Dr Doran
My Mail is Forwarded Here
- Messages
- 3,853
- Location
- Los Angeles
Well, today I met another person from the Lounge, and it has caused me to look back on all the people I've personally met from the Lounge, and all the people I've met only online from this place, and I have to say, I'm pretty damned impressed.
Today I met someone from the Lounge I never met in person before and talked to her for several hours. And I found, as I have always done on the occasions I've sat down and talked to anyone from this place, a smart, interesting person with fine manners, very polite, funny, charming, and gifted at making a stranger feel at ease.
This has happened to me every single time I've met one of you all. And I have to say, I feel pretty special to have the opportunity to do this.
The first person I met from the Lounge was MK, up in Portland. The soul of graciousness, a fine conversationalist, genuinely interested in meeting a newcomer to the Lounge, willing to answer my wife's questions, completely unconcerned as to whether she was a card-carrying "vintage" person or not, interested in both of us as people. Cacklewack and Travis, whom alas I have not seen since that fine evening at MacMenamin's dome-top theater in Portland were the same way and so was Brooksie whom I am happy to say I have met and palled around with a few times since then.
I then met a whole slew of you in Walnut Creek in a place called Bing's. In that place Matt Deckard happened to be seated next to me and amused myself and my wife for hours with his wit, and I formed lasting friendships with FedoraGent and Lady Day, with whom I speak fairly regularly even though they both moved to LA. I also met Magneto, a delightful wry person, and The Wolf and many others.
FedoraGent, before he moved to LA, was kind enough to invite me to many outings, to most of which I came. I met Sefton at one of these outings, a fine fellow I've seen once since then.
On subsequent trips up to Portland I met Chucklehead, pdxvintagette, anon', Miss Melly, and even Reetpleat who took a train from Seattle to Portland just to hang out with us. Marvelous. With all these persons I have discussed many things, from vintage (obviously) to domestic politics to plants to foreign affairs to ancient history to academia, and none have failed to be polite, interesting, and interested in what others have to say. On my last trip I met Zaika as well, a delightful person telling me fascinating stories about her stay in Russia.
Here in the Bay Area I have met jamespowers and Lincsong and Miss1929, marvelous drinking companions, fine conversationalists, and solid people; I've seen Miss1929 a few times since then and she has shown herself to be one of the most gracious and knowledgeable folks I've ever met. Once with her I saw Sefton again and met Neecerie, who had come up from LA, a delightful evening of conversation and music while we watched Lavey Smith sing and Miss1929 sing as well.
I also met, in the Bay Area, Wingnut, the soul of old-fashioned grace, and excellent military manners, willing to discuss airplanes with me although I knew very little about the topic. We met at the Presidio Club in SF, at Julia Morgan House in Berkeley, and again at the Gatsby picnic in Oakland, the latter two occasions in which I also met Miss 1940s but we didn't have a chance to converse.
Miss1929 was gracious enough to not only invite me and my wife and daughter to the Gatsby Picnic, but to have us at the table she and her husband set up, and even to lend my wife suitable clothing for the event. Absolute magic, seeing some 600 people dressed 1920s/1930s, dancing to the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra.
And this afternoon I meet Bella Hell, and have hours of fascinating conversation with her on issues political, gustatory, family-historical, religious, and everything else in between. Very impressive intellect, a marvelous table companion, a delightful wit ... again. These qualities seem to be a theme I encounter whenever I meet all of you.
These are the people I have met in person and actually spoken with. I've met others but not had a chance to talk much; those will have to wait for future occasions. Even the people I've only interacted with on line have impressed me, especially those with whom I have had disagreements whose bases have (in all honesty) vanished into thin air, such has been their graciousness afterward: Carter, the long-departed Jovan, Spitfire, and many (many) others. Each has impressed me with their ability to look at what we had in common rather than what we did not. Jamespowers, whom I admire as a person yet with whom I have little in common politically, was able to drop politics when it seemed we'd never agree on anything, and no hard feelings. We'll talk more about tomatoes, Plato, and many other very interesting things we've touched on in the past.
Well, this is a toast to all of you. I first stumbled onto the Lounge in January of 2007 looking for the best wingtips to buy and was amazed to find so many people who loved so many of the things that I love, in even more detail than I knew. The conversations I have had with all of you online and off, and the times I have met so many of you in person have made my 2007 and 2008 a lot more delightful than they otherwise would have been.
