Meeting Old Friends For the First Time HNT

One of the things that I've enjoyed over the years of doing this are the friends I've made. What made that apparent to me this past weekend was that three of the five people I met are ones that 90% of you wouldn't know. I know, from chats with many of you, that I seem to make a deeper connection with people than most. Names of former bloggers/HNTers that I think everyone should remember are lost on most. (By the same token, I've noticed a number of old-timers on FB share friends from the "old days".) Granted, many of you have only been around HNT for half its existence. There's no reason for you to know them. But I often wonder about how many of the old friendships were superficial for Blogger purposes alone? How many of them have actually endured over these years? How many have vanished into oblivion? Well, let me introduce a couple of them to you, as well as someone you should already know!

Remember the $400 ticket voucher I got from Delta after last year's pool party at BTExpress'? I had to use it by the end of this month, so I looked for someplace/someone I hadn't met yet, and who would have at least a bit of interest in meeting me! My primary visit was to Wichita, to meet up with Redneck Eskimo! We've kept in touch pretty closely over the years, in spite of her closing up her blog. We've threatened to meet a number of times over the years, so this seemed to be pretty natural.

Looking back, I should have done this at some time other than August. It was ungodly hot and humid, though the temps "cooled" for the days I was there--reaching only the mid-90s! We didn't really get out to the touristy oohs and ahs. Too freakin' hot! But we did get to do some things! Chicken fried steak at an incredible Amish restaurant, a full afternoon at the zoo (reinforced my opinion of others' kids...), frozen yogurt, movie, drive around the river, and a bunch of lounging in air-conditioned comfort! And to end the visit, we got to see a complete double rainbow--fitting for leaving the land of Oz!

Knowing her as well as I do, there were honestly no surprises. Other than meeting face to face, it was like we ran around together all the time! And she's as wonderful a friend in person as she's been online! Thanks for the great time, babe!


When I was looking at flights for this trip, and since it was going to be free, I decided to make the most of my possible flights and meet up with whomever I could. Salt Lake City was an option, but I'm not sure I know anyone there. Denver was also an option, but I've done that before (sorry Vixen--I need new faces over there in the list!). Atlanta could have worked, but the layover times weren't long enough. So my first stop on my way home was Memphis. Elvis country. And the home of Crystal and Chris McKnob (not their real name!).

Crystal is the writer of Boobs, Injuries & Dr. Pepper--one of my earliest blog favorites! Her writing was hilarious, covering family, work, and an assortment of local characters. Her story about the night she broke her pussy is epic! She up and got married to Chris, who started a blog of his own. In a bit of blog ugliness ensued after a few years though, she got targeted for a bunch of internet trollness, the likes of which none of you reading has ever had to experience. Eventually, blogging took a back seat to her family and sanity, and she's pretty much quit (though I think our lunch date might have spurred her to come back. I see she posted on Tuesday!).

Lunch was wonderful, as we talked about the old days, her kids, the area (they don't live IN Memphis), and anything else we could squeeze into about 90 minutes. There are only a small handful of bloggers out here I consider outstanding, and I was honored to finally meet one of them!


My final layover took me to Minneapolis, where you can read of my adventures in the post below. I had hoped to meet a couple of different bloggers, but ultimately, the only one who could make it was Lola, from Sex Babble, and her husband Jasper! Again, there was gossip and discussion and talk about HNT. Oh, there was some drinking, and Lola may or may not have gotten a little loopy. I won't say for sure... We certainly didn't have enough time together. In fact, we got kicked out of the place about 45 minutes after they officially closed the doors. Oops! Which was a good thing, since I was running late for boarding my flight! These guys I knew the least about, so I can't really say what I expected from them, but they're cute together! I just wish we'd had a lot more time to talk!


Was it worth the trip? Absolutely! Would I pick a different time of year? Most likely, for a midwest or southeast trip. Where to next? Not sure, though I have some ideas. Portland is high on my list, but I'm open to just about anything. Anyone want to have an OsFest in Vegas this winter?

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Second week in a row without a Mystery Guest. Bueller?.....Bueller?.....

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Quite a few submissions over at "...the Other HNT" this week. Most definitely NSFW, but don't let that stop you from checking out your fellow HNTers!

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After a couple of years of smoke-free skies, most of the state is under red flag warnings. Like hurricane or blizzard warnings, but these mean that conditions are ripe for instant forest fires. It's already a bit hazy around here, but things could get really bad by the weekend...

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Just watched the Montana Little League team beat the California LL team to get into the US Championship game! Woohoo! If they win that, they go on to the LL World Series Championship!! Who'da thunk it?