Set me up!

I've come to the conclusion that if I want to meet anyone new to date, I'm going to have to break out of my regular circles. Otherwise I'm stuck swimming in a sea of people I've already slept with, people my friends have slept with, people I already know and don't want to sleep with, and people that are already sleeping primarily with other people.

So, if you know of any available men that I might be interested in and who might be interested in me, please point me towards them. Not just any random single friend, though; please think of what you know about me and what you know about them, and only make an introduction if it seems like it might be a good fit. For example, conventional, "normal", conservative, righteously monogamous, or religious just isn't going to work. But if you sincerely know any great men that I should meet, because you think we might like each other, I'm game for being set up.

What am I looking for? Available men, no children, employed. Lives in Seattle, preferably in the heart of Seattle. Somewhere from late 20's to early 40's; youthful at heart but maturity of spirit matters more than physical age. My type? Hippie-ravers, men who look like they're going into or coming out of the woods. NPR listeners. Thinkers. Liberals. Active and playful. Confident. Intelligent. Sexy. Open-minded. You get the idea.

I'd prefer links to any on-line presence if possible (tribe profile, flickr stream, blog, whatever). Please do not give out my personal information, rather, make an introduction via tribe.net or email.

Yeah, I know, I could post an ad on craigslist or join an on-line dating service, but then I'd have to pre-screen everyone myself. This way, you, my friends, get to do the pre-screening for me!

Set me up! Have fun!

Shambhalicious!

Last weekend was the Shambhala Music Festival in Salmo, BC. I traveled with an amazing group of friends and had a most spectacular time, even better than I remember last year. As far as music festivals go, Shambhala is the cream of the crop. The incredible sound systems, visuals, various stages, and performers were top-notch. The setting is perfect; woods surrounded by beautiful mountains with a lovely river to cool off in, and a surreal landscape populated by some of the most lovely human creatures imaginable. I had the best time I've had in ages; from start to finish, everything about this year's Shambhala was extraordinary.

Some of my highlights:
*Dancing in the Fractal Forest with most of our camp on saturday afternoon: www.flickr.com/photos/pla...1434063139/
*Shaking it for 3 straight hours of Fort Knox Five breakbeat mash-ups in the Fractal Forest on saturday night (best live set I've ever heard) while flirting with my adorable 2-hour crush and being ridiculously happily inebriated for the first time ever with semi-retired ravers Ariel and Andreas: www.flickr.com/photos/419...l-shambles/
*Putting in my ear plugs and giggling ecstatically while being shaken to the core righty up front by the most amazing bass by Sub Swara at The Village on sunday evening (no picture of that moment, but here's one of The Village by day: www.flickr.com/photos/pla...1434063139/ )
*Giggling in the river while listening to music at The Living Room on saturday afternoon: www.flickr.com/photos/pla...1434063139/
*Camping with an amazing group of friends (many of whom I'm excited to also camp with at Burning Man!): www.flickr.com/photos/ari...l-shambles/

Our group's Shambhala photo pool can be found here: www.flickr.com/groups/shambles/pool/

Welcome our newest family member!

Photo by Gwen Williams ~Shura and I with Abbey, Pee Wee, and Sassy (Ariel & Andreas' dog)

Shura and I adopted a baby! OK, actually it's a two-year-old chihuahua. He is super sweet and darling and we love him to bits and pieces.

He came with the name Pee Wee, but we're changing it. We've been throwing names at him until one sticks. So far our favorites are Sprocket and Monster. We also like Orbit, Moxie, and a dozen other names people have tried on him. What do you think?

Lots more pics at www.flickr.com/photos/playapixie/

Bjork! (And Sasquatch!)

I had an amazingly fun weekend traveling with a super-duper crowd (Gwen, Tim, Lori, Robyn, Andras, Erik, and Christina) to The Gorge Amphitheater for the Sasquatch! Music Festival. I was there to see Bjork, but was also blown away by some of the other talent that I was less familiar with (particularly The Arcade Fire...wow!)

I hadn't been to a concert at the Gorge in maybe 10 years (Dave Matthews with The Horde), and I can't believe I have stayed away that long. Could there be any more spectacular of a venue to see an artist you love? Absolutely Amazing.

Bjork was a goddess. She gave perhaps one the best live shows I've ever seen. There's no one else anything like her, and I was just blown away.

The only downer was that after the show ended and we started packing up our stuff, I discovered that my very favorite article of clothing in the entire world, the black fleece coat with the ears that you've all seen me in all winter, was missing. I literally started crying. I can't believe I am so attached to a material thing, but I just wasn't ready to part with this piece. I still can't believe it's gone; it was like a layer of skin to me. *sigh* I checked the website of the store I got it at (Ceiba Records in San Francisco) and they don't seem to have any more of them in my size. I'm going to try calling them though.

Anyhow, photos from Sasquatch! are up at: www.flickr.com/photos/pla...0275023208/

Polarity

Photo: Jenna, Miranda, & Mollie, the goddesses behind Polarity.

