good news, bad news

I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. I heard somewhere once that you should always end with something positive so that people feel fuzzy inside even after receiving awful news. Fuzzy is perhaps a strong word, but less Debbie Downer, certainly. So in that grand tradition, I'll give you the bad news first.

You might have noticed that recently some content was removed from this blog. Because I write this blog for my readers, I felt that you were owed an explanation as to why this happened. The simplest, most straight-forward version of the story -- a story that has turned into a very stressful, unfortunately dramatic and taxing saga in my life in the past week -- is that the content (originally posted February 20) became an issue for a non-profit with which I volunteer closely. In order to appease a negative reaction they'd received, I removed the post.

Unfortunately for me, removal of the post didn't entirely appease anything, and I'm now facing a very difficult situation with an organization about which I am zealously passionate, an organization which I consider to be highly self-defining in my own personal life. It's been a rough few days, to say the very least. But as the debris begins to settle and I start to take stock of how I can press forward, I'm constantly reminded of two things: 1.) the astonishing amount of love and support I have from friends within this organization, and 2.) the absolute immediacy of need I feel to appeal the decision that's been handed me, not only for my own sake but for the sake of every other volunteer whose personal lives may at some point be deemed just cause to remove them from their volunteer roles, no matter how many years they've given or children they've impacted.


Okay, enough of that. Now for the good news.

The awesome people at BlogHer sent me a letter this week to let me know that I'd been chosen for what's called a BlogHerShip. It's essentially a scholarship to attend the BlogHer 2010 conference -- the mecca of women bloggers, where the potential for me to make an ass of myself in front of internet celebrities grows exponentially by the second -- in exchange for some volunteer time.

Naturally I am completely over the moon to be able to attend the conference, which is happening in New York City the first weekend in August. But even better than just that news alone is the capacity in which they've invited me to volunteer -- I will be live blogging sessions from BlogHer 2010.

You might be able to hear me grinning through your browser, it is THAT intense over here.


cheers,
elizabeth