Maybe a DC Meetup This SUNDAY? [Updated]

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Meetup Madness at Amma.jpg

[Instead of Saturday at noon, the meetup will be on SUNDAY at 12:30. It is still at Amma. Please be noting date and time change– thanks. :)]

But first, a rushed write-up of what went down last time:

  • Icebreaker: The battle of the Jessicas- who is hotter, Alba or Biel? There were two poultry-submitted abstentions.
  • Adorable Munish changed his vote when he realized he was, in fact, supporting an Alumna of Seventh Heaven: “I thought you meant the woman from Flashdance!”
  • Once we started playing, “Who has the tiniest apt” after one of you suggested having meetups in our homes, Jay said we should have used THAT as the icebreaker—“Hi, I’m ___ and I have 400 sq ft!”
  • It was the reverse of our college years– Southies Reprazent!
  • There was a minor TamBrahm crisis when we discovered that Amma had run out of vada, for the first time in nine years.
  • I was smacked. Thrice. By our waiter. You can’t put a price on that kind of abuse.
  • Two of the above three spankings occurred as THIRTEEN more people than the sixteen we expected showed.
  • Once we ran out of table space: “Start sitting on laps. Sigh. I guess I’ll begin.” Plop.
  • What is UP with the lack of RSVPing, meetup-crashers: “This isn’t a wedding, people!”
  • Murthy’s Law: Next time, we should reserve the entire restaurant. That way no one will show.
  • We actually had to turn people away, for lack of space. 🙁
  • Can’t make it to the bathroom to wash your hands? Use the “Indian Faucet” a.k.a. a poorly-approximated finger bowl via drinking glass
  • Subcontinental Drift (we love you!)‘s MySpace page might induce seizures.
  • Me to Jay (of the blog Weaselplasty) “All our friends are apparently stand-up comics (and they performed at SD)”
  • Said one, “Tortoise porn is available on YouTube.” Said the Terp, all dismissively, “I know about THAT”, as the rest of us exhibited the proper reaction to that statement, which is shock and horror.
  • One attendee confessed that while this meetup was fabulous, they had “hobbit envy” about Houston.
  • Library Science: it gets no respect
  • Second Best line of the meetup: “Why are men always giving me money and then leaving?”
  • A Tamil girl who was raised in Bombay tried to reconcile her identities by saying…she was like a “paneer dosa”
  • Paneer Dosa has said she will be at the June meetup; that way you can mock her for her metaphor in person! 😉
  • I ordered two Salt Lassis and four Madras Kappis.  I received ONE Madras Kappi.
  • Lemon Rice for me, dosas for EVERYONE ELSE
  • Best line of the meetup: “Your picture on Shaadi.com was so much better!”
  • More on Sunny Leone and the greatness of snuff films.
  • Despite our most obnoxious attempts to be porntastic in order to clear the restaurant, so more of us could be seated, the packed place wasn’t bothered at all by our antics. Contrast this with Heritage India, where we sent them screaming out the door. It would appear that South Indian families are immune to our offensiveness. 🙂

Now, after reading the merriment-filled minutes of our last meetup, who feels like getting together again for more? 🙂 I’m craving dosa and you, well, after I published this post, I learned that you are ALL craving dosa, ALL the time.

WHERE: Amma’s Vegetarian Kitchen, 3291 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20007, 202-625-6625

WHEN: SUNDAY, JULY 1. 12:30 PM.

WHY: Because you nosy little monkeys want to pepper me for non-existant gossip about the Mutiny.

Think of it as a post-Subcontinental Drift “survivors’ brunch”. Kill your hangover with Madras Kappi and Rasam! 😀

::

As for New York…Maybe mid-late July? 🙂

::

San Francisco? End of August, we’ll keep you posted.

179 thoughts on “Maybe a DC Meetup This SUNDAY? [Updated]”

  1. San Francisco? End of August, we’ll keep you posted.

    90% likelihood can make an end of august bay area meet up. p-value 1%.

  2. I love how I got an RSVP for the SF meetup before anywhere else…okay, okay…we get it. The left coast, it has been neglected. 😉

  3. none of you live here anymore. yes, i know v-man has an apartment in san francisco, but he’s always in the air….

  6. none of you live here anymore

    True. I’m going to a wedding on August 25, that’s why I’ll be there.

    Yeesh, by then, it will almost have been a year since I was home. 🙁 Damn you, 3,000 miles…damn you to heck!

  7. also, are we down with greco again?

    Need you ask, kid? 😉 Where ELSE?

    What about LA meetup, yaar?

    I haven’t been to LA since…1999. Oy. Maybe one of the other mutineers? 🙁 I only hostess meetups in DC, NYC and SF. I’m far more likely to be in Philly or ATL than American Tehran.

