Traveling Notes...Around My Head and an Angelic Visitor

I had fun at blogher, even with the carpet and the fact that the bathrooms were at one end of a long, long salon, and the elevators were at the other end. It's left me a little combobulated.. and I'm still sorting things out.


For the most part, I hung the swag bags on the back of the wheelchair.. until Leslie schlepped them upstairs to our room. Y'all... Blogher swag: Un- Be- Leeeeve-able!


Speaking of which, I used some of the Suave shampoo (full sized bottles!) and conditioner today.. and I LIKE it. Even as I was shampooing, I LIKED it, and the way it felt and smelled and left the hair feeling good. Thank you Suave!


'Pup is happy with the Microsoft Business Suite I got, and is fiddling around with it on his lap top. He loves spreadsheets, does my man.


Meanwhile, I've just about finished the food swag.. mostly cereal bars I've had for breakfasts on the way to work, but some baked chips and popcorn snacks too.. that weren't too bad. I still have some big old lollipops, but I did promise to save those for the nieces and grand nieces and nephew. A girl's gotta draw the line somewhere.


Now, if only I could have won one of the myriad contests I entered while there.. I'd be really happy.


So, now it's August. 'Pup's birthday is this month, in just a couple of weeks, and while he doesn't want anything big, I do like to find SOMETHING (on sale!) to give to him, along with a card. There are some big gig memory sticks out there, and that might do...or maybe a new belt. I dunno. If he's reading this.. now he doesn't know either. (Hi 'Pup!)


One thing I did find out while using the wheel chair, is that I need some sort of small, secure, mini backpack for the back of my chair. I've been using a couple of bags, and a Chicago Botanical Gardens backpack for the most part, but they have their drawbacks.. mainly.. accessibility. As in: way to accessible to someone standing behind me. I need something not quite so easy to get into.

It's a work in progress. I roll slow, but I get there, with a little help from my friends.. and the occasional angel.

Leslie and I met an angel in Chicago, btw. We'd gone down a long hill, looking for food.. and we were both feeling...okay.. about the prospect of going back up it... until we tried to go back up it. Not so good. Neither of us were at our best that Sunday morning, and my leg assist had been rendered impossible. I'd used them once too often and they weren't going anywhere for a little while. As we sat (and stood) there, pondering the possibilities, including a cab, we heard a voice behind us.

"Y'all need a little help?" I swear, music was playing. Of course, it might have been one of the street musicians.. but.. music. was. playing!

He pushed me up the hill, and talked to us the whole way.. and didn't even get out of breath. He was from Paris, Illinois, and I'm ashamed that his name escaped me. He was in town with his wife, celebrating their anniversary. She was in one of the shops, and he'd been waiting outside when he noticed we needed help. God Bless him.

Y'all, include him in a prayer tonight. One of thanksgiving and praise.

My Disease Doesn't Define Me,...

But it does help explain me.

Life and life happens, and not all of us end up perfect. Some of us are less perfect than others, and others of us are perfectly imperfect.

Building a community of people dealing with challenges that most people don't face. I have some personal experience with this, dealing with the challenges of trying to do a physical hobby with a less than perfect physical abilities.

Do you have to look sick to be be sick? Some people would be shocked to know that they have friends who deal with challenges that would floor them.

Don't limit your identity with your limitations. There are more parts of your lives that aren't limited by your illness. On the other hand, your imperfections don't need to be hidden and you don't have to hide.

So what are mine? Look at my side bar. I put it out there, what's wrong...but you'll have to read the rest of this blog to see what's right. Hopefully, what's right is stronger than the what's wrong.

When You;re Not a Mommy Blogger, Political Wonk or a Geek...

What do you blog about?

Some of us fit nicely into a lable. They concentrate on their subjects and do them well.

Then, there are the rest of some of us. What are we, anyway?

Some of us keep and write several independent blogs, (I've tried..not so much for me...others have more to say).

Are you diluting your message, or just fully expressing oneself?

Personally, I have a couple of blogs I try to keep up with, but this one is my baby. I don't focus on just one thing. As Maria Niles said, "Interesting people have lots of interests..."

What do advertisers go after? Who do they pursue?

The give money to Mommybloggers, and to Technology bloggers and even to Political bloggers. They seem to think the rest of us....don't spend money.

I've got news for you. We do.

I was glad to know, here at Blogher, there are a group of women who have the same frustrations about that. We're out there. We have interests that go beyond our front doors, and lives that range far beyond any narrow category.

I read Mommybloggers (tho, I HATE that term, btw), I read political blogs, technology blogs, blogs about diverse lifestyles, military blogs. My question is: Why the hell would anyone WANT to be known as only one thing?

Women have been marginalized that way for... well....forever. We are ONLY (fill in the blank).

NO. Time for us all to step back and start telling companies that, DAMN IT!... we're out here too.

Cafe con leche With My Friends

When I started this post, I had just come back from the Lone Star College library where I meet my adult conversation student. I say student, but it's more like meeting a friend, and of course, I'm learning too.

A delightful woman, charming husband and 2 kids that are both cute and smart and nice. I'm privileged to have a conversation with the lady and/or her husband every Friday. We'll have to miss next Friday, as I'll be out of town...with Leslie.. in Chicago...at Blogher.

I never thought I'd ever be attending a Blogher, not really having the sheer courage it would take to walk into a convention of women I didn't know, really, except, that some of them, I've been reading for several years and kinda know more about them than I do my next door neighbor. It's a disconcerting and heart stopping and stomacher fluttering thing to do...to walk into a blog meet for the first time.

