EPTThe Days Before
Before leaving for MLG my world was plagued with uncertainty, but also some reassurance. I finally found the cause of my chest pain and miscellaneous health issues. Chemicals were being mixed improperly where I work. Due to a combination of many strange circumstances Only I was largely affected by this. Two cleaning chemicals that should never be mixed under any circumstances for any reason ever were being mixed improperly by all the employees when cleaning. At first it was a wonder why I was not sick, but after examining the situation for a few days I understood why. Firstly I worked the busiest station and as a result never was the person designated to clean so I would have never observed the improper use of the chemicals or regularly seeing the labels and warning stickers. Secondly my station has the poorest air ventilation of any in the building by a fair margin so anything airborne lingers there much longer than elsewhere where there is more time for it to diffuse. Thirdly the person who does the cleaning is not regular. Typically it's whoever isn't busy which typically changes from day to day. As a result the only person regularly exposed was me. I spent the most shifts per week exposed to the chemical. Fourthly the parts-per-million was a low enough quantity that a single brief exposure falls below the hazardous level listed on the material safety data sheets. However because of the poor ventilation I regularly exceeded the safe exposure limit by a large amount of time. Lastly symptoms took a long time to manifest because typically only acute exposure causes damage and chronic long-term exposure is a very rare occurrence that isn't found often outside of professional swimming. It's only because of that perfect storm of situations that I became sick at all. The result is lung and muscle damage. It explains why my grip has been weaker and I drop things seemingly at random. My shortness of breath and dizziness are also results of this. After consulting a doctor and lawyer, comparing possible treatments, and looking at the laws two things were determined. I have a poor court case. I'm prohibited from going into detail, but due to laws it's unlikely I will see any money from this. Fortunately I will make a complete recovery after a couple of years if I am no longer exposed to the chemical and don't suffer any complications from it's effects. Those complications include heart attacks, heart failure, and other very dangerous things. For the next few years I'm literally a walking time bomb. Hopefully this WMD's fuse won't burn down any time soon, but there is no certainty. Any moment may be my end with no forewarning and no way to stop it. An immediate end.
That is the uncertainty and this is the reassurance. My travel is all worked out. I no longer worry over travel costs. My best friend is well. The worry and stress has been dispelled and replaced with nervousness, but also joy. Due to the new situation she's in because of it she's coming home early this year which is further reassurance for myself. Every day my biggest worry is of complications from my being ill and having not been able to see her before it happened. There's always been a worry of "Will I get to say 'hello' again?" and "Can I tell her 'I love you' one last time? Will I have enough time?". Knowing she will be here in a couple days is a relief. Her presence has always been positive reinforcement and I am happy to know her. The downside is as payback for all her kindness I'm going to have to babysit for her. Which is going to happen sooner rather than later. Her reproductive organs are being used for their intended purpose this time opposed to just for fun, which is why she's coming home. Seeing her mom gleeful was downright eerie when I visited her house recently. Normally her mom isn't so outright cheery like that. Knowing my hotel was paid for and that I'd have ample time to save for providence also helped fortify my resolve. It's funny how an idle conversation with Slasher, probably one forgotten by him, helped push me to better myself.
Day 0: FTaCt.)Sony
Day zero is the Thursday before MLG. That's how I refer to it in my notes. I went to sleep and promptly woke back up. KimZ is a hero and everyone should remember that my stories and my media are all directly made possible by her, Arguyle the Wizard, rptorbandito, and Nessarose. The reason for my limited sleep was because KimZ was driving me to the airport at three in the morning. My flight left at six. I am constantly amazed by her continued aid with these projects and am surprised every time she says "yes" to my requests. The day she says no will not be unexpected because no sane person would jump through hoops like that. eSports is not built upon being sane. After a flight to Charlotte which no east coast trip would be without I ended up in Florida. Stepping off the plane I was on the phone with Sony coordinating being picked up from the airport. After arranging that I looked longingly at a Quodoba sign and contemplated getting a burrito. Knowing that was ten dollars I couldn't spend I went about my business and got on a little monorail type thing to move to another part of the airport. While riding it I wondered to myself why every time I ate out at an event it cost me ten bucks. Budgeting for any purpose involves strange math. Anything under five dollars I always round up to the nearest dollar. When something is seven dollars or more I round it up to ten. After that point I round every purchase up to the nearest five dollar mark unless I have exact change or correct change for everything past the decimal point. Some call my methods strange, but I call it surprise savings. More than once I've looked at my money on the last day and thought "Wow, that is was more money than I thought I had" so I feel it works great.
