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The Post-PAX Blues
mei0023
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Registered User regular
Three/two/one days of sheer madness, joy, and unbridled nerdery, and then it's back to the real world. You hop on that plane/train/T/car and head back to your job/school/home/basement...
But then what? Life is gray, life is dull; life without PAX is no fun at all! How do you fight off the inevitable down feeling that settles in when you have to go back to the outside world?
But then what? Life is gray, life is dull; life without PAX is no fun at all! How do you fight off the inevitable down feeling that settles in when you have to go back to the outside world?
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It definitely helped to take the day off on Monday to decompress (we drove back down Sunday afternoon). But now I'm at work and I've spent too much time browsing the forums, trying to keep that feeling of community going with my PAX bretheren.
A: "What do you want from me?!?!?"
today though, yeah. i've got it bad too. i've missed my two morning classes cause i just didn't feel up for it. i'm dragging ass, and have been living on the boards since PAX ended sunday.
have to say i'm definitely going to try and make it to Seattle.
PAX EAST 2012: HOTEL [X] FLIGHT [] PASSES [X] TIME OFF []
2. Lurk on the PAX forums
3. Make plans for PAX Prime!
4. Above all, call up some friends (new friends from the weekend, perhaps?) and play games!
Man, me too. Shit, I can't even really talk or think about PAX without almost getting weepy. Like right now.
It's crazy, I didn't expect to have a feeling of homesickness and loss after leaving a fucking convension, ya know? Heck, I wasn't even really excited for it until about 2 weeks beforehand.
I met people I've talked to online and they became real people to me, not only that but really good friends that I'll hopefully be seeing again in June so that kinda keeps me going.
After my friends after getting dinner to drive to their homes 7 hours away, I barely held it together to drive back to my own home before crying like a fucking baby. Basically I, a 31 year old man, hugged his cat (who was very adverse to this entire event) and just wept. I'm kinda glad my GF wasn't there to witness this, but she'll be over tonight and when I talk about it I will probably cry again, so that should be an interesting reaction from her. I already gave fair warning of the possibility.
Since I graduated college, what, 9 years ago? I've never had a really really close group of friends that I could just...gel with. I really felt that at PAX with these people, and it was incredible. Not to mention the complete feeling of acceptance and community from EVERYONE there. Now I'm back at work, and I have to constantly succeed on stealth checks to hide my true geekery and personality, which gets extremely tiring.
Ok, enough, enough. It's taken me 45 minutes to write this, taking composure breaks so I didn't break down at my desk here at work. Just 12 months away...
Truly, the best swag of all was the memories.
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Aye, walking through the Prudential Center without it being jammed packed with awesome people will never feel the same again.
I hear the line for the GameStop was unbelievable.
Here's to the PAX in Boston!
Cheers!
Vapok
Don't be a dick.
Incredible. You summed up everything I was feeling. PAX is becoming more special as I get older. I can't wait to go back.
A: "What do you want from me?!?!?"
I miss you guys.
EDIT: I guess I should actually answer the question - I've turned to the IRC chat and the forums.
well, you can always go this weekend when AnimeBoston is here ...
Red B/Gold Professor
[15:53] <+juju-work> ArsonIsFun is one of the best people I know.
Good thing though, I find out that there are some folks that game where I live and we're planning on getting together.
So Until next time, and perhaps sooner at PAX Prime.
*Flashes the Iron Cross*
world attaching the electrodes of knowledge to the nipples
of ignorance?" - John Lithgow, 3rd Rock from the Sun
So not the same. PAX is probably twice, if not three times as big as Anime Boston.
Vapok
Sigh.
I almost sold my 3day pass when I learned none of my loser friends :P were going. I was so nervous to go by myself... especially being female. But I'm so glad I did. Everyone there was so nice and I had so much fun. I even had great conversations about things that had nothing to do with games.
And now... its back to work... and deadlines. Bleh.
My post-PAX blues:
I had one of the most phenomenal weekends of my life. The group of people I was with, the panels, the whole experience was amazing. It's difficult to put into words how much every single moment was perfect.
I met so many people just walking around and everyone was willing to share their stories with me. The enforcers were great too.
Today I came back into work exhausted after driving back to Virginia in the pouring rain and found things in disarray. While I was gone, our network was broken into, our backups started failing and our CEO's laptop died. My boss scheduled a 10am meeting for me to assign me as project manager for a major transition we're doing over the next month. Basically, life went from astoundingly good to crushingly bad in a very, very short amount of time.
I would give anything to be back up there for one more day, just hanging out with you guys and hearing about where you came from and what you've done.
My life is pretty full and I feel lucky all the time that I experience all the awesome things that I do on a day-to-day basis, so I wouldn't normally buy into the concept that life is so empty and dull after a convention, but all of you guys gave me a weekend that was truly memorable, and by far the best PAX experience I've ever had. Worn out and a little overwhelmed by a return to reality, right now all I want is to turn to the guy sitting in line next to me and have him explain to me how the hell Magic: The Gathering works.
I can not wait for next year.
I thought you guys would enjoy seeing that.
Are you located in the Boston area? If so, try this this group.
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=396063749851
There have been a few pre Pax meetups which were really fun and there will definitely be post Pax meetups to come. Also, I play Street Fighter online on the 360 if you are game. I know it's not the same.
