Yet Another TMEA Checklist

I guess I should do this before TMEA gets much farther in my rear-view mirror: Every year, I look back and see if I've done certain things that seem to take place every year during the convention. Since we lost a day to weather, let's see how this year stacks up by plugging this year's answers into the template that I've used for quite some time now: Did I manage to..

• Spend quite a bit of time in the exhibit hall? Check. It's pretty much mandatory to do this; some newbies even refer to the exhibits as "the convention," as in, "Have you been to the convention yet today?" even when outside another convention event.


• Eat way too many big meals on the Riverwalk? Hmm, maybe half of a Check; I paced myself pretty well this time, and the massive amount of walking seemed to offset the biggest ones.


• See some people I hadn't seen in several years at the UNT reunion? Check. This is statistically bound to happen nearly every year, and this year was no exception.


• Make jokes about how, when, I was in college, the free food at said reunion would serve as Friday night's dinner? Check. And some undergrads perked up when I said that, as if they were thinking, "Hey--great idea!" The tradition lives on...


• Watch someone propose to his girlfriend during the serenade at the Sinfonia sing? Check; three of them this year, and one of them is a buddy of mine. Congrats, Justin and Adah!


• Get to the convention center in time to see the high-school all-state jazz ensemble on Saturday morning, making it with just minutes to spare? N/A; this year's concert was at 2:00 in the afternoon, right before my college guys' concert, so there was plenty of time to get there after lunch.


• Fight the crowds at the Rivercenter food court at lunchtime? Nope; never ate there, save for a Starbucks break on Saturday afternoon. It was Fuddruckers down the street FTW again this year.


• Get a table there (the food court) by spying someone about to leave one and pouncing on it 2.5 seconds after they'd gotten up? Nope; see above.


• See the Andean Fusion band playing some sort of a classic-rock cover song on ancient wooden flutes just outside that food court? Nope, at least not live; they were always on break when I was in the Rivercenter, so all I heard was the CD that they played in between sets. (I did hear a new rock song on the CD, though; they're now covering Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." Heh.)


• Eat at Casa Rio and The Original Mexican Restaurant? Check. I added this to the checklist, because, no matter how much the locals tell me I should drive off-site to get "real" Mexican food, these are the two places where I always end up every year.

Needless to say, I also did a ton of walking, and that was taking its toll by the end of the day on Saturday. But as I said earlier, the walking offsets the big meals and then some, so it's a net gain.

TMEA is one of my favorite times of the year; it seemed too short because of the one fewer day down there, but the part that we got to experience was great. My calendar is already marked (electronically, of course) for February 8-11, 2012.