Aquarionics

UK Blogs Meet I

So, I went to the UK Blogs meet. It was Fun.

I met lots of new people, some of whom will make it to my blogs list the moment I'm awake enough to do it, more of whom get added to the "Follow" list. I really need a tiered system where there are the blogs I follow religiously (CavLec, ADPB, Orient, LoneCat, etc), Those I follow semi-religiously, and those I catch up on once a week/fortnight/month. New task?

As if I need a new one...

Anyway, I got to London about 5:45, slightly early for a 7pm start, so I wandered slowly down Euston Road from Kings Cross to the Green Man. A couple of days ago I sanded down the back of my ankle on the inside of my boots because my sock had a hole in the precise wrong place, so slowly was the best I could have managed anyway, but meandering down, stopping at Euston station for lunch at Burger King and then wandering down to the Green Man pub, where the meeting was, took an hour, leaving me only fifteen minutes early. I got a drink, and sat down.

At this point, the problems began. I knew nobody at this meet. Despite three years of blogging I've never been to one of these meets, and I had no idea how to recognise anyone. At five past, a person looking extremely lost wandered in to the heaving pub, and I thought "Aha, a blogger", but he wandered out again and my spirits sank. How was I going to recognise anyone? look for people with "I'm a UKBlogs Person!" badges? Hmm, not a bad idea for next time...

The person wandered back, along with another person, and they joined a bigger group of people spread out over the raised area. I took a flying leap to a conclusion, and was introduced to the lost-looking person, who ended up being London Mark, as well as Snowcat and other people whose names (and URLs) escape me. Long conversations about the art and knack of blogging with Snowcat and others (Aha! See my careful avoidence of naming people whose unique identifiers I cannot recall?), as well as a small and contentless conversation on gardening with Mark, Vaughan and the Person­-With­-Camera­-Whose­-Weblog­-Is­-InkSomething­-But­-Whose­-Name­-Escapes­-Me­. (Argh! I hate this names thing) Gerard because talking about weblogs all night would be sad...

All in all, it was great fun. Photos will be up in the morning are up, see the crossreference for links to more photos..

More People I Met:

• Meg
• Nick Jordan
• Mo Morgan
• Marc
• Pete of the Goo
• Elizibeth Anna (Sorry Anna)
• Bobbie
• Oin

More later, when I link more names to URLs...

At a slight angle to the org domain

In one of those horrible domain things that we hate so much, Vaughan at Wherever You Are let go of his hold on his domain for long enough for an evil search portal to grab it. He has taken this opertunity to rearrange his domain into a more country specific paradiem.

You can now find Wherever You Are at http://www.whereveryouare.org.uk, for your daily dose of fun and frolics and stuff.

Have a nice day.

This has been a public service announcement on behalf of the UKB community. Please return to your seats.

little.swan.meet

So, I went to the meet that Anna proposed. It started off as these things did last time, sitting at a table with a beer wondering which of these odd groups of people were also bloggers. Except this time LondonMark and me we doing it from the same table, since he recognised the glasses and I almost recognised him (The new beard would have thrown me). Eventually Vaughan arrived, and since everyone recognised him the meet was joined.

Acerbia Dave and co – including Pete & Karen (We’re currently waiting for Petebel.nu, the weblog. Yes, they are that cute) also wandered in.

There were discussions on blogs, computers, phones, cameras, and lots of other stuff. There was a pork-pie eating race, custard tarts from heaven and sitting on blankets under a tree in the rain. There was alcohol and talk – though no existance – of tea.

It was fun, and should be done again, probably without the three month gap next time.

Photos will arrive tomorrowish.

Galleria

New galleries of photographs for both the little.red.meet and the Marco Meet

Meet & Drink

Okay, so Karen wants a meet, and damnit I do to. So:

Some weekend between the 15th of July and the 1st September, I am going to hold a UK Blog meet in central London (Probably in the Green Man, because I like it and it’s cool and serves good beer).

Now. The first weekend in August is a no-go (Because I’m somewhere else that weekend), and I’ve had this “Pick a date” problem before.

So, if you would like to come to said event, comment on this post, and note any weekends you won’t be able to make, and I’ll try to pick a date without too many people not being able to come.

(If you leave an email addy on your comment, I’ll mail you when a decision is reached. If you don’t, I won’t). So comment, people, and pass on this plan via your own weblogs :-)

UK Blog Meet, Part 2

(Posted to all the people who registered interest, and also here. If you are also interested, either email me or post a comment saying so)

Bloody difficult people.

Okay, here is the thing. I asked for dates for a Blog Meet, and was given them. Do you see my mistake? Within the first six comments – or the first three sets of possible dates (Mark’s not counting, because 12/13th July wasn’t with the specified period) every single weekend was blocked as one everyone could come to, and sacrifices were going to have to be made.

In the end, I was forced to make a chart. A chart damnit, to design the optimal date. And there wasn’t one, so I made a sacrifice.

