Obligatory Blogger/Politician Post Meeting Post

I think there is some rule that compels me to write about the local blogger & political candidate meeting held last night at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston. Being mostly German by ancestry I'm pretty good at following orders, so here goes.

TOP 10 THING I LEARNED/EXPERIENCED WHILE AT THE BLOGGER MEET-UP

1. Blog Name - "Not Cease from Exploration" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue when you are trying to tell someone what you write. I need something simple and much cooler sounding: Readazzler? Psycho-Puppy? Bababooey? The Blogginator? Baron Von Blogger? Bloginstein? How about "NCFE"?
   
2. Mary Borthwick - Mary is rightfully proud of her son Tom, who has a very bright mind & more importantly a good head on his shoulders. In my experience those two things don't always go together. Mary's son is going places, mark my words.
   
3. Cage Fights - I learned from a Corey O'Brien representative that many local candidate were attending "cage fights" that evening. I'm not kidding you, cage fights. This is the stuff you see on TV with all the roided-out, angry dudes pummel each other. Kind of like a combination of boxing and professional wrestling. For the record, I will not knowingly vote for anyone who attends a "cage fight". In my book cage fighting is probably a notch and a half above cock-fighting, if that.
   
4. Blogger Cards - Real, official bloggers have business-card like things that they can hand out listing their blog name, URL, and email address. Now I had a bunch of work business cards in my shirt pocket, but I would have felt stupid handing them out. Not sure if I'm ready to join the real, official world of blogging just yet.
   
5. Politicians - This is where I'm supposed to write about how a particular politician, candidate, representative, wannabe, etc. impressed me, right? Well Corey O'Brien's rep was the one who clued me in about the cage fights, which was pretty cool. I also spent a few minutes talking to my old work compatriot, Bob Morgan. Cross this requirement off the list...check!
   
6. Pittston - Man, when someone from Scranton says your town looks depressing, then, well I think that it says a lot. I had never actually walked in downtown Pittston until yesterday. No offense to anyone, but it was sad. The Simply Red song "Holding Back the Years" kept playing in my head as I walked to my car. It was like Lackawanna Avenue in Scranton, pre-Steamtown Mall. All the best to the Mayor there, because it look like efforts are being undertaken to make things better.
7. Hair - I still have decent hair for a middle-aged guy.
8. I Don't Like Bars - I probably haven't been in a bar in over five years, I kid you not, so last night was something of a rare exception for me. It's not that I look down on bars or the people that go to them, but rather since I don't drink & I am extremely introverted, bars are the functional equivalent of the dentist's chair for me. Anyway, since the smoking ban they are a lot more tolerable than I recall from the past. Maybe I will walk on the wild side and go to another bar again. No, I am not a Mormon.
   
9. Local Celebrities - In addition to finally getting to meet NEPAritsan in person, I also met Gort, Marc Cour, Duke from Dallas and other assorted luminaries. Unlike NEPArtisan, I avoided the tea-baggers (hehehehe, I said "tea-baggers"), as the whole socializing thing is difficult enough for me; having to argue with someone about how the world isn't flat would have made it much worse.
   
10. Chicken Sandwich - When ordering a chicken sandwich, never assume that it's just the chicken and the bun.