this woman’s work

Did you cry during his acceptance speech? 

I think about how our international standing has just improved and I feel so hopeful.

The popular vote was still pretty close; we have a lot of work to do to bring this country together. (So Brett said no gloating around McCain supporters; he said we have to be good winners.)

Madison loves to see Obama with his little girls. She likes to see when he holds their hands and picks them up. I told her that because the president of the United States is a little bit like our king as elected by us, this means his little girls are now like the princesses of the United States. “And they are beautiful brown-skinned girls just like you.” 

She may not get the historical import yet but she gets the princess comparison. She’s pretty happy about it.

Pennie tried to call when he took Ohio but didn’t think to call our cell (I was at Abby’s with Kristen and Lynne) then we called her when CNN officially announced it. 

Pennie and I bonded about politics four years ago. It’s hard to remember but at the beginning we were excessively careful with each other and we didn’t talk politics. But then when Kerry was running she called me up and asked if I was voting “for Frankenstein or the chimp” and I said, “Frankenstein all the way.” And happily it turns out that we share our liberal politics. She was happy that the kids have been such a part of this election process and liked hearing that Madison helped hang flyers on doors the other day. 

I’m glad and grateful that Madison got to talk to her first mom on that historic night. I’m glad that we both thought to call each other. 

Abby had a great evening planned. The kids had an electoral map to fill out and Kristen and Lynne brought apple pie (raw and cooked respectively). I brought sparkling juice so the kids could toast the winner, which meant that Madison came up every ten minutes to see if we could do some toasting yet. 

I haven’t looked at any of the ballot measures yet so I’m going to make the kids pancakes (we slept way in) and then spend some time trolling the internet. Then it’s off to skating, home to work and later tonight I get to hook up with Andrew to talk politics (probably) and writing (definitely).

Number post!

1. I love Bacchus! I love his partner! I LOVE HIS KID! I can’t wait to see him again this spring at the AAC conference!!
2. I’m spending five hours tomorrow at Boo at the Zoo staffing a table. I hope it doesn’t rain. If you’ll be there between 3pm and 8pm, I’ll be there, too, doing time for one of my gigs. Stop by and say, “Boy, you look cold and/or bored!” You’ll probably be right!
3. I think I’m going to be able to get back to my work-out schedule next week because my cold is definitely on its last legs. Thank GOD. I may have forgotten how to exercise.
4. The kids are probably going trick-or-treating twice because for the first time in forever some of the suburbs are having it on a different night than others. So they’re going in my dad’s neighborhood the first night (because Pennie is going out of town for some scary clown concert thingie for Halloween proper and wants to be in on begger’s night) and this neighborhood the second night. I’m going to make them give up the stuff they don’t like to supplement our give-away stash.
5. I’m on the closing shift at HighBall. That’s 11pm to 2am. Pity me. I’m never ever ever out (or even up) that late unless it’s at some Kristen-sponsored event (like her birthday or her annual holiday party). Maybe I should take a picture of Kristen along with me to give me strength!
6. Friday morning I have a meeting to look at samples for catalog copy I’ll be writing for a couple of weeks. So it’s trick-or-treat Thursday night, meeting Friday morning, trick-or-treat II Friday night, Highball and then general collapse Saturday. I think. I need to look at my calendar.
7. Brett is also working very long hours. We are like crazy people over here. Actually sanity seems to be maintaining itself fine but the dustbunnies and dirty dishes are very close to staging a coup.
8. I keep meaning to write an entry about the racism in The Time Traveler’s Wife but can’t seem to find my copy. When I do, I will. Because Time Traveler’s Wife? Totally racist. That book makes me cringe as a writer - to reference Chekov, there are so many unused guns in the book that it reads to me like a self-indulgent daydream. The Violent Femmes dance-off? Just one of ‘em. Plus: Racist.

Watching Abby’s kids is easier than watching just my two because they’re keeping each other entertained. Thanks Abby! Thanks for loaning your kids and thanks for volunteering to make Obama our next president by helping out at the rally!!!

