Grotto closed last night. Coffee and doughnuts for all comers.

[Aristus]

This cool-ish Fall morning I have Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, finely roasted and ground, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. Also a selection of cake doughnuts, (chocolate and glazed), and a special treat: Key Lime doughnuts, with real Key Lime in the filling! Dig in!

:donut: :donut: :donut:

[VelmaD]

1. I had a long night...

and I'm exhausted. *enormous yawn* I was up to no good. ;-)

Glad to see you brought donuts this morning. Never had Key Lime donuts before but I'm always up for trying new things. ;-)

DV

[Aristus]

2. Morning, Vel. Long night, huh? Grab a doughnut and let's chat.

Key Lime doughnuts are heaven! I'm a Key Lime fanatic. That's tough in this part of the country where there are NO Key Limes. And nobody's been able to fake me out with regular limes either; I can tell. Key Limes are yellow on the outside, like lemons, and light green on the inside.

So how is it?

[VelmaD]

3. My niece is addicted...

to Key Lime pie. And she loves it when I go to Florida every year at xmas and bring her back key lime saltwater taffy. I'm ok with key lime. Pretty yummy.

I'm all up for chatting today. Whatcha wanta yack about? :-)

[Aristus]

4. What were you up to last night?

;-)

[VelmaD]

5. Will Pitt was in town again...

last night doing a local town hall meeting on the Patriot Act. He rocked the house.

Afterwards me and him and GOPisEvil and some other local folks (including the mayor pro tem of Austin - how cool is that) went out to the Dog and Duck and drank and had fried jalapenos...yumm...

And you're gonna have to ply me with a lot more sugar to get any more details than that. ;-)

[Aristus]

6. Cool! Wow! Will is really tearing up Texas, isn't he?

I read where he went to Houston (gag!) after doing Austin the first time. Then he came back to Austin? What a stand-up guy. Y'know, I still haven't met any fellow DU-ers yet. Geniph and her husband live only a fifteen minute drive away, but getting out to meet them would require some serious deception towards my wife, and some fast talking if she caught me. Oh well, maybe some day.

More sugar for that coffee? Or another doughnut? Chooooooocolaaaate, Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[VelmaD]

7. If there's sprinkles...

on that chocolate donut I might just be persuaded to tell all. ;-)

You should be straight-up with the wife and tell her what you're doing and go meet your fellow DUers. The big gathering here on Sunday night and the smaller party last night were both a lot of fun. There are lots of like-minded, funny, articulate, passionate people out there well worth meeting. And it certainly helps with that feeling we all get as liberals sometimes that we are all alone screaming at the universe.

I'm glad I went (and I don't normally do big groups or new people). I really like some of the local folks and I'm beyond thrilled that I got to meet and know Will. He's a lot of fun. And yup, he rocked Texas and I'm sorry to see him go. :-(

[Aristus]

8. Sprinkles.

Chocolate, or rainbow for you?

I imagine that a DU meet-up is like virtual DU writ large; lots of friendly, smart, fun people that you feel empowered by and absolutely safe with. I bet the arguements get bad if they ever break out, though. Any flame wars in real life, Vel?

[VelmaD]

9. Rainbow sprinkles...

definitely rainbow. :-)

No real flame wars here. Some passionate conversations though. Will can get, well, a little het up (which is just too cute to adequately describe - you have to see it to believe it). Though I shouldn't single him out since it's not like the rest of us didn't have our moments too when our own pet issue came up.

And Skittles has just as many exclamation points in real life as she does on the board. *snort* Meeting her was a hoot and a half.

I think you're right about it feeling "safe". You just knew that everyone else there believed in the same basic core principles and that we're all on the same side and everybody really seemed to want to get along and make friends.

[Aristus]

10. I like a safe environment. Sometimes, against my better judgement

I try to bring light into the dark world of my freeper in-laws. I always end up regretting it. Not the least of which reasons is because I'm a terrible debater. In a debate, you need a rebuttal right off the bat. I can never come up with one. Give me three weeks, and I can tear down anyone's arguement. But in a debate, you don't have three weeks. Just three seconds maybe.

