Well I didn't even bother to mention the cancellation of September's Houston/Galveston Meetup, it was almost... pre-ordained? Sure enough, October was no big suprise either. It still baffles me how Houston is the 4th largest city in the United States, and a stone's throw from Austin, yet still fares so poorly when it comes to the UO Meetups. Hope is... fading... On a brighter note, I went ahead and dropped the $45 to attend to the UO Player's Lunch(eon) at the Texas Renaissance Festival this year. I had really meant to go the past two years in a row but work always had the upper hand. THIS year, I am NOT on-call this weekend and no oracle databases are set for weekend detonation/meltdown(*crosses fingers*). As a sequel to the UX:O Premiere I was fortunate enough to be selected for back in August, I will once again be able to befuddle, interrogate and otherwise ask seemingly dumb questions about UO to the affable and patient Sunsword.

At the UX:O Premiere, I was able to glean from him the another Virtue would be soon added to the Virtue system that no one else anywhere reported. Well, it's not exactly grade A material that the majority of UO players are interested in, but being a guild of people devoted to the Virtues, it was kewl info for us. It's 2 weeks away and I'm looking forward to yet another fun, if not also beer saturated, time with some fellow UO folks. The simple idea of being able to talk about UO stuff to real live people is something I never get to do around my friends and family for more than 4.7 seconds til they give me "the look" of "whatever" to make me stop.

I'm also looking forward to meeting some of the devs that I think are pretty kewl such as Fertbert, MrTact(reveal thy secrets to me!) and the man in the online asbestos suit, Sannio. I really want to meet Hanse someday, but he ain't coming to the event this year.

The Player's Lunch is hosted, as always, by the wonderful and kind Heather of Great Lakes over at PlayersLunch.com. I also met her at the UX:O Premiere and she is a real nice lady.

August 3, 2003

Uma Thurman is still h0t!

Well, a funny thing happened this past week. The August Meetup got cancelled. That's not the funny thing I'm talking about. Read on. There's always next month... Ok, had to throw that in there to get it out of the way. Read on. I checked my email, which is hosted on hotmail. As usual, nothing exciting, some junkmail. Since I have a free account, I need to constantly keep my disk usage low so I have to always clean out the Junk Mail folder. I open it up and am just about to click Emtpy Folder when one of the emails catches my eye. These days, a lot of spam is sent with benign, generalized or even misleading subject lines to a) avoid spam filters to get into your mailbox so that you will b) actually open it and get the impression. So Im notice this one particular email because it's sender name is "MMOG Event" which, as you know, UO is an MMORPG, or could be called one of the many other acronyms that people seem to come up with faster than another boy band to explain these New-Fangled Internet Games(NFIG - ha, theres mine). I click to open it and, to my utter disbelief, is an invitation to the premiere of UO:X! Electronic Arts is going to fly me to San Francisco on August 21st and put me up in a swank hotel, feed me food and even pick up cab fare to and from the airport! Theyre going to spend several hundred dollars to show me the next step in UO's evolution! My jaw dropped. I quickly went to the website and registered. I was still in a state of general disbelief so I called the number supplied and verified that, yes, EA wants me to see this new game and is paying to make it happen. Well, Im still not sure why I was chosen, but I did notice the email was sent to my UO-related email address(the one I give out for in-game trading, guild-related stuff, etc.) and not my UO Account Billing address. This is better than 10 +25 stat scrolls! Anyway, if one of you kind readers also happens to have been lucky enough for this honor, plz drop me a line so we can have a drink together or something. Hell, I will buy a few rounds cuz Im such a nice guy and still pretty damn excited about all this. Good thing I checked my junk mail folder, lol.

July 7, 2003

Uma Thurman is still h0t!!

Different month. Same cancellation. There's always next month... <-- should be trademarked! Since you bothered to come read this page, here's a Houston joke: "Did you know the sun is going to burn out in 4 billion years?" "I guess they'll have to work on the Southwest freeway in the dark" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! *cough*

May 27, 2003

Uma Thurman is h0t!

Got an email tonight saying the June Meetup has been cancelled because not even 4 people voted on a venue. Didn't even make it to the RSVP stage this time, lol. There's always next month... No one even reads this, lol, call it digital self-flagellation.

