Berkeley: Report

From: yospe@Hawaii.Edu (Nathan Fenenga Yospe)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pratchett
Subject: [F] [Meet Report] A Conspiracy in Berkeley
Date: 27 May 1998 00:09:29 GMT
Organization: University of Hawaii
Message-ID: <6kfljp$e2o@news.Hawaii.Edu>
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It was getting close to 8:30 pm, pacific standard time, and my expresso had
begun to cool. I had made a point of arriving early... I always try to case
a spot out first... and was now scanning the faces as they entered. We were
meeting at Peet's, a coffee shop of some minor notoriety. I had not met the
others before, and while at least one of them had been informed of my dress
and appearance, the possibility that we might fail to recognize each other,
while faint, was worrying. Beside that, I was not the only person in a gray
trenchcoat present at the time. I returned to my book, a novel by a certain
Terry Pratchett. Any person that recognized it was bound to be either there
for the same purpose as myself, or an unwitting candidate for that purpose.

The other shadowy figure present in the cafe got up to leave, and I found I
was alone in my manner of garb. This suited me. I went back to reading, but
had only just begun when I heard my name. I followed the voice to a vision;
this, then, would be Velora. Behind her, another recent arrival turned with
a slight widening of her eyes. Hobbes had recognized us as well, making our
party three. No others turned, but the specified time had just passed. With
at least one other intended attendee, we decided to wait, and hold our meet
there for a time. Introductions complete, we hit that strange silent moment
that marks an anticipated point passing, when all plans expire and no words
spring to mind. Fortunately, this was brief, and we were soon sampling food
I had brought from Hawai'i... dried Li Hing Mango, Plum Seeds, Arare... and
far more palatable, macadamia nuts, kona coffee centered chocolate, cookies
with macadamia nuts and chocolate chips. Food makes easier any tense social 
situation.

We were well into our discussion of the food, the location, and the quality
of the local coffee shops when the last two attendees made their appearance
in the shop. Additional drinks (caffiene based, in accordance with the mood
of the meet - and we agreed that, as a drug, caffiene would have to be made
acceptable in place of alcohol, as hobbes was too young for bars, and those
of us who were of alcohol purchasing age were not so inclined) were ordered
from the bemused servers, and introductions were made. Billy said he posted
on occasion, though not to the overzealous degree employed by certain other
persons present, while Chip was a fan, but not a poster. Our full party had
arrived.

A good two hours into the meet, Peet's decided to close on us. Unsuspecting
as we were, we decided to move on to a nearby used book store. The meet hit
a book collection comparison mode, as people identified authors and pointed
out books to buy, to read or to burn. Piers Anthony was subjected to severe
ridicule, David Brin was praised, and Terry Pratchett's works proved scarce
as always. No one seems to sell Pratchett books, and those that are sold do
not remain on the shelf for long. But just as we were really getting to the
best part, eg quoting back cover blurbs from random books, that suspicious,
if unsuspected, action was repeated. The bookstore closed on us. We set off
in search of another haunt. We walked up and down the street, talking, with
the intent of finding something open. It was only 11:00 pm, and it seemed a
strange thing that a city with such a college as Berkeley would close down,
much less before 3 am.

A while after midnight, having looked into several stores, recorded several
quotes of dubious effect, laughed at the collectable antiques in one store,
and boggled at the fact that everything was closed, we found ourselves with
no definate destination. Chip and Billy had to leave, and we headed for the
street they had parked on. After a last few jokes, they headed off, and the
rest of us took to wandering again. Until they closed the sidewalk on us.

And after that? The official meet was over, so it won't go into the report. 
Besides, this _is_ a family newsgroup, more or less... suffice to say, with
many hours between this and the meet in Quincy, we filled time.
--

Nathan F. Yospe - Aimed High, Crashed Hard, In the Hanger, Back Flying Soon
Jr Software Engineer, Textron Systems Division (On loan to Rocketdyne Tech)
(Temporarily on Hold) Student, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Physics Dept.
yospe#hawaii.edu nyospe#premier.mhpcc.af.mil http://www2.hawaii.edu/~yospe/


From: yospe@Hawaii.Edu (Nathan Fenenga Yospe)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pratchett
Subject: [F] [Meet Report] Quotefile for Berkeley and Quincy meets
Date: 27 May 1998 00:56:09 GMT
Message-ID: <6kfob9$iks@news.Hawaii.Edu>

[This one is not justified... I'm not THAT good]

Chip:   It would go with the velvet Elvis in the hall.

