tara king

DrupalCon Day 1

“People struggle to choose the open web.” -Josh Koenig, Pantheon

Man, there is a LOT to digest from one session of DrupalCon, much less a full day or a full con.

I struggle to choose the open web, and I believe in the open web. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed with the open web, because you have to build your own capacity (at least for now). The open web is a magical place, but it’s also a place where you have to take care of yourself a little bit more.

I have so much that is barely digested about New Orleans, Louisiana, cemeteries, history, etc. In the mean time, here is a barely digested list of species I have identified so far:

Pickerelweed. Growing in the Barataria preserve in such great numbers that I couldn’t resist breaking out my new field guide to identify it. It’s about 2-3 feet tall, with bluish flowers in a cone at the top of a long stalk. The leaves are shaped like hearts. It grows densely in any swampy area that gets decent sunlight.

We’re one-fifth of the way to the end! Part of me thinks: Wow, how has it gone by so fast?! And part of me thinks: GOOD GOD I HAVE TO DO FOUR TIMES THIS MUCH.

I’ve been drinking tonight, again, because DrupalCon. We started at a fantastic bar called Bacchanal Wine Bar, where I spent much of the night slurping down mussels, drinking beer and wine, and remembering my former life as a tap dancer/trombonist. There are a handful of ghost-mes around the country, one of which went to Tulane and probably got eyeballs deep in jazz trombone and rhythm tap.

In case the two (or more?) posts I’ve already done on DrupalCon didn’t clue you in, we’re coming up on the High Nerd Holidays of my particular corner of the internet.

Inspired by poettersbetters' article on prepping for DrupalCon, I thought I would share a few tips of my own. I used to plan conferences professionally and I've seen a lot. There are people who show up and drag their way through the day, perking up only for coffee and snacks.

Yesterday I worked out in my living room. That means I:

• Danced for 5 minutes to a workout playlist on Spotify,
• Did three sets of pushups/squats/planks/jumping jacks, and
• Stretched for 10 minutes.

Something happened yesterday that hasn't happened in years.

I was improvising and I bent my knees deeply. Like a deep squat. Just once.

It didn't hurt. I didn't have to take a break. I just got out of it and kept dancing.

:O

O_O

ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

In a city full of crazy, unusual and beautiful plants, I did not expect the jacaranda to steal my heart.

In fact, I never noticed a jacaranda until after we moved. Because, like a cherry tree, jacarandas are most spectacular in bloom. Suddenly I wanted to know: What are those amazing purple trees? and with so many things in LA, I learned their name from an television show.

They're originally from South America. They seem to get about 30-40 feet tall, and about 20 feet across.

Today's writing is still a little bumpy and raw, so I present instead some writing I did about David Bowie a few months ago. So weird in retrospect. I so clearly loved Bowie with my mind and my will, but I loved Prince with my heart.

I keep thinking about this article about collective grief.

I launched my new website today.

www.smilodoncreative.com

Getting this long-awaited activity has somehow unblocked a whole slew of things that I'd been stuck on. It was like a really sad dam of sticks and dead fish and stuff, but in my mind. I wrote about this somewhat on my business mailing list.

So. Solve me a riddle:

A long hair + queer/edgy + not too trendy + no maintenance + no styling kinda girl needs a hair cut. Also I sweat a ton and wear bike helmets on my way out on the weekends, so.

I realized I needed to take my own advice to prospective clients to solve this puzzle.

1) Find a place with the right vibe.