Archive for July, 2006

Blogga

July 31, 2006 | Filed under: La Madre

“Let’s not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.” ~Vincent Van Gogh, 1889*

There has been serious gushing people. That’s all it’s been all damn day long. The type of gushing that might involve sporks to eyes and cries through the tears of ‘My God! Why won’t she stop?!’ But the gushing, it prevails and because it never has before, I’ve allowed it to take hold until I’ve finished telling everyone that I had to resist the urge to place them in my pocket.

The fear and nervousness dissipated far quickly than I had originally suspected. I managed to prevent disconcerting circumstances and no one lashed out at me for my general social awkwardness. I sat and absorbed and looked around, hardly believing that I was able to be apart of such an event. How lucky I was that Elisa and Lisa let me join in. How brilliant I was to save my boy wonder watching money so that I could buy his mother drinks (OMG…did you know that Amy brings her babysitter with her to conferences and NOT her child? Isn’t that absurd?!) and have a giant ass king sized bed to myself. For now, we shall look past – very far past to Pluto or something – the bad parts of a hotel in Tech valley that had no internet access.

It’s something that I can’t put my finger on. Meeting people – women – whose lives I have read and digested and contemplated, though I hardly knew them as more than a cursor on a page. Then I thought how lovely some of these women might be in real life and that it might be fun to have a glass (or four of red with them). I especially love that there really is no perfectly common ground between us and yet Alice exclaimed how happy she was to have met me and Julia said that it felt like Déjà vu with me and I could only say ‘Why thank you. Come to DC. Now’ and that Beth cried and I felt terribly and wondered why (outloud!) even though we hadn’t ever met.

So, do you see? The reason for the gushing? Anyway, let me relish in it for a bit longer and laugh about Y doing the worm and that I got to spend my entire weekend with two of my favorite (I know. You are jealous) people in the entire world who only made fun of me twice for being a few years younger than they (Oh yes I did have a Michael Jackson record and record player). So I will continue with the gushing and the trite clichés about oh great it was to meet people. For at least it will keep me from being in despair about the awful thing that I said last week that almost left me homeless (and yet I keep picking at it and picking at it) and that my apartment looks like the aftermath of some horrid tornado. That is if tornados sucked up and spit out random clothing, a purple couch and an ironing board in the middle of the hallway.

*the original quote was to be “Like a fairy godmother mafia” but found that to be too obvious and predictable. No?

Welcome home

July 31, 2006 | Filed under: La Madre

”
“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.” ~John Ed Pearce

I have returned, though it surely doesn’t feel like I was gone, but alas home nonetheless. Relatively unscathed and profoundly happy. There may even be speak of rainbows and puppies and no talk of why I had to go through four cities just to get here. Nope. No hate towards Southworst.

Nor how I’m on the verge of become an awful weepy mess because I want to put everyone from the weekend in my pocket. Just…well…smiley for now because I done made Lisa, Elisa and Jory proud and I aim to please.

Which is funny - that I aim to please - givne I almost became homeless and that on day negative one, my roommate already kinda wants to punch me in the baby making parts.

Rainbows, people. Rainbows.

Transforming your life

July 29, 2006 | Filed under: La Madre

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” ~Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

Brought to you by:
Nina Smith
Deni Bonet
Cathy Kirkman

Preface: I’m laughing my ass off if you even remotely think that I will be transforming your life. Hell I can’t even transform my life. I’m clueless, in case you didn’t know that already. But these women have transformed their lives for the better (at least I think, but we shall learn about that) via their blogs.

With my blog I’ve transformed my typing skills, my use of dictionary.com and their word of the day, my drinking skills and well, we’re slowly working on my people skills. And my therapy bill is now non-existent huzzah! So I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that these women have done considerably more than I have in the transformation arena. And I will learn from them and absorb and wish that I were a better person. Natch.

Session:

Cathy is a lawyer and has a blog for lawyers, which has gotten her extra business.

Nina publishes a blog called QueerCents that is a personal finance blog for gays and lesbians. By creating a community (see with that word here…) she has been able to get published and become an expert on financial planning.

Deni is a musician who was dared into blogging by her husband who thought that her life was interesting therefore figured that others would like to read about it.

The important thing to understand about blogging is the way it changes your life (both good and bad) and how it changes your communication tactics; which are intangible results. The tangible being a new business or developing a brand.

Oh and once again with the audience participation…which is awesome. It’s especially interesting to hear how others have started their blogs and how their lives have changed because of it.

Carmen (an audience member) – who I now love – has six children which was the topic of discussion for her blog until Christmas day when she saw pictures of herself and decided to use her blog to motivate her weight loss. People! She even records what she eats! I am thoroughly impressed, not just because of her 42 pound weight loss but because of the sense of community and support that she found from other people via her blog.

Ok, now there is a woman who, via her blog, has taught podcasting and been on commercials In. China. CHINA. For newbies, just an FYI, people everywhere can read your blog and there is nothing better than getting an email from someone 50,000 miles away saying that they love you. Nothing.

Oh and another of my favorite things is hearing about how people have used blogging as their new (and free!) way of self therapy. Which some may or may not disagree with, but it does give people a new way of expressing their emotions.

Someone just expressed how much time blogging takes. It’s hard work and though very interesting it can be time consuming. There are also umm other bad things that can happen, such as one woman almost lost custody of her child. That is very bad. If there is one thing I’ve learned via this whole blogging network is that people will and easily read EVERYTHING that you write. NO matter how unpopular you think you are SOMEONE will read it. The end.

And I think that is a nice little way to end things. That they – blogs – can be transforming in powerful, good and bad things but if there is one thing that canot be stressed enough it’s being careful of content. Because the same content that will bring comments to your site in appreciation are the same posts that can screw you over.

And now? We drink.

(And now, no more liveblogging for a very, very, very long time, for I am tired)

Soooo…

July 29, 2006 | Filed under: La Madre

So…day two eh? Yeah. I’m trying to think of exciting things that have happened in the past 24 hours despite being overwhelmingly happy to be here and the fact that I almost didn’t come because I was afraid, is ridiculous. I mean, had I not come, there would have been no talk of Orrin Hatch with Dooce. Because that’s just not possible in Washington.

And there is more, obviously, so much more but let’s hear a fun story about how one really shouldn’t write about their housing authority in such a public place. It leads to very bad things and let us all be thankful that I am not homelss right now. Amen.

Wanna see a picture(s)?

Get Deeply Geeky

July 29, 2006 | Filed under: La Madre

“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” ~Lloyd Alexander

Brought to you by:
Laura Scott
Miriam Verburg
Nancy White
Melanie Swan

Preface: I don’t do complicated. I don’t do extensive. It makes me nervous and I break out in hives in that little crook where my arm bends and just…no. That said, I’ve been told – ok, warned – that this will be a complicated session. I’m itchy already.

(Deep breaths)

But! It’s about Gender. I feel very strongly about gender and gender identity and I’ve researched it learned about it and I think all will be well. And when I groveled to be let into Blogher because it was life or death the first thing I did was to exclaim my genuine excitement for women doing things for other women. Flippin’ fantastic.
I wish I could say more but, it’s too much, and I am weak. Or, maybe I just have no idea.

Session:

Once again I’m graced by the presence of Miriam Verburg who is also once again, doing the Make the Audience do work thing and asking how many of the women in the room use open sourcing. Also, how many women in the room are ‘geeks’. The conversation is speckled with points of how to get women involved within tech communities.

The hardest part for me right now is once again I am at a loss. I am not a geek (as we all so sadly saw yesterday) nor am I tech savvy in any sense of the word. So again, for me, it’s all about the absorption and then trying to put it here in a way for all to understand.

It is once again apparent that there is a lack of female representation in the tech community. The women that are apart of that community are ridiculously smart and do know what they are talking about. It’s developing a sense of community and bringing these much sought after women so that they see that they are not alone. As cliché as it sounds, it’s the absolute truth.

One of the panelists just gave a possible reason for why there are so few women in the tech world, which is because of those doing the hiring. Instead women are met with various stereotypes that hinder their progress in the tech field. The remedy? Besides getting angry and bitchy is to stick to your guns and start your own company.

(can I just say that even though all of the sessions are panelist driven they all end up being audience driven, which is perhaps one of the most important and best things to see at this conference)

So, what are the solutions?

If you are a woman in a position and you feel that there is a glass ceiling. Get out. In my personal opinion that seems easier than it actually may be. But also to network, network, network. As it isn’t just a tech question, but it’s a general women in the workforce question.

Some say that there is no actual glass ceiling but instead being in a situation where women need to ask for money while still keeping their feminine personality. It shouldn’t be seen as uncharacteristic of a woman to ask for money nor should they be worried about doing so.

(Ok, the conversation has just turned to something Utopia which is a tech thing and something about ‘meta verse’ (sp?) and…I am scared. I repeat: I AM NOT A GEEK. Not that that’s a bad thing, but I’m just sayin’)

Nancy has identified two teenagers who are members of a Summer math and science academy. They are into science and technology and are adorable. But who cares that they are adorable, they’re smart (a hell of a lot smarter than I at least) and guess what! In high school they still experience gender discrimination from their male classmates who question whether or not they get help with their homework because they are in the advanced science and math classes. Oh, they’re also really fucking articulate. Suddenly I feel inadequate. Durrrr.

Thankfully though there are males of the same age and in their summer program who support them. Ok, a 16 year old boy just said that women deserve respect in the lab and the other says that he encourages the girls in his biology class to do better. My ice cold heart just melted a bit, because that? Is very adorable.

Moving on…

There will be a list! A list of women in the tech field! Lists are good!

Now more mention of this open source thing, which I don’t get. So if say you read this and you start thinking “OMG WTF were they thinking letting this girl write”? Just know that I am apologizing to you from miles away…I also suggest the podcasts. That way you can hear what has been said instead of just reading what happened.

Anyway despite the list of women, there are also goals, which are also very good. Goals that include getting women involved in a singular open source project and finding men to support women.

Action:

Organize, support tech learning, coordinate ‘estro-swarms’, notification.

And for myself? Learn to use the internet. Joy.

And now? We eat.