I missed the party because I was staying with M. who I supposed is now to be called MamaMich and LQ alias MamaLala, their baby, and their FIVE cats. We had Cuban food that was just so-so but I love cuban food like crazy. Mmmm platanos. We gossiped more about Ping's perfidy and how he jacked them up (so pointlessly! how could he!) for thousands of dollars. I felt all admiring of MamaMich's Dr. Mich Harvard id card. We argued about what it meant. I said it meant something even if she didn't think it did in her context, it did in mine. I know half the folks in ivy league are morons, well aware. It is not that! It's still a mythical institution! Where one might, might, might climb up a tree to a place no one's ever been before. M. climbs up the back ends of drosophilas to give them colorectal cancer! Then she gives them tiny enemas! Or maybe a grad student does the fruit fly enemas. Dunno. Counts for something mythical, surely. I always like being in the midddle of MamaLala's stuff. It is just my style of comfort and hominess. Books are everywhere. I feel like things are in logical places, which for us means in stacks of papers and books with cats sleeping on top of them. On the ride up we talked about WisCon and the book for it and then inevitably about internet drama, politics, anarchy, and the ethics of organizations and personal interactions. Our conference hotel is in a sort of office park behind a mall out in the burbs somewhere. I will be pretending it's a magic castle and we're the dancing princesses, well, the blogging princesses who mysteriously disappear every night through the forest of silver leaves and the forest of mall decorations and the ogres in sports uniforms in the lobby to our fabulous witchy coven thingie at the stroke of midnight. But no... the silver leaves have faded. I don't get to see Starkeymonster who is sick as hell with the flu, for which I was teased mightily by my ex and my sly eyed companion-in-evil as they were all like "Of course Badger has SOME GIRL she has to go see" which I protested only feebly that ack, of course, they are my priorities, I am only here one day, I halfway only intend to introduce them all as fangirls extreme, nor did I go to Honk! downtown. Instead I worked on work. I am in a king-size bed in a slightly too swanky large hotel room (next to the elevator, thank you, desk gnome with the pineapple insignia!) asphyxiating a bit in its air freshner, perhaps the carpet freshener stuff sprinkled down there... at least the bed is nice. I could fit 3 people in this bed! HEY NOW LADIES! I like inspecting all the odd accoutrements of a hotel room. there is no minibar - coffee, ice bucket, giant TV, notepaper, little shampoo and soaps, a bible and a book of mormon and a phone book. Sarah Dopp came over to give me a hug but now I can't remember if I got the hug. Instead we laid in bed and talked about the conference, my talk & slide show, my points I want to get across, how to feel out who is listening and what they want and what they have to say. She told me more ideas for geek lab and I'll go participate for most of it. What will it be? We'll make it good. In the bar downstairs I sat with Kristy and Karin and one other person. A very large man in a baseball cap joined us tenatively at the end of our table. "Obama!" he said, all lit up. "Obama! Yeah!!!" Was he drunk or in some altered states? I felt us all look around the table trying to figure out which one of us was about to get hit on. Probably not me, I code as too gay for the burbs and the wheelchair tends to rule me out of the general course of lechery. "That's right! *clappping* Obama!!!" the possibly Special man in the bar said, grinning like a maniac. "Obama, Yeah!" We smiled for a bitchosecond (the exact unit of time to be polite yet blow someone off in a bar) and went back to our political conversation. Karin said she has a special calendar and it is now down to 103 days before Bush is out of office.

Sarah and I continued our non-hug and instead had a guerilla work meeting between our two companies which we realized would save asstons of work and confusion for everyone so hurrah us. Palaces have sewer rats which scurry around with their own ways to save the secret passages in the dark of the castle. We talked over our moms and boyfriends and politics while we were at it.

I have set up the coffee machine for the morning! Bloggity morning!

I used the intertubes to telepathically bond with my young sprog, who explained that he was cleverly putting 11111 in the middle of his exclamation points, to make them cooler. U R KEWL, typed his distant mom, full of love and l33t. Rook has written up a guide to local issue voting in our district. Zond-7 pointed me to Golly the Game of Life (I missed this week's python lesson at the EFF.)

