Loter’s Blissdom 2011 – Part 2
Jockey & Tide sponsored Thursday night festivities at Blissdom and it was seriously a blast. My roomies (Mishelle, Dawn, Leslie, Victoria) and I all got dressed up and headed to “the red carpet” to kick off the night. This was basically just a chance to act silly and be photographed (Malia joined us on the carpet).
photo by Heather Durdil
Mishelle captured a great shot of the red carpet photographers, Casey, Hannah, Elan, and Heather.
We ate from a variety of foods provided to us – my favorite thing was pulled pork sandwiches with a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. What can I say, I’m still a NC girl at heart when it comes to BBQ!
I was also witness to a momentous occasion: Mishelle had her very first Guinness.
We all enjoyed the food and drinks, chatted, and laughed together.
last four photos by Mishelle Lane
After hanging out for a little while, we headed into the nightclub, Fuse, to watch performances by Michelle Branch and Mat Kearney.
What a treat – both musicians put on a fabulous show. I was particularly excited to see Michelle Branch, as I’ve utterly adored her music for so many years.
last two photos by Mishelle Lane
I generally don’t go all “fangirl” and have photos taken/do meet and greets, but I didn’t pass up the opportunity this time.
photo by Jana Warnke
Once the performances were over, there was dancing…
…and then people wandered off here and there throughout the hotel to eat, hang out, and just have a great time, late into the night.
photo by Mishelle Lane
These are memorable portions of the night – the times you spent laughing with various groups of friends, catching up, sharing hugs, smiles, and silly moments.
At some point later on, Mishelle, Jim, Diane, Amy and I ended up in the Garden Conservatory. As you can see, we spent a little time being goofballs.
Mishelle and her camera… she had me model for her throughout the hotel. I didn’t argue… even when she asked me to climb onto a piano. What can I say? I’m easy.
last two photos by Mishelle Lane
And of course, Diane gave me her now traditional, on-camera, one-finger salute.
It’s this kind of silliness that makes time with best friends so fun!
Still to come – Friday, Flashmob!, Girl’s Night In, and Saturday’s Photo Walk.
to be continued…
Loter’s Blissdom 2011 – Part 1
As I’ve said previously, Blissdom is a conference that completely has my heart, and my word for it is Love. While there from January 25 – 30, both my days and nights were filled with wonderful and interesting experiences.
Tuesday was a day of traveling, arriving, settling…
…random water show magic…
…meeting, greeting, hanging…
…and relaxing.
last four photos by Mishelle Lane
The highlight of Wednesday was the Photography Wisdom Workshop I helped teach. This was so much fun to be a part of – a large room full of women who wanted to get more intimate about photography with a hands on workshop. We all split up at different tables and gave mini lessons at each table about different aspects of photography.
Mishelle & Dawn – Camera Basics/Overview/Settings/Controls (Her notes are here.)
Deanna & Casey – ISO/Aperture/Shutter Speed
Angie – Finding the Light
Amy & I – Creativity & Detail
We shared our knowledge and our hearts about this thing we truly love: Photography. Afterwards a small group of us headed out to put our photography knowledge to practice. We walked and shot, asking and answering questions, and had a generally good time wrapping up the workshop.
photo by Mishelle Lane
Wednesday night was the kickoff party sponsored by ConAgra and it was so fun. Food and drinks were shared by a large group of excited attendees, buzzing around one another. The area was full of laughter and happiness that was palpable. I was so happy to see David and Kammie from The Social Path and Luckie, and Anissa Mayhew, at the party.
Later, Leslie and I cartwheeled through the hotel as everyone was on their way to have wine, cupcakes, and watch the premier of Working Class with special guest, Melissa Peterman. What, don’t you always cartwheel through hotels? Best way to travel.
When that was done, several of us picked up Jim in the lobby and hung out at Fuse, drinking and laughing.
At one point, Jim, Diane, Mishelle, and I realized we were standing in a circle, drinking, laughing… and Tweeting at a bar.
That’s how fun-lovin’ social media/tech-geeks roll, eh? Regardless, it was so good to spend that time with them, just laughing and soaking in the rarity of close proximity to people I adore online from great distances on a regular basis.
After many drinks, we retired. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep. Oh, boy.
Thursday was the first full day of the official conference. Let me just say that I never make it to all the sessions I want to go to at a conference, and I’m finally learning to be okay with that. On this day, I attended the two things that were most important to me (personally).
My advice to you for conferences is to find the sessions that are the VERY MOST important to you personally and make sure you attend those. If you can get to others, great; if you can carve other time to truly enjoy other facets of the experience (visiting with sponsors, spending time with good friends, networking with new business contacts, exploring the town you’re in) – fabulous!
