Vlog: I am a character!

Upon recently hearing about the 140 conference in New York next month, I was disappointed that I didn’t know about it sooner. I was talking to my friend Rachael (the other half of this video @1indienation on Twitter) who is one of the characters attending, and she told me I should go.

For those of you that don’t know what exactly it is, here’s a little bit about it taken directly from @jeffpulver ‘s site dedicated exclusively to the contest.

The 140 Character Conference (#140conf) will be taking place at New World Stages in New York City on June 16/17. Since announcing this conference, I continue to be humbled by the people who have come forward to be a part of it. I thank the worldwide twitter community for their interest and continued support. (Feel free to follow @140conf on twitter for updates)

While the original scope of the event was to explore “the effects of twitter on: Celebrity, “The Media”, Advertising and (maybe) Politics”, the scope of the event has expanded and we will be covering these topics and a lot more. #140conf will be taking a look at twitter as a platform and will be taking a look at some of the industries which have been disrupted by the advent of twitter.

The schedule reflects the great variety of the subject areas we will be exploring and discussing at #140conf. The speakers represent a “cast of characters” whose presence will help define this event. Our cast members are flying in from around the world to join us. And while not all members of the cast will have formal speaking roles, many will and their presence will be felt at the event. The cast members joining us will be coming from as far as away as: Perth, Australia and Doha, Qatar as well as from across North America, Europe and the Middle East. This will be a gathering of people with a variety of backgrounds and the one thing everyone who will be there has in common is twitter.

The schedule for this two day event will be unique and fast paced. It is my intention to provide a platform for as many people as possible to share their thoughts and engage in conversation with the attending delegates.

However, I am one of the many sacrificial lambs left wayside in our wonderful economic wake. While I’ve had some freelance work in the interim of that happening (by the way if anyone is looking for a copywriter or a personal assistant in Los Angeles- or anything that can be done remotely if not in LA, please by all means email me), I personally can’t afford the trip to go, let alone the conference and the rest of the sh’bang.

And so, a small video project came about. A day trip adventure to the promenade in Santa Monica, talking to random unusual strangers, toys, balloon animals, friendship, and, of course, foul language. This was just one day with me… and for anyone that reads my twitter stream, or either of my blogs, I am confident that I am indeed a character. I’m a whimsical and seemingly carefree, enigmatic woman fresh to the space and ready to make my mark.

I aspire to make the in person connections with as many as possible.

I want to hear your stories and have adventures with you.
I want to “lose virginities” with you. (Did I mention that I’ve never been to New York before?)
I think the trip would be excellent documentary fodder.

Life is all about the experiences and the people in your life that add to them. I know New York would be something memorable. So please, take a look, laugh a little, vote, and then twitter “send @scandalous to the #140conf !”

in the name of entertainment!

Dear inconsiderate and shallow people of the greater Los Angeles area,

I understand that the fire might not be near you or your friends.

I understand that you don’t care to hear about it constantly on your favorite networks because you’d rather watch your coveted soaps.

I sincerely thank you for giving back to the economy with that new HDTV to better your television consumption. It’s a good cause and it makes for solid jobs for my friends.

It breaks my heart because your programming is interrupted by the news coverage.

It breaks my heart that my boyfriend and the many other people who work within the entertainment sector to produce your beloved shows are coughing through the smoke and forced to work extra hours to try and get the shots they need because of the fires.

But you’re right, scrolling text should be sufficient for the news. Like when your neighborhood catches fire and you need to evacuate. Maybe you’ll get lucky and catch it as scrolls past your screen. Or maybe you’ll be too busy in the other room getting popcorn.

So thank you for your complaints about the fires. Thank you for belittling that person who just lost their home due to a natural disaster. Really, it shows a lot about you.

Sincerely,

just a girl who cares about her fellow neighbor, but also loves entertainment

“Distinctive”

It’s loud. It’s quirky. It’s tempermental and somewhat unpredictable.
No, I’m not referring to me last night… a friend was actually gracious enough to lend me his truck for awhile.

