Hey Aristus...how did the meetup go?

[VelmaD]

Just curious how your first DU gathering went.

[Aristus]

1. Glad you asked, Vel.

I was just getting ready to post an after-action review. You've got great timing!

The meetup went well. There was JohnYawl, geniph and me for the DUers and my brother and his girlfriend for the liberal non-DUers. It was a quiet gathering, just what I was hoping for for my first DU meetup. geniph is a lovely redhead, as you can see if you have the Gallery. She's very sweet and fun to talk to. JohnYawl looks like a giant bearded Viking, and has a barely contained ferocity that makes me glad he's on our side. The resemblance to a Viking only grew as we fell into talk of his passion for wooden sailing boats.

We had some drinks and snacks, and discussed the prime topics for liberals these days, B*sh, sElection 2000, our favored candidates, and the war in Iraq. My brother was subdued, and far from his usual angry liberal self. He was putting on a brave face after the death of his friend.

Incidentally, his friend was killed in Afganistan, it turns out, and not Iraq. He served in Special Ops, and the secrecy surrounding his mission may have led to confusion when notifying his next of kin. My thanks again to everyone who offered his or her condolences.

All in all, I'm overjoyed to have finally met some of my fellow DUers. John and geni are wonderful conversationalists, and what I liked best of all was discovering that we disagreed on a few minor issues, but still liked sharing our points of view. That's open-minded liberalism at its best. Alas, no one brought a camera to record the event, but since it was not one of the big regional blow-outs with posters, keynote speakers and a no-host bar, I guess it doesn't matter. It was a thrilling experience.

[VelmaD]

2. I am so glad...

that your first time was special. ;-)

See, I told you meeting your fellow DUers in person would be good for ya. You'll have to do it again and again. And I agree - one of the best parts is meeting open-minded liberals who you can disagree with and still have a lively, interesting, civilized discussion with. Our fellow DUers ROCK. :-)

RE: timing...I'm psycho...er...seismic...er...psychotic...er...
psychic, yeah that's the one. :-)

I'm sorry about your brother and his friend. Bright blessings to all concerned.

[geniph]

3. Sweet? I'm sweet?

I can hear John laughing at that from here!

It was a very pleasant meeting, and it was wonderful to discover another Harlan Ellison fan. :-) We had a great time. And Aristus' brother is obviously a very funny and articulate guy when he's not grieving, as he clearly was. We felt a little strange about intruding, but Aristus assured us it was okay. Aristus' brother's girlfriend turns out to be an aide to one of the Seattle City Council reps, so she had some interesting viewpoints as well; I'd love to talk to all three of you again sometime.

And thanks for buying the drinks! You are a gentleman and a scholar! (and much better-looking than the picture I remember from the Gallery - where the hell IS the Gallery anymore, anyway?!)

Oh, and we disagree on some MAJOR issues too, but in a grownup fashion - it's nice to find people who can understand that differing opinions are what make people interesting.

[Aristus]

4. I look forward to another get-together sometime, geniph.

We can bring our Harlan Ellison books and share some more about his writing.

BTW, I'm in the Gallery? I've been trying to get in for ages, and haven't seen my pic yet. I'll have to check it out.

:-)

[geniph]

5. Dammit.

I couldn't remember if you were in the Gallery or not. I thought you were. See, my memory has failed me. Or else I just imagined what you looked like - and you're better looking than I imagined, how's that?