Trebs

Mine is a picture of the two rings Dan and I wear since being a couple... I'll updated after July 2, 2009 with the nicer bling As to Myk - water polo is ok, but the rope-swing pics are MUCH better...

Found a good description:

The meat pies (pasties) are traditionally from Cornwall and Wales... Shepherd's pie I'm pretty sure is English. Yorkshire pudding (with roast beef)... Fish and Chips. Bubble and Squeak. Black pudding...

Just wanted to clarify in case it was not... um... clear NOTHING has been decided yet. To be honest, it is still VERY early. The purpose of the poll, and this thread is to raise and address concerns/issues/hopes/etc... I pointed out in an earlier post some of the rationale behind the dates/locations put up on this poll - and have read through and considered every post that has been made here. But in all actuality, it is still very early in the process - the previous GA GetTogether basically just finished. So please - continue to lobby for your choices and/or point out additional choices. It may well be that we have a 2nd follow-up thread before we actually come to any decision. But I didn't want anyone to be discouraged thinking that the die had already been cast...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREG!!! lol - ya, right, like that will ever happen ;-)

You obviously forgot what it's like to be a college student. Naw - I remember... and weekends during the first month of each term were typically when parties went on all over campus...

It's packed - almost impossible to move 10 feet in less than a minute - the lines for rides are impossible, even with FastPasses... BUT As the 4th is also a Saturday, park hours typically go until 2AM - and if you have the stamina, being in the park from midnight to 2 AM is fantastic as all of the kids are gone. Walk-ons for Dumbo, Peter Pan, etc...

Every set of dates above run Fri through Sun... Errr - or at least they should...

One of the other thoughts behind Orlando in December was the potential opening (right now scheduled for "Late 2009") of the Hogwarts area of Universal Studios Orlando. Average temps for Orlando in early Dec are low 70's and the dates also avoid hurricane season...

PS - to explain the odd west coast choice - it's when Dan and I will be at Disneyland for our honeymoon ;-)

Ok - well, Dallas was a great time - and in trying to keep this "annual" event going, I'm starting the above set of three polls. PLEASE take a moment to vote - and if you have other suggestions, post away or send me a PM. This is especially true if you are thinking and able to organize something on your own. Realize - so far, though they have been very fun, there hasn't been that much attendance at the two GetTogethers. The first one in San Francisco had twelve attendees, and this one in Dallas had eleven different people (though we ended up only having nine for dinner). The dates above might not be totally optimal for people, but they are mainly based on dates where I think Dan and I could attend. BUT THIS is not a requirement - in fact, if you have an idea for a different location/set of dates AND have the ability to take the lead in organizing - PLEASE CONSIDER DOING SO! Best thing if this describes you is send me a PM, and we can chat through what organizing a GetTogether can entail...

GREAT - so we can all stay at Rknapp's house! SWEET!

The first GetTogether came about due to LittleBuddhaWT scheduling a visit to San Francisco, and flowing out of that... It was very easy for me to plan as I live 2 hours from San Francisco and the whole thing was fairly informal. The 2nd GetTogether was preceded by a poll with New York and Dallas being the main choices. Dallas overwhelmingly won - and again both due to having JSmith as well as my brother both living in the Dallas area, it wasn't that hard to plan (though in hindsight, I definitely would have chosen a hotel in Arlington rather than Grand Prairie). So... now that two are down and we're all actively thinking about the third, before I actually set up a poll, here's some things to consider: Big item: Depending on date and location, not sure that Dan and I can make it (not a deal-breaker BUT WOULD mean that someone else would really have to step up to the plate to help organize). East Coast - in concept, it sounds good. Potential choices could be New York City/Philadelphia, Washington DC (or suburbs), or somewhere in Florida. NYC/Philly advantages: great mass transit locally, tons of sightseeing opportunities, in the north (as the first GetTogether was Central-West and the 2nd was Southern-Central, Northern-East would make a good third one...). Disadvantages: Can be expensive and depending on the time of the year, very cold or very hot/humid. Washington DC advantages: Again, good mass transit locally and tons of sightseeing. Central to the East Coast so both southerners and New Englander's could easily get there. Also, Dan and I are hoping to be there in late-January, so planning something would be easy. Disadvantage: Late January in DC - COLD! Florida advantages: Nice weather (when a hurricane isn't hitting). Sightseeing at either DisneyWorld, Universal or Miami beaches (depending on the part of Florida). Disadvantages - once more in the southern part of the country. Non-East Coast ideas: Chicago advantages: Takes in a whole part of the country that we haven't gotten close to yet. Easy for our Canadian friends to get to. Good sightseeing. Disadvantages - not East Coast enough and currently not sure of a local contact who can help organize. Anaheim advantages: can wrap together with Dan and my honeymoon next July, FANTASTIC sightseeing at Disneyland and other locals. Disadvantage - what - West coast AGAIN? SO - thoughts? :-)