“Just so you know, I’m not responsible if this breaks down.” he said.
“Um, that’s comforting…”

He brought me to the garage and handed me the keys. He had to explain the quirks of it.

“So I know you smoke, but you should be careful because the gastank is right behind you..”

The seats are bolted into place. I had to put the laptop behind me when I drove. It’s actually a rocketpack if anyone asks.

“The gas gauge is broken. So just make some left turns and if you hear it slosh around, then you’re good…”

Having used public transit and spent more money than this is likely worth with rentals over the past few months, I just laughed and thanked him. I love to drive and it meant the world to be driving damn near anything. Ah the price of mobility, eh?) Besides, as a rockabilly girl, I guess it’s fine.

I was a little embarrassed when I drove up to Twiistup 4 in this huge beast.

“It’s a beach truck.”

The valet just smiled and said it wasn’t that bad. I put my glasses on. I know it’s bad. A few friends have told me I should try and get it on Pimp My Ride.

I arrived sans date after all. But my night was far from horrible. I was originally going to wear slacks but went with a dress last minute. Polka dots and a red bow. No heels, lest my feet be killing me in the morning. I’ll need them for Mashable tomorrow.

I had an amazing time last night. I met a ton of new faces, and got to hang out more with some familiar ones.

I walked in and quickly found wmmarc and the TechZulu crowd. It was a rush. I was pulled this way and that. I talked to Vak and told him about how I’d been a fan of the site and wanted to help out. I ended up doing my first on camera interview for TechZulu. I was a bit nervous, but I think it went well. Things like that get easier in time right?

There were so many pictures taken. So much conversation and great people. I have another blog in the works about one of those in particular.
From the quirky to the ultra professional, it was an interesting turn out. And Mashable is going to be quite the party as well. Which I have to get showered and look for what exactly I’m going to wear to now. I swear gents, you have it so easy compared to us ladies.

I hope to see many of you again tonight and at more of the events. Yes, I’ll be that teensy girl with the loud beast of a vintage truck.. unless someone else drives me or it breaks down before then (please don’t beast.. please don’t..)

Text box remix

Twitter once again pulls through with its unending assortment of awesome people.

A fellow twitter friend of mine (@tofu916) is also a musician. He heard one of my audio blogs and decided he wanted to put it to music. He said that he really enjoyed what I had to say and that it was something that he’d wanted to for a long time but didn’t have the audio to inspire him.

So, enter the muse. We talked about doing more of these, and possibly collaborating in future projects where I would possibly be singing. Yes, be afraid. More to come in time hopefully. Enjoy this part 1 in what will be the upcoming “sessions” project.

Text Boxes

Bring that beat back

No, Twitter is not down (right now.. to my knowledge at least). I’m back from my trip down to yet another social media event. The trip was for more than just the tweetup. At the beginning of the year, I vowed to move back to San Diego by the end of the year… I wanted to end it where I started those first few moments… because that’s where home has always really been.

I’m not saying that the current place I live in is completely horrible.. it’s just.. well a bit too “Leave it to Beaver” for me. When I got the notice from Morgan and posted the ad, I really didn’t get too many bites.

(9:52:01 PM) Yesual8: one thing i can say about your ad.
(9:52:17 PM) Yesual8: it’s good at weeding out undesirables
(9:52:30 PM) Yesual8: your ad is very high brow
(9:52:38 PM) supernerdlady: pardon?
(9:52:46 PM) supernerdlady: i look full of myself?
(9:53:04 PM) Yesual8: no…it’s not that
(9:53:13 PM) supernerdlady: ug its not meant to be anything like that
(9:53:15 PM) Yesual8: it’s abit intimidating to the laymen
(9:53:29 PM) supernerdlady: thats just how i am
(9:53:38 PM) Yesual8: I can swim…but i also can recognize deep waters
(9:53:40 PM) supernerdlady: gah i cant win
(9:53:45 PM) Yesual8: catch my drift?
(9:53:59 PM) supernerdlady: in a bad way?
(9:54:13 PM) Yesual8: no
(9:54:17 PM) Yesual8: not bad at all

