A Western Gathering?

blatham, I 'always' enjoy your posts, no matter what anybody says. As a atheist, you put the fear of blatham in me! c.i.

Tex-Star,

Blatham is really more like a "lady's" man than a "ladies'" man. And a lucky lady she is too.

fear and trembling, that's it, c.i. I agree.

I talked to Lola and BumbleBeeBoogie in the chatroom last night. So I had to look at the pictures. I had a great time reading your posts and seeing you all!

Diane and Roger - how good to see you again. You look great - as always.

And the rest of you - I wish I could have been there to meet you in person. That three continent gathering next year sure sounds tempting!

ok...let's fold this one up and drop it where the sun don't shine. When I read ci's description of my photo as revealing a 'ladies' man', I burst out with one of those south american parrot explosions that scares hell out of the entire canopy, and I thought immediately of my mother, deceased, who seeing that description would herself have laughed and said something very like, "Anyone who thinks you look like a ladies man must be REALLY homely."

I am not homely, i happen to have a very interesting personality.

blatham, Perhaps a cover on your cage for an hour or two might be the answer. c.i.

We note two men winking in my direction...perhaps I'm a man's man.

I find it very interesting how after meeting each other, there is such an intense scrutiny and judgement of people's looks. Have folks run out of anything else to talk with each other about now that they've seen each other? Does it really all come down to a person's appearance as the most attractive thing about them?

Sounds like the guys have never ever seen old women in sundresses before and just can't get their jaws up off the ground. Don't they still have the brains they had before they arrived for your viewing pleasure?

I'm not homely either. And I don't believe I'll go for the description of an "old woman in a sun dress." I take offense at that, yes I do. The visual is what's missing for us on the internet so I think it entirely proper and understandable to talk, joke and enjoy how we each look, after imagining something else entirely for so long.

I'm not sure, Butrfly exactly what you find so interesting about our joking about looks, but it seems if one looks a bit deeper into the conversation, into the multilayered meanings, one might find much to be interested in without an overlay of judgemental superiority.

Both women and men can be both beautiful/handsome and brainy. Just take a look at Dys..........there's a fine example for you. I think we're all a little giddy over finally seeing. It's down right gratifying, that's what it is.

Ah, i always enjoy the sly understatement of your humor, Boss.

So that's all that happened at the gathering? You all sat there and gawked at each other for 3 days without saying a word?

Butryfly,

We did a lot more than look at each other. Don't worry about that. There is touch as well. Another sensation we've been deprived of. But there was a lot of compelling conversation. If you'll read far enough back you'll get a better sense of the experience. Why are you complaining? Why would you separate talking from seeing? They're all forms of communication, each with it's own unique qualities.

Ah, actually, the best way to follow a conversation is to be a part of it. My own presence proves the lack of exclusivity of the group.

dear Burflynet

With all respect...your rhetorical question misses much that has been said earlier, and misses a really very good explantion from Lola, and it misses that threads such as this one often fly off in some direction simply out of happenstance. We had a very good journey, we've had fun on the thread, and any further highquality anecdotal information will follow upon receipt of a cashier's cheque from you to me in the amount of $100 American.

Who is complaining? I'd like to hear more about those interesting conversations from further up the thread. It wasn't me who separated talking from seeing. Do some looking up the thread yourself and you'll see where it separated. That is exactly the point of my earlier post. There was much more to the gathering then just people's looks. I'd like to hear more about the other parts too.

This is a toughie. I'm with butrflynet in that I'd like to hear more about the conversations and how you all solved the woes of the world etc. On the flip side, I've been to a half-dozen or so netizen get-togethers, and it's hard to report on the conversations, and part of the joy of the get-together is simply meeting and hugging the people you've been talking to, and becoming close to, in some cases.

Somewhere on an abuzz-thread i posted that it was a thrill to discover that the people i met weren't mushroom-like basement dwellers. It amazes me each time. (really)

It is wonderful to discuss all the real-life experiences and adventures in person, to discover someone you've been talking to is also crazy about medieval France - and to wonder that you've never talked about it before. It's hard to get all of those discussions down in these little boxes.

Butrflynet

You was complaining, madam. Suggest that if you wish folks to share, you refrain from making them wrong as you are coming in the front door.

One wonderful conversation, which occured in the living room there in Corizon beneath a frowning and bushy-eyebrowed portrait of Asherman's mother, took us deeply into the dynamics of the international corn trade during the period when Columbus was seeking funding for his voyage. Dsylexia, bringing his wide range of arcane historical knowledge to the subject, sketched out for us all the important personages of the time and the place, details on ship design (corn storage optimization being the most critical factor in width/length ratio, keel shape, and ultimately, mast location). We sat as if riveted.

What were the rats' names?

Was that corn on the cob or corn meal? Makes a whole lot of difference on boat capacity. c.i.