Daydreaming

I am officially allowing myself to start daydreaming about TED. Part of me still doesn’t want to say out loud that I’m going, lest the plane should fail on the way to CA and I die before getting there. But now, I’ll take that risk, I’ll be brave and consider a future with me in it—a TED that I get to go to. I’m going to Palm Springs.

And I’m freaking out.

Groucho Marx said he wouldn’t want to belong to any organization that would have him as a member, and I fear a little that the awe of TED will dull slightly to me now that I’m going.

Nah. If you see the machine up close is it fabulously demystified or the magic of it intensified? I kept picturing people with microscopes. They got down to molecules to atoms to sub-atomic particles and haven’t stopped being fascinated.

TED@PalmSprings has been twittering for a while about acquiring a new skill before the conference (you have 74 days to learn a new skill! 50 days! 31 days!). My colleagues who are going to TED in Long Beach have not been instructed to learn a new trick but I’m up for it. I think.

I wasn’t sure what I want to learn to do. The Times gave me a little mind-fuck the other morning with my coffee about procrastination issues. It seems I’m “self-handicapping” by not getting started on developing my new skill yet so that I’ll either be awesome (for someone who really didn’t try) or be not-so-good (but that’s okay because I didn’t try.)

I could perhaps develop a special neurosis of some kind by TED –an issue about not learning an amazing new skill by February. Would that count as a skill? Because I bet I’d be really good at it.

I bought an Irish penny whistle (key of D) and practiced in earnest last night. Fun. Harder than I had guessed. I forgot that in addition to the excitement of learning something new, there’s also an inherent requisite humility. I sucked.

I’ll be blogging from TED while I soak up the experience. Between now and then will delve into thoughts on speakers and gearing up in general for the next month. Like I need any gearing up. I’m already psyched.