Drinking Liberally

I arrived at Lucky Lab about 8 PM. Drinking Liberally was in the meeting room this time. The time before, we'd been out in the main hall. I grabbed an end table. Michael was already there.

I tried to catch up on some of the political talk, a big set of horses, with quite a few dark ones (meaning long shots or wild cards). There was no fixed script and I thought the most interesting was Michael's rap about his visit with Native Australians (he's a didj player and went there to bone up on his didj skills). They were mourning the untimely death of a young leader during the 2nd half of his stay.

He followed up with some chatter about factionalism within the CIA, noting the growing rift twixt the White House and Pentagon over how the war is going. I made some crack about the Blair Witch and Google Earth (on mine, entering "CIA HQS" gets you a pointer to the middle of nowhere -- more fun for geocachers no doubt).

My table mate to the right was a cute newly-single from Chicago, tho'd been in Portland for ten years (her ex was an architect). Lots of neighborhood talk (always a topic). We compared winters and springs, with lots of contrast from Boston.

Mostly, I didn't recognize a lot of people. I've been dividing my time evenly with Thirsters, over at the McMenamins near the base of the Fremont (had some lively talk with a jarhead last time, with Lew making peace). But that's only four visits in all.

Michael and I adjourned to the Portland Knowledge Lab for the "scan for free wifi" ritual: no dice. I could see another key holder had been through (no problem, thanks for the screen).

This morning, I'm back in the gnu math pilot seat, a two-monitor desktop (both enslaved to the same video RAM so I can slide stuff between screens, or stop it part way, showing a little on each).

From this workstation, connected to myriad servers, I collaborate with peers around the world on bringing you, dear reader, some interesting opportunities, pretty much the point of relevant curriculum writing in my book. Please feel free to explore.