They'll never realize what a f*ck-up the Chimp is, and if they ever do, by some miracle, they'll never admit it. Preaching to the choir gets old sometimes, but trying to preach to the unconvertable is soul-killing.

[VelmaD]

11. Being in a safe environment...

is also good for picking up new points to use with the freepers-in-law.

I know how hard it must be to try to "preach to the unconvertable". Keep fighting knowing that we're all behind you and admire your continued effort to bring a little enlightenment to them. :-)

Know what...this is getting way too serious. Are you just setting me up? Getting me off-guard so you can hit me with the embarassing questions about the get-together? ;-)

[Aristus]

12. No. *innocent look in eyes*

Something embarrassing happened? Who did you hit on? ;-)

C'mon, give, give, give. I'm tryin' to be a good guy here, but hey! You opened the door to this one. :D

*sonorous voice* This is Doctor Frazier Crane........I'm listening.

[VelmaD]

13. Not sure who "hit on" who exactly...

but feel free to try and guess. ;-)

Embarassing revelation number one: I did pull my shirt up and show the folks who stayed til the end on Sunday night both of my tattoos. Which encouraged Will to pull up his shirt and show off his tats as well. Yumm...

[Aristus]

14. OMG! You hit on Will Pitt! You naughty thing, you!

And wait just a minute. You have a least one tattoo that I know of that isn't disclosed when you pull up your shirt. So, uh, just how far did the tattoo display go? Tsk-tsk-tsk! Man, I wish I coulda been there! B-)

[VelmaD]

15. My lips are sealed...

regarding any "hitting on" that may or may not have involved myself and the delectable Mr. Pitt. ;-)

And yes, I was wearing pants that ride low on the hip and was able to pull them down just enough to show off the sun tat as well. Showed my belly-button ring too.

[Aristus]

18. ...lips are sealed...delectable.....

Hmm. Interesting. More went on than you are obviously prepared to tell. :evilgrin: How many drinks did you ply him with? And isn't he married?

[VelmaD]

20. Nope...

not married. And I did not ply him with alcohol. He threw a few back but it was all of his own volition.

Embarassing revelation number 2: Will read to us from "The Greatest Sedition is Silence" but he had had a little bit much to drink and got the hiccups while he read. It was fuckin' hilarious.

And yes, I said delectable and I stand by that assessment. ;-)

[Aristus]

22. Wish I could have heard that.

I've taken a peek at "Sedition" in the book store and am now seeking a way to be able to read it without raising the suspicions of my wife. Y'know, sometimes I wonder if I would be happier with someone else, a liberal Dem for instance, and then the reality hits me; No, I wouldn't. Not one little bit. I adore her and she makes me very happy. Her politics are just one tiny part of her. I've had a number of well-meaning DU-ers ask "Man, why do you STAY with her?" There's the answer.

[VelmaD]

26. I'm getting that book...

and his new one when it comes out as birthday presents for myself. :-)

My lovely Southern manners are gonna show - anyone who asks you why you stay with your wife (in that tone of voice that I bet goes along with it) is too rude. You're right, her politics are just one part of her and you never know how she also might change in the future. That you aren't willing to toss a marriage aside over it says something about you and you're willingness to compromise and try to work things through.

It's not like even the most liberal dem wouldn't end up having things about them that drove you nuts too.

[Aristus]

27. Ah, lovely Southern manners! I remember going to school when I

lived in Houston. EVERYONE called the teachers 'Sir' or 'Ma'am'. No two ways about it. My eighth grade math teacher was from Tennessee. I was SO in love with her.....and that ACCENT. My God! Tennessee is one of the sexiest Southern accents. Texas is nice, too! I'm not picking on anyone.

