The Big Apple
Once again, I'd better get in here and get this stuff down before it fades completely from memory. The final gathering has come and gone, and I've recovered about as much as I'm going to, so here goes. As with the entry from the UK gathering, I'll probably do this in stages, as there's a lot to tell...
I arrived at La Guardia airport on Wednesday afternoon around 2:00. Kingohugs (Matt) was going to meet me down at the baggage area, and I was surprised to find someone fairly close to my own size -- for some reason, I was expecting Matt to be a really BIG guy. This was the first time we'd ever met, but I feel as though I've known Matt forever -- it was a very comfortable meeeting and trip over to the other terminal, where we procurred a table in a little restaurant and whipped out my laptop for surfing while waiting for the rest of the contingent to arrive.
Gwynneth (Lane) was the next to arrive, from Dallas. We had talked a few times before our meeting, but not frequently; I was looking forward to meeting her, though, only partially because she was supposed to have been at that first gathering I attended (which some of you will remember -- when we met on the grassy knoll there in Dallas and went to the Sixth Floor Depository Museum). Lane is a delightful person, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her much better in the coming years. :)
KyraB (Lisa) arrived a bit later, and the four of us sat around in the lounge, sipping our first cocktails and yakking about how much fun we were going to have over the weekend. We reviewed the guest list, gossiped about our friends, caught up with RL dramas and in general had a great time bonding in person (as opposed to the many hours we've spent bonding online). When it drew closer to 7:00, we packed in the computer, collected our respective baggage and made our way to yet another terminal to await the arrival of the Canadian Stoner contingent.
Rod, Scott and Hugabugs (Lynn) arrived intact, if a bit fatigued, and we all piled into the limo -- the big, pimpin' limo -- that Rod had ordered for us. On our way into the city, kingo pointed out various sites of interest, including shooting locations for MIB from the World's fair there -- so I've now actually see the "spaceships" that are mocked up outside the MIB Alien Attack ride at Universal. :) (I'm so easily amused...)
NYC itself was pretty much what I was expecting -- AMAZING! It's HUGE, for one thing, and the energy level is off the charts for my experience. We arrived at the hotel, the Park Central New York on 7th Avene at 56th, and proceeded to confuse everyone while checking in. When my turn came, I was talking to kingo, trying to retrieve a text message, trying to answer the desk clerk's questions and answer the phone (which was ringing again) all at the same time. This should have let me know that I was in for a real ride over the weekend...
One of my big disappointments before this trip was the discovery that because I booked my package through Expedia, I would not be able to upgrade my room without incurring ridiculous change charges at Expedia. Kingo had made arrangements (okay, rather late, but better late than never) for a room block on the concierge level, but I had resigned myself to taking a lower-level room and just skating up on the elevators to Stoner Central (once it was established on Friday). Imagine my surprise to discover that they'd upgraded me anyway -- I think Matt made a stink about it, and apparently we were giving them enough money as a group that they upgraded me for free. :)
Another of my big disappointments before this trip was learning that Kayaker (JT) wasn't going to make it after all. Thelma didn't come, so I didn't get to play Louise after all... I was tremendously disappointed that I wasn't going to get to meet her, since that was originally the big draw for NYC. But things worked out well -- my friend Stonecat, who recently lost her daughter, was looking for a roommate, and we decided that we'd had enough fun rooming together in Cambridge to do it again here in NYC. :)
Stonecat had driven in that day, and had arrived several hours before we did, in plenty of time to acquaint herself with the hotel and its staff. The text message I'd received was from her, as was the phone call -- which she hung up because she suddenly heard my voice. She joined me at the front desk while I was completing registration, and we retired to find our rooms, only to discover that we'd all been put on the NON-smoking floor, even though we'd all requested smoking rooms...of course, necessitating another trip down to the lobby and back up the elevators...
We finally got to our rooms and stowed away our gear and spruced up a bit, then met in the lobby bar prior to an excursion to search for food and look around a bit. We ate at the Stage Deli that night, where the sandwiches were as big as your head and I was able to enjoy a nice, traditional Jewish chopped liver...mmmm, chopped liver, why doesn't anyone here serve that or paté? The cheesecake looked pretty good, too -- Cat had a big slice of that, and it looked yummy from across the table where I was sitting. :)
After dinner, Matt escorted us on a little tour of the town, starting with Times Square, which just happens to be a very significant Stone location. As we strolled, we encountered a number of sailors and took pictures with them, which was fun, and stopped a few times to let people take pictures of various things and buildings. Rod and Scott did interviews with us in Times Square, which was a lot of fun -- I think the first thing Scott got on film with me was me saying, "My god, if I lived here, I'd NEVER sleep -- I'd just come down here and soak up some of this energy." The energy there is ENORMOUS -- I really could go without sleep with such a large energy source nearby (and did so -- the hotel was just blocks away, and Stoner Central's balcony faced it, so I spent quite a bit of time sucking up energy on that balcony...).
