Basking in the noder glory. That was all I could say about Wicked Retahded for the longest time. Then, for some reason while driving home I thought of the Iron Chef cook-off, and my wonderful fellow-sous-chefs Miller, Julia, and Jared. Then I thought of how wonderful Jared's hugs were, and Julia's, and how downright sad it was that I probably wouldn't get another from either of them for a very long time, if ever.
That is exactly the reason why this noder gathering was the best in the world. It gave so many noders the best chance to meet so many other noders, and get at least one hug from them, so when they get a virtual hug in catbox or msg or #e, they have some idea of what that hug would really be like. Sure I'll be sad if I never hug these people again, but I feel so lucky for hugging them once.