May 28, 2005

11:57 AM

CANCELLED: I call New Jersey Meetup: Saturday, June 4th, 7:30 PM at the Hard Grove Cafe. Ask yourself: Does cuban food and lots of sangria sound good to you?
posted by lilboo to MetaFilter gatherings at 8:33 AM PST [!]

[Unless someone else wants to take it over. I'm just not up to it anymore.]
posted by lilboo to MetaFilter gatherings at 11:57 AM (63 comments total)

I smell drama.
posted by ori at 1:32 PM on May 28, 2005

I wasn't aware meetups could be cancelled.. why does someone have to be officially "in charge" anyway?
posted by odinsdream at 2:08 PM on May 28, 2005

it's in the bylaws. section VII, subsection h.
posted by quonsar at 3:09 PM on May 28, 2005

This is interesting. Let's all show up and see if lilboo comes anyway.
posted by bingo at 4:10 PM on May 28, 2005

This seems odd to me too. Unless you were hosting it at your house, I too see no reason to "cancel" it. Just say that you, the original organizer, can't make it after all.
posted by Ariosto at 4:28 PM on May 28, 2005

It is definitely worth going anyway, for the food alone. Hard Grove is the only reason I know of not to burn Jersey City to the ground and salt the soil.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 4:59 PM on May 28, 2005

lilboo's user page now says "Putting y'all on hold for now..."

I smell drama too.

And yeah, the food in JC is great.
posted by languagehat at 5:56 PM on May 28, 2005

Well, last time there was a NY meetup there was a related AxMe question the next day. Now there is this. These NY meetup's must be wild.
posted by MLIS at 6:39 PM on May 28, 2005

These NY meetup's must be wild.

You have NO idea.

Someone fill us in.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:43 PM on May 28, 2005

Cuban food and sangria still sounds good on the fourth... it's unfortunate that I won't be able to enjoy them in NJ, but I'll do my best to eat as much pork and drink as much cheap wine as I can. I'll be thinking of you (whoever you are) while I'm pressing my swine and shoving oranges in the wine bottle.

Anyway, can you really cancel a meetup, do you own the restaurant or New Jersey?

On preview: Damn, I forgot to ask. Why can't you make it, are you feeling poorly? Really, I want to know and I know you want me to ask.
posted by cedar at 8:19 PM on May 28, 2005

Yeah, I'm a little disappointed with some specific people from this site, but it's not that big a deal, don't lose any sleep over it, mind your own business, etc. etc.

You certainly can have the meetup, same place, same time, whatever, it's just that I won't be handling the reservations, sending the reminder, or for that matter, even attending.

And this has nothing to do with the askme question discussed above - that's just coincidental.

Satisfied? No? Well too bad. Now drop it.
posted by lilboo at 8:34 PM on May 28, 2005

Satisfied? No? Well too bad. Now drop it.

Okey-dokey.

If you say so. You da man. I'll just be minding my own business while you put yours in the street and shove it in the face of everyone reading MeTa... nitwit.
posted by cedar at 8:41 PM on May 28, 2005

mind your own business? you're the one that dragged here with a stupid metatalk post.
posted by puke & cry at 8:42 PM on May 28, 2005

LBC
posted by a thousand writers drunk at the keyboard at 9:08 PM on May 28, 2005

AlexReynolds, you just lost your Drama Queen title. Hand over the crown and the funny outfit. NOW!
posted by WolfDaddy at 9:52 PM on May 28, 2005

puke & cry writes "mind your own business? you're the one that dragged here with a stupid metatalk post."

That the organizer wasn't organizing it anymore had to be mentioned, and lilboo should be given credit for not turning the announcement into a gripe session. It wasn't lilboo who "smelled drama" and asked for further explanations.
posted by orthogonality at 10:20 PM on May 28, 2005

How embarassing a post.
posted by xmutex at 10:21 PM on May 28, 2005

AlexReynolds, you just lost your Drama Queen title. Hand over the crown and the funny outfit. NOW!

Not until I get my apology from lilboo, first. Preferably in another MeTa post.
posted by AlexReynolds at 11:05 PM on May 28, 2005

ATTENTION: I'm upset with some people on Metafilter. But please don't trouble yourself over it, it's really nothing.
posted by ori at 12:01 AM on May 29, 2005

I still say we move it; I don't care how upset that makes lilboo.

Ah, maybe next time.
posted by Eideteker at 12:34 AM on May 29, 2005

cedar, you're the one that poked and prodded liboo until she felt the need to post a more in-depth explanation. The only probable nitwit here is you. Except I doubt you're really nitwit. More likely, being an asshole in the grey is how you get your cheap thrills.
posted by nixerman at 6:06 AM on May 29, 2005

ach. As far as I can tell, lilboo mostly wanted to say that she wouldn't be organizing this meetup any more, and if anybody was planning their schedule around it, it probably won't happen... Or that somebody else could pick it up from here if they want to. Seems like the best way to handle it to me.

