Gaudere was hoping android209 would not remember her cool line due to beer overconsumption and would therefore not make good on his threat to stalk her in every thread she posts in and kill them all.
Well, I’m back from the trip to Chicago. Funny, Chris and I both agreed that the trip THERE went much faster than the trip back.
I’m just posting a few notes, because I have to go take a certain roll of film in to be developed. Be afraid, be very afraid(especially you, Valerie!).
Uke and UncleBeer were kind of the father figures to the group. As was stated earlier, they bailed out on us around midnight. The youngsters debated on where to go…but unfortunately the conversation turned into the classic Party Killer discussion - Vietnam. Gaudere and I finally got that stopped, and we were on our way.
Let’s just say I’m NOT surprised at all that Android missed work today. Poor guy was falling asleep at our table around 3 a.m., and taking frequent breaks outside in the cool Chicago air.
We WERE going to have a slumber party, but that fell apart at the last minute. I have to say, I was glad this morning that I had a bed to myself.
I’ll be back in an hour with the pictures. I’ll let you all know how they turned out.
I’m starting to recall some of the events… what was that dive we were in after the pub? I was glad when the world stopped swirling round at about 4am 
I have erased said information from my memory banks.
I think we need better descriptions to satisfy Flora’s curiosity. Let’s see if I can take care of that.
I was stunned by how perfectly Ike fit the mental picture of him…right down to a scarf and a satchel (though the earring was a bit of a surprise.) Complete with slightly shaggy, windblown hair, he’s exactly as I thought he would be. Ike sucked down bottles of Old Style, because, as he said: “When in Rome…” (It’s worth mentioning that none of the “Romans” were drinking Old Style.)
UncleBeer, contrary to his prolific cyber-nature, was actually rather quiet, tending to be more an observer…guess he was mostly there for the beer. Aside from not having a beer gut, he really does look the part of the average Joe. Or, Bob, rather. UncleBeer stuck with LeBatt’s drafts all night long.
Jophiel came for Boli and I about an hour early, dressed, as promised, in such a manner as to “outprep” Boli. Jophiel is very tall and lanky, and quick with a one-liner. With each bottle of MGD, he became more and more relaxed. Unfortunately, he had to leave around midnight. I assume that he actually got to work on time.
Boli reminds me of the girls I used to go to school with. She’s all sweaters and jeans, with long hair that she favors in a ponytail or a topknot. She didn’t really care for my music. It was also her idea that everyone come to the hotel room for a slumber party, but I’d like to point out that such a thing did NOT happen. Oh, yes…Boli is pretty basic. Bottle after bottle of Bud Light pretty much took care of Boli.
Valerie has great breasts. (Someone has to say it, right?) She’s also a pretty good hostess, keeping the party going. She came dressed in very “city” attire…all black, long skirt, boots, and --ahem-- very interesting black wraparound blouse. Very pretty, blonde…more glamourous than the rest of us. 
Although she stuck with glasses of diet Coke with lemon for the majority of the night, she did “fall of the wagon” and indulge in a few shots of Jamison’s.
Guadere surprised me. After proving herself to be such powerhouse in GD, I certainly was not expecting the teeny little thing that walked in. Even more surprising was that she was able to keep up with everyone…she knocked back Guinness like a pro.
Android showed up and hung out at the bar for about 30 minutes before asking if we were there from the SD. He was exactly as he was described above, and drank ALOT of Honey Brown.
Omniscient looks like the average frat guy, which came as a surprise to those of us who thought he was far older than his 24 years. He’s tall, dark haired, and clean cut. I thought he resembled Anthony Edwards. He drank C&C for the most part, switching once or twice to Guiness. At 4 a.m., he was still ready to party.
And then there’s me. I couldn’t decide what shirt to wear, so I wore two. Aside from a few Lemon Drops and a Kahlua coffee, I stayed with Coke all night. I zoned for a little bit, due mostly to missing my baby and feeling completely out of my league. I had a great time (although I wasn’t too keen on the slumber party idea) and everyone was just delightful.
The bantering between Valerie and Omniscient was an excellent show, but one of the best parts was talking to Ike about NYC and his job…kinda felt like I had a temporary mentor. I loved Chicago. I’d never been there before and I fell totally in love with the architecture and the attitude. Parking sucks, but the buzz is great. I can’t wait to go back. Next time, though, I’m parking in one of Valerie’s spare bedrooms.
“…all the prettiest girls live in Des Moines…”
–Jack Kerouac, On the Road
This is the most polite way of saying “Jophiel was getting drunk” that she could think of.
“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
sigh I can’t even get mentioned in the Chicago meeting. That’s it–no bribes for any of you! returns nickels to change purse
Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99.
