My god, I am wiped out! This weekend was totally OTT (Over The Top)! After my exams on Saturday I spent hours dealing with ‘Comments,’ and waiting for James and his lady Sarah to arrive. They didn’t have a phone so I stayed close to home, barely even venturing upstairs lest I miss their arrival. Hours went by. Steve missed a call from James, and the message said they were a few blocks from my house. More hours went by. Then we learned they were downtown at a coffee shop. They had knocked on my door, but no one answered. Noooo!!! I was home!! I guess James has a soft knock, or maybe I was in the bathroom. I hate that “ships passing in the night” feeling! It turned out ok though. James finally got Steve on the phone and we all met up at Mike and Fiona’s apartment in NW. How happy were we to finally meet each other face to face? So, so happy. We all hugged James. Then we all hugged Sarah. I couldn’t stop clapping my hands. It was wonderful. After we had greeted each other and reviewed our miscommunications we decided to go to the Delta Cafe for dinner. The Delta serves Southern/Cajun food, but is surprisingly vegetarian friendly. Here is a photo of James and Sarah from there:
We went so deep on Ultimate Blogger gossip and strategy talk, it was extremely satsisfying.
Then we made a late night Voodoo Doughnuts run:James took the Voodoo Challenge, in which he attempted to eat a giant (GIANT) glazed doughnut in 1 min 20 sec. He made a valiant effort, but sadly the Ultimate Blogger is not also the Ultimate Devourer. He ate about half of it in time.
They slept at my house and Sunday morning was the brunch. Around 20 UrbanHonking dudes showed up bearing champagne, OJ, fruit salad, bundt cake, biscuits and Stumptown coffee. I made vegan huevos rancharos and for once there was exactly enough food.
James was presented with the Ultimate Blogger $500 Prize Package, and a certificate declaring him the UB (I signed as a witness). I was awarded a “Best Smile” shrinky-dink badge by the lovely Shayla. Then we subjected James to a Q & A session, where we learned that Lyova is actually Polish, among other things.
Here we see Zac and Rebecca basking in the Ultimate Glow.
After the brunch ended, Rachael and I went to see Mad Hot Ballroom. We both has splitting headaches from morning champagne consumption, and a cool theater called out to us. The movie was AMAZING, my friends. 10 year olds in NYC competing for a gigantic Ballroom Dance trophy. These kids are scrappy and smart and they can dance like the dickens. I still prefer Spellbound as a childhood competition film because you get to know the kids better (granted there were less kids featured in that movie). But it was still great. You get your dancing kids, but then there are awesome clips of them talking about their futures and their parents, and their dance partners. Oh, and interviews with their crtazy teachers who seem to have more invested in the contest than they do. See this movie. Okay?
When I got home I took a long nap. I have some sort of sinus infection that makes my lungs and head feel like a volcano. This earthly misery did not stop me from heading out again after dark. James had brought down a movie projector, and Mike arranged an outdoor movie party for us. We watched a Chinese puppet quest movie projected against a garage wall that is painted like a fancy movie screen. We lay on blankets on the grass and drank beer (I drank a vitamin concoction Shayla gave me for my illness). It was a great, mellow wrap-up to a long exciting weekend. James and Sarah left for Seattle this morning, and it was so sad to see them go.
Merit Badgers for life!