Being Amber Rhea

Here’s the latest video episode of Mostly ITP, chronicling our road trip last weekend and talking about why we do these road trips in general. It’s longer than we would typically make these videos, but we wanted to experiment a little, so that’s why.

I haven’t actually watched it yet because Rusty finished editing it late last night, and I don’t have sound on my work computer. But I had already seen the first ~half or so, and besides, I know it’s going to be good no matter what!

Geez, that Balticon/Baltimore post is never going to be finished, is it? I should just admit it. It’s been over a week now FFS.

Anyway, here are some photos instead:

The Baltimore light rail uses the same system as the MARTA Breeze machines.

Showing off my Balticon program participant badge.

Rusty and me at the 80s party. Photo by Regina Lynn. We didn’t look nearly as bitchin’ as she did. In fact, we didn’t dress up at all, but at the last minute Regina encouraged us to make do with popped collars and tight-rolled jeans.

Downtown Baltimore. One day, I will go back, so that I can visit all the museums I didn’t get a chance to visit this time around: Public Works (we got there at 3:45 but they closed at 4:00!), Dentistry, Urology, and Historical Electronics.

Jenny demonstrates the shortness of doorways in Little Italy.

Public Comfort Station. This is my new favorite euphemism. It took me a few seconds to realize what it was when I first saw it.

No idea what this was, but we stumbled upon it and obviously had to take a picture.

The audio from three of the panels I was on at Balticon is now up, as well:

• Erotic Podcasts and Sexy New Media
• Don’t Be That Guy - Advice From the Women of New Media
• So You Want to be a Sex Podcaster?

Of course, this weekend we were in Columbus and other small Georgia towns. Video forthcoming… Rusty is quite the video artist!

Me, I’m feeling sick and hoping I’ll feel well enough to make it to pole dancing class tonight. :\

On Friday, Rusty and I will be heading to Baltimore for Balticon. We’ve never been before, but as I understand it, Balticon is like a mini Drangon*Con. I guess I’m showing my Atlanta-centricness here; maybe Baltimorans(?) would call Dragon*Con an overblown Balticon?

I’m going to be on four panels, which I’m very excited about. Here’s where I’ll be:

• “Sex Tech, Now and Future” - Saturday, May 24, 11:00 p.m.
• “Erotic Podcasts and Sexy New Media” - Sunday, May 25, 12:00 a.m. (a.k.a., midnight Saturday)
• “Don’t Be That Guy: Advice From the Women of New Media” - Sunday, May 25, 2:00 p.m.
• “So You Want to Be a Sex Podcaster” - Monday, May 26, 12:00 a.m. (a.k.a., midnight Sunday)

All of these panels are in the Chesepeake room (which I always read as “cheapskate”).

Here’s an episode of the Balticon Podcast that talks about the “late night” (a.k.a., sex) track. I would’ve called in via Skype but they recorded it on the evening of May 9.

On the latest episode of Mostly ITP, Rusty and I talk about how it’s funny that some people now classify our podcast as a sex podcast simply because we occasionally talk about sex. We’ve been pegged… right into the pink ghetto?

Anyway, we are very excited about Balticon. I’m looking forward to hanging out with Regina Lynn (we didn’t get to talk nearly enough at Sex 2.0) and meeting Nobilis and Helen Madden. And I’m also very excited about spending most of Saturday with Jenny! It seems weird to say we haven’t seen each other in over a year, since we keep in touch so much through email, IM, blogs, and now Twitter. Yay social media!

Ahem. I had every intention of writing a WAM wrap-up post while it was still fresh in my mind, but then I had a little, er, fender-bender, and subsequently freaked out.

But as you’ve probably gathered by now, WAM was awesome. I had a blast, and it was energizing, inspiring, and fun (except for the Saturday night party, which brought back lots of bad middle school memories; but, I also met the super-cool Lisa Jervis and Debbie Rasmussen that night, so there was some good to the night).

I’ve been to a lot of conferences, but I can say with confidence that this was the best conference I’ve been to yet. Helen Thomas was introduced (appropriately) as “the patron saint of not shutting up,” and her keynote was wonderful. The sessions I went to were great. They were chock full of good, thoughtful discussion and useful, practical information. (True, I didn’t find the talking to editors session particularly useful, but hopefully there are people who did.)

