The first day of Maker Faire '09 has come and gone. The event was incredibly well-attended---I'll be curious to hear the official count when it comes out. A substantive and thoughtful post is on the way. Tonight, I'm bone-tired, uploading 400 pictures to Flickr, and seeing the day in bits and pieces: Make contributing editor Bill Gerstell's talk this evening about how danger and risk are necessary for living a smart, happy life; briefly meeting Phil Torrone on the bus this morning; chatting with Ariel and Amy of Sparkle Labs over a mound of robotics kits this afternoon. I'm remembering the whole gestalt: engineers and physics teachers somehow in the mix with dreadlocked, bare-midriffed girls on stilts. Four- and five-year-olds climbing into, out of, and over a car made to look like a giant metal snail that spits fire. Enough LEDs to give an epileptic a fit just thinking about them. Rocketry dudes, hippie dudes, families, organic-food types, hacker types, crafty types, shop-class types. Paella in quantities larger than I ever thought possible. Seriously, I am spent. More soon. For now...pictures! Getting your bearings, Maker Faire style. Inside of the Bazaar Bizarre Cute girl, lousy picture (I think my camera was stuck on the 'macro' setting after doing some close-ups). Erika of My Imaginary Boyfriend modeling one of her felt "brown bag" drink cozies. Craft hall cuteness At the Swap-o-Rama-Rama Physical Design Co's customizable system of interlocking parts for building structures (not all just dollhouse-sized) Inside the TechShop hall Plasma-cutting demonstration in the TechShop area Kids enjoying The Golden Mean Later on, kids climbing on The Golden Mean Kids everywhere---with giant Mousetrap in the background Science, technology and robotics kits for sale in the Maker Shed Robot making noises, moving; girl roller skating around robot in a we're-fighting-no-we're-dancing way Hands-on projects at emiko oye and Shana Astrachan's jewelry-making booth Performers from the Boiler Bar theater Paella! TV-B-Gone: A kit I covet. And that doesn't even scratch the surface! If you see me out there tomorrow, say hi.

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