And you know, having ten of us there, it truly was personal. And there’s just something about having a crackwhore in your company that makes things all the more interesting.
(Since it looks like I’m the first one up this morning, I’ll start this thread…)
Brian and I arrived at exactly 7pm to find Pat (priccar) and John (Johnny LA) waiting outside Cafe Tu Tu Tango. We had to wait as they wouldn’t seat us until half of our party arrived–and we needed one more for that. In walks none other than Marva, the Purple Crack Whore herself! Though she herself was not purple, she had a purple sweater, a shirt with purple flowers, and a purple bottle of bubbles with her. Now that we had half our party, we could be seated. Or so we thought. Nope, now they had to get a table ready for us…and a half hour later, we had it.
Melin and Highlander arrived next, and Bri, Randy, and I talked school while awaiting our table. Marva spied the table we’d been waiting for being cleared off and set and led the group over–before the hostess had time to even let us know it was ready. Hey, we were hungry!
Cowboy Greg arrived once we were seated and munching on humus and pita bread. Conversation was great fun, and I much more enjoyed myself this time simply because I had much more opportunity to talk with people than at Gladstones in February. Pat said what was the funniest comment to me for the evening (and thus, instantly gained more respect from me!) with this discourse: Greg was talking about working for Disney and how today was goat-felching day. Pat, in a sing-songy “Golly gee” voice: “Every day is goat-felching day at Disneyland!” I knew I was in for a fun evening!
Brian was to my right, Marva to my left, and Melin across from me. It was a very compact table, however, so really it was easy to have conversation with everyone. We talked board issues (and this morning, I have visited several of the threads mentioned already!), who’s-who, what’s-what, etc. I also got advice about tax filing–as I’ll be getting married, taxes will be going up and I was seeking advice.
Melin, who I really had no opportunity to chat with before, was/is just a class act. She’s funny, intelligent, and more than willing to help out in whatever capacity she can (and yes, I’d love the name of your financial planner!). Talking with her was extremely easy and enjoyable.
Marva/PurpleCrackWhore is a crack-up. We were razzing her all evening for the crackwhore bit (it must have been interesting overhearing some of our conversations), and she played right along. I love her sense of fun–any person who brings balloons and bubbles is on the Cool Page in my book–and she has a direct, confident, yet nonarrogant way about her that is both admirable and enjoyable. She’s just plain neat and stuff. Oh, and it is a small world after all–turns out she used to work in the city where my fiancé grew up. (After leaving, Bri and I popped in a Fredericks of Hollywood store–there, we found a purple thong that was trimmed in purple feathers…I came very close to buying it for her!)
Randy/Highlander, a fellow teacher, made for interesting conversation. Like Brian, he teaches junior high–but frick, he teaches Special Ed. How the hell he stays sane is beyond me! He was friendly, intelligent, and just plain interesting to talk to.
John/Johnny LA I didn’t have as much conversation with this time, but I had sat by him at LA Shindig I and learned a good deal about him then. He is amusing, but unfortunately, I had the hardest time hearing what he would say part of the time. That’s the noise of the place (with a band endlessly and loudly playing 60s tunes nearby) coupled with his distance from me making things complicated. But, he recommended the alligator bites, and dern if they weren’t good.
Pat, like I said, was darn funny. He’s a quieter fellow, but his few words were always well-placed and often funny. I was stunned that he turned out to be the youngest, rather than me–he has it by a year. Phooey.
Cowboy Greg I didn’t quite have as much interaction with. He is quite amusing with a sardonic, if somewhat sick (and hey, that’s complimentary) sense of humor. I’m not much of a Disney fan anymore (as my BMZ thread shows), so hearing his frank stories of Mousewitz was both entertaining and amusing.
Rilchiam/Sandy and Mr. Rilchiam arrived late (traffic was a bitch last night) and unfortunately I didn’t have much conversation with either. Brian, however, apparently had a great convo with the Mr. Rilch about music.
Overall, it was a grand time. We were there about three hours before the blood stopped circulating in Bri’s and my butts, and so we left to look around the Block at Orange before going home. That’s when I realized, crud, I brought my camera–and didn’t take a single picture! Der!
I look forward to the next one, gang. You’re neat-o people.