I don’t know what it was I did to piss off The Internet Gods, but for the past few months I’ve been unable to comment on several of my favorite Wordpress blogs, such as Frectis, Friday Playdate and Slackermama. I’ve always been able to comment on Kim Says, but only if I used that godforsaken IE, which… ugh. But even that seems to be fixed, at least sorta kinda.

There were some blogs that still let me participate. I was still able to enter the contests on Want Not, for example, even if I didn’t win anything. *sob* And I was still able to pop in on Caterwauling, which has the distinction of being the first ever blog I started to read regularly and I’ve still never told its owner how I found her originally. All I know is that I totally hold her responsible for the state of my life as it is now.

I’m not always so good about the link love. I’m going to try harder. I think I’m deliberately putting a little bit of distance between me and some blogs these days because I’m not able to go to BlogHer this year and it’s K-I-L-L-I-N-G me. The closer it gets, the more people talk about it, the more envious I am about not being able to go.

*sigh*

But I will be attending the 2008 Ohio Library Support Staff Institute at the end of July, and I’m looking forward to it. Thanks to our Director of Library Services, I’m able to go for free. (We’re hosting it and we get one free registration.)

And in other news… completely unrelated to anything I’ve already mentioned… tonight marks the return, after TWO LONG YEARS, of The Boyfriend’s band, playing live at the Longhorn Saloon. It’s almost time to start getting my party face on.

I wonder if I have time for a pedicure…

* Apt descriptive title provided by Frectis

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Well, it’s official. I will NOT be able to attend BlogHer ‘08. I can’t justify the expense. I’m ok with it, and yet I’m not.

I’m not ok with it because there are people speaking that I wanted to see. I can’t even bear to look at what the schedule is because I don’t want to kick myself for missing certain sessions.

On the other hand, this wouldn’t be my first year, and yet… I didn’t really bond with anyone. I made a couple of friends, yes, but not to the extent that others seem to have. It’s totally my issue. I don’t do well in large crowds like that. I’m usually not comfortable at parties, preferring instead to socialize with good friends in smaller groups.

I do plan on hitting up one or more of the Reach sessions later in the fall, though. Armed with my Kimmer, I know it’ll be a good time. It’s always easier for me to be my charming, witty self when I’m accompanied by someone I adore who is even more charming and witty. Now, if we could just get Kat blogging…

Last week, I had a great conversation with my aunt who has been researching my dad’s side of the family tree for years. I told her about the problems I’ve been encountering trying to find my elusive great great grandmother and she said, “You’ve encountered what we call a brick wall.” And she gave me a couple of suggestions and told me to forward her some information and she’d see if she could dig anything up. The suggestions included a couple of books which will no doubt point me in the right direction of the records I need. I’ve already requested them from OhioLink. I also found a source of newspapers from the area during that time and I’ve been painstakingly going through them one by one to see if any mention is made of her death. My aunt thinks I’m probably correct in my assumption that she died in childbirth.

She made me feel better about what I’ve felt is a rather late blooming interest in genealogy. I only have one grandparent left (on my dad’s side) and she has Alzheimer’s. My aunt pointed out that I developed my interest 15 years ahead of hers and that she had no grandparents living when she started researching. Furthermore, my grandmother who is still living? Her father died when she was four. So, my aunt started off with pretty much the same lack of information. And she has learned a LOT.

Since I was feeling all empowered, I got the nerve up to make a phone call to my mom’s cousin. Her mother took care of my great grandmother (Emma) before she died and I made the call hoping that perhaps the cousin would know the name of Emma’s elusive mother. She doesn’t offhand, but she does have a bunch of papers and photos that she’s going to dig up for me. Apparently, someone has done some research on that line before and she has the information. Potential gold mine of knowledge? I am crossing my fingers!

In any event, the cousin was so friendly and so genuinely happy to hear from me that it doesn’t matter. I’ve made contact with a family member that I never knew and with whom my mom and uncles have lost touch. Reconnecting is one of the reasons I started this project in the first place.

It’s going to be an interesting summer!

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I meant to post this yesterday, but time got away from me. BlogHer has announced their locations for 2008. Yes, locations, as in plural! Not only are they doing the annual conference and repeating BlogHer Business, they are doing a tour of six cities next October, down the eastern seaboard and across the south.The annual conference is moving back to San Francisco, which I am ecstatic about. San Francisco is much like Chicago for me. I’ve been there two or three times, but never for more than a day and I was usually there for a specific purpose, such as a concert, or passing through on my way somewhere else. So, to get back there for a few days… well, I firmly resolve to get out and explore it further. I don’t plan to take The Boyfriend this time around, which hopefully means I’ll have more opportunities to interact with fellow BlogHers outside of the conference. As grateful as I was to have The Boyfriend there with me, I definitely think it prevented me from meeting more people.

As I mentioned, they’re also taking the BlogHer show on the road. I’m glad to see that they’re hitting Atlanta, as that was one of my top choices. The fact that they’ll be there in October is awesome, because the weather will be much nicer. Since they’re also hitting Nashville, I may choose to go to both, depending on the dates, and pop in on my friend Kimmers in B’ham while I’m within three hours.

I haven’t done something like that since I was following Train around on tour.

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