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This summary was originally written by Kjell, with some comments from Patrik, Nicklas and Karl-Johan (given in "[ ]").
Pictures will probably never will be available.
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called May the 9th 1998 by some, a wind rose on a certain subway platform in Stockholm. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
When the wind finally dies, with the departure of the train, I desperatly tried to fix my haircut which had been messed up. Taking my own Wheel of Time from my pocket, I tried to calm my racing heart. I had enough time to get my sorry ass to the bookstore where I was supposed to meet with my colleagues, the Swedish Darkfriends. Taking deep breaths to calm myself, I slowly made my way through the winding streets of Gamla Stan. I occupied my twisted mind with trying to decide whether or not I should wear my sun glasses. Finally, I decided not to. And then I was already at the door.
It was with a sense of dread that I entered the bookstore. Even though they seemed to be shrouded in shadow, I spotted K-J, Patrik, and CD almost immediately. Nicklas also happended to be around, and after a few moments of confusion we where introduced to each other. We chatted for a while, during which Carin, Bo, Johan, and Fredrik dropped in. Now we where only waiting for Helena Zeegers. The subject of the discussions at that point was Cover Art. Yes people, the Swedish covers are just as bad as Sweets', and the texts on the back of the book really sucks. They had even misspelled Nynaeve's name on one! "Ninaeve"? Sheesh. We also engaged in an in-depth discussion about the art in the Guide. We came to the conclusion that some of the art in the Guide is not too bad, but the bad art is really horrible. At some point Helena showed up, and, after those who wanted to stock up on books had paid, we set out for the restaurant. In attendence where: Kjell Ståhl (yours truly), Karl-Johan Norén (Sweden's own Nae'blis), Patrik Montgomery, CD Skogsberg (the Gray Man), Bo Lindbergh, Fredrik Strandberg, Nicklas Andersson, Carin Wesslau, Björn Wennerberg, Johan Bengtson, and Helena Zeegers.
After taking a group photo (the observant viewer might find an unnamed person in the picture) we walked a few times around the block, just for the hell of it. Or rather, because it was some time before our table at the restaurant would be ready. Discussed topics included, but where not limited to: Why Birgitte didn't kill Asmodean, Stoonts, Netscape vs Opera, and Jolt Cola.
After about 15 minutes we returned to the restaurant, where we promptly ordered huge amounts of fries, and Stockholms Vatten(tm) (Yep. Water.) Oh, some sissies didn't dare to go that far, and ordered soda or beer, and those where also rightfully harassed by the waiter. During the meal there was much talk, too bad I missed it all since I sat almost on the opposite end of the table from K-J.
[K-J: *sheesh* It's not like only my side of the table is the only one that counts. You had Bo, Johan and Helena at your half.
On our end of the table we discussed everything from the pros and cons of studying to why the french fries disappeared so quickly. No RJ talk at all actually, mostly due to the total lack of new, interesting on-topic material. What was discussed at the other end of the table remains a mystery.
[Patrik: I believe we talked about other books, mostly SF of course.]
[Nicklas: The thing I remember most was about K-J's brother, who had peed on his signed copy of The Great Hunt. Also, wasn't there something about boats in concrete? And due to some strange accident my French Fries got a bit too salty at one time.]
[K-J: The toast was "Write Jordan, write."]
After dinner we decided that we should go to a cinema. So we walked the 2 km to the nearest cinema, where we (this is a shocker) actually managed to agree on a film, namely Gattaca. Which turned out to be a good choice, since it was actually much better than I had thought. There where plenty of moist eyes and clearing of throats at the end. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
[Patrik: This might be the frist time that we all agreed on one film that eventually turned out to be good. I think we agreed on "Ransom" on the first DFS, but that one was really lousy.]
When we exited the cinema we where unpleasantly surprised byt the fact that it had started to rain. And I had no jacket, only a thin shirt, because it had been so sunny and warm when I left home. Oh well. After a brief stop at McDonald's we decided to make a try to find an open Café. Having reached the conclusion that the nearest open Café probably was in Gamla Stan, where our adventure had begun, we started to walk the 2 km back. In the rain. It. Was. Not. Fun.
[Patrik: It was if you had a waterproof coat. With a hood. :-))]
Having walked about halfways back, we stopped to catch our breath. After some bickering a change of course was proposed. Which required that we turned around once again, and walk back towards the cinema again. So we did. Well, we didn't have to walk as far as the cinema, and quicker than expected we arrived at a cozy café named "Die Ecke" (the corner). Of course, they had no table big enough for eleven. Argh. But it gave me a chance to dry and warm myself. Coffee is your friend, I have always said. But since not everybody had a place to sit, we decided to head towards the train station, which we knew was open, and which had plenty of benches. At this time it had stopped to rain, which everyone was happy for.
Since the station, at that time of the day, is the hive of Stokholm's most wretched scum and villany, we instead of stopping there, took the subway to K-J's job. After stocking up on vital supplies (Coca-Cola etc etc) we settled ourselves in front of the computers and fired up Opera. Sites visited included Helena's Art Gallery where every pictures was discussed in depth. Other popular issues was the functionality of web browsers, and probably a lot more which I have forgotten.
At midnight we made our goodbyes and left to catch the last commuter train home, or similar. At least I had, despite the rain, a very good time and I hope everybody else had fun too.
Some quotes somewhat less out of context than usual:
Helena to me (when walking in the rain): "Kjell, you look wet."
Me (being soaking wet): "Gee, I hadn't noticed. Thanks for
telling me."
CD to me: "You are wet, I suppose you are cold too?"
Me (being wet and cold): "CD, was there a hint of malicious
pleasure in your voice, or was it just my imagination?"
Helena to Patrik: "I feel like I'm in the way - move!"
Helena to K-J: "Have you visited the restaurant earlier?"
K-J: "Should be nine... no, twelve years ago. But they had good food
then."
Helena: "Some fish taste too much fish."
K-J: "Progress. Yesterday only your neighbours knew you're an idiot. Today the whole world knows you're an idiot."
Karl-Johan Norén,
kjnoren@hem3.passagen.se