It is quite possible I am the only person who finds awkward reintroductions kind of enjoyable, if only because of that shared moment of realization. I started the night of ISH with an awkward reintroduction to someone I’d met at Harvard Free Culture what feels like months ago, and from then on it was more or less predictably enjoyable. But in a good way.

Over previous parties, there was a marked improvement in things to both eat and drink. Previously we tended to opt for a few bags of chips and maybe some cookies, which went away quickly. This time there was a Costco run and an ungodly amount of nostalgic and semi-nostalgic snack food staples from being a kid in the 1990′s. And Capri Sun.

Sporting a nametag bearing the legend ‘it’s complicated,’ I discussed unnecessary linguistic dilemmas, Karl Rove’s Twitter account and how it is well-maintained, Moses Lake’s Twitter account and how it is poorly maintained, Washington state politics, places Greg Marra should go when he is in Seattle, memes, circus peanut candies, the classiness (or lack thereof) of drinking wine straight out of the bottle, pretentious philosophical plays, and some idiot’s microfiction blog. and several other things besides that have since eluded me.

Something about tonight felt different–perhaps the absence of some of the more conspicuous characters of previous events, or our failure to conclude the evening at the IHOP, as is our wont. This is a mystery I will probably never solve, because I am lazy and not very curious about it.

This to say nothing of XORCon, which was also enjoyable and which will receive its own treatment later this week (GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN)–once again a good crowd and good times had by all.