I used to think I couldn’t even bother to try to make friends with Abby because our kids didn’t match up right. See, when it comes to parent-friends, if your kids don’t match up right it’s not worth hanging out because the kids will just clash and make the grown-ups miserable. Abby’s daughters are two years younger than Noah and her youngest daughter is a year older than Madison. Age and gender, I assumed, would keep us apart.

But! Fortunately boys mature later than girls and Noah has never been hung up on gender as a prerequisite to friendship so eventually the big kids discovered each other and lo! A friendship was born. I believe video games is what brought them together but maybe it was Neopets. I can’t really remember.

Anyway, they are bestest friends now and Noah’s day isn’t complete without at least one speaker phone call with them.

Then Maya, her youngest, is willing to play with Madison (even though Maya is more mature — she is, I’m not being facetious) so that means both our big kids and our little kids happily playdate, which means the moms can playdate, too! Oh joy!

Now Kristen, I’ve know her for 11 years now — she was my La Leche League leader. I was at the first meeting she led solo (I remember they gave her a mug filled with chocolate to honor her new leaderhood the day I came). Her oldest, Jake, was then her only and he was two. I remember this because she said, “This is my son, Jake. He’s two and he is all of that!” meaning that he was the two-est two he could be. (This was true! Jake has always been the most Jake-est that he could be!) Noah was about eight months old. So there, too, I thought, well, I love Kristen and we’ll be friends but I won’t see much of her because our kids don’t match up right.

When Molly was born two years later, they still didn’t match but then Ginger came along about six weeks after Madison’s arrival and our daily friendship was cemented! And as it happens, the boys mature late thing works for us there, too, because Noah likes hanging with Molly now, which is something that didn’t happen until they both his these tween years. (I mean, they’ve known each other all of their lives but it’s only been this summer that Molly and Noah have had anything to say to each other and now they’ll happily spend the afternoon just hanging out.)

Becca asked where this spate of socializing came from and I wrote her back and explained it so I thought I’d explain it here. Although Thursday has always been Thursday because that’s when homeschool gym is and so there’s a lot of meeting up at parks after or trading kids or carpooling. And before THAT we used to have a rotating playdate at people’s houses and that happened to be on Thursdays, too.

I guess Thursdays are just my days. (And I like Thursday, too, because of the T and the R, which make it a nice purpley-green color in some stable but friendly serif font.)

Last night we had a hot dinner at a nearby church. The kids and I walked to downtown Worthington and got lunch at Old Bag of Nails while I checked wifi. That’s how we’ve been doing things — one big, hearty meal at a restaurant and then snacks for breakfast and dinner. It mostly works, plus the kids are foraging off the smaller apple tree we have in back (the bigger apple tree has limbs too far out of reach and only drops the wormy apples). But yesterday when we got back from our downtown trip and were settling back into our home addition, (which is what we fondly call our front porch) we found a flyer stuck by our front door inviting us to a free spaghetti dinner at the church down the way.

You may not know that the Seventh Day Adventists have quite a nice little set-up near downtown Worthington. They have a school and a daycare and a big, beautiful brick church and a couple of other buildings besides. Worthington Foods, makers of fine meat-free sausage products (among other things) used to be here, too. (Seventh Day Adventists are vegetarians.) We used to drive by and Noah would sniff the air and sigh, “Oh they’re making chik nuggets today!” But then they got bought out by Kellogg’s and, sadly, they knocked the factory down.

Anyway! A free spaghetti dinner sounded like just the outing we needed last night. I called Kristen and Abby to let them know and they agreed to meet us.

I was reminded that mitzvahs go both ways. That it’s a mitzvah to give but also it can be a mitzvah to take, which is a lesson I seem to be learning at this stage of my life (I have a blog entry working on that later).

