The Road to SteemFest, and how "SF" makes me sad and happy at the same time

Every time I read about SteemFest, and past events where Steemians get together, I want to be there so bad.

Folks enjoying each other so much they are staying up all night talking to each other because every moment together is so precious...

All the beautiful photos of all kinds of people from all kinds of places, smiling in beautiful “ussie” shots …

All the great stories of people in new states, new countries, new cities to them, and their adventures in trying to get where they are going and find each other, trying to find all these people that they love although they have never yet met in person...

This is the kind of community you can only get when people are building something of great value and meaning together, something that all kinds of people creating all kinds of expression – writing, art, photography, music, food, and just this thing called life – can benefit from.

Some of the kindest and most supportive people I have met – but not met yet – are here on Steemit. I feel like I have all these great friends that I have never met, and I really would love to be at SteemFest to meet them in person.

If only “SF” meant …

If only SteemFest were coming to my beloved San Francisco – also SF – and we could sit just where I shot this photograph and watch the Bay Bridge in the sunset and then light up as we decide what restaurants we would like to hit, all along the south end of the Embarcardero... I was so hoping when I saw that title – “Planning, wanting, doubting on going to SF?” – that I could tell all of you, “Well, come on to the city by the bay – November is cool and lovely, and there's no fog and the tourists are not as heavy and there are deals, and ...”

Alas...

A combination of economics and physical disability will most likely keep me from the trip to Bangkok this year. The economics may change just enough, but I can't get around the fact that it is hard for me to even take local road trips in the San Francisco Bay Area that take more than a few hours … the pain is serious and my ability to walk can be severely hampered.

I hope that I am well enough by the fall to deal with some three-hour trips without difficulty and I have a good deal of exercise to build strength before then, but 10-15 hours in flight is not yet doable for me (San Francisco to Bangkok). I so wish it were. Still, my knee is hurting NOW at the thought of that flight.

Go enjoy it for me, fellow Steemians. Go stay up all night talking with friends new and old. Go find your way around Bangkok looking for one another, and take all those beautiful “ussies.” Go strengthen each other around this thing called STEEM that we are building together. I will be right here, waiting with all my voting power in hand to bless you as much as I can for providing me a glimpse into SteemFest while I sit here in the other SF – for now! Not forever!

Who am I – I'm a musician and author who was tracking down another musician and found a post of him singing that somebody had posted of him on Steemit. It was a BAD post, by Steemit terms – a video, no context, no writing, just a video thrown on a page under the music tag (it had ZERO rewards, of course, because Steemians are SMMART). But because the page was so bare, I saw the advertisement for joining Steemit. This was March 2019 – and I've been here and working my way along ever since.

You'll find me creating music, such as my recent Sunset Vibe at the Embarcadero, and a ton of short fictional tales and poems prompted by the @freewritehouse, including a poem about a mangy calico cat and a story inspired by stale pepperoni pizza. About every two weeks I take on a longer tale, such as Super Blue for @bananafish's Tell a Story to Me contest, and at present I am thanking the @freewritehouse for extraordinary support by taking a detective character I introduced them to on a freewrite and doing a greatly expanded tale – you'll find Black, White, and RED All Over Part 1 here, and later today, I'll be posting up part 5!

Without STEEM, and all the lovely Steemians I have never met yet but have come to love, none of the above would have happened. I love STEEM because of the community around it, and because of the privilege it provides me to work together with so many people who are working together to build all this talent and heart and love and into something people with talent and heart and love are often denied: cold, hard cash, backed with something REAL.

We're giving value to each other, and the value I have received from STEEM as a creative person has already mooned beyond my wildest dreams. I'm just hodling and stacking STEEM through my musical and written work until the rest of the world figures out what we have here and the known value in the world catches up – but in the meantime, I'm receiving greater and great value every day!

I'll be at SteemFest in spirit, my eyes and upvoting finger waiting for the pictures and stories of those of you there in the flesh!