Wow.
I just got home from my self-thrown "farewell" party. A BIG "THANK YOU!!!" to everyone who came, especially those of you who bought me drinks. It was a great turn out, and it meant a lot to me that you all came to wish me good luck on this crazy new chapter in my life.
Even so, there is a special subset of tonight's attendees (including some who couldn't make it, for valid reaons) who deserve a real debt of gratitude.
A few years ago, as my chosen career was imploding, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a unique group of friends, whose ignorance of and disinterest in opera was as refreshing and wonderful as their tolerance of my passion for LOTR. You guys have been my rock, and I hope you know that this decision to up and move back to Oregon included major arguments with myself about the wisdom of leaving behind such an incredible network of friends. I love you all, and will miss you all more than I can say. Thank you, a million times over, for your friendship, support, generosity, encouragement and admonishments. If it wasn't for you guys, I never would have known how to even start a blog. I never would have watched Battlestar Galactica. My she-cat would no doubt be named Norma or Adina or Gutrune instead of Starbuck.
None of you happen to believe in God, but nonetheless, I believe God led me to you. You were, and are, absolutely the right people at the right time. This city I can live without; but the 3,000 miles I'm putting between myself and you guys is going to hurt like hell. Do take care, and please stay in touch.
The Geeks:
Derek
Doomed to Flail
Fabulous Jackass
Glennalicious
Fulminous
Useless! Worthless! Insipid!
He Who Has No Blog
And while I'm at it, THANK YOU to the other bloggers who showed up tonight:
Brechi
Crash
Huomiseksi
DJRaindog
Jess
Bokey
TinMan
Hit or Miss
Jere-Rigged
16 comments:
How blessed you are to have such great friends! I hope you meet just as many fantastic people in Portland :) The worst part of moving is the loved ones you leave behind.
BTW, my mom's name is Norma, and she is actually pretty kickass, even though she doesn't fly a Viper. But, you've never met my mom so you couldn't have known that ;)
Oh, I wasn't making fun of the name Norma, I was referring to the heroine of Bellini's opera by that name, who is pretty kick-ass herself. I just meant that if it hadn't been "Starbuck," she probably would have been named for some crazy soprano character or other.
Lots of bloggers, podcasters, weirdo-hippies, tree-huggers and hot guys waiting for you here in Portland!
Glad you had a great time with your friends. See you soon!
Looks like you had a really great time! It's hard to leave friends when you move, but the internet is a wonderful way to stay in touch :)
What are you drinking there in the picture?
It's a shot called a "Lemon Drop."
Aw, that's kind of boring. I wanted something I could make fun of!
good times!
wish i coulda been there. :(
Hey Andy, Sorry I couldn't make it last night. A ferocious stomach flu swept through my bowels and left me incapacited for the last two days. I will try to call you to make plans before you leave, which should be doable as you're not going to work at all this week.
Again, sorry I missed the blog-tastic geekiness at Barrage.
We were glad to stop by and see you off. Sorry we couldn't stay later. Looks like we missed a bunch of folks.
Hey, Toddy, you boys take good care of him! He's special!
Hey Andy I'm so happy for you. knús Kolla from Iceland
Glad things went so well for you at the good bye party. I hope your new digs are just as successful.
I just meant that if it hadn't been "Starbuck," she probably would have been named for some crazy soprano character or other.
Are you implying that Starbuck is a crazy soprano ;)?
Woo hoo for geek friends! At least you'll have some reason to hang out with your old-school crew ;).
Even if we still (almost all) don't drink ;).
(Portland is just so much less depressing than NYC or Seattle ... drinking is mostly for fun here. Well, mixed drinks are. The beer drinkers will tell you it's for nutrition ... 'swear, some of them around here seem to think think beer and maybe some good steak-cut fries is a complete diet ;). And ... with the beers brewed here, they might be right!)
You know you are from Portland when...
You go to a coffee bar and see two guys get into a fight over who makes the best India Pale Ale.
You own more than 10 articles of clothing that have microbreweries/brewpubs printed on them. Bonus for embroidered stuff.
:)
Seattle isn't all that depressing... it's just like Portland, only bigger, with more water... and no massive super cool bookstore. Oh and the Eastside and Westside have opposite meanings.
Jade--not so much knocking on "Seattle" as its weather ... I spent three days in the Palm Springs area a few years back and they had
two Strabucks in four towns--at opposite ends of the same strip mall (apparently the only land in the area cheap enough for a strip mall)
gourmet food shops that did not include ... so seriously! ... they did not have any CHOCOLATE. In a gourmet food shop. Not even a little bit. None. (Luckily there was a tiny outpost shop of a swank chocolatier, which I finally found. After the first couple gormet food shops I was really worried.)
At that point, I realized how much coffee and chocolate mightbe drugs we (northerners) instinctually use to survive without enough sunlight ... apparently largely unnecessary, merely luxury items(!), in an area that almost never sees a cloud.
Talk about culture shock ;).
(Ewww, the typos ... sorry. Clearly past bedtime.)
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