We walked in and Madison saw our next door neighbor among those serving and began to jump up and down. “It’s neighbor! It’s neighbor!” she said, then ran up for a hug. Our neighbor was just as happy to see her. And the rest of the volunteers looked happy to see our kids — all eight of ‘em — because kids, especially those who appreciatively load up on garlic bread and lemonade and shyly murmur their thanks, can make the person serving spaghetti feel even better.

We settled ourselves in for dinner, chatting with some of the volunteers who came by to welcome us and invite us up for more. Kristen got a little choked up because niceness can be so nice and make the inconveniences that got you there almost seem worth it. A guy came by and joked we’d have to sing for our supper, indicating the tiny empty stage at the front of the room and the little girls took him at his word, performing to (our) applause.

Madison was impressed with the church’s sanctuary, which was much more elegant than our temple’s modest 70s-inspired space. She was equally charmed by the bathrooms, which had gilt mirrors and busy flowered wallpaper. (She sat on the potty swinging her feet and singing, “FAHN-cy! FAHN-cy!” I think she wants to convert now. She’s all about the fancy!)

Then we took the kids to a nearby park and I accidentally forced Abby and Kristen to walk miles and miles to see Rush Creek. Oops.

We hear power will be back to us on Sunday but some of our neighbors have power already so we’re cautiously optimistic that it might be sooner.

The distractions are all the size of a 4-year old. Oh, why try to dissemble! They ARE a 4-year old! A dancing, laughing, clapping, messing-with-stuff-on-my-desk, asking-for-snacks, curly-haired 4-year old named Madison.

Well, that’s just how it is, eh? Working and mothering — something’s got to give and usually it’s my sanity.

Tonight I’m dragging taking Abby with me to the HighBall Halloween launch. Kristen is in Maine. Amy is very busy with Little Alouette. My sister is a flake (not really — she’s just busy). So Abby it is! She wins! When we give out candy? I’m going to give her an extra handful! Leslie is coming, too, god love her. Candy for Leslie, too! And my friend Lis who doesn’t have a web presence because she’s stuck in the dark ages. It’s sad for her there.

Ok! Now I have to go put on clothes that can be seen outside my home as opposed to the ratty t-shirt I’m wearing. The one that Madison accidentally wiped half of her lunch on when she was spinning around and spun into me. Did I mention that she distracts me? Because she does.

I didn’t think we’d get in, honestly. I didn’t realize the venue was as big as it was and I figured we’d never get in. See, when they said they were holding the rally at a high school stadium, I was picturing the kind of high school stadium where I went to Friday football games with rickety wooden bleachers and a shaky chainlink fence around the field. Apparently high school has changed a lot since I was a kid because this stadium reportedly holds 20,000 people and is sturdy enough that when thousands of people start stamping their feet on the metal benches the edifice doesn’t even shiver.

Kristen made t-shirts (it was Abby’s idea) so we’d all be matchy-matchy with great big Obama symbols on our chest and red and blue stars (the t-shirts were white, natch). We decided to bring the middle kids (Noah, Lena, Liberty and Molly) because the big kid (Jake) had better things to do and we knew the little ones wouldn’t last.*

Kristen and Abby, being much more organized about these things than I am, decided to treat it like tailgating so they packed up a couple of coolers, a big bag of homemade popcorn, two big jugs of ice water and a bag of candy. Oh and homemade chai (Martha Stewart has nothing on Kristen, which if you read her blog you already know). She also wrote Obama 08 on her van, which got us some thumbs up on the freeway.

We got a good parking spot then took our place in line. The kids huddled up under shade trees with their Nintendo DS games and a good helping of the food. We chatted with some folks we know and haven’t seen forever then started making friends with the rest of the people in line with us. Some people came over and took pics of the kids in their matching t-shirts and there was a lot of that spontaneous friend-making that happens in a crowd before an event only better since there was also that team-spirit feeling.