As it is, instead of sacrificing half of you, possibly to some great god, I’m going to sacrifice my time, and organise not one, but two UK Weblog meets, on the 26^th of July, and the 30^th 23rd August, Moved from the 30th to the 23rd because I was a moron and didn’t put all Karen’s note into the graph. More details will be forthcoming when I’ve talked to the Green Man about it, but the current trend will probably be towards meeting in the park (Regents Park) at something close to 2pm on the Saturday and then wander over to the pub sometime around 6ish and remain there until everyone leaves. I’ll finalise these in a little while, at which point I’ll post the details on the UKBlogs-Social mailing list, cc’d to everyone who has shown interest.

Questions, Comments, and cries of “No! Not the comfy chair” to Nicholas At Aquarionics Dot Com. Have a nice day.

Mind The Gap

Burningbird spoke today on the subject of the gap between virtual and real life. I may be alone in this, but I don’t draw that line.

It’s partly due to my history. I started going to Internet meets at 17 (A Usenet group – the same one who I met Stuart, Paul, Nick, gilmae, Jason, and seemingly half my blogroll though) and went to many meets, then joined the other group (Alt.fan.pratchett) achieved the state of local god of chocolate and Bailey’s (always useful) and went to AFP meets, conventions, and marriages. I met my wonderful girlfriend (who’s diary is back online) though the group too.

So when the UKBlogs meet happened, I tagged along, met some new people, had fun, and drank beer.

My parents read this weblog. My brothers both read it occasionally, and comment slightly less occasionally (The unexplained “Ben” who appears in the comments section every so often is my brother), and when I discovered this I was a little freaked out for a second. Yes, I do write differently knowing that my mum’s probably going to read this at some stage, but I’m reasonably sure that’s a Good Thing. Recently especially, Aquarionics has been my main reference when looking for employment, and I’ve been extremely glad that for the last year or so (Or in fact since I left Uni) there is less stuff that will pop up “This person is insane” flags in the head of the reader. I’m no less opinionated (I’m not really opinionated at all, except on a few subjects, which is probably why I’ll never be A-List), but I’m also less likely to post things that’ll be able to be used as weapons against me later, with the notable and exceptional exception of the poetry.

There is also the great spectre of the horrible “Online Friends” distinction. Yes, you are likely to know a different version of me though my weblog than in real life (It’s not too far, however. My writing style is close enough to my speaking style that I’ve been complained at by people who know me for them to be able to hear me saying every sentence). Me in real life is slightly more theatrical, less geeky, and more vocally deft than my online style dictates. There is a distinction between online and virtual friends, mostly the same as a pen-pal. You may know each other’s thought processes better than a ‘Normal’ friend (People tend to think differently in text, and explain more) but without the shared experiences. Not better, just different.

The idea, however, that a friend you met online is somehow less of a real friend than anyone you meet at a nightclub (“There aren’t any real people here at all” – DNA) is somewhat ludicrous.

Personally, I find actually meeting people to be a Good Thing. The only danger I’ve ever found is the temptation for Those Who Meet Up to become something of a clique within the larger group, but with the multi-million cliques that divide the weblog community already, who’d notice?

This is the rise that I've got

Once, there was irise and pete.nu, and they were sepereate entities who knew not of each other.

Then, there was pete.nu and Rise, and not only did they know of each other, but were really cute whilst doing so.

Now there is only Into The Wild, wherein Rise and Pete.nu can live together in blissful co-habitation.

Awww.

And now, I really should go to work.

UK Weblog Meet, Pass It On

On the 23rd of August (That’s a week this saturday) there will be a UK Weblog meet in London. If you plan on dropping in, mail me (nicholas at aquarionics dot com). This is basically a quest for numbers, since I want to know if it’s worth booking the basement of the Green Man (or trying to).

Feel free (read: “please”) to mention this in your own weblogs or whatever if you think people would be interested in coming…

The Blogmeet Details

For those who are new to this, there is a meet this weekend (Saturday) in London, England, Sol. People will be there. (well, I will. Other people will as well, and about a dozen people have expressed interest) The plan is loose and fluid, and works like this:

At 2pm we will meet in Regents Park. Regent’s park being a rather large place, we wil be meeting on the south side of the stream just to the west of York Bridge, by the bench. Roughly about here [Map>] in fact. Though more around the island than on it.

We will then sit, and do stuff, and celebrate birthdays, and scare the passers by, and be in the pub by sixish.

The pub, in this instance, is the infamous Green Man of which so much has been written and said. Look for a group of people sitting, talking and drinking. Oh, they’ll probably have some kind of idenitfying book and a fluffy toy on the table to signify who they are. The GM does Food and Real Ale.

If it’s raining, we shall skip the park in favour of the pub.

If you have any confusion in your mind about this, email me (nicholas@aquarionics.com) and I’ll answer peoples worries and problems. If you’re teetering on the brink of coming, but are scared of strange people, don’t be. Not only do we not bite, but you will not be the only new person there for us to feast o… er… meat.

meet

So be there, or regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow.

But soon.

And until you watch Casablanca.