Out There

One of my favorite bloggers is shutting down her blog for good. Good thing I know her in 'real life'!!

And this got me to thinking once again about web logs.

The other day I was helping a friend set up a blog. She chose a username and password, she chose a template and a title, and then I showed her how people could 'follow' her by clicking on the Follow icon. "See?", I said, as I clicked on my little picture/avatar, "And when you click THIS, you can find out who's following you." Up came my profile, listing this blog and... one that only I am supposed to be able to access! But there it was for her to read! Now, this one is where I've been writing some memories of growing up, etc.. to be used as part of my memoir writing (which I've been terrible at lately). And it was for my eyes only! Panic set in as I wondered how long it's been accessible. I really don't understand what happened there. Anyway, this led me to save the blog entries  in a personal file on my computer and then I promptly deleted the blog (despite how pretty it looked ;). I mean, if I'm THAT concerned about others reading it, well, then it probably shouldn't be on the internet at all.

This reminds me of a blog I  (saved and then) deleted a few years ago (Lifelines). One day I realized that  all the pictures I added to that blog were still on the 'net.  Not sure what photo sharing site that was, but they are there. To this day.

Wow, I sound paranoid (again).

Anyway, I've purged any extraneous blogs from my system. I will continue with my 'school' one and maybe the 'book' one (we'll see how that one goes).

Perhaps returning to the antiquated idea of journalling with a real pen and real paper makes good sense. Sure, you have the risk of losing it in a fire or someone reading it without your knowing. But I am now thinking the benefits may outweigh the risks.

I'll be thinking more about this, to be sure. Because there really are pros and cons to blogging.

Welcome!

To those of you who have requested access to my private blog, I thank you! I hope that I will make that extra step you must take to read my blog, worthwhile.

And I hope you keep reading. It's not THAT much fun to blog if nobody's reading, right? Mind you, I journal sporadically, so I must get something out of writing just for writing's sake.

Anyway, we all know that comments make a blogger happy, so I hope you will drop me a line now and then.

You're probably wondering WHY I switched to a private blog? I probably wouldn't have switched if I didn't have a 'professional' presence on the web, too. (teaching with an online school and another blog for the official 'teacher' side of me).

Maybe I have a few privacy issues (Dave would say I do!), but it just feels weird thinking that possibly the families and colleagues I work with could read my personal blog.  Chances are, they haven't, wouldn't, and would probably glance at it and never return. BUT, it's the 'not knowing' that kept on rearing its head like a gopher out of a gopher hole. So, I put an end to that naggy feeling that kept me awake at night (not really) and decided to go private. Now I feel like I can stop wondering so much if/who is reading. Call me paranoid, if you'd like. Just not to my face!! ;)

Funny thing is, I don't mind at all if strangers read my stuff. The more the merrier. I like making new friends.  It's the people who sort of know me, but not really!! What does that say about me, any of you wannabe psychologists out there?

Anyway, now I can share all about my very personal issues... ha!! Probably not, but at least if I spill the beans on something a little more personal at times, I won't have insomnia over it. I'll just have supportive group of blog buddies to say "Yeah, I know what you mean, I'm with ya", or "what the ?? You crazy woman!!" or something like that.

Anyway, I won't be blogging too much in the next week or so, because I am in my CRAZY time with work (report cards) and Jill is flying back to Vancouver next week from her European escapade and we're going to take a couple of days to have a little get away (maybe) and go pick up our girl, and I'm away for 2 days this weekend, taking an out of town course on Irlen testing (I'll leave you guessing what that is, but it's going to be interesting!) ;)

Hope you're all enjoying the first days of summer. Hurray for school being OUT (almost!!)

I Write Like

I came across this interesting site called I Write Like. Just plug in a writing sample-- a blog post, a journal entry, or whatever you choose, and it will analyze your writing. This is what came up after I plugged in a few paragraphs of my Nanowrimo novel of a few years back. I've heard of Kurt Vonnegut but know nothing of him or his writings. So, I don't know what to make of it. Perhaps I'll read one of his books and see if his style is like my own. I don't know how accurate this is, but it was fun.

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Writing about reading about writing

I think there’s one thing I like to do more than writing. It’s reading about writing. Is that strange? I know what it is. It’s a game I play called ‘Distraction’. Every time I want to write or think it’s a good time to write, such as writing my  memoirs, my mind starts looking for other things to do. Like reading. And then it tries to get smart by reassuring me that reading about writing will only make me a better writer. Rrrrrrright. It’s like someone reading cookbooks but never really pulling out the baking utensils and ingredients and actually baking or cooking. Or reading about the importance of exercise and never really lacing up the shoes. I know of what I’m talking about here.
Nevertheless, all of this reading on writing does introduce me to some useful tools.  A few weeks ago I was reading another blog and the site www.750words.com was mentioned. That intrigued me. It is the niftiest site for doing ‘morning pages’ or freewriting. Basically, you challenge yourself to write 750 words without stopping..just write off the top of your head and get those random thoughts on paper, or in this case on the computer page.  This site is unique in that, by analyzing what you write about, it keeps track of  all sorts of statistics. It provides stats such as how long it took you to write those 750 words, when you started,  words per minute, if you had any distractions, your longest streak of writing, what you were mostly concerned about, your moods, etc. And the fun part is you get to earn badges… badges for writing 3 days in a row, writing without being distracted, being speedy, 10 in a row, 100 days, etc.. If you were a kid motivated by stickers, you will LOVE the badges! The person who designed this site is definitely having fun with it.
I have actually been writing more since joining this site. So, it’s working. I’ve even earned a few badges and I feel mighty proud!
Now, back to my book… Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg.

The Stones Will Speak

Wow. It’s already the 2nd day of July – which means it’s time to begin a new Personal Monthly Challenge. Last month’s was a difficult one to accomplish, if the truth be told.  So, well, you know where that’s going, don’t you?  What I really achieved was realizing how difficult it is to constantly see the ‘sunny side’ of life. So, it’s something I’m in the process of learning.  It was a valuable experience, nonetheless.  I’m definitely more aware of what I do and don’t say or think. And of how patient God is with me when I keep on committing the same mistakes over and over. And He doesn’t throw his hands up and walk out on me. (I’m thankful my husband and kids don’t either!)  So, it’s all good. One day at a time.
So, thanks to my daughter, I have a new goal for the month of July. She’s been getting after me  encouraging me to write my ‘memoirs’ for a while now, and I have started, but I haven’t really kept it up. And if it’s really going to be something I can pass on to posterity, well, I’d better get MY posterior in gear and seriously begin to tackle this huge goal. So, for the next 30 days or so, I will be writing daily in my My 12 Stones Journal.

In the Bible, Joshua set up 12 Stones to remind future generations of what God had done for his people  (Joshua 4:20-24). Hopefully, as well as learning more about what weird, wild, and wonderful events shaped me to be the woman I am today,  these writings  will  remind  me and show my family  how God has always been in the big and little details of my life, too.

Still here

.. and enjoying reading others' blogs .. but mostly I've been busy and maybe the NaBloPoMo used up all my  blogcells...

Will be back when my 'to do' list is a little shorter!

Keep on bloggin'!

Just Do It

NaBloPoMo is coming up again, and as you all know, it's much more fun when friends join in, so... I'm challenging all of you blog buddies out there to blog every day for an entire month, namely the month of November. November is one of my busiest months, so I have no business doing this. But... I'm going to do it, anyway.

How about you? Think of all the excuses you can muster up, then discard them and go wild. Sign up for NaBloPoMo with me.

You may regret it. ;)