Friday, May 29, 2009

What should be my talent?

I'm still woefully without any talents to teach my blogger sisters at blogger camp. However, I have three weeks to learn something worth sharing at camp. I should really have something to share... Perhaps you could vote on what that something should be.

Here are the things I could totally master in three weeks (we all know how I probably have some personality hidden in there [here?] somewhere who can devote all her time to this, as well as actually being able to learn something in a short time. It'll have to be one of the personalities who don't drink.... I think):

1. Play Metallica's Nothing Else Matters on an acoustic guitar. This would perhaps be best if I hadn't left my guitar in South Africa, but in case one of my sisters has one?

2. Memorize my own telephone number. Not a proper talent I realize, but a big feat for me. And if this one wins, I might just throw in memorizing the hubby's digits as well. No takers?

3. Stern lecture on how to properly drink tequila and how tequila and mezcal are not the same. I might do this in the interest of tequiducation anyways, but it still requires me to memorize history and read about worms. This one is my favorite, since it combines alcohol and worms. I'm gross that way.

4. Doing a suspicious handstand which might not be a handstand at all but just an illusion (giving myself a way out, since I don't know if my poor arms can support my enormous weight).

5. Fitting my entire index finger up my nose. Okay that's old news. Get it.

5. Preparing a kick-ass guacamole. Okay, so I already sort of know how to do this in theory, but so far in practice my guacamole has been less kick-ass and more singe-your-tongue-right-onto-the-roof-of-your-mouth. I'm still working on getting the balance right.

If you are not satisfied with the options, you are always welcome to suggest some more. I'm counting on you to figure out what I could be good at (besides picking my nose and drinking).

Thanks.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

hmm...

i just got the site meter report for this trusty blog camp blog. and one of the visitors who stopped by came from a google korea search on "nude stewardess pic." isn't that hilarious? i hadn't noticed any nude stewardess pics here, had you?'

other than that, the site meter tells me that many people who click in do it from cuttings on a blog and from the lovely mrs. rotty's blog. mrs. rotty, i know you only just got home, but are you coming to blog camp in september? :-)

Monday, May 25, 2009

i've been thinking...

...do we need tiaras for blog camp?


this one's from cartier. but i was thinking about it after rxbambi 's post. maybe something a little more understated?

Sunday, May 24, 2009

blog camp goodies


when i should have been working this weekend, instead i worked on blog camp goodies. it was much more fun.  and we wouldn't want to mix up our coffees.

Friday, May 22, 2009

at blog camp


one of the things i want us to do at blog camp (other than get a tattoo, which has fast become much more serious for me now that polly wants one too) is come up with our own blog award that we send out there into the world and see if comes back to us and how. like a message in a bottle. or a balloon released on the wind. wouldn't that be cool?

be thinking about what it should be and how it should look.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

asking yourself...


....do i fit in at blog camp?  if you can answer yes to more than one of the following, blog camp is for you. (and yes, maybe i just felt like making a list. it's my blog camp and i'll list if i want to. :-p)

do i...

  1. like to stay in my pajamas all day long?
  2. love to blog?
  3. want to meet some of my blog friends in person?
  4. like to drink wine?
  5. and lattes?
  6. know a lot of funny stories that i love to tell?
  7. want a bunch of new funny stories to tell?
  8. love to laugh?
  9. have any good skills? (yup, that sounds a little napoleon dynamite.)
  10. think about getting a(nother) tattoo? (whoa, where's she going with that? she never said anything about that before.)
  11. like really good pastry?
  12. like to have burgers beside a beautiful lake?
  13. ever get down on the ground to take a picture?
  14. wonder what my blog friends look like in real life?
  15. ever take pictures with my friends where we all go like this:

if you answered yes to more than one, or wanted to answer yes, you're gonna have a blast at blog camp.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

This could actually be my talent - the only one


I know. I could in fact be alienating quite a few people. That's why I'm not doing this in my own blog.

