We ate, we drank, we jabbered, we had a blast! We had wonderful visiting guests and lovely local regulars. And guess what? Not one person called anyone else a name. No one fought. My prescription for the latest attack of DK metamisery:
more meetups!
And now please follow me below to see what fun we all had (warning: many photos!):
One side of the table...
and the other side!
far side, right to left: jcanadag, ericlewis0, blue jersey mom, Its the Supreme Court Stupid, No Exit, renska, MichiganChet's friend (name?); near side, right to left, matt129c, Mets 102
This meetup was organized in honor of a visit from
Onomastic, and she did not disappoint. She came,
Ono gets her badge from belinda ridgewood!
she hugged,
belinda gets her thank you
some love for joan brooker!
Michigan Chet gets one, too!
she schmoozed!
Ono and me, just shootin' the breeze. And I can tell it wasn't about politics by the smile on my face!
We had other out-of-town guests:
MichiganChet and his friend (name?) who noticed the meetup diary, happened to be in town, and joined us. I love serendipiity!
Isabelle and Brian Hayes, who drove all the way down from the Catskills for their first NYC meetup - but not their last!
And plenty of Metro Area Kossacks. Regulars we love to see:
Timewarp, back after a break
One of the best-named Kossacks EVAH : It's the Supreme Court, Stupid!
the wonderful blue jersey mom, in a pensive mood. Trust me, she was great fun to be with, and having fun, too!
No Exit, always fun to see and chat with!
The ever-popular star of DK Comics, artist/writer of AnimalNuz, ericlewis0
joan brooker. This woman is a jewel!
Ollie Garkey, minus goatee but with warmth intact
and at long, long last, PROOF that matt129c and mconvente are not each other's sockpuppets!
And a couple of new friends, whom we hope to see again soon:
jcanadag - notice she knows what color to wear to a DK meetup!
Renska - and I never even got to ask where she got her screen name!
Between the sparkling discussion of issues that swirled around the table, plenty of goofing around transpired :
Happy Mets102 appreciating the conversation; happy plf515 appreciating it, and the beer list, too!
Ono pretends to be shy...heh.
But you can't fool me, I know why you're here. On to the food porn:
the legendary Spitzer's French fries, now with pimentón!
an avocado omelet: salsa verde, tortilla strips (did I mention they know how to fry things at Spitzer's?)
shrimp salad...oooh
even ze sandviches are beeootiful!
...and the French toast (yes, that's what it is)...I think this gives new meaning to the term food porn.
OK. This was belinda ridgewood's brunch. And apart from the mimosa, I have NO IDEA what we're looking at here: possibly a crab cake topped with toasted marshmallow, a giant, perfect tomato, and a side of cole slaw?
...and did I mention the fries were popular ?
Last but
definitely not least, the people without whom this diary wouldn't exist, our two talented photographers:
belinda ridgewood
and ask
the wonderful belinda ridgewood...
...and ask - I love this guy!!
Just kidding - here they are!!
More thanks than I can fit in this diary to you both, and to all the Kossacks who attended - thanks for making our party great! Both of them;^).