JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

How do I say thank you to everyone? I’m overwhelmed…

Speaking at Gnomedex on Saturday was an amazing experience. I’m grateful to Chris and Ponzi for inviting, promoting and believing in me. They also bent over backwards to take care of our kids and make sure they were comfortable. Wow! Thanks for the excellent conference for our whole family! The organizers of Northern Voice deserve credit for allowing me to be a speaker back in February, giving me the opportunity to create this talk in the first place (and setting a precedent for family-friendliness too!). Boris, Darren, Roland, Richard and Kris, many in the Canadian crowd at the conference, all feel like old friends. Dave Winer gets my gratitude for putting me on this path last August by asking me to lead a discussion at BloggerCon III on emotional life. Thanks to Robert and Maryam Scoble for their continuing enthusiastic support and faith in me. Thanks to Derek Miller and family for helping organize our family dinner Friday night, and to David Robertson for joining us! And thanks to everyone who has encouraged me in this process, including Beth, and many friends and blog readers…and especially my family and beloved Ted.

Dave Winer connecting with Elisabeth

Reviews of my session that I’ve discovered via my stats, Feedster and PubSub. (Technorati doesn’t seem to be working as well.) I’ve tagged and put in my delicious bookmarks under the tag gnomedexreviewjleung. After a while I tried to copy phrases or take notes in the bookmark so I could distinguish the posts. If you know of a review that is not in this bookmark list, please let me know. I also made a bookmark for Flickr.com photos of me at the conference: favorites here, here and here. (Ted has a list of reviews too.) I just uploaded my own Flickr.com gnomedex photos of fun moments. Please feel free to browse!

In general, people seemed to enjoy my talk and showered me with compliments. I feel almost embarrassed by the lavishness, overwhelmed by the kindness, and I don’t know how to respond! Afterwards, as I walked through the halls, many greeted me and shared stories from their own lives, experiences that my presentation had stirred within them. One of the reasons I enjoy speaking is the cascade that occurs: others then begin to tell their own tales and reveal how our lives intersect. It’s amazing and fascinating to me, how a few words typed on a screen or spoken from a stage can open a flow of connection, community and relationship. Thank you to everyone!

I’ll link to the audio and video recordings of my session as soon as I find them. Does anyone know where one can be found? Please let me know. I thought I heard on Saturday that someone had already watched the video, but I should have asked for the location.

I’m grateful others appreciated what I said. I did work hard preparing my presentation, so as Ted wrote, it is gratifying to know it was effective. But I believe that there were many other great speakers at Gnomedex. I was only telling stories. I’m overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of participants, both on stage and in the audience. It was a rich mix of people. I also think I have much to learn about giving and preparing presentations. I can’t remember the last time I performed for an audience with the size and significance of Gnomedex. Again, I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow as a person in many ways, the opportunity to build more bridges of community across physical and internet space between us and the explorations we can do together.

What I missed (notes for next time, if there is one):

Richard (who would be the second chapter of my makeoutcity.com story) noticed that my experience with my daughter’s surgery was cut from this version of my talk. I was concerned I had too many slides and tried to simplify. Perhaps that story should be re-inserted in future version. [an aside: do check out the insightful video Richard also links of Suw Charman’s interview at SuperNova, talking about blogs building and strengthening social bonds]

I missed a sentence in my opening series explaining that Bainbridge Island is a ferry ride away from Seattle. Although it is a small community, it is not in the middle of nowhere, as one person thought, sharing an interesting observation. I don’t see myself as sheltering my children by my choices, but that’s another post…

Perhaps I should clarify that my kids do have a blog. I discussed the questions I faced, but didn’t emphasize my conclusion. I should also discuss how the girls post to their blog only under my intense supervision/censorship.

