Processing... processing....

On my morning commute, the talk radio station I usually listen to played Vertical Horizon's Everything You Want for one of their bumpers.

Every time I hear this song, it takes me back to a summer evening in 1999, driving up a dark Highway 55 in Plymouth, MN. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about that drive on that evening, but for some reason it pops into my head every time. I associate that song with warmth. I am so jonesing for spring. As inconvenient as all that rain was in Austin, I love a warm spring rain.

My mind is still buzzing from SXSW. I have further thoughts which I've been jotting down as I go through my days. I've been too tired to flesh them out just yet, but I think they need the time to simmer in the background and process in my subconscious.

Clearly the one prevailing thought is that I wish there was a way to make this stuff my day job. It fascinates me to no end. I have plans and ideas that take up more and more of my time. To the point where if I give them all the attention they need to go anywhere, I really do not have time to do anything else beyond what I'm already committed to.

I'm full up.

If there was some overlap with my day job, it wouldn't be such a big deal. The work and the hobbies would each further the other. Not the case right now. People have been asking what I did on my vacation. I try to explain what SXSW is in general and what Interactive is in particular.

But then that leads to the question of why would I go? That's a can of worms that I don't want to open at work. The IT manager is the only person that got as far as that last question, but my boss was sitting next to me when he asked it. I went so far as to say that I publish in various places on the web on a variety of topics and left it at that. Made sure to leave out that word "blog."

I like that I have a hobby that enthralls me so much (several, actually). I love that it's evolved beyond blogging into the ether for shits because I'm otherwise bored. I have goals. I have purpose. Granted, they're kind of vague right now. I know I'm not serving a higher purpose like, say, the feminist bloggers of the world. I know I have no great insights on the state of the blogosphere. But I have my niches, which I like very much, and which I expect to develop more in the near future.

I want to go to a SXSW or a BlogHer and have a little more to contribute than just showing up agog at all the people and hanging out and seeing what happens. I want to be able to take an active role. Or at least be able to actively engage in the conversations. Participate, not just observe.