I tried to post this earlier but the only thing I could seem to type was
Samantha, over and over and over again.
So I took my time and this is what I have come up with:
Well, for a spur of the moment decision to have a GT, this one was a rousing success! I arrived on the early side of things, around 10:15PM, to find a number of people around the piano, all male which didn't look good for the future of the evening. As we chatted I noticed someone enter the area with a lady I could only describe as a goddess in white.
Thinking that they must be a couple out for the evening, I didn't want to stare as not to be rude. But then I feel a tap on the shoulder from a gentleman introducing himself as Jeff Jones who then introduced the goddess as Miss Samantha! At this point I knew that this GT would be an unqualified success no matter what happened from there on out.
Things just continued to pick up as Voyager, Special K, Protagoras, Wide Open, Joe.t ( just love the hair, man!
), joined the party to be followed by the other lovely ladies who Athana and others have already listed above.
And of course I can't neglect to note the presence of the gruesome twosome of Orallover and Shijak
, two of my oldest and best friends on the board, who arrived together to a great welcome from everyone there. Rumples also came by and talking with him about his latest cycling exploits may actually give me the incentive to get the bike out and actually spend some time riding this summer.
Seeing my friend sapman arrive put the topping on an already very sweet dish of a GT! It was great to see you and catch up on things.
I'm sure that I'm forgetting to mention more than one person and you must forgive me because the vision of Samantha is seared into my mind and it's hard to think of anyone else. Maria, it was great to see you again after all this time and it was a pleasure to meet you, Athana after reading your posts for so long.
I really didn't get to meet most of the ladies in attendance as everyone was engaged in conversation as was I. Besides, as most everyone passed by our table during the evening to say hello to Samy I did get to chat with almost everyone I think.
Finally things started to break up around 1am with people slowly saying their goodbyes and the lovely ladies who graced this GT being among the last to leave at around 2. A number of us decided to grab a late night snack which ended too soon as the restaurant closed not long after our arrival. But I have a nice doggy bag of General Tao to snack on later on.
My highlight of the evening was an impromptu sing a long with Samy to a street musician outside of HDLM as she was leaving. I have to say that no matter what I have read of you on the board or heard of you in conversation, it can not compare with meeting you in person. It was a true pleasure and I must thank Jeff for escorting you to the GT and introducing us. You are radiant and the epitome of elegance and class. Yes, I admit it, I am smitten!
All in all it was a very nice GT that could hardly have been improved on. More of a gathering of friends than it was a gathering of hobbyists. Through all the fights and crap on the boards it reminded me of why I have stayed around here so long. It was rejuvenating!
Maria, thanks for getting the idea going, this wouldn't have happened without you, and to all who came by, thank you for contributing to such a fine evening. To those who didn't make it, well I would like to say you were missed but I really can't. It was definitely your loss and you missed a great evening!
Here's to the next GT and I hope it won't be as long a time coming as this one was!
Techman