It's important to be warm

Yesterday seemed to be local Over-sharing Day. Ian got stuck in a conversation with a very nice person who insisted to him that it was far too dangerous to go to the Middle East because if you went to Turkey, you’d just end up in a Turkish Prison. (um…) Then she went on to tell him how everyone in New Zealand is really open about their bodies because they all run around naked all the time. (um…um…err…)

Last night, I went (by direct personal email invitation, mind you) to PghBlogfest. Awhile back, I was feeling social and posted my RSS feed to a local blog roll. I don’t know what had gotten into me. Maybe it was during an election and I was feeling that my opinions on things needed to reach a wider audience. I’m over that, by the way.

I alternate between being vaguely flattered when strangers read this thing, and being creeped out. It’s a personal blog, and I try to keep it very separate from the rest of my lives. Not that I’m at any risk of being dooced, but hey, I don’t want a client to happen upon this randomly. Mostly though, I don’t think too much about it because there are far more important things to think about. Warmth, for one. Truth be told, I’m too warm lately. Over to hot. It’s not important to be hot. That’s unpleasant and uncomfortable. August, your work is done here.

Right, so back to the point at hand. I feel more like a blobber than a blogger as it stands, though there are a few locals I’d like to meet, and the organizers of this event seemed safe enough to seek out. I walked in, and found them immediately and accidentally, not because I recognized them of course, but because two of them were knitting. Ah, my people! I came prepared, knowing full well I’d feel completely tongue-tied and awkward saying anything to anyone. Take note: there is no better ice-breaker than a hand-knitted bunny, casually popped out of one’s bag. Everyone worth talking to is leveled by the Cute Bomb. Once applied, there is a certain ease in the conversation.

Then I got into talking to someone else, and while that was just starting out, a young kid brought over a disc and info about his dad, who is running for office. I couldn’t help myself and had to open it up to see who it was and what he was running for because it didn’t directly tell me (!!) so I was unimpressed. I didn’t really want to talk about it, just read it quickly. Sadly, just the presence of politics affected the conversation I was already in, and we danced around saying anything real. From my well-honed instincts, I had a instant feeling we wouldn’t agree on deep matters, and I’ve got no more reason to preach to someone who doesn’t want to change than they have to preach to me. I was trying to avoid politics as bloggers are a preachy crowd and I really hate those sorts of ranting endless non-debates from any side of any fence you happen to stand on. So we skirted politics while talking about it, which just feels dumb. (Later of course, I checked the blog she posts to, and found that those instincts were correct.) I’m sure she’s a good person, but it was clear that direct honesty would most likely lead to disagreements, and perhaps even bad feelings. I didn’t come out for bad feelings. I brought an innocent bunny with me!

We finally managed to untangle ourselves, and I considered trying to meet a few others, but in the end, chickened out for the door. In truth, I had to go home and pack for our driving adventure. We leave tonight and by tomorrow evening, I will have no phone and no internet as I will be in a tent on the beach.

I cannot wait.

Obligatory and relevant link.

Filed by joy at 6:31 am under politics, ubergeek
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