I'll fall asleep reading "Playing for Keeps" by Mur Lafferty! It's about superheroes! You can get it in a podcast! You can read Mur's mysterious twitters!

I guess stirring up people's fear and hatred has some result. Can the Republican Party realize what it's doing here? They try to make a scared, angry mob by pushing the culture wars and racism to extremes. And that is what they have done.

McCain is trying to put out the fire a bit while on the other hand with approval from his campaign and with impunity Sarah Palin fans the flames and adds fuel. You can see in the videos how she likes the boo-ing and the power and feeling of whipping people up into a frenzy of hatred. Fine, it's hatred and fear that's there, but you don't have to FEED IT.

I have been doing my best personally to reach across party lines and across social differences to religious and conservative people who think I am damned to eternal hell for my sexuality or whatever or not allowed to have any place in society. And I make an effort to deal with those people in a rational and just and civic fashion and to respect them. I will continue to do that to the best of my ability.

I like what my friend Cynthia1960 said recently. "I don't have to treat everyone as my ally. But I have to treat everyone as my possible future ally." That applies perfectly in this situation. That is the attitude I will maintain to these people no matter what they do. That's what it takes.

Republicans you had better step up and rein in your attack dogs. What, I've watched people get arrested and thrown around by police for years at peaceful rallies, anti war, immigration rallies, and when people do this at a presidential candidate's speech, nothing happens, no blowback, no nothing? You really want to vote for that? You want that to be the image of your political party and its beliefs?

My favorite sandwich shop in town is incredibly fast and has the sort of sandwiches my mom or sister might make for me or that I'd make for myself. They're just... normal sandwiches. I just had a turkey and swiss with red bell pepper and hot mustard. It is no small feat to make a normal sandwich in a deli. Somehow. I don't get why. You would not think it's a thing that could be ruined. But think of the really disgusting sandwiches you've encountered in your life! Yes! It is possible to ruin a simple turkey and cheese sandwich!

The deal is, every time I'm in this deli I have a mind boggling moment of wondering why the whole place is done up in Old West decor? It's got wagon wheels, washboards, old sacks, jangly old spurs, signs, sayings, photos, etc. But the rest of the decor is straight up "regular old sandwich shop" and in fact is overly generic, like the menus and wall signs make me think of a Denny's or a Baker's Square or something extremely dull, even though there are maybe 20 of this particular deli chain. The only nod to the Gold Rush theme in this signage is a faintly old-timey font. What's the deal? Is the eponymous "Erik" who owns or owned the deli, a descendant of some famous local Gold Rush participant? Did someone have a weird marketing brainwave? Is it a spinoff from the nearby Fry's that has an old west theme? Is it someone else's BBQ restaurant that got bought and repurposed? Because when I think "whole grain sandwich with sprouts and avocado on it" I do not think "yippee ti yay". DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Go west, young vegan, go west! That's where the veggies are best!

My theory is that the deli owner just really likes old west junk and goes to a lot of flea markets. So they can feed their junk shop hobby and count it as a business expense on their taxes! I imagine this all out, but have not tried to look it up or find out because I don't want to ruin my little daydream or the strange mystery of it all.

Next up I should blog my other favorite sandwich shop, Mr. Pickles in the Mission in SF. The history channel watching opportunities are good there, and the sandwiches scary awesome.

This weekend I'm flying out to Boston and DC for two BlogHer conferences. I can't wait to meet new people and the women I already know! Every feminist conference I go to is super inspiring and this is one where it is totally normal to have your laptop going at all times, so at dinner there you are with 10 other chicks typing like maniacs in between the laughing our asses off, insane gossip, politics politics politics, book recommendations, and WordPress plugin tips.

Here's my talk, which i will just keep on thinking of as "Quick Blog Overhaul" though it is really called "Blogging Basics: 6 Steps to Personalize, Polish & Promote Your Blog". It will be a brief talk and then we'll split into small groups to do the hands-on workshop stuff.

