(Yes, you must endure me talking about the White House for at least a few more days so I can buy myself more time in typing up these notes.)

Last Friday, after I got everything set up for the White House visit, I took the kids out sledding.  As the Wolvog was about to go down the hill, he paused and said, “are you going to ask the President if he takes his kids to school?”

I got confused for a moment because I happen to know the middle school principal at the school that the Obama girls attend, and I thought he was referring to that degree of separation between ourselves and the First Family.  I couldn’t comprehend how he even knew about my connection to that principal, especially because it has been a few years since we last emailed together.  The last time we saw each other, I was still pregnant with the twins, so they certainly hadn’t met her either.

“Why would I ask that?” I finally questioned.

“Because that’s his only rule.  He takes his kids to school.  And keeps it cool.”

Guess Fred Armisen makes a very convincing President Obama to a six-year-old.

*******

The Weekly What If: What if you had to be trapped in an elevator for hours (in a precarious, nerve-wracking situation) with a celebrity or public figure.  Who would you choose and why?

*******

The Grateful Said will go up this weekend.  And I’m still finishing getting Creme posts onto the list.  Things keep getting thrown off by all of our snow storms.

*******

And now, the blogs…

I Won’t Fear Love is back with a post about missing a space and missing a person.  About having the calendar turn again and finding yourself facing an anniversary.  But it is the last line that almost killed me: “Four years ago I was still just a pregnant woman.”  Go read the whole post.

Riding the IVF Roller Coaster has a post about being initiated into the fertile club.  She explains how out-of-sorts she feels discussing pregnancy: “I’m not one of them.  I felt so uncomfortable.  I felt on the spot.  It felt so strange to hear these people being so relaxed and almost flippant about procreation. ”  She muses on the people feeling as if they all have something in common when she feels so different from them.

Diary of a Man Infertile Woman has a gorgeous post which brings together a story about trying to get better in gym class with her latest ultrasound which revealed cysts that are benching her this cycle.  It is about fighting a new nemesis that feels very much like your old nemesis.

Lastly, Fierce and Nerdy has a post announcing her pregnancy following IVF that she tries to write three different ways, and finally realizes that all she has to say is an expression of her happiness.  Though, she does a damn fine job also describing the uselessness of worrying.

The roundup to the Roundup: President Obama is still keeping it cool.  Answer the Weekly What If (I’m leaning towards Stephen Colbert — I think he’d be entertaining while trapped and probably deflect the anxiety with humour).  The Grateful Said will go up this weekend.  And lots of great posts to read.

Yes, it is unbelievably shallow of me to first give you this — the stories behind the day — and then give you the actual meat of what I learned while I was there, but, come on, don’t we all pick up People magazine at the doctor’s office before we pick up the Time magazine?  Aren’t you shallow, flighty things like me?

No?

Well, pretend you’re a shallow, flighty thing like me for the day, and I promise that I’m working on typing up the brilliant things I heard.

Last Thursday night into Friday morning, BlogHer asked if I could attend the Women’s Online Summit at the White House.  Why yes, I could drop editing a manuscript for the day and go hang out with brilliant people.  I knew we’d be covering topics as broad as the economy to health care, all from a women’s perspective.  Which I feared would mean the “pinking down” of information.

What do I mean by “pinking down” information — you know how tool companies put out inferior tools with a pink handle on it because they think women want pretty pink things while they repair their house?  Well, I don’t want the pink version — I want the hardcore metal tools that are going to get the job done because I am serious as all get-out about home repair.  Yes, I’m a woman, but I don’t need my tools to look pretty — I only need them to get the job done.

Which is different from tools that are made with my small hands in mind, that know that my body is built differently from a man and my strength is in my legs rather than my arms.  Tailoring a tool to a person is not the same as pinking it down.

So I was fearful that a Women’s Online Summit could be the pinking down of information, but happily realized within seconds of the day beginning that not only was the information not pinked down, but that the inclusion of the word “women” was merely a lens with which to view the same information that would be presented at any Online Summit.  Major accolades to the White House for starting these conversations with various groups, answering questions, and asking for feedback and ideas for helping disseminate information to the American people.  And what I learned transcended America because the ideology is applicable across the world when looking at women’s place in society.

But I digress from the shallow, flighty portion of this post.