Love you people, and too bad for you that photobooth pictures will upload, even in Zambia.

the pictures in my head

in my head i have a picture of mma ramotswe, from the no. 1 ladies detective series. that picture actually makes me rather afraid of seeing the t.v. series that was done of those books, because i'm really quite afraid it won't match the picture in my head and i don't want that picture spoiled. this is because i once had a picture of john irving in my head--it was more than a picture really, as i'd seen pictures of him--it involved a whole construction of how he was to hang out with. and then i went to hear him speak one time in iowa city and he turned out to be a really arrogant asshole kind of a guy, which almost ruined his books for me. thankfully, i got over that.

but my point in bringing this up is to say that we all do it--we formulate a picture of the people behind the blogs we read. we feel that we know people, but very often we don't actually know what they look like. me, i mostly hide behind a camera on my blog, tho' there is the occasional picture of me without. but more than a physical picture, we formulate an idea of what people are like.

i'm sure that none of you will be that far from the picture i have of you in my head, because the medium of the blog is a personal one. it's diary-style and i think it exposes a lot of who we are. so, i'm really interested to see if the pictures i've formed of you in my head will correspond to how you actually look in real life.

so, i'm going to reveal what i think each of you looks like right here and now before i actually find out in real life. i wanted to get my impressions down here, so we can compare and perhaps laugh uproariously at how wrong or right i was. i'm putting myself out on a limb here and i'm going to write for all to read what i think each of you will be like. coming up. like right now. (this is kinda hard.)

B - i have a mixed image of you in my head. your profile picture is from the back, so it's tough to know. i think i have this basic picture of you as a really natural backpacker girl--you don't mind pulling a pair of wrinkled linen trousers out of the backpack in the morning, pairing them with the easy elegance of a white v-neck t-shirt, tying on a colorful scarf, maybe just a titch of mascara and you're good to go, secure in the knowledge that you can wear those wrinkles out of the linen as the day progresses. my picture of your work clothes is similar, but minus the wrinkles and maybe with a colorful, bright skirt or two and perhaps some bold silver jewelry. but, that doesn't entirely jibe in my head with the belly dancer. but, i realize people are so complex, so i'm looking forward to seeing how you bring those two images together.

extranjera - you have a lot of funny descriptions of yourself here and there on your blog. most often eastern european and shot putter (that might be my interpretation) come up, and something about not being satisfied with your eyes, but i don't really buy that. i picture you as looking like the rock singer pink.

kristina - i'll admit that my view of you has lots to do with a general picture of swedes in my head. longish blonde hair, great-fitting, classic clothes, nicely ironed shirts, just the right shoes. you also avoid pictures of yourself on your blog, choosing beautiful scenes and pictures of your dog in motion. they say people choose a dog that looks like them, so based on vigdis, i'd guess that you are small and quick and fine-featured.

seaside girl - you are perhaps the most difficult. maybe because you've not been blogging for long and so the picture you've painted for me isn't as filled in. but because the picture i have formed in my head from your words and your dilemmas with the prince of darkness doesn't actually fit at all with your recent post on getting a cut & color. i would have thought you were really quite glam--all dark sleek hair, great makeup and while not exactly balancing around on stilettos, a fan of a good pair of heels. i can't wait to see the merel streep dungarees at blog camp tho'.

polly - the picture i have of you in my head is one that matches my pictures of favorite female professors through the years. i think because your posts have an intellectual bent and i know that you live without a t.v. (SOooo wish we had the courage to go there).  i picture you having an academic look and by that i don't mean disheveled and lacking in any clothing update since 1978. i mean blondish hair in a chin-length bob (might not be totally fair since i think you've had a couple of pictures of yourself on your blog that more or less match this), nice cardigans, business-like trousers, a really great roomy leather bag. i don't know if you wear glasses, but i picture you with glasses.

so, guys, i've put myself out there. laugh all you want. but we'll see when blog camp comes whether you match these pictures in my head. :-) and next, your voices. i wonder what they'll be like...