Join BlogHer's {{Badger Hemulen}} and a team of subject-matter experts for a quick and effective blog makeover. Let's look at your blog, whether you've got one post up or 100, and give it some love. Liz will explain 6 simple steps you can take to give your blog a tune-up, and then we'll break into small groups to try out some of what you've learned. These 6 steps can help clarify to your readers who you are and what you write. Whether you use WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, or any other platform - you and your platform are welcome.

Personalize: Danielle Henderson will work with you make sure your readers know how to identify and reach you...and that you feature your community, so they can also see themselves. In addition she'll work with you to learn how to add images, or even audio and video, to show who you are.

Polish: Megan Garnhum will cover the basic geeky ingredients that add up to a truly functional, findable, fabulous blog. Learn about appropriate, search-friendly hyperlinking, tagging...why and how, and even about headlines and why they matter.

Promote: Alissa Kriteman will help you learn how (and why) to put your post on BlogHer, Twitter, Kirtsy, Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Stumbleupon, other social sites.

Then there are the parties!

I can't help it. Women get in my lap. What can I say?

In DC I'll be doing the same workshop with a different set of local bloggers:

Personalize: Veronica "Roni" Noone will make sure your readers know how to identify and reach you...and that you feature your community, so they can also see themselves. In addition she'll work with you to learn how to add images, or even audio and video, to show who you are.

Polish: Andrea Meyers (well known for Andrea's recipes) will cover the basic geeky ingredients that add up to a truly functional, findable, fabulous blog. Learn about appropriate, search-friendly hyperlinking, tagging...why and how, and even about headlines and why they matter.

Promote: Kristen King will help you learn how (and why) to put your post on BlogHer, Twitter, Kirtsy, Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Stumbleupon, other social sites.

There will be too many awesome people there for me to name them all but I'm going to be super happy to get to hang out with Beth Kanter, Candelaria Silva, Erin Kotecki Vest, Laurie White, superfantabulous feminist geek Shireen Mitchell, and of course my friend Sarah Dopp, the BlogHer founders, and my co-workers like Kristy who are fantastic bloggers and who I see practically every day but don't get to hang out or really talk blogging because we are WORKING WORKING WORKING.

So, along with all that, I get to see my main partner in crime, editorial and geeky soul sister forever, Laura Quilter and my awesome brilliant ex and good friend M.M. and their new baby! You have no idea how excited I am. Actually it's worse than that. Last time I got to be with Quilter and then had to leave I sobbed for an hour in the car. I will have to drown my sorrows after I leave their house, on Friday night in bloggity sisterhood in the Boston Burlington Marriott hotel bar.

On Sunday I'm flying to Baltimore, renting a car, and sloping off to see my grandma on the Eastern Shore. I haven't seen her in years or my uncle either. I got to hang out with her for about a day when Moomin was 2 or 3. Other than that it is all little cards twice a year and I usually lose her $25 check and am a very awful person and never write back. I regret not being very close with my extended family but that's the truth of it. I think of them very fondly, but in actual practice, there is not much of a relationship.

Then glorious Blogheristas on Monday again in DC! Or, really, Bethesda!

On Tuesday before my plane leaves I want to go find my friend lavendertook and hang out at her funky local internet cafe and co-op - then it's back home where I'll collapse into a little travel-weary puddle.

I know it is sort of boasty but I would like to say not for the first time that I am proud of myself for going on giant trips in my wheelchair and just kind of facing it down. I get unnerved sometimes. That feeling to me is a red flag that means I MUST DO WHATEVER THE THING IS. In general I'm walking pretty well, but after hours on an airplane, I won't be and my ability to walk isn't predictable especially with travel. Walking, who needs it? It's more the exhaustion and being demoralized by pain that gets me. Still, consider the allure of jetting into town, renting a car, and the open road! Could go anywhere! (But probably won't.) Now is the time!

If you live in those areas and haven't registered for the conferences, think about it, there's still time, it's only $100 for an all day conference with food and a cocktail party. & well worth it for learning stuff, meeting great people, the massive, massive hit of inspiration from hanging with other women writers and bloggers and geeks and people putting their ideals into practice, "networking", and last but not least huge fun.

