Via @rtefrontline on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rtefrontline/status/9306422748

*coz Boards.ie made me change it >:)

Myself and some lovely bloggers I'm glad to have met

Sitting on the train to Graiguenamanagh last Friday evening a memory sparked and has haunted me since.

Picture this: an ordinary college girl happily embracing a course in multimedia in DCU who has lived away from home since the day after her Leaving Cert, very independent and city smart. Her timetable in the latter half of second year means her classes finish at 2pm on Wednesday afternoon. Nice! Four days of the week and time is her own. Week 1 goes by. Week 2 passes, a bit boring but we’ll have project work soon.

Week 3, Wednesday afternoon, I’m at home in my little box room facing another four-day weekend. That’s when I believe I had my first and only panic attack. I couldn’t breathe, I was hysterical. I couldn’t face the thought of another weekend pretty much by myself. Alone. Invisible to the world.

I packed a bag and quickly headed for the train station jumping on the next train home. And that’s what I did for pretty much every week for the rest of that semester. Went home, took up some part-time work for 2 days, had a day off and returned on Sunday night. It got to the stage where I started recognising others who were doing a similar or part of the same commute.

It’s a part of me that drives me nuts, that I detest. Thankfully I have improved somewhat but I still have a long way to go. I’ve got plenty of theories on why I am so and why I find it so terrifying and challenging to meet and make new friends but I also have realised that social networking has been and is fantastic for people like me.

I get annoyed when I hear people bashing social media by calling it a ‘haven for misfits and the socially awkward’ (and so on) – so what?! We’re no more awkward or odd than some of the regulars in the bar I used to work in who used to pop in for a few drinks purely for the social aspect it offered.

I’ve met and made some great friends and acquaintances through Twitter and blogging and the conversations and events that are generated by or through them. And I hope that continues into the future. Why has it been easier this way? I’m not sure if it’s the sense of anonymity, the casual and passing nature of communication online or even the ability to discover common ground and establish some kind of relationship prior to meeting? Or the feeling of being constantly ‘connected’? Or all of the above.

Whatever it is it suits this misfit.

(It's that kinda day)

Want to shape the next WordPress UI? Here’s where you need to go.

Twinnerparty is on and it’s going to be tasty.

The PhotoIreland Festival people are looking for volunteers.

Grab that Twitter username you’ve wanted all along.

Latest edition of DOCTYPE demos using the jQTouch jQuery plugin for mobile web app design.

Get voting for the Irish Blog Awards 2010. Look out Galway.

Haiti - despite the media and online coverage, we still have no concept of how awful things are in Haiti at the moment. Help out my donating to Goal online – they’re out there on the ground with The Haven Project.

Via Mashable – the UN have an opening for a Social Media Editor (Internship).

Want to see a screening of Lemonade happen in Dublin? Then stick your name in the comments. What’s it about? Here’s a shpiel:

“What do people who were once paid to be creative for a living do when they’re laid off? They get creative with their own lives. Lemonade is an inspirational film about 16 advertising professionals who lost their jobs and found their calling, encouraging people to listen to that little voice inside their head that asks, “What if?”

Tom Dunne of Newstalk and Something Happens fame is on Twitter since yesterday thanks to encouragement by Graham Linehan. Check out @tomhappens on the interpipes.

Ryan Carson is over at ThinkVitamin wondering what you would like to see in an online conference. Think CSS, Frameworks, Rails, iPhone development etc. Have your say here.

Spooky – Twitter meets speed dating

Nerdy – pay-per-click and YouTube

More nerdy – AddThis adds Google Analytics integration

Sublime – Maneater from Hall & Oates

(Potentially) ridiculous – BenDunne.com is up at last

And last night I danced like mad to Spring Break at the Windows 7 launch. Oh the fun!

Yes, Rick talking to a large whoopee cushion.

The fabulous Spring Break

I thought I’d spread the cheer so I sent it off to Twitter via Pix.ie and I got some responses tagged #viewfrommyoffice…

From @sineadcochrane

From @christianhughes

From @anthonymcg

From @Poetryireland

And last by not least, my view at dusk…

How do you get your tweet up there? Simple. Just add the hashtag #playtweet to your tweets. Here’s the live video & audio stream:

Watch live video from playhousedublin on Justin.tv

Here’s a shot of one of my favourite animations so far. Hat tips to Daft.ie, the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival and SIPTU for a really awesome piece of work.

Find out more about how it’s all put together here on the Playhouse blog and vote for your favourite animation right here.

Stephanie Francis =  If praise enchants

After I tweeted it, I got a bunch of replies with other name anagrams ranging from the awesome to the ridiculous and I thought I’d share some of them…

@christianhughes – Raunchiest highs

@gavreilly – Vanilla grey, Relying lava or Vaginal lyre

@alancostello – Atonal cellos

@Wexxie – A lone milky

@blogtackular - A margarita lash

@curlydena – A lead wanker

@EmilyAm – I’m my healer

And seeing they were so amusing/bemusing I decided to throw a few more names in…

Darragh Doyle = Or hardly aged

Danielle Huntrods (@dhuntrods) = Insulted halo nerd

Michael Anthony Francis (my dad) = Half-shy maniac or cretin

Jenni Prosser (@coloradojenn) = Porn jeers sin

Lance Armstrong = Strong clean arm

Brian Lenihan = Hen nail brain

Mary Harney = Hymen array

New York Times = The Monkey’s Write (via @tiredhack)

Caster Semenya = Necessary mate OR yes secret man (via @mark_coughlan)

Ah, the internet…

BTW

The next BTW is happening on Thursday September 3rd at the Kudos Bar @ Clarion Hotel, IFSC.

If the finger food and 2 for 1 cocktails weren’t enough to get you signed up how’s about finally getting to put a face to that blog you’ve been dipping in and out of for the past while? Or that Twitterer you’ve been having a bit of banter with – drop the @ and have a drink and a laugh face to face instead!

I’ve really enjoyed the last 2 BTW events and this next one should be wicked – hoping to push the turnout to about 150 this time so spread the word, register some friends!

Sign up here and hopefully see you on Sept 3rd.