*okay, yes - there is a mysterious element, yet even without that, wouldn't the post read almost the same way: "I can't handle it, so it's probably off, unless someone else wants to do it"?
posted by taz at 7:05 AM on May 29, 2005

I'm with orthogonality; seems perfectly appropriate for the originator of the idea to announce (both in the original thread and in a new one) that s/he wasn't able to follow through. "Cancelled" was too strong, but "I'm just not up to it anymore" seems simple enough.

The real drama came from the folks bent over with their noses to the ground, sniffing for drama. lilboo then responded as desired, so everyone should be happy.
posted by mediareport at 7:11 AM on May 29, 2005

Damn did that really take 6 minutes for me to write? On posting, what taz said.
posted by mediareport at 7:13 AM on May 29, 2005

And I'm with orthogonality and mediareport. The drama seems to be mostly due to people trying to elicit drama.
posted by bugbread at 7:52 AM on May 29, 2005

I'm with cedar, who genuinely seemed to be trying to elicit a response out of concern. lilboo wisely ignored the 'smelling drama' comments, only popping up again here to bite the head off of the one who asked sincerely. How is that anything but drama queenish?
posted by WolfDaddy at 8:15 AM on May 29, 2005

nixerman, you really feel that a post mentioning your inability to attend a meetup when the original thread is open is a productive use of MeTa?

As far poking and prodding goes, hell, yeah. You know, since it was a stupid post and doesn't belong here in the first place -- may as well get something out of it.
posted by cedar at 8:15 AM on May 29, 2005

Well, there IS (possible) drama, as languagehat pointed out... it's just none of our business.
posted by Witty at 8:17 AM on May 29, 2005

...then again...
posted by WolfDaddy at 8:18 AM on May 29, 2005

Metatalk: As far poking and prodding goes, hell, yeah.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:18 AM on May 29, 2005 [1 favorite]

As far poking and prodding goes, hell, yeah.

So much for genuine concern, eh, Wolfdaddy? And cedar, there have been plenty of other cases where items related to open meetup threads that have long since scrolled off the front page have been reposted to MeTa. The case of an organizer bowing out is among the more important reasons for that to happen. Your "nitwit" reaction - after deliberately poking and prodding, no less - was bullshit, and worse than any initial violation on lilboo's part.

You were just snarking to hear yourself snark. Bravo.
posted by mediareport at 8:24 AM on May 29, 2005

thank goodness there's something important to discuss on meta. just when i was getting frustrated at the lack of meaning in my life, i find this thread. now i've got something to be angry about. someone is a complete and utter poopyhead and i hate them.
posted by andrew cooke at 8:40 AM on May 29, 2005

cedar : "You know, since it was a stupid post and doesn't belong here in the first place"

Huh? The organizer of a meetup was no longer to organize it...Why is that a stupid post? And where would it belong? The blue? The green? Monkeyfilter? Slashdot? A handwritten letter to mathowie?

Skywriting?


Beamed on a laser into outer space?
posted by bugbread at 9:02 AM on May 29, 2005

i suggest we all go camping with guns. winner makes it out alive.
posted by andrew cooke at 9:05 AM on May 29, 2005

i suggest we all go camping with guns. winner makes it out alive.

Meh. It's been done before.
posted by AlexReynolds at 9:09 AM on May 29, 2005

Meh. It's been done before.

It's being organized right now!
posted by MLIS at 9:14 AM on May 29, 2005

I enjoy waffles.
Aren't waffles tasty?
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:26 AM on May 29, 2005

thank goodness there's something important to discuss on meta.

If a topic doesn't interest you, then why post about it? I thought lilboo was getting a raw deal, and cared enough to say it. This is a problem how for you, exactly?
posted by mediareport at 9:55 AM on May 29, 2005

calm down, mediareport. just because i'm laughing at you doesn't mean it's a problem for me.
posted by andrew cooke at 10:22 AM on May 29, 2005

Grow up, all of you.
posted by mathowie's baby at 10:29 AM on May 29, 2005

Well, lilboo made the post dramatic sounding "CANCLED". he or she could have simply said

"I wont be able to organize this meetup. Can anyone else take over?"

The post seemed somewhat "Screw you guys, I'm going home."
posted by delmoi at 11:54 AM on May 29, 2005

I dunno. I would have titled it "CANCELLED" as well, if only for the reason that it's an important announcement (more important than the declaration of holding a meetup in the first place). Maybe I don't have a good idea of what setting a meetup entails, or maybe I'm just used to anal folks who overprepare, but if the organizer of an event quits, the event is usually cancelled, and the last thing you want is for someone not to realize it and show up anyway, wondering, "uh...where is everyone?"

