TWILIGHT III (Sept. 26-28th, Seattle WA) --- Only 14 seats remain... (RSVP NOW)

TWILIGHT III - Seattle, WA - September 26-28, 2008
A Formal Gathering of the Real Vampire Community
http://vampires.meetup.com/914/

TWILIGHT is a formal gathering of individuals involved in vampirism (practical and academic), coordinated by Merticus (of Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC and the Atlanta Vampire Alliance), and Daemonox (of the Vampirism Community eList). The goal of this gathering is to bring together the real community's serious and sane for discussion, knowledge exchange, networking, and social engagement. This is an private event that screens attendees, and we reserve the right to refuse access to anyone.

TWILIGHT III will be held on the weekend of September 26-28th in Seattle, WA. This gathering will be officially hosted by Eric Bloodstorm from Portland, OR and Lady Slinky (of the VCMB) from Washington, along with the Vampirism Community eList, which will celebrate its 10 Year Anniversary as of September 28th.

For this gathering, we have the following presentations and guest speakers planned; as well as several more that we look forward to committing to the conference shortly:

  - "The Vampire Archetype in Media, Culture, & the Real Vampire Community" by Michelle Belanger (of House Kheperu & author of The Psychic Vampire Codex, The Psychic Energy Codex, as well as author/compiler of Vampires In Their Own Words)
  - "The Vampirism & Energy Work Research Study" by Merticus (of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (AVA), & Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC - authors of the study)
  - "Energy Work Within the Void: Integration of the Individual as a Whole" by Soma (of the Los Angeles shamanic & vampiric communities)
  - "Law As It Relates to the Real Vampire & BDSM Communities, & the Practical Reality of the Donor Contract" by J.G.C. (of the Los Angeles, CA legal field & vampiric community)

In addition to the presentations, there will be open group discussion, and discussions panels that will involve the aformentioned presenters along with the following special guests: Eric Bloodstorm (Portland, OR), Lady Slinky (Seattle, WA - VCMB), Cole (San Francisco, CA - Carpe Noctum), Zilchy (San Diego, CA - Vampire Q&A on YouTube), Daemonox (Los Angeles, CA - Vampirism Community eList), and as a delightful twist, Case (Seattle, WA - Seattle Skeptics). We look forward to adding more finalized details, such as topics and additional presentations shortly. Thank you for your patience.



RSVP'ing For Gathering & Hotel Booking

As of Friday, August 29th, TWILIGHT III has only 14 seats remaining, with a capacity limit of 60 people, maximum. Discount hotel rates for the location of this gathering will ONLY be available until September 1st! For this reason, RSVP'ing and booking your hotel room now is highly encouraged (you will not be charged until check-out). Please RSVP NOW to secure your ability to attend this gathering, and to receive your hotel booking information.

At this time we are also interested in hearing topic suggestions for group discussion and the panels, along with any questions or comments that you may have. Please contact either Merticus or Daemonox by way of Meetup.com, or make your topic suggestions in the TWILIGHT Meetup message board.

Attendance is restricted to members of TWILIGHT only.

For more information, to join meetup.com, or to RSVP for this event, please visit:
http://vampires.meetup.com/914/



Twilight Gathering History

TWILIGHT I was held in Los Angeles, CA on October 30, 2007, and officially hosted by The Wretched eList (California Vampires), and the Los Angeles Vampire Meetup Group. Originally intended as a one-off occurrence, the evening began with a formal banquet dinner on one level, and progressed to presentations and discussions on a second level. Presenting at this gathering was Michelle Belanger (of House Kheperu and author of The Psychic Vampire Codex), along with Merticus and Zero (of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (AVA), and Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC - authors of Vampirism & Energy Work Research Study). With an attendance of 50 individuals, representative of many notable and active community members from the Southern Californian region, as well as attendees from as far away as South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, and Northern California, this memorable gathering was heralded as a success and quickly demanded encore.

TWILIGHT II was held in Atlanta, Georgia on the weekend of March 7-9th, 2008, and was officially hosted by the Atlanta Vampire Alliance and Atlanta Vampire & Non-Conformists Meetup Group. Presentations were held by Jason Crutchfield and Michelle Belanger of House Kheperu, Merticus, Zero, and SethNunMin of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance, Alistair of House DarkHaven, Tau Peristera De Magdalene and Tau Heosphoros Iacchus of Liberi Sanguinis Luciferi, RavenHarte of Clan Caladvwlch, Stephen O'Mallie of Clan O'Mallie and House Vengeance, along with discussions involving Aislin Ni MorRhiaghan, Khan, Lady Onyx Ravyn, Allen Greenfield, and Daemonox, and group discussion of the much debated documentary, Vampyres: When Reality Goes Beyond Fiction. With an outstanding attendance of 75 people, this gathering brought together attendees as far away as California, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, North & South Carolina, Alabama, along with the greater Atlanta region, and set an even higher standard for future TWILIGHT gatherings.

9:12 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

It was not meant to be...

Sometimes things are lost for a reason.  I'll take the hint to collect my thoughts for another time.  I've written too much lately as it is.

