Last night’s festivities were great. Tonight was a little more subdued. The bruddah and sistah-in-law had to return home for a tiny emergency (something about sparks flying out of their apartment’s heater, but it’s all good now). But we’d already made plans to hang out with Grump, Smeagle, Wuvdani and the Professor, so that’s what we did. Good geeky goodness playing cards, watching Ice Age and (of course) Clash of the Cretins.
We came. We saw. We kicked their ass!
Last night’s meeting of Blogaholics Anonymous™ went off without a hitch. Not! But those are the kinds of things that make the experience more memorable.
I am going to try to give you a rundown of the events as I saw them. If they conflict in any way with those of other eyewitnesses, we’ll let you, the jury, decide who’s telling the truth.
We arrived at Downtown Disney a bit early. So, of course, we headed straight for Ghirardelli to breathe the chocolate fumes. And they were handing out free samples…
Next stop, of course, was Once Upon A Toy, where you can get a custom set of Lincoln Logs or Tinker Toys.
We have our priorities straight.
Then, it was on to Rainforest Cafe to meet up with the lords of the blogiverse.
ME: We’re going to meet Jason. He invented Blogrolling.
KIDS: Coooool…. What’s blogrolling?
In truth, I didn’t know what to expect. Until now, these were semi-imaginary people! The great thing about blogs is that you get to know people by reading their printed thoughts (and sometimes seeing their pictures). But I’m not really Solonor. I’m not half as annoying in real life (shut up, Dawn). Would these folks be what I pictured in my warped mind?
Well, we arrived at the entrance to the Rainforest about five minutes before our 8pm reservation. No bloggers. It was frickin’ freezing (shut up, Bruce), so the family went into the gift shop to warm up. Then, I went back outside to go to the reservation station to see if anyone had checked in. And there they were, big as life.
ME: Ooh, this looks like a rowdy bunch.
THEM: *nervous laughter* Who is this creep?
ME: Um, I guess that’s what I get for not putting a picture on my blog.
THEM: Oh, THAT creep!
A hearty round of introductions ensued, then came THE WAIT.™ You see, apparently, reservations for 8pm at Rainforest Cafe mean you’re not planning on eating anything until 10pm… and that’s assuming you have Yvonne with a machete leading the way in…
Here’s a few clues to how long we waited outside:
Finally, after several discussions about beating up another party for their spot and Yvonne putting some heavy moves on the reservation dude, they called our number… if we wanted to sit outside! So, we waited some more.
The good part was that we got to spend a bit of time talking to Dan. He and Venita got to talk book store lingo, while Kier put the moves on my daughter and Molly launched several unsuccessful escape attempts. Dan is cool. He’s one of those “I liked him as soon as I met him” guys.
Eventually, we made it into line for a table–which we STILL wouldn’t have gotten, if Yvonne hadn’t bullied them into not giving it away while we stood there! And, at last, we were seated… at separate tables.
See, I don’t think the folks at Disney knew the Princess of the Blogiverse was coming. They found out in a hurry. I actually felt sorry for the poor guys.
ROBYN: It’s my 30th birthday, and I want to sit with my fucking friends!
LACKEY: Don’t yell at me. I don’t have to take this…
ROBYN: Oh yes you do! Find me your fucking manager, then!
LACKEY: (to manager) Would you like to talk to this?
ROBYN: It’s my birthday, and you made me and my friends wait outside in the fucking cold for over an hour and now you’re not even letting us sit together?
STOOGE: I’m sorry, ma’am, but there’s nothing I can do. We can’t handle parties this large.
ROBYN: Then why the fuck didn’t you tell me that when I made this fucking reservation two fucking weeks ago?
STOOGE: Oh, look! I’ve got a couple of tables we can put together right over here…
Well, suffice it to say, we got to sit at the same table. It wasn’t great for talking (especially sitting right under the annoying animatronic gorilla that kept going nuts every five minutes–NO MORE MONKEYS!), but we were together at least. And we got the most tolerant of waiters in Wendel. Best. Waiter. Ever.
Then, of course, the cameras came out. I’m sure we’ll see lotsa pics on their blogs. I gotta gets me one a them things.
Emily, Venita and I got to sit and have a nice conversation with Andrea. Let me completely ruin her warblogging reputation and tell you that she’s a sweetie. No fire and brimstone shooting out of her eyes or anything.
Paul, on the other hand, was seated right in the middle of everything. He had the greatest time watching Yvonne get her happy on. There was a bit more rum in her rum and coke than humans should be allowed to drink…
Statia was close enough, so we got a little bit of a chance to talk to her, as well. She put in a bid for a permanent day on the Minion Calendar. And since wKen doesn’t seem to want his…
I hardly got to talk to the Princess, Dick, Jason, or She Who Must Be Obeyed at all. Darn it. But overall, it turned out to be a great time with great people. I wish I’d had more time to talk to everyone, but at least I know their not just hallucinations anymore!
