The thing One of the things that I really didn’t expect to happen when I started blogging, back in July 2004, was that it would kick start my social life in quite the way it did. Sitting on the Eurostar as it hurtled under the English Channel this afternoon, feeling a little melancholy – as you always do after something you have looked forward to for weeks has finally been and gone – I mulled over the part people I have met through this blog now play in my life. Some are but fleeting acquaintances, others have become firm friends. What they all have in common is that I doubt I would have met a single one of these lovely people if it hadn’t been for this peculiar internet hobby we have in common.
God bless t’internet.
Tuesday:
lauren maîtresse
elisabeth coquette
meg blagueur
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
In no particular order (and apologies if I have forgotten anyone)…
andre, mike, jonnyb, one track, mimi, unluckyman, greavsie, anxious, tim, girl on a train, lovely leonie, monkeylady, meg, karen, pete, pixeldiva, damian, clare, robin, hydragenic
So many lovely people in one single pub I never did see before. If it had fallen to the centre of the earth (although I can’t think why it would have done), there would have been one hell of a gaping void in the blogosphere.
about
books
press
fbk
petite anglaise 
Since becoming an expat I have used the internet to meet people and I can honestly say with out it, and the few very good friends I’ve made so far becuase of it, I might not have made it through my first year in Sweden.
Comment by lux lisbon — November 5, 2006 @ 10:08 pm
Don’t you hate it when you have that “something great has just finished and now the rest of my life sucks by comparison” feeling? As a kid I always assumed that it was something you grew out of as you got older, but if anything it seems to get worse. I guess as adults we have fewer things to be excited about, so those we do have matter to us a lot more.
That really is a lot of bloggers in one place. I assume that didn’t happen just by chance. I’ve not made any friends through my blog yet but I really hope I shall do once people actually start reading it. We shall see ….
Comment by Ignorminious — November 5, 2006 @ 10:09 pm
Very nice to meet you. Would like to have talked longer.
It was an outstandingly nice occasion. Went by in a flash.
Comment by robin — November 5, 2006 @ 10:22 pm
I am not a diva!!!
I am a drama queen.
sigh.
x
Comment by andre — November 5, 2006 @ 10:34 pm
Ah, I agree. I wasn’t at the event you attended- but the bloggers I have met have been lovely people indeed.
Comment by Nicole — November 5, 2006 @ 11:32 pm
I know that feeling only too well. After a performance when months of hard work is done.. you drive home, put the dishwasher on or start the lawn mower. 48 hours of feeling flat. But I have learned to enjoy these simple things too. It took a lot of effort to do so.
I also agree about the internet. Most people I have met are fantastic. Its a short cut to “common interest” I too have some great friends and met great people as a result. (Jim, Sylvie Guillem, Ha Van, Gilles etc). Sadly I have met a couple of “nutters” though… both women, whose behaviour was a disgrace. But the good out weigh the bad.
I can now travel to Britain, France etc and feel right at home… :o)
Comment by simon — November 5, 2006 @ 11:49 pm
Yaxlich is pleased that petite had a very nice time over the weekend and isn’t in the slightest bit jealous. At all. No.
Well, maybe a bit. He hopes that she got chocolate cake.
Comment by Yaxlich — November 5, 2006 @ 11:59 pm
Lovely to see you again
x
Comment by anxious — November 6, 2006 @ 12:03 am
I never have that flat feeling when I get home after being away because like the song says…
“It’s nice to go travelling to London, Paris or Rome,
It’s so nice to go travelling but it’s so much nicer
Yes it’s so much nicer to come home
I say it’s so much nicer to come home!”
My Mum always sings it and it reflects my sentiments exactly when it comes to travel.
Comment by Gregory — November 6, 2006 @ 12:06 am
I was just thinking about the months we spent commenting on each others blogs, back in 2004. It took so long for us to get the guts to meet! That was fun (being anonymous) but I like this part even better.
Comment by Coquette — November 6, 2006 @ 12:26 am
Lovely to meet you at last – you are every bit as nice as I expected you to be.
But fucking hell, I can’t believe Mimi was there and I didn’t meet her! How in hell did that happen??!!
Comment by clare — November 6, 2006 @ 12:30 am
Really good to see you again! I can only think of two omissions from your list: Rachel at frizzylogic.org and Mark from britblog.com.
Comment by mike — November 6, 2006 @ 12:57 am
And the Cheerful One! cheerfulonetwothree.blogspot.com
Comment by mike — November 6, 2006 @ 1:11 am
I started blogging some months ago and I find very intresting. But, I start to spend a lot of time browsing blogs. Anyway, throught blogs, I have many friends and I learned much …
Comment by Mohamed Ali — November 6, 2006 @ 1:50 am
Only fifty-four million, nine hundred thousand, nine hundred and seventy-three to go then.
