

Oh, dear, i'm the one who should sorry!
I love you with all my heart! and should've realized how isolated you are (being the only girl in the family)!
Don't feel bad :)
My sister's been a bad reminder of how humanity (man or woman) can get too full of ones self.............

no no its okay and i did kind of think that maybe it had something to do with your sister being there because at least before you mentioned her arrival you only showed your sexist side once in a blue moon but noticed a big increase in it after her arrival
and it isnt the "isolation" really i've learned to cope with that and the fact that my brothers gay really helped i think (pretty sure i'd be a lesbian if he wasnt gay lol) but it was just really nerve wrecking to hear you almost constantly say stereotypical things about a women to a women. and please dont be sorry for anything i really did go a bit too far

Yeah, I don't do stress very well, and my sister breeds it like a spreading, bad infection... that's why she got sick 23 years ago. And now that's she's a bit better health-wise, she's doing it all over again - investing herself too emotionally, not delegating activities... always assuming complete control, over her little hamster wheel to nowhere. I don't do well under that kind of self-defeating management.
And for the short, wasteful time he was here, my brother did a 180 with his management style... basically did what he wanted, and did not listen to me one bit :| Could've saved a lot of money, just by keeping a cool head, and not letting fatter male heads prevail.

Thanks for telling me about how I was acting, I'd never know for certain otherwise... you showed the hallmark of a good and dear friend :) Still think I need a good slap across the face... maybe there's something else I missed.....

best western?! e<a href="http://www....dude">www....dude</a>, I could've gotten you the "friends and family" rate at an HIX.

Yeah, teh place did have a bit of a... grungy film about it. still, was reasonably clean, and didn't bring home any bed bugs.
HIX? Hilton? The local Hilton was booked solid :\

haha, ewww link.

yeah mon, dem links are all up in dis post... they even starting infect the comments :O

no, no, Holiday Inn Express. that was a good read, btw!

Shit, rly? That was even closer than the BW! Either way, I coulda just stayed there and awake the whole time, and skedaddled at dawn, with a shit-ton more memories!
O_O you read that whole ting? Wow, thanks man!
It's nice to have a proven intellect say such a thing :)

you know....there was a story here about a BW that didn't have elevator access. They had a veteran staying there who was a double-amputee. After calling down for someone to help him downstairs from the third floor or so...so he could make his flight or whatever, and being told they were "too busy", he built a rope out of his bedding and scaled down the wall of the "hotel". Unsure of what happen to that particular BW afterwards.

and yeah, how could you not read that? I was really astonished that I was able to get Tom Fulp's autograph once, it sits in my office and I just look at it when I think. I think of Dad & Me, Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers, Cathode Raybots, and Battleblock Theater....and i can work again, instead of pittling around on my Xbox or feeling overwhelmed. Your accounts of everyone and the event brought it all into super-focus, and made it just that much more real to me at least.

and it's nice to be regarded as a "proven intellect"!
=]

Damn, I never heard that story.. what a PR disaster, huh?

Awwww, yet another thing I casually forgot to obtain (autograph)... shit |: Well thank you! It was hard to know how to describe the party events, because there were so many moments... enough to where I have to keep filling in a few things, just for posterity's sake.

Dunno why I said, that... but it does fit! Still a bit hung over from writing much of that, I guess. Hope I'm not getting sick :p

btw, what's a virtual steam-trunk???

Sounds technologically unusual, out of context-wise...

btw, what's a virtual steam-trunk???

This guy had something of an 21st equivalent to an actual steam-trunk! It was fucking gargantuan, only a few inches short of the real deal! He probably had more wearables in that trunk, than I did at home.. for the past 6 years, virtually speaking ;)

Plus I was drunk as hell, while writing everything below the ~~~~~ mark :\

well yeah, but what the hell is it?!

What is it?
What is it?
You want it all,
but you can't haaaaave iiiiit.
Sounds liek a red hot chili peppers song

oh i see i see....it should have shot steam out, and transformed into a bellhop.

Ha, ha, ha :) I haven't taken any kind of mass-transit since just before 9/11/01 - no planes, buses, taxis, trains... just my own two feet and 4 wheels.
I guess the sight of something like that, in actual use, just amazed me.... like an Aborigine finding an empty coke bottle... well, not that much, but I did know the olden term for what I saw.

Wow, I had forgotten all about that movie! Although I don't really understand how they could have made a part 2.... -_-

i felt the same way the first time I stepped into an airport 2 years ago and they had automatic walkways....ever seen those, the kind that are basically treadmills you just stand on? if you walk on them, you get moving pretty quick, but it's probably dangerous, i remember walking faster than i saw some vehicles outside moving.

'The Gods Must Be Crazy', yep I had almost forgotten that movie as well.... I think part 2 was, well, forgettable; too much over-reaching, just for another couple of bucks.

