NO--SLEEP--TIL PORTLAND!!!! (With apologies to the Beastie Boys) :-)

oregon bridge

There is nothing like leaving work in the middle of a sunny day to make you feel like you are cutting class and skipping school (dev kids, don't try this at home!). But to get to Portland in time for the Portland Nerds Dinner last night we had to leave at 2 p.m. before the rush hour prevented us from ever making it there.

I rode up (I should say, down) with Matt Powell who was a good sport about my rants about community and how it's so important that we take time out of our workday to meet the folks who give our work meaning. We found the House of Sells in good repair and in record time. Shawn Morrissey, Kent Sharkey and Duncan Mackenzie roared up a few minutes after us, and then we all took off in an SUV to the mall where the Nerds Awaited.

One of them, Rich Clausen, made up a shirt in our honor....

t-shirt

There were 32 of us in all, and I have to say we Dominated the Food Court. Rory Blyth of the .NET Rocks show made a surprise visit - I'd met him at a bloggers event but he didn't put me in context til I said I knew Laura John. Here he is next to Scott Hanselman in the killer suit.

Chris and Jim Blizzard set up a post-dinner rap session where we heard what folks thought MSDN could do to improve. We were lined up like a firing squad, but fortunately we'd fed them enough that they only threw jokes in our direction.

Afterward, anticipating the 3-4 hour journey home, we went to the all-night Starbucks where Chris told us there had been you know, rumbles and turf wars. Below is perhaps my favorite photo - Kent's reflection in the window as he reflects. He coded in the car all the way down to Portland, and checked his email on his phone all the way back up to Seattle.

Kent at Starbucks

Cheers all! Live it vivid!