Hell in a Handbasket

It seems that the event exceeded expectations. Turk even traveled from the wilds of Washington, DC in order to hobnob with the blogging set out here in flyover country. I bought the man a drink in an effort to ease his return to reason.

We all were supposed to stand and introduce ourselves in turn. When I announced my own identity, I heard Tam say "So that's...." only to let it trail off. Take my word for it, this is a lot better than the way most attractive women act when they meet me for the first time.

There were a fair number of people there, and I didn't get the chance to talk to everyone! Sucked, that.

Red, Old Grouch and Jerry were bloggers that I had never come across before, and I would have dearly loved to have been able to enjoy a meeting of minds. Baby Troll (Ha! Great name!) is even from Cincinnati, which is even closer to me than Indianapolis, yet I have never heard a whisper of his presence.

I need to find more time for reading the blogs, it seems.

Ahab I heard of, of course. And Tam. And Roberta. Never said a word to any of them.

So you might think, with all these bloggers around that I didn't talk to, that I just pulled the wallflower act and sat in the corner, waiting for someone to ask me to dance. On the contrary! I bent the ear of Mike, probably to his wife Breda's annoyance. I urged him to update his blog more often, probably to his own.

I also met some wonderful readers of blogs who decided to attend, although no one was a regular of mine. Two of them were a man/wife pair from Columbus, Indianapolis. One might think that is an example of the world being smaller than one might think, two people from towns named Columbus but located in different states who read the same blogs and showed up for the meet. But it seems the wife portion of the pair is from Ohio, and an OSU Buckeyes fan. I wish I had thought to get their address so I could send them some buckeyes candy.

Eventually even my reserves of stamina will run out, and I left while the do was still in full swing. During the drive home it occurred to me that I was probably way too loud while there. I had ramped up the boisterous and noise level in an effort to keep myself engaged and alert, which was no doubt a bad idea to anyone else who was trying to have a conversation anywhere near me. Next time I will have to make sure that I get some sleep before attending so I won't drown anyone out.

Insufferable boor or not, it was exactly what I needed at exactly the right time. Let us hope they invite me back for the next one.