“I get along well with everybody.” --I.M.F.
Let me just say that this whole “typical frat boy” stuff is getting out of hand. Is this a good thing or what? Do I fit the whole stereotype? I’m beginning to regret the labeling. I may have been better off being the mysterious, faceless Omniscient one that exuded such a mature, wise beyond my years persona in cyberspace. Now I’m just a dime a dozen drunk frat boy, ho hum.
Since everyone weighed in on the desciptions I’ll say the Chris was dead on.
Uke definately fit the Ivy league/New York image, and is high on the list of guys I’d like to learn more about. He seems to be very worldly and could teach me a thing or two, a very cool guy that should have sayed around longer.
UncleBeer was the most like our preconceptions from a visual standpoint, but was a 180 degrees in personality. He’s the Uncle we all wish we had, complete with mustache and glasses. He was very quiet, unlike his very talkative online manners. Online hes always got a one liner, or a nugget of wisdom on every topic, but he was very reserved in person. He didn’t give me a chance to buy him a beer. That was distressing! Unc too should has stayed longer, but I won’t hold it against them.
Jophiel, was a guy.
boli is a sweetheart, clad in her sweater and jeans looking very reserved. She does have a wild streak in there somewhere though, she was all about having a sleep over and doing lunch the next day. I was game, but everyone seemed to be fizzling out. She did prefer Gino’s East over Giardano’s which is simply wrong, but besides that she’s cool. What can you expect from an Iowan?
Gaudy is a sparkplug, a cute petite little thing that flys through the Guinness like no lady I’ve seen. Even UncleBeer, and the Englishman wouldn’t drink Guinness, but this girl knows her beers. She started pretty quiet, and will tease Joph for getting drunk and more social, but she definately opened up after a few herself. She was the only one who seemed like she could have hung with me for the night, everyone else was making excuses.
Chris was a young version of what I expected, she has a very motherly way about her that doesn’t exhibit her age which is the same as mine. I’d say we are about as different as any two people could be. I’m an overgrown kid, and she’s a total adult. Chris was the quietest of the group believe it or not, she kept observing, and probably was making mental notes of things to share later, that makes me nervous. Another wonderful addition to our SD family.
android is a lush. He very nearly brought the Chicago Chapter vomit fest to life. I had a tough time understanding him through his accent at first, I was completely unaware that he was a furriner. Once I got accustomed to it he was very interesting. Nothing was striking about his appearance except for his Manchester United jersey. I tried to goad him into a soccer/football fight, but he wasn’t biting, or at least he was too drunk to care. As the night wore on, and we talked chemistry, Vietnam, and liqour, his accent became a slurred mess. Quite entertaining :). He I imagine was in rough shape this morning, the sun was up when I dropped him off, and he was supposed to work in less than 3 hours.
Valarie…hmmm. What is there to say about Val? I’ll have to get back to you on that one. She did bail early, and made some silly excuse about traffic court or some such. I think next time she needs to make it up to us.
Omni said
Let it go, Benny-boy.
FTR, I wouldn’t call you a “typical” frat boy, but what else are we supposed to say? In the chat tonight Jophiel wanted Boli and me to tell him that he was the cutest, so you guys may all want to fight that out
And would you quit calling me Val?
I’m still waiting to hear Uke & Unc’s responses.
Kat, you were mentioned, as well as several others who aren’t on the list. Once I showed up the note taking kinda fell by the wayside. We took inventory of everyone who was unable to attend, and we took turns chastising you all for your poor devotion to the TM.
Apparently the consensus is that I am some sort of Guinness-swilling elf. Just because I can’t reach the top shelves in my kitchen like some unnaturally tall persons can (I’m 5’3", it’s not like people were setting drinks on top of my head. Well, UncleBeer could probably do that).
Omni not only looks like a frat boy, he drinks like one. I swear, he could have downed a keg and been stone cold sober. Andy has ruined the image of the hard-drinking Englishman man for me; I think I topped his consumption by about four beers and he was seriously green around the gills.
The fact that anyone would think Old Style is the proper thing to drink in Chicago appalls me. What about Honker’s Ale? And there’s enough Irish and Germans in the city for Guinness and various Hefeweizens to be de rigueur. Old Style is the aerosol cheese of beer. My first sip of beer was an Old Style, it’s a wonder I wasn’t scarred for life.
As for the non-attending dopers: Satan, we all agreed you were cool; everybody likes the long hair/beard thing. Everyone loves Tennhippie, too, we are in awe of his limerick talents. And I swore that one of the rules I live by is “don’t fuck with Phil”.
Well, I just took issue with Omniscient in the chat room about Gaudere being the only one who could keep up with him. I had to remind him that I had to finish HIS last beer. So there! Gaud, you and I could hang out any day. You were the only one who actually finished your drink from the last round.
