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Day 322: Now That The Cake Has Been Eaten

Are there any other Human Barometers out there? In other words, does anyone other than me begin to experience a severe and debilitating headache before and during the approach of a low-pressure front, dispelled only when it begins to rain? Forget weather radars and models – just use the Maitri-o-graph!

Yesterday sacrificed to treating Mi Cabesa with Advil and sleep, updating El Blog suffered. Big News: Friday night’s Geek Dinner was a blast! A big thank-you hug to Alan Gutierrez for throwing open the doors (all of them) of his Esplanade Ave. geek quarters to us, with room for food, drink, great conversation and techno-nerdery. While I have met and interacted with a majority of the attendees over the past year, I was finally able to put faces to some bloggers and geeks. This, in itself, is a strange thing: one’s countenance is not necessarily reflected in his/her words or what you imagined they would look like.

Ray, Sharon (Sophmom), Loki (Humid City) & Ashley Karen Gadbois (NW Carrollton), Brian D. (Schroeder) & Peter Athas (Adrastos)
Ray, Sharon, Loki & Ashley (L); Lisa Karen, Brian & Peter

Ashley, Adrastos, Dangerblond, Lisa, Oyster and I arrived at the geek dinner after meeting at the Bridge Lounge for another discussion on the logistics of the planned Rising Tide New Orleans Convention (more about this later).

Immediately, I ran into Loki cooking a mean jambalaya and got into a (fake and terribly amusing) domestic argument over who was to fetch the Miller High Life (oh, the ignominy) for said jambalaya. Then, Becky Houtman and Alan, who was running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything started. Following that: Alexis (Loki’s lovely fiancee), Dudley (Loki’s lovely Dr. Who encyclopedia), Mark Folse, Karen Gadbois, Steve Wilkinson, Jen (Steve’s wife), Sarah, Shannon, Simon Dorfman, Scott, Paul Christmann, Bart, Dave (an utter sweetheart) and Brian (who really looks like Schroeder). Dave B., visiting from Ann Arbor, Ray, Sharon (all the way from Atlanta), Michael Homan and Kalypso showed up as the party was kicking into high gear, as did Vince Keenan of Publius. Morwen made a brief appearance to drop off her yummy potato salad and was then abducted by GCIA for a meeting (on a Friday night?); they finally relented and released her to our dinner.

The wine didn’t show (thanks a lot, Stormhoek!) but, in true New Orleans style, we had plenty to eat and drink, so no one was bothered. Yours truly, as usual, went into full OCD mode and took over the placement of dishes, drinks and trash in the kitchen while mingling with everyone. Lesson: Have faith in cubic closest packing, and any organizational impediment can be conquered.

Highlights:

  • A lot of New Orleanians I talk with and admire online in one place, joking and commisserating.
  • Vince Keenan’s appreciation for Project Gutenberg and our short but fruitful discussion on the risk of corporation-like organization in non-profits.
  • The chana masala was a hit. Thanks to my mother and brother’s wife for helping me perfect this dish!
  • Alexis, Dudley and I saw Sasquatch in a chicken suit in the fetal position by the pool. Believe it or not.
  • The birthing of three memes (we are geeks, after all): quatchy, skeptosexy and Katrina Juice. Quatchy is a descriptor of the hermitlike, crabby and non-sassy second persona of the Sasquatch. Skeptosexy is the skeptical, yet sultry, look emitted by a photography subject when she simply wants to be left alone. Only New Orleanians can truly understand Katrina Juice, i.e. the funky miasma that permeates the entire city in the wake of the hurricane, flood and decay. Usage: “Before the pool was severely chlorinated, the veneer of Katrina Juice kept me from entering it.”
  • “Oh my god, you’re Fields of Garlic!” and “Everyone, Sophmom has entered the building.”
  • Pool time with Dudley and Kalypso – Caaaaaaaaaa – aaaaaaaa – non – baaaaalllll!
  • Wisconsin trounces Michigan again! Becky (who went to Badger hockey as a child and in a Packers tshirt) and Paul Christmann are from Madison, Simon Dorfman hails from Oconomowoc and me vs. the puny forces of Dave B. and Alan G. from Ann Arbor. On Wisconsin!

Now, I take my latest invention, Coconut Curry Casserole, to a pool party with another beloved group of friends, my subkrewe of Krewe du Vieux. Before I leave, however, three items need to be taken care of.

