BlogHer08, The Aftermath

So I'm back. I have done conferred with the masses and now I'm standing in my living room with three different sized boxes 'cause I'M PACKING. Except I can't decided what should go in which sized box, and it's all too confusing, and when things get confusing, I get sleepy, and this sentence could go on forever, couldn't it, yes indeedy I havent spent years reading Faulkner not to pick up something useful. But I digress.

BlogHer08: There were too many people (ONE THOUSAND of 'em, count 'em) to do the traditional BlogHer shoutout post where you link to everyone you met, or at least gathered a card from. Instead, I'm visiting all of you wonderful women, and I shall post on your sites in the next day or two. There were also too many experiences, impressions, whatevers to do the traditional BlogHer Recap Post. Instead, you'll get this piecemeal, whenever it hits me. Think of it as the Continuing Saga of Jane at BlogHer08. Don't know if it will last two days or two weeks. Stay tuned to find out.

I have uploaded the photos I took to Flickr. Done it quick and dirty without titles or even making sure they're the right way around. So in the next day or so, I'll be using Picnik's amazing (truly, I've tried it) photo editing service, which just coincidentally happens to be bundled with Flickr to make some silk purses of the sow's ears that I shot. Really, I am a good photographer...artsy even (see my pic of clams at Redondo Beach that Schmap.com is using for their LA photo Guide). But stick a camera in my hand at an event like BlogHer and I might as well be shooting with the back of my head, using my left foot to hit the shutter. Yes, that bad. Part of the problem--maybe the whole problem--is that I forget to take pictures. Just don't think about it. And then when I do, well, the scene in front of me seems so boring and predictable and couldn't we buy a postcard that does a better job. So I rush to focus on something vaguely visually interesting, but then I'm somewhat embarassed to be taking pictures in public, so I don't focus properly or frame well, and the results are something like this:

If you crank your head sideways, you will surely see the cookies from Day One's Cookies and Milk midmorning snack. In my mind I had an image of a closeup of all the cookies, but that image never made it to my viewfinder. Whatever.

I did eat one of those cookies, but did not take the milk because I'm lactose-intolerant but very tolerant of the well-being of those around me. I ate a cookie because I did not eat breakfast. I did not even see breakfast. I can only believe, because others have told me, that the hotel provided breakfasts on both days, but damned if I knew where. Breakfast began at 8:30. I got there about 9:15. Is it possible that they cleared the whole thing away by then? I asked one blogger who was carrying a plate full of croissants (as well as a belly full of baby) and she graciously shared one with me. So Stephanie Precourt of Adventures In Babywearing, if it was you who took pity on me--thank you.

More anon.....

...and at MidLifeBloggers, there's a new post up on Bodysnarking. Do you know what that is? Do you do it? And I'll be posting about MidLifeBloggers at BlogHer'08 tomorrow...and that's a promise, I think.

MidLifeBloggers on Flickr

Yes, indeedy, we now have our very own Flickr group where we can post our very own photos from midlife and before. I've put two of mine up: one is a very soulful photo in which I am trying to look like a BEAUTIFUL THING THAT SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE WOULD WANT TO PUT ON THEIR COVER. Obviously, I was not successful. The other is a photo of my left foot, which is much the better of my two feet in that it has aged well. My right foot, unfortunately, is not now and never will be ready for a closeup.

So--if you're a MidLifeBlogger and are on Flickr, go and join the group and upload your photos. When we have more than my two, I'll put a widgety thing on MidLifeBloggers, that will give a rotating show of all our pix. If you're not on Flickr, join. It's free.

Moleskine -- and Jane's addiction

Jane's addiction--small 'a', people--is my addiction. I love Moleskines. I can't not fondle them wherever they're displayed. I lust after each and every one of them, and I own three, THREE, three of my very own.
The one on the left is a cunning little accordian file, just the right size for--whatever is 3-ish x 5-ish.
I've used it over the years to carry with me whatever stuff I might need, but don't know when. Like a credit card for Robinsons-May, a department store which no longer exists. And my Express card, a reminder of the days when I could wear those clothes. And my Women's Shoe Club benefits card from Bloomingdale's, last used on 4/29/98. As I said, I've used it over the years...

The one on the top is a vertical lined notebook. See.

And the one on the bottom is a sketchbook, in which I--sketch. Until today, I thought I was alone in this addiction. No one else I know even thinks of Moleskines, and if they do, it's probably only to say--what for? But today I was idly browsing my Google reader and came across this post from Communicatrix on getting stuff done. I believe she put it rather more creatively than that, but suffice to say, I'm a sucker for any kind of organizational information. I firmly believe that all that is standing between me and great success at whatever is the correct organizational mode. So I read her post, and then there at the end, she had a photo of a Moleskine. Eureka! I followed the link and learned there's a whole world of Moleskine-lovers out there. Flickr even has a category for them! And oh what riches following that link produced.

I feel as if I've found My People.

Happy Fourth Birthday, Flickr

You've been very good to me....


Flickr Blows from Derek Powazek on Vimeo.

On hubris, being chuffed, and my continued conflict with fear

All we have to fear is fear itself. I think ole Winnie said that. Or maybe Stalin. Or one of them guys who were ruling the world in the last century.

I beg to differ. Fear itself is a fearsome thing. It can roar up and bite you in the butt. It can scald your innards with poisonous gases. It can paralyze an otherwise relatively normal human being trying to go around her life.

To wit: I could go on ad nauseum and infinitum with these cunning rhetorical twists and turns, all to avoid telling you what I set out to say.

Which is: Yesterday I got an email via my Flickr account from a guy at a gallery in Georgia in which he said they are having a show next month on documentation and distortion, and he thought I should enter.

If I could breathe, I would say more--.

TO BE CONTINUED

Photo Shop Light

The thing about being a dilettante is that one must try out all sorts of activities, previously (and one might say better) left to the experts. The fact that I know nothing about a particular art form means little to me. I have that supreme parent-engendered confidence that I can do anything I want to and be really, miraculously good at it. This means that I try every and anything that catches my attention. It also means that inevitably I crash and burn and abandon said effort when--whoa! how did that happen?--the results don't look like I expected them to. Still, I have fun while I'm at it...

Currently I'm working away at photography. I bought the license for Arcsoft Photo Studio and I'm having fun playing. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm more than willing to share with you.

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

...on this, the fifteenth day of November, I submit: my Flickr badge. Consider this as fulfilling my commitment to NaBloPoMo today, as well as my promise above that By Jane will offer Amateurish Photography.

Eyes right, ladies and gentlemen--

EDIT: Okay, it was late, post Grey's Anatomy and I got the date wrong. Any fool can see that it's the 16th of November!