Holy shit, it’s October 3rd? When the hell did that happen? Here’s what I’ve been up since the last “This week”:

- “There’s a Hot Lesbian Party and You’re Not Invited,” in which I interview the founder of a new social networking site for queer girls (Click Me).

- “Joining the Mile High Club Just Got Easier,” in which I lay out everything you need to know for having cybersex at 30,000 feet (Click Me).

- “10 Reasons Why Wedding Planning Scares the Living Daylights out of Me,” in which I detail everything that could — and very well might — go wrong between now and my wedding on June 21st (Heartless Doll lists).

- “10 Etsy Items No Human Being Could Ever Possibly Need,” in which I ask why, oh why, anyone wants a Victorian neck warmer (Heartless Doll lists).

- “10 Things That Freak Me Out about College Freshmen in ‘08,” in which I freak out over the fact that my little brother just started school and all the trouble he could get into (Heartless Doll lists).

- “10 Ways LOLcats Make Everyday Life Better,” in which I break down the cultural awesomeness of kitties (Heartless Doll Lists).

- “Cool Home-Office Toys You Can Write Off,” including an R2-D2 refrigerator — and also in pictures (Forbes.com).

-“Is Tribe.net Going the Way of Friendster,”in which I examine the current state of a Bay Area institution (SF Weekly).

- “Digg’s Top Users Banned For Ever and Ever,” in which I discuss the recent drama over disappearing power users (SF Weekly).

- “What We Can Learn from Reading Erotic Fan Fiction,” in which I talk about getting cybersex tips from slash (The Clickable Clit).

- “I Get to Jump the Professor I Always Wanted,” in which I introduce my new online partner, a hot college educator (The Clickable Clit).

- “Portable Photo Printer Round-up,” in which I translate a piece on, well, portable photo printers (Tom’s Guide).

And so is my male roommate.

What should arrive just in time for the start of last weekend but a review copy of Rock Band 2, complete with two guitars and a drum set? That is the best kind of package. Yes, haha, packages. Wait, is that only funny in my mind because I’m cybering while I write this post? Anyways…

As plenty of other reviewers have noted, Rock Band 2 doesn’t feel that different from the original. Since I own the Wii version of Rock Band I though, this is the first time I’ve been able to customize characters or access downloadable content. I’ve also been working on an Economist piece about music games and the larger music industry, so I’ve been thinking about new markets and such while I play.

Most of all I’m just enjoying the little things: new songs, new guitars, quieter drums. I still much prefer playing tunes I know, and I still suck at percussion unless someone else works the foot petal. But for now I’m having a rocking good time — especially when my roommate plays in drag…

I interviewed Jincey Lumpkin, the head of a new lesbian social networking site called Digiromp, for a recent Click Me. Like many interviews, a lot of what she said didn’t make the final cut of the piece — but one such cut was particularly interesting. Lumpkin mentioned she’d wanted to advertise for her site on Facebook, but that they’d turned her request for ad space down. Here’s how she describes it:

I tried to advertise on Facebook but they rejected my ad, because they don’t allow anyone with any kind of adult content to advertise there. Even if it weren’t adult content though, I don’t think they’d allow us to do that. I’ve seen ads for lesbian vacations, but anything that’s more provocative they automatically discount.

True, Digiromp has a pretty risqué tagline (”Where all the hot girls come“) but is that really an excuse to discriminate? Facebook wouldn’t deny ad space to straight dating sites, and they have much more “adult” intentions than Lumpkin, who wanted to set up a space for lesbians to discuss their personal lives in a safe environment free from drooling men. Thanks, Facebook. Soon you’ll be as evil as the once heavenly Google.

Yesterday marked the end of Arse Elektronika ‘08. In case you missed it, the three-day sex tech conference held here in San Francisco covered everything from tips for happy, healthy science fiction threesomes to erotica featuring flying phallic missiles. Sadly, the only real talk of video games came in my presentation on erotic fan fiction, but playing with the lollipop licking machine (complete with prosthetic tongue) was kind of like a game. You can check out all the presentations, including the one given by yours truly, on the Arse website.

Though the last day of the event was a bit overshadowed by Folsom — a street fair dedicated to the gay leather community here in San Fran — I still caught some very interesting talks, including Jason Brown’s “The Mind Diddlers.” In theory the presentation was about why sex continues to crop up as a metaphor for contact with aliens. In reality it was a whirlwind hour with 100+ slides that detailed folklore of abduction, the history of the American occult, and just about everything else under the sun. What was the point? I don’t know. But now I do know that aliens and fairies alike really like pancakes.

While listening to the presentations yesterday I also got a chance to sit down the Pr0nnovation, the book of compiled essays from last year’s Arse Elektronika. Though some talks are written up more extensively than others, it does feature interesting stuff, including “Cowgirls and Werebabes — When Porn Leaps the Species Barrier” by Mark Dery and “Your Grandmother’s Vibrator” by Carol Queen. The book should be available soon for $25, also from the Arse website.

Remember to check out photos and my Twitter feed for more detailed info on the event. Have I mentioned I love this city yet? Sex tech conference + leather street fair = happy Bonnie.

Day II of Arse Elektronika has begun. As we speak, science fiction writer Rudy Rucker is wrapping up his talk, “What Is Sex?” He just described a seen from Burn After Reading in which George Clooney takes an ax to a fucking machine. Let us have a moment of silence for our fallen, be-dildoed comrade.

Last night the official Arse entertainment was a science fiction erotica reading lead by Kink.com’s own Thomas Roche, porn PR guy extraordinaire. Thomas’ story was a pulp treat about a woman performing at the “House of Poison,” naked and covered in spiders. Us unconventional conventionists (I heart you, Rocky, and it’s almost Halloween!) also got to hear tales about sex with aliens, sex with flying phallic missiles, and sex with an ass-like sphere from another dimension.

After that it was off to Damon’s release party for Porn and Pong, the new book about sex, video games, and pop culture. Damon’s crew took over all of club Sugar, with plenty of pretty girls in lingerie and swank pink lighting. I didn’t hear anyone discussing how political and historical events have impacted the history of sex games, but that might only be what I do for fun.

More from Arse soon. In the meantime, photos! Twitter! Fun!

Bonnie reporting from Arse Elektronika here, housed in San Francisco’s CELLspace, an art warehouse where they literally added extra sheets of corrugated metal to the roof to block out light for the slide presentations.

Day I of the conference is almost over. We’re currently in the midst of “Science Fucktion,” a talk with event organizer Johannes Grenzfurthner and fetish photographer Richard Kadrey about the history of sex in science fiction. “Avoiding the Emily Gould Effect,” a conversation about how much sharing is oversharing when it comes to sex blogging, was up last. It features wise bloggers Susan Mernit & Viviane from Viviane’s Sex Carnival. Tonight there’s an erotica reading lead by Carol Queen. Oh, and Damon’s lingerie release party for Porn and Pong. Never a dull moment.

Check out Heartless Doll for my coverage of last night’s opening event, which included a talk from Annalee Newitz about how to have happy, healthy science fiction sex. Oh, and my own presentation about power dynamics in erotic video game fan fiction happened this afternoon. It took less time than expected, and times like these remind why I prefer writing to actually speaking, but it had photos of Peach naked, so it couldn’t have been all bad. Expect the slides and my notes to appear online soon.

So far the highlights have been… Well, heck, just check out my Twitter feed. I’ve been updating every five minutes, making me an official microblogging neurotic. What if I ever had a thought I couldn’t publish on the internet? Let’s not think of what would happen on that horrible day. Anyways, go on, check out the photos and live vicariously!

[Image by Scott Beale]