The real story about yesterday however is that I got to meet an Escapist for the first time in the flesh. AwesomeExpress and I have known for awhile we were within driving distance. So yesterday I finally did something about it by arranging a meeting.
It was the first time I ever met someone I've only talked to via online means before and it went pretty well! We hung out talking at a Tim Hortons. Then we went and saw Taken 2 at a cheap theater for 7 bucks (it wasn't the greatest movie ever but hey, cheap is cheap). After that we went to a Montana's Cookhouse and talked some more over steak. We finished the night by going to see Wreck-it Ralph in 3D and I drove him home in a snowstorm.
So I foresee some future hangouts with the guy. It was really damn cool and I'm sure we'll have more things to nerd out over.
Now to shift the mood of the post to a more somber direction, tomorrow is Remembrance day. November 11th was the day that WWI officially ended and so on the 11th hour of the 11th month people in the Commonwealth (which includes Canada) remember those who have fallen for their country and for our future.
My participation in the ceremony has been, for the last 5 or so years, to play The Last Post at exactly 11 AM. It's not a complicated song but it does take concentration.
For those of you who don't know, the poppies symbolize Flanders in Belgium where the flower's red petals seem to remind us of blood and bloodshed. Plastic copies are pinned onto the left top corner of Canadian's shirts, over the heart, to demonstrate participation in the remembrance (although they fall off all the time -.-). Veterans of WWII, the Korean War and most recently Afghanistan participate in these ceremonies across the country.
I take my volunteering to play the Last Post seriously and as someone who is fascinated by history I know that I never, ever want to see it repeated. It's an important part of my life that comes around six days after my birthday. My family lost men in WWI and my grandfather was only spared the horrors of war because he was drafted in 1945, just prior to Germany's surrender. He never had to fight. Others weren't so lucky.
I don't mean to depress anyone. I just want to show that I remember. And on the 12th I will change my avatar and title back to normal and I'll be out gaming and joking with the rest of the world. But on the 11th I tone down my life and remember the past.
-Red
EDIT: I got my home internet back awhile ago.
