It's a bit ironic that while my personal blog has done nothing but languish over the last month, my life is full of conversations about blogs, wikis, web 2.0 and What It All Means. Yesterday morning I left the house at 6:15am and hopped on a train down to London (doesn't *that* sound swanky?) Along with every other geek and 'informational professional' in Europe, I have descended on the annual Online Information conference, and was captivated by the opening key note by Mr Wikipedia himself, Jimmy Wales, who showed us in soft and rosy terms how web 2.0 can Change the World. Since then, lots of discussion over how we can harness the potential of facebook to edumacate the masses, and what happens when you give over control of content (answer: Nirvana or Anarchy, depending on your persuasion).
Anyhoo, I am slowly finding my way. Yes, I am sitting in a cafe in South Kensington with wet hair, a dripping umbrella, and a tube to get in 5 minutes. That makes me sound like I actually know where I am, but I don't. Since arriving yesterday I have relied on buses, taxis, and the tube to cart me around, and as I race around the city I feel completely disorientated--no clue where I am. Hey! There's Hyde Park, Ooh! and the Royal Albert Hall! I am hemorrhaging money as I wend my way. $10 quid for a sandwich and a bottle of water, no problem! £3.50 for some rank coffee? Here. Keep the change!
If that's not enough to remind me that I am 'home,' the shabby yet genteel quality of my minute hotel room brings it all back. It is the size of a postage stamp with a bed that would be termed 'suitable for toddler' back in the U.S.A. I am not a tall woman by any means, but my feet flopped over the edge last night and got a good airing. Which was fine, because the heat was on full blast, so I sweated my way through the hours. By the time I fell asleep, I was woken by the sound of the man next door cleaning his teeth and then flossing. Thanks to the flimsy nature of these here walls, not detail need go unmissed (thank GOD they are singles). All this was mitigated by the full English breakfast that was laid on this morning--slowly but surely I am reacquiring my taste for dire British sausages and buckets and buckets of tea on tap.
So now I am going to plunge back into the rain and try and avoid getting run over (I've has some seriously close misses). I wearing a suit and heels. I have a drag act as an information professional to perform.
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