(Source: Technorati).
Comment by JonnyB — November 6, 2006 @ 1:58 am
I hope tadpole is not suffering too much with her chicken-pox
Comment by simon — November 6, 2006 @ 2:54 am
Glad you all had a lovely time. Can’t say I’m having one right now, but it’s already lifting, and will pass. Next year is supposed to be my year apparently. I hope so, it certainly wasn’t this year. :-)
Comment by fjl — November 6, 2006 @ 4:58 am
Hope you and Tadpole weren’t in the dark when you got back to Paris! Get well wishes to Tadpole! Chicken pox are dreadful.
Elle
Comment by Elle — November 6, 2006 @ 5:44 am
Aw, Petite. What a nice post. And how doomed you really are to remain “Petite” and your daughter “Tadpole” in my mind, no matter how real you become outside of the blogosphere.
You were the first face-to-face that I ever had with a blogger, and it’s been all down hill since then.
(kidding, Lauren)
Comment by Meg — November 6, 2006 @ 8:54 am
Sounds a lovely idea. Any bloggers live in Cumbria?
Comment by Jim — November 6, 2006 @ 9:06 am
Which just goes to disprove the assertion that blogging is just a ‘virtual’ life!
Comment by anno domini — November 6, 2006 @ 10:57 am
Just read about your meet-up after reading jonnyb’s latest about a party,also followed by comments from the participants, and am beginning to feel really isolated in this neck of the woods!
Not really a problem though as I’ve made lots of friends here – even without the internet – and will always be interested to read yout posts.
Sorry to hear about Tapole’s chicken pox but it’s much better to have it while you’re young. I caught it from my (13 yrs younger) sister when I was 21 and felt really ill while she was ‘only’ suffering from the itching. Do they still use camomile lotion?
Comment by Sablonneuse — November 6, 2006 @ 12:28 pm
This post led me to a number of new “favourites”. Thanks for introducing me to blogs that I might not have otherwise found, petite!
Comment by Vinca — November 6, 2006 @ 1:26 pm
Yes, twas much fun, glad I got to enjoy my first drink for a month with you guys. I wish we’d been able to stay longer…. but Borat, and the Running of the Jew, called. You must go see, so disgustingly offensive!
Comment by mimi — November 6, 2006 @ 2:32 pm
Lauren and Julie are winning at the moment on my league tables due to all the singing and dancing… You girls should take notes.
Although Petite did find me marmite and potential crumpets, it’s a tough call. If Coquette’s recommendation of the Free P Star goes down too well I’ll be completely scuppered.
Comment by Hugo — November 6, 2006 @ 2:42 pm
Tadpole won’t let me near her with calomine lotion (too cold!) and the poor thing has something like 500 spots – in her mouth, her bottom, it’s just awful. I am already at my wits end, and there is a week to 10 days of no school ahead.
Don’t think this week is going to be all that productive…
Comment by petite — November 6, 2006 @ 3:53 pm
Oh, that’s awful! :( I’m sorry to hear Tadpole’s suffering from the chicken pox, but I think it is true that she’s better off having caught it now than later on…
But still, not the thing you want to hear when your little one is miserable! Sending you good thoughts…
Comment by Always Ace — November 6, 2006 @ 4:03 pm
Oooh, a free man in preston reads me. I didn’t know he was famous famous!
Must have been good fun :). Maybe I will meet you one day!
BG
Comment by Billygean — November 6, 2006 @ 4:23 pm
Can’t seem to catch a break can ya petite? First your sister and now your daughter are in dire medical straits. A bit jealous that you all got to meet. I’m slugging it out for the moment in Brooklyn New York. Although I was rather surprised by a random invitation I received to go to the Musee D’Orsay with a fellow blogger last weekend. Some day…
Comment by Sam — November 6, 2006 @ 4:46 pm
It was very lovely to meet you, Petite.
I had a wonderful time, although I think I talked at you too much. Sorry about that…
Comment by Léonie — November 6, 2006 @ 4:51 pm
Lovely to meet you too, even if briefly, and in the loo. Maybe next time (if I’m allowed out again), we can talk “properly” (which means without the enchanting sound effects of flushing lavs and hand driers). Still, Clare looked nice in her red top, didn’t she?
Comment by Non-workingmonkey — November 6, 2006 @ 5:10 pm
Oh poor Tadpole! I was very lucky that both my boys had very mild cases of chickenpox. Try bicarbonate of soda, in a tepid bath and/or mixed to a paste and put on the spots. And Primalan (?) that anti-histamine stuff you can get, can stop the itching.