So, over the weekend, I couldn’t say anything beforehand, so I was all casual with rearranging things for Monday, telling people that I had this “thing” I had to be at.  But in my head I was screaming, “That thing is the hite-way ouse-hay!” (I said it in Pig Latin because that’s in code and therefore, I wasn’t actually mentally telling them.)  Because, come on, it’s amazingly cool to get to go to the White House.  If life were a big game of Monopoly, I have already gotten one of those green properties for speaking at the Congressional briefing last year.  Going to the White House would be like acquiring another green property. (I’m not sure what the third green property would be … hanging out with SCOTUS?)  I felt a little out-of-my-body all weekend.

Josh and I devised this bat-shit-insane driving/parking plan that would enable us to drive home together out of the city.  So I started driving into the city, pausing to pee at a Shell station (the man almost said no, but he could see the desperation in my eyes), and I was nearing Walter Reed when traffic slowed to a crawl.  I was watching the clock, watching the seconds ticking closer to 8:45 am when I had to be at the White House gate or miss out on the optional tour.  I was not going to miss the optional tour.  I willed the other people to drive, drive, will you please just driiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive.  I cannot tell you how painful it is to be stuck on Meridian Hill, seeing the Washington Monument before you, and knowing that you cannot get through the wall of cars to your destination.

I was playing Green Day, which wasn’t helping (especially when the CD ended and “American Idiot” restarted, and I realized that I had gone through the entire CD while I sat in traffic), so I turned it off and did this rocking back and forth motion in the seat as my car inched ahead as if this was going to make the sea of cars part.  I finally parked the car at 8:45 am up in Dupont and called my contact at the White House who told me that I had 10 minutes to get there.

So I tried to get a cab.  The first one pulled over to tell me that he was off-duty.  WHY THE HELL DID YOU PULL OVER THEN?  It was easier to get a cab going in the wrong direction, so I hailed another one, apologized to the driver for the fact that we were going the wrong way, and begged him to get me there in time.  He told me it wasn’t possible.  I told him that I needed him to make it possible.  And like a moment out of a movie set, Khan made it possible.  The man defensively drove through the city, depositing me at the gate in exactly 10 minutes, earning double the cab fare for himself.  Worth every single penny because the group started moving the moment I shut the cab door.

We went through security and entered the East Wing of the White House.  Because we were running late, we got to keep our coats and bags with us.  It was Monday — normally a tour-free day in the White House — so it was quiet and empty of other groups.  Right when the tour began, Bo, bounced by with the grounds keeper.

We walked through the East Wing and got to see the ballroom and the library and the Vermeil room.  It was emotional to walk through the red room and touch the silk on the walls of the green room.

I got teary looking at some of the art — it is all so familiar to you if you grew up in America — and here it was, right in front of me rather than in a book.  It is mind-blowing to think about the history of the space.

After the tour, we walked over to the Executive Office Building for the actual meeting.  There were 25 of us there from various sites.  I can’t really go through the speaker list since our information needs to be unattributed, but we were briefed on the issues by an incredible group of people.  I’ll go through all of that in a later post because there is so much to chew over in the 14 pages of notes I took.  I’m obviously a major supporter of this administration, so it’s not surprising that I was happy to hear about the policy work.  But even if you aren’t a major supporter of this administration, I think it’s important to hear how they are thinking about women within the big picture.  I think they need to be applauded for that even if you don’t agree with the way policy plays out.

So, I’m listening to someone brief us on education issues (who looked and sounded so much like my friend’s husband that I was getting a little doppelgangered out by it), when the door next to me opened and the President walked in.  My body reacted involuntarily by half-standing and gasping loudly.  I plopped down in my seat and the President made a mock gasp back at me and we all laughed.  I half-stood again, plopped down in my chair, finally stood up all the way, and he told us to be seated.

And then he spoke — brilliantly — for a few minutes.  And I was trying to stay in the moment, but it’s sort of like looking at the sun.  My heart was pounding so loudly that it was placing a thump over every few words.  Finally, he wrapped up and said, “I’d like to go around the room and meet all of you.”  He shook my hand first, staring straight into my eyes, and you realized exactly why he’s the President.  Because the rest of the room melts away and he makes you feel as if you are the only person in there.  He’s charismatic and funny and low-key.  He makes you feel so comfortable and so safe.  When he said, “nice to meet you, Melissa Ford,” I could literally hear a Greek chorus of all my ancestors performing an ethereal melisma.

