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I had to convert the spare bedroom into a home office when my company sent me into exile. The sleep sofa's been put into use many a time, but there's hardly any space in the living room when it's folded out! Plus, I'm a "survival chef" capable of planning and executing delicious n' nutritious meals for myself but a lousy host where cooking for company is concerned. Excuses, excuses!
I'm happy to have gotten acquainted with the MK Cat Family + Marshmallow + of course SIDNEY (shout-out to Hartwell Girl) + many others in the virtual sense. But I'm part of a "real time" community of cat owners and Weasie fans in my neighborhood. The C-D forum is icing on the cake. In spite of saying all that...I throw a big cookout on the first Saturday of every August to celebrate Weeze's "approximate" birthday, and all y'all should consider yourselves invited. We have cake with paw prints on top, the gift table is always piled up, and a good time is had by all. This year will mark her 18th.
True to her species, Weasie despises travel unless it's under her own power, and forget about making a journey to meet others like her! Her owner (owned?) doesn't have any similar restrictions, though.
Sometime I will relate the story of moving four cats sixty miles in a rainstorm last November, me alone in a car with four yowling, unhappy felines, one of whom escaped from her box while I'm driving down the Garden State Parkway...
Once-upon-a-time I thought there was something perfectly awful about meeting people you know only on-line.
But I would totally get together with my fellow kitty-people!
Around the time of the first 9/11 anniversary, I stumbled across a message board and soon became a regular. I've met two people from that board, one a few times. She lives about an hour from me. The other was a man and his wife who took a trip to NYC, so the two of us who already had connected met them for dinner. It was really great.
I wouldn't just do that with anyone. Cat people are pretty safe, though, I bet!
I'm safe! But live in Texas...sort of a long haul for me!
MightyQueen....I grew up on the Jersey shore....born and raised in Westfield, but hauled down to the beach any chance I got. My parents had on home down on Barnegat Bay.
I'm safe! But live in Texas...sort of a long haul for me!
MightyQueen....I grew up on the Jersey shore....born and raised in Westfield, but hauled down to the beach any chance I got. My parents had on home down on Barnegat Bay.
Oh that must have been nice! We always went to the Poconos because my parents had a house up there. I love the ocean, even in winter. I lived most of my life in north Jersey. Just moved down to Long Branch in November.
A lot of reservations people have about meeting virtual friends in person are because of the stories everybody hears about "adult" networking Websites of a different sort than this one. Do any serial killers lurk among we cat-owned? I think the odds are pretty slim. Also, the photos posted here probably weren't "borrowed" from someone else's profile. The six-month-old kitten you see online will be the six-month-old kitten you see in person, not a thirteen-year-old cat trying to lure an unsuspecting kitten fan. You catch my drift.
I've gone to a couple of C-D meet-ups which are for people who participate in one of the other forums I'm involved with. Everyone I've gotten acquainted with so far has been well worth getting to know face to face, easy to get along with and fun to be around. One man even brought his daughter and infant grandchild to one of these get-togethers. And the only common bond we share is being from, and/or currently living in, a certain US metropolitan area. What's done is, the organizer(s) select a casual + inexpensive, yet unique, local restaurant and set the date and time. Then anybody is welcome to show up. Attempts are made to cover all corners of the region so that a meet-up will always be a short distance away for some folks. What's amazing to see is, those who happily make a five-minute drive when the event's in their vicinity are equally happy to make a FORTY-five minute drive when it isn't.
So a "Kitty Data" party would be an almost sure-fire success. The key to that would be to have guests assemble in a neutral, public location first. Then after screen names are matched to faces and everyone's comfortably acquainted, there could be visits paid to the homes of cat-owned so that the (in)famous feline(s) can be introduced. Over a long weekend this could be easily arranged for out-of-towners; a lot of hotels will set aside a block of rooms at a discounted rate for groups. It's a win-win proposition; the innkeepers fill their rooms and get their business publicized by the group members, who in turn appreciate the lowered price and the proximity to their cohorts. I know of B & B proprietors who are happy to set aside their entire inn or house. Picture a dozen or so cat-owned people, perhaps with SO in tow, converging on a lodging place from various locations on a Friday night. After everyone's unpacked and stored their belongings, they go out for a lively late dinner somewhere or relax in the parlor/lobby to trade cat tails - er, tales - before turning in past their bedtime. Then after sleeping in and meeting for brunch or late breakfast on Saturday, the local hosts/hostesses take them around for home visits of an hour or so to see the feline(s) in residence whose stories are followed here. More nighttime socializing would close out that day. On Sunday, those with school/work obligations could part company with the group to return whence they came while those with more free time could take in the local non-cat sights and stay over for another night or two.
Just a thought.
Heck yeah. I will. It maybe sometime this summer. If you're ever out this way or in the KC area let me know. KC is only about three hours away from me.
Maybe we should break it down into regional or local get-togethers. Like ShelbyGirl1, I live in Texas and it's a long haul to the East Coast. I wish I could make it, but it's just not practicable.
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The sleep sofa's been put into use many a time, but there's hardly any space in the living room when it's folded out! Plus, I'm a "survival chef" capable of planning and executing delicious n' nutritious meals for myself but a lousy host where cooking for company is concerned. Excuses, excuses!
We have cake with paw prints on top, the gift table is always piled up, and a good time is had by all. This year will mark her 18th. 