9:18 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

The only thing worse...

...than destroying someone's life beyond repair, is to give them hope afterwards.

1:31 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

TWILIGHT II (Atlanta, Georgia)

TWILIGHT is a formal gathering of individuals involved in vampirism (practical and academic), coordinated by Merticus (of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (House AVA)), and Daemonox (of the Vampirism Community eList and The Wretched eList (California Vampires)). The goal of this gathering is to bring together the community's serious and sane for discussion, knowledge exchange, networking, and social engagement. This is an invitational event that screens attendees, and we reserve the right to refuse access to anyone.

TWILIGHT I - Los Angeles, CA was officially hosted by The Wretched eList (California Vampires), and the Los Angeles Vampire Meetup Group in Los Angeles, CA on October 30, 2007. With an attendance of 50 vampires, representative of many notable, and active community memebers from the Sourthern Californian region, as well as attendees from as far away as South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, and Northen California, this memorable event was heralded as a huge success. The gathering began with a formal banquet dinner on one level, and progressed to presentations and discussions on a second level. Presenting at this gathering was Michelle Belanger (of House Kheperu and author of The Psychic Vampire Codex), along with Merticus and Zero (of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (House AVA), and Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC - authors of Vampirism & Energy Work Research Study.)

TWILIGHT II - Atlanta, GA
March 7-8th, 2008

After the success of the first event in Los Angeles, TWILIGHT II has been scheduled for March 7th-9th, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be officially hosted by the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (House AVA) and Atlanta Non-Conformists Meetup Group. Unlike the first event which ran for only one evening, this event will run for an entire weekend and feature even more presentations, discussion panels, and social engagement for participants.

Presenting at this event will be Jason Crutchfield and Michelle Belanger of House Kheperu, Merticus, Zero, and Seth NunMin of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance, Alistair of House DarkHaven, Tau Peristera De Magdalene and Tau Heosphoros Iacchus of Liberi Sanguinis Luciferi, RavenHarte of Clan Caladuwlch, Stephan O'Mallie of Clan O'Mallie and House Vengeance, along with discussions involving Aslin Ni MorRhiaghan, Khan, Onyx Ravyn, Allen Greenfield, and Daemonox.  Also, the much debated documentary, Vampyres: When Reality Goes Beyond Fiction will be previewed and discussed.

Attendance is retricted to members of TWILIGHT only.

For more information:

http://vampires.meetup.com/914/

1:17 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Happy holidays...
Current mood: proverbial

This year is going to be interesting. ;)

5:03 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

A conversation of (ir)rational fears...
Current mood: melancholy

A moment in a longer conversation:

me:  Slight tangent and all, but we finally just watched 28 Days Later...err, no wait, I mean 28 Weeks Later

him:  oh?  How was it?

me: Really good, actually.  Depressing as fuck, mildly scary, but really good.  Funny story but soon afterwards the boi passed out.  After an hour or so I picked up one of our cats and went to wake him up to the sight of her cuteness, dangling over the side of the couch, whispering his name.  It was sheer reflexes that kept me from getting punched in the face.  Turns out he was having a zombie nightmare, and I was too close to his face for comfort when he opened his eyes.

him:  Nice.  I've sorta thought about watching that one but it's got zombies in it, and I hate zombies.

me:  eh?  Why's that?

him:  What's not to hate?  They're after you, theres lots of them, they want your brains, if not all of you, and all it takes is a bite or scratch and you're fucked.

me:  See...  You give me zombies, aliens, malicious vampires and werewolves, serial killers, or any other tangible entity and I'm perfectly capable of sitting down and watching a good movie about it and enjoying it.  Why?  Because they're tangible.  Which means I can hit them and hurt them, too.

For me, the movies that scare the crap out of me is the ones with evil spirits, demons, and desperate, if not malicious ghosts.  I just can't do movies like The Ring, White Noise, House On Haunted Hill, etc.  No fucking way without nightmares and that pricking hypersensitivity for weeks that has my sanity unraveling.

him:  Nah, ghosts don't scare me.  They're few and far in between.  But with zombies, there's always more of them than you.  And I'm not just talking a handful here, I'm talking like hundreds of them all waiting to get a peice of the meal ticket, and you're the main course.  Especially these new fangled zombies that don't just lurch around slowly, but rather run.  Seriously. Fuck. That.

me:  Bah, you're shortsighted.  Backtracking, at least you can fight the zombies, and you have a chance at outrunning them.  Evil ghosts and demons?  You're flat out fucked in so many ways.  They can hurt you and there's nothing you can do to stop it or hurt them in most cases.  Worse yet, it's not just physical infliction, but mental, and even spiritual.