Still, I kept looking.. I’m still looking.. but I did get an interesting one the other day. It was a couple in one of the better areas of San Diego. I won’t go on about it too much, because I fear I will jinx myself, but here’s what I will say:

The couple was wonderful. The gentleman is in tech and so we could “talk to each other in our own language” and the lady of the house is equally as wonderful- she used to be a dance teacher. The apartment is gorgeous, and the “quick meeting” ended in me having to politely excuse myself to go to the tweetup. It was otherwise full of lots of good talking, both on the business end, as well as personal. They asked me for some rental references, and said that they were meeting some other people but would let me know by Monday. They had never rented via craigslist and were nervous about psychos. (Not me so said they)

One thing that I’ve figured out is that part of the draw of these events, are that no two are the same at all. That’s the draw and why it’s important if you have an interest, that you attend all of them. San Diego’s recent tweetup was at a local microbrewery. (in very close proximity to the apartment I looked at actually) The LA tweetup really was “LA” professional in a cliche (not bad) kind of way. San Diego was very kick back and relaxed, yet still professional, but less creative space.

I honestly didn’t know too many people at this tweetup as compared to the last one. I knew a few of them via twitter previously but was a bit nervous again.. being as that these are people that I will be seeing more in time.

And, it was a damn good time. Thanks so much to the sponsors @jbruin and @downtownrob. I met some new faces, added a personal face beyond familiar type with some, and am looking forward to seeing more of everyone when hopefully I move… if not this one, I’ll be proceeding with trying to find more.

I stayed late talking afterwards with a small crowd. Pictures from the tweetup were posted on a few flickr’s… Both Dan and Dan get shameless plugs here. There was also some qik footage taken. If I missed anyone, let me know.. I’m pretty sure I probably did. Here’s a taste of what the party itself looked like via a panarama taken by @Viss

Given how late it was, and no work the next day, I decided to crash on a friends couch. I vegged during the day for the most part. Took some time to just chat, relax, go to the beach, have coffee… I didn’t have all the clothes I needed for the area I looked at the apartment in.. decided to search a bit online for some writing jobs, and enjoy the time back home. I was all business for the most part anyway.

The night before had its share of dips.. a rollercoaster that started again in the early morning. There are a handful of people whom I actually allow to message me at those hours. Otherwise, the unspoken code is never call/text me and expect a response before midday. And if I’m not twittering often, expect that the answer is “I’m busy” in as vague and direct a reply as possible. Despite the fact that I may twitter and fuck at the same time.. I’m consciously aware of everything I put out there.. (heh excuse the double entendre).

Why I went on that tangent, I may never know.

The point? I got a phone call in the morning. And some texts about something else. Both were very positive in semi unrelated but related ways. Fingers crossed.. my references were both called.. and.. ok the second part is my business.

More to be revealed later.. on the moving situation. Let’s just say.. that… oh man.. do I wish I was there yesterday.. oh wait.. I was =/ Sigh

in 2 day increments

It seems that every couple of days now, something is going on in the wide world of twitter meetups. I am simply amazed how much has happened over the past 6 months with the boom of web 2.0. I adore it.. and am meeting such amazing people. The pictures were posted from the meetup in LA on the official flickr account.. once again it was such a fun time there and I can’t wait to do it again.
Here’s one of my faves of me with the most awesome Dan from the photobooth setup they had there:

We were feeling a bit silly.. perhaps it was all the drinks or at the open bar or all those scrumptious tasties there. The switching glasses, was all Dan’s idea.. and I think the shot turned out rad because of it. Even if I look like a school marm and he looks like the cool hey man. And all of the shots they took look that fun too. Seriously go check out that set and be envious you weren’t there (and come on out next time!)