Dacia’s session in particular was amazing. An entire hour and a half of conversation about sex work and the media, without devolving into the same old pro/anti bullshit. It was a smart move on Dacia’s part to lay out some ground rules at the beginning of the session; I think that’s a big part of what made the session actually productive. And, a cool new project that’s already got a lot of interest came out of it: Sex Work 101 (as mentioned here).

I am in awe of Jaclyn Friedman for making such an awesome event happen (and I told her so, in very effusive terms). I’m looking forward to next year!

All my live-blogging can be found here. Did I mention that Cover It Live rocks?

People I met:

• Joanne McNeil
• Sarah Jenny Bleviss
• Axon Damien Luxe
• Octogalore
• Apostate
• Hugo Schwyzer
• Debbie Rasmussen from Bitch Magazine
• Lisa Jervis from Bitch Magazine
• Jill from Feministe - I got the impression that Jill didn’t want to talk to me… we met at the Sunday brunch buffet and it seemed like she was faking a smile… but I could be wrong (stranger things have happened). Anyway, I was happy to meet her, and hopefully the feeling was mutual!
• Roy MacKenzie
• Tough Like a Creampuff
• Jaclyn Friedman

And, of course, a few photos:

More here.

See ya next year, WAM!

We’re back from our weekend jaunt around various parts of Georgia. We hit more small towns this weekend than I think we ever had prior, in one trip. Only about a third of my photos are on Flickr at the moment, but I’ll post the rest of ‘em soon.

Look at this crazy old jail we saw in Greensboro:

Is it a rule that every state must have a town named Greensboro? Like Springfield?

We’re back from our weekend getaway. Actually, we got back last night. We had the foresight to take today off work to recuperate, and I’ve spent most of the day alternately uploading photos from the weekend and dealing with Sex 2.0-related business (and attending a fairly strenuous pole dancing class).

Rusty spent most of the day working on a video about PodCamp Nashville. He’s going to post it tomorrow.

I’ll write more later, but it’s been a busy day and at the moment I’d rather let these photos speak for themselves. So here’s some visual documentation of our weekend…

Our first stop was Adairsville, Georgia. It’s a tiny little town with a very well-maintained and (relatively) active town square. It’s important to say relatively active because this was the middle of the day on a weekday and there was hardly anyone around - and the Chamber of Commerce is right there.

Up on a hill we spotted the Gaines House, which has got to be haunted. (If only we had known about Barnsley Gardens ahead of time, we would’ve gone there, too!)

On Saturday, we went to PodCamp Nashville. My tweets from it pretty much sum up what I thought, and Rusty’s going to post a video. So instead, here’s a photo of downtown Nashville at night:

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the Pancake Pantry, and I spotted these two bookstores across the street:

Back on the road for more visits to small Georgia towns, our first stop Sunday morning was Ringgold. There wasn’t much going on in Ringgold, but they do have a wedding chapel where walk-ins are welcome:

Dalton, on the other hand, was bigger than we’d expected. The highlight was definitely the Wink Theatre. Later, at a Starbucks, we saw the people who run the Rock Bridge Community Church that meets there. They were dressed in all camouflage. Onward, Christian soldiers, marching with your venti latte!

Our last stop was Chatsworth, where there wasn’t much of anything in the downtown area, but on the way out of town, we happened upon this fabulous abandoned motel:

Even though I’m sad about missing SoCon08, overall it was a good weekend and I was happy to add more pins and highlighting to our big Georgia map! Road trips with Rusty are some of my favorite things in the world.

We’re back from our trip to Columbia, and on the way home we also stopped in three small Georgia towns: Washington, Warrenton, and Camak. I love the peaceful feeling of driving along rural Georgia highways… and then coming upon little ramshackle towns (or remnants of towns) to photograph… good stuff. Road trips with Rusty are some of my favorite times.

I managed to get all the photos from our trip uploaded - and properly labeled! - on Flickr. I have yet to begin scanning all the interesting family history documents I found; that’ll be a separate post, or more likely, series of posts. I spent a good chunk of time in the Records and Deeds department at the courthouse; the Probate Court office; and the South Carolina Archives and History Center. And my quest is not completely over, as there are still people I need to call and/or write.