I’ve mentioned this already, but the Opening Keynote speaker was Brené Brown. Her talk blew me away, made me cry, affirmed things for me, made me laugh deeply, had me nodding, and was basically time well spent. Her message is powerful, and I highly recommend you seek her out – watch her talks, read her book. When I got home I had the renewed confidence I needed to go back and pull up a 4-month old draft and publish it.
photo by Schmutzie
After the opening, there was a roundtable meet and greet time, a fun way for each of us to connect with our “tribe” and get to know one another.
Each tribe is headed by one or many “Tribe Leaders.” (I was one of the Photography Tribe Leaders.) This is an interesting new way to make sure nobody feels alone during the conference – no matter what, you will have a tribe to check in with! There’s even a “No Niche” Tribe. *wink*
After a superb ConAgra lunch, I wandered out into the expo hall, talked to the Purex Rep (who was totally awesome) and as I was wandering on, I suddenly realized that HOLY CRAP IF YOU ONLY SLEEP FOR 3 HOURS AFTER YOU ARE RAGINGLY DRUNK BY MIDDAY THE NEXT DAY YOU ARE SOOOOO DONE SOCIALIZING. Like that, I hit a wall, and I knew it was time to go to my room for a little bit.
Also, someone made me spill tea all over myself and I almost went back and decapitated him later just out of spite. This was totally a sign that I needed a nap, as I am generally a “punch them in the neck” kind of person rather than an “off with their heads!” chick. So I went to the room and slept like a goddess on soft fluffy pillows, fully dressed, for an hour. Then it was up and to the next session!
photo by Mishelle Lane
The Innovative Writing Session with Leslie, Jim, and Amy was fantastic – creative, informative, and hilarious. I really wish you all could have been there. You can see the presentation in this post at Jim’s site.
I think the most important thing they shared was an amazing piece put together by Shawn Burns for presentation during the session, something that he’s worked hard to get across to the community for some time, and Jim, Leslie, and Amy realized this was the perfect opportunity to help it spread. Even if you didn’t get to attend, I really think you should benefit from Shawn’s message. Now go to Jim’s site and pay close attention as you watch. You will thank me.
It’s like you were there, right? You can thank me in the comments. (Heh.)
to be continued…
On processing my Blissdom Conference experience.
There is so much. So very much, and there is no way I can touch it all in one post. I’m going to break this up into posts on different days (non-consecutive, of course, wouldn’t want to ruin my lazy douche reputation by posting two whole days in a row with words and stuff) as I speak specifically, and share photos (mine and others’) and videos with you as I go along.
photo by Mishelle Lane
And even then, I won’t be able to get it all across to you. The excitement, the freedom, the friendship, the FLASHMOB (oh yeah!), the chance to speak and share, the Community, the panels, the musical performances, the food and drinks, the fun, the laughter. The LOVE.
photo by Mishelle Lane
I’m going to try very hard, but there just seems so much and some parts of it seem so deep, that I fear I have not the skill, the time, the energy… to really make you see, hear, and feel it the way you should, the way I wish for you to, the way I did.
I’m going to tell you now, before I start the posts by day, that I truly love this community of persons I’ve become connected to these last several years. Some of you I am only connected to by the wisp of a thread, and we float into and out of one another’s lives only occasionally. Others of you spend time with me every now and again, us keeping up in bouts and starts and stops, flowing here and there; you make my life your here sometimes and your there at other times. Still others of you are tied to me like a lifeline, and I think of or hear from you every day; we’ve been with one another through happy times and hard ones, and everything in between.
photo by Mishelle Lane & Lotus Carroll
All of you amaze me, inspire me, and collectively form a thing I am constantly in awe of and drawn to endlessly.
Each of you should attend this conference next year, or the first time you have the chance to do so. I’m rooted in the heritage of BD and have been a part of this Blissdom Community since it began in a crazy, cowhide-covered-walls hotel with a pink crayon brazier in the lobby (no really), and I’ll be a part of it for the rest of its fabulous ride down the road. I can tell you that with absolute surety, and I will also tell you now that what keeps me coming back is not just my ties to its past, or my deep and abiding love for the woman whose heart dreamed this dream so fiercely that she made it come true, but for the HUGE sense of love, friendship, and community I feel while I’m at this conference.
There isn’t any substantial amount of time that you will spend alone while at Blissdom (unless you really want to be alone, and I’m right there with you on that one, we all need to decompress, and for me that’s hiding in my hotel room every now and then in the dark because I will be a complete hag to someone in that moment if I don’t, and also because I get REALLY GASSY when I’m traveling/nervous and you gotta excuse yourself every little while and let that out, but I digress) and you won’t find one minute when there isn’t something amazing right at your fingertips.