Last night I was off my night job. I have a friend from San Diego who was going to be here on business that I was supposed to meet up with. He was running late, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch him. I did, however, get to go on a random adventure with a couple of “new” friends.. the guys from Twitter Travels.

They were extremely hospitable and drove 50 minutes out to see me to have drinks. Given that I really haven’t been out and about as much as I’d like to in LA.. and not having a car, I didn’t know where to go. I was talking to another friend, whom I’d met through a friend of a friend (at the tweetup) and he told me about a couple of bars around him that would be open.

It was a night of random, and the guys didn’t care. We drove up and met up at an Irish pub in culver city. The bar had wall to wall people. On a Tuesday night and at 11, we were a bit surprised, but not entirely, or I wasn’t. It’s LA anyway. Steve didn’t expect that… as he’d gone there on a weekend and never seen it that packed before. I guess they have really good food there. To be honest, I would have loved to have stayed anyway. But we made a group decision based on the lack of seating and the lines around the bar to go somewhere else.

Mica called. He was just heading out to LA then.. it was about 11pm or so. We made plans to see eachother a different night this week.. tonight is actually my night off for my stocking job, but I’m thinking about going in for some extra hours. I need all the money I can right now.

We went to this other bar not far from there. It wasn’t empty but it wasn’t packed either. The guys wanted beer, so they ordered a pitcher of Bud Light. They didn’t have the few beers I actually drink on tap, so I went to order some well drinks. It was a good night to go apparently because they were only $2.

The guys nursed their glasses (not mugs.. another reason I didn’t touch the beer) and I just got some vodka cranberries. People that don’t know me are always surprised when they see how well I hold my lichor… well unless its that one time every 6 months where that fiasco happens… but um, 2 a year… I’m allowed I think.

It was more relaxed. I got some actual time to sit around and talk to them. I honestly wanted to know more about their stories… to turn the table around and interview them a bit. I still want to know more. I’m an information junkie.

There will be more times like this I’m sure… I’m just glad that I didn’t come home to more post its on my door… but that’s a different story (yes unfortunately there’s more on that… ) Summation? I started a folder for pictures from events and outtings with twitter folk. I wish my camera was more compact but I promise to whip it out more often. Oh yeah baby.. I’m packing zee magnum.. camera that is. Hehe

reality check

I had an amazing night last night between a long time catchup with a friend and former coworker, the LA tweetup, and clubbing afterwards. It was my first social media event and I’m… hooked even more so. When I walked in, people were so very welcoming. It was something… just… I wish I had more time to explain… perhaps I will have time later.

But until then, let’s just say this- I know why I’m happy in the end to work as much as I do.. because I hate coming home to bullshit like this.

I couldn’t get on the net before @richandcreamy came by to pick me up… my net was giving me issues. My roommate had to have known what was the problem.. she was home before I left, but chose to say nothing.

When she came home from Italy, things were alright at first.. but then it went RIGHT back to normal. She vaccumed and picked up the little bit of mess in the living room and then I got stuck washing all her dishes from before she’d left. And she was bitchy about it. I’m sick of it. It makes me thankful I’m at work more times than not. She accused me of knocking something over.. couldn’t possibly have been her cats. Etcetera.

Point being, I don’t go out tons.. I actually do budget.. but these past couple of weeks have been crazy in an awesome way. I got to match some faces with tweets.. people made me blush and laugh so much. Even though my feet were killing me at the end of the night, I still had the most amazing time out dancing. I can’t believe I was so nervous. In my head I was dancing the entire time.. once I got out on the floor, I was set.

I am going to become a posterboard for these tweetups. I didn’t get many pictures personally because I was more interested in talking to everyone and hearing their stories. If I did not add you on twitter, please pop me a message.. I do not want to forget about you. These few moments I have to actually sit down and write even these snippets sometimes make me miss things.

I look forward to seeing people at more of these meetups. It was an honor to meet all of you.