On a less happy note, I’ve been feeling an unpleasant sense of blog inertia for the past several days, where I feel like I can’t write about anything “controversial” anymore, and like I don’t have anything worthwhile to say and/or nobody wants to listen. But I don’t want to talk about that right now. Instead, here’s a sampling of some photos…

Unknown pair, First Presbyterian Church cemetery, Columbia, SC:

The Leaning Christmas Tree of Columbia:

Busted Plug Plaza, Columbia, SC:

The Wilkes County Republican Party has their headquarters in a trailer:

Knox Theatre, Warrenton, GA:

Camak City Hall:

Check out the full set here.

October is always my favorite month. I can’t put my finger on exactly why (I swear it’s not just because my birthday is at the end of it), but the weather plays a huge part. October weather in Georgia is just perfect to me. The air gets a certain autumny smell that makes me feel refreshed and generally optimistic.

A lot of shit has gone down over the past month and a half, and a lot of it has been (and currently remains) un-bloggable. It’s certainly not going away with the advent of October, but things are feeling so much better overall. We’re in our new apartment in Decatur, which feels way more like home than the old place ever did, even with furniture positioned haphazardly and boxes still stacked everywhere. Our plan is to stay here for a year, and then buy a place. This is going to be a good year.

And October is going to be a good month! It’ll be a busy month, but busy with good, fun, life-affirming stuff.

Upcoming awesomeness for October:

• Oct. 5: North Fulton Drama Club’s production of Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Oct. 6: Harvest ‘07 Erotic Art Show
• Oct. 12-13: BarCamp Atlanta
• Oct. 14: PoleLaTeaz student showcase - I’m performing!!! :D More details to follow.
• Oct. 18: Sex, Wine and Chocolate. (If you’re planning to come, buy your tickets now; space is limited.)
• Oct. 19-20: ConvergeSouth - I’m leading a session entitled “Podcasting and Beyond.” (Hmm, gotta make some PowerPoint slides this week… but only a few, I promise!)
• Oct. 21: After we leave Greensboro we’ll be visiting the Carolina Raptor Center, and then moseying back toward Atlanta, stopping along the way to photograph various small towns and Southern oddities.
• Oct. 22: Day off work for continued moseying if necessary, or sleep and whatever else.
• Oct. 26: Club 2Risqué new facility opening party.
• Oct. 28: Recording a new episode of the GA Politics Podcast at Manuel’s. (This is the part where I sit around and sip tea while other people talk about politics).
• Oct. 30: My birthday a.k.a. 28 Years of Amber Rhea.

Somewhere in there I’ve gotta find time to do mundane things like renew my driver’s license and upgrade the blog to WordPress 2.3, but that hardly warrants placement on the List of Awesomeness. Oh, and Jenny… are you still coming to visit? :)

I will now test the speed of your broadband connection by posting a crap-ton of photos.

Skyline seen from an Orange Line train:

Navy Pier:

Sexy bloggers/podcasters dinner/world-domination-plotting:

BlogHer kick-off:

AAG brought the best schwag:

Fan-girl redux:

Invisible buddy:

Cool old hotel sign (building is now loft apartments):

19th century medical laboratory:

Rusty breaks the internet:

Sleep buddies:

O RLY?

Many more photos available here; they’ll all have captions, eventually.

To sum up: I heart Chicago.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll be heading back to Atlanta. I’ll be glad to be home, but we’ve had a great time in Chicago. I really like this city. In fact, I’ll even go so far as to add it to the short list of cities other than Atlanta in which I could realistically see myself living. (Well, “realistic” might be a stretch; I haven’t been here in the winter!)

I know I haven’t been doing much blogging since BlogHer concluded, but that’s because we’ve been having a lot of fun being relatively off the grid.

Sunday we went to the Museum of Surgical Sciences, walked around the Lincoln Park area a little, and chilled in a random downtown Chicago Starbucks. Then we spent about four hours reading in the hotel room. Today we went to the Museum of Science and Industry for the specific purpose of visiting the baby chick hatchery. The baby chicks were unbearably cute, and I took a bunch of photos and a short video, which will be posted soon. Then we headed to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs lose. Rusty has already posted a video of the 7th-inning bleacher-bum rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

I would write more, but I’m too wrapped in up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and want to read a few more chapters before bed. I’ll write more about our trip and post plenty of photos in the next few days. Then I’ll spend the rest of the week cleaning out my inbox (current unread message count is 112; I’m sure there’s at least twice that many waiting for me at work) and combing through Bloglines.

