"Hi, do you blog?"

Last night, I attended a gathering of local bloggers. Arranged by Erik, we were all to gather at XES.

5:30 - Erik and I met earlier to grab a bite to eat at Elmo. We knoshed on calamari and salad. Erik gives good conversation. :)
6:25 - We arrived at XES and were dismayed to find the bar, fairly full. Managing to find a seat with the help of Joseph (self-proclaimed decorator, drink girl and sometime DJ), we settled down for a drink. Yahoo. Two-for-One. It was then we realized we hadn't made any agreement as to how a group of strangers were supposed to approach and meet each other (an error, aside from our tardiness, that left us without Richard). Erik sat facing the door, watching diligently for a familiar face.

Arriving after us, was Steven. Very nice guy, Erik was commenting on how he was his first, blogger that is, that he'd met. Shortly after, Joe arrived and as Erik went to grab him at the bar, a table opened up, and not too soon it seems. Enter Corey, Juan, Oliver and AJ. Followed closely by Byrne, Richard, Jase and Wayne.

Everyone was genuinely cool and it was good to attach people to the blogs I read. As I mentioned before, we did not get to meet Richard, Corey's Boss. It turns out, Erik and I may have missed him while we were there. As Corey came in, he was receiving some "scathing"(not necessarily the right word) emails from Richard. I promised to send him some "suggestive" pictures to ease his anger. Corey keyed in my response to his BlackBerry. A man of my word, I believe I have fulfilled my promise. :) Everyone was having a good time, some too good a time, Jase (j/k). Joe was showing pictures from the Westminster Dog Show and catching some horrible pictures of me. I was trying to do the same. Corey watched The Mummy on the screens, while we chatted about Constantine and Bug.

Unfortunately, Oliver wasn't feeling well (hope you're feeling better) and Corey had company. So they had to leave. AJ and Juan soon followed to go grab a bite. We imbibed a few more drinks, Jase gyrated his hips against anyone who was willing (ah youth) and I chatted with Richard about new, worth watching anime. Alas, Erik, our organizer had to head home, he's leaving for Fireball today. The gathering broke up from there.
9:45PM.

All in all, a very low key evening... but a very nice start. I've got a few photos that I'll be posting for all to see. Even one of Jase's tattoo, which shows a bit too much of the brazilian wax.