arse poetica

It Looks Like I'm Never Going to Post About BlogHer

I'm a s-l-o-w blogger, but sheesh! I've had plenty of time to digest my weekend w/ 750 blogging women (woohoo!) and get some pixels down on screen. The 750 women, that part I loved. The energy was terrific, and the collection of smarts and determination in those rooms could have powered multiple rockets to multiple moons. It's a wonderful salve for otherwise crabby-making life and so singular an experience that I'm buoyed by it for a long time afterward -- even as it wears me out to my core. I used most of my outgoing reserves the first day, and by the 2nd day I was literally vibrating but so depleted that I needed 3 cups of coffee just to get through the day. Those of y'all who aren't introverts, read this, and do take pity on your worn out pals.

I did not say hello to some faves, because I just cannot do that fan-gushy thing. (Read: shy wimp.) Heck. Hi, gals. You rock, and I dig you. See? It's a lot easier from here. I did get it together long enough to ask Heather Champ for advice on a camera for us non-techie types who love the artistry of photography but aren't going to become Dorothea Lange anytime soon. I learned so much from her session on digital photography, and hopefully I'll be able to exhibit the fruits of that labor here. Access to women with this level of expertise is, among other reasons, why BlogHer is so amazing.

But wait! I met many new faves. They're so cool and smart and badass -- partake of their awesomeness!

Amy Anderson and Sheri Reed of mama zine (w/ a tagline of one of my favorite sayings)
Barbara G. of bgblogging
Barbara S. of Language Lab Unleashed
Bill of History of the Button   
Britt of Have Fun Do Good
Brittany of Hollaback Boston and Modern Feminist
Candace of Femilicious (and more!)
Carrie of NOW Texas and Lone Star Democracy
Christie of Dogged Blog
Deni Bonet
Eden of Fussy [but I didn't get my t-shirt! =(]
Elaine of Elaine.la
Frank of Listics
Jason of Random Signal (and Lulu)
Katie of Lulu
Laura of Geeky Mom
Maria of ConsumerPop
Megan of Divine Reality
Robert of Late Night PC
SJ of I, Asshole (NB: We didn't meet, but I "found" her after her awesome comments in the "Identity & Obligation" session. It was love at first comment. Same goes for Eggbeater. Rock on w/ your bad selves.)
Stacie of Schmoopy
Susie Bright (yes, that Susie Bright)
Suzanne of CUSS and Other Rants
Teri of Purple Women
Wendy of Fire on the Poop Deck (and author of)

But wait! All my old pals! What luck to find them again in a sea of new faces.

Badger
Elisa Camahort
Elke Sisco (finally met Elkit!)
Grace Davis (How big is my crush on Grace Davis, you ask? How much time you got?)
Jan Kabili
Liz Rizzo
Nancy White
The Princess (we go waaaay back)
Samantha (new blog coming soon!)
Sour Duck

Can you see now why I was so wiped out? I'm hard-pressed to talk to two people at a time/in a day in my regular life. Whew. I'm still recovering.

Favorite panel: Identity & Obligation.

Favorite moment: The audience spontaneously singing "All You Need is Love" when the sound didn't work during Saturday's opening session.

Favorite quote: Having failed many times in my life, I realize that it doesn't matter at all. -- Arianna Huffington on fearlessness at the Closing Keynote.

Favorite hairdo: Catarina Fake.

Least favorite everything: Being some ad exec's idea of a target market. More on this latre.

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UPDATED 8.04.06: Bad links.

It's BlogHer Time!

db and I are happily arrived in San Jose, CA, for the BlogHer conf. Fri & Sat. Woohoo! Greatly looking forward to the conf., as last year's gave me hope, among other things, that the women's movement was not dead. I love smart women and, for that matter, smart men. Big fan of smarts in general, and I have a lot of respect for the women who organized this conference. They should give lessons.

We are drooping like -- what droops? -- whatever, something especially droopy. If I have my geography correct, NC and CA are on opposite sides of the country, and is it just me or are airlines not really trying anymore? There's no room, there's no food, the plane is littered w/ bits of travel effluvia -- magazines, gum wrappers, napkins; it all just looks v. shoddy. And by the time one emerges 3,000-miles later, one feels a little like that travel effluvia oneself.

So we're tired. Happy to be in Cali, though, where the weather is so reasonable. Lucky Californians! It's like 563 degrees in NC right now, isn't it? We were told SFO was at 59 degrees before we arrived, but I think it was a little warmer when we landed. Here, just south of the city, it's a perfect 70 degrees, clear skies, a light wind. db and I are wondering when we'll move here. [Answer: when we win the lottery.]