I can't even tell you where all we walked that night. I know we walked down 42nd Street and stopped to get some ice cream, then found a little package store and bought Coke to go with the Jack Daniels Cat had brought, a couple of six packs of beer and some water. We headed back to the hotel, where we found Rod in the lobby with two strangers, not to remain strangers for long...
Devjoe and dalyraug (Joe and Nathan) had been playing some game in the lobby when Rod got back to the hotel, and they spotted his Stone and hailed him (or at least that's my assumption -- he was sitting with them when we came in). Devjoe and I had worked together at Pyroto, during the Dark Ages at the Stone, on the Stoner Clan; he was our database man. Dalyraug was another Pyroto player who'd fallen among the Stoners there and liked us; eventually, he went and investigated the Stone site and then came and asked if someone could help him get a Stone. I had a few left, so I sold him one. It was very nice to get to meet these guys in person after more than a year of daily contact with them. :)
We collected everyone up in the lobby and headed out to KyraB/Hugabugs/Gwynneth's room, since it was the biggest available to us, and proceded to sit down and have a nice chat session. People came and went, and stories were shared of real-life events and Stone mishaps and amusements, and hours passed, as they do when you're having a good time with people you really enjoy. I think it was around 3:00 when Hugs finally kicked us out -- and I have to thank the Lovely Lemming Sisters again for letting me keep people up until all hours in their room until Stoner Central opened up...
Cat had retired early, fatigued from driving and still being relatively grief-stricken. I must say that I think she held up remarkably well at this gathering, considering all the facts -- Melissa had been the one to talk her into coming to this thing in the first place, and her attendance was at least in part a tribute to her daughter. She'd brought me a present from Melissa -- a little purple gerbil that vibrates. Apparently, Melissa was quite excited to be going to meet the Queen of the Purple Gerbils at the Stone, and she'd hand-dyed this little thing for me. It's hanging on my purse now, and I love it very much.
I finally flopped into the bed about 3:15, waking Cat in the process. We had a very brief conversation before allowing sleep to overtake us both...
Thursday morning, Cat and I got up relatively early, because we were going with Scott and Rod to the memorial service at Ground Zero. I spent a little bit ot time online talking to Grissy, cleaned myself up, and prepared myself to head out into NYC on the anniversary of what was one of the most horrible days there in the last half-century. Cat went down a bit early, and I followed a bit later with her cowby hat in hand. I got on the elevator to face a whole squad of firefighters in full uniform, heading out to the memorial services themselves. They were all VERY tall -- I felt like a child among them. One of them offered to trade hats with me, and I made them laugh when I demonstrated that it wasn't mine and belonged to a friend with a much smaller head...
We gathered up in the lobby, Rod, Scott, Cat and I, and piled into Cat's car to head down to Ground Zero. Cat has been to NYC many times and is comfortable driving there, so she saw no reason that we should pay for a taxi. She let us out as close as possible, then went in search of a parking place. I have to say I don't think it took her very long, compared to what I'd heard NY parking was like. Rod and Scott and I went down to the memorial site -- well, actually, the back side of the site, and found a nice spot along the fence. We filmed a bit of dialogue there, but there was a lot of wind, so Scott concentrated more on getting images of the site and the crowd until the service started.
I've been to a fair number of memorial services in my lifetime. My favorite still is the memorial service we attended when we launched the folks into space -- it's still the most uplifting memorial I've ever experienced. But this one was special, and I'm glad I've gotten to attend at least one of these services, as I'm sure they'll be held for many years to come. We stayed through a good part of the reading of the names, waiting for Cat to work her way back through the crowds to the spot we'd chosen along the fence. I took a few pictures (which I will eventually post) of the people right around me in the crowd -- another squad of firefighters, a solitary fireman and his two kids, other individuals as they caught my eye. So many people, all with their own different lives, all joined together in one place...