We waited about six hours. We got there at 12:30 and the speeches started at around 6:30. We were inline for about four hours and then the rest of the time we were in the stadium. That sounds awful, right? Hot sun, crowds, uncomfortable seating but it was great. In some ways it was the best part. (Kristen said it felt like a Dead show only without all the drugs.) We chatted with people and laughed and shared out some of the chai. We signed a petition and chewed on ice cubes and Kristen took a ton of pictures. Once we got in the stadium (Noah set off the metal detector become of some hardware in his pants, but he took it in stride) we ate chik-filet and laughed some more with neighbors. We had good seats — about 13 rows up with a view of the whole filled-up stadium. We watched the lines still stretched back to the parking lot and watched the volunteers scramble with a new game plan because they didn’t expect that many people. We saw one of our new line-friends get picked to be up on the stage (he didn’t even have the yellow ticket you needed to get an insider view — he got handed one at random) and felt like one of our “own” got the nod!

Then a huge — I mean HUGE — praying mantis flew into our rows and everyone jumped and scattered while it flew into one woman’s hair and onto another woman’s arm. It landed for a brief second on Noah’s leg then leapt to the woman in front of him, who calmly brushed it off and it flew away over our heads. The section whooped and clapped and the kids were grinning. (Molly said, “My mom’s gonna be so mad she missed it!” because she and Abby were out getting the chik-filet.)

Another one of Noah’s favorite parts was when the first speech started and the bleachers across the field started chanting, “We can’t hear! We can’t hear!” He thought that was great. And he was entranced by the unfortunate drama of some folks having some issues with the heat down on the field. (The field was meant to be a fairly small crowd, I think, but the overflow was huge and it ended up being a pretty daunting throng, at one point surging forward in a way that looked worrisome from our vantage.) The third time it happened Obama was speaking and he threw his water bottle into the crowd for the woman. The stadium hilariously chorused a crushed “oooh!” worthy of tweens watching Zac Efron toss a sweaty shirt towards a lucky few.

When we saw the motorcade come down the highway way out beyond the stadium we got goosebumps and our section cheered. The guy next to me asked what I thought about Palin and we grinned, all giddy with the possibility that this year we might actually win! Abby told the woman behind us that they had dillybars at the concession stand and Kristen clued someone else in on where the secret bathrooms were. Then we got the kids to stand on their benches and chant for one of the free signs. (Noah was horrified and angry at me for embarrassing him but what can I say? I got Lena and Liberty a sign!) Abby had to train the kids when to hold it up during the speeches and we got them to stamp their feet with the rest of the crowd.

We moms cheered until we were hoarse and I caught the kids smiling more than they’re likely to admit. Obama, even with a low-key speech, was terrific and genuine. I love the cadence and rhythem of his voice. Sherrod Brown, already a huge favorite of mine not least because he was smart enough to marry Connie Schultz, was also a big winner.

Afterwards the kids ran around the field to get the wriggles out and then we stopped and watched Obama’s bus drive by. (He waved at us. We swooned.) Then we got to the car and started tailgating out the back again while we waited for traffic to die. A guy offered to buy a pop off of us but Abby said no, because she hadn’t packed extra but we gave him a drink of water for free. Then it turned out our battery was dead and a lovely woman gave us a jump after Molly saved the day and found the jumper cables.

Noah said the speeches were boring and waiting in the stadium was boring. He said the best part was playing his DS in the shade, the praying mantis and stamping his feet. But then he called his friends and a couple of relatives and bragged about his day.

It was a terrific day. It was terrific to be there and see the crowds (my pictures suck but I’ll try to upload a shot of the full stadium later) and it was inspiring to be waiting with so many like-minded but wonderfully diverse (in experience, in age, in race, in income) people and feel like we were all gunning for the same thing. It was especially great having Noah and his friends there and knowing that this would be a story that would matter to them someday in ways they can’t foresee now.

