our room

or, long live the westin's custodial staff. (pictures taken on saturday evening.)

Our room at ax was. . . entertaining. Six otaku with one bed.

Now, we had expected two beds. We really had. I want to say that lest anyone think our planning even worse than it actually was. We wanted two small beds, and not one big one. On the other hand, it was a very nice big one. . . i think i managed to sleep in it for all of two hours, one morning when everyone else was busy.

The rest of my sleep was had in a closet. I curled up on a pillow, in a space about 18" wide and twice that long. It was surprisingly comfortable. . . hotel pillows are designed to excessive standards. ^_^

I had a little privacy sign and everything, and could work on my laptop in peace. When i went to sleep, I was even able to 'lock' the doors by looping my laptop's power cord through the slats and tying it off. I am definitely sleeping in more closets from now on.

Everyone else found space wherever they could, on the couch or in the chairs. Jason and Tommy had the bed, Aldo got the couch (a source of endless amusement, since he's about twice the couch's length lying down.)

And the computers. . . We had something of an office there, really. I sat on the couch with my laptop while Aldo worked frantically beside me. Jeff's machine sat on the desk, and I used it as a file server while he played games and watched dvds.

Then there was the constant stream of music, visual rock vying with anime themes for air time. It was in some ways a really marvelous environment to work in. We all were able to look over each others' shoulders, music played constantly, and we were able to relax with ddr and project justice.

And the coke cans!! they were like something out of a bad monster movie, taking over every flat surface. . . We would finish one and grab another, as if our lives depended on a constant infusion of caffiene. Probably they did.

We spent more time there than we'd expected. Sure, there was work, but we played games and socialized, too. I stormed in at 4 one morning after embarrassing myself on the ddr machines, demanding some time to practice before I went down there again. And I got it. We cleared some space and I discovered just how much ddr skill I'd lost only a few weeks. I discovered then that some people can sleep through anything.

Of course, to do that we had to clear some floor space first. . . There was nothing permanent about the way we organized the room. Everything was reconfigured, flipped around, shoved out of the way at a moment's notice, sometimes for the silliest of reasons. I needed to play ddr, Jeff needed to print an mpeg to videotape, Aldo needed to show music videos to a guest, Tommy needed to play project justice. . . I think we probably were a little rough with some of the equipment (look at the ddr mat under the chair. . . ) but it all seemed to work out. ^_^

Only problem was that the room had no means of decent internet access. we had a nice local network, file-sharing and all that, but no connection to the outside world, despite the hotel's claims to the contrary. we were miffed. severely impacted our ability to work, too.

I think Aldo was the only one to figure to a use for all the coke cans littering the place. . . He used them to sharpen his teeth, and incidentally to intimidate people.

I have read that for virtually all animals, there is nothing friendly about a smile. I think Aldo's smile is a threat —look how long my teeth are.

—chris