Billy:  He has photos of me taking it over the Mexican border.

Hobbes: We can connect in my room.

Hobbes: We are an official crack house.

Velora: So how much paint do you have on you?

Nathan: One of you guys has got to take me now, otherwise it'll be
        unfair...

Chip:   Do you know how to remove the motor from a volkswagon?

Velora: I have vocabulary problems sometimes. Squiggles works.

Nathan: Someone gave me a royal Ilima lei... that was quite a piece of
        work.

Hobbes: There go the hamsters.

Hobbes: Now I wonder if they can burp? (staring at a T-Rex)

Nathan: Oh, stairs!

Velora: Oh, look, they have the bust of Blackie!

Velora: We can't do quotes now, the meet's over!

Velora: The dentist now has a vibrating thing...

Nathan: What, soft people?
Velora: Yeah, the squishy ones.

Nathan: Yeah, we're geeking here.
Hobbes: I hadn't noticed.

Velora: Sorry, I slipped into Alice's restaurant there.

- - -

Velora: Just experience it.
Zaruga: Yeah, don't make her chastise you.

Zaruga: Touch it! Touch it, I say!

Velora: Word choice is important.

Nathan: By the age of four, I was milking them myself.

Zaruga: There's so much more of me to love when I'm all bloated and
        pussy. [full of white stuff, people... sheesh.]

Zaruga: I'm not allowed to have Mexicans.

Zaruga: We're just trying to make you jealous... we're just pretending...
        we're faking it over here.

Velora: I'm looking to see if its got some of the same things...

Zaruga: I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Zaruga: ... 'Till he noticed that I was getting all the babes...

Velora: No, he's looking under _my_ cushions.

Rid:    I thought it was you? (In reference to heavy breathing and 'ooh,
        baby') [Rid attended by phone]

Nathan: Do I _look_ like a bot?
Velora: Not on the outside, no.

Rid:    And it hurts all the time...

Nathan: You know how I am...
Velora: Not entirely, no.
Zaruga: ... she said, in a lusty voice.

Gillie: I suppose the social science people are positively spongelike.
Nathan: Gaseous.

Velora: fruit's a fruit...

Gillie: I don't know what the slang meaning of Avocados is.
Nathan: It's the same as mellons.
Zaruga: Only more wrinkly.

Zaruga: It's not so much a meet as a road trip...

Zaruga: You can almost go by sound and feel.

Nathan: Let me go take this off.

Zaruga: Let's have a midget hunt.

Zaruga: It's not like we're going to toss the midgets once we hunt them.

Gillie: Tony?
Zaruga: Yes, dear?

Zaruga: That's why I think that they should allow cloning.

Velora: Everyone always just beats me anyways...

Velora: Sometimes I am just being really filthy.

Nathan: You know, we are FSCKED UP!

Nathan: I'm incapable of vomiting, it seems.

Zaruga: It'll put hair on your chest.
Nathan: I don't think she'd appreciate that.

Nathan: It just doesn't feel right without goats.

Nathan: You're the wrong species to be doing that to me.

Zaruga: Well, I'm a junior floor technician with ten years of experience.

[All pornographic quotes, and quotes from X rated situations, have been
 removed from this quotefile. Please complain to your congressman if you
 feel you have been cheated by this.]


From: yospe@Hawaii.Edu (Nathan Fenenga Yospe)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pratchett
Subject: [F] [Meet Report] Quincy Sleepover meet
Date: 29 May 1998 06:08:21 GMT
Message-ID: <6kljcl$97j@news.Hawaii.Edu>

Having spent the night crashed out on hobbes' floor, and the morning around
the Berkeley campus (and no, you won't be getting any of the juicy details)
Velora and I set out for Quincy. Well, actually, we set out for an REI shop
a little ways out of Berkeley, and spent a few hours looking at hiking gear
and trying on boots that didn't fit right, but that wasn't meet stuff, so I
think we'll fast forward several hours of me gawping at the California farm
stretches, a few missed turns, Velora actually passing someone (a tractor),
and a dead tree squirrel on the road. It was early evening (and still sunny
out, which struck me as terribly strange, being from a place where daylight
savings generally refers to a tan) when we reached the tiny town. Quincy is
one of those places that doesn't seem to have more than a handful of shops,
some homes, and strangely enough, a huge courthouse. We pulled into a handy
gas station, and I called the number Gillian had given me. I'd been a touch
disappointed that Zaruga wasn't going to be able to make it... but at least
Gillie was there, and Velora.

