JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

goalie Michaela

Yes, the soccer season ended Saturday. Ten months until the girls play soccer again. In the meantime I can put my soccer mom identity back in the closet. Or wear it as a costume later tonight.

This season Abigail had a particularly excellent team, coached by Brian Carson. The team was small – barely able to participate if a player or two missed a game – but the girls worked together well. The parents bonded too. We were all sad to say goodbye.

Michaela’s team was fun to watch. The 5-year-olds at the beginning of the season didn’t know which way to take the ball down the field. But by the end of the season they were playing well and scoring at the appropriate goal.

At times I felt tired by the soccer schedule. This was our first year juggling two players in one family. Saturday mornings suddenly become more demanding with two soccer games.

But it was worthwhile. On a note of interest: Abigail’s team was the first time we’ve been in a group on Bainbridge where 5 of 7 players had Asian heritage. Ballet, and now soccer, have been the two places in this 90%+ white community that have seemed most racially diverse.

By the last game, I was ready to reclaim our Saturdays but at the same time I saw what we had all learned. Physical skills, sure. Abigail’s team especially learned how to play together. The girls learned endurance. And all of us made new friends.

I washed off the soccer shoes and shin guards, preparing to put them in the closet for the year. I think we’ll miss soccer. But more than that, we’ll miss seeing the friends we made.

This fall I’ve also been busy putting together a panel for SXSW Interactive 2006. I’m excited to announce that Bloggers in Love: Intimacy, Technology and Mask-Making will feature Lisa Williams as moderator along with three couples:

Joey DeVilla and Wendy Koslow of recent newlywed fame

Ponzi Indharasophang and Chris Pirillo of The Ponzi and Chris Show

George Sessum and Jeaneane Sessum, husband-and-wife, and parents of Baby Blogger

Here’s the panel description:

Moving in together. Doing your socks in the same load of laundry.

Merging the collections of music and books. Getting a joint checking

account…

…merging your blogs.

Gasp! Avert your eyes! We thought this was a family show! Couples

blogging? You mean — in public?!

Living transparently online has many unintended consequences. We’ve all

heard about the “blogger gets fired” and “my mother found my blog”

stories, but this session will focus on the happiest of all blogging

accidents: Love.

This session will feature people who write about their relationships

online, couples who blog, and what to do when one of you gets up on the

wrong side of the blog.

When I started blogging, my husband already had a blog. So from the beginning, I’ve been curious to discover the ways blogging affects our intimate relationships. This particular panel grew from discussions I had with Hugh Forrest, organizer of SXSW Interactive 2006, after I responded to the invitation given at Blogher encouraging us to submit proposals.

I’m grateful to Hugh for all his help as we started with a range of ideas including my “Making Masks” presentation and shaped them into a panel for the conference. I was already in debt to Lisa before I asked her to help me put together the panel and she has been a great partner in creativity. And I’m thankful that these three excellent and experienced couples are willing and eager to discuss how blogging has impacted their relationships.

I’m sure we’ll enter into some intriguing intersections of technology and intimacy, exploring the line between public and private. And I’m also certain we will have fun!

SXSW 2006 itself looks to be a blast, with an amazing list of confirmed speakers and also panel topics. Hope to see you in Austin next March!

Bonus link: Joey DeVilla posted his perspective and said he’ll be coming in his cowboy hat.…ah, but will he bring the accordion too? 🙂

One of the exciting events this fall so far has been watching Seattle Mind Camp come together. To quote the blog:

Seattle Mind Camp is a self-organizing, digitally minded, entrepreneur-driven, overnight Seattle confab. What happens when you put 150 of Seattle’s smartest geeks in an empty office building for 24 hours? We’re not sure either, but we’d like to find out. It’s time to meet and connect with those involved in the interesting projects going on in Seattle in a relaxed environment.

The organization began at the end of the summer, with a group of people desiring to see an event in the spirit of Foo/Bar Camp here in the Seattle area, as a way for locals to brainstorm and connect together. I wish I could have been more involved with the planning but all I did was allow Ted to attend some meetings both in person and via the phone. 🙂

Due to popular request, I may present “Making Masks” again (please let me know if you’re interested). I’m also considering starting a discussion on technology and families, together with Ted (our first joint appearance!). See the Session Ideas page of the wiki for potential topics. If you are attending please add your ideas to the wiki page. Let’s start collaborating!

Thanks to everyone who has put in time, energy, effort and $ to help Seattle Mind Camp come into being. It is free of charge and promises to be lots of fun. The best is yet to come! We Leungs are looking forward to the weekend…More information here.

Update: In the process of writing this piece, I learned that Seattle Mind Camp is officially sold out! Congrats!

Given the stress of the past week, I felt compelled on Friday to drive to Home Depot and load the car with a 10 foot piece of PVC pipe. Our previous house, in CA, left us with a pair of PVC pipe cutters. So the kids and I sat on the porch in the afternoon sunshine and assembled a marshmallow shooter. I cut the pieces and let Abigail look at the Howtoons diagram and put them together. It was simple for my seven year old to make.

Our version is a modified one, due to the lack of pipe ends at Home Depot. One tip: I bought some plain connectors which became invaluable when I noticed that the elbow joints were not the same on both sides. I also didn’t measure the pipe, and it turned out the ones labeled “1/2 inch” were actually too small. So we have to modify the marshmallows.

What fun it was to run around outside and shoot marshmallows! Thanks to Saul Griffith at Foo Camp for highlighing Howtoons. And thanks to Mitchell Baker for encouraging me to go to his presentation.

marshmallow shooter was here!