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10 pounds down 32 pounds to go!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

BlogHer or something



So, the weirdest thing about blogher was that almost none of the people I met were writers. More than one woman asked me who I blog for and when I said "me" they looked at me like I had five heads. What a concept, to blog for oneself. To not be selling a product or researching a market, how novel...how quaint. A lot of people asked me how long I've been blogging and I've never really thought about it, I had to count on the spot and it was almost 8 years. I started back when you had to work the html yourself. I felt like an old lady...when I started blogging it was uphill both ways in THIS much snow! They were all new bloggers, within a year or two, and they all looked at me like "oh my god, you've been blogging that long and you're not Dooce yet!" The fear was palpable. So was my irritation. I'm definitely going to have to work on that, a professional demeanor. Or something.

In some ways it was a very expensive disappointment, but I learned a lot. None of what I expected to learn but lessons none the less. In a very practical way I suppose it was worth it but I won't be rushing out to go again. I don't fancy paying to be part of someone else's market research again.

But that makes it sound like I didn't have any fun at all ever. Which isn't true because there was a lot of chocolate. And I had a lovely roommate who had really excellent hair in addition to being a sweetie. There she is working while I took a picture of my feet, cute flip flops!

And then PastaQueen ate half my dinner, it's going to be a whole chapter in my memoir. It was very romantic and all, candlelit...very special.

And then I got my ass kicked in bowling by a pregnant woman. Lisa was really a very good sport about wiping the floor with Rebecca and I, gracious.

I'm very happy to be home with Matt and puppy and my sofa and my bed. It was a long day but I didn't have to stage a bus protest on the road to Indianapolis so I made out pretty good. And I got a shit load of cleaning products, more re-usable bags than I could ever lose and a disturbing bunny shaped vibrator so all in all it was an interesting weekend.

5 comments:

Caryn said...

Hi -- it was great to meet you (however briefly!). Being at BlogHer was a very interesting experience -- both positive and negative. I'm kind of still processing my thoughts on it. In the end, though, the best thing was just meeting different people and hearing their stories. I hope to learn more about you by becoming a regular reader of your blog. Take care!

pinky pinkerson said...

I was very interested to read about your BlogHer experience - I assume it had to be a more organic, less profit-driven affair when it started.

There have been many bloggers I've stopped reading when they became sponsored by companies to go places, or wear things - that's not why I read blogs. Once someone writes as if they know X number of eyes will be reading, something seems lost to me. Or maybe I'm just jealous.

Amy said...

I thought maybe jealousy was a factor in going but I can't imagine having spent the weekend in some of the shoes I saw people wearing. Seriously, if that's how you dress all the time you need to get a grip on yourself. One of the bloggers we met said that it's becoming more and more commercial every year, I feel like I should have gone years ago and maybe I would have gotten more out of it but I think I'm happy just writing and being a dork. We went to one panel where there was a writer and she was great, people should be paid for their writing...not what they write about. I think about what would happen if I were ever approached with such and offer and I'm pretty sure I would alienate them right away so I guess I shouldn't worry over it.

pinky pinkerson said...

I just showed my husband your photo, and he wanted me to say "thank you, Thirsty Whale shirt providing lady! you are the best!"

He still wears it - but I think it may be time to put it in lighter rotation for archival preservation.

Amy said...

I'm so glad he likes his shirt. It's probably at the best stage now where it's really soft. I hope it lasts.