  8. than American Tehran.

    you know, if you didn’t know the demo of north LA this would be a hilariously confusing term 🙂

  12. I’m far more likely to be in Philly or ATL than American Tehran.

    So when is ATL on the agenda?

  14. haven’t been to LA since…1999. Oy. Maybe one of the other mutineers?

    ahh anna, you will be back to visit 🙂 as for hotlanta… ahh.. leaving it.. gladly!

  16. How come no one from DC is in so far?

    Counting you, three confirmed. Paneer dosa is a strong maybe. 😉

  18. I’ll probably come. and I’m proud of my righteous abstention on the question of the Jessicas. I am indifferent to their curves (-> bad econ 101 joke).

  20. I’d go.

    If Queen of All Christians Anna weren’t there, that is.

    (sigh)

  21. Sorry — somebody please delete my last message. Thanks.

    You can ban me, but it’s kinda pointless . . . I’m staying at a hotel and won’t be at this IP for much longer . . .

    Again, sorry. Typed without thinking first . . .

  22. Hey Baltimore,

    first, there are definitely more than 3-4 desis in that city. Get out more often, stop hating, maybe you’ll meet some of them. The only person who avoids a meetup BECAUSE ANNA WILL BE THERE is a little on the screwy side to begin with.

    How about you actually meet some people and then form an opinion? I’ve been going to meetups for years now, and I can attest: they’re the highlights of my month. And my life is pretty damn good, let me tell you.

    You think it’s coincidence? It’s not. ANNA makes it happen, and deserves a lot of credit for keeping things lively and friendly, even for people who disagree with her. In some cases, even for people who hate on her.

    So tell you what. Keep your mouth shut online for about 10 minutes, and just show up on Saturday, and see for yourself. We won’t know who you are, and you don’t have to say anything about who you are. Then you decide whether this is some kind of pretentious club, or a genuinely fun, interesting, witty, uproarious, and incredibly rare meeting of minds.

  23. I’d go.
    If Queen of All Christians Anna weren’t there, that is.

    Your snideness about my faith aside, I think you should come. Unlike you, I don’t have a problem meeting people whom I disagree with or dislike (on the contrary, that’s all I date). Also unlike you? I give those people a chance or three before I decide to loathe them.

    Just once, I’d love for one of my nameless, mouthy-only-when-it’s-virtual critics to attend a meetup. I’d love for them to pull me aside in a mature manner (they probably wouldn’t even have to do that– I try and talk to every person who shows up, individually) and tell me why they think I’m so despicable. I’d love to know what I’ve done which merits such consistent disrespect.

  24. Anna, just wanna give some love up for the Christians— and thank you for your energy in building community. If I was in DC I’d come! Instead I will be at the US Social Forum w all the lovin lefties- anyone else goin to Hotlanta this week?

  25. Come on people, quit with the Anna-hating stuff!! I’m a lurker here on SM, and have been to the last two DC meetups. I can personally attest to the fact that they were really memorable experiences, and I would like to thank Anna for organizing them, and giving us a chance to meet so many interesting people! So, I suggest that you stop typing without thinking, and attend the meetup instead! Oh, and I’m sorry I won’t be able to make it Anna, got some family stuff to take care of. You guys have fun, and do try to be on time this time! The staff at Amma’s were getting really antsy last time around. 😉

  26. Did I hear that there was a late Aug meetup in SF. “Please (on knees with hands folded and a scrunched up face) do not change your intentions on that”. Not reading SM everyday will be like convent school punishment…please you are the beacon of light in my dreary day, you are the light of my candle burning bright and all of that and more. I will be in the Bay area exactly around that time and would love to attend and see fellow addicts. Hopeful and languishing in Florida.

  27. As for New York…Maybe mid-late July? 🙂

    For the NYC Meetup, I suggest AVAAZ, including bands named Butterthief and Suspicious Brown and playing at Galapagos in Williamsburg on July 26…. a long evening! I blogged last Saturday about an unplanned visit to their last performance with links to bands on MySpace.

    Anna, don’t date them before you figure out you disagree with and dislike them– no more third chances! Even Arianna Huffington spouts on that Feminine Mistaque — not worth your time!

  29. P.S. Great job on Brian Lehrer, Anna!

    Can anyone get him to stop saying Poon-jab, though?

  30. SF meetup would be nice. maybe we should try Dosa (the restaurant) and mock their attempts to make dosas trendy… ooooooooh

  32. Please no on the California goat cheese “Dosa”. I would much rather Kennedy’s Irish Pub and Curry House (only other place in the city for S Indian food) or to get real head to San Mateo and Annapoorna. Sadly Udupi Palace in Bkly has been dropping in quality like a stone in the ocean. Sob sob.

  33. San Francisco? End of August, we’ll keep you posted.

    Finally! @=) Any chance we can have it at Fat Slice? Indian food is great but it isn’t exactly friendly towards college kids on a budget. 5 bucks at Fat Slice will get you a pizza pie the size of a toilet seat.

