Peter and I got back to AZ last night, and I am happy to report that it
was a completely boring and uneventful drive this time. ;) ;)
The conference was truely great. The best thing, after meeting all of you
rml-ers of course, was that it was so well-attended. My hats off to Gary
and the SF people for making this such a good convention. This was a
celebration, I believe, of 10 years of the RSG, and no one was sure that a
rainbows-only convention would fly. Well, it really did do well, with
people attending from all over the US, Canada (I think there was a Caunuk
there), and even a group of guys from Hawaii. Plus, lest we ever forget,
the Aussies and Europeans. Truely a great time! :) :)
As for the RML-ers/Bowheads I met several Jims (Priest, Capelle, and my
friend from DC w/ the funny Greek name ;) ), and the Colorado contingency
of Brian and Alexei, plus a couple of other DC-area folks, the
now-famous Hawaiians (Did you get my "hellos" Mach?), some LA-ers
including Kent Webster, Brian from Canada, and a bunch more of the local
Northern California talent. :) Then, of course, I got to see many old
friends once again: The Allens, Gary, Cary, Kevin Hosmer, Roy-boy, Steve
Polk, and others from around SF. It is always like coming home to go to
one of these things and meet up w/ these people, as they are truely folks
I consider to be my friends. That is the nice thing about the people who
keep Sahul fishes: for the most part, we are one big family, w/ hardly any
of the power-trip ego problems that one sees in such groups as the cichlid
and killie circles. A real treat to be a part of. :) I am very glad I
am. Last but certainly not least, I got a chance to meet The Silver
Budgie, Neil Armstrong, who REALLY should get online BTW, and the infamous
Doc Hansen. ;) Roy is in BIG trouble this week, I am sure they will let
us in on all the fun and mayhem they will cause! ;) Gilbert Mabae and
his family were also there, and he is a very nice man, w/ a great sense of
humor. His slide presentations were fabulous and he brought us some very
nice fish -- lots of them, so that we will have every opportunity to
establish them firmly in the US hobby. Thank you, Gilbert!
The down point was, of course, that Rhonda, Chris, Dan, and so many of you
others couldn't make it. We were all saddened by the fact that our group
was incomplete, as we are all a part of this list and this hobby, and
thus, important. For those of you I know and did not get to see, or have
not yet met face to face with, I thought of you this weekend and would
have loved to have you there. I look forward to future conventions and
opportunities to meet you all. :)
All in all, it was a VERY good time! :) :) :) :) :) :)
Julie <><
aka bowluvr (talk to you all on the irc this weekend)