LibraryThing wants YOU if you're ass enough to live in Maine where it is freezing cold and stuff! I'm passing this on because I totally want the $1000 of free books if they hire someone who heard it from me.

By the way, BlogHer could also use a good PHP/Drupal developer if you're in the Bay Area! Talk to me...

I drove down from Burlingame to my town half the length of El Camino Real, today, and felt very odd as I passed various WaMu and Wachovia & other bank buildings. What will happen? Are we ending up with two or three huge U.S. banks?

Why the heck is Palin in Burlingame today? Fundraising?

I liked this article that had real empathy for Palin: http://ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/sarah_we_are_not_that_different_you_and_i.php

From conversation between me and Cyn last night on the WisCon trolling: "Not every woman is my ally. But I still have to treat every woman as my possible future ally."

Can anyone deconstruct this comic book for me? Superheros funded by FEMA fight the Hurricane, fail, but then are helped by the Legion of Linemen to set up telephone service again. Flatlandman's despair at his failure is assuaged by The People Helping Each Other by sharing food, water, and electricity while they all work to clean up debris.

http://blogs.chron.com/hurricanes/2008/10/_superheros_save_the_gulf_coas_1.html

Hmmmm. I imagine our future will have more strange art like this as the economy continues to tank.

Last fall I was diagnosed with a rare form of slow-developing ALS, as the explanation for my "bad leg" that lands me in a wheelchair or on crutches at times. A few months later I was "undiagnosed". Freelance writer Lori Steele was diagnosed right around the same time. Her ALS has progressed rapidly. She and her 7 year old son may lose their house, which has just gone into foreclosure. Her blogging friends are trying to save Lori and her family from an enormous pile of medical bills:

http://diaryofamother.blogs.com/mamas_musings/2008/09/save-loris-hous.html

Could have been me... could have been you... Let's try to spread the word and help Lori out with some donations and bigger media coverage.

It's not right - and I don't mean just that she is battling with ALS - It's not right that this is what happens to a hardworking and successful single mom, because she doesn't have insurance and our medical system sucks. Medical crisis? THERE IS NO SAFETY NET. Instead, it is right when you're the most down and in need of help that rich people; doctors, bankers, etc. will kick you when you're down and pull your hard-won middle class life to pieces, kick your family out into the street, and leave them crushed by debt.

Interesting that Lori copy-edited Michael Moore's book. Where is he to help her in this crisis? Hey Michael Moore could you at least throw a little publicity Lori's way ?

Lori wrote this about the aftermath of watching "Bambi" with her son, just this summer:

He had tried to shield me from the sadness of knowing that Bambi's mother was dead. And now it was my turn.

"Will you look after me when I'm a grown-up?"

On the morning after his fourth birthday, Jack waits for an answer. There's so much that can happen in this beautiful, crazy, too-mortal planet, and I know truth and its consequences are too much for a child. For my child. For this moment. He will learn the whole truth in time; he will learn that life is as capricious as it is constant. For now I want him to return safely to Neverland.

I tell him I'll always be here for him, one way or another. Always always always. Just like my mother is here for me. Just like I was there when he was 3. It is an impossible promise, a gamble with his trust. I secretly pray I don't let him down, not on this.

This weekend we all went to the Computer History Museum in Mountainview. Take a look at my photos of some of the computers if you want a little history and nostalgia! They have a working Difference Engine, one of only two in the world.

I have added to my vague fantasy of my future bookstore/cafe/laundromat/junk shop. Now it contains a Cray:

Stylish!

I remember reading about these and drooling over them when I was a kid - reading Omni or Discover or Scientific American.

Check out the gorgeous design of the KL10. There's something about the cool colors and the way they continue from button to casing - and the very clean font:

My imaginary bookstore cafe will also need a SAGE Weapons Director 2 (as directed by my friend Yatima's daughter:

Secretly ... I want to be a set builder for some show like Dr. Who or Blake's 7 and make amazing fake computers with blinky lights and complicated "futuristic" control panels!

This stuff is so much better -- being real.