I'm back home now after a quick trip out to the NYC/NJ nexus that is North Jersey. I haven't really gathered my thoughts yet, so please excuse any rambling that might pop up in here.

First things first, @brandybuizel I am insanely proud of you for putting together what is now the largest Newgrounds event to have happened thus far. 350 attendees is no small feat, and the fact you and your team of pals (all of whom I am just proud of, though I do NOT have a list of all of you) made things happen almost FLAWLESSLY blows my mind. Very very very excited to see what you come up with in the future, and not just in terms of meetups!

This whole event was, as most are these days for me, completely surreal. This one in particular, though, had tons of little moments that really helped it to stand out from ones previous that I'll talk about a bit more later. But it all sort of hit me when I was standing outside of the venue with @jack, @goodboyethan, @stormydew, and a few other folks that I now realize I never asked to get the usernames of. I remember standing there and suddenly realizing that in my excitement to have seen these 12 or so people, I had only just met a fraction of those that would later be in attendance.

Soon, it was time for setup and I was running around, slowly watching the crowd outside grow as time went on until the clock finally hit 3pm.

SO much was going on and it was hard for me to keep track of everything. I remember doing a couple sketches, trading cards with people, drawing my lil robot guy in books and on objects, among other things. The entire venue was abuzz with life and, despite my nerves, I did my best to talk to as many folks as I could.

While a lot of this is still a blur in my head (and I'm sure looking at pictures will help me sort everything out), there were several moments that stood out.

First was having @geokureli approach me and say "I still listen to BURY". If you've ever heard me talk about my creative process or my music, you'll know that I tend not to think about things once I put them out. But for some reason, that project has had a very weird way of popping back up in my life every so often and always seems to catch me a bit off-guard. George, I want you to know that I very very very much appreciate you and I'm insanely glad that BURY has had enough impact on you that you still go back and listen to it, specifically New Tones. Also, you're a very talented developer!!!! I don't recall if I had said that to you but I wanted to tell you after seeing and hearing about all your work on Tankmas and other projects I've seen your name pop up on around here!! I'm excited to see what you'll crank out in the future! Keep up the great work pal and I hope we run into each other again! (Maybe I'll know more about gamedev by then too!)

The next had to have been when I finally got a chance to talk with @milkypossum about music after running into her at other meetups and only ever saying "Hi" as we were both heading somewhere. Her, @connorgrail, and I all talked shop about music and production and creativity and it was so so so so so so so so refreshing to level with folks like that again. It's been such a long time since I've talked about music production instead of music and I appreciated every single minute of that interaction. Connor, Milky, you guys are LOVELY and TALENTED and I am very excited to see what you two have in store!

Last, the biggest moments were probably from the screening portion of the event. I don't know who chose the animations to get shown (I'm assuming it was you Brandon), but seeing the "At The Docks" music video by @staggernight was pretty wild to see (especially getting to see @heyopc 's big bald head jumpscare at the end of it). Though, as great as that was, it was when the Summer Loving Collab started and I heard my song "summer breeze" start to play that I was a bit speechless to say the least. Up until this meetup, I can't really say I've ever seen anything I've made on that sort of scale. Yes, the Summer Loving Collab was huge, don't get me wrong, but there's something mystical about getting to see something you worked on being screened in front of a crowd in a theater.

I ran up and sat behind @brolyng, @jack, @owen, @leroyalmess, @magibauble, and a few other people that I couldn't see in the dark and all I could say to them is "My song is playing". I don't really know how to describe the feeling, but it was somewhere between excitement, fear, and appreciation. Brandon had mentioned he would be playing a couple of my tracks, too, but I guess that kind of made it more real to hear.

I love Newgrounds. I love this community. I love getting to be unabashedly creative and being able to do the things I love without the pressure of success. I love that I can share my passions with people who just get it and are just as passionate for what they do. With everyone I talked to at the meetup (as usual, too many for me to properly remember but I'll do my best), I could feel and see the joy and excitement they had to create and show off their creations. From the folks showcasing games (@pukebomb, @bill, @spinalpalm, @squidly, @dungeonation), to the people talking, sketching, wandering, and enjoying, it's events and communities like these that only make me want to create MORE. It's meeting people I've known but only just met in person (@DrEojPuerte, @Cheetoh, @GoodBoyEthan, @GeoKureli, @nicksenny, @milkypossum, @captainstevie, @tamag0), getting to see some old faces (@brandybuizel, @coby, @jack, @owen, @linethickness, @broly, @hekdiggity, @luis, @mindchamber, @tomfulp, @playblast, @houndkids, @ant, @cartersterling, @connorgrail, @karlestonchew, @anislug, @cortat-g, @jaster, @sirlenward, @kolani, @girziggler, @teravex, @ninjamuffin99, @thedyingsun, @nihaho), and getting to meet new ones (@mrschmoods, @leroyalmess, @emperorkatuunuxvi, @caustic, @stormydew (and her BF!), @indigo-bluez, @srpelo, @krinkels, @yendorng and a few non-NG folks!).

If I don't have you listed, please let me know in the comments if we talked or met, even if it was briefly, and I can update the list!

Excited to continue watching this community grow and for the meet ups to grow along with it! Hope to see and meet more of you in the future!

Anyways, I say all this because i think we should stop being creative. im never making anything funny or good again. im oinyl going to make bad art from now on and im never leaving my house to meet anyone eever again, even if theres a fire.

Long Live Newgrounds!