ok, it might seem like a bit of an oxymoron, but even though i’m an actress, sometimes i can be really shy.
put me on a stage with thousands and i’m fine. put me round a dinner table with a handful of new faces and i’m a good conversationalist. i can charm you and keep you entertained, i promise. and yet, i don’t do well in rooms full of people i don’t know.
and i was reminded of this, again, tonight.
i’d decided to go to the jhb tweet-up i guess because i wanted to make the virtual real. i follow a few people on twitter (187 to be exact!) and i’ve even picked some cool friends from my twitter stream, admittedly all bloggers, cos you know, bloggers are cool like that. 😉 they share my affinity for words seemingly carelessly slung together, yet in many respects, carefully crafted.
i’d asked @shebeegee (another consummate crafter of the english lexicon) to give me a ride as i was meeting the bf there and it didn’t make sense for us both to drive back separately. come 6 pm however, faced with the reality of a roomful of 90, i’m sure very nice, geeks, most of whom i’ve never met before, i got a horrible case of stage-fright. ms gates however promptly tossed my arm to the floor after twisting it right off and an hour later stopped by to pick me up. we proceeded on a minor (de)tour of sandton with @jkretzmer providing gps back-up, but eventually chanced upon the tweet-up. 😉 (thanks sheens, you’re a star!)
i was delighted to see @singlesyllable and @rubyletters, great gals with whom i’ve previously spent some f2f time and @shebeegee was kind enough to keep checking to make sure i was ok. she introduced me to a few new faces and i got to meet @sezleigh, @bergenlarsen and @timlunn, all cool folks.
when @lasz1 finally arrived, i’m not proud to say it, but we dropped the she and the gee and simply made a bee-line for the exit not too long after. so, i’m sorry, even though i like you geeks and i love floating around the perimeter of geekville, do you mind if our first-time f2f meetings takes place in groups of fewer than 10?*
*and do note that i used the words “fewer than”, not “less than” (pet peeve), seeing that less is an unquantified amount and fewer is something one can actually count. and all of you really do count.
(ok, so i guess i am a closet nerd, but why, oh y am i such a moron with an ox?)
Cyber Sass - My Whorl 
Hi Sandi,
Enjoyed meeting you too, and our chat, still blushing from having no clue about your work, at first was really thinking I liked your fashion, wish I’d mentioned it before I learnt who designed. Anyways nice honest refreshing post, rgds Tim.
good to meet you too, tim. have to admit, i had started thawing by the time we talked. might have stayed longer if i hadn’t already told the bf we could leave. 🙂
I get it. I’m so not a mingler… getting to know people through blogging and then meeting them has helped me tremendously- but when I have to make myself known to strangers I’m a hopeless failure!
yeah. it’s just a little ironic that i make my living doing a very public job! i’m so glad that we got the chance to meet in a smaller setting.
i have that exact same anxiety about meeting new people in large numbers – which is why i usually get rather plastered.
alcohol. it really is a social lubricant 🙂
yeah, unfortunately i’m following my no alcohol during the week policy, so wasn’t an option! come friday night, however… 😉
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sooooo glad you’re back! i had begun to look forward to your postings and was so sad they stopped for a moment. now if i can only get my arse in gear! congrats re survivor btw, looking forward to downloading it and watching ya on it
thanks honey. have been following your adventures around the globe!
The fact that you actually came, no matter how long or short it was, deserves to be commended. Most people wouldn’t have chanced it.
I loved having you with me on the way there – you made getting lost a lot less (can’t say “fewer” here unfortunately) boring than it usually is.
I noticed you changed Friday’s time. Hehehe.
xoxo
Awesome meeting you….
I am with Exmi – I have a glass of wine before meeting a huge group of people.
great meeting you too!