so don't ask if you don't want to know
Posts tagged ignite
Ignite Phoenix After Hours #2
Jun 23rd
If you have an edgy idea or wild point of view, submissions are OPEN for Ignite Phoenix After Hours, the Adults-Only version of Ignite. Don’t delay, because they close on July 1st. That’s only TWO Fridays from now.
If you’re worried about sharing something crazy in front of friends and strangers: DON’T! Everyone has a passion whether it’s rated G or rated… well, edgier… and this is a place to share it that isn’t going to judge what you do or think. Check out our blog for reassurance and support, and take a look at what other people are submitting (possibly NSFW). If this soothes your worries — you can submit with an alias, and we don’t record, tweet, or Facebook the event, so only ticket holders get to see your presentation.
And speaking of tickets, they go on sale July 9th. There’s only a limited number of tickets and the first IPAH sold out quick, so don’t forget!
Interested in sharing the love for After Hours, but want to go beyond tweeting and Facebooking about it? Victor Moreno , a past Ignite Phoenix presenter, has created a stunning flyer full of intrigue, edge, and details of course, that you can print out and pass out. Please, not only share the flyer, but give Victor a shout out — the flyer truly is fabulous, and captures the essence of After Hours.
Whatever happened to manners?
May 22nd
I volunteered for an event this weekend. This isn’t about Ignite Phoenix (which was kick-ass) but about some of the people attending.
My job was to greet people coming in one of the doors and to hand them the program and quickly and cheerfully explain it was a conversational cootie-catcher they could fold up and use to socialize with their seat-mates. Easy peasy.
There were three types of people coming through that door.
- 10% People I actually knew who smiled back and chatted for a moment before moving on.
- 30% People who accepted the program and smiled back, possibly commenting about the ingenuity of the program.
- 60% Snotty-ass people who brushed past me neither making eye contact or acknowledging me at all.
The whole atmosphere of an Ignite Event is socializing, igniting ideas and just being open for new experiences, right? It’s certainly not your usual Scottsdale upper crust la-dee-dah ignore the help thing. I may have passed people on the street handing papers out without acknowledgement, but usually I at least say no thank you. And I certainly wouldn’t ignore someone inside a building wearing a t-shirt with the event logo prominently displayed on her chest. Rude!
So this is to the rude people out there. Ignite Phoenix (as well as any Ignite out there) is staffed by VOLUNTEERS. From the lowly program pusher to the emcee, from the tech people making it look and sound good, to the t-shirt and program designers, nobody gets paid to do this. We volunteer because we believe in the event. Your lousy $10 ticket doesn’t entitle you to treat anyone like the help. In fact, nothing entitles you to treat anyone like the help. As far as that goes, many events in the Phoenix area are organized and staffed by volunteers that deserve your respect for taking time out of their already busy lives to make these events the very best they can.
Take a split second to acknowledge the people providing you with priceless services and entertainment and you might just get more out of them. Don’t be rude. It only makes you look like crap.
Past and future plans
Apr 10th
I’m getting involved more. I’ve always been on the PodcampAZ planning team, but I recently joined the Ignite Phoenix crew and started volunteering at Gangplank. And yesterday I went out with ImprovAZ on their Fake Protest Flash Mob. It was awesome!
You know, last week we hit 100° but yesterday was so friggin’ cold we only hung out there for about a half hour. There were so many of us we split up and fake protested on two separate corners. Some people have no sense of humor, but we did get at least half the cars going by to honk – or at least smile and wave. I didn’t want to stop!
I’m currently editing one podcast and helping someone else put their audiobook together, so “work” is going well. And Sheila, Evo and I are working on a new project now that Evo@11 is over. I haven’t actually put an episode together yet, but we’re getting there. This project is a bit more involved than a regular podcast.
I’m officially going to Vegas for my birthday. I invited my daughter-in-law Krystal to go with me and apparently that meant Max and Casey could go as well. Fine, they can wander off and do guy stuff. Poor Ginnie isn’t old enough, so we had to promise another trip in November when she turns 21. I have a couple more girlfriends meeting me up there and have invited (SNOWCALLA!) even more so I might end up with a real party. I’ll be there April 29th through Sunday.
I’m also officially going to Balticon Memorial Day weekend. All my podcasting friends go and I’ve missed the fun too many times. Flight’s pre-paid, admission’s pre-paid, so now I just have to pay for a room (roommate Evo?) and food/drink.
Then there’s SkepchickCon, June 30-July 3. That’s not official. It really depends on my finances after those first two trips. Another fun drive up to Minneapolis but I’m pretty sure I’d have a place to stay (AGAIN, SNOWCALLA!) so it’s just gas, food, and convention costs. That’s a maybe.
And I’d like to go back to TAM. TAM 9 is in Vegas mid July, but I’d be just as happy hanging out outside of the actual meeting. It’s so expensive to attend and I don’t want to press my luck by asking for a freebie again this year.
I think that’s it for now. Crap, I forgot I had eggs boiling and all the water boiled away. I have NO attention span.
