ESI Emergency Meeting, Butcher Style

What a treat, to be fed and watered by a good portion of the ESI crew at the Usual Spot last night. I've been reading their blog for quite some time now, and have met many of them a few times each, but to sit down with the group of them, and have them all there and talking, well, not exactly at the same time, but not in discrete bits of a few hundred words either? Quite a treat. They are as entertaining in person as in blog.

For those who are slightly confused about the whole ESI phenomenon, they started as a blog about another blog - The Fifth Muse. It's a long story, but she stopped blogging, and now they're not quite sure what to do. I found them after the Muse was gone, and I have to admit, it did take me a while to pick up on the thread of the ESI blog. Once I did, though, I was totally hooked.

They are all solid writers with interesting things to say. They have heart. Like they're writing splinter factions of whatever beings they may or may not be offline. What they write has a core of real, no matter what fantastical or ironically distanced wrappings surround that core.

This is my complaint with the new group blog, the Bank Street Irrelevants. I don't get the same feeling of heart when I read it. Maybe that'll change. It can take a while to figure out where a blog is going. But they do seem to be enjoying themselves, and really what else is a blog for.

I certainly don't think Ottawa is too small for two group blogs. Not at all, and if the ESIs are looking for a little somethin somethin to spice up their personal slice of the blogosphere, a little Sharks vs the Jets snap-happy tension might do the trick. As long as I get to be there for the dance off.

The highlight for the 4th Dwarf, I think, was getting checked by another blogger. We were all chatting away, when the young man next to us leaned over and said "Are you the Elgin Street Irregulars?" Seems we'd gotten a little rowdy and he'd overheard our names.

"And I recognize her," he said, pointing at me.

"Eee, maybe it was a mistake to invite me," I said quietly. "I blew your cover."

"Ha! No!" 4D said, conspiratorially. "I feel like a celebrity."

It was lovely to feel free to chat almost exclusively about blogging. The pros and cons of being anonymous vs. open, updates on the bloggers they've followed over the years, when we started, why. They had many complimentary things to say about my blog and my writing. They were so nice they made me blush, deep red, from my collarbones over my scalp.

Surprising thing? There are a lot of them. 4D, The Chair, Coyote, Pandora, Agatha, Woodsy were there the whole time. Conch Shell was just leaving as I showed up, and the Independent Observer couldn't make it. Nor Audrey, who was on her way to the Italian consulate. But only a few of them post regularly. I can tell you that they're all interesting enough to post regularly, should they so choose.

I won't go into the details, because I'm sure that 4D will do a bang up job in the real minutes. My summary?

Q: What should the ESIs do?
A: What they're already doing, just more often and by more of them.