Halloo internets!! I have a new theme, whattya think?
Yeah. I know.
It’s slow.
S L O O O O O W.
I can’t even say slow slow enough to fully capture just how slow my blog loads now.
No fears tho! Thanks to the fabulous Jason Grigsby and his talk from last year’s WordCamp Portland , “Speed Up WordPress: Make Readers Happy and Your Site Green”, I have this handy little tool on my FireFox called YSlow . And I’ll be using it to optimize my blog so the SLOW WILL BE NO MO.
Just as soon as I have time. I mean, you see how long it took me just to install a couple new themes to play around with?
THE BUSIES. I HAZ THEM.
Still. Here’s a short little list of all the plates I have spinning merrily:
And that’s just my projects. I still go to martial arts class, I still work on the Eternal Project, I date people, I try to keep my dog well exercised and happy because she’s the bestest dog on the planet, I am trying to build a couple of DJ sets to shop around, and I still love to write using blogs for my various writing outlets (this here personal one, OurPDX, and now the WordCamp Portland blog is gonna need some loves from me.)
Oh yeah, and work.
So, busy.
I could use some help with that stuff, you know. If you’re not doing anything. Stuff like:
Recommending great local bands who’d like to play the 30 Hour Day 2 Variety Show on July 3rd
Volunteering for some core responsibilities for WordCamp Portland
Mow my front yard
Ok I was kidding about the yard one.
Mostly kidding.
Also, just so you know – lolcats might be taking over my brain. If my posts start to become a bit gibberishy-make that more gibberishy than usual-please send a couple dogs, or cat exterminator, to save me and my dog from the lolcats.
I don’t care what you call it – two thousand ten, twenty ten, or oh ten – this year has gotten off to one craaaaaazy start! I thought I ought to share. Because this is interesting stuff. My life is interesting! Or at least there’s interesting people in it. Right? Considering I’m spending the next few weeks watching all of Farscape from season one again, I might be exaggerating. A little.
Anyway, here’s the rundown of the past couple weeks, which were WAY more crazy then the next two are shaping up to be.
11/29/09: My birthday! I have a birthday party. There’s a theme. It’s Xanadu! I inflict this movie on all my friends. Mercilessly.
12/16/09: I receive numerous emails from several friends and acquaintances that the Broadway musical Xanadu was coming to Portland in January. And the tickets went on sale on my birthday, which just SMACKS of destiny, doesn’t it? Seriously, like 3 people all emailed me THE SAME DAY. I guess the word kinda got out that I like Xanadu. But for the record, I just LIKE it. It’s not like it’s my favorite movie of all time or anything. It’s not, you know.
12/31/09: I start working with the wonderful folks at the Portland Opera to come up with some ideas on how to drum up interest for the show via the OurPDX blog. We come up with some AWESOME ideas…
01/03/10: I post the first blog post on OurPDX.com. It was brilliant, of course. Inspired, you might say. Because I am an artiste. Or perhaps the Muses graced my keyboard? Whatever.
01/04/10: The first of five days of Xanadu quiz questions on the Twitters. It was (mostly) all tagged with the hashtag #pdxanadu. Strangely, for only having 5 days of quiz questions, we had EIGHT finalists! Because I only use the minute hand when I check who answered first. And Friday, there were a whole gaggle of people who answered within the same minute. Lucky!
01/07/10: I get to interview Annie Golden, who plays Calliope. The only person I’d ever interviewed for OurPDX before this was @mediachick. That was great, of COURSE, but I mean…she’s my friend, and we hang out, and SHE MADE ME A PIE FOR MY BIRTHDAY. This interview was someone famous, who I never met, over the phone. So I was a touch nervous. But it was FABULOUS! I spend all night and part of the next day writing up the blog post. It seemed like something I ought to get up asap, you know?
01/12/09: Cami and I head out to our big night at the Keller Auditorium. We were sparkly. Cami wore really big earrings. I wore a lot of glitter. We saw all sorts of friends, like @dieselboi and @anna_v and @mizd and @chefchopper! The show was fabulous, the company was great, and of course we went for pie afterwards. I think. Did we go for pie? Maybe I don’t remember exactly. No, I’m pretty sure there was pie.
01/13/10: Since I was super smart and took half the day off the next day, it allowed Cami and I to write our second blog post where we regale the OurPDX readers with our wild tales of glitter and glam. Plus I was hung over.
