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First, everybody, it was so wonderful to see/meet you... I had a great time! Can't wait to do it again!
rivka, I need your address to send you that bag I forgot to bring along. It is sitting happily on my porch, where I left it so as not to forget to bring it.
mack & Frisco, Mike & Patty will be picking up your package from Ben at the Union today. I need to know where you want them to send your respective belongings. They will be relatively prompt, I'm sure.
I don't have many pictures, but I have a couple that will be amusing. I'll download them tonight, probably and post them.
I ended up leaving Ames a little after 3:00 Sunday. I was hoping to make it to MN before having to stop for a nap, but there was no way. I pulled over just past Clear Lake (1/3 of the way home) and called KrabbyPatty to let her know I was sleeping and wouldn't make dinner, and she asked me to call when I was on the road again. I suggested she just give me a wake-up call in 30 minutes, as I don't like napping much longer than that, and I wanted to be driving again before it got dark.
Just as I was nodding off, the phone rang I answered it with "That was a quick 30 minutes." She asked if dkw had called, explaining that she had just called her and said they were just north of Clear Lake. Mom told them I had just stopped to sleep just north of Clear Lake, and dkw had looked over and seen my car as they were passing the exit. I was busy trying to figure out why the h$*& Mom had interrupted my nap to tell me this, and she said they were turning around at the next exit and coming back, and dkw was going to drive my car the rest of the way home so I could sleep.
I actually still didn't understand the benefit of this, but I just wanted to hang up the phone at that point, so I didn't argue. They showed up a few minutes later, and I stumbled into the passenger seat and we were off. I wasn't able to actually sleep, but we had a nice chat and I got home safely, without losing time by the side of the road.
Oh, and whatever stories Frisco tries to tell, all I have to say is he started it.
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Dude, Frisco, what is it with you and little ones? Can't handle ketchup princess, can't handle Superstation... Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Only the last two have everyone in them. The last one almost everyone's eyes are open, although the second to last we're obviously having fun. There's some neat pictures there!
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Wasn't it something that plaid said (or someone in the back) that made us all start laughing for this one?Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Also the female pastor that was officiating had dana and bob bursting out laughing at the altar. She called their marriage a miracle "second only to the ressurection" and told dkw she'd debate theology with her later. (in fairness the message was Easter themed) And, we got to hear tidbits of the e-mails they sent each other. Though no hatrack posts.
There were quotations from Princess Bride on the back of the bulletin. "Mawwidge..."
I had a blast hanging out with everyone, and there was nobody I didn't wish I could have spent more time with. I have too many stories to recount, though I'm sure many will come up at one time or another.
Some particular highlights, though:
The wedding itself. The service was wonderful, everyone was glowing, Princess Bride quotations were in the program, Hatrack got given its due (if not by name), and so much more.
Dancing at the reception. I particularly enjoyed when ElJay taught me the polka super-quickly as nobody else was dancing to that song. Whether or not I learned any of the polka is another question (that dance is hard! I'm impressed with those who polka), but it was fun
The ride to take Cay Sedai back. While hanging out in large groups is a blast, it was nice to have some time to sit back in a much smaller group and talk, or just sit there slightly exhausted and look at the scenery for bits of time. ElJay and Cay Sedai were great traveling companions.
The late, late, late night conversation/pillow fight/gnaw-fest. There's something about lying on a bed and collectively blathering (actually, I thought we managed to be quite deep at times, though I have a hard time remembering specifics . . .) on about random topics, late at night, that's always special. It takes a certain chemistry between people for it to work, and we certainly have that.
The long, long trips there and back, and all my travel companions for those: Stray, AJ, Kat, Plaid, and Frisco. There was much sleep, which is nice, and surprisingly little stress, which was nicer -- lengthy trips can often be a trying time, and we weathered them quite well.
I know I'm forgetting something I'd love to talk about, but this is the annoying part of being too busy to sleep much at all on the trip -- forgetfulness.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote: I particularly enjoyed when ElJay taught me the polka super-quickly as nobody else was dancing to that song. Whether or not I learned any of the polka is another question (that dance is hard! I'm impressed with those who polka), but it was fun
It probably would have seemed easier had ElJay actually remembered how to polka. But thanks for the dance, regardless.
I got to dance with fugu, Frisco, punwit, Bob, Shigosei, Kat, and Ivygirl! And Poseable Nurse, of course. I think that's it, but it's hard to remember, sorry if I left anyone out. Oh, and Brian, but he's not a Hatracker.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:It probably would have seemed easier had ElJay actually remembered how to polka. But thanks for the dance, regardless.
Any time . By which I actually mean, possibly this summer. I'm looking quite strongly at a trip hitting Chicago and then going towards Minnesota this summer.
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The pics I have from CaySedai are here. If anyone has more photos they'd like added to the album, send them to me.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Well, Xavier -- I have PhotoShop (that's what I used to compress them to be web-ready) but I haven't ever done the "arrows" thing with it. Let me try it over this afternoon and see if I can figure it out.
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Oh, good, I've been looking for a thread like this all...well, since I finally got out of my meeting this morning and then got back from lunch. So not long, actually.
I wanted to let everyone know that we made it home just fine yesterday. But more importantly, I wanted to say how much fun we had and how wonderful it was to spend the weekend with Hatrackers. It was such a blast! I just loved taking over the whole 5th floor - it felt very "college" and homey.
So, uh...when can we all get together again? Soon, right? I miss everyone already!
