Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Republicans in disarray!

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

Consistently wrong since 2002

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / St. Louis Meet Up Proof of Life: The Up Meeters!

St. Louis Meet Up Proof of Life: The Up Meeters!

by | 83 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Commenter Lapassionara sent me some proof of life pictures from the St. Louis meet up, where the chefs and cooks were bland, unzested, but ready!

Picture one is Commenter Quinerly in the middle flanked by Opiejeanne and BC in Illinois.

Picture two is Opiejeanne, Mr. Opiejeanne, a mystery guest, Marco Polo, and Lapassionara.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

83Comments

  8. 8.

    Quinerly

    @Baud: just seeing this picture. OMG! I thought I had worn my white shirt that says, “Civilized.”
    I got dressed in the dark.

  9. 9.

    Soprano2

    Wish I could have come but St. Louis is too far from Springfield. Opiejeanne, did you go to Wilson’s Creek or the other one?

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    @Quinerly:

    I like this one better!

    Did I tell you that I have a character in my story whose name is Quinn? She wears a red waistcoat and carries a pocket watch. She has the hens laying on a strict schedule!

  17. 17.

    Soprano2

    @Adam L Silverman: She was talking about visiting Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, which is near Springfield, or another one whose name I can’t remember – maybe Pea Ridge?

  19. 19.

    laura

    Saaaweeet! Also, I love a man with a pen and a pencil in his breast pocket. Always ready for a crossword puzzle or sudoku.
    Quinerly, Opiejean and Lapassionara!11!
    Sad for the absence of a Poco…

  21. 21.

    Lapassionara

    @Soprano2: Opiejeane does know her Civil War history. It was really good to meet her in person. Also good to meet Quinerly, BC in Ill, and to see Marco Polo again. Wish we had met Ozark Hillbilly, but we will try again.

  23. 23.

    Jay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Sorry, have you tried those comfort vests?

    Sugar, my best buddy was trained as a gun dog, so the Ex and I thought she’d do okay at a Canada evening picnic and fireworks.

    She panic’d and broke my face. I had to carry her 3km in my arms back towards home before she calmed down enough to walk on her own.

  24. 24.

    West of the Rockies

    @Baud:

    The poem Dear Superman by Ron Koertge popped into my mind. I won’t/can’t link to it, but it’s short and entertaining (if anyone is in the mood for poetry). I thought it was a Billy Collins piece, but no.

  28. 28.

    Jay

    @West of the Rockies:

    Off subject.

    I really, really, really want to know who Hamilton WonderWoman and SuperTransMan are.

    They are the two activists who climbed the Hamilton City Hall flagpoles, in less than 30 seconds, IN COSTUME!!!!!!!! to reclaim the Trans Flag and Pride Flag that the City has dishonoured.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jay: Yes, the girls were wearing them. They work very well unless the lightning is very close. As in right near the house, which is what was happening as the squall line moved through.

  48. 48.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jay: They’re fine. They always make it through. The good news is that thanks to the anxiety shirts, I really don’t have to give them anti-stress meds when the weather turns bad.

  51. 51.

    CaseyL

    Great looking bunch! What a great idea, Mr. and Mrs Opiejeanne: traveling the country and meeting the far flung members of the jackalariat! Like a royal progress….

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    The IDs seem screwy in the pictures at top:

    Could that be Mr. Opiejeanne on the left in the first picture? If that is Opiejeanne, she seems to have changed her clothes for the second picture—unless that is really Quinerly with her back to the camera. And BC in Illinois seems to have morphed into “mystery guest” in the second photo.

  53. 53.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steeplejack: I copied and pasted directly from Lapassionara’s email with the pictures. So I’m sure it’s wrong because Deity forbid your pedantry can never be.

  54. 54.

    opiejeanne

    @Soprano2: Wilson’s Creek or Pea Ridge will be in a couple of days, if we decide we have time. I made a list and I’ve discovered that it’s overly ambitious. Found my great great grandfather’s grave this morning at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St Louis, then we went to Memphis. The Mississippi is above flood level and the trees along the edges are up to their necks in water.

    Oxford, MS tomorrow, then Vicksburg. Vicksburg may be enough battleground for me.

  56. 56.

    opiejeanne

    @Lapassionara: It was great to meet you and everyone else.

    And I only know some chunks of Civil War history. To really know all of it I would have needed to start about 40 years ago.