May 5, 2003

I was quite suprised to see that we actually got the prerequisite 5 RSVP's and have the May meetup go forward! My brother and his gf were going to Buca di Beppo's for dinner and it was hard to turn them down to go to the meetup instead. The nice 30 minute drive, past the borders of Houston into the tree-lined gates of East Texas was something I hadn't seen in a while. I finally hit the FM 1960 exit and Fuel Cafe wasn't hard at all to find. The town of Humble looked like most smallish Texas towns - cheery, quiet and clean with rail road tracks running through the middle of town. There was a kewl skate shop w/half-pipe next door so I knew I wasnt that far removed from Houston. I walked up to the door and pulled on it. It was locked. The cafe was closed. They're closed Sunday through Thursday. That's what the sign on the door said, starting April 15th. Got back in my car, called my brother on his cell to see if it wasn't to late to haul ass back to Houston to meet them for some meatball rollato and awesome tiramisu.

Repeat after me: There's always next month...

April 23, 2003

The April Meetup got cancelled, but I was hardly suprised. I'm holding out a meager hope for the upcoming May Meetup but not gonna be shocked if it doesnt pass muster either. Who knows, one could always be pleasantly suprised! I voted for Tia Maria's because Fuel is just too far(HUMBLE, TX? hahahaha) and Bennigan's usually sux. Repeat after me: There's always next month...

February 26, 2003

Well, now the March Meetup has been cancelled, but in an even more annoying way than last month's cancellation. In the past, it was due to a lack of people RSVPing, confirming the day or two before they'd be at the Meetup. No, this time not even enough people voted to select a place for the Meetup! 5 people didn't even bother to vote! Very disheartening, but what is one to do? Repeat after me: There's always next month...

I'm just kinda amazed that the nation's 4th largest city, on the heels of the biggest UO expansion ever released, couldn't even garner 5 people to vote. One would think there would be quite a few people more than anxious to discuss how much AoS sux/rulez. Not to mention how much UO touts itself as building communities and that some of the new players would be interested in meeting some fellow players to learn more about the game.
Repeat after me: There's always next month...

February, 10, 2002

Well it's time to start voting already for the next Houston-Galveston UO Meetup! I really hope at least 5 people will RSVP this time around(it used to be 4 people, but they recently changed it to 5).

The next Houston-Galveston UO Meetup is scheduled for March 3rd at 8pm.

Here are the listed venues to vote on:

• Freebird's World Burrito(3745 Greenbriar) - This is Houston. Burritos are good. Can't go wrong with a burrito in Houston! Gets my vote.

• Cafe Udupi(2121 Richmond Ave) - An Indian vegetarian restaurant might appeal to some people... but this isn't usually my bag.

• Prince's Hamburgers(3899 Southwest Freeway) - Been there many times, awesome shakes and malts, decent burgers, but don't think it's a good place for a meetup.

Well, those are the choices for the March meetup. I'm looking forward to meeting some more fellow UO addicts as well as any of the kewl guys who made it to the last one. We sure had a blast and literally talked for hours about something I so rarely get to talk about. See ya there!

February 3, 2003

Ok, this is starting to suck. The Houston Meetups keep getting cancelled cuz not enough people are RSVPing. Perhaps they're not bothering to RSVP, RSVPing too late or have the wrong email address setup at meetup.com. Or maybe lots of people signed up when it sounded interesting but flaked out when it came time to actually meet fellow players. Either way, it gets frustrating to set aside time, even look forward to it, and then have it cancelled just before it's supposed to happen. Whats really disappointing is that Houston is one of the largest cities in the country and has one of the largest counts for a meetup city but we can't even get 4 people to commit to showing.

Anyway, perhaps there will be better luck next month. Maybe OSI will see the full potential of these events and somehow spice them up to get more people interested.

Feel free to email me if you'd like at:

You will have to type the email address in. This is so a webspider can't get my email address and put me on a spam list.

December 27, 2002

It's kinda weird how you can get into something so deep, and then suddenly be seperated from it almost completely. Well, thats kinda what happened after my last(and first) UO Meetup. I just got busy with non-UO stuff(so called "life") and Sosaria became a fond memory. But(!), now Im back and my axe is thristy for warm blood. I might even go to another Meetup, the last one was pretty kewl cuz the people were kewl. Like anyone reads this! lol!

The next Houston-Galveston UO Meetup is scheduled for January 6th at 8pm.