Thoughts going in: It really sucks being an introvert. Whine, whine, whine. I don't have any business cards w/ me, dammit. I feel like I should be networking, but don't really know why and to what end. Or how, for that matter. I'm trying to be Zen about it all and take what comes. Happily, that's an easy attitude to have re: BlogHer, which will be wonderful, so no worries on that point. I hope I have the chance to really chat with some new folks, which, if I can ignore my natural impulses, should be a breeze. Ha.

I want to come out of here w/ a little more technical knowledge, because, sorry Typepad, you're on my last nerve. I wouldn't mind some strategies on writing a decent blog either. I'm sick to death of this one, and it shows. Also, I don't have a lot of time to devote to this pursuit, so advice on how to eke out 5 more hours in a 24-hr-day would be welcome. That said, if I had 5 more hours, I'd take 5 more hours. Advice on how not to be s-o d-a-m-n s-l-o-w probably most needed. Will write updates as I have the opportunity. Here's to another fine conference! Y'all come next year.

Riverbend Up for a Book Prize!

Couldn't be happier. Hope she wins.

Iraqi woman's Baghdad blog in the running for GBP 30,000 book prize.

An anonymous Iraqi woman has become the first blog author to be in the running for a big literary prize for a book published between hard covers.Baghdad Burning, by a 26-year-old author who has won an international readership under the pen name Riverbend, is longlisted for the GBP 30,000 Samuel Johnson award.

In the list, announced today, she is up against 18 other books including Alan Bennett's latest bestseller, histories of the cold war and the great wall of China, and a biography of the 19th-century cookbook author Mrs Beeton. The Guardian carried an extract from Riverbend's title last summer.

The small literary publisher Marion Boyars brought out Baghdad Burning last year, classifying it under biography and memoir. The publishing house says it knows Riverbend's identity but respects her wish to remain anonymous.

It has already come third in the Lettre Ulysses prize for Reportage, winning GBP 14,000, and was shortlisted for an Index on Censorship freedom of expression award.

Riverbend began the blog with the words: "I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That's all you need to know. It's all that matters these days anyway."

University-educated Riverbend worked as a computer programmer before the invasion which began on March 20, 2003.

She lost her job, she told her readers, when it became too dangerous for Iraqi women to travel to work alone.

I encourage everyone to visit Baghdad Burning if you have not already. The moral distance between Riverbend and Donald Rumsfeld, say, could not be calculated w/ a million supercomputers all working at computation speeds greater than we can imagine in 1,000 lifetimes -- somewhere around the equivalent of 10,000 billion light years, I'm guessing. And I'm not exaggerating.

Further SXSW Notes: Women's Visibility

Sunday, 3/12:

Increasing Women's Visibility: Whose Butt Should We Be Kicking?

Moderated by your humble correspondent. Levels of nausea experienced were positively Sartrean, friends!  But why worry? My panelists had a wealth of experience, diverse points of view, and were among the most clear and concise panelists I heard all week. [But then, I wasn't worried about them.] This was a big topic and it was a short hour. Regretfully, I'm not sure it's possible to answer this question at all, let alone in an hour, especially since it hinges on structural inequalities, perceptions, social expectations, &c. and &c. As a result, our butt kickers really didn't have the chance to fully show their wonderful deep thinking on the not small subject of increasing women's visibility on the web. [Liz, wanna make that wiki?]

I feel quite lucky to have witnessed first hand the thoughtfulness, generosity of spirit, and professionalism of our panelists. A few things will stay w/ me: Tara's humility in noting her own privilege, Jan's no-nonsense (yet compassionate) DIY philosophy, Liz's vigorous and imaginative approach(es), and Virginia's resilience in forging her own path. These are strong and learned women, fine examples for us all, and I have to thank the gals of BlogHer everyday for giving me the opportunity to get to know them. Liz, Tara, Jan, and Virginia, you gals simply rock, and that is no jive.

Thanks, too, to our fired up audience for their enthusiasm, keen analyses, and passion. We were all delighted to participate in such a robust discussion and only wish we could have heard from more of you. Maybe next time they'll give us a couple of hours! And many thanks to Meri and fiancee (sorry, I missed your name), Jerry, Elizabeth, Jim, Dave, Melinda, Skye, Kirk, SteveR, WillR, Ruby, Mr. Jude Law lookalike, mystery SXSW volunteers, Wendy and others for your kind comments after the panel. Conversations continue.

Let's do it again next year!

>>>UPDATE: Elisa liveblogged the panel.

Further SXSW Notes

Friends, in attempts to better document the things I do, you may notice a few lists going up from time to time w/o the pressure of commentary. You'd never know, for instance, that in the last month I've seen the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra (led by Arturo O'Farrill), heard Joan Didion read, and had the pleasure of meeting Michael Berube at our last CH Bloggers MeetUp, and neither will I remember these in a year if I neglect to note them now!

