Missing Bill Buckley.
by Kevin
It will come as no surprise to anyone that I am a big fan of all things National Review. I read the magazine, surf the website, and even write for them occasionally. Anytime an NRO or NRODT person visits the state I travel to listen to them speak and talk to them afterword. I have had lunch with John Derbyshire, dinner and drinks with Ramesh Ponnuru, I’ve heard Rich Lowery and Jonah Goldberg speak, I even watched the last presidential debate with Jonah.
This fandom goes way back. I started reading NR as a freshman in high school and have been a WFB fan ever since. I was even called a Bucklyite by teachers. All of this makes it painful for me to miss out on the Cocktail Party they are promoting over at NRO. I suppose I should be grateful for the interaction I do and have had, but knowing there is an opportunity to hang out with WFB and all of these great folks and I can’t do it is rather excruciating for me. Every time I see the plug on The Corner I wince. I could come up with the $750 if I wanted to, but the fact of the matter is that I really can’t afford to spend that kind of money on this kind of event. It wouldn’t be responsible and I know it. So instead I will pine for a chance in the future and complain about life on this blog. C’est la Vie as they say.
Yeah, I understand the feeling. Coming up with $750 (and the flight money) would be tricky. I was thinking of trying to put together some type of blogger lottery (each of us poor pajama-types puts in $5 or $10, then Ms. Lopez or another NROer would randomly pick a name from the blogger group to get the money to attend the party), but alas, it sounded as if there was no time for it.
{sigh} Maybe next time…