Northeast Blogger Winter Dinner 2010 AAR

The dust has cleared, the smoke has settled, the knuckles have unwhitened after the long drive home in the blizzard. It's time for the in-depth analysis of the 2010 Northeast Blogger Winter Dinner. It's been more than a full day, and my head is still reeling with the general awesomeness of this get-together, as we once again brought nearly two dozen bloggers, commenters, readers, friends, and loved ones together in a restaurant to eat good food, drink frosty malt beverages, and share witty conversation (or in my case, guttural utterances).

The list of attendees was kept as a running tally in my attempt at live-blogging the meeting. I tried to keep a running commentary of who was there, what was going on, etc. except for two things: 1. The tiny little keyboard on the Eee just doesn't lend itself to the rapid-fire typing needed to keep a running update; and 2. I was having just too damn much fun to remember to keep updating the post. Honestly, I could have spent the entire evening with pretty much any single person that was there Saturday night; having that many folks to interact with is enough to put anyone into sensory overload. Here's a good portion of the group:

Northeast Blogger Attendees

Just look at that Rogue's Gallery there. Think of the scintillating wit that was present at that table: the insightful commentary of Marko; the urbane sophistication of Lissa; the upbeat and gripping wisdom of Borepatch; the biting social commentary provided by Bruce; these are just some of the wicked smaht bloggers present. It's great company, and believe me, one has to bring one's A-game...

I found Jillian's to be just about the perfect location, other than being located in the far corner of an industrial-looking park that we had to find in a blinding snowstorm, that is. The dining atmosphere was very casual; the waitstaff (especially poor beleaguered Rosie!) was superb; and they didn't even mind us commandeering a power outlet and a chunk of wi-fi to keep our outside connection rolling. We ate dinner, consumed adult beverages, and chatted for the better portion of two hours; folks came and went; and then we retired to the pool hall and shot 8- and 9-ball.

I can honestly say this is the most fun I've had all year... Heh.

Seriously, though, more than a couple people remarked that they'd like to do this more often, and I'm certainly amenable to that. If there's any one regret that I had from Saturday night, it's that I didn't get to spend anywhere near as much time with everyone as I would have liked. Doubletrouble was kind enough to offer his range for our annual shooting blogmeet over the summer; we'll hash out something for mid-July/early August later on in the year. There's a possibility we might have a dinner, shooting event, or both (not at the same time, silly, GSR and steak don't mix) in the middle of March or so. Further bulletins as events warrant...

Here are some others' thoughts on Saturday's bacchanalian event:

TOTWTYTR

Borepatch

Scotaku (who has video of your humble host!)

Marko

Lissa

I had a GREAT time, folks - let's do this again soon!

That is all.