Wow. Blogging from the airport. I'm a real blogger now! Updates to the blog have been slower the last couple of weeks, I admit. I've been working on the book and when I write I like to put everything else out of my mind as much as possible.

But until Monday book work is on hold as I'm off to Ottawa to sit on a Canada Council for the Arts jury and then on to Kingston to be part of a conference put on by the Queen's University School of Policy. The conference is called "Empowering the voice and engagement of citizens: Is the voluntary sector still a relevant player?" I'm on a panel discussion about fostering engagement through social media. I'm still tossing ideas around in my head about what I'm actually going to say. Does social media foster engagement or disengagement? I guess at the end of the day it depends who you are and how you use it. At the same there are always general trends that can be observed and these trends suggest that while social media offers many opportunities for self presentation and invention, this may well come at the expense of political and even cultural engagement.

At the same time, maybe groups can play off the idea of the personal being the political and things like Facebook being primarily extensions of our largely trivial social lives. I'm thinking of suggesting at the conference that organizations consider starting local groupings around a particular issue and that the group leaders could host a night at a house or local pub or whereever devoted to that issue. It's like the trend of bands playing at people's houses, a trend that only works because of social media and web communication/community. Why not do it for Greenpeace? Empower people to present the issue the way it is relevant to them and to get involved on their terms.

Anyway, those are some initial thoughts. The conference is on Saturday morning so if anyone wants to chime in before then with ideas and input, please do. I'll check in.

In my personal life, had fun with E. over the long weekend. She's really very funny. I always have to be "the mommy" (sometimes "the daddy") and she's always "baby" or "baby monkey" or "baby skunk ape" (see blog post on trip to Florida) or "baby guinea pig." Then we play which consists of me covering her up and her peeking her head out of the blankets and making the appropriate baby or baby animal noises. Yes, that's what counts for fun in Hal's universe right now.

W. called just as I was trying to pack up (last minute of course) and I was a bit snippy with her on the phone. I apologize! Does that count? Can one apologize via blog?