http://twitcasting.tv/wildbell/movie/177230

Lucinda’s shown up with her parents, along with Metblogger Annika and her sister Kjrsten!

Not gonna guarantee the quality, but I set Twitcast to stream  live (whatever “live” means), stuffed my iPhone into the sugar packet dispenser on the Canter’s counter and pointed it at some guy sitting in a booth with a computer in hopes that the line of thousands of people streaming out the door to drop off canned goods and monetary donations  for the LA Regional Food Bank doesn’t let up!

http://twitcasting.tv/wildbell/movie/177088

OK! My order of eggs benedict has justly re-elevated my dangerously low blood sugar levels and I’m in place here at Canter’s ready to blogathon the heck outta this place until noon!

Brief twitcast from my iPhone: http://twitcasting.tv/wildbell/movie/176945

When I said that the hot chocolate you ordered was “a man’s drink,” I totally totally meant it. I’m a huge fan of hot chocolate and admire any man who can order it without pause. I know it sounded sarcastic. But that’s just how my voice sounds.

Thank you for not beating me up.

Looks like the half-drunks, the half-assed, and the half-drugged are all trickling out.  My turn to turn the shift over to Kev-O here.  It’s definitely quieter and less rowdy than before, and most of the hat people are gone.  Someone will be here until noon – so stay tuned for the early morning dwellers, the late morning brunchers, and the half-drunks, half-assed, and half-drugged who will return for Canter’s redux.  Gnite for now!

Number of plates dropped: 1

Number of times “Happy Birthday” has been sung: 4

Number of red jello cups (cubed, visible in case): 4

Number of cantaloupes (visible in case): 5

Number of watermelons (visible in case): 5

Number of members of the Circle Jerks dining: 1

Number of mugs of decaf coffee (RobNoxious): 3

Number of mugs of regular coffee (Queequeeg): 1 (only!)

Number of random strangers that RobNoxious talked to between 2am and 4am: 7

Number of the above random strangers with whom RobNoxious might become Facebook friends with: 1 (see number of Circle Jerk members dining tonight, above).

Number of pink-haired girls: 1

Number of girls who have written love notes to me (Queequeg) tonight: 2

Number of love notes received by me (Queequeg): 1

Number of people with hats, fedora or otherwise: at least 7

Asked to RobNoxious, by a Canter’s diner.

Answered by RobNoxious, to the Canter’s customer: “It might look like a Muppet.”  Also: “How ironic would it be if, at a traditional Jewish deli, your matzo ball looked like the Virgin Mary?”

The two are unrelated.

Driving over here after power napping between 12:45 and 1:45, I thought two things: 1) signing up to live blog for the 2am to 4am shift was one of those Things That Sound Great When I Planned It But Not So Much Now; and 2) my, there are many cars out and about at 1:45am.  Now that I’m here, taking over for Janna, the first thought is totally gone, and the second one is replaced with: my, there are many 20somethings and 70somethings out and about at 2:15am.

Just ordered lox and eggs.  Can’t wait to eat.  Can’t wait to see who else walks in.

I somehow failed to find this earlier when I was searching for it, but believe it or not, Canter’s does have a Twitter account! Hey, @CantersDeli, I just Tweeted at you!

Well, the drunks and people dressed up for goin’ out are starting to trickle in (our server seems entertained by them) and Queequeeg has arrived, so I must bid you adieu for the evening. But don’t forget, we are still here until noon, so if you happen to stop by for some breakfast or brunch, be sure to drop some cash or foodstuffs in our donation box while you’re here!

So I forgot to take a picture of my food until it was halfway eaten, but you get the general idea:

My chocolate milk came in the fanciest little glass. I’m actually going to get one of those Jell-O cups Julia blogged about earlier next.

The crowd has quieted down a little bit since I got here; it’s not much emptier, there’s just fewer rowdy tables. And maybe it’s just cause I am still waiting for my “second wind” to kick in and I’m projecting my sleepiness onto everyone else. But you wouldn’t guess it by how excited I (and Lucinda) were to take a picture with the prom kids!!!

The best is the girl sporting the classic “Date’s Tuxedo Jacket Over Prom Dress” look.

… so let’s see how much more cash-money and food we can get in our donation box before it’s all over (mission: Food Bank plug – achieved!)!!

The service here is really fast! I actually had my Mac & Cheese in front of me before I finished writing that last post. They’ve got tons of employees working right now – which I guess should be expected, this place is a late-night eating mainstay, after all. The Mac & Cheese is pretty good, and so is the chocolate milk, even though it came from syrup.

All the staff is also extra-helpful now that over a dozen prom-goers just wandered in for a bite!! And so did Lucinda and Travis, who of course couldn’t resist sneaking up on the teenagers for a photo op (seen below with spoons on their noses). Some kids were also slow dancing to the live music coming from the other room.

Oh, and P.S. these Mi-Fi thingies are about 1/4 the size of what I expected them to be. They are almost credit card-sized. I now see why Lucinda called them “cute” earlier.

So, I’m sitting alone at the counter at Canter’s at 12:40 a.m. with a computer in front of me, fixing my makeup. I’ve had weirder nights.

It’s been a looong while since I’ve visited this joint, and I was too distracted by the ridiculous traffic on Hollywood Blvd. a half hour ago to give one thought to what I wanted to order. This menu is so huge it’s quite intimidating. It took me nearly 20 minutes just to pick something out.

After being tempted by the smell of the meat being cut just a few feet away from my seat, I decided to do something different (OK, not that different for me) and order the Macaroni & Cheese. With a chocolate milk (hey! at least I didn’t order the Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich – which is a kinda ridiculous $4.25 on the big kid’s menu).

I must really be harking back to childhood diner food experiences, since it’s taking a lot not to devour everything in those delightful miniature cereal boxes sitting right in front of me, teasing me. And my eye was also drawn to one of the kid’s coloring book drawings posted on the wall behind the counter, of “Canter the Dog”.

Banter at Canters between bloggers and readers has been fun here.  Lots of laughs and some really great food make for a great combination.

Travis quoted me wrong about the pickle, but not by much.  Seriously, the pickles may be nice and crunchy but its not in the least, well you know, shall we leave it as not insertable.

Stop in, join the fun, drop of some food or cash for the donation box.  Ruth666 and I have added our stash from out pantrys can you please empty your larder too?  Its for the LA Foodbank and really a worthy cause.

The real frazgo, post 701.