On a technical note: Since Northern Voice, I switched from a ThinkPad to a PowerBook and switched my slides to Keynote from Power Point (by hand) and it seemed to work out well (although I think Power Point may have more options for slide designs). I also learned how to put my notes into my presentation instead of reading from a separate paper copy. I had wanted a remote control so I wasn’t stuck at the podium. Due to nerves, I ended up staying close to my laptop anyway to read my notes. But the Griffin AirClick USB worked well. My one complaint had been that the AirClicker forward button would also fast-forward and I couldn’t distinguish the sensitivity difference between moving one slide and moving to the end. When I practiced, I often ended up accidentally forwarding to the last slide, frustrated. Ted hacked the settings though so that the button only controlled one slide. I was happy and grateful! Apparently the AirClick is undergoing a hardware change so that the computer will fall asleep with it. I think it’s fine the way it is. It was difficult to find an AirClick in stock in early June; I ended up buying mine on eBay (story for another post…).

Many offered suggestions for future plans, steps to take after this Gnomedex presentation on identity, connection and privacy. I’m not sure which path to pursue but I am open to ideas. From conversations at the conference, it seems there may be potential opportunities for more speaking and writing. Please comment or email any suggestions. I’d also enjoy listening to stories evoked by my presentation or other related thoughts. Please let me know. I’m eager to listen. My next presentation will be at Blogher in July with Susan Mernit (thanks, Susan and Blogher crew!) and I’ll be writing more about our session soon.

Thank you to all! I hope we can continue the connections between us, share more stories, and explore what it means to walk on this journey into the depths together.

I’m also overwhelmed by an excess of laundry, a stack of bills and a lack of food. My jokes about eating frozen fish sticks weren’t too far off course…so I’ll need some time this week to catch up on life and begin posting again…Thanks again!

Seattle, as seen from the ferry home

I’ll write more later about the conference itself, but for now I wanted to post a link to the bibliography for my talk titled Blogging as Social Tool. I’ve assembled a list in del.icio.us/julie_leung using the tag gnomedexquotejleung. Posts that I explicitly quote in my talk can be found in this category. For a look at the many bloggers who have influenced my thought process, please feel free to browse my bookmarks, especially the tags of blogging, northernvoicejltalknotes, and privacy. Enjoy! A big thanks to all who have shared their thoughts and impacted my life.

You know when you start having nightmares about something that it must have slipped inside your subconscious. Last week I dreamed it was time for me to talk at Gnomedex but I had lost my paper notes and didn’t have my slides either. Those who have seen my talk know it is dependent on the pictures to tell the stories. So I woke frazzled and afraid. I rarely have nightmares. I knew I was in deep, as if the absence of posts on this page didn’t prove the intensity of my preparations.

One might think I was hoping to receive a Tony for a soliloquy, based on the way I’ve been practicing my presentation. Of course I’m kidding. Professional actors, I’m sure, spend much more time rehearsing their lines. They probably even memorize them and don’t count on KeyNote to become a teleprompter. Thanks to Darren Barefoot for his helpful vocal warmups. The kids have been wondering why I am running around making strange sounds, like some sort of huge bird…like an enormous version of our neighborhood pheasant…like a chicken with its head cut off…oh, that’s it… Darren and Tod’s podcast was great. I’ve also felt more confident since I did my rehearsal for Ted Tuesday night. He’s my harshest critic, or so I think. He’s gentle but also focusses on important details. He also was able to hack my new remote control hardware. I’m grateful…and waiting for him to want his turn with the remote…;-)

Anxious? Who wouldn’t be anxious? At SuperNova, according to Nat Torkington’s notes, Linda Stone spoke on Continuous Partial Attention and the value of attention. [Ted also linked this too coincidentally…] She said: The next aphrodisiac is committed full-attention focus. In this new area, experiencing this engaged attention is to feel alive. In this Seattle Times article on Pirillo and Gnomedex, John Dvorak is quoted: The speakers are up there and only about 10 percent of the people will be watching. The rest will be blogging it. The more I read about Gnomedex, the more I wonder how my talk can compete for precious attention with all the exciting product announcements and surprises-still-to-come. How can I compete with a robot that can podcast? Then again, a podcasting robot is probably the antithesis of my presentation…