The President left the room and we all were giddy.  When we took a break, I seriously considered not peeing so I wouldn’t have to wash my hands (but memories of catheters past drove me to the stall).  But we got back down to business and finished the briefings and discussions.  I seriously cannot tell you how much I wish every American could have been there to hear the information.  I left the building at 5:15 pm with my brain buzzing, my mind full; already digesting the 3000 ideas that were popping around.  For the first time in a long time, I felt smart.

I got in another cab, happy to see that it was driven by a woman, and she asked me how I was and I screamed, “I just met the President!”  I mean, Khan was great to drive like a maniac through the city and deposit me on time.  But after a really great day, you want a woman to unwind with and talk.  As we drove back to Dupont, she told me in her beautiful Eritrean accent about seeing the First Lady right when they got here.

And that was possibly the theme of the day — we are all just people, moving over the surface of the earth, trying not to negatively affect others, trying to do well for ourselves.  And we come together in these strange formations — cab driver and passenger, President and writer — townspeople meeting and then parting, bearing witness to each other’s moments.

Back in 2008, I wrote about how the twins and I all voted for Obama.  I held them up so they could press the button, and then we erased it and the next one went, and I cast the final vote.  I wanted to give them that experience of being part of that moment.  And that’s what I thought about when I tucked the Wolvog into bed the night before I went to the summit.  He cuddled under his blanket and gave this little smile while he said, “have fun at the White House tomorrow, Mommy!”  And it blew my mind — the bridging of that moment from then to now.  As I shook the President’s hand, I could visualize my hand pushing that button.  And now he’s here in front of me.  And what an amazing world we live in where moments like this happen.

President Barack Obama drops by the Women’s Online Summit in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Jan. 31, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

That’s the door he walked through on the far left of the photo, and I’m sitting in the first seat on the far left.  I cannot be blamed for gasps.

Actual write-up of the briefings and a possible cool opportunity for you (yes, you!) coming soon.

Seriously, I live it and I can’t believe how my life goes sometimes.

A longer post will follow tomorrow after I get a moment to breathe and untangle my thoughts (plus I have over 100 photos).  Last Friday (as in 4 days ago), I found out that I was going to the White House for an online summit with 25 other bloggers, editors, and site managers.  I was there representing BlogHer. (Thank you, BlogHer!)

For those curious about how I comported myself when I met the President, I embarrassed myself as I do in front of all famous people.  But the story of the day will have to wait because life just became insanely busy for the day and we’re out of yogurt so I have to do the organic-food-store run.  The Grateful Said will go up next Sunday.

But seriously, it was one of the most amazing, thought-provoking, awe-inspiring days of my life, and I walked away with my mind racing  at the rate of 3000 ideas per minute.

I still can’t believe I was there.  Story to come soon…

Welcome back to IComLeavWe. It stands for International Comment Leaving Week, but if you say it aloud, doesn’t it sounds like “I come; [but] leave [as a] we”? And that’s sort of the point. Blogging is a conversation and comments should be honoured and encouraged. I like to say that comments are the new hug–a way of saying hello, giving comfort, leaving congratulations.

Here is the vital information, pure and simple (a more detailed set of rules follows below the list):

• The list opens the 1st of every month. It remains open until the 21st. You can add yourself at any point. The list is open to everyone in the blogosphere–blog writers and/or blog readers.
• Add yourself to the list by filling out this form: the February list is now closed.  The March one will open on 3/1.
• Click here to cut-and-paste this bit of code to add to your sidebar (if you have the old code from another month, remove it and replace it with this one). You need to add the icon or a link to the current list on your blog (see below) and will not be added until it’s up.
• Commenting kicks off every month on the 21st. Please mark it somewhere (calendar, post-it note taped to your computer…), though I will be sending out an email reminder on the 20th. Commenting week runs from the 21st to the 28th. Every day, leave 5 comments and return 1 comment for a total of 6 comments. You are highly encouraged to choose the blogs you comment on from the participants list below, but this is not required.
• I will send a second email on the 28th to remind you to remove the icon from your blog.
• Read below if you want to find out about Iron Commenters.
• The commenting ends on the 28th. We catch our breath and the whole thing starts again the next month on the 1st. Drop in and out according to what is happening in your life between the 21st and the 28th.

