Rocks In My Dryer

What I Did On My Bloggy Vacation

It felt good--really good--to step away from Ye Olde Blogge for awhile.  Most of what I wrote the previous week was pre-posted, so I was actually mostly blog-free for about a week and a half.  And in the intense immediacy of blog years, that's, like, 73 days. 

I desperately needed a tweaking of my perspective on the cyber-world.  If you've been blogging yourself for a while, you know that there is a (perhaps false) sense of urgency to it.  I think all bloggers occasionally get so plugged into their cyber-lives that they lose sight of the real life they're supposed to be living.  It doesn't help that this is the most "connected" generation in history.  We write on our blogs while Facebooking and Twittering and listening to a podcast and receiving our messages (text and voice mail and instant).

And I wonder sometimes, were we really created to be this plugged in?  Are we so connected that we're getting...well, disconnected? 

I know.  There are some really fine uses of technology out there.  I love my cell phone and my Facebook and my e-mail as much as the next person.  I don't plan to chuck it all anytime soon.  I think that it is what it is, and whether we like it or not, we've found ourselves living smack dab in the middle of the Tech Revolution. 

And that's okay.  We'll work with it.  We'll grow and learn and adapt and be thankful for the convenience and enjoy the entertainment. 

But let's not forget (and I'm preaching to myself, here) that the real meat of life, the stuff that really matters, the part that makes it beautiful to be human--well, none of that stuff has a USB port.  You can't really Twitter the music of a child's laugh, and no Facebook page will replace the beauty of taking a casserole to a sick friend.

So blog life, Twitter it, IM it, podcast it...and do it well.

But first?

Live it.

Interesting Opportunity

BlogHer CEO Lisa Stone is going to conduct a live podcast interview with Carly Fiorina on Friday.  Ms. Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and now she's stumping for John McCain's campaign.  BlogHer is actively soliciting questions to ask the McCain camp in the interview.  Head over there and be heard!

Blog Break

I'm in need of a blog break, BAD.  (See?  I'm so stressed out I've stopped using adverbs.)

I'm going to rest my bloggy brain cells, and I'll be back on Wednesay for WFMW.  Incidentally, it will be a themed edition this time:  it's What DOESN"T Work For Me.  Share with the internet some things you've learned the hard way.  (Just remember your kids might read this someday...)

Speaking of sharing things, I have a post up at BlogHer today that invites participation from readers.  Want to tell us the best things your mom taught you?  Head over there.

See you in a few days.

Picking Your Bloggy Brain

First of all, HAPPY INCOME TAX DAY, everybody!  Don't you just love that feeling of gigantic sums of money being sucked right out of your world?  Oh, I just love it so much I'm thinking of celebrating by sticking a burning hot fork in my eye.

Anyway.

I've mentioned that Sophie, Melanie and I are teaching about blogging at the She Speaks conference this summer.  (Incidentally, we just recently learned that the whole conference is booked and a frightening number of people are signed up for our two sessions and now my stomach hurts.)  We're working on our presentations, and the girls and I could brainstorm for hours about what people would want to know.  Or--and I think this is a better idea entirely--you could do the work for us!

So, hypothetically speaking, if you were going to attend a conference session on blogging, and time was fairly limited, what would be the top aspects of blogging you would like to see covered?  Etiquette?  Tech stuff?  Growing traffic?  Basics?  Advanced stuff?  What kinds of questions would you ask if you could? 

I'm really interested to hear what you have to say.  Fire away.

Baby Bloggin'

My friend Jenni at One Thing is live-blogging her labor today!  Jenni is funny and eloquent without even trying, so this should be good.  If I had live-blogged any of my labors, my posts would've looked like this:

Ouch.

Grrrr.

#$%@!

Drugs!

Jenni will do a better job, I assure you. 

And while we're on the subject of pregnancies, I have a post up at BlogHer today about moms who blog their bedrest.

This Is How You Know You've Been Blogging Too Long

Hobby Lobby is my second favorite store in all the land.  (Yes, I said second favorite--details of the first favorite are coming to a blog post near you very soon.)

I love everything about this store--the sales are amazing, and oh great day all the crafty gear makes me instantly want to weave potholders the minute I walk into the door.  They are probably running a craft-lovers racket, and I am the Chief Sucker.  My budget has taken a battering over the years, because, "Look!  It's decoupage glue for 50% off!  And what if I need decoupage glue in the next decade?" 

See?  Chief Sucker. 

Yesterday Corrie and I went to Hobby Lobby to buy some end-of-year teacher gifts.  Now, here is where I should tell you that as much as I love their store, their grocery carts are horrible.  Nearly every one I've ever used has been top-heavy and wobbly.  There was one incident years ago in which my then-one-year-old son ended up hanging upside down by his pants, and I can assure you it was entirely the cart's fault.  My preoccupation with the 50%-off florist ribbon had nothing to do with it.

We walked in, got a deathtrap cart, and Corrie asked if she could stand on the end of it.  I said no, because I am a safety-conscious woman who watches Dateline NBC.  I turned my back for 2.8 seconds to get a sales flyer (because I needed to know what entirely useful craft supplies were 50% off this week).  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of metal and my daughter crashing toward the floor.

In slow motion, I turned to my right to see that Corrie, ever obedient, had not climbed up on the end of the basket, she had climbed onto the side of it.  The whole thing was in the process of falling down on top of her. 

And I, in that instant, wanting to redeem myself for the son-hanging-upside-down-from-his-pants incident, inserted my leg between my falling daughter and the falling cart. 

She is safe.  My leg, however, is not. 

It hurt SO badly that it took every bit of self-control I had not to sit down in the floor of the store and weep.  But I couldn't, because they might think I was one of those crazy lawsuit people, and what if they flagged me as a troublemaker and wouldn't let me buy 50% off scalloped scissors anymore? 

I managed to hold myself together, though I was gritting my teeth and fighting back tears.  I even finished my shopping trip.  (That is courage, y'all.  Courage.)  I came home and nursed my wounds.

But the point of this entire story (believe it or not, there is one) is that a few minutes ago I took a picture of my battered leg so I could blog about it--truly, there are some glorious bruises--when I realized in the nick of time that oh dear Lord, I nearly posted a picture of my thigh on the internet. 

I think I need a new hobby. 

Over At BlogHer Today...

...I'm posting on teaching my kids about presidential elections.  (And shhhh....you can also find out who I'm voting for!  Or "for whom I'm voting".  Or whatever.)

Patsy Clairmont Has a Blog! Patsy Clairmont Has a Blog!

Maybe I should say it one more time:

Patsy Clairmont has a blog!

How I love this hilarious and thoughtful writer.  And how tickled I am to find she has a spot in the blogosphere--head over there for a peek.

Spring Has Sprung!

Ah yes.  Spring.  I can feel it coursing through my veins as we speak. 

Or maybe that's just the radioactive iodine.  Either way, I'm positively glowing, due in large part to the fun new spring design Jules at Everyday Design did for me.  Ain't it grand?  It's almost enough to distract me from the fact that my mouth tastes like I've been sucking on a handful of pennies all day.

Yuck.

Over At BlogHer...

...I'm writing about blogging resources for parents of teens.  You can read it here.