Driving with Sony was interesting. Sony played for Future talent art control team in brood war and attended Courage twice in Korea. He also played in WCG events. It was strange at first. This is a person with a lot of history, but also someone who is seemingly unknown. I felt as if playing in Courage twice as a foreigner would be something that at least got mentioned somewhere, but I found it missing from history it seems. I didn't know it at the time, but later I would also meet up with Cyrax who I'm told was another brood war player who was heard of. He's a more high energy person than I am so it was odd hanging out with him.
The hotel was awesome-pasta. I didn't linger on the thought much because comparatively little time would be spent there, but I wish every hotel I ever stay in was that nice. Sony's active air force so he sometimes gets cool things. We had time to kill before we picked up the Canadians. Killing time around the hotel sucked. The mini golf closed at 5pm, the boats closed at the same time, and the arcade sucked. Being able to play DDR would have been fun, but at a dollar a game for a total of maybe 5 minutes of entertainment wasn't quite worth it. That's assuming I didn't fail any songs and I haven't played in a while. Sure I could have dropped down to play Standard, but after being good at heavy for so long I feel a little ill thinking about playing lower difficulties. Sort feels like I've become a failure if I can't do it anymore. Being afraid to play for that reason doesn't make me feel any better, but at least I wasn't going to go poor that way.
Canadians are awesome! Kennigit, HuK, Usurper, and EvinKura are some of the coolest people I've met. After grabbing them we went straight to the TL meetup at Dave and Buster's. Someone explain to me why every hot short redhead I meet is a lesbian, because I'd really like to know. Meetup was ok, but overall not quite as zany and entertaining as I expected. Met a couple cool people so it worked out. Spent half my money for the weekend at it. It was good even though I had to spend money. That night I watched Sony offrace as protoss then slept on a couch. It was a comfy couch, but actually may have been a loveseat since it only had two cushions. Whatever it was I slept on was ok.
Day 1: Overwhelmed
Leaving to go to the venue it was early, Sony, EvinKura, and Usurper were competing and we went for early check in. After getting our passes we wandered off to look around the venue. It was very plants. We got lost in the rainforest that came complimentary with the event. There was a stop for lunch I couldn't participate in. Paying fourteen dollars for a burger then four dollars for a drink is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. There's a great bar in Arizona called Four Peaks Brewery. Their product is of equal quality and is nine dollars. I feel that is a bit overpriced also, but support that because it's local and their staff is amazing. When the price goes over ten bucks no sort of endearment will get me to buy. However there is really no option at that convention center. It is surrounded on all sides by nothing but highway and grass in every direction. There is no alternative so you must pay enormous amounts of money. One of the shops had an ok deal for a sandwich and chips for ten dollars. That was the least impressive sandwich ever consisting of cheese, meat, a vegetable, and no sauce. I don't expect much from a sandwich, but nothing stood out as being worth extra. There was no fancy sauce or seasoning to make it special. It was not served on some fancy toasted bread or come with a choice of cheese. Typical, standard, and overpriced sums up the food at the venue.
While watching my travel buddies eating lunch as I sat by hungry because I can't afford to eat my phone rang. rptorbandito and Arguyle were on their way to the venue. I told them to bring me lunch and they told me to meet them halfway. It's clear to me these days that my allegedly good friends find happiness in my suffering. The insides of my lungs were described as being slightly melted (there was a series of more particular terms used, but the doctor summarized with that) and they wanted me to walk a mile and a half to meet them. Successfully having played on my wanting to eat at all I was an idiot and left to find them
Walking down a highway I felt a bit sick halfway. Heat and physical activity aren't so great for me these days. Either is fine by itself, but not when put together. After what seemed like an eternity I found them and walked while eating. My new goal for the day was to not throw up. Luckily I made this goal with some effort. We wandered back to the venue and I was pretty dazed.