My IPAH Night – NSFW
Dec 11th
What Ignite Phoenix After Hours is.
After freaking out because I just knew I wouldn’t remember everything despite practicing over and over again, I wasn’t really nervous at all.
Though the very minute I got to the club I managed to trip going up the three lousy steps and bust my knee open. Great start.
I was fourth in line to present. The second presenter rocked the house when she pulled a set of ben-wa balls out of her crotch. Glad I didn’t have to immediately follow her!
Friends recorded my presentation, but it was held in a nightclub and the lighting isn’t prime. And it starts a bit late, but you get most of it.
My Presentation:
If you really want a better view of the slides, here they are:
Walker.fuckin.asthma
View more presentations from Debbie Walker.
Actually I did miss a lot of what I was supposed to say, but I think I covered fairly well.
And here’s me in better light just before the event started. 
All-in-all it was a blast and I’m sooooo glad I did it. Now I never have to do it again.
Another First!
Nov 20th
Last weekend I had my first ever blue screen of death.
Spent the entire weekend dicking with this PC, finally figured out how to do an emergency backup (because stupid me NEVER backs up anything – duh!) and had to do a factory restore. Great.
Though I saved all my pictures and files, I lost everything else. Music, work, games, etc.I thought because my work files (mp3s and wav files) were in documents, when I gave up my music apparently the whole Windows 7 cross-referencing stupid shit ignored all my work files too. Fuckity fuck fuck.
Oh well.
I’m up and running now, just in time for PodcampAZ (today and tomorrow) and to work on my presentation for Ignite Phoenix After Hours – a pilot program for Ignite presentation that aren’t quite PG-13 enough for regular Ignites. My presentation is Fuckin’ Asthma, the trials and tribulations of dealing with severe asthma and the difficulties it presents with your sex life. What every normal breathing person should keep in mind when attempting a one-night-stand with an asthmatic. It can be done.
My submission (*snerk*) was selected so now (another first) I have to put out. I’m working on it, but time is a crunch with my PodcampAZ focus this weekend and Thanksgiving coming up. Wish me luck.
So that’s why I haven’t posted here. I’ve been so busy with those two events and trying to restore everything I needed, and plus I couldn’t figure out how to log in here. My illustrious web guy has our dashboard logins slightly different than the average wordpress blog.
What's been going on
Mar 30th
Some and nothing.
So I’m on an antibiotic for chlamydia.
Stop laughing, it’s not that kind of chlamydia!
Chlamydia pneumoniae. Not that I have symptoms, just that recent blood testing shows I have some of the bacteria in me and it could develop later.
So… Sunday:
I love Max-and-friends rental house. It’s a really nice huge house, but it’s in one of those developments where they’re all on top of each other with no yards and NO PARKING. There’s never any place to park and what there is is parallel. Little tiny 2-car parallel parking spaces interspersed throughout the complex. SUCKS. I’ve got a BIG (2001 gran marquis) car. SUCKS.
Anyway, we get there and boom the perfect parking space right across from their house. Only took me 6 tries to get my boat in there. We changed in the house and headed over to their park/playground/pool area. They were done at the pool and were all in the open space playing frisbee and football.
I sat in the sun for about 10 minutes when I started feeling weird. I made it up the hill to the playground, found a bench in the shade, and proceeded to damn near pass out. Sat there thinking about which way I’d fall – either into the sand (yuk) or headfirst onto the concrete – and even Kira knew something was wrong with Grammi and went to get help.
How fucking embarrassing and annoying. No I didn’t pass out, I drank a lot of water (I always drink a lot of water) and Casey moved me to a picnic table where I could put my head down. Eventually the dizziness passed enough for me to trudge back to the house (with a fucking escort) and rest up.
I’m blaming it on the erythromycin and the heat.
This too did pass and eventually we were all playing Flip Cup. Their kitchen has a huge island perfect for beer pong type games. (video from a previous evening with the kids) And because Shane can’t flip a cup to save his life, I ended up downing an entire can of Strongbow in about 6 minutes, so I quit. Didn’t want to press my luck.
I’ve also noticed a general tired / low-energy feeling. The pharmacist said the antibiotic doesn’t play well with my theophylline so I went yesterday for another blood test.
Tonight is Ignite Phoenix#6, this time at Mesa Art Center to which I’ve never been. Looking forward to seeing the venue as much as the event.
November is booked.
Oct 14th
Oh. My. Shit.
I have a ton of stuff to do in November.
- Ignite Phoenix 5 (Tuesday Nov 3 – 6:00pm – 9:00pm)
Tickets, hashtag: #ignitephx
Tempe Center for the Arts – map
- WordCamp Phoenix (Friday Nov 13 – 8:00am – 5:00pm)
Register, hashtag: #wcphx
Arizona Grand Resort – map
- PodCampAz (Sat-Sun Nov 14 – 15)
Register, hashtag: #podcampaz
University of Advancing Technology – map
There’s #evfn every Friday night, recording for Evo @11 every week, Max is due home November 19th at midnight, and Thanksgiving is the 26th. Sometime in there I’m expecting a special guest, too.
