a secret rendezvous

One of my happiest discoveries about people in the EMC community is that, for the most part, they're just like people anywhere else. When you talk to a fetishist one on one, you're far more likely to chat about things like your favorite books and movies than about anything MC-related.

Okay, well, MC does tend to slip in there once in awhile. But after you get past the initial "I love your work" stage, the conversation turns to other things you have in common. For instance, Callidus and I seem to have nearly identical taste in movies. We've raved about The Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus, and we've literally spent hours brainstorming a good third installment of the Alien franchise (The taking-off point, quite naturally, is that Newt and Hicks live). So if Sigourney Weaver ever wants her dignity back, she's welcome to contact us.

Callidus and I have talked about plenty of other things over the years, and eventually we hit that tipping point where a casual online friend becomes someone you'd like to meet in person. So not too long ago, I mentioned that if he was ever in my neck of the woods, he should drop by for a visit. We already knew we lived close enough to make that happen; and after I extended my invitation, we figured out pretty quickly how to make it happen.

I can ditto almost every line in his own blog entry about the upcoming get-together. Not only is he someone I like and respect, but he's also someone I'd trust with my real identity. Part of me always wants to reveal myself to the world, but there are only a handful of people in the EMC community I'd actually invite for a visit. Callidus is one of those few. You might imagine our meet-up as being like Batman and Batwoman taking off their masks and settling down for a chat about criminology and the perils of fighting in skintight rubber.

I'm really looking forward to meeting him, and I'm sure we'll both blog about it afterwards. So watch this space. And that one. ;-)