I will give Microsoft this…they know how to make a party filled with developers interesting. If you were at ODC this past week and attended the party on Tuesday at the Tech Museum then you know what I am referring too. MIMES! Good god, what is the deal with MIMES! They are freaky…they may even be more socially awkward than your average software developer.
I attended the party, and while minding my own business and enjoying the white chocolate fountain, I was damn near accosted by some ballet dancer/mime-type (I am not at all sure how to classify here). She was 6 inches from me, looking directly at me while while looking through me. She had no expression on her face…it was a blank stare. She danced in front of me for maybe 5 seconds but the experience is burned in my memory forever.
Freakiness aside, the mimes/clowns/dances (whatever they were) made for some great people watching. I become highly entertained watching others have the same reaction as myself.
On my way out of the party, I ran into Hugh MacLeod. He was creating "cartoons on the back of business cards" for anyone who was interested. 
I decided to ask him to create an original Hugh MacLeod for my business cards. Hugh grew up in Texas (at least I think he did) and went to t.u. (some call t.u. The University of Texas…it is not) so it was fun to discuss Texas and slam each others alma mater (I went to Texas Tech).
Here is the cartoon he created. Hugh drew-it in a stream-of-conscience style in response to my description of Cogent Company. I told him we are consultants who get things done. I added that we are not type of uber-consultants that take themselves so damn seriously, write 600 page reports, and can’t get anything done unless they have 12-15 months to do it (and even then what they deliver stinks). Thus we have this new cartoon…genius!
I will have a new batch of cards printed for everyone in the company by next week.
On a programming note, my next posts will be the slide decks and sample code from my sessions at ODC.
Customizing SharePoint’s Content Management System
&
Turning Outlook into a Front-End for Third Party Systems
I know I promised to have them up today but it is looking more like Sunday as I am taking the remainder of the day off.