> The seating arrangement, which I will try to
> reproduce from memory, was as follows:
>
> [ . . . . Matthew . Ayako . . . . ] . . . . . [ . . Leen . Ticia . Don . . ]
>
> [ . Jaguar . Ellmyruh . famous . ] . . . . . [ . . . . Mousie . Dave . . . . ]
>
> [ Stephen . Mia . Mina . Darien ] . . . . [ . . Tim . Princess Leia . . ]
>
> [ Cynthia . Ahmoacah . Rivikah ] . . . [ Iss . Jacq . Tamara . Faux Pas ]
>
> [ . . . . . Amy . Grishny . . . . . ]

Good memory. I think you got it right. I would consult my souvenir memory-game spreadsheet to be certain, but I seem to have misplaced it.

> After Sinbad it was time for dinner. Remember
> Groups 1 and 2 from lunchtime? Same dealie.
> The Highly Motivated Diner faction (Grish, Faux
> and Mrs. Pas, Ahmoacah, Jacqueline and I) chose
> to go to an Italian restaurant called
> Fratelli's (I think), which was situated in a
> renovated warehouse building in downtown
> Armpit -- um, Manchester.

Very close. It was Fratello's. (I saved my receipt.)

> The rest of the evening was Every RinkyDink For
> Himself. A bunch of people, seemingly led by
> famous, played the Da-Da-Da Plastic Bottle
> Percussion Gme for about a month of Sundays
> without stopping.

You conveniently forgot to mention your misanthropic efforst to derail our fun. Issachar's hijinks brought the Da-Da-Da-ing crashing to a halt on more than one occasion. I will let you tell the details; I'm sure someone will rule 6 you on it eventually.

> At one point they inadvertently summoned the
> spirit of K., who cried "Sam is teh Evil"
> before vanishing in a puff of logic. Other
> Rinkies who deemed themselves too 733T to play,
> or even watch, the Plastic Bottle Percussion
> Game, went off and did some other stuff. Among
> them was Darien, who had tantalized me with
> some RULING-looking board games and card games
> earlier in the day, and then never showed up
> later to play them, the l4m3r. /huge Darien.

Hey, Darien wasn't the only person tantalizing us with cool-looking games that we didn't have the time or the energy to play. I seem to remember someone flaunting some really interesting-looking jungle exploration game called Tikal or Tekal or some such.

> We wrapped up Saturday by bidding farewell to
> Princess Leia, Tim and Ahmoacah, who wouldn't
> be joining us for the H4RDC0R3 hike on Sunday.
> However, they left with some nice parting
> gifts. Tell them what they've won, Johnny!
>
> "Well, Iss, today's departing RinkyDinks will
> receive a rubber ducky from Mousie, an official
> RinkWorks Strawberry Corer (not for use on
> grapes), Dave's business card, a "teach sent me
> a hug" badge, a www.srcsd.com ballpoint pen,
> gator sticker, and plastic rose from Ellmyruh,
> and a chocolate EquiWorks business card from
> Leen!"

Don't forget the :rose:s that Cynthia gave everyone. Mousie also distributed keychains to everyone, but gave the lion's share to me and famous, since we both collect them.

Gri"did you eat your business card yet?"shny