Bustling, gadgety, geek-filled, hipster, forward-thinking, Web 2.0-ing, monetizing (oh, ugh.), trend-projecting SXSW was a damn good time and a brain boost to boot. I will do my best to get back there, not least because I owe Hugh Forrest a beer.

Friday, 3/10:

3:30 p.m., arrive on scene and early due to the luck of being put on the direct flight -- woohoo! -- and I am happy to be in Austin, the Chapel Hill of Texas. After about 12 minutes of being on the ground, I am already declaring to db that I could live here.

db and I drive around taking in the murals and the parks and orange-colored longhorns designed into the bus stops. Austin is hilly and dusty and alternately broken down and shiny, and there's a fair amount of public art, and I am always a fan of cities that pay attention to public art. So far, so good.

The thought creeps into my head though that I am physically standing in Texas, which means that I am that much closer to the reality of having to stand in front of 200 (or more) people. Urgh. Bleah. Try to down my sorrows in fresh squeezed lemonade at the Spider House Cafe.

7 p.m., BlogHer dinner: Stubb's Bar-B-Que

I meet my panelists for the first time, and they're tres cool. And in what must've been a rare occasion in Stubb's BBQ history, half of us at the table ordered the veggie plate. Those were some damn good yams, y'all. I'd also like to give a little shout out to the fried green tomatoes, yessiree.

9 p.m., BlogHer DrinkUp: ditto

I force my tired, overstimulated, and steadfastly introverted self to mingle. It is an effort. More on introversion in future posts. I don't believe it would've been possible for Stubb's to have been more loud. And since my nerves were already jangled, the rockabilly-meets- cranked to 11 wasn't helping.

Saturday, 3/11:

Morning reserved for coffee and a bagel and notes fidging and fudging. Ugh. Non-productive, brain not working, wishing I weren't missing the 10 a.m. panels.

We Got Naked, Now What?

The BlogHer survey made it into the WaPo. Way to go, gals! Ran into Roxanne of Rox Populi, who mentioned a cool new blog from the Smithsonian American Art Museum to me: Eye Level.

Public Square or Private Club: Does Exclusivity Strengthen or Dilute?

Saw less of SXSW than I would've wanted on Sat., but I had to keep heading home [JM's sister Anne's house -- thanks, Anne and family!] in between sessions to be nervous about my upcoming panel in the morn. Some things, like anxiety-motivated heebie jeebies, just take precedence.

Dined w/ Elisa, Ronnie, Lori, Jan and Dave, and db at a local steak place on 6th. Did not even consider attending any of the parties that eve.

My notes became less and less coherent the more I looked at them. Let's just say that when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.

SXSW Rocks

SXSW is a fantastic gathering. I filled about 1/5th of my Moleskine -- still going analog, sorry -- w/ notes from the sessions, which ranged in topic from digital preservation to video blogging to the future of radio.

The BlogHer panels, 5 of them, 1 of them moderated by your humble correspondent (more on that latre), were a rousing success, bringing a much-needed conversation to the proceedings. Go, BlogHer! It was wonderful to run into bloghers I'd met at last year's BlogHerCon and many others I hadn't. Hello to Skye, Sour Duck, Roxanne, Paige, Liz, Grace, Jan, Lisa, Barb, Nancy, Rashmi, Elaine, Ronnie, and Lori. [Links pending!]

But man. I just continue to be astounded by all that they pulled together to do this. If I heard correctly, attendance at SXSW Interactive was up 300% this year. I do know that women's participation doubled this year, thanks in large part to the collaboration of SXSW and BlogHer. Hugh Forrest, who's in charge of SXSWi, deserves a medal. And a long nap. Hugh, I'll make good on that beer I owe you.

My only regret is that I didn't go to SXSW 10 yrs ago when I would have been young and energetic enough to stay out 'til 2 a.m. every night listening to all that amazing music. Instead, I enjoyed myself immensely w/ some Tar Heel pals [Howdy, Ruby, WillR, SteveR, Kirk, and John!], ate great food, hit a party here and there, and still got myself home at a reasonable hour.

Anybody on the fence about going to SXSW, GO. Soak up the atmosphere, the high quality conversation, and the opportunity to share a wall outlet w/ other crazed gear addicts. A v. friendly vibe down in Austin. And might I add: the panels start at 10 a.m. Very civilized.

Blogiversary

Attention: we interrupt this frenzied first-of-the-year cleaning at Chez ae & db to note that yesterday was this blahg's 1-year anniversary, which is, ironically enough, the paper anniversary. Ha.

