After a long absence, I finally made it to a South Bay Blogger Meetup. Twelve of us crowded around three tables and a couch at Barefoot Coffee Roasters. The place was so packed that getting up to order a drink or dessert was the quickest way to lose one's seat. Speaking of a drink, I ordered an espresso shooter known as the Nutty Irishman, which is a shot of espresso, irish cream and hazelnut syrup, and a dab of whipped cream.

For fun, I took notes. Okay, not really notes as much as names and random phrases. In attendance and in no particular order, other than the one I wrote them in, were Rich, Guy, Eric (a newcomer), Silvia, Elke, Mark, Jon, Hank, Fling, me, Antwon and Dahlia. As usual, discussion was lively and the topics were all over the map. I jotted some of them down and they're listed, exactly as written, with brief explanations:

• Natalie Portman - Her hotness, her hair and their correlation. Someone circled her name and drew multiple arrows to emphasize the topic, but I can't imagine who that would be.
• Farscape pins - Hank shared some of his custom-made pins related to the show.
• Intel Apple - Talk about how Apple computers will soon have Intel inside.
• Instant polka reception - Rich told a story of a wedding where the kegs came out and the polka band set up as soon as the ceremony was over, allowing for a seamless transition into the reception.
• KRON Meetup - A local television station is hosting a Bay Area Meetup this Saturday. By all accounts, it will be huge.
• Blogger pick-up lines - Rich came up with a couple lines to pick up bloggers at this weekend's meetup. They were classic, but sadly, I didn't write them down for posterity.
• Baseball cards - Long ago, they were originally included as a promotional item with cigarettes. To market to kids, they were included in packs of gum. Eventually, their popularity grew, so things switched and gum was soon included in packs of baseball cards.
• Enviro engr / terrorists - This stemmed from a joke/question asking if somebody with a background in water resources would likely receive a job offer from terrorist groups. The discussion quickly strayed away from harmful acts to environmental protection, the Colorado River, the existence of Las Vegas, artificial wetlands, the preservation of Venice and the complexities of trying to protect two competing endangered species.
• Cities / trans. - This was about big city infrastructures, like those found in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta, and they're differences.

The next meetup happens in a couple weeks. I'll be missing that one, but will hopefully be there for more good times in July.