Stop calling me a HO or you'll die of dysentery....

July 2-5, 2009
Oregon Coast

Try taking a journey by covered wagon across 2000 miles of plains, rivers, and mountains. Try! On the plains, will you slosh your oxen through mud and water-filled ruts or will you plod through dust six inches deep? ~ Oregon Trail

Why?

You would think I would have learned after last time or the time before that. But apparently I have a blind spot in my rational thinking when it comes to noders.

When?
4th of July Weekend baby
July 2-5, 2009

We will be at the coast from Thursday through Sunday. You can come earlier or stay a day later, but we will only have the vacation rental from Thursday to Sunday. So you are welcome to also visit hippy-tastic Eugene by staying longer.

Where?
Pacific City, Oregon

Yes, I know it's far to travel for a Hot Damn. Yes, I know it's not in the Midwest. Hell, this time, even I have to travel to it. But we will get to spend time on the beach and enjoy the ocean views, plus SEA LIONS!

What you really need to know is that it will be in Pacific City, Oregon at a vacation rental near the beach. This place sleeps 30! It also has city water and sewer, which anyone who was at HD5 can attest to as being a prime factor in choosing a vacation rental.

I hate to have to say this, especially since I said it last time and STILL ended up significantly out of pocket. But… the house we are renting is a $3,000+ place, so you will be expected to help defray the cost. If 30 people show up, that would mean around $100 per person. Please plan accordingly. In other words, do not show up and say "but I gave money for food" or "I'm cooking a meal." If you want to go for a ride on this magical bus, you must pay the fare.

Who?
You, yes you. All ? of you. Those who will almost certainly be there:

Your hosts:
karma debt
mordel
LaggedyAnne
sessor
RoguePoet
grundoon
wertperch

The Attendees:
Andromache01
BrooksMarlin
BookReader
bus ridin fool
ccunning
chaotic poet
Corcis +1
Dimview
enth
genetik
GhettoAardvark
Glowing Fish
icicle
izubachi +1
joer
mcc
Mitzi
m_turner
OldMiner
Orange Julius
qousqous
rootbeer277
sauth
Swap +1
Two Sheds
vandewal
void_ptr +1
wuukiee
your name here

The Maybes:
You're either attending or not at this point. Do it, you know you wanna.

The Suckas:
Andrew Aguecheek
alex and gwenllian
Angela
Bitriot
Chris-O
dann
DTal
The Debutante
dichotomyboi
Jack
moosemanmoo
mkb
Ouroboros
Pretty Butt

What will we do?
This is going to be held at a location with a good amount of activities near by. There will be food, beach time, hiking, excursions and such as well as lots of hanging out and getting to know each other. Other things to do:

• random amateur guitar breaks (bring your instruments) and sing-alongs
• play Rock Band
• consumption of mass quantities of alcohol
• games of some sort
• outings
• nap time
• clean up after ourselves

Activities
The following are potential outings. The big plan is to mostly hang out, we don't intend to plan too much, or try to fill every moment with activities. But, there will be excursions and outings for those interested. Options include:

• Independence Day Fireworks: Pacific City will host the annual Independence Day Fireworks on Sat, the 4th. This year's display is expected to be equal to any "big city" and is held right on the beach and can be seen from anywhere in town. Event begins at dusk.
• Kiwanda Music Festival: Located at the southwest corner of the Cape Kiwanda parking lot Music from 2:00pm till just before the fireworks go off.
• Beachcombing
• Kite-flying
• Sand Dunes
• Hiking
• Canoeing/Kayaking
• Largest Monolith on the west coast!
• Fishing
• Crabbing
• Clamming
• Hang gliding
• Horseback riding

What will we eat?

There are restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, even a microbrewery and winery near where we'll be staying so if you want to eat out bring money. But, part of the fun of having these nodermeets is cooking and enjoying a large meal together. I will volunteer for a meal, but it is up to all of you to volunteer to cook a meal (or a side) as well. I can personally vouch for the fact that it quickly gets expensive when you are feeding a crowd. So /msg me about when and what you want to volunteer for.

Meal schedule

Thursday
Dinner: Burgers (meat and veggie), hot dogs and grilled corn on the cob - karma debt and mordel

Friday
Breakfast: Ulster fry by RoguePoet, LaggedyAnne and special inspection and supervision by wertperch
Lunch: Teriyaki beef (or tofu) over rice noodles, and green salad with peanut dressing (on the side, of course) by wuukiee and crew
Dinner: THE Jenchiladas by Andromache01

Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes by karma debt and mordel
Lunch:
Dinner:grilled fish and veggies, and pesto - grundperch and wertoon

Sunday
Breakfast:

What should we bring? The following items you might want depending on what your plans are:

• chairs - Folding lawn chairs would probably be a good idea if you like to sit
• a towel - never forget your towel
• money - for your lodging/gathering location contribution, eating out, procuring beverages and food
• beverages for yourself and to share
• food items for the meal you've generously volunteered to cook
• ice, you never have enough ice do you?
• spare axle, bullets... oh, wait, sorry this is a different game

What should I leave at home?

