Questions and Tidbits

This week's post will be a quick one. Not much new to report. Things are in full swing as we prep for the invasion to forever be known as Blogfest 2005.

Thanks to those of you who have sent us your flight information. Rest assured, someone reasonably sober will meet you at the airport. What happens after that is anyone's guess...

Has everyone made their hotel reservations and ordered their Blogfest goodies? Just checking...

One small piece of housekeeping. I'm going to print out a hard copy of the attendees and their blogs. If anyone does not want their first names listed, let me know now or forever hold your peace. This list will not be on the internet. It will only be for the attendees.

Oh, yeah... one more tiny little piece of information, for anyone who might be interested (yes, I'm looking at you, Dash and Deathknyte). I have procured a brand new frying pan, just for the weekend.

Let's just hope I don't need it...

A Little Housekeeping...

Beth: (walking in) geez- who left this mess in here? Spats, did you leave all these boxes and t-shirts... and stickers and mousepads... in here? Where did all this stuff come from?

Spats: (peeking out from behind a box) the Cafe Press store. I... uh... ordered a few things...

Beth: a few things? Did you leave anything for the other attendees?

Spats: well... uh... they said they'd make more.

Beth: ... anyway... Time to do a little admin housekeeping for the party. It's only 4 weeks away.

Spats: you're not going to do that freak-out, panic mode thing, are you?

Beth: Not yet... maybe later...

OK... here we go. A few memos/requests/questions from Southern Command:

First, old business:

• Everyone get everything done on the checklist?

• Did you order your official gear?
  

New(ish)business:

• Are any of you driving in from out of town? If so, are any of you interested in carpooling to/from Dallas? (This does not necessarily commit you to providing transport while in Dallas- just to/from)
• Any of you interested in cutting down on expenses by sharing a room with another attendee? (No, I cannot guarantee that your roommate won't snore)
• Any of you from the D/FW area willing to help out carpooling some of the out-of-towners who either don't have a lift or who are uncomfortable with the idea of driving in the same area code as the Mix Master? (I have a minivan, and we're thinking about renting a big van, but... some back-up might not be a bad idea)
• Flying in? We still need to know where/when to pick you up.

Definitely new business:

• I talked to someone from Billy Bob's. I need a pretty definite headcount to see if we can do the group rate for the Chris Cagle concert. I also need to know if we want to do BYOF (BUY, not bring, your own food) or if we want to do some catered stuff. PLEASE e-mail or leave your count/preference on food in the comments. (They have all-you-can-eat buffets and/or hors doeuvres trays.)

That is all for now... we are now at 30 days and counting...

Spats: 30 days? Thirty days!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!! AAAAAIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (starts shoving t-shirts back into boxes)

Beth: and he thinks I panic? yeah, right... whatever...

Time to go shopping, guys

Well, some of you wanted shot glasses, some of you wanted shirts.

How about this?  Click on this link and knock yerselves out!

I'll be there in my muscle shirt...

BETH:  (snicker...snx...snx...snicker...) BWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHA...~!!! (snort)

...while Beth will be in her bikini...

BETH:  WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!   (reaches for frying pan)

Uh, 'scuse me...gotta go...(scurries)  MERRRRRRRR-LINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN...!!!!!!!!!

S, M, L, XL...4XL?

We're thinking about having a memento for the blogfest, souveniers (sp?) if you will, to prove that we actually pulled this extravaganza off somehow. (grin)

We've narrowed it down to two:  Shot glasses etched with "TX Blogfest 2005" on the side...or perhaps t-shirts with the TXB2005 banner on the front.

Here's the deal:  If we do the shot-glass option, we can probably take care of the cost of this ourselves...

BETH:  Who's this 'we', paleface???

LSIK&T:  Hush, or I'll sic this cedar tree on you.

BETH:  Eeeeeeeeeeep!!!!! (scurries)

...okay, where was I...?

Ah, yes.  If we go with the t-shirts, we're gonna need some help from you guys - say, somewhere between $10-20 per.

The shot-glasses are nice, but they're trinkets, and (mostly) useless ones at that.  The t-shirts cost more, but they're a little more functional.

Let us know where you'd like to go with all that.  Thanks.

Survey Questions #1 and #2

Beth: Is this thing on? Oh, good!

Attention all attendees! We here at Blogfest HQ™ (Southern Office) are trying to finalize the schedule for the Shindig.

Spats: Is that a real word?
Beth:Yes, I looked it up. It's a real word. Now, hush. I'm making an announcement.

So, as I was saying, we working on the schedule. Friday night is pretty much a done deal. Check into the hotel as you roll into town, and then we'll meet up at Humperdink's (3820 Belt Line Road, just down the street from the hotel) for food, drink, and a general get-to-know-you time. (This is when the quiz will be taken. Prizes may be awarded. Haven't decided that yet.) The gab-fest will then move on over to the Holiday Inn Express when a: the first bloggers start dropping off; or b:when Zane needs to hit the sack. (Right, Denita?)

Spats: Prizes? We can win prizes? OK, now where is that attendees blogroll again?
Beth: No, ya big oaf, we can't win any prizes. That would be cheating.

So, on Saturday, during the day, we have several options. Sight seeing (any ideas where?), a trip to a range for some target practice (hmm... need to see if I can bring Mr. Friendly along... I'm sure he'd enjoy a field trip), and a Blog Q&A (where newer bloggers can pick the brains of the "old pros" and everyone can just talk up a storm about that which ties us all together- this dang addiction known as blogging) have all been mentioned as possibilities. So, Survey Question #1- what are your choices from the list above (in order of preference)?

Spats: Will we only get to do one of those things?
Beth: Probably not. I'm sure we'll be able to squeeze in more than one thing into the schedule. I'm looking for priorities here.

Now we come to my conundrum. Saturday night in the Big D. What to do? What to do? What to do? Someone who shall remain nameless (ZiPpo) suggested that I just make an executive decision, but... well... here's the deal. Unless y'all come up with something MUCH better, the plan is to hit Billy Bob's over in Ft. Worth (don't panic! We'll carpool! We won't risk losing any of our bloggers in D/FW traffic!)

Spats: And I suppose you're going to expect all of us to Two Step, too, aren't you?
Beth: Damn strai... I'm mean, darn right, y'all are going to dance. Why in the world do you think I want to do this? I want to dance with some of these cute guys. And, come on, Spats, admit it... you know you'd like to do a little dancing with some of the ladies... come on...
Spats: I can neither confirm nor deny that I can or will dance with... hey, she's kinda cute...

So, as I was saying... Chris Cagle will be in concert on Saturday night, and I've heard he puts on a good show.(Any guy who sings a song called " 'Cause the Chicks Dig It" can't be all bad!" And, come on- it's Billy Bob's- how much more Texas can you get than that? As for the dancing, it'll be fun! Really! Here are directions on how to Two Step. (How long have you lived in Texas, and you still haven't learned how to Two Step???) So... Survey Question #2- is everyone ok with Billy Bob's on Saturday night, or do you have another idea?

Thanks, and have a great weekend! (And, by the way, in case anyone was wondering... yeah, Spats and I really are like this.)

Spats:Am not!
Beth:Are too!