When Cat rejoined us, we went off towards Battery Park, in search of many things, food among them. We stopped and took snaps with the Wall Street bull, then found a little place that made breakfast for us. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, which was just perfect for my little jittery tummy. (You'd think by now I'd be over that stuff, but no, the nerves set in every trip...)
After that, we continued on to Battery Park. I was surprised at the size and number of the parks in NYC -- Battery Park is the same size as some of the larger parks I went to in the Houston area in my youth. We took photos of the memorial there, an eternal flame mounted before a sculpture that once stood between the twin towers of the WTC. It was damaged but still relatively intact after 9/11, so they moved it out to Battery Park as a temporary memorial. The eternal flame was added last year as a part of the memorial services then. Cat split from us there, to visit a nearby museum, and said she'd rejoin us at the hotel.
Rod and Scott and I sat on a bench for awhile, waiting for Matt to catch up to us there at the park. It was a nice, sunny day, and we basked in the sun, watching the ferry to Liberty Island board and contemplating the symbolism and presense of Lady Liberty. One day, when they open her back up, I'll take the boat trip out and go up to see the shackles she's standing on... Scott and I got a little sunburned from our basking, but that's what us Celtic types get for sitting in the sun without sunscreen.
Matt joined us about the time Scott and I were starting to burst into flame, and the four of us headed back to Ground Zero. We grabbed a cab back, to save us the walk and the sun, and set up to do some interviews in the same spot we'd been at that morning. It was at this point that Scott obtained documentary evidence that contrary to popular belief, I do shut my mouth from time to time... ;) Matt was really on a roll during that interview -- he had memories and feelings about 9/11 that he wanted to get out, and we all just let him have at it. We were joined by the Lovely Lemming Sisters (their own name, not mine), and they did some individual interviews with us all before we headed out for a festive afternoon beverage while we waited for Tammy (Matt's wife) to get off work and come to meet the geeks.
While we were interviewing, Cat called to say that she'd lucked out and gotten a ticket for Letterman, and was trying to get us to come and join her in the line. She said if we could get there in 15 minutes, we'd probably get one -- unfortunately for all of us, there was absolutely no way we were gonna get there in 15 minutes. But at least one of us got to go and represent Kayaker in the audience, which was a big priority on her list of things to do in NYC.
I can't remember the name of the little place where we waited, but it was a lovely Irish-style pub/restaurant. Lots of wood and mirrors and a real Irishman tending bar... We sat around there for awhile, laughing, letting the ladies get something in their bellies (they hadn't had an opportunity for food yet that day), talking about the game and the movie and the stuff we were to do that weekend -- in general, an excellent bonding experience for everyone, I think.
We walked out to Wall Street, where Rod and Scott did some interviewing and filming, and met Tammy, who escorted us on a subway ride back to the hotel. It was my first NYC subway ride, and I have to say that it wasn't really that different from the tubes in London. It's a little louder in NYC, but the trains are pretty much the same, as are the people riding them. Since we were in such a large group, I didn't feel in any way threatened by the ride or the denizens of the subway, but I can see how it might be a creepy place at the wrong times and/or places.
We arrived back at the hotel and decided to meet up in the lobby bar at 7:00, which left me with approximately two hours of "me" time. I thought I might take a nice bath, change clothes, get a little online time chatting or something...WRONG! My phone rang within ten minutes of the time I sat down at the desk, just enough time to let me get hooked up and download the mail. It was Kerry and LovelyDougly (aka Doug), the first of the British contingent to arrive, and they were trying to figure out how to get to our room. Cat came in about this time and volunteered to go get them; once she had, she wandered off to the taping of the Letterman show and left me to catch up with the Brits.
It wasn't much longer before the next Brits showed up, Dark_One and Kinky^Boots (Dave and Sarah), who were staying directly across the hall from my room. They brought their Auntie M a wonderful Lush Wow-Wow mask, which was a fabulous treat the next morning on my sunburned face. Other Stoners kept calling and showing up, and somewhere in the midst of this, I left them all to their own devices, took a quick shower and changed my clothes, then rejoined the ever-growing crowd in my room.