*The husbands made a plan to trade off care of the little girls all day, working in shifts with big brother Jake doing some of the supervising. Madison had a good time and was very proud of herself for staying “all by herself” never mind the team of people there with her. She did fall out of the treehouse and scraped her side during Jake’s shift and reported that “he said something thoughtful,” which was apparently “Come on down” but said, and I quote again, “softly.” Then he gave them some pop. Pop, if you didn’t know, cures all evils.

I had two great client meetings today. The first was with the owner and staff of this fantastic clothing store in the Short North, Substance. The clothes are beautifully designed, well-made and from sustainable manufacturers (often times using organic goods). There are fantastic purses from Ethiopia and the softest t-shirts designed right there in the store. They even have a handful of desigs made from discarded shirts brought in by customers. And the prices? Comparable to the clothes I was writing up at Express this summer (only much more beautifully, comfortably and respectfully made).

They brought me in for a Q&A about some web 2.0 stuff and I hope I’ll get to work with them further but whatever else happens, count me in as a fan.

Next I headed North to the Short North Business Administration to help John launch their new blog. Chris brought me in on the project — they set up the blog and asked me to help him figure out how to use the software. He’s a funny, personable, friendly guy and I had a good time showing him how WordPress and Twitter work. (He’s shortnorth on twitter.)

Now I’m watching Brett clean the kitchen while we wait for Abby to call and tell us she’s heading over to Kristen’s with the kids.

Anyway, it’s been a busy day and tonight will be a busy (social) evening and tomorrow I have some client calls and work to do then maybe I can rest a tiny bit this weekend. Or something. But today was fun — I like hearing about other people’s lives and I like helping them figure out how to do something new and interesting.

Oh last night I sent a proposal for a project that I’m really really really hoping gets approved (it’s a work thing — not a writing thing) because it would be a blast to put it together and I’d like to see what people would make of it. If you think you can type with your fingers crossed, please consider crossing them!

Interracial Families in Friendship (IFIF) is a group of mostly white parents who have adopted kids of color, usually African American kids. It’s open to anyone who wants to come and we went before Madison showed up and found everyone lovely and welcoming and nice but somehow we never went back. Part of it was the way meetings would sneak up on me and part of it was that Saturdays are so often busy anyway so I lurked on the email list, commenting every now and then and promised myself that we’d get back eventually.

Well, today was that day and we had a grand time. My friend Terreece got me an assignment with Columbus Parent for their annual National Adoption Month issue and so I needed to try to interview folks. I decided to hit up the good folks at IFIF at their August meeting at the bunny park out near Dublin and then my editor asked if I could get pics so I got Kristen to go along with me and Abby came to keep an eye on Madison (Brett had stuff to do). I didn’t end up getting any interviews (I’m going to try email later) but I met some fun people.

But this is why I’m really writing this entry: I want to show you what a small town Columbus really is.

1. I met this one mom, Marie, and as we talked she realized she already knew Madison. We figured out that one of her kids was in the same lacrosse camp Noah was in and that her daughters played with Madison while they all waited for their big siblings to be done with camp. Brett was the one who took the kids so that’s why it took her a minute to figure it out.

2. Turns out she knows one of the other moms whose son was also in the camp and is a good friend of ours. Marie (or Ann, her parter, I can’t remember) said, “I volunteer at Girl Scout camp with her” and I said, “We watch her son for the week she volunteers.”

3. Then we figured out that Marie and Ann bought this house that Kristen tried to buy a few years ago. When Kristen and her husband went to put a bid on it, it was already in contract much to her sorrow (don’t worry — she got a very nice house, too). So the two of them chatted about the house and what Ann and Marie have done to it since and they invited Kristen over to see it.

4. We also talked about where their kids go to school and one of them was in the same class as one of Noah’s best friends. Noah’s best friend’s mother? She and good friend mentioned in #2 were college roommates. They lost touch but Columbus is a small town — mutual friends brought them back together again. (That’s confusing, right? I’ll explain it again. Mom that Marie volunteers with at Girl Scout Camp is G. Marie’s daughter is in a class with J’s son. J and G were college roommates.)