I got the photos back - they turned out great. We’ve got all sorts of different group shots…Jophiel in his “Ladies Man” pose on the couch with me and Gaudere…Ike kicking back a shot of Jagermeister…Omni doing his best lounge lizard impersonation by slinging half of his body across the top of the couch…Ike, UncleBeer and Omni in a deep philosophical discussion (yeah right). I also managed to capture a lot of that interesting semi-erotic artwork in the background. You guys are really going to wonder about us when you see those!
I’ll send the scanned images to Gaudere to post on a web page so all can enjoy. Oh, before I do, if anyone has a problem with these pics being posted, let me know. I promised Valerie I wouldn’t post the one of her…blackmail shot!
Ole (Old style) is the stereotypical Chicago beer, especially for anyone older than 25.
Goose Island (Honkers sucks though) is fairly new.
FTR, I love Ole, better than Miller, and Coors, or most of the Wisconsin brews
I better get to see the blackmail shot thouhg…wink wink, nudge nudge
I know it’s sterotypical Chicago, but it’s one sterotype I wouldn’t mind losing. Bleah! Miller is the only macro-brew I really drink. I must have gotten it from hanging out too much with Wisconsin boys.
UncleBeer finally reporting for duty. I haven’t been shirking, I only post from work.
UncleBeer did bail out a bit early, but I also downed three beers before anyone else showed; seven hours of drinking is all my ancient liver allows anymore. You’d think I could drink longer, what with the size it’s getting to be; another couple years and it should be big enough to eat me.
Uke did kind of fly through quickly earlier; he took a look at the bar, where I wasn’t sitting, it was filled with rowdy Chicago Bears fans, and headed out the side door. I have no idea where he went, and he’s not telling, but he finally returned for good about an hour or so later.
All you people who didn’t make it can just eat your hearts out. We are all gorgeous, sophisticated, erudite, and witty. At least we are until you see the pictures. Amazing what the alcohol will tell you.
UncleBeer does notrecommend driving in Chicago with a hangover, it really sucks. I never knew the laws of entropy would allow such a concentration of jerks. Not quite as bad as the Indiana toll road though, where a not so friendly State Trooper was to inform me I was driving a bit fast.
By the time I hit the Ohio state line the hangover had just about disappeared, thanks to turnpike coffee and aspirin. I was only slightly green when I finally parked the car.
It was nice meeting all you folks and I’m looking forward to being embarrased by the photos when they’re up.
Dopeler effect:
The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
boli–
Ok, how much to get a copy of that blackmail shot?.. :)…Just kiddin’
Sounds like ya’ll had a great time…Since Chief and I are the only ones around the Tidewater area, we’ll have to live vicariously (SP?) through you.
Okay, I’m finally here, too…took a while to figure out how to use my in-laws’ computing machine. And what with this crazy “broken” keyboard I’m hunt-and-pecking on now, I’m limiting myself to short posts until I get back to Noo Yawk.
Damn, what can I add to the above? A marvelous time was had by all; Unk and I even tossed our walkers and hearing-trumpets aside and joined in the general hilarity.
VERY different feel than the Manhattan SDMB get-together. As you’ve read, beer was the beverage of choice for the night, rather than vodka. There was no singing of sea chanties or Latvian Easter carols in Chicago, I’m proud to say, and Jophiel didn’t sweep Gaudere off her feet and into a frenzied fandango, as did Alphagene to Melanie.
Jagermeister tastes like a foul medicine rather than an honest liquor, but now I can add it to my long and distinguished list of drug experiences. As for the Old Style, I LIKE cheap beer, and it’s no worse than most. Plus I like that you can only get it here in Chicago.
Whoops, gotta go buy a turkey. I’ll post more later.
Uke
While I really wish that blackmail shot hadn’t turned out, I’m pleased that I’m the only person w/ access to my notebook. I’d be far more embarrassed if someone else had been the note-taker. So ha ha ha
Also, I’d like to point out that even though I bailed slightly early, I got up after 2 hours sleep and got to court ON TIME, unlike those of you that didn’t have to drive as far to get home, but STILL couldn’t make it to work on time. Yep, I like me. Oh, Omni - I only got a $100 fine.
Well, it sure could have been worse, $100 is respectable, but a true bullshit artist like myself would have gotten off and made them apologize for taking my time. You should have dropped my name.
Nice to hear Uke and Unc chime in, but I’m a bit suprised by Uncs hangover. I didn’t see you being so inebriated.
We’ll need to do it again, but try it on a weekend. That way it won’t be so quiet and laid back, and possibly do something the New Yorkers could be jealous of.