My word for this conference is LOVE.
Call me cheesy (I really don’t mind, cheese is one of my favorite things in the world), but that is the truth. And Love, when it is truly felt and shared and spread around, is basically the most wonderful thing that exists. Some pretty popular and talented Liverpoolers once said that it’s all you need. I think they were pretty much right.
I’m looking forward to sharing these next several posts with you. I hope you enjoy them.
Oh, and one more thing: All you women out there, the ones I know well and hold dearly in my heart, the ones who have been with me for the past few years, and those who only check in once in a great while, as well as any woman who just happens to stumble through here for whatever reason, and even those who never read these words themselves at all or know me in the least (can you tell them for me?)…
~You are beautiful.
You can be the man behind my curtain, folks.
Quickly, before I start — I have my second ever article posted at Quirkee.com on Thursday. It’s all about semen, green poop, and horses breeding with humans. You know you don’t want to miss it, right? Hahaha. Please show me some love in comments over there, so they’ll let me stay on! 
To go right to my article, CLICK HERE. I think you have to register to leave me a comment, but I WILL LOVE YOU LONG TIME!
Don’t forget to check out the rest of what Quirkee.com has to offer – there is some really great talent and hilarious stuff over there. I know my readers will appreciate the atmosphere. 
***
My post from the other day (I wonder about stuff… alot.) has provided what I would say is the most fun I’ve had in my own comments section in a very long time! Of course, it took a lot of time, and I wouldn’t be able to do that with every post, but I’m going to try and do it with all of the “I wonder…” Series posts.
I was very happy to see so many of you come and talk honestly, giving your thoughts and reflections on the questions I posed to you. And I greatly enjoyed responding back to each comment. I have to thank Jennifer at Playgroups Are No Place For Children for talking about the awesome WP Plugin that allows a blog author to respond to a commenter on the post and also emails the response to the original commenter. Excellent!
I wanted to talk about a couple of things related to that post. One is that it is very clear that most of us censor ourselves, to some degree, on our websites. Some of us *cough* do it very little, and there are only a few topics we won’t talk about. And it runs from that all the way to the other extreme where some of us feel they can’t talk about hardly anything they really want to on their own website.
We all need to be able to get this stuff out. We’re writers, damnit! And this is our release! Know what else? If any of us are holding back, we’re also keeping what might be a really beautiful, wonderful, hilarious, or touching post locked inside ourselves. Can I just say that sucks? I want to help release those posts into the world for other people to see. So I’m going to do another project…
I’m planning on launching a blog, an “AnonyBlog,” so to speak. I’ll set it up, advertise it, and moderate it. And everyone is invited to come to me, get registered as an author, and post about whatever they cannot post about on their own website. The only person who will ever know who you are is me, and I will give you a written agreement that I will never disclose your identity, or link it to your piece. You write under a Pseudonym, I schedule your posts for publishing. When comments come in, I moderate them. Anything truly hateful will never see the light of day. In this way, you never have to experience any negative feelings related to your emotional release. We all get to breathe a sigh of relief. And that wonderful post, or just that crazy rant! that was locked up inside of you will finally get to be read by others. And that’s a gift to them.
It will take me some time to flesh everything out and get this launched, but in the meantime, I’d like for you guys to start emailing me if you are interested in posting on this “AnonyBlog.” Let the subject line of your email be “AnonyBlog” and just tell me you’re in. This way, when I’m ready for posts to start being submitted, I can just email all of you who are interested back, and you can get to work.
What do you think? I’m thinking it’s going to be pretty interesting.
The other thing I wanted to say is that I was also very intrigued by the results to the poll from that post. The poll basically asked, Have you ever held something back in comments that you wanted to say HERE?
As of 9:30PM, CST 07/30/08:
52 said, “No, it has never happened.”
20 said, “Yes, but it’s no biggie.”
8 said, “Yes, and I was upset, but not anymore.”
4 said, “Yes, and I’m still upset.”
1 said, “You’re a lazy douche.” (Only 1? Wow!)
thelotuscarroll@gmail.com
I eagerly invite anyone who answered “Yes…” to email me and talk about it. I urge those who said, “Yes, and I was upset, but not anymore.” to email me and tell me what upset them. I would really like the opportunity to learn and grow. And I implore those who said, “Yes, and I’m still upset.” to email me, and let’s talk about what’s happening. In the end, we may have to agree to disagree. But if I’ve slighted anyone, I would really appreciate the opportunity to apologize, perhaps make things right. Clear the air. Get rid of bad feelings. Forge onward.
Can we do that? I really hope so. Because, hell, ‘you could say that I’m a dreamer.’
‘But I’m not the only one.’
Show Sponsors
The Awesome
