Mensa "Party"

Mensa is a club for brainy people. You have to score in something like the top 10% of the population on a standardized test to get in. I was a member in high school but there wasn't an active group in my area at the time so I'd let my membership lapse. I signed up again recently to see what the Houston group had to offer.

Tonight they had a party, and I decided to go. They met in a hotel room at the Ramada: when I arrived there were cokes in the coolers and beer in the bathtub. About 15 or 20 people attended; they were either in the room or out poolside. The ratio of men to women was about 5:1, and they were generally in their late 40s. The conversation was about how kids today just don't know binary, Lotus 1-2-3 sucked, and the ceiling fan will turn the other way if you flip the little switch on the side. I stayed a polite hour and then ran off.

Dallas Roadshow

THe Dallas Roadshow was a challenge. People in Minneapolis were friendly but in Dallas they were impatient and confrontational. I didn't enjoy myself. Afterwards I went to the nightcluyb area called Deep Ellum. It was a little like Sixth Street in Austin, with lots of bars in close proximity so that you can walk from one to another. Most of the people I saw were the haughty types I encountered at the roadshow. I was getting bored and was about to leave when a group of Hare Krishnas went dancing by. That made the whole evening worthwhile.