There were three moments during my Blogher weekend that made my heart hurt.

One, Birdie told a crowded room how, when she was a girl she had to write a story about a cockroach as a punishment at school. The pleasure she got out of writing that story was immense and delighted with her work, she went home and told her father she wanted to be a writer. Her father folded down the newspaper he was reading, looked at Birdie and said, “Don’t be a writer. You’ll never make it.” And Birdie didn’t write again until 25 years later.

I think every writer has experienced rejection; it’s that which comes from closest to our hearts that stops our pens or our fingers. I’m glad Birdie found her way back to words.

Two, Elizabeth Edwards told the room of 800 bloggers about a woman who she met on the campaign trail. The woman whispered to her about the lump she’d found in her breast. She had no insurance; no money. This woman, said Edwards, would die.

Three, later that night I called a friend of mine. I’ve written of M., my friend who is living with metastatic cancer. Her cancer began as breast cancer and now, five years of treatment later, her employer is strongly encouraging her to quit. Her job performance is stellar; she works more than the required hours. She needs the insurance. I mean, NEEDS it. Without treatment, like anyone with progressing cancer, she will die. I find it incredible her employer is comfortable having that reality ahead of them. If they force her out it will be akin to killing her. Hearing how hurt she is by the treatment she’s getting from her trusted employer, my heart hurt even more.

I think the state of healthcare for people in the U.S. – not just poor people but hardworking middle class people, too — is a national tragedy. I don’t get political in this space, but the healthcare issue sometimes hits way too close to home.

Did we meet at Blogher?

I set up a We Met at Blogher wiki to arrange and save all the great contacts I met at Blogher07. This is an open and collaborative project in which all Blogher attendees can participate, adding and editing contacts, links and notes. Enjoy!

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Here’s my celebrity moment caught by photographer, social media expert and friend Josh Hallett. Photo courtesy of Josh and Flickr.

Elizabeth Edwards was warm and extremely accessible to the Blogher crowd, even joining us at the cocktail party after her keynote, an unexpected bonus.

All of Josh’s outstanding photos of Blogher are here.

Tags: Blogher07

Elizabeth Edwards was introduced as an attorney, mother, wife and blogger and is Blogher07’s keynote speaker, interviewed by Blogher founder Lisa Stone.

She describes the blogosphere as the new town square. She said she has been blogging before blogging existed, interacting within newsgroups and listservs, as she looked for an online community while she experienced trying to get pregnant and after the loss of her son.

She said, “Part of the magic is the medium makes us not separate from one another.”

Stone asked about the experience dealing with Ann Coulter. “I think of trolls as cowards,” Edwards said, “Sometimes you have to confront them.”

“Having a blog is like having a child that needs to be fed three times a day,” she said. “I admire you all.”

“We need people to take an aggressive stand on healthcare and women’s issues.” Edwards said most of the questions she gets are about healthcare.

Questions came from the audience. Follows are some of Edwards’ responses:

On childcare:
“I was a working mother myself dealing with childcare issues. The big problem is we don’t have enough slots in childcare.”

“Education should be a birth to death experience.”

“Sometimes we need to educate both parents and children.”

About activism: 

“Young people feel powerless because they don’t believe thier voice will be heard.”

“If the mothers were in charge there would be no wars.”

On blogs:

“The genius behind blogs is that it invites people to tell their personal stories.”

When asked how many people have to approve her blog posts before they are published, Edwards said, “Zero.”

Tags: Blogher07

In every session I’ve been in at Blogher there have been tremendous audio issues. Earsplitting feedback, mics that don’t work, inconsistent audio quality — it’s the worst part of this conference so far, and something I hope the Blogher organizers work to manage better in the future.

Tags: Blogher07