Friday, May 15, 2009

balderdash


all blog campers have just been invited to be contributors to balderdash, since you will be put to work writing definitions at some point during blog camp. :-) and you should probably start practicing now.

For you, ladies!

I'm giving this award to all the ladies who are coming to blog camp (or are organizing a South Africa one).

I've said it on my blog but wanted to say it here too: I think that blog camp is the perfect example of the great things that can happen in the blogosphere, and a sign of true sisterhood.

So for you ladies, no need to pass it on, just enjoy! (But if you do want to pass it on, rules here. I say other nice things about you there too!)

Update: Mrs Rotty had the same idea and nominated us all here! How crazy is that?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

a tentative plan

i'm not really one to plan too much ahead, but i am excited about blog camp and despite my general neglect of the blogosphere this week due to having actually gotten a life, i'm ready for a little brain break before bed and thought i'd share the rough blog camp plan that's forming in my head.

since y'all get in at a reasonably early time on friday, i thought we could go to the central station in copenhagen, stow your bags and go immediately on a photo walk in copenhagen, if the weather is good, of course. :-)  here's some examples of what we could do...


then, we'll head home and make some dinner (if we haven't stuffed ourselves on the best sharwarmas in the world and a sausage or two) and perhaps get in a virtual session (must look at time differences more closely at a moment when brain not fried). saturday, we'll hang out and do a virtual session (or two) and learn belly dancing, crocheting and possibly how to knit (as if there's hope for me and the retarded monkey stance). then, we do the buresø burger thing in the evening (and no doubt consume vast quantities of wine) and have LOTS of laughs along the way.

any additions/corrections/suggestions for times for virtual sessions are most welcome. :-)

some things needs to be said

Since I'm on a roll with the confession extravaganza here's another one - even thought it's not quite Friday.
This is Wednesday edition of a blog camp confession. I've been thinking about this lately so here it is:
*
*
*
I'm a PC, not a Mac...
(wait, it gets worse!)
*
*
*
I'm a... Dell
(does the fact that it's a black Dell help?!?!)
I know this is just not cool enought but it's purely cost driven. No ideology behind my PCness whatsoever.
As penance, I'll be pouring wine making sure that noone's glass is empty.
***
And speaking of wine - Julie, the t-shirts are lovely, and with the proceeds going to such a worthy cause, I'm getting mine soon!
***

Sunday, May 10, 2009

looking forward to...


oops...that published before i was finished. :-) just wanted to share this picture as a little teaser. blog camp will spend saturday evening right here.

Friday, May 8, 2009

just practicing


this morning, husband was sent out for morgenbrød. just to practice. he did a pretty good job, but we'll keep practicing before blog camp, so that he's really good when the time comes.

And this is what I'm bringing...


Great! If someone teaches me to knit (my Mum has tried several times, I warn you), and someone teaches me to make a gin&tonic sorbet, I can teach you... how to belly dance. This would be so much fun! Specially, if we do it after the gin&tonic sorbet!
We could all teach other something! Or does that sound a bit like a scout camp, rather than a blog camp?

Thursday, May 7, 2009

what I'm bringing to blog camp

yarns, knitting needles and crochet hooks!


Morgenbrød


This is what I'm talking about.

I realize you may not understand my point of view regarding the importance of morgenbrød, but let me assure you, the above pictured pastry for breakfast is a definite bonus.

Just thought sharing the picture might help (and rub it in if I was in that way inclined, but am not. definitely not).

(image via Wikimedia Commons)

blog camp is no ordinary camp, please!

