Posted: 6^th November 2008

Pumpkins and Parties

In case you missed it, in the last issue we ran a whole load of pumpkin photos kindly provided by Clive the Flying Ostrich. They were absolutely superb, and I'm glad to report that not only did Clive do a batch for this year (you can see them on his Fotki page), but also that I've seen them in the flesh.

Clive sent a follow-up email to us with a link to his photos of this year's pumpkins, and I sent one back saying that he could bring them to my Halloween party if he wanted to. To be honest—and I told Clive as much when I picked him up from the train station a couple of days later—I was half-joking. You know, you send that kind of email and expect to get back a 'thanks for the offer, mate, but I live x hundred miles away and I have to be at work on Monday morning'. Clive, on the other hand, realised that I was only half joking and accepted the invite.

And so, for the third time, I found myself explaining to my partner and family that yes, I'd got someone staying with me that I'd met on the Internet, and no, we'd never actually met before, and yes, I was pretty sure he wasn't some kind of mad serial killer...

The most outlandish example of this was just the weekend before, when Gosho spent a few days with us. Gosho, as you may be aware, lives in Austin, Texas, and I live in Torquay, Devon. It was a hell of a trip to make on the basis that you enjoy someone's company online and the exchange rate is pretty good. Mu Beta, Odo, Beatrice and 2legs all joined us for the weekend, and we had a fantastic time. It felt more like going out for dinner with a bunch of mates than a meeting of Internet minds.

The big Meets are always good fun, but I've always found that I'm a little disappointed with the amount of time I get to spend with people. I go away wishing I'd chatted more to x, but when there are a couple of dozen people there you can only get so much of everyone's time. The smaller, regional meets seem to be more fun; there's time to meet everyone properly, the host knows where to go and what to do, and everyone still gets drunk and has a mad Irish dance in the corner of the local.

B'Elana has some interesting thoughts about Meets in this issue's Random Ramblings. Which brings me nicely onto the issue itself, without any need for my horizontal rule to separate my waffle from the important bits. There's plenty for you to get involved with in this issue; you can help to pick a winner in the 42-Word Stories competition, and Entry of the Month is back and waiting for your votes. We also have the final instalment of Whatever Next, and it really is a great finish. It's been a great series, and I hope the 'experiment' gets repeated. Well done to everyone involved.

We also have two new holders of the Post Reporter badge: minichessemouse, our wonderful poet, and Malabarista, artist extraordinaire. Mal should have had her badge last week, in fact, but a certain Editor forgot. Good job nobody noticed, eh? Anyway, congratulations to you both, and keep the excellent work coming.

The deadline for the next issue is Sunday, 16^th November; in the meantime, enjoy this issue of The Post!

Skankyrich

• 
  The Post's 42-Word Story Competition
  


Come and vote on your favourite!

• 
  More 42-Word Stories
  


A whole load more from Tibley Bobley

• 
  The h2g2 Poem
  


'Autumn Leaves', by minichessemouse

• 
  A Voyage of Uneventuality
  


The travels of Septimus, as told by Prof Animal Chaos

• 
  Bertie and the Beast
  


Was it Spain or was it Sweden? Chapter 6, Part 6

• 
  Whatever Next...
  


The tenth and final part of the fantastic experiment

• 
  The h2g2 Acrostic Poem
  


'Chef', by B'Elana

• 
  The h2g2 Acrostic Poem
  


'Chef', by PedanticBarSteward

• 
  Platypus Dancing
  


Meanwhile, in a small shoppe around the corner...

• 
  Platypus Dancing
  


Meanwhile, somewhere in New Delhi...

• 
  Cartoon Corner
  


'Bonfire Romance', by JHawkesby

• 
  Anarchy Gordon
  


Part three

• 
  Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
  


A Deer Little Thing?

• 
  Babe Among the Stars
  


November Notes from Galaxy Babe

• 
  Witters from Down Under
  


Come and view the Bean-Cam!

• 
  Notes From Around the Sundial
  


Gnomon visits the Wexford Opera Festival

• 
  Entry of the Month
  


Come and vote on the best of October's Entries

• 
  Random Ramblings
  


The latest news from the site, with B'Elana

• 
  Smudger Snippets
  


Redundancy

• 
  Our Man in Milliways
  


Beatrice vists The Dufferin Arms in Killyleagh, Co Down

• 
  Hallowe'en Ghosthunt
  


Matt goes ghost hunting at Nottingham Castle

• 
  North Namibian Safari - Cheetah Farm
  


The third part of Paris McMahon's African travelogue

• 
  Tales of Benshasha
  


Male Jealousy

• 
  Musical Notes
  


h5ringer talks about Helen Vollam and the
Young Musician of the Year competition

• 
  Work Experience
  


Galaxy Babe takes her son to the vet's...
for work experience, of course!

• 
  World History - the Budget Edition
  


dmitrigheorgheni goes back to school

• 
  Announcements
  


Meets, sites, events etc

• 
  The Language Thing
  


Translations and Help

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  Classified Ads
  


Advertise your club here

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  The Post Page of Links
  


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