beancounters

Text of our lives

So, we were talking about instant messaging replacing the old-fashioned need to speak out loud, remember?

My kid saved her money and bought herself a hand-held Nintendo DS Lite. This thing is a marvel. Not only can you play games on it, but when others of its kind are within range, they can interact with each other. It's possible to chat, either by writing or by typing out text.

This weekend there were three girls at the house, each with one of these. One would draw a figure, then send it out and the next girl would add to it and send it again. There was much giggling going on. Not sure I want to know exactly what they were drawing.

But this electronic parallel-play reminded me of the two times I went to Grace's Woolfcamp - once at her house, and then in Redwood City the following year. Having just come from BlogHer, laptops came out and we sat around the living room or the patio, blogging (and eating) (and drinking, oy vey) while discussing the things we'd learned. Some who went to Woolfcamp resented the computers, finding them an intrusion. But I think being able to read each other's live-blogging added a cool layer to the discussions that day.

And no, I don't think electronics will replace conversation. Come on, blogfolk, if three generations of TV-viewing hasn't already done this to us, nothing will. 

Cute puppy alert: Dogster

One cool thing about Blogher (among so many cool things!) was the fact that, no matter where you sat, you could strike up a conversation with a stranger. I mean, there was always one Topic Of Conversation which was guaranteed to break the ice! As an introvert, I found this a real novelty.

Anyhows, one evening I sat down at a table at random and met the enthusiastic founders of Dogster and Catster, two clearinghouse sites dedicated to yer basic pet-worship. 

When you register, you can send in your pet's photos, rate their characteristics, make up a bio out of whole cloth, start your pet's diary, etc. I think my kid will have some fun here. She's been heavily campaigning for a second dog. I wonder, though, if this will satisfy her need to talk about dogs, or make it worse ...

Connecting at BlogHer

Hello, DSL hookup! I missed you! C'mere, you ... [smooooootch]

As the story goes, the BlogHer organizers told the Hyatt that extensive internet access was required. The Hyatt said they were up for it. But wireless service was really patchy; ethernet connection wasn't much more reliable. Some of us could only get online a few  minutes, several times a day. The irony of this problem, at a blog conference, was not lost on us.

Maybe next year the word will get out, eh? And the next location managers (in Chicago? that's the rumor) will be better equipped.

But then, I think inadequate connectivity speaks as much to the state of tech in 2006 as anything. It isn't taken seriously by absolutely everybody yet.

pam from beancounters

pam from beancounter
Originally uploaded by Liz Henry.

Featuring a Molly Goatwax original, which Jo Spanglemonkey calls "Tasty Lamb of God" and I call "Christ Died For You And Boy, Was He Yummy".

More bloggity goodness at Woolfcamp

It's lovely and cool here at Badger's house. Tree and I are the first to arrive. Tree calls it a love-vortex - unless she's referring to her whole life. And here's Spanglemonkey with her kids, and more men and women I should stand up and meet.

Woolfcamp begins! I think more people will be arriving soon. All updating today will be done on the Official Woolfcamp group blog.

Day 2 - opening ceremonies

Good morning. Here is the view from my table:

At last night's shindig I made an important discovery. The hard alcohol is paid for with tickets (which they parsed out with the registration), but the wine was FREE.

And things went downhill from there.

I'm kidding, I didn't get really drunk. It turns out all the trouble I had with my hotel keycard was the fault of the keycard, not that I'd been trying to get into the wrong room. :-)

I met Mindy's friend the elusive Mr. X. He has plans to blog as an irrascable chef (which I understand involves usage of colorful language), but doesn't know how this will fit in with his gig as a grade school teacher. I can relate somewhat. I bet a lot of people can. The paradox of the need for anonymity vs. the need to be known for your work.

Met so many lovely women last night whom I have read - whether on their blogs or in other blogs' comments! We all put on tattoos and posed for each others' pictures. I put one on Flickr. Go look!

I missed Bunny's phone call last night. Heck. Give me a call, m'dear.

BlogHer organizers are giving a presentation in front, but oh no! There is no sound! So they're having the room sing. Everyone just sang "All you need is love". Heh.

They just said we'll have 700 attendees today! We really must lead a hostile takeover of the men's room ...

Dateline: Lobby bench

The session about how to increase your blog's traffic was properly useful. It was led by Elise Bauer (link soon) from Simply Recipes. (She lives in Sacramento!) I will organize and spell-check the notes before I post them. Mom, they will be particularly useful to you, with your well-themed blog. Flappy personal blogs like mine need more organizational help than this nice woman could give. :-)

Elise said there are three ideal types of blog content: useful, timely, and entertaining. To focus your traffic, you should be clearly one of the three, or some combination.

What about flappy? Why isn't flappy covered? I want my money back.