When people ask my how my trip was my order of memories works out in a strange way. My first and most vivid memory is of Kennigit. This was my second time getting a chance to speak with him. It was cool meeting him in Raleigh and being able to talk to him in Orlando was nice. We talked about our respective travel, some current events, and a bit about what we thought of Orlando. We parted ways and I spent my time catching up with people. The second most vivid memory I have is the minute before I met with Kennigit. I walked up to the Starcraft 2 bracket to talk to "Bracket Girl" and before being able to say hello I felt a tug on my arm accompanied by a pleasant voice saying "I remember that jacket" which prompted me to turn around. It was another "Bracket Girl" from Halo: Reach who worked the SC2 bracket in Raleigh. The third memory is seeing Fayt Rose in her new Quantic shirt.
Being remembered is weird for me. Don't take it the wrong way when I say I expect it from the players/producers that I interview, but when it comes to people who aren't them it catches me off guard. The first was someone who I met at MLG Columbus. That's bizarre to me because I was only ever in Columbus for that weekend. Halo Reach Bracket Girl recognized me, but that wasn't as surprising because I follow Reach a bit and was over there a lot. A player who I'd never met who was in the open bracket knew me from my interviews. As much as I like to be an entertainer and try to be a bringer of news to the people I'm always unexpecting of attention.
In the early evening I sat outside. Well it felt like outside, but was really inside I guess. There was a giant glass dome and it felt like some sort of science lab or something. Enamored with this I tried calling Nessarose. Surprisingly she answered. She's bad at answering her phone despite the fact that I call her every Monday, but don't typically get a hold of her till Thursday or Friday most weeks. I was so sad because it was very pretty at that venue and she wasn't there to see it.
The day proceeded and ended without event. I traded talk with a lot of people and filmed just a tiny bit, but I wasn't on my game that day. Worry that this event would turn out as bad as Raleigh kept eating away at me. Driving home we unanimously decided Florida is fucking stupid for using a hard right as the transition from one highway to another. Who the hell through it was a good idea to have a hard right on the damn highway. It caught everyone by surprise including Sony who was driving. He had to brake so hard to make that turn without hitting the barrier he pinched his brake line and doubled the cost of his trip. That barrier was almost completely black and severely chipped where no doubt countless cars had hit it.
Couch was comfy, but it was hard to sleep. People who aren't me make too much noise.
Day 2: Go INKA! *pompoms*
Food was not in the budget. This is typical and unfortunate for me. For the first several hours of the day I was lost in thought. It seemed there was no right thing for me to be doing at any given time. I got the the venue around ten in the morning and after my initial walk around the venue I went outside. I'm still not sure if it can be called "outside" because it was under a giant glass dome and was somewhat climate controlled, but it at least felt like outside. Plants were everywhere and those little chloroplast containing lifeforms ("plant parts") are one of my favorite things. That list also includes office supplies, Nessarose, "an bunneh", "sea animal", and "bird". My preferences are unusual.
For most of the morning I walked around talking to my camcorder about nothing specific trying to collect my thoughts. Here I was now at MLG Orlando and while determined to perform better than I did at Raleigh I had nothing to ask. My second project was also going nowhere. After filming a lot of nothing and talking to myself I sat down at a table. Finally questions appeared by the fistful and things then seemed so simple I couldn't believe I was dumbstruck before. Lunch would be nice though.
rptorbandito (the "r" is supposed to be lowercase) hadn't left yet when I called him. I got up and began the long walk out of the venue and down the highway. Stopping briefly as I left to look at the alligators there. It was strange to be at first that there were turtles there too. I assumed they would be ok, but worried about them mildly as I left.
"Remember the cows!" my high school American History teacher Ms. Gilliam yelled out to us as we left her classroom for the last time. Yes Ms. Gilliam, I remember the cows, but unfortunately I do not remember why it was we were supposed to remember them. There were cows on the way to meet rptorbandito and arguyle. Along with those cows was nothing but highway and grass in pretty much every direction. After lunch I was struck with a new task.
Pompoms were a necessity and it's close to Halloween so now would be the best time to find them. QIMiNkA streams and I'm a mod on that stream. Every time he starts streaming and I'm aware of it I log in and idle to help babysit the chat, watch him play, and talk to people I know on the stream chat. One of those people is Fayt Rose. Periodically she would post in chat "GO INKA!!!!!!" or something along those lines. One day I told he she was a bad cheerleader because cheerleaders have pompoms. Since then it had been a mild running gag. During MLG Anaheim I contemplated bringing them to the next event, but Raleigh sucked. It was my intention to bring them to Orlando as a surprise, but I forgot to get them before I left.
Now rptorbandito, arguyle, and myself were checking store to store looking for purple pompoms to give her and make the meme transition into the real world. When I start a running gag I intend to see it through to the finish line. After going to multiple stores we did not find pompoms, but we did find a gorilla mask. The gorilla mask is a separate joke entirely sourced from here http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/20p29 where Judy the gorilla is wearing sunglasses leaning out the window while music is blaring to cover up the sound of an explosion. rptorbandito (who's name I believe is also sourced from a reference in that same comic series) bought the shit out of that gorilla mask. All we need now is the sunglasses.
Finally back at the venue I was tired and spaced out. I did my normal walk around talking to people, then watched iNkA play some games. There was a little bit of filming, but nothing major. Sony and the others wanted to leave early so we did. Cyrax and some others wanted go to the bars, but I just wanted to sleep. The Panda Express we went to was mediocre at best. zzzZZZZzzZZzZzZzzZZzzzZZZZ
Day 3: Kill Them All
We woke up and debated breakfast. It wasn't much of a debate. Chipotle is the name of a restaurant that makes burritos, tacos, and similar things. After having spent the last of my money the night before on panda express I had to dig into my quarters to pay for this. Often I forget that quarters are even a form of currency, but are only a tool used to activate the pool (billiards) table at the local bar I go to in Arizona. As I was pulling dimes and nickels out of my other pocket it occurred to me I must have a lot of money in quarters that I never use because I save them all for the aforementioned purpose. The fistful of quarters (a quarter is 25 cents, a fourth of a US dollar) surely had more than enough and I was able to have breakfast. Unexpected money is the best kind in my opinion.
From burrito to MLG and from MLG to working. This day treated me very well. While walking around the venue I saw Quantic Gaming's founder Cinergy and spoke to him for some time about his teams in Black Ops and Starcraft 2. He vaguely referenced an upcoming announcement and the impact it will have for his Starcraft team. Knowing what that news is now he was correct. Jaws did fall on the floor. When I mentioned I did interviews and amateur media work he asked why I didn't have a media pass for the event. The truth sucks and I always hate being asked that. The answer is because I simply don't have enough of a following to justify them giving me. With no big name to support me I stand alone and small in a big scary world of eSports. Which made the next thing I heard from him a complete surprise when he told me to interview his players and tell them he said it was ok to do so.
Picture yourself in a room, any room you choose, and then picture that room lined with doors. Now imagine the sudden air pressure change when all the doors on one side of the room open simultaneously. A quote from the character Neo in the movie The Matrix seems appropriate, "Whoa.". I now had access to players I thought of as out of reach. The first two that came to mind were their recent recruits SaSe and Destiny. Darkcell I'd gotten a chance to interview earlier. Someday I'll get to Agh too hopefully. Cinergy went to go watch two Quantic teams play against each other in Black Ops and I went to the main stage for Starcraft to watch something magical.
IdrA was avenged during pool play by Marineking (formerly known as BoxeR) after defeating the real BoxeR earlier on. He was on up on the screen playing his Lower Bracket match against The Emperor Bonjwa SlayerS_BoxeR. Surprising to some, but not to me IdrA defeated him. Then BoxeR decided to be tricky and through a series of bizzarre games began to come back. Watching him float his starting command center to the gold on Metalopolis was a strange moment. BoxeR wanted to win and it seemed as if he didn't want to face IdrA in a macro game or perhaps felt that IdrA's early game was his weakest point and wanted the battle to take place there. He tied up the series. The final game was standard. IdrA's mutalisk count rose ever higher. The harassment (harassment is the name for a group of mutalisks) of them flew across the map. For a moment I wondered if this game was being directed by Ridley Scott as IdrA enclosed around BoxeR's base.
The Emperor was defeated. During this time I stepped away quickly to see if I could find Ret. Earlier in the day I was lucky and got the interview I always wanted with TLO. That interview might not be a great interview from anyone else's point of view, but it's satisfied my curiosity on some subjects now. Lucky I did find him and go to check that follow up off my to-do list. Ret is an awesome guy and seems to always be playing in everything that he can. It's a wonder he finds time to do anything else at all.
Inside the venue I saw IdrA on the screen again. Wondering why he would play again so soon I saw a protoss air unit. Without reading the screen I knew it was HongUn. As much of a fan of HongUn as I am I knew he would lose. IdrA is a powerful player and HongUn cannot compete with him in a macro styled game. After IdrA won I looked at the bracket during the break and saw the Halo Reach bracket girl sitting there with Starcraft 2 bracket girl. Bracket Girl always felt like a cheap way to refer to them. Once I had that thought I pulled my notepad from my pocket and decided I should talk to them. Having talked to them at every MLG I felt the impromptu interview appropriate because people should know a little bit about these heralds of information.
The Bracket Girls
Halo Reach's Bracket Girl is named Kaila. It's a good thing she told me how to spell that otherwise I'd likely have screwed it up. Maybe I'd have put a "y" in it or something like a doofus and then feel bad about myself. She started following MLG on forums back in 2006. She attended her first live in event in 2008 and started working for MLG that same year. As of MLG Orlando she's worked 25 events. You may have seen her with a variety of hair colors. Once upon a time she was voted as having the best hair. Remember that the next time you think your's is good. Her's was the best. Boo-ya.
Starcraft 2's Bracket Girl is named Nicole. Some may also know her as LxP. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much there is to know about her. Back in 2007 she played Halo 2 competitively with Team Foxy Gaming. She stopped competing after 2009. In addition to making us look bad at Halo 2 and 3 she also knows a lot about gaming products. She's worked at events like E3 and PAX for companies like Sennheiser, HP, Nintendo, and xbox. For MLG specifically this is her first year working for them. She wants to be a positive representative of girls, have fun, and further highlight that we're all equal. Her knowledge of gaming products and of gameplay is quite good. She wanted to work in gaming because of her knowledge and experience whereas at times many of the women in this field aren't as knowledgeable about the subject matter.
I'm glad I took the time to talk to them at this event and the ones prior. At first the reason was simply because they were the only static face there. They would be only in one or two places whereas everyone else was constantly moving. As part of their job they were always accessible. Though I do often worry about being a nuisance or a bother to them. Hopefully next event they'll be willing to talk more because now I have new questions. If either of you two get around to reading this thanks for being so friendly. MLG events are serious business for players and coaches so sometimes they're a little rough in conversation. Every time I go to check the news (the bracket) there's a smiling face there that makes me feel a little bit better about whoever just turned down an interview. Thanks Kaila and LxP for keeping me in the know on all the results. I don't have a smartphone and am shy when it comes to asking random people by the handful to find out that info. My job would suck without you two around.
Meanwhile In Starcraft 2
Back on the main screen IdrA was fighting a terran who at first glance some would think to be Marineking because of the seven barracks with reactors on them, but it was instead Startale's Bomber making 28 marines a minute and trying to bury IdrA in bodies soviet Russia style. IdrA was Tony Montana absorbing line after line of attacks from Bomber. Then in a span of time which to me seemed like the blink of an eye there were broodlords and then he won. Winning that series was just one more step on the path to victory. Then he faced a protoss, but oh no... not THAT protoss. Protoss President MC was asked a question during an impromptu panel at IPL 3. He was asked what he liked to do for fun in Starcraft and answered with "Winning IdrA". Today MC was just having fun. IdrA was out after moshing through a number of Korean opponents in a row that most people probably couldn't have managed. Beating BoxeR, HongUn, and Bomber, then having to take on MC would wear out anyone.
