It works just fine. Was only a flesh wound.
And ** ShibbOleth** demonstrates his good, nay, EXQUISITE taste by featuring Gundy in three pictures and me in none! 
That was fun.
Yeah, it’s hard to get out of the mindset…so, we decided you look like a 63% less-creepy and 35% less-smarmy James Carville. Sorta his cuter brother.
So I went into this, my first Dopefest, with much apprehension. I am a pretty shy person in large groups. But after I got past the “Gundy? I don’t think I’ve ever read your posts” a few times, and downed a few Tanqueray & tonics, I was feeling fiiiiiine. While I didn’t get to meet as many of the Dopers as I would have liked, I did enjoy at some length the utterly charming company of the aforementioned ShibbOleth, who christened a unit of measurement for me; DynoSaur, who owes me a game of darts; yojimbo guy, a fellow Dopefest virgin and engaging conversationalist; and the terribly entertaining Superdude, out of whom I had to wrest a proposition. Porcupine, who is oh-so-cute (even more than her picture on the People Pages!) made me and the Klown feel right at home. I was lucky enough to both have a boob grabbed and to enjoy the unbound and supple breasts of one Persephone. Zyada-rhymes-with-Miata, rjk and MsRobyn provided cheerful company on a sojourn to Chocolate Bliss at the Field Museum with my son and me. Next ChiDope that rolls around, I’m gonna screw up the gumption to introduce my sorry self to some more dopefolk. And next time, I’ll be sure to leave more of the weekend open. I had to wake up at 6 a.m. to pick up my son…not a happy morning. But it was worth it!
Oh, you!:o
Sorry, but, between your online name and your “location,” I always thought you were a GUY! Hell, I don’t pay any attention to the MEN around here! But charming and delightful Norskie-Hispanic WOMEN are a TOTALLY different story!
If I die tonight, I shall be remembered for my ability to neutralize flammable liquids with my mouth.
Hi, folks. Let’s see what official memories I have of my weekend.
I was nearly responsible for Dynosaur’s death from Guinness.
I bought cotton candy for three small kids at Wrigley, who then pointed at me when their father returned and said “That stranger gave us candy!”
I met many new folks, reacquainted myself with those I had only met once or twice, and saw some treasured friends.
So, how about sometime in, say, July or August for the next one?
Home. Tired. Fun times, nice breasts, fantastic people both new and not-so-new, and the first kilt checks of ther night were from Non-Dopers! More after sleep.
Home.
Alive.
No, I am not changing my username to Jizznessica.
I spent a LOT of money this weekend. Most of it was on gin.
I met (or re-met) a LOT of really cool people this weekend.
I kept my promise to lno: I did not tell one single person lno was so worried about leaving his beloved Spanky behind that he wanted to leave a note to his brother-in-law saying there was a three-page note on the care and feeding of Spanky on his kitchen table.
Oops.
If I remember right, I got a LOT of hugs. Hugs are 
So is the chocolate exhibit at the Field Museum
I had much fun 
After 550 minutes on the road, I am home.
Details in a few.
Sleep is for the weak.
If I didn’t win the cleavage award, at least I competed.
There’s still beer at my place if you want any.
Having the Landing Krew together again was mighty fine.
So far there are no pictures of me. Let’s keep it that way.
There wasn’t nearly enough time to talk to anyone. Next time, stay for a week, okay?
Euty’s kiss trick did not work on me. I blew him a kiss, he never asked again. I didn’t KNOW!
I was so scared to see what my place looks like now, I left the state.
This is my third large DopeFest where I played it low-pro. I’m getting damn good at it.
Sophie, Shibb and Hama get my votes for Dopers I Didn’t Get To Talk To Enough (Never Met Before Category).
Thinksnow and Maeglin win the Dopers I Didn’t Get To Talk To Enough (Met Several Times Before Category) award.
Sophie also stole Joey Hemlock’s heart away from me.
Mr and Miss C could possibly get cuter, but it would take some kind of surgery.
