Diary #315

So much has happened since the last Desiree Alliance conference three years ago!  Besides returning to full-time work and becoming much better known than I was then, I’ve become very close indeed to a number of the people I first met in person at that conference (take a look at that last link for some names you’ll recognize).  So this will be a very different experience for me than the last one; then, I was just beginning to come into my own as an activist, and nervous about being far from home.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect, and though I hid it well I was very deeply in pain about the dissolution of my marriage (when Matt left me at the conference hotel in Las Vegas, it was to be the last time I’d see him for almost a year, and the third-to-last time I’d see him while we were still technically married).  But this time, I’m going home to New Orleans, accompanied by a number of my friends; I’ll be meeting many people I know online, and I won’t be surprised by being treated like a celebrity.  Grace will be there too, and I’m making time to visit some old friends.  Maybe I’ll even make some new friends, too, though this time I will definitely not be open to any new romantic attachments.  So all in all, I think it’s going to be a blast; I’ll tell you all about it next week!