At 7:15, Rod called me to find out where we were. When he discovered the party had already started in my room, he and Scott and a few bottles of wine joined us there. Gwynneth went up to the concierge lounge and confiscated cups for us, and we drank the wine and got pleasantly liquored up there in my little nest. I sat in the middle of the bed, smoking and drinking wine, surrounded by my Stoner friends from three countries -- nice buzz, good friends, great conversation, just about as close to heaven as I get in this body... :)
I arrived at La Guardia airport on Wednesday afternoon around 2:00. Kingohugs (Matt) was going to meet me down at the baggage area, and I was surprised to find someone fairly close to my own size -- for some reason, I was expecting Matt to be a really BIG guy. This was the first time we'd ever met, but I feel as though I've known Matt forever -- it was a very comfortable meeeting and trip over to the other terminal, where we procurred a table in a little restaurant and whipped out my laptop for surfing while waiting for the rest of the contingent to arrive.
Gwynneth (Lane) was the next to arrive, from Dallas. We had talked a few times before our meeting, but not frequently; I was looking forward to meeting her, though, only partially because she was supposed to have been at that first gathering I attended (which some of you will remember -- when we met on the grassy knoll there in Dallas and went to the Sixth Floor Depository Museum). Lane is a delightful person, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her much better in the coming years. :)
KyraB (Lisa) arrived a bit later, and the four of us sat around in the lounge, sipping our first cocktails and yakking about how much fun we were going to have over the weekend. We reviewed the guest list, gossiped about our friends, caught up with RL dramas and in general had a great time bonding in person (as opposed to the many hours we've spent bonding online). When it drew closer to 7:00, we packed in the computer, collected our respective baggage and made our way to yet another terminal to await the arrival of the Canadian Stoner contingent.
Rod, Scott and Hugabugs (Lynn) arrived intact, if a bit fatigued, and we all piled into the limo -- the big, pimpin' limo -- that Rod had ordered for us. On our way into the city, kingo pointed out various sites of interest, including shooting locations for MIB from the World's fair there -- so I've now actually see the "spaceships" that are mocked up outside the MIB Alien Attack ride at Universal. :) (I'm so easily amused...)
NYC itself was pretty much what I was expecting -- AMAZING! It's HUGE, for one thing, and the energy level is off the charts for my experience. We arrived at the hotel, the Park Central New York on 7th Avene at 56th, and proceeded to confuse everyone while checking in. When my turn came, I was talking to kingo, trying to retrieve a text message, trying to answer the desk clerk's questions and answer the phone (which was ringing again) all at the same time. This should have let me know that I was in for a real ride over the weekend...
One of my big disappointments before this trip was the discovery that because I booked my package through Expedia, I would not be able to upgrade my room without incurring ridiculous change charges at Expedia. Kingo had made arrangements (okay, rather late, but better late than never) for a room block on the concierge level, but I had resigned myself to taking a lower-level room and just skating up on the elevators to Stoner Central (once it was established on Friday). Imagine my surprise to discover that they'd upgraded me anyway -- I think Matt made a stink about it, and apparently we were giving them enough money as a group that they upgraded me for free. :)
Another of my big disappointments before this trip was learning that Kayaker (JT) wasn't going to make it after all. Thelma didn't come, so I didn't get to play Louise after all... I was tremendously disappointed that I wasn't going to get to meet her, since that was originally the big draw for NYC. But things worked out well -- my friend Stonecat, who recently lost her daughter, was looking for a roommate, and we decided that we'd had enough fun rooming together in Cambridge to do it again here in NYC. :)
Stonecat had driven in that day, and had arrived several hours before we did, in plenty of time to acquaint herself with the hotel and its staff. The text message I'd received was from her, as was the phone call -- which she hung up because she suddenly heard my voice. She joined me at the front desk while I was completing registration, and we retired to find our rooms, only to discover that we'd all been put on the NON-smoking floor, even though we'd all requested smoking rooms...of course, necessitating another trip down to the lobby and back up the elevators...
We finally got to our rooms and stowed away our gear and spruced up a bit, then met in the lobby bar prior to an excursion to search for food and look around a bit. We ate at the Stage Deli that night, where the sandwiches were as big as your head and I was able to enjoy a nice, traditional Jewish chopped liver...mmmm, chopped liver, why doesn't anyone here serve that or paté? The cheesecake looked pretty good, too -- Cat had a big slice of that, and it looked yummy from across the table where I was sitting. :)
After dinner, Matt escorted us on a little tour of the town, starting with Times Square, which just happens to be a very significant Stone location. As we strolled, we encountered a number of sailors and took pictures with them, which was fun, and stopped a few times to let people take pictures of various things and buildings. Rod and Scott did interviews with us in Times Square, which was a lot of fun -- I think the first thing Scott got on film with me was me saying, "My god, if I lived here, I'd NEVER sleep -- I'd just come down here and soak up some of this energy." The energy there is ENORMOUS -- I really could go without sleep with such a large energy source nearby (and did so -- the hotel was just blocks away, and Stoner Central's balcony faced it, so I spent quite a bit of time sucking up energy on that balcony...).