I had a fantastic time at Polarity, the fundraiser for The Body Temple, a Seattle-based Burning Man art installation. Photos here: www.flickr.com/photos/pla...0211505355/

Momentary local celebrity

Apparently, being in The Stranger makes you a local celebrity, at least for a couple of days. I know this because this shameful photo of me holding my 1988 journal was published in The Stranger this week in "The Stranger Suggests." They were suggesting that readers check out The Salon of Shame, a bimonthly event where people read from their old diaries and journals. I think this photo was taken the night I read my journal entry about losing my virginity when I was a born-again-christian, which was during the regrettable period of my life where I was also <gasp> a republican. Truly, could there be anything more shameful than voting for Bush-Quayle? It's true: I used my first opportunity to vote in a presidential election to help elect a Bush. *shudder*

Anyhow, since the paper came out, I've received at least 30 text messages, emails, or phone calls from friends telling me they saw me in The Stranger and who couldn't wait to harass me for my incredibly horrible judgement in the late 1980's. I even got it in the park today from a guy who I didn't even really know, but had met briefly while walking our dogs a few weeks back, who happily joined in the teasing. All I could do was laugh at myself.

Anyhow, I'd encourage you to check out the next Salon of Shame, at the CHAC next tuesday, but alas, despite moving to a new larger venue, it's already sold out.

30-something female housemate needed

Shura and I need a new housemate for our awesome Capitol Hill home. If you know anyone who is looking, please point them my way.

Short Bus

I just saw the movie "Short Bus" last night. I loved it! I laughed a lot, and also found it truthful and touching. If you've got an open mind regarding all things sexual, don't miss this movie!

Scattered blogger needs help

I've been lying low at home for half of a week now, recovering from a flu bug. As result, I've had way more down time than I've had in a long, long time. I feel like I've been burning the candle at both ends for months now, with stresses piling up at work and at home, plus the usual busy social calendar. Sometimes it takes being sick to remind me to slow down.

Anyhow, as a result of sitting around at home getting bored out of my brain, I've been spending a lot of hours geeking out on my computer. I've been playing with new programs that I haven't had the time to learn yet (mostly Aperture), dicking around with pictures that I've taken with my new lens (Canon 10-22mm super wide angle) and my new camera (Canon SD800IS point & shoot). I've been catching up on friend's blogs. And I've been thinking about my own blogging habits, how they've developed over the years, and where I want to focus my blogging energies. So here's where I need your help!

First, a bit of history. When I started my original blog, playapixie.org, blogging was only just starting to take off. While there had been bloggers out there for a few years, a lot of people still didn't know what blogs were. At that point, there were way less options for how and where you could blog. Initially Playapixie was a pretty standard blog: mostly words, mostly randomata from my daily life. Shortly after I started it, I developed an interest in digital photography and got my first digital camera, so I started adding pictures to most of my posts. Over time, my interest in photography grew, and I changed the format of my main page to more-or-less what you see now: a large photo for every entry, one entry per page, and maybe a written entry to go with the photo.

I still really like the large photo format, and I still think of Playapixie as mainly a photoblog. But what happened as a result of that change was that I almost completely stopped blogging in the traditional sense; I wasn't writing any of the silly random stuff anymore. I got picky about what photos I'd put up, and if I couldn't think of anything to say that went with the picture, I wouldn't say anything at all. Lots of times I'd have things to say, but no picture to go with it, so I just wouldn't say anything. And more often then not, I'd post nothing, because I don't really like post-processing, and getting pictures ready to post is work.

In the past year or so, a few new blogging tools have come along that have changed the way I think of blogging. First, Flickr.com made posting snapshots and sharing photos in a community-centered way much easier. Second, Tribe.net became the social networking site that a huge number of my friends and acquaintances joined, and they have a nice blogging feature. Third, some friends of mine in San Francisco launched Vox.com, yet another really lovely community-oriented blogging tool. So my blogging efforts have gotten scattered. I've been using Tribe as my main randomata, word-oriented blog (particularly when I'm thinking of my Seattle and Burning Man friends), Flickr as the place where my day-to-day snapshots land (as well as event albums), Vox as an alternate blog spot when I have my San Francisco friends in mind, and maintaining a Livejournal account for following my friends there. The result of all of this scattered energy is that Playapixe.org has been almost completely neglected.

But I still feel the most personal attachment to my Playapixie.org site. I'd like to focus more of my energy here, but I'm not quite sure what that will look like. I'm toying with leaving it as it is, but trying to post more, or adding a separate page that's more of a traditional word blog, or maybe making the front page be a spit screen, so the most recent photo entry and the most recent word entry are always on the main page, but they don't necessarily go together.

So what I'd like to know from my friends and readers is how do you use blogs? Where do you focus your energies, both as a blog reader and as a blogger? Do you follow your friend's online ramblings in multiple locations, or do you only read what they put in one particular place (their main blog, or Livejournal, or Tribe, for example.) Would you prefer it if entries in multiple locations were the same (so you only have to look one place to find it all)? Or do you like it when their various blogs say different things? I'd love any thoughts that might help me figure out where to take my blogging energies next.

Taken down!

I feel like I've been burning the candle at both ends for weeks now. Work's been especially stressful and exhausting (it seems to come in waves.) My social life's been pretty good; mostly just concentrating on spending quality time with a smaller number of people (although I did make it to Kinetic II last weekend, where I worked the Space Virgin bars most of the night.) But exhaustion has finally got the best of me, and I've been taken down with the flu.

Nothing like being sick to force you to slow down. Yesterday I made it out of the house as far as the Hot House Spa, and then right back home into bed with take-out thai food and a movie. Today I'm feeling like I may rally and go to a yoga class, even if I have to spend a lot of it in child's pose. I can only handle so much laying around before I start to go crazy!