Pod People

This weekend I’m traveling to Pittsburgh for Podcamp Pittsburgh 5 (or PCPGH5 for short).

This is a weekend seminar where a bunch of bloggers gets together, some of them get up in front of the rest and talk about stuff, then they all go get drunk.

This is totally up my alley.

I became aware of the Podcamps last fall when I saw a couple online videos of some of the speakers doing their thing and thought that it would be a blast to go to one.  Then after successfully meeting some wonderful Pittsburgh bloggers at my Darwinfish Fry in August, I figured I’d try to catch lightning in a bottle twice in one year.  Besides, when the Bitchburgh Bitches ask you to come to Podcamp and see their presentation, you best have your ass there.  Because they’re not really “asking.”

So I’m driving out tomorrow afternoon and going directly to the Omni William Penn, in downtown Pittsburgh.  (Hooray for “Thank You Points!”)  Normally I’d stay with relatives but in this case, the last thing I wanted to be doing was trying to drive back and forth from downtown, out to the suburbs.  I’m nervous about driving in Pittsburgh under the best of circumstances, let alone in after dark.  After drinking.  So I figured I’d stay within crawling distance.  I’m parking the car and letting it stay there.

I’m really looking forward to just being downtown.  Normally when I say I’m “going to Pittsburgh”, it really means I’m going to the suburbs.  We may come into town for a game, but then we head right back out afterwards.  Every once in a while we’ll stay downtown for a game but we don’t really get around the city much.  We check in, we eat, have drinks in the room, walk to the game, go back to the room, drink some more, sleep, then leave in the morning. 

This time, I’ll have the opportunity to wander around a bit. 

When I think about all this, I can’t believe this is really happening.  When I started writing this blog in early 2009, I just wanted a place to post some goofy shit and rant about whatever was pissing me off.  Entertain my friends and family a bit.  I never dreamed that “strangers” would actually come here to read what I had to say on a regular basis.  And I really never dreamed I’d be meeting up with so many of them in real life.

In November of 2009, I did a post about reaching 1000 hits.  Since between February and September I’d only amassed 260 of them, getting to 1000 in 2 months was astounding to me.  But not wanting to talk about numbers and stuff, I said that I wouldn’t bring up hit totals again until I hit 10,000.  Which was yesterday. 

Of course 9,950 of them were misplaced searches for Hot Indian Aunties.

But I’m still astounded.  How the hell did that happen?  What happens if someone in authority finds out?  Every day I expect to log in and see a big red graphic that says,

“ACCESS DENIED, LOSER!”

across the screen and see the picture wink out like the Terminator’s vision at the end of Terminator 2 when he gets lowered into the molten steel.

But I digess…

So yesterday when I saw the hit counter reach 10,000, I checked my StatCounter site to see who it was that tripped the switch on that milestone.  To my delight, it was my pal the Carpetbagger, purveyor of Pittsburgh’s finest Carpetbaggery.  As a token of my gratitude, I’ve agreed to let the Bagger give me a ride from the Penn down to the Podcamp Welcoming Cocktail Party. 

What, you think I have a prize budget?  I had to get my room on points!

Anyway, I’m glad I’ll have him for moral support because by that time, I’m sure to be a nervous wreck.  You see, my blogging idol Ginny aka PittGirl aka the Fairy Godmother of Pittsburgh Bloggers* is going to be there because her husband’s restaurant is providing the food.  As I’ve written many times before, she was my inspiration to start this site.  She was slated to come to the Darwinfish Fry, but last minute issues kept her from attending.

Her coming to my little soiree would have been perfect because there would have been a handful of other familiar bloggers there to act as a buffer.  Tomorrow night, she’ll be in a room crawling with other people that may be fighting for her attention.

It reminds me of back in the day when I’d have a backstage pass to meet some famous rock star or guitar hero.  I’d try to figure out what to say in the 30 seconds or so that I had the star’s attention, that would be meaningful without making me look like a fawning idiot.

I’ll see what I can come up with on the drive out.  I mean, I’ll have 4 hours of solitude.  Maybe I can practice into my MP3 recorder.  Or, hey!  Maybe I can work on the speech until I get it just right, then record it and play it back to her at the party! 

Or not.

“ACCESS DENIED, LOSER!”

*OK, nobody calls here that except me, but I’m hoping it will catch on.

NOTE:  Of course I’ll post a full report upon my return on Monday.  If I can access a computer, I’ll try to get something posted over the weekend as well.  Wish me luck!