And now, off to work.. job 2. (Someone please help me get a 9-5 already and get me the hell out of here. kk thnx bai)

Come back warm weather kid

I’m off again from my day job because sales sucked this week and it’s dead. I guess I should be happy for it considering it was nonstop go go go the past few days. I got a lil bit of sleep but am back to being wide awake again.

I got my schedule for my night job this week. I’m off this weekend, but not next.

Work,combined with a roommate out of the country and assorted birthday week shannigans, has left me very limited time to get to my microblogging as well as my normal blogging. I was on nearly a 10 day hiatus due to goings on here, lack of power, near encounters with heatstroke and getting hit by a car.. and that’s just the tip of the iceburg.
I’m happily getting back to the hustle bustle that is more up my alley. It was overdue.
For those of you in the LA area, I will be making a cameo at my first official social media event finally- the LA tweetup this Saturday night (unless something happens to mess with that, I have work off both jobs already). I look forward to hopefully meeting many of you there. Come help me lose my event virginity, chat, have a few drinks and let’s chat about all the Paresian blah blah blah… because I want to know YOUR stories. I want to know what makes you tick.

This should be fun. It’s about time I’m hitting some of these goals. Now I think I may head over to the record store and get another cord for my ipod so I can change out some of the music on here before work later tnite. Did I mention that it’s weird that I don’t have to work again till 1030? Boo. And then ANOTHER “weekend.” Blah. Yes, I am a workaholic.. Now if only I could force myself to want to clean the house at “normal hours.”

Lessons Learned this week

20- Hot curlers can “safely” be left on all day.
19- No matter how cute you look in short shorts or a short dress, DO NOT even think about wearing it in public in a club or a bar unless you want every single loser to approach you. Because the worthwhile guys will not approach someone that looks like a hooker unless they just want sex. Ladies, DO invest in a couple of pairs of really good jeans.. or jeans with a “handle.” I swear by mine. Also DO wear the top thats low enough to show off, but not so low as your ladies are everywhere to be seen.
18- Racial or religious discussions should never be discussed while drinking. Nor at work. This is something I knew already but however it still happened.
17- Many people do not understand what’s involved in the fetish scene.. even people who think that they really do. And people that you may think wouldn’t, you need to look out for.. because they probably actually do have more of an idea then you think.
16- If you want to see just how tough a guy is call him a vagina even in teasing or question his manhood. The more you do, the more he will feel the need to prove that he’s a man. This is actually quite awesome a majority of the time. It will tell you which ones have a sense of humor and which ones just don’t have the skin tough enough to deal with it. (Btw, yes this was a test, you passed)
15- If you’re going to get drunk and text, twitter it. Why? Because even if it doesn’t go through on there, it will still go through to your Friendfeed, and you can go “Wtf was I thinking?!” later (this is really bad advice btw)
14- When all is said and done, no matter how much your best friend detests who you are interested in, she will still be willing to put the both of you up in her apartment cross country.. provided you are not that one guy she personally can’t stand (and no dear, she’s not even talking about you.. she said she would deal with you… lol.. just not dakine)
13- Cool people write you a message telling you happy birthday in a digital means. Awesome people send you hand written cards in the snail mail and send you flowers from halfway across the world. (I appreciated both btw, just laugh if you didn’t do the second part!)
12- The way you can truly gage a friends love for you is not how much money they are able to lend you in a bind, how often they call or write.. no the way to any friends true heart is if they are willing to spend 12 hours slaving over apple butter because that’s what you said you had a craving for.
11- Fake eyelashes turn heads… like majorly in a good way, in the right places… in most everywhere I went actually.
10- If you have to pack extra shoes, double check both are in your bag. Specifically in a rush. Or I hope that you’re happy with the other ones.
9- Never call work and ask about friends switching shifts before plans are indeed solid solid (which is weird because its part of making them solid solid)
8- Never have clean clothes on the floor of any room while drinking. It doesn’t matter if you are the one drinking or they are. If you don’t want to do laundry later, just move em.
7- Never carry a book with the word “Sex” vividly on the cover on any form of public transportation. Even the ones who look conservative will wink at you… it doesn’t matter how classy you dress.
6- Never get on/pay for a train before asking the question “Are you sure you want me on this train?” no matter what the conversation sounds like before doing so.
5- When you know your limit, tell people that are too drunk to understand, just to stfu.
4- Never leave the house without spare lipstick, eyeliner, the cell phone, music, pen, and notebook. Also for me, it’s my camera, extra batteries, and chargers.
3- The timetables and phone numbers of the Metrolink, Amtrak, and all bus services need to be memorized, put on speed dial on the cell, and rushed last minute emergency procedures need to be planned in advance, so as not to miss any trains or busses in the future.
2- All tech devices are to be kept charged as much as possible at all times. Having multiple chargers is a must for would be last minute travelers.

