Blown Away (Part I)

The Austin "Blown-Star" Blog Meet has come and gone. I have been meaning to put some "afters" on here for some time. I won't bore you with excuses, but will just move on to the reports. The cast of characters (and boy are they) I am about to pass on to you is not in any real particular order, mainly chronological, but not adhering to that standard.

I missed Friday's meet to attend a concert, so, I was already a day behind when I arrived on Saturday. I got to the hotel and with great eagerness went up to the sixth floor balcony to find... Nobody was there. Hmmmm... I went to the bar (logic dictates) and... It was empty. I guess I hit the supper break. So, being a self entertaining kind of guy I ordered a glass of bourbon and decided to wait and watch.

I recognized this shining face rushing by the bar, stopped her and immediately got a big hug and a welcome. She was on her way to see the bats, and El Capitan was sitting in his Caddy out front waiting for them. I walked outside did a quick meet and greet and decided that since I'd seen the bats before (I live here) I was going back to the bar. I was told that Marcus was eating in the diningroom having a burger, but I opted to wave at him from a distance told him to keep eating and I'd meet him officially later. Hotel bars are notoriously depressing so I downed my drink and went upstairs again.

I suppose I should have recognized this Helluva nice guy when I hit the top, but I can be kind of dense sometimes, I introduced myself and he gave me a good cigar. We chatted for a while, and little by little they wandered up. Here's where it gets a little fuzzy.

I squared off with this redneck right off the bat. I was still trying to act polite, and there was no call for me to be. What else did I expect from a good 'ol boy who got his start in the same state I did. We were only about three sentences in before he offered me the quick way down off the building. (sorry Livey, it wasn't you... Although he did reiterate the offer when I was rubbing your neck) I was headed back to the parking lot for a bottle when I bumped into The Man (I knew I had made it as a blogger when he quoted me on his blog) coming off the elevator. He was a lot quieter than I expected. (and shorter, no offence) He explained the quiet part in his blog and that was good enough for me. I did notice that he had a self satisfied smile on his face every time I saw him, a very confident individual indeed. This debonair chap actually asked me if I had cooties when I offered him a pop out of my flask, that was a first since third grade, but he did take a hit, and we got on famously after that. One or another of these guys was playing guitar when some jackass (actually he's a really great guy) told the group I was with to "Hey, shut up a second, OK". After they were done I joined that side of it and threatened them with my favorite long, convoluted biker story. Not knowing I'd really carry it out he baited me, and off we went. I've gotten laughs with "the chipmunk story" before, but with the interjections and comments this time I got to play the straight man for once. I plowed through with the singlemindedness of Forrest Gump while I was heckled and ridiculed and the crowd around us began to revolve. People were actually limping away holding their sides and tears streaming down their faces while new people showed up to see what was so funny. Finally Eric couldn't hold up his end anymore and collapsed and I wound it up. (I think Eric was mildly disappointed that I wasn't quite that dense and we were playing each other, but it was still epic)

I think this is as good a place as any to pause to catch my breath. To Be Continued...