I miss you, you and you. You know who you are.
My god, but I hurt. Y’all shouldn’t be so rowdy next time. I about killed myself trying to keep up.
Because I think I introduced myself to just about everyone there, I’ll take a shot at it.
- Superdude and FairyChatMoose
- iampunha (I think)
- boli and MikeG
- Sophie and MissC
- Cecil Adams and Sophie
- Persephone, Eutychus, Uncle Bill, thinksnow, Geobabe
- Persephone (I think) on the left, Superdude and Inertia (in red) playing pool, zyada (I think), Jadus, rjk, and EnderW24 (I think) standing up
- FairyChatMoose and Ed Zotti
- Zyada, porcupine with FCM, rjk
- samurai JoeyHemlock molesting FCM
- Persephone, Eutychus also molesting FCM, Tattva
- Holy CrunchyFrog! As of this picture, I’m assuming you know which one is FairyChatMoose
- CKDexterHaven and Gaudere
- manhattan and CrankyAsAnOldMan
- Kyla and quixotic78
- chique
- Hamadryad, Inertia playing pool, and I think that’s MsRobyn behind him
- FCM is my bitch
- lno being all adorable. Awwww
- Maeglin being all kung fu. Awwww
- Gundy
- Krusty Klown and Gundy
- Gundy and Superdude
“Jadus”? Sorry, Gail. Jadis. I DO know how to spell your name, I just typoed, and didn’t read the preview closely enough.
Brainfart. That’s UncleBeer and Gaudere. Sorry.
That’s inertia getting some beauty sleep on my landing in #2 and boli and the esteemed Flypsyde in #3, my dear. Good job overall, though. A for effort.
Well, 556 miles to be exact.
This shall be long, but one can only hope not boring. Read on at your own peril.
So I got home about half an hour ago. But why start at the end? Who the hell do I think I am, Quentin Tarantino? Let’s go back to Friday.
(wavy flashback music) ::doo doo doo:: ::doo doo doo:: ::doo doo doo::
Oh screw it. The trip starts just like it ends: a long assed drive. I love my car though. 1200 miles in a weekend, it’s a trooper all right.
The car ride was semi-uneventful. My car speed was in the 98th percentile of those on the highway that afternoon. The 99th percentile got speeding tickets by troopers trying to do 110 MPH up the interstate to catch them. I got off scot free. Sometimes life is good.
Past Grinnell in Iowa was the birthplace of Herbert Hoover. I wanted to go but I was so busy listening to the information about Herbert Hoover on the short wave radio station they had that I missed the exit! Talk about irony. “It’s ok,” I said, “I’ll see his birthplace when I come back on Sunday.”
The rest went by in a blur. A long, tedious, 9 hour blur. Ever had to refill your car twice in one day? So I get to Chicago around 7:30 and get to magdalene’s around 8:30 because apparently everyone in Chicago wanted to be on I-88 at the exact same time.
Oh, can I just rant about the highways please? 40 cents, exact change, no attendant? You expect all drivers to be carrying 3 different types of coins, 3 different times, just to get from point A to point B? And what’s with the 95 cent tolls? Spare me your piddly nickel and just keep my dollar bill.
Anyway, we go to a nice multi-purpose Italian restaurant. Seriously this place is like the Swiss army knife of eateries. Really good lasagna. Afterwards I got to tell a guy asking for change that I didn’t have any. Then we had to go back to the restaurant for something and I got to tell him again I had no change. Then we left the restaurant and I had to explain yet a third time that I had nary a penny on me which could be claimed as his. You gotta admire his persistence though.
So we go back to Magdalene’s apartment and I get ready for Wild Goose while we both try to stumble our way around a guitar, failing miserably. By the way, does everyone know that Mags has a beautiful singing voice? Because she does.
So after getting instructions on everything from what streets I need to be on to what a bus looks like, I’m finally trusted to be let out on my own. Maps in hand, of course. Magdalene is going to make a great mom someday.