and the biggest, most important rule of all…

1- If its a weekend, or any day that you think your friends may have off, ALWAYS, and yes ALWAYS get dressed that day like you are going to have a last minute date.. because you never know when someone will randomly call and just say “hey, let’s do something…”

(case in point, it’s 1030 am and I have a date right now and need to head out.. and of course I was too busy making this list then to get dressed and ready to go out =p)

When does a “fan” become a stalker

Do you use twitter? Are you following your name on your phone? Have you noticed any or multiple of the following users following you:

All of them, are the same user. And now, that particular user is taking and copying your feeds into multiple/a mass RSS. I stumbled across this irony the other day, and was informed today by @Dayngr that it was an even bigger issue than I’d originally thought.

Occasionally I will do an analysis on my feeds. Most of the time, it makes me chuckle. My pictures will be taken off my flickr and added to an RSS feed insinuating that I’m some sort of model “from Russia” or to some “sexy female” site. Even things from my blog have been taken into a cache. The post I made about church last weekend ended up on some bible site, written by “Imanathiest” and linking back here. It can be very aggravating. Generally, personally, although a bit of an annoyance, it doesn’t bother me so long as it

a-links back to where the content was originally posted,

and

b-does not take credit for and/or claim ownership of said content.

This person aggregating feeds, is not the first. He won’t be the last. I’m kind of disappointed that he will get traffic from me due to his lack of consideration for others. Immitation, is, after all, the highest form of flattery.

It can be argued that he is not “impersonating” his aggregators. However, he is mooching their content to build his. Why make your own, when you have a readily available stockpile from those who write about it in the public realm?

Where, yes, you can privitize your feed, block the accounts, and/or change your identity to hide from your “fan” shouldn’t there be some way to prevent the leeching so that you don’t have to? Isn’t that what the terms of service should do? Or is it succinct in it’s clause “user beware?” When does the service provider have to be accountable? Where is the line?

I do not necessarily agree about the response given by @Evan Wiliams: “it is harassment but we’re not cops”

There is a degree of self accountability with whatever content you put out there on the internet. Your content is actually less yours the moment you hit post. There is no erase button. Specifically if your content is good, it can, and likely will be twisted and/or plagerized.

To be clear here, this is not a complete war on twitter. I love the service they provide. I just would like enforcement of the terms they have in place. I don’t want a canned “get out of jail free” clause. When a person is clearly stealing content, violating and harrassing multiple people, something should be done about it.

I do not feel that the “victim” should have to more or less be the one to have to hide from the victimizer. It only gives those people causing the problem effectively, more power than they should have. This allows for a digital identity theft if you think about it.

Something needs to be done. The question is, what? What can be done via the inside resources to police the issue more? Not just on twitter, but on all RSS systems? As a community, we have to unify against and squash these bad apples that make these powerful resources any less than functional social sects.

*footnotes-If you are being bothered or stalked by this person, or any “fan,” I encourage you to post your feelings on the Get Satisfaction thread regarding the issue. Additionally, further information about this/these cases can be found here on @Dayngr ‘s blog and here on @WiredPig’s site.

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I am an Enigma

Tag Archives: twitter

in the name of entertainment!

Text box remix