5. Wait. There’s more. So then Ann is talking about her oldest son and where he’s worked and where he works now. He works with Lisa the Waitress. Abby got her kitten from Lisa the Waitress. And the mom’s son goes to school with Pennie but we haven’t figured out if they know each other yet. (It’s a small program so they might.)

We found this many common friends/acquaintances without much effort. Imagine what we could do if we really tried!!

This happens with Pennie, too. Like Pennie’s Nate’s band used to play at Ruby Tuesdays. My good friend’s ex-husband does the sound there (or did — I don’t know if he does now). Before Pennie ever met my good friend, she knew her ex and used to hang out with him while she waited for Nate’s set to be over. When Pennie met my good friend, they talked about the ex.

I love this about Columbus. Sometimes it can be weird and sometimes it can be awkward but usually it’s fine and funny. Like the time I sat next to my friend Lis (the one with the ex-husband who does sound) at LLL and she said, “Hey, are you related to Justin Friedman?” and I said, “Yeah, he’s my brother.” Or how the little kid Justin used to run around with when HE was a little kid is now the homeschool gym instructor and lacrosse camp leader. The lacrosse camp that led to meeting this new family that I then met at IFIF.

And I think about this a lot in relation to our open adoption; Pennie and I would have brushed up against each other even if the adoption would have been closed. Would we have ever figured it out? (I sometimes think yes because Madison looks so much like Pennie and sometimes think no because we wouldn’t be looking. In any case, I’m glad it’s not something I really have to think about.)

Columbus isn’t so small (it’s the largest city in Ohio and two years ago was ranked the 16th largest city in the country although I have a hard time buying that) but if you’re of a certain age or have kids of a certain age and have lived here for more than five years, you can usually find some friendship in common. The more I get out, the more I’m reminded of this and it always makes me laugh.

I finished most (not all) of my work to-do list but tomorrow is pretty open to get more done. I have a phone interview with a potential client in the afternoon but otherwise nothing scheduled so I want to crank out at least most of a big project (we want it to launch by the end of next week) so I can clear my desk to start research on another big project (also due at the end of next week).

Today is Thursday, which means Abby and Kristen are already off having a gay old time with Lynne and the kids but I’m not with ‘em ‘cuz I had work. Fortunately they took Noah (Madison didn’t mind staying behind since Brett was staying, too) since it’s the big kid who really suffers when we miss out on stuff. Brett and I are waiting for the husbands to get off work and then we’re all car pooling over there for pizza. I hope that I’ve figured out how to relax by then — I think I may just have to have a drink tonight. So there. And I think I’ll leave my cell and iPod at home. (Dare I? Oh rats. Yes. Darnit, I’m taking the night off!)

Brett asked me today what my dream job was and I said writing stuff I want to write (in a cabin in the woods and one of those fancy but not too fancy cabins, too, more like a Usonian house than Laura Ingalls) but if he means my dream job in light of a need to make money, I’d still say this is pretty close. It’s not like I spend all — or some weeks even most — of my time writing stuff that gets me all hot and bothered but it’s still writing or strategizing and talking to people who are passionate about what they want to do, all of which I like. Someday I hope to spend lots of time alone (with my family — they can come, too) in the green quiet writing essays but meanwhile this will do. Especially if there are friends with pizza and hard cider at the end of it.

You may not know this but Columbus is a major blogging city. It’s true — according to Scarborough Research, we’re number eight on the list (a list topped by not-surprising entrants like Austin, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle) sharing with those cities a tech-friendly environment and lots of internet access. Likely we skew higher, too, because OSU is the largest university in the country, which means we have lots of young adults with the blogging and the twittering and the myspace-ing around here.

The local marketing world has been paying attention (as have I, note: Open Book Strategies) and the other night the good folks at Experience Columbus invited the central Ohio blogosphere to check out their new ad campaign.

