Top of the B-List
Just a sample. I got back from Italy last night and am still a little bit jetlagged. I have lots of photos and notes and will try to post a short recap of the trip sometime this weekend. In a word, though, Italy is enchanting.
I’ll be here for the next week. Hope to post some updates.
It’s January and I haven’t booked my ticket to Austin yet. Back in 2000, I was talking about SxSW 2001 in September, for crying out loud! Recent world events have made me less than enthusiastic about many things in my life, and my annual pilgrimage to blogger Mecca is one of them.
The past four years have been a blast, but it was impossible not to notice that the “first wave” of blogfolk have begun staying home. As the community has become larger, it’s become harder to spend significant time with anybody, and although I love meeting new people, sometimes I miss the early sense of camaraderie.
There are a few other factors. The trip gets harder to fund every year. Though I’m in love with my job, it doesn’t pay nearly as much as my old sales job. Last year, Nick Finck was gracious enough to sponsor my freebie press pass as I was still affiliated with Digital Web magazine, but that’s no more. Last year, I shared a room with two friends, but that left me without a bed of my own, and I promised myself I wouldn’t do that again.
I’m sure I could stay with my pals, the wonderful Browns, but that leaves me far from the action and although I’d relish the chance to spend more time with them, I’d be dependent on them (or taxis) to get to and from events.
Not to mention that Brooke’s contract just ended and she’s got nothing solid lined up. Plus, we’re hoping to spend a week in Iceland (yes, Iceland!) in August, and that will be expensive (even though it looks like the flights will be covered by some nifty airline miles my boss gave me for Christmas!).
Still, March for me has always meant Austin, and it’s the one time of year I can usually connect with many online friends I never see otherwise.
Ah, malaise! Maybe some of youse guys can shake me out of it. What are your plans for SxSW this year?
Ok, as promised, here are some snapshots of our visit to Ottawa. As you can tell, we had perfect weather.
The view west from Parliament Hill, showing the Supreme Court of Canada and the Ottawa River
The Canadian Museum of Civilization, located across the Ottawa River in Hull, Quebec
The Peace Tower
The National Gallery of Canada and the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica
This weekend, Brooke and I are embarking on a little getaway trip to our nation’s capital, Ottawa. We’re taking the bus, which means a five-hour trip each way (lots of time to read!). Our main reason for going is the National Capital Marathon. No, we’re not running it (yet!), but we’re going to do the 5K race on Saturday, and then watch the marathon on Sunday morning.
We’re also taking the opportunity to dine at one of Ottawa’s newest and most-acclaimed restaurants, Beckta. The nicest thing is that it’s being paid for by my employers, as a sort of thank-you for all the work I did on our big tasting event a few weeks ago. We’re also meeting up tonight with one of my colleagues (our Ottawa sales rep) and his girlfriend for a more casual meal.
Hopefully, we’ll also find a bit of time to explore the National Gallery of Canada, check out Parliament Hill and maybe do a couple of other touristy things. We’ll be back Sunday and I’ll try to post a picture or two.