  59. 59.

    opiejeanne

    @Steeplejack: I’m wearing the paprika-colored sleeveless top. I’m the white-haired woman. Mr opiejeanne is sitting beside me in the second photo.

    I think the mystery guest’s name is Sharon but she was sitting too far away from me in a noisy room when she told us her name. She’s a lurker but last night she had a lot to say.

  62. 62.

    opiejeanne

    Lapassionara cleverly took all of the photos and is not in any of them. Just like Bill in Glendale usually does.

    The top of Marco Polo’s head is just visible beyond Quinerly, who has her back to the camera in the second photo.

  63. 63.

    CarolPW

    @Steeplejack: The second photo names right rear to right front, left rear to left front. Made sense to me (and apparently to Lapassionara)

  64. 64.

    Steeplejack

    @opiejeanne:

    Are you saying that the mystery guest, possibly Sharon, is the woman in the hat on the right of the second picture?

  65. 65.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @opiejeanne:

    Just like Bill in Glendale usually does.

    I’ve appeared in meetup photos, remember my 360 degree camera?

    It is true that most of the time I’m not in the photos(we don’t want to frighten the other jackals).

  69. 69.

    opiejeanne

    @Steeplejack: No, in the first picture she identifies each of the three people by where we are standing.

    Picture one is Commenter Quinerly in the middle flanked by Opiejeanne and BC in Illinois.

    In that photo you now know I’m wearing that bright reddish flowered shirt, and Quinerly is in black. You also now know what BC looks like, and that’s the top of his head in the second picture (I was wrong earlier) just above Quinerly’s black t-shirt. Marco Polo has somehow avoided the camera entirely. I think Quinerly’s head of fluffy hair is blocking our view.

  71. 71.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Jay: @Steeplejack: thanks.

    Non-competes are purely creatures of state law, the law varies by state. Generally speaking, they must be reasonable in scope of duties, geographic territory, and time duration.

    Will check Oklahoma law in the morning.

  74. 74.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @opiejeanne:

    As I said, the naming order in the second picture makes sense only if you already know who some of the people are, e.g., you in your paprika blouse. But, just looking at the two pictures with only the captions to go by, you can’t be sure which one of the two flanking people in the first picture you are, so you don’t have that as a starting point.

    One would think the names would be given left to right, as in every newspaper/​magazine caption of the last 100 years, but no. Anyway, all clear now.

  76. 76.

    James E Powell

    @Steve in the ATL:

    This Oklahoma statute seems relevant

    Title 15, Section 219A – Non-Compete Employment Contracts

    A. A person who makes an agreement with an employer, whether in writing or verbally, not to compete with the employer after the employment relationship has been terminated, shall be permitted to engage in the same business as that conducted by the former employer or in a similar business as that conducted by the former employer as long as the former employee does not directly solicit the sale of goods, services or a combination of goods and services from the established customers of the former employer.

    B. Any provision in a contract between an employer and an employee in conflict with the provisions of this section shall be void and unenforceable.

  77. 77.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steve in the ATL: Are you sure your talking about the same Springfield? Because I’ve been to Springfield more than a few times and ‘lovely’ is not the word that springs to my mind.

  80. 80.

    Quinerly

    @opiejeanne: great meeting you and the Mr.
    Our mystery guest was Sandra. She lives downtown on Washington Ave.
    As for my “fluffy hair,” you know what they say? …. “the bigger the hair, the closer to God.” ?
    Happy Trails!

    (wasn’t Jefferson Barracks beautiful? Glad you found the grave. Hope you like Oxford. It’s a sweet town, especially the town square area… Great bookstore there. It’s a bit of a foodie town. I think the Southern Food Alliance is based there. Wonderful fish joints out from town in “roadhouse” type places. On the square in town at some place in 2009, I had a croissant to die for on a long weekend stay… Each croissant was made with one stick of butter………. Thought about that croissant just the other day…..but I digress…..)

  82. 82.

    opiejeanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: We just arrived. We’re in a hotel directly across from the military park, which we’ll hit tomorrow EARLY because it’s about to close and it’s damned hot outside. Oppressive.

    I’m thinking about hiring one of the guides, if we can find one who knows about the battle of Chickasaw Bluffs. Right now though, we are heading out in search of genuine South’un Cookin’ and Suth’un Frahed Chicken.

Comments are closed.