While we're waiting for Jack, here are two recipes that are close: Pets de soeurs using cinnamon instead of maple Apple and Maple Pet-de-soeurs As to the next GetTogether... It's still early to set the next one, but I am following all of the conversation here and though some of it is repetitive (and lol - frequently off-topic), I would like to hear a bit more before starting to put together some concrete ideas for the next GetTogether. So (and especially if you haven't yet) - chime in if a GetTogether is something that you might be able and/or willing to go to - and what you would like to experience... this includes what area to hold it.

I've used that as a touchstone a number of times - REALLY helps ground you and gives great perspective.

CONGRATS - sounds like a fantastic plan... :-)

Yes, that's Joe and he has a very cool tribal band tat...

Yup - he was just sitting there during the whole exchange, just smiling...

More pics are posted - enjoy...

Thanks Kevin - but you know, you can still drive up here after your test tomorrow and meet us for dinner :-)

The first day is come to a close and damn it was a great time (ok, at least I had fun - Joe, who was the subject of much.... um... "undue" attention, maybe not so much)... Dan and I actually got in yesterday but just relaxed last night. Today, we got up early (um - 8:30am is early for us) and headed to my brother's where he got to meet my sister-in-law and two of the three kids - my nephew who just finished his first year at college and my niece who just finished 8th grade. My oldest niece was out working - but we'll see her when we visit again on Sunday. Emoe called to let us know he landed - and about an hour later, we took off from my brothers and headed to the hotel to meet up with Emoe. Shortly after - Joe calls to say that he, Mason, Shadowgod and Benji are at the hotel so Benji can check in. They do that, then head up to our room where we all chat and visit for a while. Mason needs to head out, so he, Joe and Shadowgod take off after we set plans to meet up for dinner about 7pm. The rest of us relax a bit more, before heading out to get Myr from the airport. Meeting our fearless leader was awe-inspiring. His poise... his stature... his shorts ;-) Needed to do some quick business now that Dan and Myr were together so headed to wrap that up, then to the hotel so Myr could check in. And yes - Shadowgod was right - though we warned Myr and he did NOT get the same room as Shadowgod, his ceiling also had blood. k - basically, it looked like someone smashed a full mosquito up there... But other than that, Emoe, Benji, Myr, Dan and I are all here at our hotel and doing fine (oh - ya, for those that don't know - Shadowgod *was* to be here, and moved to another hotel after checking in and seeing blood on the ceiling of his room). Called Joe who described an area in nearby Arlington that had a lot of decent restaurants so we headed there, as Joe picked up Shadowgod and Mason and headed there as well. Nifter and Narcidius also joined us so there were 10 of us a the Black Eyed Pea restaurant. Lots of chatting - some *minor* picking on Joe.... aided and abeted by Mason... Myr got a few cell phone pics of Joe when he wasn't looking... Narcidius had to take off after dinner - but the rest of us headed out to a place where we could play pool (2 peeps) and bowling (6 peeps) while our fearless leader supervised us :-) Dan did the best at bowling - I actually did well for myself, but didn't beat Joe (3 more lousy pins and I would have). So after some more chatting and ogling of some cute boys (esp the redhead who worked at the bowling part of the place), we planned to meet up tomorrow morning at 9:30 at Six Flags park. I'm back in the room now, fighting off sleep while I finish this :-) I'll try to give an update at some point tomorrow. Robert PS Almost forgot to mention - and it would be a shame as one of the best parts of these things is the things you learn - like how someone likes cheese hotdogs, short buffet lines and short walks to McDonalds...

I also know for some universities in England, as Red A said, a University such as Oxford or Cambridge will have a number of "Colleges" as part of the University. The wikipedia entry for Oxford has a pretty good description of the interaction between the central organization of the University and the colleges... BTW - on a different subject, at least in California the distinction between the two is that a college can award an associate or a bachelor's degree, but only a university can award a post graduate degree such as Masters, Ph.D., etc...

Ooops - RUN, it's the cops!

Who says I'm gonna be the one to protect your "innocence" - I was the one drooling over you the most in SF I think... As long as I get to watch