The one where Pamela, Melissa, Monica and I pretend we're on The View

Did you miss the panel on Building Bridges between Mommybloggers and Infertility bloggers at BlogHer08? You saved yourself the vacation time, the travel expense, and the pat-down by TSA. As an added bonus, you can see the panel now here.



What would you have said if you'd been there?


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(Pregnancy mentioned in this section.)

All Thumbs Reviews is holding a GIVEAWAY, especially for pregnant and soon-to-be-pregnant moms. Click on over by the 8:08 am on 8/08/08 for your chance at a very fitting book.

London, Golden Gate, Brooklyn...and Awareness

Was she inspired by the view in San Francisco? Did emceeing the BlogHer08 panel on building bridges strike a chord in her?

Could it be that the already creative Mel is stoked about a new project that could have positive and wide-ranging implications?

Mel mused about bridges on a recent BlogHer post. And for me, the most striking thing she said at our panel was: "It's not about fertile people vs infertile people; it's about sensitive vs insensitive people."

To that end, Melissa has unveiled a new project, Bridges, an awareness consortium to "take the taunts off of the playground one post at a time."

I am honored to be a Contributing Editor for Bridges, responsible for finding posts and articles that build bridges in the domestic adoption community.

And here's where I need your eyes and clicks.

Was there an eloquent post by a birth/firstmother that made you say, "Ahhhh, now I see." Or just the right sentiments expressed by an adoptee that deepened your understanding of his/her experience? Or a wise post by an adoptive parent? Have YOU written something that speaks to sensitivity and compassion?

Please alert me to any bridge-builders you find that merit the Bridges audience.

Adoption is just a part of the project. Also included are single motherhood, surrogacy, child-free living, loss, neonatal death, body image, cancer, parenting with special needs, addictions, allergies, mental health, and more. Melissa is open to including other suggested categories.

I think this is something you'll want to be part of.

Here are my requests of you:

• Let me know of any domestic adoption posts that have touched you, taught you, made you think, by leaving a comment here or by emailing me.
  
• Consider submitting your blog to Melissa for inclusion on the Awareness Blogroll.
• For more on Melissa's amazing vision for this site, click here.
• Add Awareness Bridges to your Reader Feeder. There will be good stuff here that will change the world, or at least make its playgrounds kinder.

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Joanne at Forever Parents is holding a book giveaway. Click on over before August 10 for a chance to win one of three great books.

Show & Tell: Switcheroo

At Blogher08, Mel and I trade places. She gets to be tall and I get to be mighty.

Click to see what others in the class have to show and tell.

(photo courtesy Luna).

Show & Tell: BlogHer08 clips

I must first apologize that for a S&T, this is woefully lacking in the Show part. I left it to everyone else to take photos.* In fact, I lifted the ones in this post from Mel.

(at dinner are Mel, Michell, Pamela, Luna, Millie, and me)

But below I'll post some links to the more visual bloggers, and also the two live-blog posts of our panel that I'm aware of. Here are notes from the conference.

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Twit: I do not do it. I do not Twitter. But apparently everyone else does.

During the speaker orientation, "Twittering" must have been mentioned at least two dozen times. I will not be doing this. It sounds extraneous.

Just hours after I wrote that, I signed up on Twitter. Follow me if you must.

Extroverting: Very hard for an introvert like me to do exercises like "speed dating." I hate it when the person I'm talking to is glancing around the room for someone more advantageous for her to speak with. And, I admit, I am prone to doing the same. Everyone talks but no one listens. I get jittery under my skin during exercises like this.

Social networking and other gobbledygook. Several hundred people crammed into a breakout room for a session on DIY audience building. I was again urged to get on Twitter and to Kirtsy, to Digg It and to StumbleUpon. And other bloggedy things that flew right past me.

That's because Mel was bothering me, and because I was busy joining Twitter.

Surreal: Abbycadabby (Sesame Street) is here, pimping photos with her. I think I saw her and the Michelin Man -- also pimping photos of his marshmallowy, rubber-selling self -- canoodling in the corner.

I did not join in the photofest.

Grrrrl power: these sponsors are REALLY good to us. I've gotten my laptop tuned up, a massage, a face makeover, a whole bag o' swag, and lots of other wooing by companies slobbering for the power of the woman blogger. As a group, we are mighty. Hear us roar.

Dooce and Redneck Mommy: I met Heather Armstrong! Well, by "met" I mean I was in the same room with her. And by "room" I mean a ballroom big enough for 1500 people. And by "I" I mean me and 1100 other awestruck bloggers. She is very charming and witty, as you'd expect, and very centered. That's the part I really admire. She seems to have a firm sense of herself and her boundaries.

My cousin is a big fan of Redneck Mommy (I dare you to read a post of hers and not laugh out loud), so now I can lord my brush with RNM over her.

F2F: The BEST part of BlogHer was adding the 3rd dimension to my familiarity with the following people.

Pamela is statuesque, composed, contemplative and well-spoken. She is also brilliant, able to not just think on her feet, but analyze on her feet. She is truly committed to making the world a little easier for the IF ladies who come after us, to demarginalize the infertile experience. Being with her feels like being in a pool of graciousness.

Melissa. Even more fabulous than you'd expect. Made EVEN MORE fabulous by the fact that she is completely oblivious to her fabulousness. I find it hilarious that this very petite Jew was charged with herding we three Amazon-Catholic**-types. I'm sure she could kick all our butts if necessary.

