It’s all about the people
Posted under Blog Camp, People I love, Photography
I feel like an astronaut re-entering the earth’s atmosphere…or that the light is calling me, like it is for Polly and Blanca pictured above. Less airily, I’m coming down to earth with a huge bump…I’m still fizzing but the bubbles are rapidly going flat. The glums are descending and I feel lonely, a very rare feeling for me. I love my own company, pretty much more than I enjoy any one elses in fact. I need substantial chunks of time alone each day so this curious ‘lonely’ feeling is somewhat of a novelty. I haven’t felt like this since I was a teenager, when each holiday involved some residential course or tour for the various choirs and orchestras I was involved with. I loved those intense few days or weeks when all we would do was eat and breath the music…with friendships formed fast and forever. Sometimes I would cry when the concert or tour was over, and would replay and relive it all in my head over and over while I waited for the nagging, empty feeling to pass. And that’s how I feel now, and I’m 38! I’m stunned and delighted, in equal measures, to learn that I am still capable of such intense connections at this stage in my life.
I can’t let go of Blog Camp, and yet I’m totally stumped in terms of what to write about. It’s tempting to let my photos do the talking but, in truth, I took very poor photos during our couple of days together. I think I was too distracted by all the conversation to really focus on photography. Also, I realised early on that I was never going to be able to capture the ‘essence’ of Blog Camp in photos so I kind of unplugged from my usual photography obsession. In the end, Blog Camp was all about the people and thus I present them, in no particular order:
Polly, who isn’t called Polly at all, who is funny, warm, kind and thoughtful and didn’t seem to mind that the rest of us couldn’t pronounce her real name. We talked about photography alot, I fear I lectured her (it’s a weakness of mine) and she didn’t even seem to mind when I inadvertently insulted her D40. Possibly presenting her with her own Grudge Book (my gift to all the girls) later in the day was a mistake. Perhaps I am the first entry? Hmmmm, ponders. She was exactly what I expected from her blog which is beautifully written, insightful and poetic…just like her xx
Lovely Blanca with the lovely Nikon glued to her face (oh, look! there’s Polly who isn’t Polly in the background with that totally AMAZING and BRILLIANT D40 glued to her face too). Blanca looks about 10 years younger than she actually is and sometime soon I will forgive her for that. She has an infectiousness, upbeat personality and is utterly charming. She is EXACTLY what I expected, her personality is written all over her pretty face. Best of all, she doesn’t mind being the butt of all our jokes…she’s so cool like that…
Giggle. That’s a house name she’s photographing by the way…’Laughing Waters’. We’re a funny bunch, the English…
AHA! Presenting Kristina who is seriously the cleverest person on the planet, but it took me a while to work that out because (a) I am stupid and (b) she is terribly unassuming about it. Kristina is my Big Regret from Blog Camp…I just didn’t get to talk to her enough, so I kidnapped her and forced her to ride with me in my Shit Picasso for our trip to Stonehenge yesterday. She literally knows everything. OK, that’s a ‘slight’ exaggeration but she certainly knows everything linguistics related and it was a fascinating discussion. If only I could have cornered her for longer. No matter, I will force myself upon her at Blog Camp 2.0 and bore her death then. I’m sure she can’t wait…;-)
Some bloke we picked up in the pub. He’s damaged for life now…look at the smug grin…filthy bugger…
Julocka ‘assuming the position’. I have about 200 photos of her in a similar pose from the weekend. Perhaps she’s shy? (queue wild laughter) She arrived with about 45 cameras and rarely was there a moment when one or other, sometimes two, weren’t strapped to her visage. Apparently she actually DOES have eyes, but I can’t confirm that as I’ve never seen them myself. I would have adored her except raging Lens Envy got the better of me so I must grudge her instead, such a shame…seems a pity that the small issue of a 60mm Nikkor micro lens should come between us. Best that she just hands it over don’t you agree? Yes I thought so too. Marvellous.
And finally our gorgeous and generous hostess Beth who, you read it here first, is actually a magician. She can turn this…
…into this…
…in the time it takes me to have a shower. And then nonchalantly serve it with homemade jam and marmalade. The woman is a GENIUS! And she’s smart, and funny, and sassy and wise and…um…totally not what I was expecting and I have a crush on her but don’t tell her. I had Beth ALL wrong. Her blog is very reflective, intellectual and calm. And she is all those things, and yet so many more. For some reason I had decided she would be like her namesake in Little Women (“docile and shy to a fault”), cringe. So wrong, embarrassingly wrong. Bad Spud, baaaaad. Thankfully I kept my gob shut for a change and managed not to blurt out my shameful assumptions, although I did sneak in a totally inadvertent insult without anyone but Julochka realising. And her lips are sealed…I’ve glued them together as a bond of friendship. She would thank me, if she could…
And that leaves just me. You know, I think I was not at all what people were anticipating. I think they expected/feared a crazy, whacky, ‘hilarious’, zany, laugh-a-minute Spud and they got just me. I talked about this with the victims that I kidnapped for the Shit Picasso ride to Stonehenge (Julochka and Kristina)…that I am much ‘calmer’ than people were expecting. Somehow my blog ‘personality’ was set by that 30 secrets which, in all honestly, just played to the more ‘extreme’ part of my personality. Since then I’ve settled down in to the more ‘normal’ me which, I hope, is a lot more palatable than the version the others might have expected. Either that or they were desperately disappointed!
