Geek Party!

So yeah. I took a couple days off from the world of blogging. And somewhat twitter. Things are pretty crazy with keeping in touch there, surviving Christmas, work dropping bombs, and some
freelance coming back to haunt me.

But Friday night, I did get a chance to go to the Party de la Kownacki/Turiano out in Highland Park. I didn't know much of what to expect, but worried as 40 people RSVP'd for his shindig. Oh man.

So we set out, Will driving, bringing along Veronica and his friend Mel (that's a girl's name). We get there and I quickly realize this is like a Podcamp Jr. Without the learning. More or less everyone we've hung with from Podcamp/Bootcamps was there (sadly, the SIDT guys weren't in attendance). Even our future mayor of Pittsburgh was there! Dawn Pa-POO-ga was there. Some STBD cast members. Locobone from Erie himself. The Woy. The G-Spod guys (who I talked with forever about our shows), and plenty more.

It was a great time. Lots of food, lots of talk, a few people I've never seen before that were...interesting. It was great to have so many people that are always communicating via blogs and Twitter in a such a loose setting. The highlight of the night, of course, was Norm leading us i a round of Walking in a Winder Wonderland via multiple Twitters. By far the geekiest thing I have ever been involved with.

So it's safet o say I've had a great fill of Christmas parties this year, between the crazy work party and this one. Here's to 2008...

Christmas Party Bonanza!

It's about 5:30 AM on Saturday morning and I'm awake as hell in my hotel room. So what should Sorg do? Blog, you silly readers!

Last night (hours ago) was my company's yearly Christmas party. And, as always, no matter how much you feel beat down the rest of the year, and whatever you have to say about how a company rolls, this party always seems to make things better. Mine is a small company, massively growing to just over 10 employees, I think. (from maybe 5 when I started?) So these shindigs are little more manageable, I'm sure.

So we check in to our hotel room down at the Spring Hill Suites down by PNC Park (swanky). And we exchange gifts as we wait for our "limo" to the eatery. Good times. Exchange secret Santa gifts. Mulango knowns just what to give me, of course. A Fabulous Moolah figure (I informed him that she just died) and a gift card towards the purchase of the new WWE game. And our VP and his wife hand out gifts as well. I nice purple scarf (just the right color), winter blanket and gift card.

Our transportation arrives in the form of a mini-bus from a limousine service (I heard we were taking a limo *shrug) to Vivo up in Bellvue. Nice, interesting place. One of those new cultural places. We had the whole downstairs to ourselves. And few of us knew much about the food we were being served. The camera gets busted out, and we open our gifts. Somehow I was last. Because I had the largest gift. See, we had been told to submit a list of items from something like $500-$1000. I asked for and xbox, or maybe a Mac Mini. Y'know, something small. But much to my surprise, after I open my shiny new Xbox, I find a bigger gift than I had imagined. Aparently, the employee at the Apple Store ("Geniuses" that they are) talked our man in charge that I would benefit more form an iMac more than a Mac Mini (I just wanted to watch movies on my TV with it, honestly.) So here I am with an iMac. Wow. A purchase I was maybe thinking about in a year from now. Which is fantastic! I'm officially a Maccie, and can hopefully switch to software I'm using on a daily basis at work. And have a much more valuable PC Gaming Machine (thank you Boot Camp).

So the drinking continues, and the karaoke. This is where I'm worried. There was a camera. And I recall being on stage quite a few times in groups. I'm sure I'll discover the horrors on Monday. I'll be sure to attempt to YouTube some good parts of my "talent". I really hope I didn't do anything too bad.

But unfortunately, our boss was not able to attend. And I know he loves throwing these parties. I swear the man is like a kid in a candy store when he gets to be Santa for a night like this. But he's at home getting better and we all wish him the best.

And sir, I am so sorry for the karaoke on behalf of all of us...