elkit in wonderland

Jesus In A Camper Van

This one time, at WoolfCamp ...

I think you can just google WoolfCamp and find us all.

It's almost 10pm, and it's raining steadily outside in the darkness, while we are taking turns reading and performing poetry. Some read favorite poems from other writers, some read their own poetry, and I just got treated to my first ever slam poetry performance, courtesy of the awe-some Sarah.

PS on Sunday: Adding technorati tag: woolfcamp

How Will The Wolf Survive?

WoolfCamp
Originally uploaded by elkit.

Having a great time at WoolfCamp with two dozen campers. We built a shrine to some of our friends who are with us here in spirit, but could not be present physically.

Mostly I am talking about Jo the Spanglemonkey and Ricky the Bottleblogger. We love you, guys.

Technorati tags: woolfcamp

Memories Are Made Of This

All these threads coming together ...

Rich:

I have noticed that political and news blogs are the only blogs that get attention in the media. ... The media never talks about what is happening with personal blogging. I am not sure they can see why it is important. ... I believe that no one will remember what was written on Political blogs, famous blogs, technology blogs, or business blogs 200 years from now. When the Ken Burns movie of this era is made 2000 years from now they will be reading from personal blogs.

Grace, the un-hostess of WoolfCamp, Spanglemonkey pondering on the WoolfCamp wiki:

It's interesting to me that blogging is actually a genre unto itself. You have to read and write blogs for a bit before you can detect it. And here I'm talking about the personal blogs like mine, the shapeless sort of identity blogs that have more to do with autobiography and less with any particular topic. Here's how I see this style of autobiography:

1. It's immediate, written very soon after the event if not at the event itself.
2. It's imperfect and unedited much of the time.
3. It's much like conversation, in that it is an offering made for the sake of a relationship at the moment. I want readers to understand me, right now; I'm not talking very often about things that happened a long time ago, unless those stories have bearing on this moment and my understanding of it. It's also like conversation in that it attempts to provide entertainment; it's pimping for cool points.

Spanglemonkey, about genres in, umh, genral ...

Without genre, much of the world would be gibberish. Genre is the lexicon, the literary guide to what the work itself "means." It comes at great anxiety and is delivered to a reader in a variety of methods.

Bus schedules, for instance, are not poetry. They come into your life surrounded in context. You find where you are in time and space, compare it to the description of time and space given on the bus schedule, and calculate when those two trajectories can collide to your advantage.

... and about blogging in particular:

Blogs as "literary" genre, therefore, is all about figuring out what is the context of blogging. What does it "mean" to blog? How are these words read, and why? For whom are they written? What will happen next, and what does it describe?

My thoughts about this are fomenting slowly in my grey and white matter, so this is a bookmarks of sorts until I am ready and able to put it in my own words.

For now, I am going to completely ignore it and will go back outside into the Mayish weather and shall pick more lemons and oranges in my backyard.

Your Mind Is Made Up, But Your Mouth Is Undone

The Spanglemonkey says I can only bring one opinion to WoolfCamp, and that I better make it a good one. Hmmmmmm ... this will require some pondering.

Actually, I think the harder part is leaving all the other opinions at home. They always hang on to the seat of my pants when I leave the house. Stubborn little pests they are. Maybe I can get the kittens to mind them that weekend. Or I can keep them at bay with bacon cookies.

Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon

January 2006 071
Originally uploaded by Jo Spanglemonkey.

Tracked north to The City on a school night, for the BlogHer Launch Party at the Thirsty Bear, where I met several cool women and a couple of cool guys (they were cool just by association).

The occasion was the redesign of the BlogHer site. I showed up because I wanted to meet more women bloggers who I will see again at South by Southwest Interactive in March, and at BlogHer '06 in July.

I got to shake hands with and talk to the women behind BlogHer:
- Lisa Stone, who greeted me with an enthusiastic "It is SO nice to meet you!" She said something much like that too when I said goodbye. We didn't get to talk much during the evening because we were all busy mingling, and I bet she said something similar to everybody. No, I'm not dissing her - on the contrary. I know she meant every word. What a gracious hostess! I felt well taken care of and well connected.
- Elisa Camahort, who told me all kinds of promising-sounding details about several panels at SXSW panels that BlogHer is co-producing.
- Jory des Jardins and Jennifer, who stuck a microphone and a camera in my face and let me gush for a couple of minutes. Just remember you knew me before I got famous ...

We were all shamelessly friendly, saying hello to complete strangers and asking their names and blog URLs. Take a look at the latest photos tagged "BlogHer", and you'll see us gathered together, eating, drinking, and definitely being merry.

I met Dana Yobst who co-produces the podcast Geek Rules, Danah Boyd (who I'd actually already seen at 111 Minna a couple of weeks ago, which I realized when she put that groovy hat back on). I'd also already met Liz - so this meeting counts like a second date, right, and it's not too forward that I got to see her underwear and her boobies. Yes, yes, you heard me right. I got to see her boobies. Nice ones, too. Sadly, I left before the make-out session. Actually, this was really inexcusable, since I had suggested it ... and Liz, Jo Spanglemonkey, Mary, JeniJen and Grace were all game. I am sorry, ladies! Hope to make it up to you at WoolfCamp (yes, I added my name!)

I am still in shock because:
- I got to meet two fellow bottleheads, Spanglemonkey and Grace, whose comments I always enjoy. Spanglemonkey!!! I had NO idea she was a local. I told her I'd just sort of assumed she lived in a different galaxy than me mere mortal.
- Grace heard me say my name and went, "Oh wow! Elkit!", treating me like a revered elder whose voice is respected and worshipped in the community. And then she said she could listen to my accent for hours (to which, of course, I replied: "Vot akzent? I heff no akzent!"). And THEN she suggested I start a podcast ("with that voice!"). And I am actually thinking about it. And THEN she invited me to WoolfCamp.

Good times. Good times.
And a passle of new blogs in my "Hey, I Know You!" blogroll. I'll tell you about those tomorrow; I am sure I forgot a few. Ya'll come back now, ya hear ...