Flashback Friday: Night at the Apollo and Grilled Oranges

Where the TwitterBird obsession began. From 2009…

The world is still all a-Twitter…Time magazine is on board now, national advertising spots are riffing on Twitter lingo and etiquette, and Neil Diamond is Tweeting. Good times never seemed so good.

This weekend was very Tweety in my neck of the woods, too. It started with what was the best WMTweetUp yet, held this month at the Apollo Grill – a funky eatery with a massive collection of salt and pepper shakers, among other cool things. It’s located in Eastworks, an equally cool retrofitted mill building. For those not yet in the know, a TweetUp is a meet-up, consisting of folks who use Twitter. The WMTweetUps are all located in Western Mass., and these uber-awesome networking events exist entirely because this guy, we’ll call him Jason, makes it happen. Recognize.

The folks at the Apollo were beyond supportive of the whole TweetUp concept, too. One staffer wore a ‘tweet-themed’ skirt in our honor, and somehow procured some blue marshmallow Peeps that are more reminiscent than I realized of the Twitter Bird.

They even put a special beer on tap as a WMTU special, and Jason supplied our very own tap handle for the occasion. (We have arrived!)

WMTU tap

The next evening, I invited a few like-minded Tweeps — both friends who joined when I did and people I met on Twitter and in the blogosphere. I put SuperGeeker in charge of the grill, and he produced turkey burgers, dogs, and these fricken-amazing Vietnamese strip steak skewers he and his other half Jessica marinated at home and brought along. They also used some of the marinade on orange slices, along with a little bit of pepper oil, and we threw those on the grill, too. That was a first for me, and I’m totally looking forward to further grilled-fruit experiences. Nom.

We chilled on our three-season porch with food, beers, and good conversation, agreeing that the plate of bacon I’d cooked up was one of the highlights of the evening (everyone who’s into meat gravitates toward a plate of bacon), and thus dubbing the night the first TwaconUp of the season (Twitter + Bac…oh never mind. By this point we all had Twitter on the brain). Even iTunes cooperated; I took the risk of putting my entire collection on shuffle, so you never know what you’re going to get. A few Christmas songs snuck through, but we just sang along and made merry. And when my recordings of 1960s musicals like Godspell came around, I actually had some fellow fans in the house. (That’s such a nice feeling for a never-quite-reformed drama geek).

Comments

‘Morriss Partee‘ left this comment on 16 Jun 09
HAHAHAHAHA BEST LINE: “thus dubbing the night the first TwaconUp of the season (Twitter + Bac…oh never mind.”

‘A visitor‘ left this comment on 15 Jun 09
What a great tweetup with all the appropriately themed items! I love the blue peeps (but wouldn’t eat them, because, just, EWWWW). That the server even got involved with her skirt is great too. Most servers are like “I have to work WHAT party?”

‘A visitor‘ left this comment on 14 Jun 09
hey, girlfriend, the beer was cold, the conversation and laughter and music was flowing, the bacon was plentiful. What more could you want in a casual BBQ?

You rock. Period.

Encore!