Make Mine Mike

You don’t see me. I’m not really here.

I hadn’t planned on coming back to blogging for a while. Probably in September. Recent setbacks -- pink eye, purple throat, blue meanies -- kept me indoors, and now with the day job and the new gig… Hey, I wanted to try to enjoy the rest of the summer. Whatever free time I had, I didn’t want to spend it stuck in front of a computer. Blogging’s for losers, man.

But I was wrong. About it all. Especially the last part. Bloggers are pretty cool.

I was reminded of that thanks to Hilary who gathered some Los Angeles bloggers for drinks at the Cat & Fiddle pub in Hollywood last night. She has a lot of links to La-La Landers. But for all of us, it was like one big internet date. Walking around to everyone, saying your name and URL. “Hi, I’m Michael of Make Mine Mike…” And there were so many people at the bar, I wasn’t sure who was a blogger and who was just a boozer. New pick-up line for the millennium: “Hi, what’s your website?”

Yeah, why not? The couple that blogs together stays together. Ask Dan Tobin and his wife Meghan. We chatted the most, but that’s because they’re the only ones -- besides our busy mingling hostess Hilary -- whom I knew beforehand.

I’ve done the face-to-face thing with about 10 bloggers now, and I know every time I come onto my site and give glowing reviews. It may seem like I’m whitewashing it… but really, I’m not. Each person I’ve met has been really great.

And then... there’s Dan. Y’know how he surgically strikes in his posts? He’s like that in real life. Taciturn Tobin. Whenever he talks to people, he skips to the short answers. Brief, almost monosyllabic ones. How long you been out here? “Five years.” You miss Boston? “Yes.” You think the Yankees will come back in September?

“No fucking way! Those losers are going down! Dynasty’s history, motherfucker! That crybaby Sheffield and that rich pansy A-Rod can suck Johnny Damon’s balls ‘cause Joe Torre’s wicked retahhhhded!”

Awright, that’s not really how it happened. But I bet that’s what Dan was thinking.

Though I had seen him around since TJ’s Place, Dan and I started commenting and e-mailing during the playoffs last year. Even in their fever pitch, Dan was totally civil… surprising from a Bosox fan. And last night was great catching up on bloggers, stand-up comedy and the TV business. I felt very comfortable around them, like we were all old friends. I'm glad I went.

Like any party, we clustered into groups, and I tried to mingle, but I only met a handful of others… All very very likable people… Let’s see, there was Dan’s friend at Convenient Parking -- great name for an LA blog; Fun Joel who blogs about screenwriting; Annabel Lee, who courageously relives her dates, good or bad; Nanette, whom I’ve seen commenting around; Neil, who went to the same undergrad and grad school as me… I’m sure I’m leaving people out. I’ll be hitting up Hilary’s blogroll and start visiting more… maybe we’ll all meet again in real life, too.

And now with Inanna, AJ and Aimee all coming to Southern California… there goes the neighborhood. I’ll probably be busy again for a while, in real life interactions… with other 'Net-heads, so you know I’ll be back on the blog eventually.

But for now, you didn’t see me. I'm not really here.