But, yeah, past that, I would've added "unless someone else can take over". Still, seems like a minor difference.
posted by bugbread at 12:14 PM on May 29, 2005

What delmoi said.
posted by grouse at 12:59 PM on May 29, 2005

just because i'm laughing at you doesn't mean it's a problem for me.

Riiiight. You just wanted to waste some time on the thread by calling other people out for wasting time on the thread.

At you, not with you. Got it.
posted by mediareport at 2:39 PM on May 29, 2005

to be honest, i'm pretty cool with the time wasting. that is not, you know, that big of an issue for me.
look, it's just one more bitch session here. i'm sorry i don't take it as seriously as you today. maybe an hour ago i got annoyed over nothing at metachat. why not go over there and make me look stupid for caring about nothing?
or just kick back and have a beer. i dunno.
posted by andrew cooke at 3:10 PM on May 29, 2005

mediareport : "You just wanted to waste some time on the thread by calling other people out for wasting time on the thread."

I don't read what andrew cooke wrote as a callout on anyone.
posted by bugbread at 3:26 PM on May 29, 2005

Ok well, is the New Jersey meet-up still off then? I need to know.
posted by Witty at 3:30 PM on May 29, 2005

Oh, come on, bugbread. "now i've got something to be angry about. someone is a complete and utter poopyhead and i hate them" isn't a slap at those of us who've bothered to care about this thread?

Ho-kay. Whatever.
posted by mediareport at 3:43 PM on May 29, 2005

bothered to care

i feel like half of a bad double act.
remember that adolescent joke where the sadist says "no" to the masochist?
anyway, i've got kittens that need slaughtering. catch you tomorrow.
posted by andrew cooke at 3:54 PM on May 29, 2005

mediareport : "'now i've got something to be angry about. someone is a complete and utter poopyhead and i hate them' isn't a slap at those of us who've bothered to care about this thread?"

Oh, it's a slap, but not a callout. A callout is a complaint. Andrew Cooke is just making fun of you. I don't get the impression that he wants you to stop or anything, which is what a callout would indicate.

If it helps to contextualize: I enjoy making fun of Star Trek geeks, but making fun of them isn't complaining about them.
posted by bugbread at 4:24 PM on May 29, 2005

Look! Shiny things!
posted by deborah at 5:25 PM on May 29, 2005

deborah writes "Look! Shiny things!"

I have put them in my mouth.
posted by underer at 6:08 PM on May 29, 2005

"I have put them in my mouth."
TA! TA! OUT!
This is why we can't have nice things.
posted by arse_hat at 7:23 PM on May 29, 2005

geez, lay the fuck off, people. she used a few wrong words, it seemed. meet up how you see fit, and stop shitting on her.
posted by adampsyche at 9:02 PM on May 29, 2005

We must ostracize and excommunicate those who wish to leave our community willingly and temporarily.
posted by grouse at 2:40 AM on May 30, 2005

I have a fifteen page treatment of this thread circulating in Hollywood right now. It's that interesting!
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 3:00 AM on May 30, 2005

It's bullshit like this that probably turned lilboo off Metafilter in the first place. Just fucking drop it.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:52 AM on May 30, 2005

*evil cackle*
My distraction worked!
*makes thread all about her*

Oh, and ssF? They must cast Ms. Jolie to play me, or there's no deal. Capisce?
posted by deborah at 7:00 AM on May 30, 2005

The notes I'm getting are that liboo should be an alien, ori should be a defective trigger on a nuclear weapon, and what if ortho were a widow homesteader? And blind?

I think I can still salvage the basic story though.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:35 AM on May 30, 2005

You people haven't seen drama if you think this is it.

They way you've dug and dug to get more dirt, pissing and slapping at liboo all the while, just because you smell weakness, is disgusting.
posted by scarabic at 11:43 AM on May 30, 2005

They way you've dug and dug to get more dirt, pissing and slapping at liboo all the while, just because you smell weakness, is disgusting.

Thanks for joining in the drama at this late stage, scarabic. This thread almost died, but I think you just managed to eke a few more drama-filled posts out of it.


posted by AlexReynolds at 11:59 AM on May 30, 2005

Just because people have (almost) stopped commenting doesn't mean that the existing comments are beyond reproach.
posted by adampsyche at 12:55 PM on May 30, 2005

you know, AR, there is a difference between being a "drama queen" and just being some annoying gay guy.
posted by scarabic at 1:43 PM on May 30, 2005