Gillian answered the phone, a pleasant, warm voice, and I knew the weekend,
whatever came, would be a good one. The she said that Tony was asleep. That
got a small shout of joy from me... we were all accounted for! It seemed we
had a few more miles to go, and then we would be there. We were to look for
a wagon wheel and a political campaign sign. There were a lot of signs. The
entire state of California, it seems, is rabidly political. We arrived, and
met Gillian's dad. Her house is a beautiful wooden structure, a few stories
tall, set next to a lovely little garden, among trees of some variety I did
not recognize. After four hours on the road, I wanted to stretch. I imagine
Velora felt it far more; she was driving, and had driven up from SB Friday.

Gillie led us up to our rooms for the weekend. On the way up, we met Zaruga
coming down. Z is one of those people that always looks a little coiled and
relaxed at the same time. In person, I liked him instantly. We headed up to
Gillie's room, where an #afp connection was already open. I broke out those
goodies I had brought from Hawai'i... kona coffee chocolates, dried mangoes
with li hing powder, and the bag of Molokai'i coffee, macadamia nuts and an
assortment of oddities that Gillie's sister surprised me by recognizing and
liking. Velora had her tape collection, including Life of Brian (but we did
not make any gratuitous references to it), Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are
Dead, which I had only just heard of the day before from a young friend who
I had met in person for the first time on the Berkeley campus, and classics
in the same vein. I asked to watch Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern first, as I
had seen the others. Gillie was engrossing herself by this point in my copy
of The Last Continent, and Tony and I had been taking turns harassing those
few denizens of #afp who were _not_ attending a meet somewhere at the time.

The evening progressed in this manner, with a break for some dinner (Tacos,
and a well layed out selection of toppings), and no sleep before some point
well into the morning. There were Pratchett books to read, Ridcully to make
fun of, and chocolate (and fudge, wonderful fudge, that Velora had brought)
to consume. Ah, life can be wonderful... Rid called on the phone, and Z and
I teased him again.

In the morning, we decided to lounge around for a while. We kicked back, we
read, we discussed the denizens of AFP and #afp... we laughed, and even, at
one point, dressed in outrageous costumes. Actually, the costumes were kind
of neat...

Eventually, we were ready to do something. I had never encountered snow, at
least, not from closer than a few miles, and the others were kind enough to
agree to a trip up the mountains where the snow was still thick. We climbed
up from the parking lot, until we reached a nice steep snow covered bank, a
fortification Z had to climb. Velora and I followed, and we proceeded to go
back down at high velocity on our butts. We got cold, wet pants for our bit
of fun, but it was well worth it. We ended up hiking well into the mountain
trail, to a lake that was covered in half frozen snow. Velora and I heard a
duck, but Z insists it was a frog. Z was probably right. We threw things at
the lake, broke up a few bits of it, and then headed back. The spot where a
few of our efforts at rock tossing had impacted across a gorge will be more
than a little battered for a while. We avoided one patch of yellow snow, at
least one massive hairball, and Velora lost her camera's battery in a minor
scuffle involving several snowballs and a little bit of running. At the end
of the trek, we all had cold wet feet, and wanted to get back to that warm,
dry house of Gillie's. Tony had to catch his bus home at 12:50 am, so sleep 
as a plan of action was plain out... We went back to reading and #afp.

The trip to the bus station was long and windy, late, and I didn't pay much
attention to the road. We saw Z off... and I definately plan to see more of
that guy in the future... and returned to Gillie's place to sleep. We had a
long trip home in the morning. Which became early afternoon. We made the SF
airport at the last minute... I ran up to the gate just as the line slipped
in... so it was a hasty goodbye to Velora, and a lot of running. But I have
to say, those last few minutes of the meet were worth the run. I wish there
had been more of them...

So... when are these guys coming to Hawai'i? And the rest of you, that can?
Maui hiking meet is open for planning. Anyone? *grin*
--

Nathan F. Yospe - Aimed High, Crashed Hard, In the Hanger, Back Flying Soon
Jr Software Engineer, Textron Systems Division (On loan to Rocketdyne Tech)
(Temporarily on Hold) Student, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Physics Dept.
yospe#hawaii.edu nyospe#premier.mhpcc.af.mil http://www2.hawaii.edu/~yospe/

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