01/15/09: I head out to my second viewing of Xanadu. I know, you’d think once was enough, but not for me, apparently. Truth is, I sort of told some friends I’d go see it with them before this whole OurPDX thing started. So you know, I had to keep my commitments. This caused several cool things to happen: I became Mayor of the Keller Auditorium on foursquare, and I got a second chance to get a backstage tour thanks to Annie! We weren’t on the stage for 2 minutes however, before the company manager kicked us off the stage in the most polite way I’ve ever heard, and then complemented me on my blogging. It seems she kept the cast apprised of my online Xanadu musings. I LOVE NEW FANS. We ended up standing outside in the rain, chatting, my friends and Annie and I. With an umbrella. Dang foreigners and their umbrellas.
So there it is. My Xanadu exploits, compiled and presented to you, dear readers. As for me, I think I’ve had my fill of Xanadu for a while. Or until someone wants to watch it with me. Anyone?
I’ve never heard of this term before, this “Fanadu”.
Which is odd, considering I apparently am a Fanadu. Who knew I was a Fanadu? I hadn’t a clue. But it’s true!
What, you ask, is a Fanadu? Fan + Xanadu, of course!
And while I don’t particularly care for the moniker, I’ll wear it proudly when I go to the opening night performance on January 12th. THAT’S RIGHT. I GOT ME SOME TICKETS AND I’M GOIN TO TOWN.
Well, there goes another year, internets. Another year of trials, tribulations, happiness and heartache, highs and lows and everything in between.
The highs of this year? Easy. Meeting and getting to know the most amazing community I’ve ever had the honor, luck and pleasure of being a part of. Thanks to the pdx tech community, I have new ideas, new activities, and most importantly, new friends and connections which enrich my life in ways I could never have imagined (*cough* igniteportland and 30hourday *cough*), and will continue to enrich my life in ways I can only dream. So whether or not I follow you on Twitter, friend you on Facebook, or we hook up on LinkedIn, I’m glad I met each and every last one of you.
But it’s not all about the pdx tech scene! There’s been old friends reuniting, new activities ventured, and new friends made in other areas of my life as well!
In reviewing my year, I decided to stealcopy borrow an end-of-year blog post idea from my friend Rick Turoczy, the Silicon Florist, and see what my blog posts from the past year say about me (That Rick, he’s big on the word clouds, isn’t he?):
I see hope there, my friends. Spring fires and hope. And also vampires.
Have a safe and happy New Year. May you find the courage to make your life what you want it to be.
I’ll be embedding the stream there for your viewing pleasure. And if you tune in around 9:30am on Saturday, you’ll see me! Yes, I’ll even be ON THE AIR. Or the stream. Whatever. Followed by the variety show, which I’ll be running behind the scenes. Only a fabulous charitable event such as this could get me in front of that many people and try to be funny. And I will. Try. But please, I have a celebrity’s sensitive ego. It squishes easily! Because that’s what Internet Famous people do. They have squishy egos. Like a sponge, soaking up all the opinions about ME from everyone who of course is talking about ME.*
So, even though I’m permitted to sleep tonight (and really tomorrow night too, but don’t tell anyone)…I don’t think I’ll be able to. Sometimes…it’s good to be wicked. Famous.**
*You all do realize I’m joking, right?
**Just so you know, I don’t really think I’m famous. Not in the least. I know it might seem like I am, but I’m not. Please, stop sending me money. No really, you can stop. Well ok, maybe after you send that last check. THEN you can stop. I mean it.
Autumn sunshine and autumn leaves conspire to wrap my vision in blazing colors, filling the day with warmth like that of a roaring fire, a cozy wool scarf, a creamy mug of hot cocoa. As if to say yes, the heat of summer is leaving, but there is warmth in winter too. And oh by the way, here is summer’s Grand Finale! I pronounce my requisite oohs and aahs, and shop for pretty big mugs, and contemplate knitting with alpaca.
I love Portland a heck of a lot. As such, I try really hard to be a good Portlander. Using some highly scientific analysis (counting the number of tattooed folk in the wait line outside Pine State Biscuits on a Saturday morning) I have determined that Portland has the highest ratio of tattooed people per capita. And since I have not gotten a bona fide tattoo in nearly 17 years, I figured I was GREATLY overdue. So I called up my pal @camikaos, who is something of an expert on the local tattoo talent, for an artist recommendation. She sent me to Jesse at BlackBird Tattoo on Killingsworth.