Here are the listed venues to vote on:

• Fuel Cyber Cafe(120 Main St., HUMBLE, TX) - omg, this place is in ANOTHER city. If you live in Houston, driving to Humble is like going halfway to Canada. Ixnay on the pretentious sounding place who's coffee prolly does taste like fuel!

• Freebird's World Burrito(3745 Greenbriar) - You can never go wrong with a burrito, get's my vote.

• Chuy's(2706 Westheimer) - Site of my first Meetup, always crowded, busy and noisy. Would rather go to Freebird's this time.

Well the Meetup went off without a hitch this time and what a fun time it was. I arrived shortly after the meet time of 8pm and saw a few guys sitting by the entrance wearing nametags. After a few brief introductions, we quickly began talking about current UO stuff like Age of Shadows, Champion Spawns, rares, power scrolls, name change deeds, etc. After a half hour, we moved inside and got a table and continued our entertaining discussions. In addition to game stuff, we also swapped many stories about harrowing adventures, making gold, the old Pre-Trammel days, etc. etc. It was funny to see the looks on people's faces as they walked past, overhearing talk of murders, stealing and huge sums of gold. Next thing I knew, it was already after 11!

As we said our farewells, the Texas Renaissance Festival was mentioned, and, more specifically, the annual UO Player's Luncheon held there. SturmM, one of the guys that showed up tonight, highly recommended it, having attended in the past. The UO Player's Luncheon for 2002 is scheduled to take place Saturday, October 5 and Im already hoping to go.

Meeting fellow UO players irl was like a really kewl new twist to the online world that Ultima Online is. I met 4 kewl players tonight and already look forward to the next event. Thanks for coming out guys, it was fun and hope yall can make it to the next one.

September 7, 2002

Im looking forward to hopefully getting to meet some fellow UO players at the September meetup. Given last month's outcome, hopefully this one will turn out better. While the proto-hurricane Fay loomed ominously, threatening to cancel this event, it looks like she has petered out after coming ashore last night. It's scheduled to meet at the Tex-Mex restaurant, Chuy's(2706 Westheimer Rd, right off of Kirby), Monday night at 8pm.

For all the Houston-Galveston players, see you Monday night!

August 15, 2002

I got an email yesterday from Cynthe, the Manager of Community Services for Ultima Online. She had stopped by this website and read what happened at the last UO Meetup(see below) and kindly offered encouragement for the next meetup, scheduled to take place September 9th.

It was really nice of her to take the time to drop an email but its also good to know she is keeping an eye out for what's going on in the fanbase.

Thx again Cynthe!

I guess I can't post all my check duping methods here after all... j/k!

August 14, 2002

The next Houston-Galveston UO Meetup is scheduled for September 9th at 8pm.

Here are the listed venues to vote on:

• Diedrich Coffee(1901 Westheimer) - Same place as last month's(see below). Non-existent parking, packed in the evening, very loud. I personally wouldn't recommend this place.

• Kaveh Kanes Coffee(912 Prairie) - Never even heard of this place(I live in the area). Must be new or a small place. Sounds good to me cuz people will actually be able to talk. Gets my vote.

• Chuy's(2706 Westheimer) - A great place to eat, but long waits for tables in primetime. Also very noisy and crowded, but they always have ample parking. Not sure why this place was made a candidate for voting, hardly the place for a Meetup.

Im looking forward to hopefully meeting some fellow UO players, especially after last month's debacle(which I blame on the venue choice).

If you haven't voted yet, here is the link.

August 5, 2002

Well I went to my first UO Meetup that I learned about at ultima.meetup.com a few weeks ago. I volunteered to be a host and arrived shortly before 8pm CST with some nametags, pens and a little sign. Got an iced mocha, sat down at a table by the entrance, put up my little sign and waited for people to show up. Among all the UO Meetups that were supposed to be happening today, the Houston-Galveston one was supposed to be tied among a few others as the 3rd largest in the world. By 8:40 pm, no one had showed so I grabbed my stuff and bailed. Not exactly the most auspicious beginning to what is supposed to be a monthly get-together but, undaunted, I will try again next month.

And I could be wrong, but I could have sworn the website said to meet at the Diedrich's on Montrose just last week, but today it said the one on Westheimer. Oh well, better luck next time? I highly suggest to anyone reading this that the September Meetup be held at a less crowded place. Had all 15 people shown up, there would have been nowhere to really sit and converse.

If you would like to email me, please send it to the following address:

You will have to type the email address in. This is so a webspider can't get my email address and put me on a spam list.

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