Made great time driving back to LA but only have a few hours before a birthday dinner for my close friend, Michael, at The Abbey. I'm afraid to take a nap because I might not wake up until tomorrow morning.
The National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Assn. conference in San Diego was a keeper. Last night, when Kenneth Walsh, Johnny Diaz and I (Los Tres Blogeros) had a group hug before we went our seperate ways. Johnny remarked that it felt like the last day of summer camp. I miss them already.
And I 'll miss just being around so many smart, informed and opinionated people as are so many of the people involved in this organization. In addition to the various organized panel discussions and lunches, there were so many group discussions over drinks or coffee that were so far-ranging and passionate. Last night, I ended up in the hotel bar with a big group of guys that included Orange County Blade editor Thomas Soule, KCBS anchor/reporter Juan Fernandez, and conservative blogger Daniel Blatt, among others. It was like an episode of "Hardball" with some of us aggressively challenging Dan's views and all of us, I think, learning from each other.
Then this morning, we were served a breakfast of cold pizza (don't knock it, it really was good!} as NLGJA head Eric Hegedus interviewed a reporter from the Idaho Statesman about the Sen. Larry Craig story.
It was so relevant because so many of us talked about it amongst ourselves and it was brought up during many panels. The timing could not have been better because it spurred so much discussion about closeted elected officials, outing, the Republican party and the Democratic party, the double-standard that exists between a straight sex scandal and a gay sex scandal, how news organizations handled this particular story, and how we feel about sex in public restrooms and the men who engage in that kind of lewd behavior. None of us are angels, I'm sure, but we are openly gay people who live our lives out loud. There is no reason for us have to have sex in public toilets. But someone like Larry Craig only re-inforces old stereotypes.
Anyway, I will be posting more items about the NLGJA conference tomorrow. I met some authors and other interesting folks and want to talk about their work. Johnny read from his book "Boston Boys Club" yesterday during an author's session and was a bit of a rock star after that with all kinds of people buying the book and coming up to him at the Silent Auction party. Johnny spent five years at the Miami Herald as a reporter and has now been at the Boston Globe for five years. But he doesn't look much different from 11 years ago when he was featured on the Miami season of MTV's "The Real World" because he was dating cast member Dan Renzi.
Reality show fame can last a lifetime it seems, but Johnny has done so much since then and, I'm sure, will do a lot more in the future. He is making an impact in the REAL world.I should have pictures for you tomorrow of Los Tres Blogeros and others I met at this convention.
It was, a blast.
My only complaints are about the hotel itself, the Westin-Horton Plaza, which you would expect to be first class. It was not. The elevators were so slow that there was constant bottleneck and the stairs were so convoluted that you had to go across a patio and find another staircase just to get from the second floor to the fourth floor.
It was, a nightmare.
As was the un-air conditioned career fair was so far off the beaten path that I did not find it until the third day. So, I would not recommend this hotel for a convention or a vacation until they get their act together and stop charging first-class prices for fourth-class facilites. That said, the staff was first-rate and made it bearable, except for the reservation lady who screwed up my dates two different ways and refused to give me the original price quotes by a front desk clerk. I still have a memo to write to her boss.
The bitch is back!