Way back in the dark ages when I actually wrote in a notebook, I loved it. Those scribblings had a markedly different (well...) focus and freedom. I was bound by nothing, least of which an audience, so everything from doodles to short stories made the grade, and so what, whoop-dee-do, no editor, no Delete key. There's something about handwriting and pen on paper that I love, though I've long since given up the notebook on a regular basis in trade for email correspondence and digi-scribbling. I miss something about it, but I can't quite place my finger on what exactly. Maybe just the tactility of paper and pen. Maybe the rhythm of pen to paper; maybe I think better w/ a pen in my hand rather than a keyboard at my fingertips; maybe everything is an excuse for "the grass is always greener."

Anyhoo, never thought I'd keep this up, but blogging is an engaging and interesting enterprise, and fascinating at times. I came to blogging a few years ago because I needed real information and analysis and the news was failing. And since then, it's been politics, personal stories, technical tidbits, and everything in between. I'm amazed by the quality and depth of thought out there, and I'm continuously learning. What more could your humble correspondent ask for? Thanks, everybody, you give me hope!

These internets have some power, y'all. Let's keep going. Thanks, as always, for dropping in to my humble digs. I clearly have no idea what I want this space to be, and, frankly, I'm not too hepped up about it, and I'm looking forward to figuring it out. Who knows what 2006 will hold for us, but I have a fair idea of what the next hour will hold for yours truly: the Tony Kushner-penned Munich at the local mall MegaGooglePlex.

UPDATE: Munich sold out, so our little crew of JM, Pablo, B, and db & me headed across the way to a swank and cozy bar for some nibbles and drinks. Much better than a movie! And better, too, because we spent a good portion of that time discussing our current reading. That's one resolution I have for the year: to get back to reading -- fiction, in particular. I read news and politics and magazine essays, but I've neglected more sustained pleasure reading. I'll need to be diligent in keeping this resolution if I don't want to lose what little mind I have left in these cretinous times.

[photo credit: db, Greensboro, NC, 12.24.05.]
 

More Thoughts on BlogHer

Quick notes on BlogHer while I have a minute here at SFO Int'l. $10 for wi-fi!

Let me say this: this was a conference of, for, and by people who listened. That's right. Listened. One cannot underestimate the value of this in all contexts, but especially in the context of 300 smart and opinionated women (and a smattering of smart and opinionated men) who were there to say/hear/learn something. And the fact that it got done is not a miracle, friends, no matter how much it may seem so to the devout or the uninitiated. It was the result of a certain ethos, clear in the careful planning and the respectful do-ocracy, of the conference planners. Thank you, Lisa, Elisa, and Jory. And thanks to all the women and men who made it a priority to hear each other out and to allow room for disparate points of view. Let's make this crystal clear for the naysayers: there is no monolithic Woman (as there is no monolithic Man) and there is no monoltihic blogger. So it would follow that there is no monolithic blogger concern, opinion, or criticism. 300 people sitting in a room and actually wanting to move the whole process -- and women in it -- forward and doing it with enthusiasm, respect, and all requisite challenges and critiques, too, is a sight to behold, and I'm glad I was there to see it.

And before the Prescriptive Gender Role Police arrive, let's just dispense w/ the idea that "women listen better than men" or whatever. I happen to believe that women do, as that has been my experience, but let's not get off track. This was well-planned and well-attended. End of story.

BlogHer 2005 Rocks Santa Clara

I'll need a moment to digest a long, wish-it-was-longer, day of debate, discussion, and networking at BlogHer. Wow. Kudos to the organizers, kudos to the attendees. This was one fantastic conference. The level of engaged discourse still has my head spinning and that I can't yet formulate any coherent thoughts about it all reveals why I did not volunteer to liveblog any of the sessions.

I don't know that I've ever attended any all-day event in which the level of interest, attention, and connection seemed to rise as the day progressed. These were/are some committed women and men, and I'm delighted and heartened to have met so many articulate, warm, snarky, opinionated, thoughtful, funny, modest, forward-thinking people. In the next day or so, as I collect my thoughts and return to NC, I hope to say a bit more about the wonderful folks I met. Even though I am literally falling asleep typing this, inside I'm shouting out a big Woohoo! Thanks to all those who chatted w/ me today. You rock.

And normally, I would despair that nothing would come of the energy of the conference's sessions, as so often happens, but somehow I know it will be different from this crowd. Lisa, Elisa, and Jory have done something quite wonderful in thinking up this very necessary idea and bringing all of us here together to build on it, and I can't wait to see what develops. Herstory in the making.

Checking out the BlogHer blogroll highly recommended.

Off to BlogHer!

Looking forward to a day at BlogHer, and for those who are curious but weren't able to drop in, lots of folks will be liveblogging the conference. I'll be liveblogging it analog-style, so my notes will come later. For people interested in a more participatory connection to the conference goings on, you can join the online chat. I'm so impressed with how quickly and how well the conference organizers have pulled everything together. They've done a good thing here. I'm off!