Heh, yeah, that's another mass-transit contraption I haven't seen in quite a while. I used to be well traveled growing up, at least once a year, mostly to the West coast to visit brother or sister.
It's a shame the government let 9/11 take place. Too many things point to the government and military, simply letting it happen... that madness is still with us, and has destroyed the country of my birth :\

hey! thanks for the nice review xD much appreciated

Just doing my job, ma'am :)

haha, but hey...funny you should mention 9/11 and the administration "letting it happen". I recall hearing some spiel about Pearl Harbor as well. It could be that communication is as the root of it all, or rather a lack thereof.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plau sible_deniability They had an advanced radar facility at Pearl (experimental and 'off to the side') for about 6 months, prior to the Sunday attack. A red flag was sounded by one of the techs, but a weekend junior officer said, "Ah, it's a glitch, a flock of birds" Who was this guy, what were his qualifications, why wasn't his actions looked into more closely?

I might've gotten some of the facts wrong... there were a lot of documentaries rolling around cable in the 20th century.....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00807 36/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 'The Final Countdown' with Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen, 1980, decent flick!

thanks for faving it lol

If I fav it, hopefully more ppl will see it lol

59 :3 thanks again
im gonna upload two more in a bit :P

Ah.... 59 views for your first submitted picture, yeah. The view count will go up as time goes on, and bots and the odd human take a gander.
Cool!! With 4 pictures, someone who's already scouted (to submit to the Art portal), can scout you... then you'll have the option of getting many, many more views, and comments :p

beautiful, just beautiful, Mister E. i relived pico day allll over again (thru much sobererr eyes). sorry i talk so much liek a ganggtssta. its just easier to do it instea d of blurting out the incessant streams of connundrums constnatnly running thru ur mind (tho im sure i did that too.) and ur discription of mister Sherbalexx was spoton ehehh ....sighghhh i just wish it was every weeekend ... sighh.. longs... sighs... beamms.....heart swellss...

We should do it every weekend... e_O might feel like Afred's Playhouse after a while tho
Absence makes the heart grow fonder :\ Oh, still waiting on the techs, I'll get back to you soon.

Seriously though, there is something profound about your intellect, or maybe I haven't been around many, on-the-street party-people (which you're clearly very good at being!) lately. I produced a shitty VHS movie in the late 90's and met some folk that were... too wild and full of life :), but probably didn't make age 30. In the right place, they could've been top notch actors, poets, teachers,... clergymen?

To me you're that kind of person, but has teh brainpower to survive and create, and (IRL) sing about it in a... poetic language, which just stuns me. You could probably make some big bucks doing poetry (aka, show up and tell stories, the way that you do:)

Sherb's a great guy :) I should've stayed till he was finished drawing, like you did. Was my first Pico Day, and didn't want to impose myself on Tom's good graces... after all, it was his day!

Hmm, invitation? Does every attendee get a personal PM after the initial application of interest, or is that just a method of phrasing? I must emit that this textual deliverance was masterfully lettered, with such converse wordplay and livid descriptions of the living legacy behind this grounded empire that I was swept into the flow of words for at good twenty minutes. Being the effective-minded individual I regretfully am, I wonder how long it took to write, but such triviality doesn't much matter at the end of such a melodious composition. I think I already commented on pictures and card idea, but this was good reading,. How's the tooth?

No, this was done through private email, same email address you register to use Newgrounds with. It was a good way for Tom to formally and safely ask for RSVP's for the event, so the recipients could reply yes/no/maybe. Then, about 2-3 weeks later, Tom sent out another mass email, regarding local hotel occupancy, revised guest-list... Then Luis sent out a mass PM (he does the event page after all) on additional details. A traveler like himself knows information is power...

I didn't check to see how long it took to write (especially the second part, with all my personal descriptions), but 20 minutes?! Hadn't considered the length of the total read O_o! I guess I figured the last half, was a salad bar of info, take what you want, and leave the rest behind.

Tooth's fine, though I had a bit of a relapse yesterday (piece of food got stuck in it). I used a q-tip with 70% rubbing alcohol to kill the infection and clear the crud. After a few more weeks, there will be a thicker protective film of gingivitis type bacteria staying in that hole :\

Thanks for reading the whole thing! Damn, I still a melodious writer... or a snitch, one of the two :)

Formally? Ah, wonder if all the planned quests did make it.. guess that's no information you're sitting on? Good info, for future reference, will archive in memory bank.

I don't leave salad behind.

Corrected, thx, I knew something was off, even if auto-correct said it was okay. Heh, yeah, I'm sitting on the info alright.... my best thinking comes from there lol

Leave no salad behind, or cake in the rain!

What is the person on the right doing with her hands?

Looks like she's wiping some slime off her hands....we Newgrounders can be a damp bunch. I think she must be a friend of April's (Tom's wife, wearing blue).
She didn't stay long, so I couldn't ask.... which is a shame, since I'm single and miserable :) Uuh, nah, think she's wearing a wedding ring :|

hows life?

Still painful. I've had welts/boils on my left shoulder and 3 on my left chest for over a week now :P Convinced they're from the wash. My sis uses this bleach alternative gunk, that sticks to skin like you wouldn't believe! Used a little to wash some drapes, and while spotting, got some on my hands... They're not large, but hard little things, that hurt!! They showed up after my first phys therapy thing, there they put a hot blanket on my back. IDK.... could even be bacteria that managed to live in her clothes too.
Last time she was here, I had a similar welt :| Thank Gob it was cold then, otherwise the sweat and or heat would've made more of them.

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