Cheers to the Lounge and the wonderful people on it.
Today I met someone from the Lounge I never met in person before and talked to her for several hours. And I found, as I have always done on the occasions I've sat down and talked to anyone from this place, a smart, interesting person with fine manners, very polite, funny, charming, and gifted at making a stranger feel at ease.
This has happened to me every single time I've met one of you all. And I have to say, I feel pretty special to have the opportunity to do this.
The first person I met from the Lounge was MK, up in Portland. The soul of graciousness, a fine conversationalist, genuinely interested in meeting a newcomer to the Lounge, willing to answer my wife's questions, completely unconcerned as to whether she was a card-carrying "vintage" person or not, interested in both of us as people. Cacklewack and Travis, whom alas I have not seen since that fine evening at MacMenamin's dome-top theater in Portland were the same way and so was Brooksie whom I am happy to say I have met and palled around with a few times since then.
I then met a whole slew of you in Walnut Creek in a place called Bing's. In that place Matt Deckard happened to be seated next to me and amused myself and my wife for hours with his wit, and I formed lasting friendships with FedoraGent and Lady Day, with whom I speak fairly regularly even though they both moved to LA. I also met Magneto, a delightful wry person, and The Wolf and many others.
FedoraGent, before he moved to LA, was kind enough to invite me to many outings, to most of which I came. I met Sefton at one of these outings, a fine fellow I've seen once since then.
On subsequent trips up to Portland I met Chucklehead, pdxvintagette, anon', Miss Melly, and even Reetpleat who took a train from Seattle to Portland just to hang out with us. Marvelous. With all these persons I have discussed many things, from vintage (obviously) to domestic politics to plants to foreign affairs to ancient history to academia, and none have failed to be polite, interesting, and interested in what others have to say. On my last trip I met Zaika as well, a delightful person telling me fascinating stories about her stay in Russia.
Here in the Bay Area I have met jamespowers and Lincsong and Miss1929, marvelous drinking companions, fine conversationalists, and solid people; I've seen Miss1929 a few times since then and she has shown herself to be one of the most gracious and knowledgeable folks I've ever met. Once with her I saw Sefton again and met Neecerie, who had come up from LA, a delightful evening of conversation and music while we watched Lavey Smith sing and Miss1929 sing as well.
I also met, in the Bay Area, Wingnut, the soul of old-fashioned grace, and excellent military manners, willing to discuss airplanes with me although I knew very little about the topic. We met at the Presidio Club in SF, at Julia Morgan House in Berkeley, and again at the Gatsby picnic in Oakland, the latter two occasions in which I also met Miss 1940s but we didn't have a chance to converse.
Miss1929 was gracious enough to not only invite me and my wife and daughter to the Gatsby Picnic, but to have us at the table she and her husband set up, and even to lend my wife suitable clothing for the event. Absolute magic, seeing some 600 people dressed 1920s/1930s, dancing to the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra.
And this afternoon I meet Bella Hell, and have hours of fascinating conversation with her on issues political, gustatory, family-historical, religious, and everything else in between. Very impressive intellect, a marvelous table companion, a delightful wit ... again. These qualities seem to be a theme I encounter whenever I meet all of you.
These are the people I have met in person and actually spoken with. I've met others but not had a chance to talk much; those will have to wait for future occasions. Even the people I've only interacted with on line have impressed me, especially those with whom I have had disagreements whose bases have (in all honesty) vanished into thin air, such has been their graciousness afterward: Carter, the long-departed Jovan, Spitfire, and many (many) others. Each has impressed me with their ability to look at what we had in common rather than what we did not. Jamespowers, whom I admire as a person yet with whom I have little in common politically, was able to drop politics when it seemed we'd never agree on anything, and no hard feelings. We'll talk more about tomatoes, Plato, and many other very interesting things we've touched on in the past.
Well, this is a toast to all of you. I first stumbled onto the Lounge in January of 2007 looking for the best wingtips to buy and was amazed to find so many people who loved so many of the things that I love, in even more detail than I knew. The conversations I have had with all of you online and off, and the times I have met so many of you in person have made my 2007 and 2008 a lot more delightful than they otherwise would have been.
Cheers to the Lounge and the wonderful people on it.