1. Stirrup Queens (twins, books, writing)
2. Mama T’s Madcap Misadventures in Life and Babymaking (a.r.t., foster parenting, sass)
3. Riding the IVF Roller Coaster (pregnancy after loss)
4. Life in the Waiting Womb (embryos, choice, creating joy and meaning in life)
5. Yolk: a blog about eggs and sperm (TTC, infertility, humour)
6. Bio Girl (parenting, infertility, FET for baby #2)
7. Aisha Iqbal (parenting, motherhood, life)
8. Hobbit-ish Thoughts & Ramblings (parenting after losses, books, cooking)
9. One Wheeler’s World (life, love, parenting after if)
10. Searching for the Missing Piece (adoption, life, infertility)
11. Ambivalent Womb (MFI, multiple loss)
12. Hope Springs Eternal (MFI, photos, infertility)
13. Production, Not Reproduction (transracial open adoption)
14. The 2 Week Wait (ttc ivf humor)
15. Diary of a Mad Infertile Woman (infertility, gonadotropin injections, new to infertility)
16. The Bushey Life (pregnancy after IF)
17. Lifeslurper (donor eggs, IVF, over 40)
18. Mac and PC (anovulatory, IVF #1, acupuncture)
19. Dragondreamer’s Lair (parenting, secondary infertility, crafts)
20. Musings of a Hormonal Egg Basket (pregnancy after IVF)
21. Life with Endo and PCOS (endo, pcos, trying again)
22. My Dusty Uterus (miscarriage pregnancy hope)
23. Baby On Mind (TTC#1, IVF, unexplained)
24. Becoming Me (pregnancy, nerves, randomness)
25. A Field of Dreams (parenting, life, weightloss)
26. In Due Time (life, infertility, pcos)
27. My Cheap Violin (single, ttc, happiness)
28. Flogging the Muse (art, painting, creativity)
29. This non-American Life (travel, expat life, Europe)
30. Waiting for our miracle (adoption, healing, coaching)
31. As Good As It Gets (parenting after infertility)
32. Where’s Our Stork? (infertility, pcos, MFI)
33. Wistfulgirl’s World (life, weight loss, ttc)
34. CD1 Again (infertility, taking a break)
35. Uncommon Nonsense (infertility, pcos, hypothyroidism)
36. Empty Hole (MFI, microTESE, IVF)
37. Mommy Odyssey (miscarriage, healing, humor)
38. I Can’t Control Everything (ivf, ttc #1, rpl)
39. Maternal Hope (IVF, ttc#1, faith)
40. Someday (IVF, azoos, love)
41. A PGD Blog (IVF, PGD, disability)
42. Enchilada Sunrise (fibrecrafts, bipolar, life)
43. Cooked Heads (such sweet silliness)
44. Try, Try Again (infant loss, infertility, IVF)
45. Bodega Bliss (miscarriage, loss, grief)
46. Garden Variety Mama (cooking, healthy food, parenting)
47. As Fast As My Baby Can (infertility, ivf, unexplained)
48. Cloudy With A Chance of Hope (pregnancy after multiple losses, grief, infertility)
49. Surviving the Secondary Infertility Madness (pcos, infertility, PAL)
50. The Deep Silence of a Long-Suffering Heart (secondary infertility, male factor, IVF)
51. Just Us…For Now (infertility, IVF, miscarriage)
52. Baby Dreams (pregnant with #2 after IF/recurrent miscarriage, my son, life)
53. Chasing Mommyhood (foster-adoption, single, ttc)
54. Holy Crap! You can’t talk about miscarriage (TTC, secondary infertility, random)
55. The Road Less Traveled (pregnancy after loss)
56. for all the things we hope for (infertility, miscarriage, nursing school)
57. Adventures in Name Changing (marriage, infertility, evolving)
58. Run Amok Amok (marriage life infertility)
59. My Cheap Version of Therapy (iui, weight loss, unemployment)
60. One Day at a Time (life, infertility, hypothyroidism)
61. Inspired Ima (triplets, jewish, knitting)
62. Colours Of Cattiz (male infertility, ttc, ivf)
63. A Fine Mess (TTC, miscarriage, infertility)
64. Our Search for Hope (adoption, everyday life, infertility)
65. Mission: Fertile Soul (fertility, living presently, humor)
66. Life in the Last Frontier (open adoption, parenthood, alaska)
67. Stumbling Gracefully (motherhood (after loss), photography, thoughts on mindfulness and loving kindness)
68. On Tap for Today (life, humor, boston)
69. NOT so Fertile Mertile (domestic adoption, endometreosis)
70. The Pursuit of Pregnancy (IVF, recurrent losses, DOR)
71. Snarky Momma (family, moving, Durham)
72. A little blog about the big infertility (embryo adoption, loss, IF acceptance)
73. Blawnde’s Blawg (new beginnings, infertility, support)
74. The Miss Ruby (living childfree notbychoice)
75. trying to conceive (IVF, support, ICSI)
76. The Conceivable Future (RPL, infertility, life)
77. I’m Very Far Away (infertility, IVF, expat)
78. Our Miracle In The Making..A Great Joy Is Coming (recurrent loss due to immune issue, IF treatments, pregnancy)
79. One Day…One Pound…and One Cycle at A Time (cycling, infertility, weight)
80. Motherhood Meets Me (adoption motherhood after infertility)
81. Time Well Wasted (infertility, possible IVF, life)
82. We Have Angel Wings (infertility, balanced translocation, pregnancy)
83. An Unexpected Life (adoption, parenting, infertility)
84. Country Mouse & City Mouse (food, cooking, kids)
85. The Rocky Road to Motherhood (pregnancy, infertility, life)
86. Life Without Baby (CNBC, infertility, living)
87. Whole Heartedly (pregnancy ivf PhD)
88. It’s Definitely Possible (IUI, SMC, 2ww)
89. Diary of taking small steps toward baby steps (pcos, ttc, ivf)
90. I’m Just Ducky, Thanks (unexplained, IVF, depression)