Now, I’m not one to get just any tattoo. My tattoos must have meaning. Notice how I bolded that. Because it’s important. So after much deliberation, I got a sun on one arm and a moon on the other. The sun goes on the right arm, the positive side, the action side. The moon goes on the left, the negative side, the side of restraint. These are somewhat Kabbalistic attributes. Therefore, the words, in Hebrew, the language of Kabbalah: tshuka, passion, on the sun. Izun, balance, on the moon.
The final product:
izun:balance
tshuka:passion
Two of the most important things to have in your life. Without passion, life is empty. Without balance, life is chaos.
There’s this girl named Jessica. She cooks me homemade lunches once a week, and delivers it to me on her bike. It comes in a cute little homemade lunch bag, in repurposed glass containers with actual silverware and a soft cotton napkin. She tucks sweet little thoughts on a piece of paper in my lunch.
No, she’s not my new girlfriend. She runs a little business called Yummy Box Lunches by Jessica.
I’d post her info, but…I might get jealous. I mean, there’s only so much room in her little bike trailer, right?
Here’s my lunch from last week. Try not to drool on the screen, ok?
They say the Eskimos have 50 different words for snow. Well here in the PacNW, we have quite a few words for rain. In the interest of enlightening those who don’t have the damn good luck to live here, I thought I’d share some of them, along with the approximate time it would take for an average human in average clothes to get an average soaking. I will be using a highly scientific method to calculate this, taking into consideration the average permeability of natural fiber clothing, the estimated surface tension of rain drop inversely based on it size, and including a modest wind factor. In other words, I’m just guessing.
Misting Rain: This is the rain that is really just a step up from fog. You can sorta see it, but the drops are so fine they drift on the air, almost like snow. Except it’s rain. Not snow. And it’s not very cold at all. Time to soak: 30 mins-1 hour.
Sprinkles: This is actual rain, the drops tend to fall as expected unlike the misting rain, however the drops are still very small, and you almost think that if you were The Flash, you could probably dodge them if you could just see them coming. Time to soak: 15-25 mins.
Showers: These are just what they sound like. Imagine that your standing in a shower, except you’re not in the shower. You’re outside, and it’s not even one of those handy little camping showers. You’re just standing there, outside, getting showered. Time to soak: 5-10 mins.
Rain: Ok this is the flat out rain. Solid, good sized drops, pretty thick and consistent. The ol’ reliable Portland rain. The kind of rain that makes trees drip and grow, and spreads moss like thick paint on everything that will hold still for just a few days. The kind of rain that makes my dog smell like a wet dog in a matter of minutes. But I kinda like the smell of wet dog. It grows on you. Like moss. Time to soak: 1-2 mins.
Downpour: This is the big one. The doozy. The whopper. The big mac. Moving away from fast food analogies, the big kahuna. This is verging on southern type rain, the kind of rain that Portlanders only can dream about. The kind that hits you like a hurricane, except without the wind and stuff. Drenching, solid sheets of water. The kind of rain that makes you go (no not ooooh) DAYUM. Time to soak: instant.
So there you have it. A short little primer, if you will, of Pacific NW rain types. There are others, I’m sure! Not to mention the combination types, like a misty shower, or a showery sprinkle. In fact I’d call today’s rainfall a showery sprinkle. I’d call it that, and start thinking about whether or not I still have all the ingredients for hot toddys in my cupboards, because much as I hate to say it, fall is a-comin.
Internets, it has been a NIGHT. Let me tell you. I mean…I don’t even know what I mean, that’s what a night it’s been. See, this blog post was originally going to be about those silly shoes I’ve seen cropping up around town, the one with the toes all individually packaged and looking very uncomfortable. I don’t like them. So I was going to tell you about that. BUT INSTEAD, you get this. And it’s much better. Oh so much better.
Tonight I was one of several thousand Portland residents to witness the most amazing, baffling, anticlimactic social media experiment in history. Not to mention an epic #FAIL moment for Mr. Dave Chappelle, comedian, and an opportunity for me to publish porn for the first time. Yes me! I’m beginning my meteoric rise to porn industry domination! Or not.
Let’s take a little journey along this story, shall we?
So I heard rumblings in the Twittersphere of some Dave Chappelle something or other. Seeing as I was DJing tonight, and that it may or may not have been my last time DJing at Tonic, and my pal and DJ teacher @mrballistic was gonna show up, I was a bit preoccupied with other more relevant stuff.
Incidentally, I’m still not exactly sure if I’m DJing again there in two weeks. Either way, there will certainly be more gigs. I’ll keep you posted.
