"Here I am, with my peeps at last"

Day-dee (Daisy), Susie's booful little girl kitty wanted the shrimp but managed only to grab a piece of the lettuce from the doib tray this afternoon at a lovely ladies' luncheon with guest speaker (Tuck) down Newburyport. Our sis has been spiffing up the kitchen, and there were rave reviews for her three or four coats of emerald green paint on the tired old floor (see below). She's thinking of rose-colored walls, but we're thinking she should go with something light, some version of white -- of which there are zillions. The green floor and wainscoting are like the green of the earth, and the walls and ceiling should be light, like the sky. Well, that's just our landscape architectural background and our "good eye" speaking about something we call a sense of place.

"And so that's why, when bloggers get together, there's often a certain 'here I am, with my peeps at last' feeling wafting through the air; a real zest and zing," writes our precious neo re last night's meeting of the sub rosa group over cocktails and dinner at a Thai restaurant in Brookline's Coolidge Corner:

Is blogging a calling? That's way too pretentious a way to look at it. But sometimes I feel that, for most bloggers, we didn't choose blogging so much as blogging chose us. And, for most of us, it's a labor of love, requiring us to do work without a great deal of remuneration -- except, of course, for the wonderful rewards of saying one's piece and even being heard and responded to in thoughtful and meaningful ways.

And now, with blogs, we don't have to bore our friends and relatives silly -- we can entertain each other.

'Course we are blessed with Goomp, our own venerable pater who reads and comments daily, not to mention those other members of the extended family who by choice remain anonymous but are known to read from time to time if not comment. As we said to one of our fellow peeps last night, we can't use the "f" word or any of those other disagreeable expressions, even if we wanted to -- and we don't -- as our father and our dear departed mother are looking over our shoulder.

The totally awesome and lovable Jeff Jacoby (above) -- op ed writer par excellence hired away from our local conservative rag, The Boston Herald, a few years back to fill the token conservative chair in the otherwise all-blue-state-all-the-time Little Gray Lady, The Boston Globe -- was there on the sidewalk outside the restaurant last night as we arrived to meet our peeps. Starstruck, we introduced ourselves and mentioned that catblogging was right up there with political commentary and media criticism here at sisu. He blessed us with a heartbreaking story of his family's recent loss of an old and beloved kitty cat that his wife had known longer than she had her husband. Mark Twain said it best . . . 'Can't seem to find the quotation, but it had to do with the awfulness of the difference between our own and feline life spans.

Daisy accents Susie's beautiful new emerald-green kitchen floor in the mid-afternoon light streaming through the window.

We couldn't resist our adorable blogpal Teresa's take on last night:

As usual, put some bloggers together and the conversation is incredible. Solomonia does all the slog work of emailing and setting up time and place -- wonderful job he does too. Also attending were Sissy Willis and her wonderful husband Tuck, Harry Forbes, Richard Landes, Miss Kelly, neo-neocon, and New England Republican.

We especially liked that part about "her wonderful husband Tuck."

Daisy among the folded napkins, backlit by the sun, with classic daylillies from Susie's garden.

Marybeth of Miss Kelly was the one who had the cajones to ask Jeff to join us. She loves animals, plants and all things bright and beautiful. She's a keeper, big time.

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true. I'm half crazy all for the love of you.

Cutie pie Sol of Solomonia invites all of our fellow New England bloggers to "come on down," as Ernie Boch used to say, for the next meeting, about a month from now. Here's his lovely take on last night:

Jeff's a great guy. Very down to earth, and hearty thanks to him and to everyone else for showing up. If you're a local blogger (in shooting distance of Boston) who'd like to be included in future meetups, drop me a line.

There are a couple of cookouts in the works out there. You don't want to miss 'em.

Comments

[Teresa]

LOL - Tuck gets the extra accolades for being a non-blogger yet coming to the meets and sitting through all the blog talk. *grin*

[miss kelly]

Hey Sissy, where's the Stetson hat pics? Your husband is a sweetie. We should definitely all wear big hats to the next (tribal) gathering. Thank you for the wildflower guide.

[Tara]

Sounds like a very lovely gathering.

Jeff Jacoby is a great writer and I read him regularly.

Who was wearing the Stetson ? Was it Tuck ?

[Teresa]

Tara - poor Tuck's hat was passed around to just about everyone at our end of the table. However, I must say that the rest of us do not wear it with nearly as much panache as Tuck does. *grin*

Not a Stetson though... (I'm not up on my hat names) It looks like a straw Fedora.

[goomp]

Here in Maine, downwind from Boston or "Down East" as we call it, I read Jeff frequently when his column is posted by JWR. Glad you could have such a fine fellow attend your get together.