Six people, five nationalities, five Nikon owners and one on the way, a little over 24 hours together and friends for life I’m sure. xx
Oh, yes, I’m the child, the shorty! Heard it all before! Totally don’t mind! Now, where is that grudge book??? :)
I so have a crush on Beth too!
Welcome home, Spud! Thanks for the intro to these wonderful women.
Hey, I want an introduction to Beth’s blog, but when I click on the link I get Julocka… and Julocka is fabulous… I just want to get to know Beth too.
Oh I loved reading this! Sounds like you had a fab time. Everyone seems so lovely. I am in costa rica on a stunning beach next to the rainforest, and I’m STILL jealous! No seriously though, so pleased you had lots of fun!!!
Where is the first pic????
You’re all entered into my grudge book (for now anyway)… am so excited about my own upcoming BC experience.
p.s. need to know when to wear my t-shirt in order to not look completely nerdy… or did you even wear it at all??????
blogcamp australia?
You are totally in my own stinkin GRUDGE book.
1.) My gravatar doesn’t work
2.) you did not come to st louis and kidnap me for blog camp
3.) I can’t think of it at the moment but it’ll happen!
OH CRAP. Scratch all of the above. I got your little present today and I LOVE it. You are de-grudged. But I’m still a little sad you didn’t kidnap me…
Oh, how I wish I had been there……the green eyed monster roams about my house freely….roaring and bellowing…..
Great post…..you are such a delight.
S
thanks for sharing, Spud. I must spend more time at Beth’s and Polly’s and Kristina’s blogs. they all sound wonderful!
Ah, OK I fixed the link to Beth’s ‘docile and shy to a fault’ (not) blog.
T shirts…I forgot mine, doh. I also had a WINNING practical joke to play and forgot to do that too! But Julie wore hers.
That first photo is taken in the tunnel under the A303 which you walk through to get to Stonehenge. Cool isn’t it?
Glad you all liked it. Don’t be jealous, just get on a plane in September and get to Bc 2.0!
Gravatars: MrSpud is sick but I will get him to fix it when he’s better..
x
Sounds like you had a wonderful time J. check out my blog, there’s a little surprise for you.
hugs
B.
You are delightful. I loved reading this, you make me laugh, a-haw a-haw a-haw.
Spud, I loved this post because it was beautifully written and helped me get to know some of the BBC women that are still kind of strangers to me. It’s interesting, everyone who comes back from the blog camps seems to have the same “I can’t really write just now” phenomenon as if it’s so intense that one needs time to digest and process it. That tells me that the bonding and the connections were fabulous. I would like to know more about the “barn” – isn’t that where you stayed? I’m imagining a classic thatched roof cottage. I hope there will be another BBC in the future as I may just have my passport renewed and who up.
…that’s SHOW up.
I loved the individual attention devoted to each BBC attendee! I feel like I “know” each of them a little better now.
But the next time you see julochka, could you club her over the head and steal that giant ring for me? Thanks! ;)
Oh. Oh, you’re making me feel all fizzy inside. I am so glad you had such a marvelous time. Now, I’m off to make some new friends from your Blog Camp.
i’ll trade ya for the 50 mm 1:2…
nah, i can’t.
i’ll just have to buy that one too…
i loved reading this summary. it made me want to teleport myself back there. like now.
Which way did you get there? Did you go through Salisbury first or straight down the A30 from the 303??? If you went through Salisbury first you would have passed the big balled pigs I told you about a while back! hahahahahaha!!!! jealous… I’m going to hunt my own pictures from Stoney and post them just because!!!!
thank you dahling for the sweet words about me :-D
your words – so sweet, seems to be a real nice bunch of women!!! thank you for sharing the lovely introduction.
ps this morning there was still the delicious kir royal on my screen and now I find two further posts which apparently should have been there for my early espresso (blogger says “22 hours ago” which might be wrong).
Ohhhh this looked like it was soooo much fun. I love having faces w/the names and now I know what Kristina looks like when I go to Sweden to get my ice cream!! :)
I can’t tell you how bereft I felt after Blog Camp. Within 12 hours, I was in melancholy, rainy Lake District with a taciturn husband. WAAHHH. I agree with you totally: in general, I am a bit of a loner, yet it felt like I’d had my oxygen supply cut off!
I think that you captured each person at Blog Camp so well; my impressions were so very much the same. Julochka told me that everyone was surprised by Polly at the first BC, because her blog reads as a bit earnest and intellectual. (I suspect that this is how I came across, too?) Clearly, I need to get more of the whackadoo side of my personality into my blog . . . uh, but I could say that you people BROUGHT IT OUT of me? I have been emotionally weighed down by various troubles this past year and something about the girlfriend vibe of BC allowed me to feel quite light and girlish again. Does that make sense?
Oh, and you’re right: You were much CALMER than we expected you to be. (You did set yourself up as bit of a drama queen (laughs), although the very best example of that genre, of course). You were just exquisitely charming in every way, dear Spudders.
You know, I still haven’t written about the people aspect of my own blog camp. My heart is still too full.
Sure looks and sounds like you guys had fun! :)