Hear ye, hear ye, the season of midnight sun and smelly little fishes is nigh!   Prepare!  Repent!  Regurgitate!  With less than a week left before the official Swedish midsummer celebrations, I, as everyone else with the Right Faith, find an oh-so-familiar craving overwhelming me...

M-u-s-t  h-a-v-e  h-e-r-r-i-n-g

The savage lust for the savory aquatic vertebrates runs deep among the brethren.   Ever since their early childhood days, Scandinavians have for generations been nurtured on a strict diet of pickled herring, dilled potatoes, chives, and sour cream.   And aquavit.

C-o-n-s-u-m-e  l-o-t-s  o-f  a-l-c-o-h-o-l

Today, some 5355 miles away from the homeland, the urge is just as strong. Almost like a boil it swells up, blossoming into an itchy yearning, so full and ripe of desire that the body virtually shakes and gyrates at the thought of the wee little fishes.  Or maybe that is because of the loud music.  Be it as it may, it is still imperative that the promises of ancient traditions get consummated.  So to speak.

P-a-r-t-y  t-i-m-e  -!-

Therefore, it is my exquisitely intense pleasure to invite y'all to a:
        Real Swedish Midsummer Party
to be executed:
        This Weekend
at a location:
        Yet To Be Determined.

Our party organizers are at this very moment ward at work on several different exciting solutions for the party's implementation.  Stay tuned for late breaking updates on the exact location as well as the final timings.  Rumor has it that the most likely results are going to be Saturday afternoon for the time (sorry, Jim) and either Palo Alto or San Francisco for the location.

Despite this blatant lack of precise factual information underlying this event, the party organizers are nevertheless requesting interested individuals to indicate their intention of participation with a response in the affirmative.  Or in other words, please tell me if you think you may come.  This is a sit down event and, alas, space is limited.

For those of you who have not yet been one of these events or find this verbiage profoundly confusing, please contact the author or see http://www.spies.com/~lennart/Parties/Parties.html for descriptions of previous years' parties.  Just look for Sillphest.

F-r-o-l-i-c  n-a-k-e-d  i-n  t-h-e  s-u-n