Write Right? All Right!

This is a public confession: I am one of those "tortured writer" types.

You see, I tend to fall madly and idyllically in love with my Big Idea. When it first sparks to life the Big Idea's message churns in the background for a long time, grinding and polishing. What is it I'm trying to say? Then with glistening fragility, my Big Idea begins to crawl, then walk. I lay awake at night worrying about its future, what it will be when it grows up. Then, suddenly, it's asking to borrow the car and sneaking into the liquor cabinet. I endure hand-wringing nights by focusing on the things that made me fall in love in the first place. I have faith. Then, in the end, if I'm lucky, my Big Idea and I will ride off into the sunset of my artistic expression.

That's not easy, you know. But thanks to my beautiful and talented friend and mentor Melissa Lion, it can be easier. Or at least less angsty.

Melissa is a two-time Random House novelist, book reviewer, and popular blogger who lives in my beloved St. Johns neighborhood. In addition to co-running Back Fence PDX (which has a show tomorrow night at the Mission Theater) she just started Long Lunch PDX, a series of writing classes about creating words specifically for the Internet.

On Saturday Melissa will teach Write Right All Right, the first in a series of narrative crafting classes aimed at the Internet writer: the bloggers, the online journalists, the multimedia artists. In this three-hour class (in which lunch is included courtesy of Silicon Florist) Melissa will talk about technical aspects of writing for the Web, such as social media tools, and writing in general, such as grammatical errors and conceptualizing the Big Idea from start to finish. The emotional aspects of writing will also be discussed, such as confidence building and maintaining creativity flow.

Another public confession: I need help with all of that.

Think about it: three hours of a professional novelist's insight into prose for the Web, plus lunch, for 45 bucks. That's a bargain, folks. I've already got my ticket. Who wants to sit next to me in class? Get your tickets now!

Let's go steady!

Portland Geeks are Social Geeks

Here in the Portland, Oregon tech community, we embrace community, collaboration and connectivity. We're also big fans of beer. (We're 4th in the nation for breweries-per-capita in the U.S. and, have you see the Portland Beer Wiki?)

Once you put all that together it's easy to see why we have all these camps, conferences, unconference and meetups: we're geeks who talk about geeky things and we like to party. (So much so that we have a city-wide community event calendar. Have you see the Calagator?)

Take a look at 3 must-do events scheduled in the next 24 hours:

Friday 12/5 4-6
First there's Beer and Blog at the Green Dragon from 4-6pm. Tonight's discussion focuses on Open Source Bridge, an effort to promote open source technology and Portland's unique talent in collaborative software development. Talks will be led by Mr. Silicon Florist himself, Rick Turoczy. (Maybe you've heard of him? No? I'm sorry, we can't hang out any more.)

Please RSVP for tonight's @Beer and Blog at the Green Dragon (928 SE 9th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97214)

Friday 12/5 8:30-who knows when
Second is the official CyborgCamp Pre-Party featuring a special on-location, live broadcast of Strange Love Live. CyborgCamp is an unconference focusing on the interaction between people and technology. (More on that below.) Held at the office of Portland's OpenID darling Vidoop, my good friends Cami Kaos and Mike (Dr Normal ) will podcast their popular tech show in all it's glory. If that's not enough to tempt you, keep in mind that Cami's choice of outfit for the show will be reminiscent of Sean Young in Blade Runner, only with more cleavage. (Also, for those of you not impressed by boobies, there will be beer.)

Please RSVP for tonight's CyborgCamp Pre-Party at Vidoop (117 NW 5th Ave, Suite 210, Portland, Oregon 97209) Pre-Party starts at 8:30pm, Strange Love Live starts at 10pm.

Saturday 12/6 9-6
And, finally, the greatly anticipated CyborgCamp is all day on Saturday. Expect to hear such topics as "social media, design, code, inventions, web 2.0, twitter, the future of communication, cyborg technology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy." Okay, but the thing I am most looking forward to? Sexy Miss Burrows (Lia Hollander) and her talk on "How being a cyborg keeps me alive". Please check out the cute video she made to promote this event. (Tip: You will need to watch this more than once. Personally, I found her Treasurelicious t-shirt very distracting. Ahem.)

Please buy a ticket for Saturday's CyborgCamp at CubeSpace (622 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97214)

Hope to see you there. Say hello, wouldja?

Let's go steady!

My first (dead man) crush: Leo da Vinci

I recently found myself at The Tech Museum of Innovation (San Jose, CA.) exhibit Leonardo, 500 Years into the Future. I was like a giddy school girl, taking my time wandering the 30,000 square feet of space and staring at more than 200 artifacts. It was like having a chance to catch up with an old crush.

I became infatuated with Leonard in the 6th grade when I created a multimedia project on his life. (Oh, yes. I've been a mediaChick for a long, long time.) I studied about him in the library. I wrote and voiced narration on a tape recorder for playback, timed to coincide with the projector slides of my hand-drawn replications of his art, his inventions, and him. Although it's not atypical for me to fall in love with unattainable men (in this case dead men...Charlie Chaplin being another one in that category) I've fallen the hardest for Leo.

Leo is the epitome of a Renaissance Rock Star. My heart knows him best in his later years, as an old man. It pleases me to no end to believe he was a curmudgeon. Living during a time dangerous for believing arts and science are one and the same, Leo's genius kept him safe and sheltered by Kings and Lords. He was an artist, innovator, and thought leader extraordinaire, always learning and teaching. Always trying again.

I took many, many photos at the exhibit. Here are a few of the best:



Sigh. Isn't he dreamy?

In case you're inspired to be a Renaissance Rock Star, The Social Reformer (Tag line: Has a problem with society. Plans on fixing it.) wrote about life-long learning yesterday, specifically Michael Gelb's Seven da Vinci Principles. The Principles are Gelb's attempt to tap into the unlimited creativity of Leo.

Seven da Vinci Principles

1. Curiosity (Curiosita) Wondering, seeking knowledge
   
2. Demonstration (Dimonstrazione) Continuously trying, perseverance, trial and error
   
3. Sensation (Sensazione) Smelling food before eating, thoughtful observance to highten experience
   
4. Smoke (Sfumato) Accepting fate, "Let it be"
5. Art and Science (Arte/Scienza) Synergy in right/left brain functions
6. The Body (Corporalita) Health of body and spirit
   
7. Connection (Connessione) Understanding inter-connectivity between all things.
   

To tap into your inner Leo, check out Gelb's book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Everyday. (1998)
Let's go steady!

Photojournalism at its Finest

It's the circle of life, folks. I have harvested, cured and slaughtered my first pumpkin. Raised it myself, I did.

I cut it from the vine the morning of Halloween. The night before I actually fretted about it's safety, worried that hooligans would smash my precious #alienveggie in the All Hallows Eve tradition of violence against squash.

It has fully ripened since then, green alien skin now orange. A really gorgeous orange. Now I bake and puree and freeze. And BAKE. Oh, shall I bake!

Let's go steady!