So how was my weekend, you ask? And what did that missing post contain?

Well, I'll answer the first question. It was lovely.

After work Friday I went over to Mike'nDavid's house to watch the first three episodes of Carnivale. I would almost consider getting cable (and a tv) to watch this show. After they kicked me out (early morning for 'nDavid who is in an opera), I went home and went to bed because the bus to Princeton was leaving early in the morning (well, 10 a.m. which is early on a weekend).

The trip to Princeton was uneventful. The game was . . . well, disheartening. We lost 0-166. We had a chance to put points on the board but it was, in my opinion, wasted. No matter, there's always next week.

Part of the reason for the hideously lopsided score was that we had a good 15-20 people who were out with injuries or other commitments. Many of them were the guys on our team who have actual rugby experience. That means that many of the new guys were playing on the Blue side (the official union team). And frankly, not many of them were ready to play that level just yet. That being said, they did a good job. There were some nice tackles and some good runs. They just didn't quite have what they needed. I have a feeling the game this Saturday will be much better. And if nothing else, it was really good experience for the new guys.

The drinkup with the Princeton boys wasn't much to write home about. Good drinkup, mind you, just not terribly eventful. Boat races were a hoot as always. And the bartender bought back a couple of rounds which is always appreciated. Since I don't drink beer and I like to drink, I tend to run up a bit of a tab at these events.

The bus ride back was a drunken bacchanalia. Alcohol was consumed. A birthday boy was paraded around in the nude. Others were paraded around in the nude, presumably in sympathy. Much groping and like behavior. All in all rather typical.

After what I can only describe as a complete and utter betrayal by my teammates who completely let me down as I was attempting to lead them in a rousing chorus of "I Used To Work in Chicago," I was forced to shoot the boot for the first, and hopefully last, time. For the uninitiated, shooting the boot involves taking a boot from one of the players, filling it with beer and forcing some poor sap to drink it, usually because of an infraction of some sort (missing a verse of a song, singing the same verse twice, inserting a line about hockey in the middle of "Jesus Can't Play Rugby" like a certain someone did, etc.). In this case, I was the poor sap.

Luckily, I was so drunk at this point I would have drunk anything out of just about anything. So shooting the boot wasn't a problem.

Of course when I woke up on Sunday morning, I spent about ten minutes gargling with hydrogen peroxide. (Question to my teammates: any idea whose boot that was?).

Well, other silliness occurred, some of which I've previously blogged and deleted. You missed it? Too bad. Suffice to say, I had a great time. What I remember, that is.

Sunday, woke up repeatedly in the a.m. as my brain slowly sobered up and decided to punish me for abusing it with rum, kamikazes, tequila (house and premium brands), some sort of sweet shot with Bailey's and butterscotch schnapps, and cider. Felt like Zeus about to give birth to Athena, I did.

Woke up, deleted the somewhat incriminating entry, and made plans to go out to lunch with David, after attempting to diagnose Shamu Butterpot, P.I.

Arrived at the Upper West Side apartment of David, Goblin and the host of other living things, around 2:30 p.m. If I had known what a good time I was going to have, I would have insisted that he let me come over even earlier. As it was, I felt like I was hanging out with an old friend rather than someone I was meeting for the first time. I guess blogs will do that.

The apartment was lovely. Shamu was healthy, though I'm not certain he is really bamboo. He has pinnately compound leaves, which I don't think bamboo does. My guess is that it's a bamboo palm (which is a type of palm that has stalks that look like bamboo). Either way, he's healthy and happy.

So is Goblin. She is also adorable. And she loves squirrels. We should all ask David to let Goblin guest blog again. She doesn't do it nearly enough.

David and I went to lunch after that. Not great food (I picked the restaurant), but marvelous conversation and company.

I'm now officially two for two. Both MAK and David have turned out to be even nicer, funnier, more talented, etc., than I could have hoped. Great guys that I'm glad to know. Plus it makes it nicer to read their blogs being able to picture them and imagine them speaking the words.

Can't wait to meet the Jeffs, Ben, Mark, Bob, Scott, Faustus (who I've met briefly but we didn't do more than exchange hellos), Wayne, Sherry and all the other bloggers I've come to think of as friends. (Jalal, I include you in that, but imagine that circumstances will likely prevent me from traveling to Pakistan any time soon).

Back to the story. After hanging out with David, I went back home to work out, do my laundry and cook dinner. Instead I ordered a pizza and reread 'Lend Me a Tenor.' Best laid plans of mice and men oft gang aglee.

Went to bed. Fell asleep about 3 hours later. Damned insomnia.

After waking up at an ungodly hour this morning because I had to do laundry or go to work naked, I decided to put the time to good use. Did my laundry, cooked breakfast, made a pot of hazelnut coffee (which I brought to work and have been sipping on all day), did a couple of odd jobs around the apartment and generally was very handy and efficient.

Needless to say, I've been half asleep ever since.

Tonight is a rugby board meeting; shouldn't be too bad (he says hopefully). At this point, though, I just want some food.