Choptober is here. Time for spoop-tacular plans.

Choptober is a cultural waypoint. A milestone of the axe throwing year, and a whole bunch of fun to boot. It's a time to catch up with folks, get a feel for the community at large, and, you know, dress up and be goofy. It's the biggest serious-not-serious tourney I've been to, and while I've only done it once, it has a long pedigree of being an institution in the sport. Naturally, I need to come up with an over-thought plan to fight against my natural urge to not be witnessed in a space. And that's what this is, dear reader. Take a deep dive into my coping mechanism and check out my daring plan to survive all the ghouls of socializing at the last Cherry Hill Choptober!

It starts with prepwork

I'm not a rich man, but there are a few things I spoil myself with just to have a cave of solitude. To that end, I got a hotel room for the weekend. I paid real, 'mericun dollars to have a place that I can sneak away to if I feel like I've had enough. And, sister, the idea of kicking off my pants, eating some fine takeout and watching Telemundo in a king bed is sustaining me.

I do have a concept of myself as a strangle little lonesome boy, and fulfilling that perception by existing alone in a hotel room really scratches that itch, truth be told. The chance to sneak away and disappear (granted, nobody will necessarily be looking for me, but still) - is a delight.

There are other, more practical planning work: getting the right mix of clothes, figuring out if I need to get something proper for the Choppies, charging up my camera batteries and such. But the practical planning is secondary, always, to the impractical planning - so I haven't done it yet.

I'm hoping to do okay. Okay means different things for different people.

To be completely honest with you: I don't think I've ever won my first match at any tournament, ever. That should give you a pretty good scope of where I'm setting my expectations.

Espesh with my current league (where I'm throwing as well as I did my second league ever, I think), I'm not planning to set the world on fire. But it would be nice to win my first match. That's all I'm hoping for - my only truly difficult self-challenge. We'll see.

Outside of that, I'm hoping to interview a bunch of folks, maybe do a mini-series about something nonsensical. I've been struggling with topics to talk about over the past month or so (I'm sure you've noticed. It's okay. We can say it out loud), and there's no better fix for that than getting out of my own blanket fort and seeing what other people are doing in axe throwing. If I manage that, I'll consider Choptober a success.

Yes, I'm once again proving my savvy business prowess: spending a few hundred dollars to interact with other axe throwers and generate content for a free-to-view website. Outstanding. Very good. Very sensible.

Maybe I'll buy an axe. MAYBE.

I am not really planning to buy an axe, but I am not completely refusing the thought. You will recall, no doubt, that I often say I'm not gonna buy an axe at a big event, then I do. This is a little different: I'm having such a poor league season and need to change something. I don't think it's my axe (and I have big feelings about how much the axe really plays into your throw at all), but I'm not closed to the idea of changing it up just to change it up. So it's a maybe.

Don't tell Kevin. He can smell it in the air.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again.

I know that I have issues with social anxiety. You know that, too, if you've ever read anything on this blog. But I can say honestly that I'm excited to see everyone there, whether you're excited to see me or not. There is something really comforting about seeing a bunch of people who all like the same thing, doing that thing. It's like a nice warm blanket. And, dear reader, I'm ready to get wrapped up in it.

Plus, with this being the last Choptober at the Cherry Hill location, it's kinda a big deal, you know, and I'm honored to have the good luck to see the venue off to its new location.

So I'll see you there. Try not to spoop me with your scary costume, yeah?