I can't even tell you where all we walked that night. I know we walked down 42nd Street and stopped to get some ice cream, then found a little package store and bought Coke to go with the Jack Daniels Cat had brought, a couple of six packs of beer and some water. We headed back to the hotel, where we found Rod in the lobby with two strangers, not to remain strangers for long...
Devjoe and dalyraug (Joe and Nathan) had been playing some game in the lobby when Rod got back to the hotel, and they spotted his Stone and hailed him (or at least that's my assumption -- he was sitting with them when we came in). Devjoe and I had worked together at Pyroto, during the Dark Ages at the Stone, on the Stoner Clan; he was our database man. Dalyraug was another Pyroto player who'd fallen among the Stoners there and liked us; eventually, he went and investigated the Stone site and then came and asked if someone could help him get a Stone. I had a few left, so I sold him one. It was very nice to get to meet these guys in person after more than a year of daily contact with them. :)
We collected everyone up in the lobby and headed out to KyraB/Hugabugs/Gwynneth's room, since it was the biggest available to us, and proceded to sit down and have a nice chat session. People came and went, and stories were shared of real-life events and Stone mishaps and amusements, and hours passed, as they do when you're having a good time with people you really enjoy. I think it was around 3:00 when Hugs finally kicked us out -- and I have to thank the Lovely Lemming Sisters again for letting me keep people up until all hours in their room until Stoner Central opened up...
Cat had retired early, fatigued from driving and still being relatively grief-stricken. I must say that I think she held up remarkably well at this gathering, considering all the facts -- Melissa had been the one to talk her into coming to this thing in the first place, and her attendance was at least in part a tribute to her daughter. She'd brought me a present from Melissa -- a little purple gerbil that vibrates. Apparently, Melissa was quite excited to be going to meet the Queen of the Purple Gerbils at the Stone, and she'd hand-dyed this little thing for me. It's hanging on my purse now, and I love it very much.
I finally flopped into the bed about 3:15, waking Cat in the process. We had a very brief conversation before allowing sleep to overtake us both...
Thursday morning, Cat and I got up relatively early, because we were going with Scott and Rod to the memorial service at Ground Zero. I spent a little bit ot time online talking to Grissy, cleaned myself up, and prepared myself to head out into NYC on the anniversary of what was one of the most horrible days there in the last half-century. Cat went down a bit early, and I followed a bit later with her cowby hat in hand. I got on the elevator to face a whole squad of firefighters in full uniform, heading out to the memorial services themselves. They were all VERY tall -- I felt like a child among them. One of them offered to trade hats with me, and I made them laugh when I demonstrated that it wasn't mine and belonged to a friend with a much smaller head...
We gathered up in the lobby, Rod, Scott, Cat and I, and piled into Cat's car to head down to Ground Zero. Cat has been to NYC many times and is comfortable driving there, so she saw no reason that we should pay for a taxi. She let us out as close as possible, then went in search of a parking place. I have to say I don't think it took her very long, compared to what I'd heard NY parking was like. Rod and Scott and I went down to the memorial site -- well, actually, the back side of the site, and found a nice spot along the fence. We filmed a bit of dialogue there, but there was a lot of wind, so Scott concentrated more on getting images of the site and the crowd until the service started.
I've been to a fair number of memorial services in my lifetime. My favorite still is the memorial service we attended when we launched the folks into space -- it's still the most uplifting memorial I've ever experienced. But this one was special, and I'm glad I've gotten to attend at least one of these services, as I'm sure they'll be held for many years to come. We stayed through a good part of the reading of the names, waiting for Cat to work her way back through the crowds to the spot we'd chosen along the fence. I took a few pictures (which I will eventually post) of the people right around me in the crowd -- another squad of firefighters, a solitary fireman and his two kids, other individuals as they caught my eye. So many people, all with their own different lives, all joined together in one place...
