“It is the duty of every citizen according to his
best capacities to give validity to his
convictions in political affairs.”

- Albert Einstein

As reported elsewhere, my family and I made it to the MOB bash Saturday night, arriving about 6:30 p.m. We would have been there earlier except that the Mall Diva was doing hair for one of the dancers in the Nutcracker performance at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium and couldn't get away.

As it turned out, I think we got the last seats to be had, probably because they were at table being guarded by Surly Dave (and effervescent Ingrid). These events are always good for meeting new bloggers, and this was Dave's first event. He quickly established himself as someone well worth knowing when he described his recipe for creme brulee bread pudding (creme brulee is on of my wife's favorite desserts, and bread pudding is one of mine). Dave is also the only chef/welder I know (I bet his torch comes in handy when hardening the top of the brulee).

Just about everyone else I met were bloggers I already knew and it was good to see the friends I've made over the last ten months - though hard to converse because of the noise and packed conditions (I'd shout out to you all here with links, but I'm sure I'd accidentally overlook somebody; better you just check out my blogroll!). It's fun when the MOB turns out in force but the best way to get to know other bloggers is to come to the Thursday night trivia contests at Keegan's.

Tiger Lilly and the Mall Diva especially enjoyed meeting the people who've commented on their posts or that they've heard me talking about, and the highlight for Tiger Lilly was stalking James Lileks until she could get his autograph (well, that and meeting that Learned Foot person who's written so many mean things about her MAWB Squad friends). The Mall Diva just grooved on the energy in the room and interacting with her own mini-blogging community that she's gotten to know on-line. She gladly would have stayed on for several more hours, but we finally had to get the Reverend Mother (our new name for my wife) home for her bedtime. No worries, though; we can relive the experience through Ben's extensive photo-journalism on Hammerswing75.