So I did my DJ thing. There was technical difficulties not of my own doing (Helps if you don’t give your speakers to unreliable folk, just sayin’) but the night went off without too much trouble. And now, @mrballistic and his friend @jetstream were talking about heading down to the square for this Dave Chappelle thing.
Huh. Dave Chappelle thing? My set over, I dived into the stweam (twitter stream! ha.) to see what the hubbub was about. Mind you, it’s right around 11:00pm. What’s this? Rumours are abounding that Dave Chappelle is going to do a free show at the Pioneer Courthouse Square tonight? And there’s thousands of people down at the square already?
Well. This bears witnessing, I thought. No really, I really did think that. I thought, and I quote: “Well. This bears witnessing.” I really think like that sometimes. And then sometimes I think “Dude I gotta check that shit out STAT!!!!! ZOMG!!!!!” Ahem. Anyway.
So, impulsive chick that I am, I hop in my car and instead of heading home as I intended, I headed Down Town.
Parked without too much difficulty pretty close to the square. Now normally, around 11pm on a Tuesday, things are pretty quiet in downtown pdx. But tonight, there were cars and people wandering around. Not a lot, but certainly more than normal. That is, until I saw the square.
IT. WAS. PACKED. Literally, thousands of people were there. A madhouse. Throngs of people. Gaggles of people. Groups and gangs and masses of people. All at the square, at 11:30ish, on a freakin TUESDAY. There was a stage in the middle, and people had climbed everthing imaginable to get a good view of that stage. They climbed chairs, walls, onto the starbucks, onto the random sculptures, onto the empty foodcarts, anything that could barely (certainly not safely in some cases) hold the weight of a human had a human on it.
Whoa.
Ok so. Because most of these people didn’t really *know* that this was happening for *sure*, after about 45 minutes of waiting with no sign, people either a. started to leave or b. got cranky. I mean, there was a lot of people all crammed up against the stage, lots of drinking I’m sure, and I seriously got a contact high from one spot I tried to get a good view.
Now, there had been no substantiated evidence that this really WAS going to happen. This huge crowd was the result of rumour, speculation and hearsay, from Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, and all the other social networks that are changing the face of our world and our existence these days.
Think about that for a second. Thousands of people, at the square at (now) midnight, all because of rumour on social networks.
A-freakin-mazing. Really. Really!
Well finally, he shows up.
Here. Video:
And now for the part when I become a porn director.
If you watched the video up there, you’ll see people started yelling about not being able to hear anything. Pretty much he came out with a mic attached to a tiny little amp, and no one further away that about 20 feet from the stage in the direction the amp was pointing could hear. Not anything. Nothing. So a crowd, waiting for an hour for this guy to show, he shows, and now 95% of the crowd can see him, but can’t hear him.
That’s when the FAIL began.
Fortunately at first, there was a bit of a distraction. And now is where I become a porn director.
Suddenly I notice three people standing on top of the roof of the starbucks. One girl, two guys. And the girl and one of the guys had no shirt on.
And they they started a striptease. All three of them. On top of the Starbucks. In front of thousands.
Here. Video:
Uh….huh. I’ll be making the porn beeelions soon, hangin with my porn peeps, doin my porn thang. And with all my new porn connections, maybe then I can publish this little short story I’ve been working on…
Ahem. Right. Back to the thing.
This little distraction couldn’t last with all the Portland Police on the scene. No, our men and women in blue were ON IT.
Except that I saw those same nekkid folks, somewhat nekkid again, down in the fountain pool a few minutes later.
Again with the video:
So now we’re back to a crowd, waiting for an hour for this guy to show, he shows, and while 95% of the crowd can see him, very few can hear him.
Apparently there was some discussion down near the stage that a sound system was being figured out. This figuring lasted about another hour.
So there was a lot of crowdsourcing the running of speaker cords and electrical cords and umbilical cords and all sorts of cords running over and under and around the crowd. And then it was all hooked up, and ready to go and….
Nothing. NOTHING. That’s right. Dave is still using the tiny amp, no one can hear him, and people are starting to drift away slowly.
The culprit?
So after a bit more of this, suddenly we all realize that Dave Has Left The Building. Or the Square, in this case.
I’ll leave the analysis of exactly how, why and when and what types of #FAIL this was to folks in the morning. It’s 4am, and I’m beat.
Thanks Dave. Not sure for what. Something to blog about, I guess? I hear that the people down at the stage thought you were pretty funny.