My wife has changed quite a bit from when we first met. She was a little uptight with the born-again Christian thing. She mourned the fact that Amy Grant no longer sang "blessed" music. And she was horrified that I used to hang out with the gay crowd in Louisville, KY. (I was a 'Rocky Horror' fanatic). She's come a long way. She is anti-Iraq war, anti-death-penalty, and thinks we need a better health care system.

Heck, I've changed in the last eight years. I used to be very supportive of the death penalty. Kill, kill, kill. That was me. I've become much more liberal. I'm happier that way.

[VelmaD]

30. It sounds like...

you two are growing together in the same direction even if not at the same pace necessarily. :-)

I wonder if she has these same conversations with her friends. About how much you've changed but that she loves you just the same and that politics is just a small part of who you are. :-)

I remember calling everyone sir or ma'am. I still do a lot. I still have a hard time calling adults more than a decade or so older than me by their first name. *embarassed blushing*

My accent is kinda fun. Sometimes it's soft and sweet but when I get all het up I sound like Ross Perot's illegitimate love-child. *snort*

[Aristus]

32. I've lived up here since 1979, less a seven year hitch in the Army,

but apparantly, I still have traces of an accent. I used to work in a bookstore, and I'd say to a customer, "Will that be all for you today?" and they'd give me a funny look. "Where are you FROM, man? ''ll thayat be awl fer yew tuhday?" I'd just shrug and say "Texas, originally."

Funny, but when I last visited Texas, people made fun of my 'Wushintun' accent.

BTW, I'm eating Yoplait Key Lime yogurt right now. Toldja I was a fanatic!

[VelmaD]

34. I'm not sure I know...

what a 'Wushintun' accent sounds like. I think you were being teased honey. :-)

I love accents though. All accents. Any accents. They make people distinct and different in a good way. The world would be so boring if we were all the same.

[Aristus]

36. 'Wushintun' is flat, vaguely nasal. We talk faster than Texans but

slower than New Yorkers. Talking with your hands is not frowned upon. If the makers of "Fargo" were to do the movie "Puyallup", they'd be hard put to affect a convincing regional accent for the characters.

Bonus points if you can pronouce 'Puyallup'.

[VelmaD]

37. You just lemme know...

where you want me to send the sound file of me saying "puyallup". What do I win if I pronounce it correctly? ;-)

[Aristus]

38. Write it out like a dictionary pronunciation key.

And you get an all expenses paid trip to Puyallup. I'll lead the tour: There's South Hill Mall. Over there is the Applebee's. Across Meridian there is the Wal-Mart. KFC, Burger King, and Arby's are just down that way. Cross the street for Wendy's and Pizza Hut. Border's Books and Music is right next door to Taco Del Mar and Key Bank. Skipper's is right next door to Starbuck's. There's another Starbuck's where the old Safeway used to be. Another one where the new Safeway is. A fourth Starbuck's right next to The Keg.

Ahh! Puyallup! Like no place else in America! :D

[VelmaD]

39. That is a lot...

of Starbuck's. Is the entire state of Washington a wholly owned subsidiary or Starbuck's or what? ;-)

So, is that word pronounced at all like "pile-up"?

[Aristus]

42. NO! Beeeeeeep! But thanks for playing!

It's actually 'Pyoo-AL`-upp'. Local Indian tribe. Yep, sometimes it seems like all of the Evergreen State is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starbuck's. It used to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Salish nation. Which is why you have place names like Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Skykomish, Suquamish, Duwamish, Toppenish and so on and so on. The Indians treated the place better. They ought to have it back.

Pronunciation of 'Puyallup' is how we tell the newcomers from the natives around here. I've heard 'Pooyallup', 'Pooyalliyoop', "Pie-allup', and lots more.

[VelmaD]

44. I figure...

they wouldn't need me to pronounce Puyallup to tell I wasn't a native of Washington. :-)

There are lots of native american place names in the part of Northest TX I grew up in and the part of couthern Oklahoma that borders it. Tawakoni, Tishamingo, Wappanucka. :-)

[prolesunited]

16. Sorry to intrude

but why would you have to deceive your wife to meet a couple of DUers? I could see perhaps if it was a single female, but what would be the problem with meeting a couple? Heck! Offer to take your wife with you.

