Blankbaby

I've been a Philadelphia for five years

I started working at my current place of employment on April 14th, 2003 but I am pretty sure I moved to Philly the week before that (just to get a sense of the place. I hadn't been to Philadelphia more than twice before I picked everything up and moved here).

When I first moved from NYC to Philly I figured I'd be here for a couple of years and then move back to New York. That idea solidified when Elisa and I broke up, since she was the major reason I left my beloved Yonkers in the first place. Five years later and here I am. Why? A funny thing happened along the way: I started liking Philadelphia.

On occasion I would sally forth to NYC, and I couldn't wait to get back to Philly. What the heck was going on? I'm a New Yorker, damn it, I didn't want to like Philadelphia! Try as I might, Philadelphia grew on me.

Philadelphia is my home, and I can't imagine living anywhere else. My fantastic girlfriend lives here (and I live with her, so that makes it nice), lots of my friends are here, and most of my stuff is here!

I am willing to wager that 5 years from now I'll be writing a '10 years in Philadelphia' post. I can't wait.

Fork You Live 02/23/08

Hey, Fork You fans that live in and around Philadelphia, make sure you have no plans this Saturday. Why? Because we're getting the gang together to do yet another Fork You Live at Fosters. This time around we'll be making Mac and cheese (a couple varieties), and you'll get to have some at the end of the show (free food and entertainment? How can you lose?).

Feel free to RSVP via Upcoming, or just show up. Here are the details:

Fork You Live

Fosters

Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008

2pm to 3pm

399 Market Street

We'll be in Apartment 399, their demo area, cooking up a storm (and we'll be filming the whole thing to make an episode).

I hope to see you there!

The first heavy snow of the season

Ahh, it is snowing here in Philadelphia. Sadly, I'm stuck at work, slaving over a hot iMac for the man! I would like to be out and about frolicking in the snow, laughing gleefully, building snowmen, and making snow angels.

Welcome to Geekadelphia

There seems to be a new Philly blog on the scene: Geekadelphia. Dedicated to all things geeky, and vaguely Philadelphia related, this blog has earned an automatic place in NNW for me.

My only gripes (and you knew there had to be some) are:

• I didn't think of it first
• I am not listed in their blogroll as a Philly geek. WTF? Don't make me show you my thousands of Star Trek cards!

Update: My geekiness has been recognized by Geekadelphia. All is right in the world.

Let's go Flyers!

Fork You Season 2, Episode 1

Looky here, another episode of Fork You, and this time we're talking coffee. Peet's was kind enough to send Erica Hess to talk with us about the ins and outs of making a good cup of coffee.

This episode also marks the debut of our fancy new camera, and our second season! If you do watch this episode, bigger is better... so instead of watching it here watch it over here (or click this link for the QuickTime version).

Scoble unwittingly sums up what is wrong with the A list bloggers

I am sure Robert Scoble is a very nice guy. He's smart, affable, and very passionate about technology. Plus he was once a Blankbaby reader, he stopped reading a while ago, but something tells me he'll see this post.

The problem with Robert is one that many of the A list tech bloggers have: the geographical echo chamber. Sure, most of the A Listers know each other in real life, and of course they are going to link to one another. However, there is this propensity for West Coasters in, or near, the Silicon Valley to think that all tech happens there (the same geographical echo chamber can be seen in many residents of Manhattan. Many simply refuse to leave Manhattan because they see no reason. If it matters, it happens in Manhattan, right?).

This idea crystallized when I read this passage on Scoble's blog, which oddly enough is about Web 2.0 stuff gaining traction outside of the Valley:

The thing is I’m getting reports from around the world that people are talking about Facebook in weird places like Moscow and Paris and Cape Town.

Now, I'm not sure what makes these places 'weird,' but it isn't like they are small little backwaters. According to Wikipedia Moscow is the world's 20th largest city by population, followed by Paris which takes slot number 21 (Philadelphia clocks in at 45th, which makes it SUPER weird, while San Fran-Oakland takes the 87th spot beating out Cape Town which is 98th).

My point is that urban centers are always places where art, commerce, and technology have historically intermingled. It is the height of arrogance to think that people outside of Silicon Valley aren't doing cool stuff (or using Facebook for goodness sake!). Lots of cool stuff is even happening right here in good old Philadelphia (Ban Franklin, by the way, certainly didn't think Paris was weird. He was a noted Francophone and America's ambassador to France for a spell).

Fork You 10: Sassy Salsa, Groovy Guac

Another Fork You! is available for your viewing. This time we made salsa and guacamole on Jen's deck (thanks again, Jen!). Watch it, you know you want to! Oh, and if you want to sponsor Fork You, or know someone who might, email me (my email address is really easy to find).

BlogPhiladelphia rocked, and rocked HARD

The first time I heard about BlogPhiladelphia I was doubtful. This had nothing to do with the people behind it, rather I am just naturally a stick in the mud (which might explain why I am not an entrepreneur. I would have been the one friend of Henry Ford’s who would have said, ‘Eh. Who wants a mass assembled car?! The people want something hand man, sir!’). Luckily, despite my reservations and thanks to the charms of Alex and Annie I signed on to not only attend but to lead two sessions (give me a roomful of people and a microphone and I’m a happy man. I’m the most extroverted introvert you have ever met, I tells ya!).

As with most things in my life, it turned out to be a very good decision (I should always do the exact opposite of what I think I should do, but that’s another post entirely, and a Seinfeld episode to boot!).

Simply put: BlogPhiladelphia was a kick ass time, and I hope to do it again soon.

Annie, Alex, and the whole Uwishunu and the Philly Tourism Board did a fantastic job putting on this great unconference. The unconference format really highlights the best part of conferences: the conversations you have in the hallways. Instead of making people whisper during panels, the people in the audience are the real experts and they get fools (like me) to facilitate the conversation and try and keep it on point.

The thing that really surprised me was that people wanted to meet me. Me?! Why are these people interested in meeting me? Strikes me as a little odd, but hey I’m an egomaniac so I’ll take what I can get.

Rob Sandie, President of Viddler, has a great post up recapping all the reasons that BlogPhilly rocked (and I am not just saying that because he starts off with me and calls me the funniest person imaginable… though that doesn’t hurt. Thanks, Rob!). Check it out, and I’ll be posting another thing or two about BlogPhiladelphia in the coming days.

Yes, that's a picture of me leading a session. Thanks to Tony for taking it! Check out the BlogPhiladelphia Flickr pool for even more pictures from the event.

National Mechanics