"Confessions of a VT Meeting Addict" Personal Page by lmkluque

Hello,

My name is Linda and I'm a VT Meeting Addict.

It all began when I received an e-mail from Yubert inviting me to the LA VT Meeting 19 April 2002.

I didn't have the money to go, and felt a little apprehensive at the idea of meeting people from the Internet. (You’ve heard the horror stories.) Alas, Mom and Sister chipped in as a birthday present and solved the $$ issue. Little did they know what their contribution would lead to! I knew I was already addicted to VT but didn't think just one meeting would hurt. Know what I mean?

Yubert was so nice and encouraging that my inhibitions melted away, and on the big day, I got in my rented car and drove up to L.A.

James Beach Restaurant
60 N Venice Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 823-5396

Less than a block from the famous Venice Beach, James Beach Restaurant was a great choice for our VT Meeting and they offered Valet parking! I liked the place at first sight.

I walked in and there at the door to greet me were Yubert and John, "gioglobal." They both were as nice in person as they had been in e-mail and I felt at ease immediately.

The VT Meeting was organized by Yubert to welcome Vicki, "Bluechromis" to California. Little by little our group grew and when Stephanie walked in with other VT Staff Members Tilman, Giampeiro and Craig1968, the place instantly livened up!

By the time we were seated for dinner, I felt the strangest sense of "belonging" to this diverse group of people. The fun we had just can’t be described adequately. It was one of those, "you had to be there…" kind of evenings. If you’d like to see for yourself, take a look at the great photos on the "meetings" Los Angeles page.

Update:

The VT Meetings and Events calendar has gone through some changes and it would be better to check the pages of each VT Member who attended the meeting.

This photo was taken by Giampiero and generously he not only gave me permission to use it here, he also lightened it up, so you can see us better.
First Row:
Craig1968
Calif.joy
Avryle
Nexus 7
Second Row:
Bluechromis
Stephanie
Giampiero6
Nancy(Calif.joy's friend)
lmkluque
Third Row:
Yubert
T-bone
Gioglobal
Not Shown:
exnewyorker had to leave early

The euphoric feeling created by this experience lasted too long and my VT addiction expanded to VT Meetings Addiction!

Napa Valley Bar & Grill

San Diego VT Meeting 9 November 2003

The story continues...Mark, "acemj" was planning a trip to San Diego and I found out about it and told Barry, "Spartan" that it would be a fun idea to organize a VT Meeting for Mark. Barry agreed enthusiastically and we began the planning.

Choosing the venue, notifying as many VT Members as possible and updating the VT meetings SD Page were some of the duties I tackled first! Yubert jumped in with great ideas and a list of people who might want to join us.

Wouldn't you know, I was tingling with anticipation just thinking about the next VT Meeting, when Mark wrote to say that he wouldn’t be able to come after all! I hadn’t realized that "VT Meeting Addiction" had a hold on Spartan also, until he said, "Well, let’s have the meeting anyway!" Music to my ears!!

Organizing the meeting was a labor of love and I ran around town interviewing restaurants to find just the right one. Barry’s biggest/best contribution—besides tempting me on—was the suggestion of the fantastic Brazilian Steak House, Rei Do Gado!

Several VT Members were driving down from the Los Angeles area so, we decided to meet at the Napa Valley Bar & Grill, at 4:00 p.m., for drinks until everyone arrived for our 6:00 p.m. dinner reservation. We shot this photo of the "on-time" portion of our group, before walking across the street to dinner.

Top Row:
Spartan
Palomani
chaistarr
Giampiero6
Averyl
Tilman
Zarathustra
Seated
RowanGBR
jenn_d
lmkluque
Richmond

Rei Do Gado in the Gaslamp Quarter

Rei Do Gado Restaurant
939 Fourth Avenue
San Diego, CA.

Can you tell that the predominating thought in the minds of this subdued group is, "Where's the food?"

We were happy when Yubert arrived with MeShell, from the Czech Republic! Cheers rang out again when Stephanie--aka E-Mom--walked in with her friend Gerry.

However, this anticlimatic moment dissolved when waiters approached the table with skewers of delicious Brazilian style BBQ'd meat!

Our meeting was complete!

Laughter ran around the table, like unruly children, and again, there was the strangest feeling of belonging, but this time it wasn't only me who felt this. I heard other VT Members expressing the same feeling as my own.

Left Side:
lmkluque
Spartan
Averyl
Giampiero
jenn_d
Yubert (not shown)
MeShell
Right Side
Richmond
chaistarr
Zarathustra
RowanGBR
Tilman (not shown)
Stephanie

Take a look at VT meetings San Diego page for more evidence that we had a good time!

Update:

The VT Meetings and Events calendar has gone through some changes and it would be better to check the pages of each VT Member who attended the meeting.

"It was a complete surprise!"

%4Somehow Yubert evaded every group photo I could find! Thankfully I did get this shot of him. See. He really was there.

Seated:
Yubert
MeShell%s*

VT Ghosts World Wide

few days before the SD VT Meeting, late at night--for me--there was a forum discussion that attracted my attention and a great question was asked by Matt, "matcrazy1," "Is there a way of hooking the VT Meeting up to VT so everyone can see?"

I know nothing about these things, but we have very smart VT Members who do and they began making suggestions--some were pretty complicated--the ending result was that we could find a webcam near our meeting place and stand in front of it at an arranged time!

As you might guess, I know nothing about webcams either. Again VT members, especially Yubert and Demonia came to our rescue with suggestions.