When Cat rejoined us, we went off towards Battery Park, in search of many things, food among them. We stopped and took snaps with the Wall Street bull, then found a little place that made breakfast for us. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, which was just perfect for my little jittery tummy. (You'd think by now I'd be over that stuff, but no, the nerves set in every trip...)
After that, we continued on to Battery Park. I was surprised at the size and number of the parks in NYC -- Battery Park is the same size as some of the larger parks I went to in the Houston area in my youth. We took photos of the memorial there, an eternal flame mounted before a sculpture that once stood between the twin towers of the WTC. It was damaged but still relatively intact after 9/11, so they moved it out to Battery Park as a temporary memorial. The eternal flame was added last year as a part of the memorial services then. Cat split from us there, to visit a nearby museum, and said she'd rejoin us at the hotel.
Rod and Scott and I sat on a bench for awhile, waiting for Matt to catch up to us there at the park. It was a nice, sunny day, and we basked in the sun, watching the ferry to Liberty Island board and contemplating the symbolism and presense of Lady Liberty. One day, when they open her back up, I'll take the boat trip out and go up to see the shackles she's standing on... Scott and I got a little sunburned from our basking, but that's what us Celtic types get for sitting in the sun without sunscreen.
Matt joined us about the time Scott and I were starting to burst into flame, and the four of us headed back to Ground Zero. We grabbed a cab back, to save us the walk and the sun, and set up to do some interviews in the same spot we'd been at that morning. It was at this point that Scott obtained documentary evidence that contrary to popular belief, I do shut my mouth from time to time... ;) Matt was really on a roll during that interview -- he had memories and feelings about 9/11 that he wanted to get out, and we all just let him have at it. We were joined by the Lovely Lemming Sisters (their own name, not mine), and they did some individual interviews with us all before we headed out for a festive afternoon beverage while we waited for Tammy (Matt's wife) to get off work and come to meet the geeks.
While we were interviewing, Cat called to say that she'd lucked out and gotten a ticket for Letterman, and was trying to get us to come and join her in the line. She said if we could get there in 15 minutes, we'd probably get one -- unfortunately for all of us, there was absolutely no way we were gonna get there in 15 minutes. But at least one of us got to go and represent Kayaker in the audience, which was a big priority on her list of things to do in NYC.
I can't remember the name of the little place where we waited, but it was a lovely Irish-style pub/restaurant. Lots of wood and mirrors and a real Irishman tending bar... We sat around there for awhile, laughing, letting the ladies get something in their bellies (they hadn't had an opportunity for food yet that day), talking about the game and the movie and the stuff we were to do that weekend -- in general, an excellent bonding experience for everyone, I think.
We walked out to Wall Street, where Rod and Scott did some interviewing and filming, and met Tammy, who escorted us on a subway ride back to the hotel. It was my first NYC subway ride, and I have to say that it wasn't really that different from the tubes in London. It's a little louder in NYC, but the trains are pretty much the same, as are the people riding them. Since we were in such a large group, I didn't feel in any way threatened by the ride or the denizens of the subway, but I can see how it might be a creepy place at the wrong times and/or places.
We arrived back at the hotel and decided to meet up in the lobby bar at 7:00, which left me with approximately two hours of "me" time. I thought I might take a nice bath, change clothes, get a little online time chatting or something...WRONG! My phone rang within ten minutes of the time I sat down at the desk, just enough time to let me get hooked up and download the mail. It was Kerry and LovelyDougly (aka Doug), the first of the British contingent to arrive, and they were trying to figure out how to get to our room. Cat came in about this time and volunteered to go get them; once she had, she wandered off to the taping of the Letterman show and left me to catch up with the Brits.
It wasn't much longer before the next Brits showed up, Dark_One and Kinky^Boots (Dave and Sarah), who were staying directly across the hall from my room. They brought their Auntie M a wonderful Lush Wow-Wow mask, which was a fabulous treat the next morning on my sunburned face. Other Stoners kept calling and showing up, and somewhere in the midst of this, I left them all to their own devices, took a quick shower and changed my clothes, then rejoined the ever-growing crowd in my room.
At 7:15, Rod called me to find out where we were. When he discovered the party had already started in my room, he and Scott and a few bottles of wine joined us there. Gwynneth went up to the concierge lounge and confiscated cups for us, and we drank the wine and got pleasantly liquored up there in my little nest. I sat in the middle of the bed, smoking and drinking wine, surrounded by my Stoner friends from three countries -- nice buzz, good friends, great conversation, just about as close to heaven as I get in this body... :)