DC Blog Happy Hour

You can't turn around in this town without someone having a happy hour about it. It's inevitable that in a town with a thriving blog scene, someone would put together a happy hour for people who by their very definition spend too much time alone: bloggers. We need the interaction, but man, the gears might be a bit rusty.

It seemed like a really great idea to me -- a chance to meet people with the same obsessive hobby I have, a chance to learn about a lot of people's blogs and a chance to tell them about mine. Most times I feel like I'm writing in a vacuum, so the chance to tell some people that I'm out there and really into it seemed like a great chance to me.

Kathryn and I-66 put together this month's affair in a nice little Cuban joint on 18th Street. I dragged my friend Kenny out to check it out, and we had a pretty good time.

In what appears to be an established tradition, I will now list the names of all the people who I had an exceptionally good time talking to. This is a blog tradition not unlike "slam books" which fell out of vogue with fifth grade girls, oh, in the nineties, I'd guess. Now "slam books" are online, and nobody is too old or male to get in on the action.

It was great meeting the real people behind KassyK, KathrynOn, I-66, GhettoDev, RoarSavage, CountdownofV, DCCookie, Diet Coke of Evil, I'm a Girl, Not Yet a Wino, Land Shark, DCBachelor, Harmany Music, EJTakesLife, WonL, and No Pasa Nada.

However -- I took exceptional pleasure in speaking with Barbara of Looking2Live and Chris Abraham. Barbara, you are incredibly accessible, down-to-earth, and open-minded, and I suspect you have passed those traits on to your son through either his nature or your nurture.

I read a lot of gay blogs as part of my job, and Chris Abraham is a man who was able to sensitively zero in on the weaknesses and strengths of the gay blogosphere far better that I could have as a semi-outsider. He did this in like ten seconds, and left me and Kenny smiling, but open-mouthed.

In other, related news, I've created a stamp to promote this blog. Since I love a DIY art project, I (mostly) hand-made some business cards as well. A small and vocal minority of last night's attendees seem to have a problem with this. I would surmise that those people enjoy writing their hearts out to the sound of crickets and the laughter of people that already know them. These folks are probably not at all tired of fumbling for a cocktail napkin and a borrowed pen to scribble down their blog name for somebody.

Check 'em out:


The last time I checked, self-promotion was what you did to direct attention to your hard work. What would KISS be without makeup? Or Muhammad Ali without mouth? These cards aren't meant to tell people that my blog is good. And I'm not saying that my blog is better than anyone else's. All I'm doing is giving someone a small piece of paper that lets them draw that conclusion on their own.

I'll see you sweethearts and shitbirds next month.

posted by Jeff Simmermon @ 11:51 PM