And she has an awesome husband.*

Luna. I loved basking in her gentle energy. Luna oozes kindness, knows her way around San Francisco, and also has an awesome husband. Good peoples. I completely "get" why I am drawn to her blog -- I am drawn to her.

Frenchie: I flatter myself to call Frenchie my twin. She is also tall, with dark hair, and she has an amazing adoption story (she was matched the same day she turned in her profile!). I about sprayed my gin & tonic on Luna when Frenchie muttered under her breath about the Swedish-goddess cocktail waitress in the barely there black dress, "Stop being so pretty!"

Millie: It was exciting to meet one of the winners of Lori's Trivia Contest, and a fellow Land of the Lost watcher. We had much fun traipsing around San Francisco and not finding vegetarian food for Mel.

Michell: Battynurse (so called because she was once a phlebotomist) regaled us with tales of her experiences as a traveling nurse. So great that she took the time to come in and meet, and to put a face with the lime-haloed cat.

Amber came to the session to support us. She squeezed a quick trip into her full schedule and had to leave shortly thereafter, so I just got a taste of her wonderfulness. Gotta get me more.

Cheryl: my friend from the years I lived in Japan, and my wine-tasting buddy from the Spring. It meant so much to me that she came to our session to support me. Whenever I got nervous, I looked at Cheryl as my touchstone.

Rob: my husband attended the session! Not easy, I suppose, to join a room full of ladies likely to talk about their ovaries, uterii, and fallopian tubes. I hope it didn't irk him much when I publicly mentioned my vajayjay. His presence made the panel session perfect.

Our session: our mission to build a bridge with Mommybloggers was met with less enthusiasm (in terms of numbers) than we'd hoped. It didn't help that our panel was on at the same time as From Blog to Book and Can You Take Back Naked Blogging, or that we were put in a cavernous room.

But our session reaffirmed how helpful and healing our community is when one is faced with infertility and looking for a path through.

(after the session: Pamela, me, Monica, Mel)

More pertinent links:
Mel's BlogHer08 posts
Uppercase Woman's Live Blog
Metropolitan Mama's Live Blog
Pamela Jeanne's BloHer08 post
Luna's BlogHer08 post
Frenchie's near-BlogHer08 post

For more on the BlogHer08 conference, click on the widget on my sidebar. Also, expect podcasts to be available soon here.

Such an incredible weekend. Same time, next year?

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* However, Josh videotaped the session with my camera, and has graciously offered to get it uploaded in the near future.

** Catholic, Lutheran -- who cares when you're trying to make a point?

Sex and the Business Card

#1 item on today's agenda is an open invitation for any lurkers, readers or bloggers who are in the area on Sunday, June 8, to join the ColoBloggers at a showing of Sex and the City. We aim to see the 1:10 show* at Belmar, and will gather at 12:30-ish in front of the theater somewhere. Look for these faces if you come.

Afterward we'll head somewhere close for cosmos in our pink stilettos. High heels and high fashion are optional.

Me, in heels? Not a chance. 'Tis better to feel good than to look good, I always say. Besides, spiky shoes don't go well with yoga pants. Do they??

* make sure to check show times closer to Sunday...this is our best guess at the moment.
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I'm getting ready for the BlogHer conference next month. While Mel is busy stocking up on Ati.van and Pamela Jeanne is smartly preparing her notes for our panel, I am working on this:


Yes, I'll be passing out business cards like a fiend. I hope to embarrass Mel and Pamela Jeanne with my blatant blog whor.ing.

But not in stilettos.
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Find out what big-ticket item I LOVE. I want to MARRY.

Thursday's episode of Oprah AllThumbs.

Mad props

I am sending overdue props to Pamela Jeanne of Coming2Terms. A propeller is an apt symbol for her efforts, as it signifies forward movement.

Several months ago, Pamela Jeanne initiated a conversation with representatives at BlogHer about the chasm that can exist between Mommybloggers and IF bloggers. She proposed a panel at the upcoming BlogHer conference that would aim to build bridges and shed light on common misperceptions. Her hard work and persistence resulted in the inclusion of this panel, which has morphed into a discussion about how infertility blogging is changing the dark and lonely experience faced by the fertility-challenged.

Words cannot express how grateful I am that Pamela Jeanne invited me to be part of this panel. Or how excited I am to actually meet this woman I have admired from afar.

Within a few days, Pamela Jeanne will be interviewed by the New York Times about living with with infertility in a fertile world. She is welcoming your input as she gathers her thoughts about it. Click on over to comment on her blog with a helpful idea or a pre-interview Atta Girl.

Shall I wear some flowers in my hair?

I have an announcement.


And perhaps even more exciting (but not surprising):

The absolute best, best, best, best part is that I am speaking on a panel composed of Pamela Jeanne, Melissa, and Monica Mingo. Our panel is on Infertility/Adoption/Miscarriage.

When the Road To Motherhood Is Anything But Smooth:
Infertility, Adoption and Miscarriage Bloggers Join Lori from Weebles Wobblog, Monica Mingo, Pamela Jeanne and Melissa from Stirrup Queens for a frank discussion about what it's like to realize you are not on the fast track to motherhood. These women are in different stages of dealing with infertility issues, but there is one common thread. They all want or wanted to become a mom, and have found roadblocks and detours obscuring what seems to be so easy for others. Is infertility one of the last things that nobody wants to talk about? Not in this blogging community.

Check out the rest of the conference agenda, and then consider joining us in San Francisco this summer. If there's a Lushary anywhere in the vicinity, Mel's buying.


(Just seeing if she's reading all the way to the end of the post.)