Oh, and also I just found out I’ll be a speaker at ConvergeSouth ‘07, but more on that later.

I heart Chicago!

I am so excited about our soon-to-commence trip to Chicago.

We’ll arrive tomorrow afternoon at (purportedly) 4:35 p.m., whereupon we will travel to our accomodations* at the luxurious Midway Airport Sleep Inn. We’re classy like that.

Later that night, we’ll be meeting some sexy bloggerati for dinner: namely, Viviane, Cunning Minx (whose podcast was nominated for a Podcast Award; congrats!), Rachel Kramer Bussel, and Susan Mernit.

Friday morning is the start of the BlogHer conference. We’ll be meeting Always Aroused Girl at breakfast. Even though I’m sure I’ll be doing a fair amount of wandering, these are the break-out sessions I’m interested in attending Friday:

• 10:45: Digital Exhibitionists or Chroniclers of their Time: Will Naked Bloggers Make History?
• 1:30: Privacy, Exposure, Risk: Can you maintain safer spaces online?
• 2:45: Still a toss-up between Media Training and Does the Blogosphere Need an Intolerance Intervention?
• 4:30: Don’t feel strongly about any of ‘em, so it might be a good time to wander from room to room or do some blogging.

Friday night, we’ll be having dinner with some of the same folks from Thursday’s dinner, plus a few more - possibly including (OMG FAN-GIRL) Susie Bright. (!!!)

Saturday morning, it’ll be back to the conference! I’m planning to attend these break-out sessions:

• 10:30: Women Across the World
• 1:30: Blogging: the Voice For Silenced Communities
• 2:45: Sex & Relationship Blogging Behind Closed Doors, an Off-the-Record session

Not sure what’s happening Saturday night, but I think there’s going to be some sort of sex bloggers’ happy hour.

Sunday I think we’ll probably spend a fair amount of time relaxing, and then go to the Museum of Surgical Sciences. I doubt we’ll try to pack a whole lot of activity into that day. (It’s the Sabbath, after all.)

Monday we’ll be going to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the baby chick hatchery (squee!!) and whatever else we might want to look at that’s not as cute as baby chicks. Monday night, we’re going to a Cubs game.

Then, Tuesday morning, it’s back to the ATL! There will be tons of photos, and a decent amount of blogging and podcasting, too.

Btw, the BlogHer web site just launched a redesign, and it looks great!

* Firefox spell-check does not know the word “accomodations.” Weird.

This weekend, Rusty and I will be heading to Chicago for the third annual BlogHer conference! I’m looking forward to attending lots of great sessions and meeting a bunch of people whose blogs I’ve been reading for months or years. We’ll also be hanging around Chicago for a few extra days after the conference for general vacationing goodness - a baseball game, a surgical museum, and a chick hatchery, among other things. Standard issue, really.

If you’ll be at BlogHer, say hi if you see us. And yes, we’ll be recording a podcast (maybe more than one). This will be the furthest OTP we’ve gone so far!

[Cross-posted on my Georgia Podcast Network blog]

Rusty and I spent the weekend in Milledgeville, which is about two hours south of Atlanta. (Don’t you love how it’s possible to measure distance in hours?) We went on some tours, took a bunch of photos, and spent a lot of time in the big comfy bed at the B&B where we stayed.

I love when we take these little weekend trips. Even though the inn had free wifi of which we partook a bit, it still felt like we were “off the grid” for the most part. And even though I don’t usually go for touristy stuff, I make exceptions when the touristy stuff involves history or other nerdy pursuits. We really enjoyed the tour of the Old Governor’s Mansion and the trolley tour of downtown.