I get to the Wild Goose and I’m a little intimidated. You have to understand that I have seen in my…um…12…carry the 1…17 months as a Doper I’ve met 3 other people from this site. I was about to meet 40 people all at once, none of whom I knew. None of whom knew me.
The cool thing is that I could claim to be anyone I wanted. Hell, I could BE anyone I wanted. No one knew me, right? No one knew who I was in real life or how I acted or how popular I am or how geeky I am. It’s like the first day in college. You can decide right then who you want to be and everyone accepts it as the truth. The only catch is that you have to play that role all the time.
I just didn’t feel like acting. I chose to be me. “Me” is a somewhat shy, less than eloquent speaker when conversing 1 on 1. “Me” is a person who would prefer coffee and conversation with 6 friends to 700 ravers on the dance floor. Me wants to stop talking like Cookie Monster.
Let me skip a few steps here.
This weekend I met a ton of Dopers. Crankyasanoldman is loads of fun. Don’t ask her why she isn’t cranky as she’s liable to punch you in the nose. There were a number of dopers I wanted to meet but we never really talked all that much. There were a number of dopers who I met and thought were really cool. There were a number who surprised me with their coolness. There were a number of dopers who I look forward to seeing again.
I can’t say I got to know anyone all that much. How much can you really learn about a person through intermittent contact over 36 hours? It takes hundreds to thousands of posts on these boards for anyone to get a feel for another doper (much less get noticed by another doper). With that in mind, can anyone really sum up who a person is after 30 seconds of small talk in a noisy bar?
I can say that while I probably wasn’t the most sparkling of wit this weekend I did really appreciate everyone who said I was funny on the boards. That made my day. I mean, I try not to be an attention whore but who doesn’t like being noticed?
I liked the art museum on Saturday. Not just for the art itself (and who knew black canvas was considered art?), but because 10 people is a much more manageable number to talk to.
My god…I am completely rambling. Pucette, you’re probably right. I should do something with my LiveJournal.
Brunch on Sunday was good. Lemon bars yummy.
BTW, I didn’t make it back to Herbert Hoover’s birthplace until 6:15. It closed at 5. It’s like that time at the mall when Mr. T came and I said “I’ll go a little later, I’ll go a little later,” and when I finally went they said he had just left. I’m sorry, but no one is getting a postcard from the 31st president.
Weekend summation:
Time had: good
debauchery: moderate
money spent: The GNP of Bolivia
cool dopers: everyone.
The end.
Ahhhh. Ok. I didn’t meet Flypsyde, and he looked more like MikeG than any of the other people I met, so… sorry 'bout that. Inertia and iampunha have hair that is more similar than I thought.
Wow. Look at all of the pretty girls!!!
Nice legs gentlemen.
I see alcohol, I’m in. Where do I sign up?
I think I may drag TheOtherOne to one of these things some day. DC area most likely. HIDE YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Well, at least the children, TheOtherOne seems to break them quite frequently.
Well, I made it home in one piece, and got a call from Zyada to say she made it too (although she had more aircraft adventures than she wanted I’m sure she’ll post).
We both got in late Friday, so didn’t see anybody that night. Saturday morning we strolled down the hall and stood in front of ShibbOleth’s door discussing whether we should knock (as his post said) or respect the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign, until he came to the door dressed in a towel and suggested we meet downstairs. We found more Dopers in the restaurant, and eventually headed out with MsRobyn to meet Gundy and her son for the MSI. The bus took too long to show up, so we went to the Field museum instead, where we spent most of out time drooling over the chocolate exhibit.
At O’Toole’s, the high points were Zyada’s dance, Persephone’s reaction to it (we may have another belly dancer!), the guys’ reactions to it (!), and meeting all those others I talked to. (I even got told I should post more! And here I thought I was just rambling! Thanks!)
Then brunch on Sunday was actually quiet enough for conversations with some of those we had met the night before.
Thanks to all for a great weekend!