The Sound Of Silence

NO BATS. Ah, blessed quiet! I swear, by Wednesday night, it sounded as though the bats were absolutely partying up there in the attic above the girls' room.  I won't say there weren't a couple of frantic calls to my bug boyfriend the next day, seeking reassurance that the bat guys were indeed coming to put an end to my flying rodent problems.

I hope I'm not scaring him off with my neediness.

I'm spending this afternoon hanging out with AFOL's (that's Adult Fans of Legos, to you muggles).  Turns out there is a local LUG (Lego Users' Group - do I have to explain everything?) that meets once a month at a library near us; naturally, Brian was eager to check it out, which we did for the first time last month.

"Grown men playing Legos?" asked Larry.  I could see the paranoia gears starting to whir in his brain.

"I'm going with him," I said. "I'll check it out."

Turns out, we found ourselves in a room full of engineers and physicists, all of whom are OBSESSED with Lego. They surrounded the amusement park ride Brian brought along, examining the specs and making suggestions for improvement. One of them, it turns out, is the person in charge of the GBC (Great Ball Contraption - do try and keep up) at our local BrickFair, held every August. He even insisted Brian contribute a section to the GBC this year.

Check out the video - it really is awesome.

Another mom decided to take me under her wing and give me the inside scoop on everyone there. "We're called NBB's," she explained. "Non-Building Breeders," she elaborated, seeing the blank look on my face. "The only reason we're here is that we've raised Lego builders. Now, see that guy over there? He works with NASA. So does that one. And that guy?" Here she leaned closer and lowered her voice for emphasis. "He's the Mars Rover guy."

Another blank look on my part.

"He's the guy whose Mars Rover design Lego decided to make into a set," she explained. "You know, on Cuusoo?"

Here a light went on in my brain. Brian loves Cuusoo - you can post a MOC (My Own Creation - look, there's going to be a quiz later, you know) on Cuusoo and - if it garners 10,000 supporters - Lego will consider manufacturing it and giving you a percentage of the sales. And here was one of these mythical beings, sitting not 10 feet from us! I walked over to Brian.

"Brian," I whispered, reveling in the satisfaction of knowing something Lego-related before he did, "that guy over there? The one you were just talking to? He's the Mars Rover guy from Cuusoo."

This is what a Lego celebrity looks like.

And, yes, Brian was impressed to learn this.  Wouldn't you be, too?

So we're back here this month, rubbing elbows with Lego celebrities and discussing plans for BrickFair, where Brian will indeed get to be an exhibitor this year. Me? I'm getting a lot of knitting done, interspersed with playing Words With Friends, while Larry is stuck taking the girls to their art show and helping their art teacher load everything back into her car at the end.

Hey, it's Mother's Day weekend, people - I earned this.

[Mars Rover guy image: AstroCupola]