Shark jumping LIVE at MDP

Rayne Today

At the risk of sounding all teenage-ry, I just want to say: Oh. My. God.

I'm actually going to speak on a panel at the first Bloggers' Caucus at the Michigan Democratic Convention tomorrow.

Surely this means I have now jumped the shark -- or will do so, LIVE, in front of an audience tomorrow.

I'm pretty blase about blogging after four years at it, and a decade of participating in or hosting online communities. But here in fly-over country, blogging is still less than common. While I don't get asked, "What the hell is a blog?" as frequently as I did in 2002 and 2003, I still get the odd look from folks who believe that blogging is the exclusive domain of teenagers killing time or fomenting insurrection. (Teenager, no. Fomenting insurrection, possibly. The NSA surely knows.)

But in the morning I'll be speaking in front of peers -- a group of them, people whose blogging I admire greatly for their brainy brawn and for their terrific snarkiness. I'm so geeked I can't sleep; it's 1:45 am EDT and I don't know how I'm going to manage to force myself to drift off.

It's being in front of and with a great group of blogging peers that has me so shaken and stirred; I am less rattled by the prospects of at least one Senator, the Governor and possibly a Representative dropping into the caucus. Perhaps it's because I fear far less what these elected officials of Democratic and democratic values can do to me than what my blogging peers can do. Imagine me reduced to blithering like Farah Fawcett at William Shatner's roast -- and I wouldn't even be able to blame it on drugs, alcohol or excessive exposure to bleach.

Shark-jumping or no, I'm going to try hard to post about this inaugural event, maybe even have pictures to share. This isn't an earth-shattering event, but it still means something that a state party is willing to recognize bloggers with their own caucus. And maybe it will be an echo chamber, just a few handfuls of us who already know each other virtually if not in the flesh. Perhaps that will be important to note, too.

And now, off to bed...