On a lighter note…
First, thanks so much for all the kind words for Aunt Heidi on her get well post. She actually has a computer in her room and my sister has been reading your comments and they have been raising her spirits immensely! Well done you!
Second, I did actually have a spot of fun this weekend! My friend Charlotte was in town from the Pacific Northwest and I met her out for dinner and drinks on Friday night. She and her friend Bridget were incredibly supportive as news poured in from my family regarding Heidi, and they did a great job at keeping my mind on other things while I was pretty much completely freaking out.
Isn’t she the cutest?
Here’s the funny thing. I have known Charlotte for nearly six years and this was the very first time we met in the flesh. Yes, she was one of the mommies I “met” online when I was pregnant, one of the ones who Bryan affectionately calls the PIMs – for “psycho internet moms” – the ones who helped me through that weird, scary time when my body was completely possessed. Oddly enough, I got pregnant on February 8th, exactly six years to the day before I met Charlotte in person, and she swears she got pregnant on February 11th, so obviously we’ve got a vibe going for February.
But Charlotte is not the first netfolk I have met in person, either from the mommy boards or from the blogging world. While I am certainly careful about who I meet up with, it is interesting how many people who plucked me out of cyberspace have become some of my best friends. People I would never have met because of geography, but once I had, I knew I was meant to know them!
Technology is amazing.
I was thrilled to finally meet Charlotte in person Friday night. She was just as imagined her – except taller. I actually think she is taller than I am and that’s a rare find indeed.
How many people have you met in person through the online world? Come’on! Share your stories!
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P.S. I have a new painting up on Etsy! Check it out!
P.P.S. If you missed it the first time, Mile High Mamas is running my “Top 10 Things to Think About When Buying a Digital Point & Shoot Camera” post.
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Welcome K!
every person i’ve met from on line is taller than i thought but that’s probably because i am a mere 5’3″ so everyone seems taller than me.
i’ve met a good handful of bloggers and they’ve all pretty much been what i thought they’d be like from reading their blogs. maybe someday we will meet? 😉
Beyond my “live” friends who blog, I’ve yet to meet my online friends. I’m hoping I’ll be meeting them in the next few months though and at BlogHer. 🙂
Had two bad experiences in college meeting people IRL that I knew on the internet, so I stopped doing that.
One was my fault: a girl I talked to online said it was a shame we couldn’t meet, but she only lived a few hours from where I did so, being naive and young I drove out to surprise her. I still get embarrassed thinking about it.
One was not my fault: a friend I’d talked to for years announced she was headed East and wanted to meet me and some other friends, was I cool with that? It sounded great because she was a great friend and we talked all the time while we were in college. I don’t know what she was expecting when she arrived, but I was in a fairly serious relationship, and I guess she’d come looking for a hookup. Signals were crossed, and I freaked out a little bit, so she hooked up with my best friend and left, never to speak with me again.
I wrote her a couple of letters but never heard back.
That pretty much ended my desire to meet people I only speak with online, and this was 10 years ago.
On a side note, the other day I got a call from someone on a political campaign who happens to live in my neighborhood and he said “Oh, I read your blog!” I’ve never had anyone I don’t know say that to me, so I was a little shocked. But it felt nice too. So maybe I’m coming out of my shell a little.
Wow, that’s wild Maurice!
I have to say I haven’t met anyone.
I’m going to BlogHer in July, so I’ll meet some people I have been stalking then =)
Sending good wishes for your Aunt Heidi.
Glad you were able to have fun. Good camera post.
How fun! You both look so cute!
LOL, welcome Will.
And Christina – 10 years! That is amazing!!!
Aimee, I think you know most of my story since we are on the same board.
Kind of similar to Christina’s story, I met them online and started doing the annual weekend trips. I have been to 3 of the 5. So not quite as long but this will be our 6th year as a group…. I hope to come out to Denver soon to visit my bro and I have GOT TO MET you and the other CO mom’s.
I have also met people through blogging. Jenny, Stephanie, Mindy and Heather from Mama Drama and Laura from Blog Con Queso… as well as a whole ton of great Houston bloggers!!! Thanks to Jenny and Laura!
And last but one of the best people that I have met online is my boyfriend, Goofball!!!!! OMG, I am sooo lucky to have met him.
Glad to hear that your aunt is doing well.
I harked on over to Mile High Mamas and read your list. Loved it!
I am looking for a local lab that will print my pictures for me. Would you be willing to help me out with some info/pointers? I am in the Boulder area. So far people have only vaguely indicated “we get it done online” or Mike’s Camera in Boulder. Thanks in advance!
great camera tips. those are some of the things I tell my friends who aren’t hobby or pro photographers!
my biggest is always brand quality AND LI ION batteries! I love lithium batteries.
Like TXGambit, since we’re in the same group I can honestly say I’ve probably met…I don’t know, 40 of the members IRL? But I still haven’t met YOU yet, so next time you’re East Coast bound let me know. Either that or I’m going to have to come to Denver, which since it’s one of my most favoritest places ever, I would totally HATE, LOL.
As for the blogosphere, I’ve met a few IRL and been really thrilled and surprised. I do have one girl that was a lurker/commenter for a while that ironically turned out to be from the same city as me, however she seems to prefer the anonymity so I haven’t pushed a meeting although I think it would be hysterically funny.
i’m looking forward to attending a blogher just so i can meet folks i admire in the blogosphere. i was lucky enough to meet and hang out with mocha momma, queen of spain, and leahpeah once. mocha momma, queen of spain, and i even had a sleepover party! that was awesome. 🙂
It is so fun to hear all the stories!
And Manisha, Honestly, I do most of my printing on Shutterfly (“we get it done online” – ha!) or at Mike’s Camera here in Denver. Shutterfly uses Fujicolor Crystal Archive photographic paper and silver halide process for their printing, so it’s good stuff.
just clicking around killing a few minutes and i’m so glad i found your blog. i’m from denver, i’m in KC now, and we seem to have a lot of stuff in common. have a great monday!
Oh, I LOVE Apple Girl! And I meant to come back (in the hopes that the stripped down post would re-appear) and send my best wishes and thoughts for your aunt. Hope you are all doing well.
I’ve met over two dozen people from blogs and haven’t had a bad experience yet. Of course, I don’t talk with all of them on a regular basis anymore, but I definitely love meeting bloggers and have no problems with it. Not planning on meeting anyone in the near future, but you never know when that can change. I met ten people from the Internet last year alone.
I’ve met four of my online pals, three being MHMs. BTW, you are just as awesome in person as I anticipated. And I knew you’d be taller than me. Of course you would’ve only had to be 5’2″ to be taller than me.
I have tons of experience with meeting online friends!
It all started for me in Nov 1995 when I joined the August96 pregnancy list. I met a fwe moms who lived close to me at first, but then we all got braver. The August moms are still going strong all these years later and now meet up every year for a weekend of fun. We started doing that in 1998 so this year will be the 10 year anniversary in Seattle, the site of our first meet up.
Two years ago I went to the first Yearly Kos convention and now *that* is a regular gathering for me and I’ve made some terrific friends.
We met one guy through etsy when we delivered the painting from jim…it was actually pretty cool 🙂
It’s my first time here and while I’ve just met your blog I have never met you. I have met lots of people in real life through my blog including my wife.
When can I come?
Great to hear your Aunt is doing well 🙂
Being so far away from the rest of the blogging world and from a little country, I’ve only been fortunate to meet one fellow blogger. But I certainly plan on meeting a lot more!
Thank goodness for awesome friends to keep you happy! I was gone all weekend, so I didn’t hear about “Heidi,” but I hope all is well . . .
And I’ve only met online moms through the Seattle Mom Blogs site and we had a great party thrown for us by the Method cleaning peeps. It was so much fun, and even though I was nervous as heck, it was great and in the end, I felt like I had a met people who were meant to be my friends all along.
I’ve met NotSoSage. And MrNotSoSage and NotSoSage, Junior when they were on vacation last year near us. Well not really near us. They were 600 km away, but we drove out to see them and camped near the town where she was visiting family.
And I met NotSoSage’s mother and her father and some aunts and I think a few cousins. It was all very stressful because only NotSoSage and Mr NotSoSage knew how’d we REALLY met because she blogs anonymously (well, in terms of family knowing). We had a cover story invented, and MrAlphaDogma and MrNotSoSage were stressed about screwing up and yelling, “They are blog buddies! THEY ARE BLOG BUDDIES!” mid conversation.
But it was fun. And if anyone else is within 600 kilometers of the geographic center of BC, I’ll pay you a visit. I’m sad that way.
Thanks, Aimee! I’ll check out Shutterfly and Mike’s. I got some reasonably good quality posters printed at Sam’s club. They guarantee them for 75 years if not exposed to harsh sunlight etc.
That is really cool that you met your friend in person. Its amazing how easy (and hard) making friends online can be. I once belonged to a blogging community…and fell in love with it. But then it got out of hand and all I ever did was spend time online. But I made a lot of good friends. I have only physically met a couple people that I have met online…but have talked on the phone a few times to a few of them.
Sometimes though…I fear meeting them…as I am afraid that the friendship (in person) might not be as good as it is online.
That whole “Maybe I will scare them like I do little kids and puppys” 🙂
I’ve met quite a number of online friends, but the most interesting one was probably my husband. We met online, became good friends, and I eventually moved to the other coast to marry him.
I belong to a science fiction discussion group, and frequently meet other members at conventions, too.
I’m meeting my first “online mommy friend” in person this weekend! I can’t wait! Diane
I’ve only ever met one person IRL from the net. She and I started emailing after we met on the Darth Maul Estrogen Brigade website and 6 years later, I invited her to my wedding!
I have yet to meet anyone in person after meeting them online. I’d love to, though. Anyone in the San Antonio, Texas area who’s willing, send me an e-mail.
Do I recognize the Cruise Room?
Well, apart from my pregnancy board/playgroup friends, I met my husband online! In 1992! There were no blogs, no websites etc – but irc and usenet groups. We happenned to “know” each other for two years online (nothing romantic – just discussions of Turkish politics and lame jokes 🙂 and then met in person in 1994 then moved in together in three weeks…. Ahhh..
I met Venessa from Radical Mother, because of her blog. She was visiting DC & I spent the day with her, doing some sightseeing. Her girls & my daughter had a blast!
Other than that, I’ve only “met” blogging friends who were already my friends, like Kelly O and Wrekehavoc.
Does this count meetup.com groups? That would make too many to count…
I’ve now “met” three folks – Alex Elliot, Jenn in Holland and Fourier Analyst. I’ll be meeting more when I go to DC at the end of March.
I’m so glad you got to meet Charlotte after 6 years (6 years?)! How wonderful.
So when are we meeting?
Glad she is on the mend and you are stabilizing as well. It is a bit paralyzing to be so helpless. How fun to meet a blog friend! My longest running blog friend lives in New Zealand and it is my dream to get to hang out in person with her! How fun for you. On a kinda funny, I think I saw you driving the other day because I think we live in very close proximity. But I didn’t want to be your latest web stalker so I didn’t try to speed up and wave or anything. 😉