I'm an oldster now myself, so this was also a welcoming.
A lot of us there went back a long ways, to being almost babies together: Linda Holling, Lael Pinney -- these were my contemporaries, and long time no see.
Bob Smith was already an adult when I was a baby, and he was there too.
:: fuller, me, overlap ::
I'd listed my talk on the backs of five envelopes, an ironic gesture to a cultural meme (we're supposed to brainstorm on napkins more than envelopes, Kehrnan signaled his agreement).
Envelope One was about me, the inveterate browser, anticipating hypertext. I loved Princeton's open stack libraries. Those international schools left their stamp on my character as well.
The next envelope was about Fuller, the New Englander, expelled from Harvard, loving the Navy, going broke, getting better, the inveterate counter-culture contrarian.
Our overlap (next envelope), and the people I've met as a consequence: Applewhite, Snelson, Koski, Chu, Kasman, DeVarco, Lanahan... Trevor. A great ride.
Then looking ahead, how I brand a kind of Transcendentalist / Tantric blend, using LCDs with reveries (as in hypertoons).
:: recap, on ahead ::
We were moving in to Q&A.
Marion asked about shelter, Lew about buckyballs... lots of good segues. About 25 - 30 of us.
I had lots of books, toys, artifacts, Barrel Tower (also the major Snelson retrospective in my collection).
Marty was there, knows a lot about transcendentalists I'm pretty sure.
A great group to be listening. I'd packed 'em in, thanks to Sonya, various announcements.
I fumbled later though, in that I got Tara to her driver's ed session on time, but then she left her permit in the car, which I drove off to a wifi spot to work for two hours.
If I'd only heard my phone or checked my personal email (reasonable expectations) I'd have been able to get the permit to her in time. As it was, she missed getting to drive.
I'd been scheduled to clerk Oversight that night and had made arrangements with Betsey to be late, but to be late on top of having botched the mission (ostensibly) left me a bit stressed, bent out of shape.
I raged at the fact that I couldn't see house numbers on a dark street in North Portland (looking for the meeting in a neighborhood I've never visited). Never mind the satellite informed GPS device in my pocket, with illuminated maps -- I was too busy being a victim to actually use my tools effectively.
Still, a good day all in all.
I had another dinner with Alex, first in awhile. He's been meditating up a storm, making use of some of the professional Zen facilities in the region. The Pacific Northwest is a Buddhist nirvana -- even better if you like beer.