Yeah, go be scared of zombies all you want.  But once they've slaughtered you, you get to kick back and decompose as a dead man with no cares.  Unless you're one of them.  Then depending on the premise, you either starve to death later on, or live an eternity as an undead pile of goo.  But either way you're gone and it doesn't matter.  But with malicious spirits and demons, the part that nobody seems to stop and think about that's the worst of all?  The fun doesn't end when you're dead.  Now they have you on their playing field absolutely, and you're spirit is just flat out fucked.  Now they can really torment you.

him:  Whoa...  Huh....  You know, I never thought about it like that.  I'm going to have to think about that one and get back at you.

me: You do that.  I'm confident that you will appreciate the wisdom of my choice of phobia. *g*

6:29 AM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Just stop, please...
Current mood: traumatized

Out of pure boredom, I finally popped in a DVD from one of those box sets of vampire themed D movies that some lame friend felt inclined to give me for shits and giggles one birthday or so from the days of yore.  After about five minutes into the first flick I pulled the DVD out and microwaved it.  And then took a shower. 

I still feel unclean.

Now mind you, I am a fan of low budget vampires vampires and classic gems of obscurity.  Tale of a Vampire, Andy Warhol's Dracula, The Habit, The Addiction, and yes, even The Girl With The Hungry Eyes have graced my purchased collection and duplicate rentals.  I'm also a die hard fan of the vamp camp of Modern Vampires and Dracula: Dead and Loving It, and even the cutsey flicks such as My Best Friend Is A Vampire, A Vampire From Burbank, The Little Vampire, and neurotic crap such as Vampire's Kiss, I've enjoyed.

But for the love of all that is sacred, please, please just spare us of any crap that doesn't involve someone who can't act their way out of a paper bag, or a plot that doesn't read like some emo teenager's wet dream.  I feel as though I spent 5 minutes looking into the festering, gaping void of lameness incarnate, and it almost broke my spirit and will to live.  Just don't do it.  Don't act in it.  Don't fund it.  Don't write it.  Please!

7:38 PM - 5 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

I have tears in my eyes...

Stolen from Shishain:

You gotta watch this... 

3:55 PM - 3 Comments - 7 Kudos - Add Comment

Van Helsing sighting...

It's about 2:13 AM or so and I'm walking along the back streets of Hollywood towards my car, which is a few blocks away and parked along the one of this city's ghetto parks.  Not more than ten minutes earlier I had received a call from one of the minions that he had succesfully completed his night's task.  And being that I was about to move the vehicle for street cleaning in the morning anyway, I offered him a ride back to his place in Los Feliz.  He haggled for a stop at the grocery store along the way, and I conceeded out of conveniance because I was out of bread and paper plates.

It's a nice night out, maybe just a little chill than would have been ideal, but I'm cold-blooded and picky, and thus always wrapped in multiple layers.  The streets are pretty empty for just after 2 AM, when all the bars and clubs close and send people home, but then again it is a Monday night, and there's not much worth doing.  Besides moving your car to avoid that $40 parking ticket., that is.

As I come to an intersection and spot my vehicle down the block and across the street, out of the corner of my eye I catch a speck of movement.  With a glance I make out an individual heading up the street about a block away, a slight favoring of one leg over the other in something somewhere between a limp and drag.  Not thinking much of it, I crossed the street and began walking in his direction from the other side.

A half block later I turn towards my car and begin to walk on the street itself, digging around for my keyes.  Struck by that tingling interference upon awareness that means you're being watched, I look up and watch as a man comes to a pause and turns himself to face me with sudden interest.  From this distance I can see hes' an older gentleman, white breezy hair slightly puffing from under that puritan black hat, an old fashioned, impeccable black suit, fingerless gloves, and what looked like a loose medical bag, gripped in his right hand.  He seemed to lean towards me for a moment as though he was trying to get a better look, even so much as taking a half step forward to keep his balance.

Upon first impression, I had briefly chuckled to myself, this guy looks like some cliche Van Helsing.  Even regretted not having a digital camera on me, and asking to take his picture.  But by the time he completed his turn, and most definately when he took that half step...there was that sudden hypothetical calculation that went on in the brain that was factoring together the obvious nah and the fractional but what if...  For a split second, it didn't entirely seem impossible that I could have just happened to run into that one, token crazy fucker who would, and I froze as the system began switching gears and running more calculations.

Just as I was about to go into ghetto survival mode, he turned and began his hobbled trek away from my direction.  I got in my car, shook my head, and just had to laugh at the absurdity.  Upon hearing the story, the minion's response was, "Like I always say, werewolves are cooler than vampires."  But he's biased.

4:58 AM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

TWILIGHT VAMPIRE GATHER (West Coast, 10/30)

TWILIGHT is a formal gathering of individuals involved in vampirism (practical and academic). The goal is to bring together the community's serious and sane for discussion, knowledge exchange, networking, and social engagement. This is an invite only event, and we reserve the right to refuse access to anyone. (18+ Only)

The next event will be held on October 30th in Los Angeles, California with special guests Michelle Belanger (of House Kheperu and author of The Psychic Vampire Codex and Sacred Hunger) along with Suscitatio / the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (aka AVA) (authors of the Vampire & Energy Worker Research Survey). Hosting this event is the Wretched: California Vampires eList and the Los Angeles Vampire Meetup Group. This event will feature presentations, discussion panels, and a private club with special guests.

This is a special preliminary open invitation, subject to screening...

1:50 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment