Do I got pics of NN12?
No. I got no pics. Maybe one pic of me pointing and grinning at the grave of HP Lovecraft in Rhode Island. Not cuz I'm glad that guy died, but because I had to show my down solidarity with my homey HP. Me and Lovecraft. We're like that. Brothers in eldrich ichor (I stole that from my pal in Chicago).
I didn't know HP was buried in Rhode Island until I met a most awesome fellow and dkos blogger and Afghanistan veteran and Science Fiction fan and Rhode Island native named aarujo. See...here' my style at Netroots Nation. I wander around for a bit looking lost and confused until I find a random person who happens to be between conversations...I pounce and invite them to: lunch, dinner, beer, visiting HP Lovecraft's grave.
And let me tell you something.
Do you want to know something? Of course you do.
Let me tell you something. You can throw a damn dart into a crowd at Netroots Nation and hit somebody with one of the most amazing and interesting back stories you've ever heard and thank the universe you've met somebody so interesting.
Same thing with my rooming arrangements. I put out a plea on this blog, Daily Kos, asking for rooming arrangements at the last minute cuz I wasn't sure if I was going until the last minute:
Note to Daily Kos: Having the tickets CHEAP at the beginning and EXPENSIVE toward the end is somewhat punitive to those of us who have to SAVE UP for the expense. Just my two cents. Fortunately I whined my way into a discount. I'm good at that. Not everybody is.
Anyway, a kossack blogger named Wordene offered up a room to share and was he a serial killer? Was he a new and temporarily insane AmWay convert trying to rope me into some multilevel marketing scheme?
No.
No he was not. Once again I met a totally awesome fellow: brilliant, interesting, thoughtful, a hockey fan, Chicagoan from one of my Beloved Great Lakes States. A true progressive.
This is the theme, my friends. You can trust a Kossack.
So on the last day of the conference, after hearing from aarujo that HP Lovecraft is buried in Rhode Island I resolved to take a cab to visit his grave.
Once again I randomly reached out to a fellow Kossack. A wonderful person I know from online named Flamingo Girl...and of course Cedwyn who we all know is totally awesome from previous Netroots Nations...happened to be nearby when I said "Hey! Let's go see HP Lovecraft's grave!"
And off we went.
Okay, yes. HP Lovecraft was cool. Talking to Cedwyn, ALWAYS cool...damn she's just one of the warmest people you'll ever meet. But HOLY MOTHER OF Trilium flowers is Flamingo Girl awesome.
If you've read my stuff you know I'm a HUGE advocate of hyperlocal activism. Doing all you can to make your own city and community the visage of the world you want......
...sure we're not all liberals, but we all want liberal things.
Anyway.
I get to talking to Flamingo Girl and what do I learn?
She's saved historic 20th century Japanese gardens. She's created a 16 acre botanical garden. She saved the public pool. She's pushing for solar power in her own city.
She's some sort of damn high powered hyperlocal civic activism juggernaut.
Seriously, dude...it doesn't matter what you do at Netroots Nation. You could walk up to somebody and just punch them in the face and know you're probably punching one of the coolest people on the planet. That's how cool Netroots Nation is.
I met the freakin' head of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. I met the Communications Director from the American Wind Energy Association. I met some dude from Credo who's instrumental in keeping coal ash out of the Great Lakes. I met an anti-nuke guy who was part of the same group of renewable energy advocate forums I attend.
I didn't even have to punch them in the face!
How cool is that?
I'll tell you how cool is that.
It's extra cool. Like, mega cool.
Netroots Nation is mega cool.
I should also point out that I totally got to NN driving 14 in a car, both ways, with Eclectablog and the most brilliant and beautiful Ms. Eclectablog. But I know those guys. I already know they're awesome.