Am I a Kewl Kid? Probably not.

So this lovely Saturday, Scott and I headed down to the KRON-4 studios by invitation, there to meet up with about 100 or so of our fellow Bay Area Bloggers. Apparently KRON is trying to get a handle on this ‘new’ (at least to them) medium of communication and community.

There were snacks, free t-shirts, and a few short speeches by KRON staff about how great it was that we were there and what great things KRON would like to do to support the local blogger community, but the main focus was for bloggers to network with each other.

Anil Dash from SixApart was there, as was Craig from CraigsList, and Chris Nolan of Politics From Left To Right (one of my blogrolled sites). I also saw some of the local blog-related businesses represented, if the Technorati, Blogger, and Feedster t-shirts some folks were wearing was evidence. There were a bunch of local food bloggers and a broad range of other folks, from gay bloggers to photobloggers. I even ran into a former co-worker from Critical Path.

It was fun, but I found the event very stressful and ended up getting very snippy at Scott. I realized why on the drive home. Watching the food bloggers chat with each other and Chris, Anil, and Craig comfortably schmoozing, I felt like I’d felt all through high school — I was sitting on the sidelines watching the cool kids all interact effortlessly while I struggled to make friends at all.

Despite making great gains over the years against my innate shyness, it is really hard for me to network, especially in a room full of people I don’t know. Opening my mouth to talk to a new person is a big effort, and when the other person is someone who I perceive to be more accomplished than me, I’m often too intimidated to say anything at all. I get frustrated that I feel this way, which today led to me being short with the one person in the room that I could talk to without feeling scared.

Anyway, despite it all, I did get to tell someone whose work I enjoy that I like her blog, so that’s a small victory. Maybe next time I’ll be brave enough to tell Craig “thank you” for Craigslist.

UPDATE: KRON’s coverage of the event is online now.

Wow.

Nancy Pelosi says:

If you ever need any inspiration or need to know how urgent our work is, just remember that the CEO of Wal-Mart makes as much in two weeks as its entry-level employees make in a lifetime. A lifetime; not a year, not four years: a lifetime

Emphasis added.

UPDATE: Thinking some more, I want to add why I find this so annoying. Companies like Wal-Mart are almost entirely dependent on their front-line troops as generators of revenue. Wal-Mart would not make their huge profits if their stock clerks and cashiers and other front-line employees did not do what they did. So for them so be so poorly compensated when the CEO sits back and makes vast bucks as if that were totally unconnected to the long, hard, earnest labor of the poorly paid front-line troops is particularly offensive.

Thursday Kitten Blogging: Why Wait for Friday?

The new fosters are settling in. We have three kittens this time, two girls and a boy, all about 5 weeks old. They are: (from L to R) Kiki, Knickers, and Kitnip.

No, we do not pick their names; yes, I would change them if I could. Kitnip is shy and hissy and will need a lot of socialization. Since she is all-black, this is especially critical, because black cats have a hard enough time getting adopted. Black cats with ‘problem’ personalities spend a LOT of time waiting for a home. Hopefully we’ll be able to help prevent that.

Isn’t she sweet though?

Changing of the Guard

We dropped off Pansy & Marcy this morning and have three new foster kittens chilling out in the dining room. No photos yet, they need to settle in. Soon, though.

My hands smell like bleach from having to sanitize everything the fosters used in bleach solution. Yuck. Next time I wear gloves.

Foster Update

Pansy and Marcy have hit their weight requirement and are now old enough to be spayed & put up for adoption. We’ll be returning them to the SPCA tomorrow morning. With any luck, by this time next week they’ll both be in good, loving, forever homes and being petted, played with, and cuddled by their new families.

It’s been fun having them around and I’m sad to see them go. Not so sad that I want to keep them, but still sad.

The good news is that we’ll probably pick up some more kittens to foster after we drop Marcy and Pansy off – possibly even a mommy-cat and her litter. I’ll update when I know more.