***
I said to someone yesterday "I'm off to the blog camp" and their first reaction was "it's a camp??" and then they started taking fire... forest or some kind of jungle... insect repellant... uniforms... night watch
And that brought very bad memories... I was a scout once, never enjoyed it that much though.
So I think we need to clarify one thing, dear Blog Camp blog visitors who are mystified by the whole camp thing, please note that:
* we do not intend to play guitars and sing songs by the fire
* we won't be getting at 5am to feed birds and other forest animals
*we won't have to take turns to stay up all night to make sure that noone steals the tents
* physical activities won't go much beyond lifting bottles of wine
* we won't have to wear uniforms - pjs are not uniforms
I hope Julie agrees.
***

I'm coming because..



  • I want to hang out in that beautiful blue room
  • I don't get to spend long enough in my pj's at home
  • It's my birthday at the beginning of the month and this is (yet another) present to myself
  • I can drink wine and make world domination plans with the best of them
  • it's been ages since I flew anywhere
  • spontaneity is good for the soul
  • I have never been to Copenhagen
  • someone might teach me how to knit
  • since julochka is daring enough to make this real I'm going to be daring enough to say yes
  • it's going to be such a good laugh


Oh and the gin and tonic sorbet of course....

tickets in hand!

seen on the side of a SAS plane in oslo last week

it seems that everyone who needs tickets to fly to blog camp now has them! and that lifts my spirits quite a lot on an otherwise dreary, grey, drizzly day. plane tickets in hand always make me happy, even if they're not my own (tho' i do currently have two sets myself so maybe that's why).

i'm so excited and thinking already about the things that we'll do during blog camp:

  1. tackle some of that huge pile of WV words i've been saving and post them on balderdash.
  2. partake of gin & tonic sorbet, since it's actually polly's doing that i invented it. 
  3. have at least one online virtual blog camp session (probably two due to time zones) with all of our bloggy friends who can't be here.
  4. starbucks (when we pick everyone up at the airport, since that's the only place there's starbucks in denmark)
  5. a walk around copenhagen to take pictures (if we're not hungover and the weather is good)
  6. cook and eat lots of great food.
  7. send husband for morgenbrød.
  8. laugh.
  9. plot world domination.
  10. go visit some good friends of ours who live near a lovely lake and want to meet everyone!
i am in awe of the spontaniety and gutsiness and daring of you totally cool bloggers who are coming to be part of blog camp. this is exactly what was missing in my life and i'm so happy to have found it. and i just totally can't wait!!

My boyfriend designed a blog camp badge! Yes, he has a lot of free time, but he's also very supportive, even though he's still a bit freaked out by the whole blog camp concept. I've put it in my blog. Feel free to copy it and put it in yours too if you like.

PS. I have my tickets! Yay!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

maybe it should just be tea?

I've been thinking about the South African component of the blog camp. And wondering...

Maybe all the angst and second guessing is catching?

Would there be more enthusiasm if we didn't do the whole weekend and just met up for tea? Or brunch?

We could set up the webcams and whatever at somewhere like Fairview, and hang out with our blog-sisters and the Rapunzel goats?



I still think the whole blog camp thing is the first prize though...

Am I just being too hasty, and not waiting for last minute responses, in true Cape Townian style?

husband is brilliant

we are laughing quite a lot at our house (in between frantically trying to get those boxes that have been standing in the hallway for an eternity cleared out) about husband's brilliant blog camp idea.


you see, he said it a little bit in jest. he was actually making fun of me, taking the piss, as it were.  about my penchant for living a good portion of my life online and not in my own community. i was trying to explain how it felt like a community anyway, but that i would like to hang out and drink wine with my blog friends. which is when he said, "why don't you have a blog camp?"

and now we're actually having blog camp. a short leap from talk to action here on P street. and now some of those people i most wanted to hang out with are coming. here. to my place. for blog camp!

i loved B's post yesterday about her fears about meeting everyone in person, because all of the same thoughts and more had crossed my mind...

