Yeah, okay, but I don't pun very well after 10 PM and a few hours spent in the autumn chill (actually it was quite pleasant until the last five minutes or so) with my ankle aching amid the company of some fine NY-area bloggers, in the lovely Queens backyard of host Julia and her Beleaguered Husband, holding a gathering in honor of the visiting Roxanne Cooper. In attendance were many of the usual suspects and a few new faces - Uncle Proctrustes, Julia's friend Carla, me and Robin, Rox and her husband and friend from France, Mad Kane and Mark (late due to a little fender-bender, and yes, both are fine), Lindsay (whose pie tasted even better than it looks here), Barbara and daughter Erin, Lesley, Seth (who also brought a tremendous apple pie courtesy of Mrs. Talking Dog), Steve and friend, Scott (in long pants!), Alon (I think this is him) and Zuzu! Whew, hope I didn't miss anyone!
Given all the meta-talk I'd just done (and I was happy that at least one attendee thanked me for putting it all in one place so that they could keep up with things as they'd been a few days behind) I can't tell you what a thrill it was to meet and talk with Zuzu, whose writing I've admired for so long but who I hadn't even known was NYC-based. [And yes, she told me her real name and Lesley revealed her surname and I'll probably forget one or the other but I may just remember Zuzu's because I just found it so cool.] And we talked a lot about pseudonyms and Ann and other things going on in the blogosphere, and the good news is that Zuzu will be back eventually (probably in a few weeks) and the bad news is that Chris Clarke has shut his blog - which breaks my heart about as much as Zuzu's farewell announcement did - because some asshole actually threatened his poor old dog! Even going by one's real name won't help if some creep is so determined to get at you. I think the only solution is just to be happy you fly under most kooks' radar, like I do.
Carla had just busted her knee a few days earlier so we traded temp-gimp stories and advice, Mark had some advice for me as he'd had to recover and take lots of physical therapy when he'd sprained his left ankle awhile back (we promised to trade air-casts if we ever needed one for the other foot, as he has a lefty and me a rightie), Lesley and I commiserated that the Yanks didn't make it too far out of the playoffs and others were upset that the nearby Mets weren't in the Series either, Mad was her usual bubbly self and I was able to congratulate her on being "BoingBoinged" recently, and we all mazel-tov'ed Scott on his promotion (I believe he'll be blogging-for-pay here).
And yes, I took pictures. But as neither Julia nor Rox like to be photographed for bloggy purposes, and by the time most guests had arrived it was too dark to get good photos or I would have been in the way or whatever, only a few really came out okay:
Alon (standing), Carla and Lesley. To the left, the tent which Julia's Beleaguered Husband (shown in the background on the right, by the back door to the house) put up in case of rain, which it never did.
Lindsay (background left), Erin and MahaBarb.
And there were desserts. Indeed, everyone got their just desserts, which sugar rush helped me make it home from Queens to the Bronx (at legal speed, mind you) in a little over half an hour. Whereupon I removed the air cast (only to find the Velcro strips had partially come undone, which explains why the foot was giving me so many problems), uploaded the pictures from the camera, and proceeded to write this post. G'night everyone, and thanks again to Julia and all her (our) swell bloggy friends!
Update 10/23: Lesley's report on the event is here, and Rox thanks all attendees and offers a bit of advice.
Given all the meta-talk I'd just done (and I was happy that at least one attendee thanked me for putting it all in one place so that they could keep up with things as they'd been a few days behind) I can't tell you what a thrill it was to meet and talk with Zuzu, whose writing I've admired for so long but who I hadn't even known was NYC-based. [And yes, she told me her real name and Lesley revealed her surname and I'll probably forget one or the other but I may just remember Zuzu's because I just found it so cool.] And we talked a lot about pseudonyms and Ann and other things going on in the blogosphere, and the good news is that Zuzu will be back eventually (probably in a few weeks) and the bad news is that Chris Clarke has shut his blog - which breaks my heart about as much as Zuzu's farewell announcement did - because some asshole actually threatened his poor old dog! Even going by one's real name won't help if some creep is so determined to get at you. I think the only solution is just to be happy you fly under most kooks' radar, like I do.
Carla had just busted her knee a few days earlier so we traded temp-gimp stories and advice, Mark had some advice for me as he'd had to recover and take lots of physical therapy when he'd sprained his left ankle awhile back (we promised to trade air-casts if we ever needed one for the other foot, as he has a lefty and me a rightie), Lesley and I commiserated that the Yanks didn't make it too far out of the playoffs and others were upset that the nearby Mets weren't in the Series either, Mad was her usual bubbly self and I was able to congratulate her on being "BoingBoinged" recently, and we all mazel-tov'ed Scott on his promotion (I believe he'll be blogging-for-pay here).
And yes, I took pictures. But as neither Julia nor Rox like to be photographed for bloggy purposes, and by the time most guests had arrived it was too dark to get good photos or I would have been in the way or whatever, only a few really came out okay:
Alon (standing), Carla and Lesley. To the left, the tent which Julia's Beleaguered Husband (shown in the background on the right, by the back door to the house) put up in case of rain, which it never did.
Lindsay (background left), Erin and MahaBarb.
And there were desserts. Indeed, everyone got their just desserts, which sugar rush helped me make it home from Queens to the Bronx (at legal speed, mind you) in a little over half an hour. Whereupon I removed the air cast (only to find the Velcro strips had partially come undone, which explains why the foot was giving me so many problems), uploaded the pictures from the camera, and proceeded to write this post. G'night everyone, and thanks again to Julia and all her (our) swell bloggy friends!
Update 10/23: Lesley's report on the event is here, and Rox thanks all attendees and offers a bit of advice.
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