And, yes, The-Blogger-Formerly-Known-As-McSweeny can keep is Overlord status. Anyone who can get kicked out of the Happiest Place on Earth is definitely evil enough.
Update: Robyn’s got a few pictures up. I’m sure there will be more after they’ve finished up tonight’s debauchery.
Last night, Paul and Ringo joined Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, Jeff Lynne, members of Monty Python and friends in a tribute to George. The BBC article gives a complete blow-by-blow of the event, which took place exactly one year after Harrison’s death. *sniff*
In the wee hours on BBC World Service radio, I heard that American consumer spending is holding the economy together by a bare thread. What with the late Thanksgiving and thus a shortened Christmas shopping season, we barely have time to save the world as we know it.
And so, it is good that Michele has declared today blogger that earns cash when you click on their Amazon link (or put some clickthroughs through Blogcritics) and buy! buy! buy!
For crying out loud, what are you saving it for? Christmas?
Perhaps those who wonder why there is no outrage from Muslim leaders over terrorist attacks (myself included) haven’t been listening. How many Islamic news sources and blogs do you read? Any? Try Al-Muhajabah’s on for size.
[ Thanks to Tim ]
Ack. My daughter told me she just had to get up at 6am to go to Limited Too on the day after Thanksgiving, so she could buy one of these darn things. So, the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving breakfast of leftover pumpkin pie came a little early this morning. The mall opened at 7am.
I was surprised by the lack of real bloodshed. I didn’t even need my flak jacket (though I wore it, just to be safe). And, by some Christmas miracle, we found the nearest possible parking spot to the main entrance. It was scary.
Two Neopets left. No long line. Was this some post-turkey hallucination?
So, now we’re back. Mother is napping, getting ready for another assault later today. Pepperkat is in her room yakking with her Neo buds about her latest prize. Whiny never even moved from his nice, warm bed. He’s the smart one.
Of course, I’m in here switching between blogs and MOHAA.
In my morning jog around the blogroll, I found a neat, new toy from the Scriptygoddess Kristine. Now, instead of seeing what time I made a post, you can tell what I should have been doing instead.
[ Toys! Toys! Toys! Found at Blogatelle ]
As we gather around the table today, we remember that ’twas a mere thirty years ago that the
Princess of the Blogiverse was born. Happy Birthday, Robyn.
Friday night, the Solonor clan comes out of hiding. I can’t wait. We’re finally going to meet Robyn, Todd, Statia, Jason, Yvonne, Andrea, Stacy, et al.
(Sorry, I meant “et Dan”…I dunno who Al is…)
Anyway, it’s not just me that’s excited. You see, I’ve spawned a pair of mini-bloggers in Pepperkat and Whiny the Elder. They’re all a-twitter about meeting real live bloggers.
For example, here’s a conversation my son posted on his blog (snarky comments in parentheses are his):
WTE: I’m going to the Rainforest Cafe on Friday to eat with bloggers.
Ark: Really?
WTE: Yeah, I get to eat with a bunch of people I don’t know with blogs I have never read.
Ark: Oh (He is a man of few words…I guess)
WTE: It doesn’t help that the only blogs I read are yours, DaProber’s, Becky’s, my sister’s, Solonor’s, and my own. (Yes, I DO speak in hyperlinks)
Ark: Heh (Is he a man of few words or am I just making up a response? The world may never know.)
WTE: Yeah, we’re the underground blogs.
Ark: Doesn’t that make us the underground of the underground?
WTE: Isn’t that above ground on the other side?
Ark: Yeah, maybe we’re really popular in China!
WTE: People probably see us on the news all the time there!
Ark: Heheh
WTE: I have to put this in my blog…
Watch out non-blog society. We’re breeding.
There is nothing that gets my blood boiling quicker than an unjustified attack on an innocent person. I still hold faint hope that most intelligent human beings are the same way.
Today’s opportunity for doubt comes in the form of religious nutjobs issuing a fatwa on the Nigerian journalist that wrote the slanderous accusation that Muhammed liked girls. Compounding the stupidity is that they have issued this statement through the government!
At least she made it out of the country. Now all she has to worry about are the billion potential hitmen out there that might follow through with their “religious duty” to kill her.
Pardon me. I have to go scream into my pillow now.
[ via Spleenville ]
I accept politicians as a fact of life. They are what they are. They do what they do. I don’t see much sense in getting all hot and bothered by most of their lame-ass stunts. In fact, there are very few politicians that really make my skin crawl.
Bob Barr is one of them.
So, when you tell me that Bob Barr is joining the ACLU, my first reaction is: “What the hell was I drinking last night?”
