Reflections of the absent (almost Sunday Selections)

I didn't go the the Aussie Bloggers Conference.

But I've read heaps of posts from people who did go, and its changed my whole blog world. 

Before the conference, we were mostly all in the same boat.  We recognised each other by our blog posts, the tone of the writing formed our personalities and we only knew as much about each other as we chose to share in cyberspace.

Now 169 of my fellow bloggers have broken through the technology barrier and sat together in the same room. They breathed the same air, ate the same food, heard each others voices, laughed and cried together.  By all reports it was a great weekend, and much more than I thought it would be. Actually, I don't really know what I thought it would be, but I have read how inspirational, moving and empowering it was for the attendees, and how amazing it was to finally meet the people we share our cyber lives with....

It's funny, at the start of my blog I had my walls up, and I didn't want to make friends. I just wanted to write. But you wonderful bloggers sucked me in good and proper, and I've only just realised that, somewhat unintentionally, I've become part of something bigger.  Reading each others stories, posting comments to laugh (or cry) with each other, finding common interests and similarities through memes.... It's more than just words and websites, its a circle of friends.

The rewards of a great post are no longer my focus, the more I read and the more I share, the more I become a part of this community. I like it.

So Friends, even though I wasn't there, thank you for going to the ABC. For making the time to travel, finding the money to get there, for lending a real human shoulder to the bloggers in need of a cry, for letting your hair down and enjoying yourselves, and most admirably, for having the courage to show your face and *gulp* say actual words just as they come out (no editing or pretty fonts to hide behind).

I hope there will be another ABC, I might even come out of the anonymity closet and go myself.  But until then, I've got lots more blogs to read, comments to leave, posts to write and friends to find.

So I've bought myself a new toy for the journey....

Isn't he pretty??!!  His name is Felix. He's a HP Pavilion DV6-3206AX.  He has 8G Ram, 500 G HD and a 1G Radeon Graphics Card, so he's quick witted and good-looking.  

I spent a day researching specs and 5 hours wheeling and dealing at 4 stores, then I finally cut through the sales B.S. and scored him for a steal. 

 (Some retailers will try anything, one swore on his life that onboard 64-bit graphics were just as good as a 1GB Radeon Card. It was almost insulting, he honestly thought I was that gullible. Wake-up, buddy, this is the age of Google.) 

I also bought Felix a playmate......

I'm not ashamed to admit it, Sims are my guilty pleasure.  I've waited years to own a PC big enough to expand my gaming further than Solitaire and Minesweeper, and I'm wrapped. 

(This is also the reason I have been two weeks between posts!)

So this post doesn't really fit in with Sunday Selections.... but notice how my photos are all foggy? Its all part of the grand master plan. Part of my great deal was Adobe Photoshop Elements/Premier 9, and I have my heart set on a Canon D3100 DSLR. I'm saving up as we speak.

If you want to see some real photos, check out the other posts at Sunday Selections...

http://frogpondsrock.com/

Now I'm off to see what my Sims are up to....