Posts: 3214 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I actually don't know anything about photoshop, I just meant little arrows drawn to the people with their screen names at the other end. Nothing fancy . Are you saying there's a photoshop tool for this purpose? That would be cool.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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I think we need to have a large Billtmas celebration. The advantage of Billtmas is that we can have it whenever we want, and it doesn't interfere with the holidays that non-Jatraqueros celebrate.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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in Photoshop, you should be able to do an outline thing and put numbers on the heads or something, then make a list in the caption with number/name
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quote:Dude, Frisco, what is it with you and little ones? [Laugh] Can't handle ketchup princess, can't handle Superstation...
I beg to differ - Frisco was doing a good job with Superstation, feeding him so that Mama Squirrel could eat. At least, that's how it looked to me. Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote: in Photoshop, you should be able to do an outline thing and put numbers on the heads or something,
ooo - that sounds neat. Let me try to find that.
I did find how to make arrows to point to everyone in Photoshop, but I couldn't seem to make the arrows anything but black (which didn't show up well) and it was too crowded. So the number thing would work better.
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The trip was fabulous. For me, it's still not over. Frisco and I were planning on wandering through Chicago today, but we need to be back here at five and it's 1:00 now, so I don't think that's going to happen.
Oh, let me think of everything that happened. This will probably be disjointed.
1. Mooselet is the man. He was the most enthusiastic dancer out there. He danced with every little girl aged six and under, and he kept switching partners. They were literally lining up for the chance. One little girl (3)started crying when he ditched her for an older woman (5).
2. Punwit is a fabulous dancer, and we did some Western swing. He spun me hard enough my skirt would twirl. It was wonderful.
3. The late night conversation in a series of hotel rooms. Icarus sat on a chair and just watched, inscrutably. Everyone else piled on and played Flux and talked. Fugu says it was deep. I knew I was missing things - maybe that was one of them. I will say that it's like a switch - 1:00 and the collective sense of humor became one large out of context conversation.
So many things...braiding Eddie's hair in the car, and then watching him seriously contemplate a white suit, orange shirt, and mint bowler hat for the wedding. I think he refrained out of a desire to not be camera fodder. So much for that.
And now Steve is urging me to get off the computer so we can go to lunch.
Posts: 1163 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Man - do I feel stupid! In playing around with PhotoShop, I just found a way to create an entire web-ready photo gallery of all my images in about 10 seconds --
...duplicating what took me ALL MORNING to do on my own manually.
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Vana, for the midwesterners, we need to have a goodbye gathering for Carrie before she leaves for Arizona. I think we need to start planning for that. Someone in WI up for the task?
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I'd be happy to -- but when does she leave? I ask because every single weekend through May is already booked.
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I call her Sophie, but her name is Sophia. Other names include Muffin, Bubbles, and Daddy's Little Larva.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Yeah - I guess I should just delete the ones that you and Cor didn't get in. We didn't realize you were missing at first....
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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AJ, that's exactly what he said. "I have to do this to AJ all the time." Eddie even came into the room to get me to get off - darn pushy men. We went to an Italian restaurant and talked about corruption and Eddie's transformation into Indiana Jones.
More memories:
I curled AJ's hair - she looked like Drew Barrymore from Dick Tracy. Together with the pink ruffly shirt, she said it didn't even look like her, but I think it's just another aspect. I didn't put enough gel in the front, though, so the curls fell out too soon. It was adorable.
Dana and Bob looked so happy. Dana was just glowing, and Bob looked like he could fly. The posable couple on the top of the cake were very cute, and the posable couple by the guest book kept getting caught in, um, compromising positions. In the church, no less. They weren't even ashamed of themselves.
Posts: 1163 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I had a wonderful time. I did my level best to keep up with the younger crowd and fared reasonably well but fell a little short on Saturday when I crashed on the couch. Fugu, Frisco, Icarus, Shigosei, AJ, Eljay,and Kat politely moved to another room and I woke up alone. Oh, BTW, if any of you are interested, I managed to NOT sleep in the wet spot.
I loved dancing with: ELjay, Kat, Farmgirl, Shigosei, AJ, and the incomparable Sophia. (I can't believe how light she is on her feet.) I wish I'd got to dance more but I'm old and I got winded. It's safe to say that I'm at least energetic for short stints but I have a hard time maintaining that level indefinately. Fugu and I considered a waltz together but, alas, it did not come to pass. If I have missed anyone my humble apologies.
Getting the chance to converse one on one with some of you was also a highlight. I wish there had been time to do that with everyone. The ceremony was absolutely delightful and filled with humor. I wouldn't have missed this for anything. I have a few pics and will upload them later. Love you all!!
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Did you decide who would have led? It's very difficult switching to start on a different foot than you're used to.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Dang! Wish I had more time to post right now and read all these follow-up threads...
ElJay's nice enough not to mention it, but part of the reason she was late on Sunday was that I spaced out on doing the navigating when she was dropping me off in Des Moines. (But, since it worked out that way for dkw to drive her back, then, yeah, maybe it was a good thing that I was so bad at paying attention to where we were going,)
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Oh, punwit's the better dancer, so I would have lead (since he'd then have been the one switching).
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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I want more pictures. And more stories. Actually, I just want us all to be back together again. Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I didn't take very many pictures, but I'm linking a few of them. Here is the link.
#1 fugu caught in a moment of domestic bliss. #2 The obligatory semi-nude Frisco pic. #3 The Hatrack Hotel, notice the halo? This is also the Student Union. It is almost beyond belief that our combined goodness is enough to offset the sin generated by college students. #4 Swans on the lake directly in front of our hotel. #5 Another early morning picture of our hotel. #6 Farmgirl and Ivygirl picking me up.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
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