Chris Pirillo says he has pre-conference jitters but the video reveals him sleeping sound as a baby while Ponzi makes funny faces. A sleeper hit indeed with my daughters who go crazy for anything branded with Pirillo and Ponzi. The picture in this Seattle P-I article had my kids laughing and commenting about what was happening on Chris’ chest. They also liked the new theme music for the show. So lots of funny faces and show tunes will keep them entertained…I learned…

For weeks my life has been divided into Before Gnomedex and After Gnomedex. Usually I like to keep a schedule and routines around our household but some things have had to wait while I invest in my talk and the conference time. For example:

• Clean the Car: originally on the After Gnomedex list, but one sunny day took my sanity and convinced me to do it Before Gnomedex
• Clean the Garage: has to be done Before Gnomedex if we want our leftover goods to go to the island’s Rotary Auction god this weekend.
• Clean the Refrigerator: definitely After Gnomedex. Besides, the girls have been asking to see bacteria. It’s a homeschool science project, sure.
• Buy Groceries: again, After Gnomedex. Three weeks of eating frozen fish sticks will only make my family more appreciative of that Gnomie cuisine.
• Blog: oh, I guess that will have to be After Gnomedex too…

My talk is on life, it’s beginning and ending, and the ways our stories intersect in the middle. In order for there to be Life After Gnomedex, there has to be life Before it. There’s got to be time and space to eat and breathe. There’s got to be life! Is there Life After Gnomedex? Guess I’ll find out on Sunday. In the meantime I’ve got to live through Gnomedex! Time to go prepare for the party…!

In all seriousness, I am looking forward to giving my presentation Saturday morning. Since the Northern Voice debut, I’ve tightened the talk while also adding some new material. I’m speaking from my life, sharing stories of our experience as a family illustrated by our photographs. It’s a ride through time and place and emotional space, identity, creativity and connection. I hope many come along with me, enjoy the journey we take together and find challenge and courage to go farther and deeper in new ways.

A few notes:



We’ll be going to dinner with Derek Miller and his family Friday night at Ivar’s on the waterfront. Anyone else is welcome to join us, especially families with kids. See the wiki for more details.

Dave Winer and I exchanged email this week. I told him it was thundering here, like in his podcast. He asked which song we should sing Friday morning and I suggested Louie, Louie as one option. Dave had already written it down as one too! When I was growing up in Seattle, I remember the drive (unsuccessful) to make the state song. After all, who knows how to sing “Washington My Home?” Anyone can mumble along to this popular party tune. Web pages posted at Louielouie.net document the history and its has numerous Northwest roots.

Is anyone interested in getting together on for lunch Sunday? Robert Scoble and I had talked about trying to plan a camping trip but neither of us have the resources to do it now. However, a group of us could meet for lunch on Bainbridge Island, either picnic style or at a restaurant. Options afterwards include touring the winery, hanging out at the beach or exploring downtown island galleries, cafes and shops. Let me know if you’d like to come.

Kris Krug has created an awesome feed for Gnomedex. The Wiki is also a great resource. Check the live audio stream link which will be the closest to being there for those who haven’t already registered: Ponzi says the conference is nearly sold out! Time to party…!

Hope to see everyone there!

Recently I’ve read some wonderful posts, scribbling notes to myself, hoping I’ll have time to publish links later. Maureen’s description of her family dinners was one I treasured. In this piece she tells what happens at Sundays in their home, and wonders what it will be like after her parents, Mike and Carol Gormley, are deported. Here are a few excerpts.

Every Sunday we have a special family dinner. It is something I have strived for ever since Eric and I first started our lives together. There have been very few Sundays that we have not had our special get-together, and I hope it will always be like that.

We always pray before we eat, sometimes everyone prays in turn, sometimes just one person and sometimes a few do and a few don’t. In the last few months, a lot of my younger two children’s prayers have been for my parents to be able to stay. After that, its free for all. While I don’t abide bad manners, we certainly are a lively bunch. Lots and lots of talking – loud talking and so many jokes. We’ve heard them all before, but somehow they are still funny again next week.

Hooray – Maureen’s next post revealed that her parents have been given an extension to stay through the summer!

lavender harvested to dry in a paper bag

papier mache hippo, prior to painting

tiger lilies blooming in the yard