91. Exploring Chaos (ttc #2, parenting, life)
92. Keeping my eyes on Jesus (IVF, faith, miscarriage)
93. Having Kids Sounds Simple Enough (ivf w/pgd, loss, parenting after loss)
94. The Inadequate Conception (infertility, humor, new book)
95. Babies, Balanced Translocations, and Being in My 30’s (infertility, miscarriage, IUI)
96. Infertile Follies (IVF, ectopic pregnancy, infertility)
97. Storm in My Teacup (FET, greyhound, VWbus)
98. The Infertility Therapist (psychological aspects of infertility)
99. Baby Bump Wanted (BFP baby #1)
100. The Journey to Baby G (IUI, miscarriage, humor)
101. A Woman My Age (adoption, infertility, parenting after 40)
102. The Chronicles of Violetta Margarita (unexplained infertility, life, humor)
103. 2’s Company. 3’s a Family (infertility, combined factors, TTC)
104. The Eternal Guestroom (infertility, polyps, IVF)
105. The Advo.cat (ttc after miscarriage)
106. Eggcetera (adoption, family, infertility)
107. Failed Genetics (adoption, family, marriage)
108. I Want to be a Daddy (male infertility experience)
109. A Peek into our Journey (PCOS, waiting, loss)
110. Holly’s Narrative Dream (fertility, family, life)
111. His & Her Infertility (PCOS, azoo, international adoption)
112. It Is Tuesday, Right?? (motherhood, pregnancy, IVF)
113. Sarah’s Life (infertility, adoption, PCOS)
114. The Graphic Haibuneer (haibun, haiga, haiku)
115. Booferd (loss of child, adoption, grief)
116. Weathering the Storm (life, infertility, trying)
117. Our Fertility Journey (infertility, family, miscarriages)
118. Full Circle (foster, adoption, adoptee)
119. Inconceivable! (infertility, family, step-parenting)
120. The Journey to Baby Belgard (IVF, unexplained infertility, life)
121. Feeling Beachie (life, humor, family)
122. Project Baby (male factor infertility, iui, my story)
123. Adopt to Change (adoption, waiting, family)
124. Happily Ever After (twins family infertility)
125. infertile myrtle (endometriosis, ttc #2, ppd)
126. Our Little Family’s Journey (ivf #3, ttc #2, life)
127. Whitney & Erick – Our Home on the Web (RPL, IVF, confused)
128. Almost All The Truth (green, parenting, change)
129. Pontifications of a Twin Mom (twins, stories, celebrating life)
130. Because Of Match – Trying to make a baby via IVF FET (PCOS, FET, pregnancy)
131. Creating a Family (infertility, adoption, adoptive parenting)
132. A Greater Yes (embryo adoption, parenting, infertility)
133. Your Great Life (fertility awareness, infertility support, fertility coaching)
134. Songs For My Unborn Children (infertility, poems, life)
135. Joyous Birdie (IVF, twins, older mother, pregnant)
136. Infertility in China (ttc, ivf, iui)
137. A Little Bit of Life (preemie baby, infertility, marriage)
138. Twinside Out (twins after ivf)
139. Plans Change (adoption, pregnancy, parenting)
140. Knocked up by Another Man (DE-IVF, parenting, alaska)
141. Never Giving Up Hope (loss of triplets, pcos, ttc again)
142. Our New Plan A (ivf #5, dor, 2ww or what now?)
143. MissConception (pcos, infertility, IUI)
144. Sheepishly Ambitious (knitting, doulaing, crafting)
145. Mommy In Waiting (ivf#3, mfi, ttc)
146. The Barreness’s Blog (parenting after infertility)
147. Infertility Unexplained (unexplained infertility, iui, infertility news)
148. Meant to Be (formerly Our New Normal) (adoption, cancer survivor, learning to heal)
149. AYear On… Our New Beginning (Hopefully) (infertility stillbirth mother)
150. Grafting a Branch onto the Family Tree (traditional surrogacy, ip)
151. Our Life Journey (infertility, pregnancy loss, faith)
152. Stolen Fertility (infertility, IUI, thoughts)
153. Sunshine on Jupiter (iui, miscarriage, pcos)
154. Walking An Unknown Path (infertility, ivf, therapy)
155. The Barreness (infertility, dreams, irony)
156. Not a Fertile Myrtle (male factor, donor IUI, life)
157. Four of a Kind (parenting, secondary infertility, loss)
158. OnTheLanai (infertility, life, love)
159. Getting There (adoption, waiting, life)
160. The C’s Baby Dance (IF break, insurance changes, adoption?)
161. Chasing Our Stork: Our Journey with Infertility (infertility, iui, ivf )
162. The R House (adoption infertility hope)
163. Infertility Overachievers (IVF, 2WW, son)
164. A Virtual Hobby Store and Coffee Shop (food, news, prayer)
165. It Is What It Is (Or Is It?) (adoption, infertility, life)
166. Find Joy Now (joy, parenting, life)
167. That’s My Answer (question of the day, fun, life)
168. Wishing For The Gift of Life (ivf, ccrm, family)
169. Heeeeere Storkey, Storkey! (twins, life, pregnancy)
170. Circus Children (miracle, pregnancy, birth?)
171. Compromised Fertility (infertility, treatments, feelings)
172. Bakery Closed Until Further Notice (miscarriage, relationships, non-ttc)
173. ReeWrite (pregnancy, motherhood, animals)
174. The Ladies in Waiting Book Club (books, infertility, support)
175. Just Us Two (infertility, marriage, de-stressing)
176. The Diary of My Fertility Roller Coaster (fertility, babies, life)
177. Metholic (infertility, foster care, humor)
178. My Dusty Uterus (humor, stubborn eggs)
179. the February list is now closed.  The March one will open on 3/1