[Aristus]

17. Sorry, prolesunited. I guess you don't know.

My wife's a Republican. Not a bad one, you understand. She thinks B*sh is a creep and a liar, but she also thinks DU is bad for me and that it 'feeds' my anger towards the repukes. I post here in secret when she's gone. It's the only way to keep my sanity. I suppose one suggestion would be for me to 'lay down the law to her'. But I'm no freeper, insisting that she 'submit graciously' (whatever the hell that means), and so for the sake of a quiet life and a happy marriage, I hide my light under a bushel.

Thanks for your suggestion, though. I appreciate your concern.

[prolesunited]

19. I don't know about "laying down the law"

but that's certainly an unfortunate situation to have to suppress such a large part of yourself. I don't think I could ever be with a man who's politics were that much different than mine, no matter what other redeeming qualities he may have. But then again, I've pretty much been alone most my life, so what do I know? :shrug:

Glad you found a way to make it work while retaining your sanity, though. :-)

[Aristus]

21. I didn't fall in love with my wife because of or in spite of her

politics. We didn't talk much about politics in those days. It was 1995. Bill Clinton was in the office and all was right with the world. (Well, not really. The O.K. City bombing occurred two days after we started seeing each other.) Point is, I didn't really become political until sElection 2000, when everything went to hell.

[prolesunited]

23. I guess that's what scares me

about making a commitment. People change. I know I'm not the same person I was five years ago. How do you know you're going to grow along the same trajectory and if you don't, then what do you do? Like I said, though, I'm glad you found a way to make it work in your relationship. Sometimes I think I'm destined to be alone my entire life. <sigh>

[Aristus]

24. I'm sending all my blessings and good wishes to you to find

that special someone. You deserve it. My wife came along at the low point of my life, and really turned things around for me. I truly believe God sent her to me. And judging by the way her life was before she met me, I guess God did the same for her. Life can be beautiful sometimes. :-)

Coffee and a doughnut?

:donut:

[prolesunited]

25. You are very sweet!

Don't drink coffee and donuts aren't on my menu plan, but thanks anyway.

BTW, I didn't mean to imply I was feeling particularly low. I would say I lead a pretty full and contented life, but as I get older, the reality that it will probably be as a single person is setting in. Not bitter and not ruling it out, just not counting on it or expecting it anymore. Who knows? C'est la vie.

Anyway, it's been nice chatting with you this morning but I definitely need to get some work done around here!

[Aristus]

28. Have a great day, prolesunited!

:hi:

[TrogL]

29. *stumbles in and crashes in a heap on the floor*

*moans* Coffeeeeeee. Coffeeeeeeeeee.

I've been up since 3 a.m..

[VelmaD]

31. Poor Trog

*pats you on the head*

Have a cuppa java, honey. :donut:

[Aristus]

33. Mmmm. And doughnuts, trog. Yummy doughnuts!

We have a wide selection. Have some breakfast, and then go take a nap, my friend. 3am, huh? An hour only Dracula and Charlie Sheen could appreciate!

[VelmaD]

35. Yeah...enquiring minds...

wanta know what you were doing up til 3 in the morning Trog. :evilgrin:

[TrogL]

40. No, up since 3 a.m.

early morning practice session

[VelmaD]

41. Apparently...

I haven't had enough coffee and donuts this morning. Mis-read. Blame it on me being up til 3 am. :-)

Early morning practice session? Wouldn't that wake up the neighbors? ;-)

[Aristus]

43. If you do it right, it will.

;-)

[TrogL]

45. soundproof rehearsal hall

neighbours don't hear a thing

[Aristus]

46. Well, it's been a nice morning, y'all, but I've got to go to school.

I'll try to log in during computer lab. Have a good one. :hi: