EPTThe day started out as any other day: I woke up, brushed my teeth, played Starcraft, ate some kimchi with rice and seaweed (no other meal can compare), drank Bacchus (the required beverage for hardcore gamers), and took a quick shower. From that point on is hazy... why, you ask?
Fanatacist and Clazziquai arrived at my house around 1:00 PM. It was exciting meeting members of Teamliquid in real life (I know Clazz in real life from school), and I happily greeted the pair at the front entrance of my apartment complex. We merrily exchanged introductions and chatted about the latest TL news, laughing all the while. But alas, a sudden question arose - an innocent query, but one which caused my heart to jump in delight and expectation: Where do we smoke? A question so often asked but which nevertheless always remains an irksome predicament. Fortunately, I had just the place - my roof. My mouth was slick with anticipation; it would be my first smoke in a long time. When we walked onto the roof, as expected, it was barren - absolutely desolate. The sun was blazing overhead, oppressive and dry. But the sky was bluer than the seven seas, and a proud line of trees in the distance, in tandem with the majestic skyline of New York, forged a beautifully ironic landscape.
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00652.jpg)
My beautiful roof ^_^
We sat down, made ourselves comfortable, and made small talk as Fanatacist gutted a cigar of its terrible, potentially killer contents. The cigar wrappings can be put to much better use, anyway. Fanatacist rolled the cigar wrappings with delicious flowers (keeping this shit PG-13 for those who aren't yet "morally bankrupt"; although if you're in at least the fifth grade you probably know what I'm talking about). The immaculate fusion of sublimely sweet flowers and the crystal smooth tobacco wrapping was absolutely magical. We lounged under scorching rays of sunlight, passing around a glowing scroll of peace, inhaling the fruit of Mother Nature herself. And indeed, our invigorating session continued for quite some time until the smoldering rod of contemplation fizzled out some fifteen minutes later. The blazing flower dissipated into the surrounding air as aromatic smoke, gone forever with the wind – diffused and useless, a mere shadow of what it once was.
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00659.jpg)
Clazziquai and spoof lol
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Me, and clazz being an idiot lol
Now at this point, I’m severely “affected”, as are Clazziquai and Fanatacist. We decide that it is about time to leave my humble abode and journey to the land of Flushing, New York. But before departing, Fanatacist requested the map which I had printed earlier from Google. It was back in my room; so I sprinted back to my apartment, fumbled momentarily with my keys, and haphazardly stumbled into the foyer. I walked cautiously towards my room, completely forgetting what I was doing in the first place. Why am I here, I asked myself aloud several times. The answer gracefully eluded me – the reason for my return was playfully and deftly waltzing around my smoky consciousness, illusory and intangible, and I could not fathom to endeavor in its capture. What the fuck? I blanked out and stood in my room for a good five minutes. Then I picked up my backpack, dropped it, and picked it up again. I disconnected my mouse and headphones from my computer and stuffed them into the bag. I stood and looked around at my eerily unfamiliar room. Panicking, I sprinted back down to the parking lot and got into Fanatacist’s car. “Did you get the map?” he asked.
“Uh… uh… yeah…” I mumbled, clutching at some random pieces of papers that were lying in the backseat. Then it struck me: “Oh, fuck… I forgot.”
Clazziquai burst out in laughter, “Oh my fucking god, you forgot the map you idiot!”
The car erupts in uncontrollable laughter, and I embarrassedly dash out, once again, to retrieve the map. This time I somehow manage to succeed.
And so we finally begin our drive to New York. Or so we think. We end up heading in the wrong direction right off the bat.
Fanatacist: Are we going south or north?
Me: …
Fanatacist: ?
Me: … I
Fanatacist: Dude, you gotta tell me which way I’m going.
Me: …don’t… know…wait it’s North
Fanatacist: Alright
Me: No wait! It’s South…wait, west? I don’t know, omg.
Fanatacist: …
Clazziquai: omfg it’s jesus.
Miraculously, we manage to get into New York City, but we end up taking a wrong turn and we miss Flushing completely. We speed for 30 minutes in the opposite direction before realizing we’re heading the wrong way. Fuck maps. Especially under the influence – maps become nightmarishly complex and indecipherable.
After a semi-stressful drive, we arrive at the LAN center. As we’re walking, we are greeted by none other than Phelix, the mastermind behind the event. Shortly afterwards, we run into NeVeR, the ace Terran of team New Jersey. The five of us were assembled, and we decided to go ahead and purchase playing time. Sadly, Equinox_kr never made it =[
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Picture of the LAN center
We played for two hours. It was straight up Starcraft action the entire time. There were a lot of intense games, including clazz’s surprising TvT win over NeVeR, and Fanatacist and Phelix’s epic, long-ass TvP.
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00665.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00666.jpg)
Fanatacist’s epic TvP
Although I can’t recall the details very clearly, I think they mined out the map and the final battle was between 3 vultures and a tank versus a couple zealots and a dragoon and an arbiter… guess who won? Fuck protoss…
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00669.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00674.jpg)
Afterwards, we crossed the street (literally) and ate at a Korean restaurant.
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00675.jpg)
We had dak kalbi (spicy marinated chicken) and jae yook bokeum (spicy grilled pork). Good stuff. Then we exchanged iccup usernames and some other information and went our separated ways. Overall, I’d say the event was a super success!
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00676.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00677.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00679.jpg)
NeVeR
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00682.jpg)
Masami.sc
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00681.jpg)
Phelix
![[image loading]](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/j0mzchoi/DSC00685.jpg)
Group picture from left to right: masami.sc, Phelix, Clazziquai, NeVeR. Photo taken by fanatacist
The way back home was remarkably uneventful. Upon arrival at my house, we decided to light up one last time. A farewell smoke, I suppose. We lit up and watched the sun steadily slip into the vast horizon. Another day of summer gone.
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