This is a Vegas post

So Vegas approaches, my first time flying solo with a bunch of people I only sort of know, and I'm trying to approach this trip with a "wait and see what happens" attitude.
And I'm mostly having success at this.
Mostly.
I have to admit, my stomach does churn a little at throwing myself into a crowd of people who don't really know me without much of a game plan. Sure, I've logged hundreds of hours with these people at Mookies, IRCs, Yahoos and even the occasional e-mail, but I don't know if you can really get to know a person that way. Part of me says no. Another part says that it's possible you get to know people better that way.
This is new to me. I usually always have an agenda tucked under my arm for any vacation. When I was on my own for a week climbing 14ers, I had those trips planned down to the hour I would summit each mountain. Here? It's a loose, random collection of WaitNSees bordered by Thursday night at the IP bar, Friday night at the MGM and Saturday at the tournament.
Yet that's all I want. I have no idea how these things will work. I have some general goals and I doubt I'll get to accomplish them all. And pardon the lack of links, but there's a lot of bloggers in these goals, and Allie looks like she's about to throw a fit.
• Try to forget about the guilt I feel for leaving Kate with our twins and Jayden. She'll be down at her parents for the weekend, but still, I'm struggling with this.
• Complement as many female bloggers as possible. If you're betting, you'd better take the over.
• Meet Gracie and show her my home movies of the twins on iMovie.
• Meet April and tell her thanks for the chats in IRC.
• Meet Drizz and tell him thanks for the chats on Yahoo as well as some of the funniest writing I've read on the Web.
• Meet Speaker and Pot Committed and tell them how much I love their writing.
• Talk Metal for a few minutes with Stb, Speaker, Al and my apparent Blood brother. Blood, I've made you a metal mix of groups you may not have (although you probably already do), so bring your thumb drive. Stb, Speaker and Al (and Drizz?), the offer also is open to you.
• Enjoy a run in the early morning hours.
• Have a dinner with TripJax, Gary and my roomie, Mr. HighOnPoker. I can't tell you how comforting it is to have a fellow blogger room with me who's also never done this.
• Play poker at Ceasars with said roomie Thursday afternoon.
• Win the tournament. See, I said you can't meet every goal. This one ensures that I won't.
• Learn how to play Pai Gow, then avoid it most of the trip. Avoid all other table games. Refuse to play in the World Series of Pai Gow.
• Relax, relax, relax.
• Let yourself sleep if you need to. Most other bloggers don't have twins.
• Pay off a bet with Biggeston for the World Series. I owe him two beers from a Colorado microbrewery.
• Meet Buddy Dank and enjoy his live radio broadcast.
• Say hi to my good buddies Carmen and Miami Don.
• Add a few more blogs to my roll.
• Hear B.W.O.P. do the Asian talk that I find really funny.
• Maybe get a purr out of Katitude without doing what one would normally do to get said purr.
That's too many already, so I'm going to stop there.

A few things/rules you should know about me:
• I don't know just how much I'll drink on this trip. I really don't enjoy getting drunk because it kills me and I've learned to not wreck my body when I'm already having a hard time functioning with the twins as it is.
So don't be insulted if I turn down a shot, and please don't push me to drink more than I already am. Also, I don't care one lick if you want to get bombed. That's your decision and you'll see no judgment from me. Hell, I'll even help you back to your room, and I won't roll you, take advantage of you or even take a funny picture of you once you're there (although holding your hair while you puke may be asking too much). So I don't disapprove. I just choose not to do it.
• If I tell you I like your blog, I really mean it. I am a professional writer myself and know what it's like to hear good things about your writing - we never really believe anyone reads our stuff, let alone likes it - so I like to tell others when I enjoy something. Even if you've heard me say it 20 times to others on the trip, I mean it.
• If anyone wants to go for a run one morning, let me know. I'm game. Maybe an afternoon hike away from the strip for an hour or so?
• I am naturally a little outgoing, sarcastic and friendly but also a little aloof and noticeably uncomfortable one-on-one, especially with people I respect and admire, which is most of you. Please don't be turned off by that. And if I turn you down for something, a breakfast, a dinner, don't be turned off by that either. I probably just need to be alone for a bit.

Oh, and one question:

Do people call themselves by their real names or by their "blog" name?