My HPX kick-off night was a rollercoaster of emotions: happiness (because I really like Pop Explosion), sadness (because the Reflections happy hour was oh so far away from when I actually arrived), slowly creeping horror (I was wearing the third most uncomfortable pair of shoes I owned). Despite the storm of feeling within, if at any point you looked at me during the night, I was probably laughing really hard, and most of that had to do with Eugene Mirman. I’ll never look at targeted Facebook ads the same way again. Or the Tea Party. Also, you never really realize how easy it is to make fun of where we live until there’s a comedian standing on stage asking the audience what we did this weekend and we answer “pumpkin regatta”. I mean, that’s handing him a joke on a platter, really. It was a great start to a great set, especially after everyone was sufficiently warmed up by hosts Flag on the Play, and sets by Merv Hartlen and Cher Hann.
This article appears in Oct 11-17, 2012.