Linnie
Comment by Linnie — November 6, 2006 @ 5:11 pm
I had chicken pox when I was 6 months old and scratched so bad! My mum taped gloves to my hand that I bit off at night and now I am covered in little circular scars!
Comment by Kirsty — November 6, 2006 @ 5:21 pm
Can you heat up the calamine? I have no children and this might be a huge no no in mommy world, but it would certainly make it a bit more comfortable for the feverish skin.
Chicken pox is a pox! I got it at 6 years when my parents went away and left me with the neighbors for the weekend … my mum came back with her arm in a sling and I warned her of dire consequences if she ever left me with the neighbors again. From now on, I was to be included in ALL trips or we would both be sorry … :)
Comment by dora pirate — November 6, 2006 @ 5:55 pm
Oops, from then on I was to be included in Family Trips … since I’m now 30 and married I try not to cry when they go on trips without me …
Comment by dora pirate — November 6, 2006 @ 5:57 pm
Re comment #20:
Sounds a lovely idea. Any bloggers live in Cumbria?
I was there this morning. This afternoon I’m in Cheshire and tonight I’ll be in Worcester.
Tomorrow brings West Sussex and Wednesday it will be Peterborough.
Thursday I just might go to Granada for a long weekend if I can get the time off.
But always interested in meeting if I can engineer a working visit to the chosen location.
TT.
Comment by TryingTimes — November 6, 2006 @ 6:52 pm
It was really lovely to meet you finally, even if it was brief, and our chatting rather drunken.
Still, at least we ended up in that four-way, so you can’t say we didn’t have fun.
Hope your week goes swiftly x
Comment by Girl — November 6, 2006 @ 8:48 pm
We had oatmeal baths, which were absolutely fabulous. Maybe a warm water bath will help with the lotion? Too bad Tadpole’s young enough that she won’t really appreciate the time off from school. I (along with most of the fourth grade) had mine during the winter olympics and loved getting to stay up to watch all the events I wouldn’t usually get to see. :)
Comment by emily — November 6, 2006 @ 8:56 pm
Ahem, yes, about that “four way”. I do hope no photographic evidence will find its way onto the internet.
Comment by petite — November 6, 2006 @ 9:37 pm
Hello! Sadly the combination of crap Guinness & stomach cramps meant that I kept to my comfort zone behind one of the tables with pre-known friends, rather than circulating and dazzling with sheer force of my personality, which was Plan #1. I do recall looking across at you recognising you and wanting to say hello. And then not doing so. So… respect, and all that.
Comment by Hg — November 6, 2006 @ 10:57 pm
Don’t let her scratch or she will scar.
God I hated chicken pox.
Glad you had a good time at the blogmeet. I’m slightly scared by them a little…am rubbish at names at the best of times. When people have two you can just imagine!!
Comment by nuttycow — November 6, 2006 @ 11:00 pm
Here’s to meeting you one day, Petite!
Comment by Lost in France — November 7, 2006 @ 12:20 am
Likewise. T’would be a pleasure.
Comment by petite — November 7, 2006 @ 12:22 am
Wow, I have to admit a certain amount of jealousy. There are so many people on that list I’d love to sit and have a drink with, and a few that I have already.
It’s what makes the internet so fabulous, people you already feel you know, so you don’t have to make with the small talk when you meet!
Comment by Lady Miss Marquise — November 7, 2006 @ 1:05 am
Apparently she’s not going to speak to me again after I pulled out of the blog-meet on Friday night.
I guess this means when we do finally meet, I’ll have a crash helmet ready for the inevitably swinging of handbags.
I rather famously missed another blogging friend in the Napa valley by 24 hours when it transpired we visited the same winery without either knowing the other was going to be there…
Comment by Jonathan — November 7, 2006 @ 1:20 am
The blogosphere rocks!!
Comment by Karma — November 7, 2006 @ 3:43 am
Oh dear, sorry to hear of Tadpole’s pox. When Felix came down with it, it was 2 days before my London book launch. The one I’d spent months devising a complex multimedia performance piece for…
So I’m afraid I left him with my parents. But luckily he wasn’t too bad with it – sounds like Tadpole’s got it worse.
There’s a wonderful product called Eurax which stops itching. Get hold of it if you can.
Comment by Clare — November 7, 2006 @ 9:52 am
I never meet anybody except for Tim AFMIP and he never sends me flowers any more.
I got the pox at 30. It kicked in as I drove from Yorkshire to Glasgow on my first dirty weekend with the current Mrs Backroads. Against the odds, it was me getting slathered with cream in the Gorbals.
Comment by backroads — November 7, 2006 @ 12:06 pm