I'd never even been to a con before. Since most of my friends aren't terribly nerdy, I PAXed alone, thinking it would be a nice escape from this hayseed part of central Florida. I was underestimatingly right! I can't wait to go back. I don't even mind the crippling plague raging through my body at the moment. People actually understood the references on my t-shirts, like Ignignokt and Err, and Dr Rockzo, and the Drunken Clam. I usually get nothing but crinkled foreheads and eye rolls when I wear my nerd gear.
Unfortunately, a car wreck last year has left me with some spinal "gifts" so I wasn't able to walk around long before I had to go back to the hotel room. But that was the first time I've ever been around a cityfull of people just like me. Hell, even a roomfull. I squeezed out every minute I could just to soak up the atmosphere and gaming. Last week I wasn't sure I'd do another con, or even another PAX, but now I'm going to try my hardest to make it to Prime.
I can understand the grumpiness though. Being openly nerdy for 72 hours then being forced back down into the role of Normal Peon at work sucks.
Especially when my coworkers kept asking me about my days off. I tried being vague, but they didn't let me slide with "a convention in Boston" - I had to explain. Then I got the strange looks and hurried attempts to end the conversation when I tried to explain the glory and amazingness that is PAX without gushing. Trying to explain it in laymans terms is so hard.
So I came to the forums and made an account to hang out here on my break!
I hope everyone did.
i've gotten over them a little by watching the keynote yesterday (then bumping into wil right before i had some dinner), reading forums and twitter and stuff. i'm still in boston until tomorrow night so won't be surrounded by my geekiest friends until friday at least.
then i'm sure my blues can melt away a bit. miss you all already nerd brethren.
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Lord help me, I chose !Squirtle
It was funny I was talking to one of our vendors today over the phone and discussed getting back to work after a vacation. He asked where I went so I did the vague "Gaming convention" thing. He mentioned that next month he's going to a convention and seeing Shatner. I surprised the crap out of him when I whipped out the "Oh, I met Wil Wheaton - he signed my DS". It was a nice moment.
PAX East 2015: -Pass [X] -Hotel [X] -Time off[X]
twitter: acumen101 | fb: fb.com/acumen101
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I had way more fun at PAX than I could have ever expected, and in a way, it was a wake up call to what was missing in my life.
I had a great time both at PAX and just in the Boston area in general. Where I live (south jersey outside of philly) just sucks for me. Not a lot to do, not many people to do anything with. At PAX I met guildmates I'd known for years and random people all of whom were friendly. And never once, the whole weekend, did I feel like I was being judged or made fun of or anything like that. And I felt like I could strike up a conversation with anyone around me and we'd have something to talk about. No need to talk about the Local Sportsteam, no bullshit smalltalk. It was wonderful.
And then I drive home (6 hours) to find my house flooding from this shitty noreaster, and tomorrow I have to go back to my boring job. If I didn't hate flying I'd go to PAX Prime just to have that feeling again, and I'll definitely go to Boston again next year. I really do miss it already.
Man, way to make me almost lose it again.
PAX East was my first con ever. Outside of the few people I went with, nobody knows what it is. Between trying to explain what it's really about, something I don't even know is possible, and only having a handful of folks to really talk about it with makes it really hard. It's near impossible to pay attention in class as my mind wanders to the magical time in Boston.
What's keeping me going now? Looking at photos, rewatching the posted videos, and reading the anniversary book help. I've been glued to all things PA and gaming since getting back.
But what I'm really focusing on is the community. I've read the comic and mostly lurked on the forums for years. I'm going to try and use this as a strong motivator to become more active within the PA community before next PAX. On the forums, on Twitter, etc. My hope is that next time we all come home, I'll have people from here that I really want to meet and perhaps some folks that want to meet me.
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@Astonishingmike on twitter
STILL THE BEST 1973-FOREVER
I'm going to be scouring YouTube and the pictures thread, as well as the scant few pics I took, to keep these wonderful memories alive as long as possible.
Thank you Robert, Jerry, Mike and the rest of the PA crew and the Enforcers for putting this together.
Thank you to everyone who attended who made it magical. Sometimes I wonder if we realize how lucky we are to have such a great community here.
Everyone I met over the past weekend was kind, courteous and downright friendly. There is something magic in the air at PAX. It gets into your bloodstream. It's not about the games. Not entirely.
It's about the people, the friendships and knowing that there is a place for you in this world. It is PAX.
Thank you.
See??! It's the PAX magic.
I will never forget the people I met here, and how kind everyone was. It was truely amazing, and it bums me out to know that for the next months until Pax East '11, nothing can top last weekend. Nothing this year can even come close, and for that I would like to thank everyone who talked to me in line when I started my meek conversations.
As for how I'm trying to cure the blues . . . I'm wearing a different swag shirt everyday. I can't be the ONLY one who had a WHOLE load of black game/computer company shirts! (The NVIDIA shirt is BY FAR my favorite. They gave me 2 sizes too big but its SOOOO soft!) And I'm watching the RvB dvd my hubby bought, and posting here in the forums, and watching the PAX09 DVD (That was GIVEN to us by Mike and Jerry!), and playing "Win, Lose, Banana" and "We didn't Playtest this at ALL" with the family.
Khoo is just forgiving me because I apparently was his body double this weekend: