Like Donkey Kong. Oh yeah.

My slacker-self always misses BlogHer for two reasons:

1. I forget to sign up on time.
2. I do not have the money to sign up anyway.

This year I have thwarted both of those excuses. Even though I did forget to sign up for a full conference pass (and couldn’t have afforded it anyway), I’m still going because BlogHer 09 is in my friendly neighboring city of Chicago and I can get a partial admission called LobbyCon for only $99. This means I get to be in on the streaming video session of the general and keynote addresses (on-site at the ChiBar at the Sheraton), as well as the cocktail parties, the after-parties, and the swag at the Expo. I’ll miss the breakout sessions, but that’s okay. I’d rather come for part of it that I can afford than not go at all.

Do you know anyone doing LobbyCon at BlogHer?

Since LobbyCon-goers are not involved in the breakout sessions, we have a big gap of free time during the day Friday and Saturday, all of which cannot be spent harvesting goodies at the Expo. But BlogHer is at the Sheraton Towers in downtown Chicago, close to lots and lots o’ fun, even outside of the conference! Since no official forum exists, I’m working the comment board on the one article about LobbyCon, trying to gather email addresses to at least get a mailing list together so people can share ideas.

Because, you know, we don’t get to eat lunch with the rest of you guys.

If you are interested in LobbyCon, click here for a link to an article with the details, and click here to go to the Eventbrite page to register.

And if you’re going to BlogHer, with whatever kind of ticket, I strongly recommend that you check out  “The Unofficial Guide to BlogHer ‘09″ at Guidespot.com. Jenn of Free and Flawed put that puppy together and it is all kinds of helpful, especially for first-timers like me. I learned many things, including that I need not be afraid of taking my laptop around, but I might like a sexier laptop bag with more pockets. And that my social anxiety may be assuaged if I have pretty blog cards to break the ice with new people.

So I bought this from Amazon:

and these from socialcirclecards on Etsy:

The blog cards even come with a super-cute matching case. It’s not too late to order yours!

</sales pitch>

I got a prize! In Italian!

Jen at “Confessions of a Secret Keeper” (which, by the way, is an awesome oxymoron) gifted me with the Premio Dardos Award. I’m going to lift her explanation…

Premio Dardos means “prize darts” in Italian, and is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.

Rules:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to other 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I’m actually not very good at darts. And I don’t speak any Italian that you won’t find on sheet music or on a menu. But hey – thanks Jen! I’m only about a month late in recognizing the award, and I do apologize for that. This post has been sitting in draft mode and I thought I’d published it already. Oopsie.

I’m bad about passing on prizes, I’ll throw that out there right now. 15 is a big number. But I do want to give this especially to Gretchen at Gretch-a-Sketch. She’s a lovely Mormon girl from Utah who has had her personal blog since 2007. However, Gretchen for recently left on her mission, and in doing so was required to unplug herself from all things Internet. But she’s still dedicated to sharing her stories with her many loyal readers, and now does so in the form of letters home that her parents post on her blog. I admire the way Gretchen shares stories about her work with her religion without ever coming across as evangelical or preachy – it’s just a love for what she’s doing with her life.

Rachael at A Sweetheart and a Soldier gifted me with the Neno’s Award for loving blogging!
The goals of this award..

1. As a dedication to those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging

2. To seek the reasons why we all love blogging

3. Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it!

4. Don’t forget to mention the person who gave you the award

5. Answer the awards question by writing the reason you love blogging

I love blogging because secretly, I think my life is interesting and I want other people to agree with me. I’m one of those sociopathic nutjobs who feels validated when people leave comments, whether the post is about pain, paint, or what dress I want to buy. I think I’m a better communicator through writing than through speaking (just TRY and have a conversation with me and see if you think I’m illiterate in 2 minutes or less) and it makes me happy when I can put on a screen the things I can’t verbalize when it’s time to tell a story in person.

And the blogging community. I lurves you crazy kids. I like being a voyeur into your lives and even though you don’t leave me many comments, I know that at least 75 of you per day are watching my life unfold too. In the last few years, bloggers haven’t just accidentally become a community, they’ve proactively  BUILT a community by starting social networking sites, planning meetups, sharing awards, and reaching out to one another on a personal level.  It’s great to be a part of it.

6. Tag and distribute this award to as many people as you like

7. Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post

Who loves blogging? Doot doot dooo… oh, let me think… this one goes out to my friends who blogged, stopped blogging, and came back due either to loving blogging (I hope) or continued harrassment from their loyal fans (quite possible).

Paige at Life Goes On, I Think

Sean at More Blitherings

There. Up-to-date on awards. )

Brand About Town sent me a Nintendo DSi in the mail yesterday! I had no idea I was going to get one before the party, but I’m sure they just want me to practice so I can be a good example and a rock star and all that. AND IT HAS BLING.

Justine opened the box and put a sparkly crystal heart on the DSi before she sent it. Woo! Shiny objects!

This is all quite convenient because today I am stuck at home waiting for the air conditioner repair guy to come and douse my cranky AC with new freon. And so from 12 to 4, I need something to do besides watch the temperature on the thermostat rise.

Who wants to learn to play Mario Kart with me?

Okay, I can’t be THAT uncool…

…OR CAN I?

Brand About Town has graciously asked me to hostess a party for their “Girlfriend’s Guide to Gaming” promotion of the new Nintendo DSi handheld. Some other lovely lady bloggers have done these in their hometowns and it looks like they had a blast. I’m really flattered that I was asked to host. And seriously? Nintendo party? Squee!!!

Tiny blip.

“Girlfriend’s Guide to Gaming” is obviously targeting a female audience; therefore, my invitees must be female. And I’m coming to the scary realization that even though I was born and raised in the St. Louis area, I don’t know many girls in this town anymore. Most of my friends are boys.* And complicating this is the fact that one of my two good girl friends has a wedding to be in that weekend and the other is on-call to work the All Star game.

And I’ve realized on perusal of my Facebook friends that the girls I actually consider to be friends (i.e.: I really care what their updates say) don’t live here.

I’m going to try and get the date changed so my good friends can come at least. The other little quandary is the fact that the girl friends I DO have come from different parts of my life and don’t really know one another. I might take the “bring a friend” angle to get the numbers up, meet new people, and encourage mingling. It’s also an awesome chance for me to try and gather some of the previously un-met St. Louis lady bloggers together and get to know them. And what better way to do that than with food, drink, and Guitar Hero?

Tonight I’m going to holler at the girls in the St. Louis group on 20-Something Bloggers to see what they’re up to the weekend of July 11th.**

Still feeling uncool, though.
——————
* Because I heart boys.
** Join my group! Join my group! LOVE ME!

Of course I had a cold on my vacation. Of course I did.

The good news is that my teeth didn’t feel like they were going to fall out this time.

It’s been a peaceful week without the Interwebs. I fully intended to get back on the blog after getting back from my float trip in the middle of the week… but something (Antihistamines? Diphenhydramine?) slowed me down. I stayed in bed most of the first day back, nursing my one bug bite and my tiny sunburn and cuddling E, smelling him smelling like soap for the first time in several days. And I just did not want to plug back in.

For many days, obviously.

But I’m going back to work tomorrow and I have to wear real clothes… and so it’s time to check voicemails and blogrolls and any email that hasn’t forwarded to my phone. I’m actually typing this post on my Sidekick because I haven’t gotten back on the computer except to add to my Netflix queue. I haven’t even unpacked - everything is still in Rubbermaid tubs in the garage while I hope that everything will dry, cease to smell, and the remaining bugs will crawl out on their own.

And maybe my clothes will wash themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, I love camping. I’m a great camper. I’m a crappy swimmer but I love float trips. But I do not love hail. And there was hail.

I’d rather camp in the hail again than go back to the real world.