    P.S. Great job on Brian Lehrer, Anna! Can anyone get him to stop saying Poon-jab, though?

    Why? Some of us are quite proud of our Poonjabi heritage.

    Anna, just wanna give some love up for the Christians— and thank you for your energy in building community. If I was in DC I’d come! Instead I will be at the US Social Forum w all the lovin lefties- anyone else goin to Hotlanta this week?

    Peacedesi: I wouldn’t be caught dead seen with a bunch of frothy-mouthed raving pinko freedom haters, but I have a good friend who will be there.

  36. Much as I’d love to meet y’all I’ll be in desh, eating Saravana’s dosas and vadas.

    There. That’s my revenge for the dosa porn Anna put up in the last meetup post.

  37. As an atheist, I think it’s lame to be hating on Anna for her religion when she is so even-handed about religion and everything else on this blog. If all believers were like her, what a fine world this would be. The only reason you there with the online Tourette’s even know she’s Christian is because she mentions it in personal, autobiographical posts, not because she allows it to colour her coverage of other issues, so lay off, will you?

    I wish the NYC meetup would be in mid-August! I live in Europe and there will never be a meetup here so I keep hoping one of the east-coast meetups will someday coincide with one of my trips to the States…..

  38. Please no on the California goat cheese “Dosa”.

    Why the hate PeaceDesi? All I am saying is give goat cheese dosa a chance.

  39. argh! im goin goin back back to cali cali this weekend. thanks for organizing, anna. maybe another one later this summer?

  40. So definately a lurker here…. but what about the midwest? Where is the love?

  41. So definately a lurker here…. but what about the midwest? Where is the love?

    Let us get one on in Chicago…? We need Ennis!

  42. alas, this is one meetup i won’t be able to make…won’t be back from outta town until saturday night.

    but…maybe we can do a back-to-back-spectacular-n’ver-done-before-one-time-only-unprecedented second event on sunday?

    if not, i nominate salil to take my place. and by my place, i mean being taken out by a death pinch. nothing personal, salil. the event will be lacking if someone doesn’t get knocked off.

  43. Evidently, this is how the mutiny fishes! NY in mid-July sounds awfully tempting. But I am in Dallas for the summer 🙁

  44. If Microsoft, IBM, GE, P&G, Ford, Accenture and hundreds of others can do it, why not SM? It’s time to establish a presence in India!

    In the last six months, comments from India seem to be on the rise, a solid evidence that SM does have a strong and growing “user base” in desh. A Delhi or Mumbai meet-up is in order.

  46. So definately a lurker here…. but what about the midwest? Where is the love?
    Let us get one on in Chicago…? We need Ennis!

    The weather is really nice in Chicago now. We haven’t had a meetup for so long. Ennis do set one up soon.

  47. I am totally down for a NYC meetup; can we do a weekend in late July that is not July 28th/29th? I have a wedding in Cali then 🙁

    If I was in DC I’d come! Instead I will be at the US Social Forum w all the lovin lefties- anyone else goin to Hotlanta this week?

    Peacedesi — I’m going to be there for the first 3(ish) days — driving up to Atlanta from NOLA today. Maybe we’ll see each other 🙂

    SF meetup would be nice. maybe we should try Dosa (the restaurant) and mock their attempts to make dosas trendy… *ooooooooh*

    I can’t believe I won’t be in SF for the SF meetup! After months of complaining, no less 😉 If not Greco, I vote for anywhere in the Mission because it is super BART-friendly. I don’t even know why I’m voting; I won’t be there! Also, I think Dosa is an absolute NO; they are the worst!!

  48. sorry, i can’t attend this time – i’m moving this weekend. but at least i’m RSVP-ing this time!

    ps: conversation was far more risqué on our end of the table (seeing as how it was only dudes..)

  49. HEY. DCists. Just curious– would it be better to do this at lunch on Sunday? Jay, do you see how much you are loved? You will still be ritually sacrificed, of course.

    ::

    And San Franciscans, it will be at Caffe Greco in North Beach. It is ALWAYS at Greco, in case you didn’t know, for good reason. 🙂

    No bastardized dosas for me, ever. That and it’s college-student-budget-friendly, dearest DJ. 😀 And if all that ain’t enough, know that the Illy cappuccinos are sublime. Suh-woon.

  50. Too bad, I’m out of town this weekend and so can’t make it. BTW, I’m curious, what was the final verdict on the Alba vs. Biel question? That’s a really tough one. I’d have gone with Alba, but I’d have been happy to console the “loser,” Ms. Biel.

    ps: conversation was far more risqué on our end of the table (seeing as how it was only dudes..)

    You know, I have no idea if this would be true on average, but given that this thread was started by and these meet-ups are organized by A N N A, give the girl’s risque conversation skills some respect for heaven’s sake!