Tuesday, June 23, 2009

blog camp: different yet the same


there were a couple of moments at the beginning of blog camp, when we were wandering around copenhagen and i felt a little bit like this place was far too small. and that's because twice we ran into someone i knew. first, at the airport, we almost missed B and polly because i was talking to an old friend i ran into. then, at nyhavn, those crazy guys who had been working for some hours on their buzz before the ACDC concert (they actually remembered running into us, because the one i knew left a message on my wall on facebook that indicates he remembered!)


just to clarify these guys for all of you who were deeply confused by our strange posts during blog camp...guy on the left, friend of guy on the right (who i knew and used to work with). both were very drunk at 6 p.m. since they'd had quite a few beers and possibly some nasty licorice vodka during the four-hour train ride to copenhagen. they were going to attend an ACDC concert later that evening. guy on the left really wanted to play with my camera, but i wouldn't let him--he's also the one we pretended was seaside girl. at one stage, he took a little nap in his chair (next to polly), then suddenly woke up and burst into "singin' in the rain" (it was raining at that point), which seemed a little at odds with the whole ACDC concert thing.

* * *


the rain cleared and upon slipping free of the drunks gentlemen sailors above, we made our way on the train to my house. i was fine until we were two houses up the street from our house and then suddenly i had a major case of butterflies. the more i think about blog camp and how i felt leading up to it, our house was my biggest worry--whether they would like it. i'm not sure why that is, except that i feel it so strongly reflects who we are that i was worried that if they didn't like it, then they wouldn't like me.

when we arrived, husband had placed this stump and all of the axes in the household out front, which was great, because it broke the tension i felt.


he and sabin had also locked the doors and put up signs saying the house closed at 7 p.m. (it was by then 8:45 or so). they had left a little tray of sandwiches outside the back door, but apparently the cat had eaten them as only some tomatoes were left. somehow, i didn't manage to take pictures of those signs (i'm sure others did and hope they will post them), but they were quite hilarious. finally, they did let us in and we opened some wine and set about the business of picking places to sleep (we drew names out of a cup) and then ate a simple dinner of cheese and sausage and homemade bread and hummus. 

it was chilly from all the rain and husband had started a fire for us in the wood-burning stove in the blue room, so we moved out there for more wine and strawberries and cream and lots of laughter. we diffused some of the wonderful gingery-lemony "blog camp blend" of essential oils that the fragrant muse had been kind enough to send to us (among other things) as a special treat (more about that later today on the blog camp blog). and we laughed and talked about blogs and blogging and whether we were like our blogs 'til the wee hours. 

B has perhaps said it best on her blog as to whether we are like our blogging voices. and i feel largely that we were. the biggest surprise for me was polly, who is quite serious on her blog but is very funny and a bit more wacky in person. kristina didn't join us for the evening, having parted with us in copenhagen to go home to sweden, but we realized that although she blogs largely through images, those had given us a good idea of her voice--pictures really are worth a thousand words. seaside girl, who we had gotten to know better from her blog in the month or so leading up to blog camp, was very like her blog self, as am i (we know i don't hide that much of who i am here). i would say that extranjera was actually nicer than i expected her to be...by which i mean less sarcastic and cynical that she seems (for humorous effect, which we totally get) on her blog. as she said herself, "i'm really quite pleasant." and she is.

best of all, tho' was the way there was no one dominant person and no underdog. no one person was ever the single object of ridicule--it shifted nicely (me and the stains on my shirt, polly's posing, seaside girl's open mouth in all pictures, extranjera's crouching, b's closed eyes, kristina's butcher knife in the head). no one was albanienated at any time. and i didn't have to be mother hen and protect anyone from being left out/bullied. in other words, we were all totally cool, capable adults who rocked blog camp. yay for us! and frankly, i didn't really expect it to be any other way, tho' you do worry anytime you gather a group of women. i think five (sometimes six) was an excellent number--three is no good, then it's always two against one, but with five, there's always someone on your side (see evidence in the comments of this post).

in all, blog camp was a resounding success and i'd do it again in a minute. like in august in the UK, at bee's house (she apparently has a very cool and understanding husband as well). and then, of course, there's blog camp 2.0, right here at blog camp ground control in denmark. two of the four spots are spoken for, so check those ticket prices today! you don't wanna miss out on scenes like this:

13 comments:

kristina - no penny for them said...

that story about sabin and husband locking the doors is so cool :)

p.s.: seen your comment on kristina's blog re: wordpress/bigger pictures. i've just posted links on how to get bigger photos on blogger, maybe worth a look?
http://nopennyforthem.blogspot.com/

have a good day!

paris parfait said...

Ah, the locking-the-doors bit definitely should have broken any lingering ice. Sounds like a really fun time and your husband is a good sport!

Liz Fulcher, The Fragrant Muse said...

Personally, I'm thinking it wasn't a joke on husband's part, but that's just me.

I'm drooling and green with envy as I read this and it's not pretty.

You do know that the laughing and talking into the wee hours was purely the effect of the lemon/ginger blend and had nothing to do with the soul connections of the group.

The next question is...who's gonna sponsor the first US Blog Camp?!

Polly said...

this nearly brought tears to my eyes, it was such fun and your house is wonderful - warm, colourful, very friendly and a little quirky. just like you ;-P

I'm so glad I turned out to be funnier than my blog :-)

Unknown said...

Your house is great! And it really shows what you and your family are like: wonderful, and a bit crazy! :) Confortable and beautiful!

Bee said...

Well, now I'm fretting about what my house will say about ME. Sort of kidding . . .

What is it about axes? My husband and daughter can't help making that joke as well.

As always, love your honesty and all of the interesting thoughts that you share with us. xx

spudballoo said...

I LOVE you guys being left out and the cat eating the sandwiches, honestly you couldn't make it up.

Very much enjoying the story as it unfolds, and the pictures, and the thoughts and reflections on the bloggers. Oh, and the drunk guys too of course...

xx

julochka said...

kristina * - thanks, i'll check it out!

parisparfait - he is a totally good sport. perhaps nearly reaching sainthood level without ever acting like a martyr.

TFM - there may have been a trace of passive agression in it, but he claims it was all Sabin's idea (she was mad we were later than we said we'd be).

polly - i meant it in the best way. but you know that.

B - thanks! i'm glad you found it comfortable!

Bee - i think you won't be able to help but worry a little, but you should know that it'll all be ok. :-) and as for the axes, they've been the running joke around here since people bought tickets.

spud - you're totally right, we couldn't make this stuff up. husband was really surprised the sandwiches had been eaten. apparently they'd only been out a short time.

McGillicutty said...

This is so nice to see we can all get along in the real world just as we can in blogland... I am perfectly sure your home was wonderful and interesting...I imagine that your home is full of color and objects with stories behind them. When is BC 2.0???

rxBambi said...

sounds so wonderful...even being locked out of the house. I'm especially happy to hear that everyone liked everyone else. Are you also going to the UK blog camp?

Sarah said...

Now I just feel really rather melancholy after reading this as all of you sound like such great people that I would totally like to hang out with. Though I have to admit that I am quite afraid of what you would all think of me in person.

Seaside Girl said...

Your house totally blew me away. It is a really special place. I remember you getting a little nervous as we approached it and how the axes made us laugh. This post totally takes me back. Happy memories :-)

And VEG - I am sure we would all love to hang out with you!

christina said...

love these photos!