docs: def _convert_item(self, item):
          """
          take a parsed item as input and returns a python dictionary
          the keys will be saved into the Node model
          either in their respective fields or in the hstore "data" field
  
          :param item: object representing parsed item
          """
          item = self.parse_item(item)
  
          # name is required
          if not item['name']:
              raise Exception('Expected property %s not found in item %s.' % (self.keys['name'], item))
          elif len(item['name']) > 75:
              item['name'] = item['name'][:75]
  
          if not item['status']:
              item['status'] = self.default_status
  
          # get status or get default status or None
          try:
              item['status'] = Status.objects.get(slug__iexact=item['status'])
          except Status.DoesNotExist:
              try:
                  item['status'] = Status.objects.create(name=item['status'],
                                                         slug=slugify(item['status']),
                                                         description=item['status'],
                                                         is_default=False)
              except Exception as e:
                  logger.exception(e)
                  item['status'] = None
  
          # slugify slug
          item['slug'] = slugify(item['name'])
  
          if not item['address']:
              item['address'] = ''
  
          if not item['is_published']:
              item['is_published'] = ''
  
          User = get_user_model()
          # get user or None
          try:
              item['user'] = User.objects.get(username=item['user'])
          except User.DoesNotExist:
              item['user'] = None
  
          if not item['elev']:
              item['elev'] = None
  
          if not item['description']:
              item['description'] = ''
  
          if not item['notes']:
              item['notes'] = ''
  
          if item['added']:
              # convert dates to python datetime
              try:
                  item['added'] = parser.parse(item['added'])
              except Exception as e:
                  print "Exception while parsing 'added' date: %s" % e
          if item['updated']:
              try:
                  item['updated'] = parser.parse(item['updated'])
              except Exception as e:
                  print "Exception while parsing 'updated' date: %s" % e
  
          result = {
              "name": item['name'],
              "slug": item['slug'],
              "status": item['status'],
              "address": item['address'],
              "is_published": item['is_published'],
              "user": item['user'],
              "geometry": item['geometry'],
              "elev": item['elev'],
              "description": item['description'],
              "notes": item['notes'],
              "added": item['added'],
              "updated": item['updated'],
              "data": {}
          }
  
          # ensure all additional data items are strings
          for key, value in item['data'].items():
              result["data"][key] = value
  
          return result