Then I interviewed Destiny and forgot everything I ever wanted to ask him. Which is sad because I had a list. Actually it's right there on my desktop too. I'm pointing at it as I'm typing this, but unfortunately you can't see that. When I walked back into the room TheStC lost multiple times. Then the finals was akin to hot ice and wondrous strange snow. A protoss would fight another protoss. One of those protoss was a foreigner. All of the terrans had been eliminated. Artosis could see the future and predicted a four gate fight on the first map. He was particularly correct that day. It was a quick finals and HuK was the winner. HuK is the first ever two-time MLG champion and also the first foreigner to win since the Koreans started showing up. IdrA placed fourth, which is not much of a surprise. He regularly places well at these events.
We left the event rather quickly and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to all the people I wished. Driving back to the hotel there was some talk of partying, but ultimately nothing came of it. I had to be awake at Stupid O'clock in the morning to go to the airport. Sleep was difficult. Every time I go to the east coast I get sick. It seemed like now was the time it was catching up to me. Luckily I'd avoided it for the duration of the event.
The Days After
Being awake early wasn't a problem. However being wracked with fever as I sat down on the plane and losing my phone in the jet way was a problem. Just before the flight left I noticed my phone was missing and went after it. Thankfully they let walk out to check for it without having to walk back to the rear of the plane to get my boarding pass which was tucked away in my bag. Luckily it was found by the guy neat the gate and I got back on the plane and went to sleep.
Waking up during the gradual descent to Phoenix I felt like garbage. This was mostly due to me not having eaten or drank anything before getting on the plane. However I was completely out of money. When I got off the plane I called KimZ who strangely didn't want to come get me. This was a problem because no one else was willing to drive me home. After she told me that I called everyone. There was a single yes out of fourteen people. That yes was not until five in the afternoon. It was currently nine in the morning.
I was actually sick at this point. A combination of dehydration, headache, and fever was definitely getting in the way of my motor function. Not looking forward to sitting hungry in an airport I wandered off really without thinking. A nice bus driver offered me a free ride to the light rail. He then also told me I could probably get on the light rail for free since they don't check for the little tickets that often. So I did that and took the light rail to Mill avenue.
KimZ called me back and told me she would come down. My plan until then was to play connect the dots with light rail and buses to get to the place I work at during the week then hope a coworker liked me enough to drive me home. KimZ agreed to meet me at ASU near Gammage. Walking down Mill I felt sick so I stopped to get lunch. She called me again asking where I was and was confused I was stopped where I was. Once she showed up I slowly got up. "You look like shit." She told me. That's possibly the most accurate thing she's ever said. I had to wait in the car while she took at test on campus before leaving. For a moment I thought my phone was lost again, but it was just in my pocket in a weird spot.
When I got home I transferred all the video off my camcorder and promptly began encoding the interviews. I only got through two before I decided to go to sleep. I worked the next three days at eight in the morning each day and would remain ill all week. Thursday however came with much joy.
The interviews were posted and I'd begun working on my other video from the event. As I was leaving work I got a phone call. Nessarose was coming home. She would be there in a half hour. A bit dizzy and still a bit sick I took a side trip to buy her flowers. This article would have been done last night if it weren't for unexpected return. We all thought she wouldn't be back for another few days. It was good to see her. A lot of my worry was dispelled, but unfortunately replaced with new worry. That didn't matter though. Nothing mattered except happiness and excitement.
This very moment I still feel sick. There's a slight smile as I'm hopeful for things to come in Nessarose's life. I'm happy about things at a time when things are not very good for me at all. I can't begin to describe how hostile my living environment is and how tragic my finances look, but that's all irrelevant. My eSports life outlook is good, Nessarose is well, and this article is over. You can find my interviews below.
With the posting of this MLG Orlando is finally over for me. I'm so happy.
Interviews:
TLO
Destiny
Ret
SaSe
Darkcell
LzGaMeR
Sony