One thing that stood out to me about Milledgeville was that everything is so old. I know there are plenty of old small towns in Georgia, but something about Milledgeville in particular… it seems older. I don’t think that’s just a random perception, either. First of all, it wasn’t burned by Sherman’s troops during the March to the Sea, so there are a lot of actual antebellum buildings. (Peeve: we stayed at a bed-and-breakfast called the Antebellum Inn, but it was built in 1890.) It also didn’t get hit with a bunch of “urban renewal” in the 1960s. (I overheard someone talking about that while we were on the trolley tour, and I gleaned that Milledgeville had an active historical society way before most other places.) It was the state capital from 1803-1868, and, as the tour guide was saying, when the capital moved to Atlanta, Milledgeville pretty much became a ghost town. Its heyday was in the early/mid 1800s.

Speaking of ghosts… yes, of course we went to Central State Hospital! We didn’t go inside any of the buildings, because we’re not down with the B&E; in fact, we didn’t even get out of the car. (We rolled down the windows to take photos.) The place had a very creepy vibe, and I just did not want to be walking around.

Nevertheless, I may have inadvertently photographed a ghost. Generally I think the talk of “orbs” as something paranormal is crap. It’s dust on the lens, people. But what showed up in my photo was much bigger than your typical orb/dust. And I see the vague shape of a face in it (you have to view the original size to be able to make that out). Who knows, it could be something else… but, well, judge for yourselves:

There will be a podcast about our Milledgevile trip soon. In the meantime, check out my photos on Flickr: Downtown Milledgeville and Central State Hospital. And don’t forget to listen to our podcast reviewing two Atlanta swinger’s clubs!

I can hardly believe that BlogHer (and our concurrent, general-purpose Chicago vacationing) is only five weeks away! I am really excited about BlogHer. It will be so cool to meet a bunch of bloggers from all over the country (and world), whose blogs I’ve been reading for months or years.

But, before the Chicago trip, there’s plenty of other stuff Rusty and I need to do, too! Sometimes trying to do a bunch of stuff can be draining for me, but I guess I’ve got the summertime itch, because I am ready to do as much fun, interesting stuff as is logistically possible between now and the end of July.

For one thing, I am so excited about going on a trip to Milledgeville. Why would I be excited about Milledgeville, you ask? Oh come on… what’s not to like? Central State Hospital (originally the Georgia Lunatic Asylum) and its museum of weird mental health torture treatment devices is reason enough to go. But there’s also the old state prison, which I hear is only slightly less creepy than Central State; and all the paraphernalia from when Milledgeville was the state capital. There’s other specifics, but I’m too tired to look ‘em up right now. Anyway, expect a podcast about Milledgeville, within the next few weeks.

I’m also excited about doing our “review of Atlanta sex clubs” podcast, as mentioned here. We’ll probably hit Trapeze again the Saturday after next; and then Club Venus at some point in the not too distant future. With this goal in mind, it doesn’t even matter if the hotness factor of the clubs is minimal.

Okay, I’m really tired now… just wanted to put up a rambling post about my summertime excitement.

For some reason today, I’m thinking about good times in rural Georgia:

And if anybody can identify where all four of those photos were taken (without clicking through to look at the Flickr descriptions, of course), then you deserve a crazy prize.

Blogging for Sex Education post to come later today. Keep checking here for the round-up of all posts on the topic.

Back home in Atlanta. Waiting for food to arrive, which we will eat in our still-disheveled new apartment. Had fun in NYC (yes, our suitcase finally showed up) but am glad to be home. Omitting subject while writing indicates a need for sleep. More later!

A few bullet points of how things have gone today…

• Rusty was violently ill at the Atlanta airport. He was literally (yes, literally!) rolling around on the floor, groaning in agony. By the time the paramedics showed up, he was back to his old self, though. He joked with them about not liking the President.
• The pilot sounded drunk and joked about gaming the system. He managed to get us to New York in one piece, though, so I guess it’s okay.
• Our suitcase has been lost somewhere. The very calm (maybe too calm) woman at the luggage information desk at LaGuardia said it probably was put on the next flight. (Because that makes sense.) She filed a report and gave me a claim number and all that… I called the information number about two hours agos and the recording told me that the delivery service had my bag and it would be delivered to me “any time before 12:30 p.m.” (which, of course, is tomorrow afternoon).
• The cab driver that took us from the airport to Dacia’s house didn’t know where anything was, and kept yelling at me, as if it were my fault he didn’t know his way around Brooklyn. It didn’t matter that I kept repeating, “I don’t know. I don’t live here.” The weirdest rant of his was something that started with, “B neighborhood… Brooklyn… Bronx…” WTF?

