Please read to the end, because once I get done philosophizing, I have a question for the people who are coming.
Speaking generically, not addressing any specific person or concern (since that dialogue is already going on via private E-mails), let me note:
(1.) The conversation at these evenings out is generally eclectic, and not particularly intense on the subject of tickling. That's not a restriction, just a tendency. Less than 50% of it is about tickling at all, and within that 50%, a substantial chunk is NEST reminiscences and other innocuous stuff.
(2.) Persons who would flame others or express bigoted opinions, including but not limited to homophobes, haven't come in the past and are cordially asked not to come now. Speaking for myself as a ticklephile, if I try to suggest that I'm normal and gays are deviant, I have a really hard time keeping a straight face for such nonsense. I'm on this board because I'm kinky, different from any conventional mainstream (which doesn't mean I'm superior to people who consider themselves conventional and mainstream, either). In any case, any gathering that I attend needs to be a sanctuary from hearing any value judgments from each other on any kind of interaction or fantasy that takes place between consenting adults.
Okay, so much for that. Now I have a question for those who do expect to come. Is 7:00 a good starting time? Also, on a related note, is there anybody who expects to be showing up substantially later, like closer to 10:00, for last pickings? Or will everybody be there from the start? I've found a restaurant that I think will be excellent. They technically close at 10, but the manager assures me that we won't get thrown out at 10; we can stick around after, like till 10:30, which is later than I remember any of these having lasted to date. The place is on W. 38th St., between 7th and 8th. I'll share the name and other specifics presently, but I"d like to get a sense of how this sounds so far, and of how 7:00 would be for a starting time.