  1. am i going to be totally different than they expect me to be after reading my blog? 
  2. will i disappoint? 
  3. am i too fat? 
  4. i'm not really that happy with how my last hair color turned out. 
  5. what if they don't love the blue room as much as i do? 
  6. what if none of them can teach me to crochet? 
  7. will everyone bring a laptop? 
  8. can i find one of those cool antique swedish folding tables before they come? 
  9. will i get those boxes cleared out of the hall in time? 
  10. will someone be injured by falling towers of crap in the laundry room? (must keep laundry room door closed--convenient then that it has no handle) 
  11. will someone mind sleeping in sabin's loft bed? 
  12. will we figure out how that whole stikam thing works? 
  13. what if they all cancel at the last minute and i'm all alone?
  14. should we come up with a time schedule for the virtual component of blog camp? (i loathe time schedules.) 
  15. and looming largest of all--will they like me?

so many questions. but mostly, i'm bouncing off the walls with happiness. because it'll all come together. and it's gonna be awesome!!! we're going to laugh so much and have a totally brilliant time. i'm so glad husband had the idea. i wonder if he knows what he's getting into...

Why? Why? Why?

1. The train, plane and train rides will give me plenty of time to get into Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.

2. I love morgenbrød, and am willing to get some from a proper Danish bakery. Pastry alone could some day make me return to Denmark for good.

3. In a tequila induced state of excitement I purchased some plane tickets from Finland to Denmark. Non-refundable, 'cos a girl likes to plan ahead.

4. Copenhagen ranks right up there with drinking lots of wine with awesome people. 

5. I get to separate hubby from his fancy camera and a lens named Big Berta.

6. I flippen know how to knit and crochet. Am versatile.

7. I want to hang out with these people in real life. 

In no specific order, 'cept for the morgenbrød, which clearly outranks everything else.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

how could I say no

really, how could I say no to blog camp?!
  • it's only about 2 hours away by train or car for me
  • it's an opportunity to merge my online and offline life (though my minutes offline are few and far between...)
  • finally I can talk to people who understands my blogging and flickring obsession
  • perhaps there will be some exchanging of Moo MiniCards?
I'm so very much looking forward to it and am extremely impressed by Julie for initiating it!

and why am I going to the blog camp

1. Well, because it's an absolutely fab idea! And perhaps a beginning of a new, noble tradition in the blogosphere...
2. And because I’m also guilty of having blog taking over my life and because I really, really want to meet the people who make me want to blog rather than do anything else.
3. And because it only makes sense to meet the friends-in-blogging in person. Firstly, because we already know we'll get on like a house on fire but also, secondly, because if we don't one day then blogging will become a second life kind of fantasy and we don’t want that.
4. And because blogging is about interaction – and the over-a-glass-of-wine variety is so much better than any other kind.
5. Oh and also, because I really want to hang out in that blue room and see that kitchen – thanks Julie, I’m volunteering to wash up all the wine glasses!

the antipodean element

I'm sneaking in a post because I am so excited about the idea of the blog camp. I say sneaking... because today is one of the days that one of my retainer clients pays for my time, so I should be writing about art.
But hey, if art is a reflection of life, and blogs are a reflection of life, then Julie's blog camp is surely both life and art. That's my excuse anyway.

I'm going to be organising the Cape link to the blog camp, for those of us who are not able to pop over to Denmark for the big event.

So, all you Kaapenaars who have a blog crush on Moments of Perfect Clarity, let me know who you are!

Lynne at Wheatlands News

Monday, May 4, 2009

I'm going to blog camp because...

1. I'm in serious danger of being more interested in my blogging life than the other one... better make my blogging life real!
2. I have always (or since I first saw it, not so long ago, thinking about it!) wanted to hang out in Julie's blue room.
3. I'm sure there will be lots of wine and good food cooked in that kitchen that was in Apartment Therapy.
4. I'll have a new camera by then, and what better use for it?
5. Any excuse to freak out the boyfriend. I think he likes it that I'm crazy.