Dec/091
I Will Not Be Attached To Wackness
Changed the theme on this blog to be this cheesy teenage girl obsessed with Amelie theme. I love it. I kind of fell off the "real blogging" radar, but that's what happens when you get a J-O-B. It's fine, my writing gets edited constantly at this job and it's been nice for my blogger's ego, where you essentially are never taken to task about anything, because even when you are, you just wave that "stop being a hater" flag and the commenter goes away.
So, 2009, you are almost over. I'm not the type to make resolutions. I'm not built for dissapointment, and I am already hard on myself. But I've learned a lot. Leaving San Francisco wasn't the end of the world. Living at home the past 9 months has completely humbled me and I'm a better person for it. And again, moving back home and admitting you're in a shitty spot isn't the end of the world, either. Worst things have happened. Worst things will happen. Sex is not that important (until it is, but pursuing it is a complete waste of time and it just falls in your lap when you don't think it will). Real success is hard to come by and everything is based on connections. I mean, you can say the latter and know it intellectually, but until you start paying attention and seeing it in action, you won't realize how real it is.
I don't feel as if I've had this great year, the way you feel at the end of a wonderful meal or a great night with friends. I feel restless and ready to move on. While living at home has been mostly positive, it's also reminded me of why I left in the first place. This place is stagnant and no one wants to change, not even a little bit. That's why I'm going West for New Year's Eve, to start the new year in the same place so many others before me have started over and pursued their dreams. I also had a great Virgin America code, and an overwhelming need to take a vacation after months of non-stop work, but that big philosophical reason sounds nice, too right?
And oh yeah, about the non-stop work part. I am currently writing three blogs for b5media (and I treat BravoFan like a spoiled princess and give her a lot of attention) as well as working at my job 4 nights a week. I know I could be a generic pageview blogger and not put any care into my celebrity blogs, but all that shit has my name on it and like Real Housewife of Atlanta Kandi Burruss says, I will not be attached to wackness.
So, that's why I've been absent from bitchbuzz and haven't done anything fun like Ignite or In The Flesh recently. I just don't have the mental energy right now to write anymore than I already do. I know writing is easy and that's why we get paid pennies to do it, but my brain hurts.
This is my current favorite song:
So. You Guys. Tell me more about your 2009!
May/091
Soda Driven Writing
It was bound to happen: your girl has gotten herself a sponsor. Well, kind of. The Pepsi Corporation has now earned a strange place in my life as a company that somehow likes what I'm selling. First, they picked me as one of their 20 finalists for the SXSW "What's Your Pitch?" contest (which I just found out I didn't win, instead going to TeeCycle). My idea was for an internet safety advocacy organization, focused more on legal advocacy for people getting harassed online (since the current legal system is inadequate) and training programs for kids, namey what to do with boys to teach them not to post photos of their ex-girlfriends online to get back at them. Anyway, that's one idea that will have to come alive later on in life.
The second way is that I was chosen as part of a group of people to cover Internet Week New York, a kind of week long schedule of events to talk about the Internet, new media, social networking and all those buzz words you love. One of the things I get out of it (besides access to some pretty incredible events) was a fancy Flip HD (ultra, even!) camera. And yes, an honorarium, which is nice. Thanks Pepsi, for paying your contributors. Intrigued by what the online peanut gallery could possibly be saying about this, I found a few blog posts decrying the sponsorship deal and the fact that they were looking for both journalists and journalism students. I find the latter attitude to be a typical sense of entitlement from "real" journalists. To that I say: times have changed and you need to get used to it. Whereas 10 or 20 years ago, working writers may have gotten their start working at a small town newspaper or working their way up a newsroom, now we get started on blogs. I've called writing my b5media blog, BravoFan "writing boot camp" because that's exactly what it is, constant writing, not to mention I am fact checker, copy editor, and image editor all in one (and yes, I do fact check & I do research, even on my little celebrity gossip blog. I don't get off on posting unfounded rumors as fact like many of my brethren). My first job as a writer, for a trade blog called CMSWire taught me how to look for good stories, to never just copy and paste the press release, and to always ask questions.I think the reason it's not fair to compare blogging to traditional journalism is we don't have the access, staff or time. Yet.
The other thing is that we are soda sponsored contributers. Without going into any confidential details, I will say that this isn't a project where I have to constantly talk about Pepsi and how much I love it. So, don't look for me to tweet anything like: OMG I LOVE PEPSI!!! Like say, Julia Allison and her sudden love of Sea World. Or Heidi Montag's constant tweeting about pizza hut. But, here's the thing: we're getting paid and that is nice. This is a job that is so devalued and it's nice to see someone actually paying people for contributions. I'm not opposed to writing for free, not at all, but for a person/company I really care about or for myself.