Q: What if I miss a day?

A: Catch up the next day by doubling your comments–12 comments instead of 6.

Q: What if I have two blogs? Can I sign up twice, listing both blogs?

A: Yes, but you also need to double your comments. If you have two blogs listed, you should be leaving 12 comments per day.

Q: What is an Iron Commenter?

A: Not for the faint-of-heart. People who wish to be an Iron Commenter and be entered on the Iron Commenter honour roll need to leave a comment on every blog on the participants list (exceptions are blogs that require you to have a special log-in, such as some LiveJournal accounts or other similar situations). You can spread out this commenting any way you wish over the whole week, but the final comment needs to be left by midnight on the 28th (EST). Reaching Iron Commenter status is done on an honour system. Please email me if you earn Iron Commenter status so I can add you to the wall of honour.

Q: Why do I have to add that bit of code to my sidebar?

A: The code is the latest icon (the icon changes colour every month so you know that you’re on the right list). This month, the icon is violet, the next month it will be green, etc. The reason is two-fold: (1) it enables more people to find out about IComLeavWe and (2) it gives you easy access to the current list once the commenting week actually begins and better ensures that you’ll use it. Too many times, people sign up and forget to actually do IComLeavWe and this icon gives you a daily reminder (with the dates on it) every time you open your own blog. The icon is linked back to the current list. On the 28th, remove the icon from your blog. A new one will be created for the next month.

Q: It’s the 23rd and I just saw this for the first time on my friend’s blog! I want to join the list–why can’t I?

A: Because IComLeavWe happens every month, once the list is closed, it’s closed. If you’re finding out about this on the 23rd, you can’t join the current month. But leave yourself a note to check back in a week on the 1st and you can sign up for the next month.