So anyway… here we are. Hopefully the suitcase will show up sooner rather than later, and we’ll be able to go out and do stuff tomorrow instead of waiting around for it. Not wearing day-old clothes would be nice, too. At least our soap and toothbrushes are with us.

In about an hour or so, the GDBF and I will be heading to the airport, bound for New York City. We’ll be hanging out with Dacia, going to PodCamp NYC, and hopefully meeting Belledame at some point. It’s going to be a great weekend!

I’m not bringing my laptop, but Rusty is bringing his, so I might borrow it for a bit on Saturday and try to sneak in some live-blogging. Regardless, there will be plenty of photos, and most likely a podcast or two.

Next post, from New York! (Hopefully the snow will be gone.)

And just like that… we’re off! (In the rain, ugh.) We’re heading to Nashville today, then Knoxville tomorrow afternoon, and then Chattanooga sometime Thursday. We’ll be back in town Friday, just in time to catch the North Fulton Drama Club’s presentation of Twelfth Night. However, between now and then, I may be completely out of touch, because I don’t know if we’ll have internet access anywhere along the way. (I already haven’t checked my Bloglines account in about 3 days and I’m kind of dreading it.)

See ya Friday!

I’m about to head out to DC to rendezvous with Jenny and Niki (just like last year), and I don’t know if I’ll have internet access while I’m there. So if there’s an influx of comment spam, just deal. I’ll be back Sunday night.

Okay, gotta head to the airport now, even though delta.com told me my flight is delayed… but they neglected to provide critical information such as the reason and length of the delay (10 minutes or 10 hours?). I love patronizing a bankrupt airline!

Alright, on that lovely note… I’m off!

Yesterday, Neville, Rusty, and I took a road trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. The trip to the store itself was a success; I got a nice medium-sized suitcase, 5 books, 4 CDs, a water bottle, a coffee mug, and a set of sheets - all for under $100. I could’ve spent a lot more money there if I hadn’t restrained myself (and, more importantly, if I actually had the money to spend).

The scenery en route was half the fun, though. There were several opportune moments for photography along the way, including this creepy abandoned sheet metal plant in Rome, Georgia:

There are more pictures in my Gallery. (And it’s just a coincidence that I happened to be wearing the same clothes as I was on an earlier road trip, which also included Rome. It’s not like I’m a super-hero with a special road trip uniform or something.)

Yes, the ass-sitting is in full swing! Yesterday we sat around for a while and then went to dinner at this awesome Indian place, which I’d been craving since the last time I was in New York (Cari, if you’re reading this, I’m going to want Indian food for lunch Monday). Then we came back, ate chocolate pudding, and watched Secretary. That was the extent of our Friday night craziness.

This morning, we walked to a farmer’s market with Dacia’s upstairs neighbor. We ate pastries on the way back and, upon our return, immediately commenced more ass-sitting. After about an hour we headed into the city (Dacia lives in Brooklyn, which, apparently, hates me). We went to Babeland, which kicked ass. Then we stopped in a grocery store and bought a tub of Gummi worms, which we stood devouring while we waited for The Upstairs Neighbor to buy sushi or some such healthy bullshit. I remarked, “I bet some people would think this is weird - shopping for sex toys and then eating Gummi worms.” Dacia replied, “Well, I don’t give a shit what most people think.” We concluded, “Yeah, fuck ‘em!”

A little more shopping and we were back home again, eating yummy, yummy pizza. Then I took a nap on the couch. And here I am. Dacia’s roommate walked in not too long ago while I was still lying on couch and seemed incredulous at our supreme sittin’ around. He demanded, “What are you ladies doing tonight??” and seemed disappointed when I said, “You’re lookin’ at it.” (In fairness, we’re probably going to watch some Mr. Show episodes in addition to the ass-sitting.)

Tomorrow I’m going to the Transit Museum, which I am really excited about, because I’m a dork. I’m sure I’ll buy some unnecessary paraphernalia.

I know this is really boring, but I felt like posting something. This post is boring because my life is boring; deal.