Fortunately, this won't be my first blog meet, not by a long shot AND.. I'll not be alone. (Hugs Leslie..I can't wait for Friday!!!)...where was I?

Oh.. I'll not be alone.

I'm alone right now, having some cafe con leche at a Cuban restaurant near the house. I've decided to pick up dinner, as I just don't want to cook, and it's actually not too hot this evening to actually ....you know...go out and garden. So that's what 'Pup and I will do, when I get home.

'Pup will be alone next weekend...and for that, I'm not happy. Seems he's going to have a biopsy done on a place where, well, most men don't wanna go there. And I'm not going to be there.

His dad will be around though, and has gone through the same procedure. Still, I wish he'd not scheduled the biopsy this next weekend. But he did, forgetting the date and nonrefundable plane ticket and Blogher fees.

So..I'm torn between wanting to be there and here.

That's where the computer comes in. I've been able to get hooked up to Verizon's wireless broadband service, through their little...wireless modem. I've had it about a month now, and I likes it. I likes it very much. The speed is good, I've not found a single place I can't get a signal, even deep inside a high rise building, or out driving in the country. You can hear me now. And we can have coffee together, now, because of the wonder of this service and this modem.

It also means, that whether I'm at the airport or in a taxi or anywhere else, I don't have to depend on anyone else's wireless. I'm covered. Doubly so at Blogher, where we've been assured that the whole hotel we've arranged to commandeer will be wired and wireless throughout the whole building.

But I still like my own access. I know, now, that I can count on it to get through.

I like being heard, and I am going to like hearing from 'Pup that the biopsy was nothing much and found less than that. Positive thinking, y'all. Positive thinking.

Thank you Verizon, for the service and for giving me the little wireless modem to plug into my tiny computer....for free. I asked, told them where I was going to use it and that I'd be plugging it like crazy....if I liked it. And, I do. I've liked Verizon for the last 12 years I've had service with them. During Rita, when every other cell and land phone was down and couldn't get through... I could.

When the power went out during Ike and everything, especially cell service was out for everyone else.. I was able to blog from my phone. If I couldn't get to my site, I could get to gmail and mail it in...or I could text it in with a picture message. (so, thanks Google too, come to think of it.)

Can Y'all Hear Me, Now?

Good.

On the Road and Cameras

Spring Fling

The last new camera I got, my Kodak, I got to go to the Spring Fling in Austin. I ended up taking the old camera, as I wanted to make sure I took good pictures. I like the old Nikon I have better than the Kodak. The Kodak is smaller, but my old Nikon is more...flexible. I really like the fact that I can control some of the functions, like shutter speed. Well, to be honest, the Kodak lets me do that too, to a certain extent, but the screen doesn't swivel. I really like swiveling screens. Sigh...

Alas, even my Next New Nikon isn't going to have a swivel screen. It IS however, going to be big enough to hold in awkward positions. It will also have some of the best of the Kodak, in a video capability and affordability, and the best of the old Nikon in reliability and heft, as well as the ability to get in really tight for some really GOOD macros. Well, as good as my macros get, anyway.

Anyway I look at it though, it's going to have to wait for a really good sale, a lottery win (hard when you don't play) or a very generous and unexpected gift or prize. I suspect it's going to take saving up for a year after the trips I hope to take.

Oh, the trips?

Well, I'm going to Blogher in Chicago with Leslie in July. That was set a few months ago. I'm looking forward to it, though with a little trepidation, as it will be at, well, BLOGHER. I'm not sure about my reception there, except that I will be with one of the most gracious of lady bloggers; the Omnibus Driver.

The other trip I really want to take is also in Chicago. This one is the Spring Fling with the garden bloggers. They're doing the Fling up in spectacular style. (Right now, they're finalizing being able to visit Rick Bayliss' garden), and I wanna goooooooooo...

Oh well. I still have time to arrange it. I want to find a good buy on the flight there and back. So far, it's been the same price, no matter what. Still, I think it can be done. I just need a few more paying jobs, a few more hours at work, and a few more wistful sighs...

Meanwhile, he wants to go out and run away from home today and see some signs of spring. He surprises me sometimes. I suspect I'll be back online by Sunday with a lot of pictures of pretty leaves.

See ya, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Looking Thru New Eye (glasses)

Okay, I'm up way too late tonight (this morning?)...and that means I go roaming over the internets looking at odd things. I click on ads I normally ignore, I read every blog on my blog roll. Though, I have to say, I've not a chance of reading EVERYTHING, as does El Capitan, who has kindly put me into a poem in company with some much more well read and regarded blogs. He has also been on a roll as far as posts go! El Capitan, you have written, and written well, on a wide range of topics, from shaved...cats..., to "movements", and even included a meme on a book.

So, here I am, awake at far too early/late an hour, looking at eyeglass frames on a site that promises $8 to $15 glasses. Alas, my prescription is far to wonky for me to take advantage of the specials. Instead, what's got my attention have been some of the prettier Holiday frames, and seasonal styles of frames.

I kinda like this one:

They come in a black/brown combination, but I like the red/rose combination better. I've had some red frames before and I've liked the color. I really like the temples on this pair though, 'cause I like flowers. (No surprise, huh?) They're even a shape and a kind that my prescription might work in.

Might be nice to have a pair to wear to Blogher. Hummm...

Or, should I save my money and have a really nice dinner out?