You know, I've Been Meaning to Update this Blog...

...but, I have not had the time nor energy to do something particularly exciting. So I have been putting it off. I guess I was kind of hoping someone else would update this, but seeing how that probably isn't likely, I will try to squeeze out a few words on our little gathering, which, since I know you're all keeping track, is gathering Number 29.

What can I say? Well, let's see...

First of all, this was another one of those "reunions" of sorts, where it was like "The Return of the Coffee Crew," because we did, in fact, go away again. Michelle had hosted the last one back in August of 2007. Specifically August 10, according to this blog. That one was an overwhelming success, which means we should have just kept at it. But then...it was not to be. I will go on record here saying, "I am not blaming Rich for this," although he has actually blamed himself for it at certain times. Plus Paul and I seemed to enjoy "going with" that theory of his to a certain degree, saying, "Um...well, yeah, you did say you were going to schedule the next one." I think subconsciously we were reasoning that maybe it's OK he feel a little guilty—-not because he deserved it, but because we were welcoming anything that would spur someone into making good on our indolent ways and actually schedule a new Coffee Crew session.

See, there had been a renewed interest in the Coffee Crew legacy, as Paul--in both the spirit of a Coffee Crew devotee and in the mentality of a space nerd "Fan Boy"--went ahead and made Coffee Crew t-Shirts for people to buy on Café Press. And did they buy? Well, hell yeah, one of us did! I bought two of them, plus a personal blog shirt, as well (which he also lovingly made). And Rich got one for his birthday.

Michelle and I also emailed each other at one point over the last year when she was asking about whether there would be more crew, saying she wanted to do more.

Rich, too, pined for the old days of the Crew, telling me in more recent times that he really missed it and realized the importance of it all. (Well, I mean, not important like oxygen, but just that the Crew was really freakin' cool.)

So, whether it was this or guilt or threatening phone calls, who knows... but the fact is that Rich came through in a big way by putting us back on the map. We have him to thank.

He offered to host and arranged for us to show up at his Farmingdale domicile on August 29, 2008. And that's what we did.

"Us," in this case, means Rich, Sue (wearing a Coffee Crew t-shirt), Paul, Joe, Michelle, Toni, Ganon (first timer), and me (wearing a "...just read the blog" t-shirt). I regret to inform you that I don't recall what the other people were wearing. But I do recall that first we ate pizza, then we read the stuff. It was all great.

Rich read a piece he wrote about a happy fellow who wanted to write novels, but ended up committing suicide instead.

Sue read a most excellent piece about a school murder.

Michelle mixed things up by reading something that she didn't write, but, rather, found on the printer at work. And it seemed really personal (to somebody, if not her)! Dang, I better not leave my secret writings laying around the office anymore!

I read an excerpt from a coffee-table-style book I'm working on about my musical adventures.

And, to make sure we didn't break from our reputation of being space, um, "aficionados," Joe brought us all home with a play he wrote for the Star Wars universe, which we all read for him (except for Toni and Ganon, who had to leave a little earlier). My character, Han Solo, presented me with ample opportunities to interrupt people, which was a blast. Laugh it up, Fuzzball.

It was all just splendid.

And we WILL do this again soon. No more year-long lapses. We might not rock out weekly like we did back in the day, but I think monthly (or near monthly) is a reasonable goal to strive for. Upon leaving, there was some question as to whether Paul or I/Sue would host the next one. And we're probably still trying to figure that out! But I, personally, cannot live with the guilt that Rich has lived with, so I will see to it that, one way or another, we meet again soon.

Word.