But BlogHers tolerated me during this weekend. As is evidenced by much licking going on. I am going to stay away from the flickr site with all the updates until I have recovered a bit, but I’ve been told there are lots of great pictures there.

Trying to update has been awful since Jayne is crapping out again. She got a new hard drive before I left so she should be fine, but I also got more memory and I think perhaps the chip is bad. There are no shortages of computers here, but everyone is USING THEM so I don’t want to ask. Sarah, however, was kind enough to let me post a few of my pictures, but there are at least 300 more that I have to upload.

Soon. When Jayne gets back into the shop.

There is really no way to sum up anything here so I won’t try to do so as my brain is still being wrapped around all the things we’ve discussed and the people I’ve met and the mountainous heap of blogging cards people handed me. Perhaps the most interesting session I attended was on Blogging Brown which led to a fantastic conversation between me, Fizzle, and a journalist named Annette. In fact, while Annete and I were discussing the politics of Black hair there was a podcaster who walked by and asked if she could tape us.

So, somewhere out there in the cosmic universe there is a podcast of me spouting off about a bunch of stuff and I fear that now if I were to listen to it that I would sound like a total ass. So, I won’t even link it here just yet.

That’s not entirely accurate. I just can’t find where the address is and with all the trouble this laptop has given me, I’m typing fast, pushing “Publish”, and calling it a day.

I can say one more thing about a BlogHer rumor I heard and that is that it is being held in Chicago next year. That would be absolutely wonderful and I’m so selfish and lazy that I really want it to come to me. That means that I have a whole year to get through all the sites of new bloggers I’ve met before I double the amount of licking that will be done.

My tongue is tired.

Belinda, from Ninja Poodles, is truly missed and I have made promises to keep her updated. There are far too many highlights so far and the conference hasn’t even begun! Becky and I traveled yesterday and spent the day in San Francisco at the Wharf doing various things.

• The in-flight movie was with Mos Def. How did they know I wanted to see him again?
• Are all pilots jocking to become comedians? Ours was testing out his funny material on us the flight.
• I was in California for all of an hour before I had some guy try to pick me up. He wants me to meet him a jazz club tonight. My husband would frown on that.
• It is true – I have licked someone already and no one had their cameras ready for it. HA. You gotta be quicker around me, girls.
• The paper with the hotel’s address on it is at home so we guessed about the whereabouts of the Hyatt. We parked and went up to the counter to see if this was the right place. Before I got to ask the concierge, I turned around and saw Heather Armstrong standing right behind me. Ummm… I’m pretty sure this is it.
• It is freaking me out a little when people say, “Oh, yeah! I know Mocha Momma!”
• People really are calling me “Mocha Momma.”
• Everyone is commenting on how tall I am. The internet makes me look really short, I guess.
• JenB and I spent some time getting to know each other last night. Belinda WILL get that picture I promised her.
• I brought too many shoes. I have guilt.
• Grace Davis is just amazing. I really do love her.
• Chase came to have coffee with me in my room this morning (SHE’S HERE RIGHT NOW) and is looking through my pictures.

I hid some Moroccan coffee from myself and found it yesterday! I will bring it to San Jose (ok, Chase?)! I am having some now! There aren’t enough exclamation points to show my excitement about this find!

The BlogMe project I came up with turned out to be far bigger than I anticipated and it is with great humility that I notice people still doing this. By all means, if you’d still like to participate, have at it! In fact, I check back on this thread written by Lisa Stone every so often to find that it’s still alive and kicking. As of today, there were 43 replies in the comments and that’s not even everyone who has gotten involved. Another one she wrote has 32 comments and every time I see another one I’m all about blinking several times and mouthing “Wha…? Seriously?”

While searching blogs this morning I noticed that Krista over at The Silent K is doing a new version of it using questions from Proust that Mama Blogs Toronto posted.

Recently, Krista also asked me to write an “About” page in comments she left for me. Admittedly, I have tried to start writing one for the last 6 months or so and each time I begin I am stuck. Should I write something serious? Smart ass? Silly enough to crack myself up? I never know, but something is stopping me from writing it.

