Rambling Rhodes

In The Presence Of Greaterness

When it comes to mingling, I be not good. Of mingling prowess, I am of diminished proficiency. My mingling skills are lacking.

Therefore, when I was at Keegan's Irish Pub on Saturday night for the big blogger get together, I apologize for my poor mingling abilities. I did my best. Honestly, I did. And Melissa did, too. In fact, she was probably a better mingler than I was, but she credited that to the strong Bacardi Limon/cranberry juice cocktails that Keegan's mixed for her.

First off, I met Cathy, from Cathy In The Wright. She was dressed in pajamas, which I honestly didn't even notice until she pointed it out.

Then, charging from the crowd came Mitch Berg, who introduced me to a dizzying number of Minnesota bloggers. He was like a rolodex when it came to introductions. His mingling skills far surpassed my own. He was the enthusiastic MC for the event, and I was mighty grateful for his superior mingling skills.

According to some estimates, as many as 80 bloggers were in attendance, which isn't hard to believe. I met a staggering number of local blogging enthusiasts. I can't possibly list everyone I met, because quite honestly I can't remember everyone I met.

I did meet Doug, from Bogus Gold. I also met some of the guys behind Frater Libertas. I shook hands with Flash from Centrisity. I also met a couple of folks from the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune, although I can't remember their names. Nick Coleman, I'm sorry to report, was not in attendance.

From the "A-List" bloggers, I briefly met James Lileks who--although I was aware of this ahead of time--was still a lot smaller than I had ever even imagined. He wasn't Vern Troyer, or anything like that, but he was a tad on the diminutive side, that's all I'm saying.

I also shook hands with Scott Johnson of Power Line. It really didn't register at first that I was meeting one of the guys behind Time's Blog of the Year and the whole Dan Rather shake-up. It wasn't until later that I starting thinking "wow, that was pretty cool."

Like I said, I met a LOT of other bloggers, but I can only really remember those who I actually read with some regularity, so I apologize if I did meet you but didn't mention you here.

As an aside, I should note that a lot of people knew my name and my blog largely because of the Dirty Mushroom. It was kind of disconcerting to know that my posterior is the driving force behind my online fame, such as it is. Then again, I shouldn't really be surprised by that, especially in light of the hi-jinx that went on over the weekend by folks with entirely too much photoshop time on their hands.

Hat tip to Etienne:

Hat tip to Jimmo:

I hesitate to encourage such activity, but. . . okay, I fully endorse such activity because, let's face it, that's some funny shit right there.

Unfortunately, Keegan's isn't the biggest venue in the state for hosting such large numbers. Mel and I went to the get together under the impression that we'd be able to sit down and order some food, so we went there with empty stomachs. Upon our arrival, it became very obvious that we wouldn't be sitting down and ordering food any time soon. Therefore, we had to make a discreet exit after about an hour so we could fill our rumbly tummies.

Overall, it was a good time, and I hope to attend another blogger bash sometime in the future. At least then I'll know a few faces, so my mingling skills will be a little better. Maybe.

UPDATE: Pictures of the Keegan's attendees can be found here.

Posted by Ryan at January 24, 2005 10:04 AM