Ever since my picture appeared on the cover of a local publication last year, I’ve realized that others in my community might recognize me now. A few conversations have come from the article. I’m not anonymous any more. So when someone approached me at the grocery store on Wednesday afternoon, asking Are you Julie Leung? I wasn’t too surprised .
However, I didn’t know he was Chris Holmes, another Bainbridge blogger with whom I had done some email and blog dialogue but had never seen in person. When I received an email from him in July, I think he was only the fourth blogger I knew on the island (counting Ted and myself as the first two).
Chris has encouraged me with his posts. He writes with wit and insight as an islander with British/Hong Kong perspective. Chris and I had joked about meeting at Safeway sometime, yet on Wednesday afternoon I was focussed on the fact that I was late. However, the fact that we met after many months is cause for celebration – as Chris said, he can now remove one item from his 43 Things list!
Chris writes of our community and like him, I am concerned about Carol and Michael Gormley who work at Safeway.
And like Chris, I join the Bainbridge Islander in celebrating its first birthday. Of course, I am biased, since this paper is the one which ran a front page article featuring me. But I am grateful for their support of blogging in the community. The editor, Rachel Pritchett, has responded to my emails: for example, publishing a note about the Northern Voice conference last weekend. I also appreciate the perspective, different from the Review’s. The arrival of another local paper in the island market made us a two-paper town, breaking a monopoly, and proving yet again that competition improves quality. What excites me most however is the new Bainbridge Islander website which will be updated daily with fresh stories and permalinks – a first for the island. Hurray! Now all they need is RSS…:-)
Tags: island
Conversation with my kids on Thursday afternoon:
Me: Do you remember Eric Rice?
Kids: ? [no]
Me: He was with us at dim sum on Sunday.
Kids: At your table or ours?
Me: He was at my table.
Kids: In the orange shirt?
Me: Yes
Kids: He stamped our hands with Mimi’s pens!
Then I showed the kids what Eric had done, creating a Kid-friendly RSS Videoblog feed. Their favorite clip so far was Steve Garfield’s New England Aquarium Fish Tank; great music and transitions. We watched the clips in the feed, and soonthe girls were asking for More!.
Eric described that the idea came to him at our dim sum on Sunday morning – wow!
I had the best time while sitting on the floor of a dim sum restaurant stamping hearts, ladybugs, and happy faces on the hands of the various offspring of Marc and Lisa and Ted and Julie.
It was great to meet Eric. I didn’t realize that he is an at-home dad who manages to produce content (audio, video and text) while caring for his kids! Like Lisa Canter, I wonder how he finds the time to do it all.
Thanks, Eric! I believe that the Kid-Friendly niche is the next wave, along with podcasts like Lisa Williams’ Reading to Rowan series. As families, why not let the kids come along and enjoy the treats of RSS too? If adults treasure the ability to listen to what you want to hear, then I believe parents will appreciate being able to select fresh content for their children to see and hear. Eric’s Kid-Friendly Video Feed
Tags: family
Correct yourself was one of Tim Bray’s points in his talk last weekend at Northern Voice ( live notes). Acknowledging mistakes is part of our humanity, a part, that, as Tim Bray pointed out, often doesn’t exist in other media or publications. I was glad to see his point and now I have a few corrections to post…
I’ve now been informed through a comment and email that the incident I referenced in Don’t try this at home was a joke and didn’t occur at the Northern Voice conference. I am relieved, but I will leave the post, with a few corrections, as is, because I think that parents (or others) might consider such an idea and try to discover blogs (and break trust) through these kinds of bribes.
The post did generate great ideas in the comment section. pts asked how Ted and I will let our children go on the Internet. Probably as with money and cars, we will restrict them for a while and then let them learn how to handle the freedom before they leave home. Arjun pointed out that people need private, separate space. I had meant to say that the parent, in this situation, should accept that she might never know her daughter’s blog. Betsy Devine this morning compared the situation in this post, which she also didn’t like, with AKMA’s ability to get his kids to pick up good books and wonderedwhat the difference was, why she liked one but not the other. I think perhaps it has to do with the end goal. AKMA wanted his children to enjoy books and I think Betsy and I would both agree with that goal. He wanted to give his kids a gift. However, the parent who is giving gifts in order to discover her daughter’s blog is stealing from her children, taking their privacy and breaking trust.
In my post Why you should teach your children how to recognize wild animals I referred to a large cat on the loose near Los Angeles. The animal turned out to be a tiger which was killed Wednesday.
While describing those who played with our kids, I should have mentioned Travis Smith and Susannah Gardner. They both cuddled and entertained our daughters during the post-conference party. Susannah shared the personal blogging panel with me, and I’d read her writings before the conference. Travis’ blog I discovered this week. His column on Appropriate Holiday Feelings fits well with my emotional life themes. I wonder what is the appropriate feeling for correcting oneself?
Now I need to try another of Tim’s suggestions…flame judiciously… which may lead to more correction posts…
A general blog note: Due to excessive spam, I have had to turn off trackbacks. I am trying to respond to comments as I can but I may not be able to participate in the conversation as soon or as often as I would like.
Tags: northernvoice
One more reason to return to Vancouver – and soon! –
From the Vancouver Province via U2LOG.Com:
U2 to take over GM Place for month
Dublin rockers here to rehearse before Vertigo tour starts March 28
The Province has learned that U2 — the biggest band in the world — will take over GM Place for a month of rehearsals before the first date of its Vertigo 2005 tour, March 28 in San Diego.
[…]
Tour promoter ClearChannel Entertainment and its vice-president, Shane Bourbonnais, would not confirm the Vancouver rehearsal. However, a formal announcement is expected to be made in the next few days and trucks started rolling into the lots outside the stadium yesterday.
[…]
A source close to U2 said: “This is a great city, geography-wise. It’s close to where the tour launches. And Vancouver’s a cool city.”
A cool city indeed.
Now I’m done with this theme and done for the day…more tomorrow…
Tags: travels
February 25th, 2005 · 4 Comments
After enjoying a wonderful stay in the city this past weekend, Ted and I have been thinking of taking another trip north. Here would be one way to do it:
I read in Lilly Tao’s blog this morning that the Oscar goodie/goody bag/basket 2005 includes
$10,000 package for a three-night stay at the Opus Hotel in Vancouver, three nights at the Four Seasons Resort in Whistler, lift passes, helicopter transfers, limo transfers, numerous meals, Pilates session, spa treatments, and two OXIA oxygen personal canisters…
(Lilly Tao also linked to the Opus Hotel press release which has more specifics, the rest of her list is a fun read too.)
Now there’s only a small problem: how I would get an Oscar goodie bag…
Tags: travels