First, I give Ashley these lyrics: Wake my up before you go go / Don’t leave me hangin’ on like a yoyo / Wake me up before you go go / Take me dancin’ tonight! You may thank me later.

Next, to my fellow Badgers: On Wisconsin! – the school song and the state version.

Last but not least, Carl, a photographer friend of Yvonne (Alan’s neighbor), watched the party from downstairs and offered up this collage in our honor:

P.S. If you don’t get the title, July the 14th was Bastille Day.

Maitri’s Geek Dinner Picture Gallery

Loki’s Geek Dinner / Bastille Day Photo Gallery

17 comments… add one
  • Schroeder July 16, 2006, 2:19 PM

    Count one more Wisconsin transplant here.

    Correction: That’s Karen in the photo on the right (I think you knew that).

  • Mark July 16, 2006, 5:35 PM

    I new I shoulda bought one of those disposalble grills and brought brats. Next time at our house, I promise brats and other comfort foods of the Mid-West (damn, I’ve been in Mid-City long enough I can no longer type Midwest properly) If it ever gets cool, Beer Cheese Soup, a fat and salt laden death bomb that ought to appeal to the New Orleans palate.

  • Karen July 16, 2006, 9:17 PM

    I think No Air Conditioning should be the rule at all future parties. And as much as I would love to be mistake for Lisa I have a lower center of gravity than she does
    K

  • Adrastos July 16, 2006, 11:24 PM

    I vote for AC myself. I’m still sweating after 2 days…

  • Lisa July 17, 2006, 2:24 AM

    Mmmmmm…..coconut curry. And a salt-laden death-bomb with cheese in it? In an air-conditioned space? Heaven!

    Hey Maitri, Wake Me Up is much better than It’s a Small World. Oh, rats!! There I go again!!!

  • Sophmom July 17, 2006, 8:43 AM

    LOL. I thought it was a perfect evening, although I wouldn’t mind trying AC in the future. It was so wonderful meeting everyone. The pics are great!

    While brats and beer chees soup sound great, it’s hard for me to imagine it ever getting cool there. It was such a hot weekend that I was the only parent at The Youngest’s baseball game last night (back home in the A-T-L) who was not complaining.

  • Dave July 17, 2006, 12:00 PM

    Oh, you had to get in a Wisconsin vs. Michigan dig. Well, I think I can handle you Badgers all right without any backup.

    Also, I’m decidedly *not* skeptosexy in those photos.

  • schroeder July 17, 2006, 11:17 PM

    Let them eat … chana masala … or coconut curry casserole? Are we so unloved? Maitri, yes, the chana masala was an absolute smash success, but how could you keep us from the coconut curry? I can’t wait for this pleasure another time.

  • Maitri July 17, 2006, 11:27 PM

    how could you keep us from the coconut curry?

    Because I didn’t invent it until yesterday afternoon.

    The chana masala is a tried and true dish that I can make in my sleep; better to impress you with, my sweets.

    Now that I have you reeled into my kitchen of variety and experimentation, coconut curry casserole will only be the first in a long string of culinary creativity.

  • Morwen July 18, 2006, 1:10 PM

    Oh my, Maitri! I sense a challenge…

    Geeks in a cooking contest… What the heck, it’s New Orleans and we love our food. I have some fusion dishes that are mind-blowing. (Just wish I had a stove.)

    It was a tres kewl time at the dinner. I’m still on Cloud Nine.

  • ashley July 18, 2006, 4:11 PM

    A geek cooking challenge, a veritable culinary smackdown?

    You’re all on.

  • schroeder July 18, 2006, 9:22 PM

    HEY SHERLOCK!!! I HAVE IT!!! WE’LL DO A LOCAL BLOGGER’S IRON CHEF CONTEST!

    I did one once before. Someone picks an ingredient. When I did it, the ingredient was corn. Something like cardomom would be interesting. So many other possibilities.

    How about it gang?

  • Maitri July 19, 2006, 12:33 PM

    Cardamom? You mean the spice that every Indian kid chews on within a day of birth and flows in our veins? Pffff … easy. Oh, it’s on!

    (except that I will not jump up onto the butcher block and scream something stupid because a) it’s stupid and b) we don’t step on that which we cook on)

  • Sam July 27, 2006, 6:42 AM

    The wine was delivered!! It arrived 2 days before the event and was signed at the address Morwen gave us but it seems it wasn’t passed on internally which is frustrating…

    Glad you seemed to have a great event – I think Morwen is planning to organise another one with the wine soon.

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