Celebrating Shannyn's birthday, welcoming my daughter, and working the crowd.

Going to Shannyn Moore's house is always a wonderful and educational experience.

And last night was no different.

There was great food (Awesome steaks by the way Kelly!), good music, and tons of interesting conversation.

I had decided early on that interspersed with my usual Dionysian debauchery I would try to talk to a few of the notable local politicians and celebrities that are always a feature of Shannyn's parties. (Of course there was always the chance that I would get hammered and end up naked in the flower garden, but hey why focus on events of the past.)

Of course the first order of business was to greet and commiserate about recent events with my blogger buddies. We talked about AGIA, the Letterman/Palin kerfuffle, the equal rights ordinance, and a number of other blog worthy topics. There was much laughing and hugging and possibly a little groping (Sorry about that Phil).

Then it was time to put on the old feedback and try to soak some of the alcohol up I had been sucking down since I walked in the door.

As I sat down outside in Shannyn's backyard and began digging into my plate of delicious food, who should sit down next me but Diane Benson.

For those who do not know who Diane Benson is, she was narrowly defeated by Ethan Berkowitz for the Democratic nomination to run against Don Young for our one and only House seat in the last election. (She also came very close to defeating Young herself back in 2006.) And since Diane is my fantasy choice for running against Don again in the next election, I decided that now was the perfect time to talk her into running.

We talked for quite a while about the possibility of her running and I got the idea that though she was intrigued, and possibly even considering the idea, that she was also very concerned about raising enough money and if there would be enough support out there for her to run again.

Personally I think that Diane Benson would make an excellent candidate to run against Young, but I think Diane is going to have to hear that from a few more Alaskans then just me before she will jump back into that race again.

After I finished my steak I left Ms. Benson alone to talk with friends and set my sights on Harriet Drummond, who is the co-chair of the Assembly, and decided to ask what her opinion was on last Tuesday's public testimony concerning the equal rights ordinance.

Because I did not get her permission to post everything we talked about I will not be able to give you all of the juicy details of our conversation. But I can tell you that Harriet was very positive about the ordinance being passed and was very unhappy with the way it had been framed by Jerry Prevo and his followers. She also shared how she had been very moved by the testimony of the LGBT people and knew that many of the other Assembly members were moved as well.

After my conversations with both Diane Benson and Harriet Drummond I was feeling pretty positive. Right about then, as if on cue, my daughter called and said that she had just landed and to come and get her.

Our reunion was just as wonderful as I had imagined it and as I drove her back to Shannyn's party I listened and laughed through my daughter's story of the 18 hour plane ride from hell, her three five hour layovers, and the obscene amount of money they charged her for her bags. As usual my daughter talked in excited tones with dramatic hand gestures to help illustrate her point.

By the time we arrived at the party I had a dopey smile plastered to my face that told the whole world that I was beyond thrilled to have my daughter back home in Alaska.

I introduced her to ALL of my friends, and she made her usual great impression on them. (AKM and Shannyn dubbed her "mini-me" because of how much we look and talk alike) She discussed working at the PAC with Phil Munger, and then endeared herself to the rest of the Scooby-gang by poking fun at me and telling family secrets. (In my daughter's eyes NOTHING is too personal to share. Especially if it is something embarrassing about me.)

We did not stay very long because the flight had been exhausting for her and she wanted to go home, but Shannyn had taken such a shine to her that she invited her to come by anytime and added that she did not have to bring me along if she did not want to. (Hey, how did I get to be the odd man out?)

On the ride home my daughter said she was impressed with my group of friends and hoped that we could all get together often. I told her that I was pretty sure that could be arranged.

All in all it was a GREAT party, and I managed to make it through the entire evening upright and with my clothes still on. (Gee, maybe I am really am starting to mature.)

Thank you Shannyn (and Kelly) for a great evening. I can hardly wait for the next one.