Now just like you probably didn’t know that Columbus is so bloggy, there’s probably a whole lot of other stuff you don’t know about us like we’re artsy as hell and incredibly gay-friendly (I’ve been told we’re the San Fransisco of the midwest) and pretty darn diverse. We’re a nice city (minus the humidity) — affordable, great housing, low traffic — and lately lots of different powerful folks have been wrestling around trying to figure out how to make sure you all know that. I’ve been in on a number of different talks about it lately and everyone has their own take. It’ll be very interesting to see where we are in ten years.

(Mind you, I’ve lived here for 25 years (moved here when I was eight, five years in Portland, OR — a city that really knows how to work their brand) and I’ve heard this noise before. I think sometimes the newcomers with the unbridled enthusiasm about our fair city don’t know the fatigue of living through the AmeriFlora debacle or being the subject of a critical documentary on gentrification. Sometimes the recently relocated aren’t so patient with us but they gotta appreciate our caution.)

There is much to love here but sometimes it seems like the powers that be are the last to know it. No wonder Columbus Ohio ends up being an insider joke on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (One of the writers hailing from Columbus brings his folks in for a tour. When they meet D. L. Hughley the mother stumbles, “We love Sidney Poitier.” Because we don’t have black people in Columbus. Right.)

So the Experience Columbus planners have their work cut out for them. How to get past our mundane, farm-centric, cowpoke reputation? Especially when what’s unique about us somehow doesn’t seem bold enough to grab attention? (We do have some great attention-grabbing stuff though, most notably the Short North, one of our few attractions that isn’t beholden to a big corporation. And we’re also well known in the gay community as a terrific city having been touted in gay magazines since at least the early eighties.)

Their answer was to start a campaign about what we don’t have. Like we don’t have the Eiffel Tower or mermaids or mountains. There’s a really terrible youtube channel — the vidoes will evoke snickers in those of us who live in Columbus and get the joke but aren’t funny enough to forward (and also don’t tell us what is here, which is the flip side the campaign needs to emphasize). And a myspace, which weirdly is run by an imaginary 22-year old male although the target audience of this campaign is ostensibly conference planners. Ok, maybe it’s a real 22-year old intern. Happily the campaign does boast some pretty awesome t-shirts.

So I’m not crazy about the campaign although I think it could grow legs with a little tweaking (I do love the t-shirts — full disclosure, they gave us coupons to get one free) only I’m confused about why they brought the bloggers along.

It makes sense for them to get us to blog the campaign because it’ll likely be controversial to the folks who love Columbus and are already pretty dang defensive what with the Aaron Sorkin types who dismiss us. Maybe those people won’t get the joke so good thing to bring on the bloggers, ply us with the goodness that is Jeni’s ice cream (seriously, that salty caramel? If you haven’t had it, you haven’t lived) and then set us loose in a sugar-infused haze to blog it.

But then what? The campaign doesn’t have a lot of social media around it. They haven’t really come up with many ways to let people grab it and run. Jennifer Laycock has given ‘em a ton of free ideas that could help things along a lot but there we all were, sitting with our twitter accounts and blogs and they didn’t really figure out a good way to use us.

We’re talking about the campaign but we’re not really a part of it. If they grab Jennifer Laycock’s list, they could bring us on board a little more. There’s a lot of central Ohio pride among Columbus bloggers and some of us walk around with our cameras around our necks all the time (Kristen!) and our iPods ready to twitter (umm, me) and a bunch of us have tons of readers NOT in Columbus. You know, that target market of people not here who maybe want to come here. People like Kristen (just check out her gorgeous ComFest pictures), who genuinely love and celebrate Columbus can do a lot to change people’s mindset about it. Rather than invite her to a campaign about NOT in Columbus, I’d invite her to one to give her insider view about what IS Columbus. And then ask her to share.

In short (ha!) lots of bloggers already are changing people’s point of view about what’s here — use us for good instead of snark.