Really, Molly McAleer said it best when posting about about advertising and sponsorship on her personal blog because, as she puts it, "it's what makes shit possible." I disagree with her about disclosure, I think you should tell people when someone hooks you up with something, but that's me.
In any case, thanks Pepsi. My blog posts about Internet Week will go on a site that I can't share just yet, but I'll be linking to them on my Twitter. And Tumblr. So, if you're interested, that's where I'll be. This is the very first time I'll be doing much with video, which will be interesting. I'm going to be on the hunt for a tripod this weekend for the Flip and taking some (likely humilating) test videos which I will post here.
And now, a final word from our (starting on June 1 and ending on June 8 ) sponsor:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tign09D5IgE]
Mar/092
South By So What
The below originally appeared at Counterforce.
I owe so many people stories about South by Southwest (if you don't know what SXSW is, kill yourself) I'm starting to think I should just print out the million text messages I must have sent to get some kind of comprehensive account of what exactly just happened in the past week.
sxsw remnants. giant cup of dr pepper from whataburger optional.
As Marco mentioned, Bruce Sterling had his annual talk (his legendary post party was supposedly canceled) at SXSW Interactive. Yeah, you know who else had a talk at the conference? Me. And guess what this bitch got? A mainstream news mention. Which means... you will never hear from me again. I'm moving on to the big leagues. Now we sip champagne when we thirsty.
when you're very important, you get giant pieces of paper with your name on it.
The best party at SXSW was the Gawker invite-only party, where they served theme drinks based on all the Gawker media properties (red wine for Jezebel, a screwdriver for Lifehacker, and a Manhattan for Gawker, etc). The second best party was the RVIPLounge, a party that came out of my dreams and into reality. It was a moving karaoke RV with cheap tequila and wine on board.
I lost two items of sentimental value and most of my dignity as I harassed an Internet celebrity who's online clique I used to worship (uber.nu for the old school dorks) and then went on to berate the founder of a new location based iPhone app we were all using that gives you fake badges for the amount of times you announce your location. I asked if I could just cheat and get the badges anyway and he was upset that I was pissing on all his hard work. I never did get the Slut badge (which you get for checking into three hotels in one night) but I did get the Redford badge for attending film screenings, like one of Creative Non-Fiction directed by a fellow Oberlin College survivor.
One of the films I saw was a short called Coffee, about a woman just trying to get a cup of the tasty nectar of the gods. It starred Amy Locane, who you may remember as being from Melrose Place. At least I did. Her transition from TV actress to starring in a short film at an independent film festival is intriguing. How did she get here? The short was kind of perfect because it was just a moment in time, but it had a clear beginning, middle and ending. It was just enough of the character.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZQbWn9HKZM&hl=en&fs=1]
Don't ask me about SXSW Music because I'm still flaggelating myself for not upgrading my badge when I had the chance and missing the chance to see Third Eye Blind and get even more free drinks. Instead, I kicked it with the anti SXSW festival of free shows in Austin. One was an acoustic show at a dirt parking lot where I imbibed on Barefoot Cellars Pinot Grigio. Because the 7-11 we stopped at was too classy to carry Sparks. I did get to catch Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, an old college favorite, who was playing a free show across from the dirt parking lot show at an old man dive bar that only served two kinds of beer. Here, have a dance party break:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la227pWNtSc&hl=en&fs=1]
In numbers, let's put it this way. Number of Julia Allison sightings: two. Number of real celebrity sightings: just one, of Dave Navarro in the airport. Number of times consumed things covered in smothered cheese: every time. Number of times I consumed barbecue: 4. Is it a nerd spring break? Yes. Is it filled with marketing wankers who want to monetize the Internet? Totally. Is it also filled with people rambling on about their shitty band and trying to get their film picked up? Uh huh. But you know what? The haters can hate and the jealous ones can envy. The reality is that this one of the highest concentrations of pure awesomeoness (and smoked meats) in one location and that is a beautiful, gorgeous thing. So South By, I can't wait to see you next year, where we we can drink tequila at 1pm and lick barbecue sauce off of each other's fingers before exchanging business cards.
portrait of the author wearing her most prized sxsw accesory: her gold badge
(pss, for more of my SXSW coverage, peek underneath the jump!)