There is something very weird about meeting and introducing webloggers. "Hey everybody, this is Erica of Swirlspice. Erica, meet Ara of E Pluribus Unum, Chris of Signifying Nothing, and Moe of Occam's Toothbrush. Oh, and this is Rose, who you may remember from Dean's World." Let's just face it: that sounds extraordinarily geeky and silly. You want to hide your face in your hands.

Once you get past all that, however, webloggers are fun people. At the party, while drinking the beer Arnold Harris sent us, I learned a few other neat things:

Kevin Brehmer loves to chat. I love chatting with him. I wish he'd come by more often.

Paul Fallon has recently taken up drinking non-alcoholic beer. I think I may have to join him in that, as I've been drinking too much lately. But he still hasn't finished the Desi Arnaz article he tells me he's writing. Damn him!

Speaking of that, while Val Prieto did not actually come to the party, he was there in spirit. He sent some CDs of some wonderful Cuban music, which we listened to all night. Nosotros bailar, mi amigo!

At the party, I also learned that, aside from my beautiful wife, Erica is just about the prettiest damned thing I ever did see. She's also smart as hell, and funny as hell. Oh and by the way, the new hair suits you Boo. Seriously.

It also turns out that Charles Hill drives cross-country every year, just for fun, so his coming to the party was no big deal. He's been in every state east of the Missippi except Maine. He also said the smartest thing anyone said all night: "If you weren't opinionated, why would anyone bother reading you?" Classic.

Jerry Kaufman really likes people, and it shows. Unfortunately, he left just before the party really got swinging. Too bad, because he's very interesting and lots of fun to talk to. (Or should that be "lots of fun with whom to talk?")

For some bizarre reason, I spent four hours completely unable to remember Chris Lawrence's name. Despite that, he was all kinds of fun to talk to. Aside from Charles, he holds the record for being the person who travelled the longest distance just to make the party. I'm glad he made the effort!

My girl Dawn is much too shy, but very cool. She also has exceptionally good taste in music, and I can't believe she bought me that CD. It's Sunday night, and I've already listened to it three times. What a great lady. I hope to hook up with her again!

My man Lysander is a little shy in a crowd it seems. He's also another one of those damned teatoalers. Yet somehow, he's fun anyway. He also likes the Allman Brothers, which automatically makes him cool in my book. He also bought me this freaking cool DVD.

Steve Duane is a funny guy. For a guy who doesn't drink, he sure knows how to party.

My good friend Ara has the ability to make comments so funny that beer goes up my nose. This is a truly evil power, and I hope the government registers and regulates it soon. He also bought me a cool book, as a part of some nefarious scheme I'm sure. I also discovered that he has good taste in women. (Hope that works out for ya, buddy, I really do.)

Finally, I learned a couple of interesting things from Moe and his buddy Glen. First, that a good merlot is kosher. Second, that he understands the Gospel better than any Jew I've ever met. Third, that hip young Orthodox Jews wear baseball caps instead of the traditional yarmulkes. Fabulous.

Overall, it was the most fun night I've had in some time. I'm glad that everyone who made it was there, and am sorry that the rest of you didn't. I hope you can all make it next time!