• Fireworks that "fly, explode or travel more than six feet on the ground or 12 inches into the air." Regulations limit where those fireworks may be used. For example, legal fireworks are prohibited in all state parks and forests and on all Oregon beaches as well as Federal parks and forests. So yeah…. not on the beach and nothing really fun.
• Pets
• insert item here

Go ahead do it, you know you want to.

Disclaimer: Ego, drama, whatever you want to call it, don't bring it. In order for all of this to work out and make sure that that this gathering doesn't result in a massive outlay of money, cleaning time, or drama, we ask that you please be mindful of others and realize that in this environment your actions effect the group as a whole. Noders can be very giving and understanding people, but like everybody else, we don't like being taken advantage of.

Photographic evidence of the awesomeness:
Brooksmarlin's pics
Wertperch's
OldMiner's
LaggedyAnne's
Corcis'
sauth's

Nodermeet successful. No casualties, unless you count our dignity.

Thanks for coming, everyone. We'll do it again sometime.

HOT DAMN 6! Westward Ho

Also to be known as:

Get Scout Finch to the West Coast.

Okay.  So I've been wanting to move west for a very long time.  And I've talked about it and talked about it and just never had the right opportunity to do it.  Recently I've been layed off from my factory job, so I have nothing really holding me to the midwest.

So, discussing this with RoguePoet, he's been kind enough to help me come up with a plan for moving out west.

Here's the deal: I need your help. 

I am looking for someone to carpool with to Hot Damn 6, but not only someone to carpool with but, someone to help me move.   So if you are headed out there from the midwest and plan on driving, I could use your help greatly. 

I don't plan on taking much.  Enough clothes to get me by, an acoustic guitar and small amp, a bicycle, and a few other amenities.  So I am not trying to ship a couch out on this journey or a whole home entertainment system or anything, just the basics.   The kicker will be the bicycle, so if you have a bicycle rack on your vehicle, your help would be greatly appreciated. 

To give you an idea of where I'm at currently, I live in southern Illinois, about two hours due west of St. Louis.  That puts me about an hour west of Interstate 57, an hour north of Interstate 64, and about an hour and a half south of Interstate 70.  I'd be more than willing to find a way to meet someone at a major hub city on the interstate if my little town is out of your way.  

If anyone is willing to help in anyway, please contact me.  Even if the interstates listed above are out of your way, if you are still willing to help, I can always try to get a little further on my own in order to meet you at your convenience.

Please know that you'd be helping me make my dreams come true, very seriously.

Please contact me by /msg here or email me at capturedstill -at- gmail -dot- com

As I flew from Chicago to Phoenix to Portland, I watched as the terrain below first went from green to yellow to dusty red. The flatlands of my adopted home dried away to the dry hills of the southwest like a blanket stretched taut then rippled and bunched into the safety of a childhood fort. The red turned green and bumpy as we neared, the transition of degrees of flat to bumpy, green to red to green only extreme in hindsight and jumping only to my tired eyes when I napped. I knew sleep was a precious resource in the next few days and I hoarded what I could...

♥ Noder Sprats could eat no fat
The rest could eat no lean
And yet between them both, you see
They licked their platters clean

Given the subtle transformations of the landscape, the disorientations at my new surroundings was odd. While the landscape was no surprise, the feel was. Taken for granted was the variations in mass personality between the label of American and the shift between Chicagoan and Oregonian. Here, there was not quite the big city feel. Gone was the more serious mid-western staunchness, replaced by the green grove of the Pacific Northwest. Signs stood about reminding people to not break the "chill" by bringing weapons to the airport and I idly wondered what world I was in now...

♥ Humpty Dumpty sat on a field
Humpty Dumpty refused to yield
All the good noders
And all the quirky men
Managed to put him together again

Green became the word for it all -- the dominant color of the landscape, the overarching philosophy of the people, the feel of the air. It clashed, somewhat, with the vibrant color of the others that made the voyage -- the neons, the bolds, the pastels, & the subtle patterns that threaded gold delicately through the coarse. Despite the clashes, the breaks, the accidents, and the stains, we came together -- some for the first time, others rooted in history long -- for a short time to make something greater than ourselves and bring life what we can only shadow play most days, weaving together a quilt that kept us warm.

♥ Hey never ever
The cats and the feather
The marks all over the moon
The big dogs laughed
to see such sport
And we're all wondering
who had sex with whom?

Mixed together was the old and the new -- People I knew intimately, people whom I knew not at all, but I'd danced this dance before and soon we all had the steps down, even with the new variations. Now, however, we didn't really look back, nor forward, but soaked in the presence of each other in the now. Not to say this was entirely smooth -- this, like most of its kind, was part family reunion & part family feud. But sweet goes well cut with bitter, and, in the end, I wouldn't have changed it all for the world.....

♥ Baa baa, black sheeps,
when did you last poo?
What, dear master,
three days full?

Instead I'll talk of crushes
With people in the house
One for the Mistress
One for the Great Dane
and many for the little girl
That lives past the plains...