smonster, sto abbastanza bene. Sono triste che siete andati. Thanks, babe.

Tep, you are a doll. Wrong (in my case, but not Raquel's), but a definite doll. I'm trying to figure out a way to get the cherry dress out of your closet and into mine without your knowledge. I need the Bewitched! nose wrinkle.

smonster, I think that in the fangirls picture, my guess is that the second "?" is Holli. Have no idea, not even a guess, who the first "?" may be.

Maria, it was wonderful to finally have a face (and a foamy one, too!) to go with your name.

And it goes to all those whose pictures I've seen for the very first time: Anne, JenP, Ginger, Toddson, Reema, JohnSweden, bicyclops (and DW), amyth, smonster, Debetesse, Raquel - I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but as I can't remember, I can't remember whom.

I love having the pictures and each time that I see the name later on the screen, I have some sort of a face to go along with the typed words. And I love it that it's such a smiling having-a-good-time expressioned face.

Sono triste che siete andati.

Mi dispiace anch'io che non sono mai a DC. Viene qui!!!

Okay, Italian v. v. rusty.

(soooo not here)

(working, really)

Thanks, Nilly. I think it is Holli, I just got confused b/c it was outfit 2.0. Anyone know the other question mark? She was wearing a supercool "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" shirt which I completely neglected to compliment.

I just got confused b/c it was outfit 2.0.

Look who's talking about changing outfits... I loved your matching picture with Billytea, by the way - and those colors are so lovely on you!

Smonster, I think #2 was a friend of Holli's. I don't remember her name :-(.

Anyone know the other question mark? She was wearing a supercool "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" shirt which I completely neglected to compliment.

I can't see the picture right now, but I'd guess it was Holli's friend Shira.

for the folks still in town, what's the plan for dinner?

Skipping to the end to note that I AM HOME!

Bicyclops and his lovely wife and Ginger picked me up at Anne's this morning and we hit the highway. I'd been up since 6:00, and KateP, who was sharing the room with me, wandered down at 7:00 to say goodbye and I sent her back to sleep, since she didn't have to leave to make her plane till 9:00. Jeeves helped me strip the bed, such a helpful handsome fellow, and in return I, for the last time this trip, turned on the kitchen faucet for him to have a drink. Anne had the foresight to set the timer on the coffeemaker, and there was joe. (No, not Joe). Caught up on email and F2F on Anne's laptop, schmoozed a little, and then the Bicyclopses and Ginger arrived. Askye got up to say goodbye, I hugged everybody within reach, and we set off southward. Much talk was had along the way, to the consensus that Buffistas=foamy, intelligent, funny, quirky and all-round good folks.

My kitty missed me, my DH is still at work. I think I'm gonna nap and then unpack. I missed having access to the board all weekend, except for Anne's Mac at odd moments. We'll have to investigate my laptop's wireless problem. At some point I'll do a better summation post, and post it here or in LJ, possibly both.

Let me just say, it was a fabulous weekend, and I was surprised and delighted to find the people I've known for years, months or weeks to be just the same as they come across on b.org, only more 3-D-ish.

Okay, this post is gonna be all memememe, but I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who took pictures and posted them up already. You know how usually when you dress up fancy, you think, Yeah, that looks okay, too bad I'm not thinner or prettier or more adept at styling my hair or whatever? Well, on Saturday night, I didn't feel that at all. For once, I felt really beautiful. I keep going back and looking at the pictures of me and thinking, hot damn, that's me!

Kate! Dude, we need to talk more. Because you're damn cool.

t smooch

I was sad that you left so early on Sunday, because I really wanted to spend more time talking with you too.

This is totally seconded, BTW.

t blushing

I wish you'd been around more! I would have loved to hang out more with you.

I got to talk to Kate *lots* and she was my sugar mama at the prom. Still wasn't enough, though. And I'm totally stealing that orange skirt someday.

t throws smonster down and snogs her senseless

t is no longer allowed to use the fake-tag quick-edit

I miss you too, babe.

Also, Reema keeps looking like Jen K.

Oh, that's who she reminded me of!

smonster, I think that in the fangirls picture, my guess is that the second "?" is Holli. Have no idea, not even a guess, who the first "?" may be.

I'm pretty sure that was Holli's friend Shira.

..And, on a totally seperate note: Maria, I also didn't know about Rod until reading through this thread just now. I am so sorry that you have to go through this. I wish now I'd hugged you just a little longer or a little tighter.

Hi everyone. I'm back in Philly, and back at work. I had a great time, everyone is lovely, and I'd like to be back there. I'm still exhausted, despite a relatively early night last night. After the Prom, I find myself with an inexplicable urge to shout "Soylent Green is boobs! BOOOOOBS!!", but I'm sure that will pass. I'm currently in a very Coldplay kind of place, which may also pass.

Other noteworthies:

The National Zoo is well worth the price of admission, even though they pulled a bait-and-switch on Meet the Mole Rat (they produced an armadillo instead, which was still very cool, being an armadillo). I won't go into great detail, as there are limits on post length.

Steph gave me a figurine of Rufus! (The naked mole rat from Kim Possible.) He's very pretty. (PS: rumours of Antarctic mole rats have been debunked. There shall be no bunking with icy mole rats.)

ND has introduced me to the crooning wonder that is Richard Cheese, and no good can come of it.

Lovesick Ass was hysterical. Four eps wasn't enough for Wonderfalls to grab me, but I think that ep would've done it.

From the National Zoo's website comes this charming commentary:

Biologist Paul Sherman studied such foraging behavior in his laboratory at Cornell University. He observed that when an individual mole-rat discovers a new food source it will grab a chunk and scurry back to the nest, chirping all the way. Upon arrival at the nest, the food scout will wave the morsel aloft for all to smell. This chirp-and-wave maneuver sets off a small stampede, as workers race to collect more food and bring it back to feed the whole colony.

Awww.

For those who asked about the zoo trip at the Prom and wondered what the hell I was talking about, this is the best pic of a Rothschild's mynah I could find: here. It still doesn't do it justice.

There should probably be more, but I'm still half brain dead. I think it's the right half.