Right now what is stopping me is the fact that Jayne is getting a new harddrive installed (is she a demanding little bitch or what?) and anything I’ve written is saved on that laptop-that-has-been-in-the-shop-too-much-lately.

Specifically, Krista wondered about being a teenage mom and then rightfully compares me to Lorelei Gilmore from The Gilmore Girls. My response to her was that someone must be taping my life and passing it off as a tv show on the WB and that I’M NOT GETTING CREDIT FOR IT. The teen pregnancy, the single-parenthood, the coffee-swilling, the fast-talking, the close relationship with the daughter… the list goes on and on.

Perhaps you can start by reading this post that talks a little about it, but I can certainly offer some details here until that “About” page comes together. Some things are just factual and some are lessons I’ve learned along the long hard road I like to call You Dumb Ass Girl, What Were You Thinking?

• I was pregnant at 14 and turned 15 the month before giving birth to Mallory.
• My parents were separated during this time and I got myself into trouble by taking advantage of this detail.
• I was much weaker back then and quite a pansy, but I’m one bad mofo now. It made me S-T-R-O-N-G.
• You will lose friends by getting pregnant in high school and that’s ok.
• The birth father, Richard Cranium*, and his family MOVED OUT OF STATE TO AVOID THIS PREGNANCY.
• The birth father’s FATHER was my health teacher. Oh, the irony.
• My parents didn’t “make it easy” by letting me slide. I still had to work to pay for everything, but they did let me live at home.
• I didn’t tell my mother I was pregnant. The principal did. By this time, I was 6 months along.
• Yes, I waited too long on purpose. Scared? Hell, yeah. Uncertain about just what abortion meant? Most definitely.
• I finished high school with my class and went to college when everyone else did.
• I had to quit all the sports I was in (basketball, volleyball, track, cross country and softball) but I remained in show choir and also became Student Body Vice-President my senior year.
• Far too many times to count, I would whisper to Mallory, “Hey, kiddo. I don’t know what I’m doing here, ok? But when I know better, I’ll do better. I promise.”
• Many wonderful people wanted to help me out and when I was at college (with kid in tow, mind you) I met some amazing friends who helped to babysit and lent a sympathetic ear.
• One of those amazing friends turned out to be the person I would marry. Ken has, from Day One, been the only father she would ever know as “Dad”.
• I was on welfare for 7 years straight. It’s hard to give it up and have to pay cash for groceries when food stamps saved my ass for so long.
• My college classes were my “work” and it was the hardest thing I ever survived.
• Most of the time people wonder how I did it. I never provide a sufficient answer for them because I, myself, do not really know.
• Watching her walk across the stage at her high school graduation superseded my own, for she did so with honors.
• That kid saved my life and I have been a mother now for longer than I’ve ever done anything else.
• Some teachers at my high school were vicious. Sometimes more so than the students. Two, in particular, stand out and I still talk to them to this day because they were kind and supported me.
• The greatest compliments come from both Mallory and my mom who think I’m a damn good mother.
• I wouldn’t trade those experiences I’ve had from dirty looks, people looking down on me, or the expectation that I would be a statistic for anything.
• She was 2 years old when I was crowned Homecoming Queen at my high school.
• That was a mixed-bag because I was glad my friends accepted that I was still a student and a kid myself, but it got weary listening to everyone talk about THE SCANDAL OF IT ALL. (GASP!)
• She is my magnum opus.

In close-knit conversations I talk about this easily. Writing it down just now was hard.

*not his real name, but a fun one to use nonetheless

Everything is down to a bare minimum. I’m ready to order new coffee and will gladly take any suggestions. Today I blended several different kinds: Celebration Coffee from Starbucks, Ethiopian from Peet’s, a smidge of the Moroccan (1 tsp. left!) and some Tanzanite from my girl aak that she sent from Africa. I’m at a loss to describe the unbelievable flavor explosion of spicy, nutty, pungent, sweet. I need to find THIS blend in a store. It was uh-may-zing!