Q: You said the list closes on the 21st. Well, it’s still the 21st where I am. Why aren’t you moving my information onto the list?

A: All dates and times are U.S. Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours). The list closes around 11 p.m. EST on the 21st.

Q: What if no one comments on my blog and I have no comments to return?

A: Well, that really doesn’t happen for the most part, but in that case, simply choose another blog and add an additional comment. The goal is to hit 6 comments daily as a minimum. Going over that is fantastic and encouraged.

Q: Mel, my question wasn’t covered at all. What do I do?

A: Email me; I’m quite friendly. It helps to place “IComLeavWe” in the subject line. You could also check this post which contains the history of IComLeavWe and see if you can glean anything there.

Looking for the comment section? It has been closed on this post. Use the form in the directions to add yourself to the list.

Updated at the bottom…

I had intended to get just one ring tone, but all of you convinced me that I needed multiple ring tones.  This has become a thing of beauty because I don’t answer the phone if I’m driving, and now I can tell by the song that is playing who is calling the phone.  Not that my phone has rung even once since getting them.

So, without further ado, the winners of the 2011 Ring Tone Extravaganza (from the dark horses who didn’t even show up in the first round of picks to the winners that were already contenders).

“Cannonball” by The Breeders

Since I plan on becoming the next Kelley Deal sans the actual performance experience or cool, swingy hair, I thought it made a good pick.  I assigned it to everyone in my family mostly on account of my brother and an old  The State sketch (remember that show from MTV) where Michael Ian Black isn’t wearing any pants and needs to buy a pair.  And as he swings around with the store employee, mouthing “I love pants!”, this song by The Breeders plays in the background.  And because of that, all of them need to suffer under this song.

[audio:https://www.stirrup-queens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Cannonball-The-Breeders.mp3]

“Speed Racer Theme Song” by … Who Knows (no, really, I have no clue who sings this)

During one year of college, I needed to hear this theme song every night before bed or I couldn’t sleep.  It was like the audible version of sucking my thumb.  I was very stressed that year, so I would like to hold that up as an excuse for my behaviour.  One night, I thought my roommate had erased my tape by accident and I completely lost my shit despite the fact that the show aired every night at 11 pm and I could tape it again.  This song plays when anything related to the kids call such as the doctor or school.

[audio:https://www.stirrup-queens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Speed-Racer-The-Original-TV-Theme-Song-Vintage.mp3]

“Queen Bitch” by David Bowie

I feel like this song would have been best on Josh’s phone for when I call him, since it is a song associated with me, but since he wouldn’t do it, I took it and assigned it to my friend, Julie.  Mostly because, in her heart, she is “an old-time ambassador / Of sweet talking, night walking games / And she’s known in the darkest clubs / For pushing ahead of the dames.”

[audio:https://www.stirrup-queens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/David-Bowie_-Queen-Bitch.mp3]

“Pets” by Porno for Pyros

We always tell the kids that one day there will be a robot apocalypse.  They should be kind to machines because they’ll have deep regrets about how they treated the computer after the revolution when the iPads are ruling all of us.  That will be the day when we will become the pets of the computers.  Or the martians.  Either/or.

[audio:https://www.stirrup-queens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Porno-For-Pyros-Pets.mp3]

“Know Your Enemy” by Green Day

This has become my general ring tone for anyone who is not already in the contact list on the phone or who doesn’t have their own special ring tone.  Most of these people are not enemies, though one day, in the not too distant future, the 2012 election will gear up and the phone solicitors will call, and then yes, I will know the enemy because it will be the person calling to tell me about a candidate.

[audio:https://www.stirrup-queens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Green-Day-Know-Your-Enemy-Official-V.mp3]

“The Mesopotamians” by They Might Be Giants

This is the song that plays whenever Josh calls me from his phone or his office. I like to think that if Josh ever encountered Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh that they would invite him into their band. Josh sort of has that slacker band vibe to him. It is one of his most endearing qualities.

[audio:https://www.stirrup-queens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/13-The-Mesopotamians.mp3]

So that is what is currently playing on my phone.

Update:

I didn’t know about ring back tones until Manymanymoon’s comment below.  Maybe it reveals how few phone calls I make, but I’ve never experienced this before where a song starts playing for me while it’s ringing and I’m waiting for them to pick up.  I want to make this happen.  Then I want to make all of you call me and experience it.  So what is going to be my ring back tone?  What song would you expect to hear playing if you called me?