TED

Oooh mumma. TED kicked off at 2pm today – the first speaker was Nobel Laureate and cracker of the DNA code, James Watson and from then until 6:30 the speakers, stories, ideas, concepts and questions came thick and fast – speakers have just 18 minutes each on stage (there are 50 speakers in four days) and there's no time for q&a. There are some incredible people here, and the whole event has been slightly surreal so far – I've just got back from a cocktail party at Monterey's fabulous aquarium – I was completely zonked with jetlag and hung out with my friend Alex Steffen from WorldChanging.org.

I'm a bit miffed that I'm not feeling on top form. I still have toothache (and an accompanying hamster cheek) and I'm hoping it'll clear up before tomorrow – I'm on stage at three-ish, in the unenviable slot between the hilarious Ze Frank and, er, Bono. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll endeavour to write a little more about this exceptional event before too long…

— Filed under Speaking