I'm skipping the third session of the afternoon, which has to do with pod-casting, and instead have camped out here on the only bench in the foyer. Women are walking by, drinking from cups and trying to hear voices in their cell phones. It's loud here. I think most of us are skipping our respective third sessions. Networking abounds. Hmm.

I've found Debra and have my room situation semi-secured, I realized I had been worried before at the thought that this piece of my day wasn't nailed down. Now I am serene, and enjoying this relative alone-time. Maybe I will pack this computer and go outside to take a test-drive of a Saturn. Yes, BlogHer '06 has major sponsors!

Also, the professional camera work - video and still - is quite  comprehensive. In our first session, we broke out into groups. The group I went with found ourselves out here, sitting cross-legged in a circle on the floor of the lobby. Well, camera people zoomed over to us and took so many pictures, it felt like a celeb sighting. I kept trying to spot Baby Suri in the crowd. Look for me in those lobby images in future BlogHer or network news 'casts. I am wearing a dark t-shirt with Hedwig the owl on the front.

To sum up: Good fun. Informative. Blog stars are terrific to meet in real life. No babies of reclusive movie stars appear to be in attendance. Quite a novelty to sit here and blog out in the open instead of skulking at home. I'm off for now. Think I'll see if they've scared up any more diet cola.

Dateline: Conference Room #3

Hello from BlogHer! First of all, using wireless here is like trying to bathe a family of eight using one tub of bathwater. Somebody far down the chain ain't gonna get clean. I'd love to use my ethernet cable (that BB made me pack) but it's in the car out in B.F. Egypt. Useful!

I got here in time for the middle of the first session, this morning. Lunch featured keynote speakers I couldn't hear well, yet somehow I got the jist of their talk. Blogger telepathy?

Met Mindy, Grace, Jo, Debra (yay), Liz, plus new friends like Leslie from Davis. Links later.

For a conference with 99% women, there are immediately two problems. 1) There's only one women's room. There are seriously only about 15 - 20 guys here. Should we just take over the men's room and make them embarrassed? 2) The diet cola cans are already gone and it's 1:50 p.m. Hello? Trying to maintain the illusion of watching our weight here. You're not helping.

Right now I"m blogging when I should be listening and taking notes about the ten types of writing styles. Later.

The stars! How they align!

This evening, like a bolt out of the blue, BB and I realized there was something cool that Bunny could do over the weekend, while I am gone and he is working - let her visit her grandma. Our jaws! They dropped open!  Our eyes, how they bugged out of our skulls! It was all so logical! I'm already going to San Jose - it's really not much of a difference to drop off my kid at my mom's house along the way. But would it be okay with Mom? We live too far away to presume she has no weekend plans.

I should have trusted the alignment of the stars. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hi, Mom. Um. Remember how you love me? For my strengths as well as my weaknesses?

Mom: ........ Ye-e-e-s ...........

Me: And, you know how I don't really plan for events until the very last minute (which is why I never remember to send birthday cards)?

Mom: Oh, shoot, is it somebody's birthday?

Me: No, no. I was wondering ... could Bunny spend the weekend with you?

Mom: Yes!

Me: I mean, it's really short notice, but could I bring her tomorrow morning ...

Mom: Yes.

Me: ... and get her next Tuesday ...

Mom: Yes.

Me: ... when I'll be ...

Mom: Yes.

Me: ... coming down to pick you up anyway?

Mom: Yes.

Me: So, is that a yes?

Mom: YES!

We loves the Moms!

BB is deliriously happy at the prospect of being home alone, but is toning it down to a mere "very happy" to spare our feelings. Lately, he's decided to learn Linux and also explore the realm of open-source software. I think we tend to jostle the ol' elbows whenever he tries to sit down at his test computer for any length of time.

BlogHer checklist (a living document)

* worry obsessively (ongoing) OK OK -

* print maps to San Jose, conference, hotel, with nearby bookstores circled - OK
* figure out where WoolfCamp is going to be held; print maps - I have until Sunday to get directions
* pack laptop, camera, phone, + cords + peripherals for all - OK
* figure out what to wear that will let me keep phone and camera in pockets (now I wish I'd bought cargo pants) - will keep everything in the purple rolling backpack I swiped off my kid
* consider buying cargo pants No, no, no.
* pack entire wardrobe; decide what to wear on site pack snarky t-shirts and comfortable skirts w/ pockets - OK
* car: oil, tires, gas and carwash (my dark green car is so crusted over with pollution, in some lights it looks light brown. I am not kidding.) - Done
* Road food! - will purchase at a convenience store for too much money, in the great American tradition
* nice big photo of Bunnylou for showing off - whups - where did I put those school photos?
* cards - I printed 100, with that 60's banner on top. Will that be enough? Way too many? I'll tell people they are Limited Edition; that'll make 'em move. - packed and ready for distributing!