If you’re going to drink a gallon of green juice before your long-awaited marketing panel, DO NOT paint yourself into a tight corner with a mob of people between you and the door to the restroom.

Even if there’s an electrical outlet right next to your chair.

So you see, there’s nothing I can do… but seek comfort from the internet.

Yesterday was a rockin’ day.

I was (delightfully) trapped in a moving vehicle with the one and only Naomi Dunford... for… wait for it…

Five hours.

Yes, I DO recognize that it shouldn’t have taken five hours to get back from Houston. But considering the situation, I could not possibly have had better company. (Except maybe someone with an iPhone. Speaking of which, I’m taking recommendations on iPhones.)

There’s something about running the gauntlet that deeply, viscerally inspires me. Three hours to Houston International, an hour or two at the scanning faces game, five hour drive home and a leisurely ramble through “lost in the middle of nowhere” to boot—another few hours at dinner and then downtown again to (pitifully) try to catch Pastries & Pasties, even though they wrapped up an hour early and we got there spot on the final “Goodnight!” That was my day. It sounds mundane and harrying—not like battling the encroaching Persians or freeing your countrymen. But it’s also strangely appealing just because it’s hard.

That’s a pretty amazing realization for a girl who’s had to work consciously to combat her own laziness!

Pushing my own boundaries has gotten addictive. Making the decision to put myself in new challenging situations gets easier every time. I look forward to it more—I relish knowing the ending. Can I make boundary-pushing even more addictive? What bigger, better thing can I do next? Getting to keep moving forward is the chocolate avocado icing on the raw nuts-dates cake. (Delicious, by the way, if you want the recipe.)

So my first day of SXSW Interactive was unorthodox, but incredibly awesome. I wouldn’t change it—not even to catch every single panel I missed because of my drive. The challenge and the company were too spectacular for me to even think of complaining. I could not have had a better day.

Okay. Maybe if we hadn’t gotten lost.

But other than that. ;}

Going to be in Austin this Saturday the 14th? Read this post!

If you’re attending SXSW Interactive and/or if you have the mad absorptive brain of a cosmos-conquering world-changing people-loving entrepreneur-o-saur, I want you to meet me for dinner!

On Saturday, we’ll be sitting down for the first ever M.M.M. (Unofficial) World Domination Summit @ SXSWi 2009! (See how credible it looks when I use caps lock!)

We’ll talk about what we’re working on and what we’re learning this weekend; we can share problems and find solutions, and just generally have an awesome hour or two connecting over yummy food and drinks. Please come with an open heart and a voracious mind!

I have five confirmed so far, so please let me know as soon as you can whether you’ll be able to make it. Our reservation isn’t set yet, but we’ll be in downtown Austin. If we meet very far from the convention center, I’ll give people rides in my back seat (or my trunk. Limited space and availability! If you don’t call dibs quickly enough, you’ll have to take a taxi). We won’t meet any further north than 16th or so—so it should all be easy breezy. Respond fast so I can count you in before I call the restaurant!

If you want to join us, tweet me or email me ASAP! I want your brilliant brain at the table, and it promises to be a blast.

Your adoring friend (and huge fan),

Megan the M.

PS. If you see this later than you’d like, get a hold of me anyway – we might have an extra spot at the table for you!

Two years ago I attended SXSW Interactive for the very first time, and I liveblogged the hell out of it. I had a great time, met some nifty people, but at the same time, I was by myself most of the convention. I didn’t know anyone else who’d be interested—or rather, anybody who was interested and attending.

So I got myself on the bus every morning and hauled my laptop downtown for the day, typed like a madwoman, learned a ton of awesome things, and generally had a lovely (and very hardcore) time.

THIS YEAR, I get convention buddies! Not only is Marty joining me at SXSW this year (oh man, I cannot tell you in how many ways THAT promises to be interesting), but Pace and Kyeli, the really-truly mavens of awesome communication, will be there too—and I have a ton of people I want to meet and/or connect with, like Chris Allison, for instance, who was one of my fellow final interviewees for Seth’s Alternative MBA program in New York, and Naomi Dunford, who is queen of small business fu in far more ways than I can enumerate to you in a single blog post, and Violet Blue, who has long been my favorite sexuality expert and righteous porn blogger, and Havi Brooks, who I missed in Austin before (curse you, birthday!) but don’t intend to miss meeting again. Not to mention a slew of others who I’ve been in touch with, or have no idea who I am, etc. ;}

All in all, I suspect we’ll have a grand time… so if you’re going to be in town, tweet me @worldmegan or call me (512-364-0045) or email me, or just walk up and say hi. Really!

And yeah… I’ll probably be liveblogging. A little. (Brace yourself!) ;}

What are YOU doing this weekend?