I felt bad because my estimated time of standing in front of the webcam was several hours off, and I tried to get a message, via my mom, to VT'ers at home--which seemed to work.

It began to drizzle--some members, mostly Californian, reported that it was raining heavily--but we all made it in front of the webcam and our uninhibited effort to connect with our VT Friends at home was a source of amazment to the people milling about on the street.

"LaurieJeanne" in Canada and "kiwi" in New Zealand coordinated our position for the best angle of the webcam shot. Isn't VT a truly great community?

Little did I know there really was a dedicated bunch of VT Members at home eagerly anticipating the moment we would appear in front of the webcam. Read the banter they shared on the SD VT Webcam Post:

We held up our new VT T-Shirts, that Stephanie had given each of us and we waved them frantically as Giampiero announced for all to hear, "New Zealand, in the house! Canada, in the house! Poland, in the house! On and on he continued to include everyone who were part of this VT Meeting in anyway!

Matcrazy1’s Webcam Photos

Demonia’s Webcam Photos

Beach_Dog’s Webcam Photos

Waalewiener's Video Captures

Photo courtesy of Matt, "matcrazy1." Matt wasn't the only one to capture us on the webcam, but it was his idea!

Old Town Mexican Cafe

most two months passed and the VT Meeting glow began to wane. Life went back to normal and it was okay to think of waiting a year or so for another VT Meeting. Was I fooling myself?

Barry, "Spartan" wrote, "VT Friend "Athena," Jill, will be in San Diego Friday. Want to greet her with a mini-VT Meeting?"

A mini-VT Meeting? It will be my first. Couldn't hurt. Was I fooling myself?

We met in Old Town and had Mexican food at the Old Town Mexican Cafe.

Old Town Mexican Cafe
2489 San Diego Avenue
San Diego, CA.
(619) 297-4330

What a great gal Jill was! Amazing time we had, lots of laughs and so easy to get to know each other. Afterwards I didn't even feel guilty. It was so much fun.

Seated:
lmkluque
Spartan
Athena

Crab Pot

enn, "jenn_d" graciously invited me to a surprise VT Meeting in Long Beach for a darling VT Couple, "Spartan" and "LaurieJeanne." On the way to their wedding in Hawaii, they'd be passing through Long Beach and Jenn had big plans for them, not to mention the gorgeous wedding cake she made!

How could I resist cheering Barry and LJ on to wedded bliss? Why would I want to resist?

23 March 2003, I got in my trusty little car and drove three hours down Pacific Coast Highway. My plan was to stop along the way and take photos for a PCH travelogue, but the gridlock traffic caused delays and I had no extra time for stops. ( I didn't want to miss one minute of the LB VT Meeting.)

Crab Pot
215 Marina Dr.
Long Beach, CA. 90803
(562) 430-0272

The Crab Pot was a nice restaurant on the marina, lovely sunset views and so many new VT'ers to meet!!

When we settled down to eat, what a surprise we had. The foodservers poured buckets of crab legs, mussels and the rest of our meal out on the table!! Yes, all the food piled on the table before us. We needed the bibs provided, and no one seemed to care how sloppy we all were!

The craziness lasted throughout the night and I realized that I would no longer try to fight my VT Meeting Addiction!

Top Row:
Giampiero6
TinKan
Tilman
Next Row:
Goner
annk
Dionosaur
lmkluque
RowanGBR
Patrick
Next Row:
jenn_d
Stephanie
Yubert
Seated:
LaurieJeanne
Spartan
Soulanjuli

Photo courtesy of Yubert

Rockin Baja Lobster

Matt, "matcrazy1" and his wife, Ursula were coming to the USA!! Their first time here and starting out in San Diego was the only excuse Spartan needed to call another VT Meeting!

Just to give you an idea how strong this addiction is, Spartan was still in Hawaii on his Honeymoon!! Of course, I agreed to start getting things together for Barry and on 12 April 2003 the Oceanside VT Meeting took place at the Rockin' Baja Lobster.

Rockin' Baja Lobster
258 Harbor Drive South
Oceanside, CA.
(760) 967-6199

Located at the marina and next to a charming lighthouse, the view, as the sun set, was beautiful. We all ordered buckets of shrimp, slipper lobster, carne asada or chicken!

We all found out what was stronger than Barry's VT Meeting addiction.

Softball!

(Barry showed up late to his own VT Meeting because of his softball play offs.) He finally joined us as the food arrived. He was ecstatic, his team came in Third Place! This time the delicious food stayed in the buckets, not thrown on the table.

Matt and Ursula had a great warm VT Welcome and we all met a few new VT'ers!

Kneeling:
Gerry
Stephanie
Giampiero6
Yubert
Front Row Standing:
matcrazy1 (Poland's Flag)
Ursula (Matt's wife)
Dionosaur
TinKan
Back Rows:
lmkluque
Goner
LaurieJeanne
annK
Spartan
Supune
Supune's Sister
Supune's Sister's Fiancee
Fallen Off The Stool--Out of Sight:
Expresso

Since the Oceanside VT Meeting, Yubert organized a West LA VT Meeting for "la beba" who had arrived from Spain.

TinKan will have a VT Meeting in Norwalk 21 June 2003, not to greet a VT Member, just to offer us our VT Meeting fix!

After that, Giampiero and the VT Staff will organize the First International VT Meeting in August 2003!! I'm shaking, just to think of it!

Photo courtesy of Stephanie!