It's a very quiet weekend here at Chez 10K. I've got the house to myself and the weather is chilly and wet, so I'm staying in with the dog and trying to clear away some clutter (both on-and offline). I poked around on the blog a bit last night and realized that it's worked its way into a huge mess over the years. It's been through several software changes along the way, all of which have left some dead links and screwy formatting in their wake. I'll be working on cleaning that up this fall. Also, the links down the right side column had become waaaaaay out of date, so I bulldozed most of them away (if I accidentally deleted your site, please let me know -- it was not an operation that I conducted with all that much precision).
Staying on top of the blogging is getting to be quite the challenge these days. When I first started with this little project, there really was no social media to speak of (my blog and facebook were actually both founded in 2004). Now there are rss feeds and status updates and tweets and SMS and waves and... well, just wait and there will be something else tomorrow!
Keeping up with it all has been getting way too time-consuming. So, I've cut a lot out... or at the very least, I've been reworking the proportions -- I'm not reading nearly as much about politics lately, but I am still following my favorite food bloggers, and I've added a bit of twitter and facebook to the mix, so I've had to cut back on reading blogs in general, and so on. And while I love reading the Internet, lately I'm trying to carve out more time for reading actual books. And, of course, this is all supposedly taking place just in my spare time. (Ha! ;-D)
I hope I can keep things going around here with some regularity, but I'm working on finding a new rhythm. I've been pretty inconsistent for a while -- I don't think the wind has really filled my sails since the election ended (I'm burned out on that stuff in so many ways), but I'm still playing around with what other subjects I might like to cover. I'm also trying to dope out what goes where* in this social networking world -- which tidbits make good tweets, what is better suited for a status update, and when a thought should be fleshed out for a full-fledged post.
I'm still a long way from figuring out those last parts, and am eager to hear how everyone out there is coping with the demands the social networks make on our time. I love being a part of it (I'm in touch and feeling connected with so many people who I used to just hear from at Christmastime) but I don't want to let it suck away increasing amounts of my free time.
There is also the problem of anonymity vs. simplification. I'd love to put a string of social networking icons down the side of the page and go ahead and let the networks mingle, but my blogging has always been first-name-only, and I don't feel ready to change that. I've never been all that hard-core about it (seriously, with just a bit of sleuthing, you could probably flesh out my ID), but my reason for leaving my last name out of the mix is, I think, still sound: it's a very uncommon name. And some day, when Emmie is interviewing for her dream job, I don't want her potential employer to do a pre-interview google search on her name and find a confusing muddle of her great deeds and the crazy rantings of her crackpot mother. Honestly, I don't mind you knowing who I am.** I just don't want The Google to know.
As always, thanks for reading and for your comments! Let me know what's on your mind (or if you think I butchered the links!) -- and by all means, let me know how you are coping with all the issues I've raised in this post! I need help sorting it all out!
Oh, and Happy Halloween! Have fun tonight!
--
*One of my pet peeves has become the replication of data from one site to another -- i.e. repeating your tweets and/or blog posts on facebook (I do admit to being guilty of this myself on occasion, as I experiment with what goes where). It annoys me to find myself reading the same things over again. And if all you're doing is importing content from one place to another, why should I bother with your twitter feed and/or blog AND your facebook feed (or more to the point, why are you bothering with them?)?
**If you want to be facebook buddies or whatnot, just shoot me an email!
Staying on top of the blogging is getting to be quite the challenge these days. When I first started with this little project, there really was no social media to speak of (my blog and facebook were actually both founded in 2004). Now there are rss feeds and status updates and tweets and SMS and waves and... well, just wait and there will be something else tomorrow!
Keeping up with it all has been getting way too time-consuming. So, I've cut a lot out... or at the very least, I've been reworking the proportions -- I'm not reading nearly as much about politics lately, but I am still following my favorite food bloggers, and I've added a bit of twitter and facebook to the mix, so I've had to cut back on reading blogs in general, and so on. And while I love reading the Internet, lately I'm trying to carve out more time for reading actual books. And, of course, this is all supposedly taking place just in my spare time. (Ha! ;-D)
I hope I can keep things going around here with some regularity, but I'm working on finding a new rhythm. I've been pretty inconsistent for a while -- I don't think the wind has really filled my sails since the election ended (I'm burned out on that stuff in so many ways), but I'm still playing around with what other subjects I might like to cover. I'm also trying to dope out what goes where* in this social networking world -- which tidbits make good tweets, what is better suited for a status update, and when a thought should be fleshed out for a full-fledged post.
I'm still a long way from figuring out those last parts, and am eager to hear how everyone out there is coping with the demands the social networks make on our time. I love being a part of it (I'm in touch and feeling connected with so many people who I used to just hear from at Christmastime) but I don't want to let it suck away increasing amounts of my free time.
There is also the problem of anonymity vs. simplification. I'd love to put a string of social networking icons down the side of the page and go ahead and let the networks mingle, but my blogging has always been first-name-only, and I don't feel ready to change that. I've never been all that hard-core about it (seriously, with just a bit of sleuthing, you could probably flesh out my ID), but my reason for leaving my last name out of the mix is, I think, still sound: it's a very uncommon name. And some day, when Emmie is interviewing for her dream job, I don't want her potential employer to do a pre-interview google search on her name and find a confusing muddle of her great deeds and the crazy rantings of her crackpot mother. Honestly, I don't mind you knowing who I am.** I just don't want The Google to know.
As always, thanks for reading and for your comments! Let me know what's on your mind (or if you think I butchered the links!) -- and by all means, let me know how you are coping with all the issues I've raised in this post! I need help sorting it all out!
Oh, and Happy Halloween! Have fun tonight!
--
*One of my pet peeves has become the replication of data from one site to another -- i.e. repeating your tweets and/or blog posts on facebook (I do admit to being guilty of this myself on occasion, as I experiment with what goes where). It annoys me to find myself reading the same things over again. And if all you're doing is importing content from one place to another, why should I bother with your twitter feed and/or blog AND your facebook feed (or more to the point, why are you bothering with them?)?
**If you want to be facebook buddies or whatnot, just shoot me an email!
13 comments:
As far as content, I always enjoy the food porn and also the pics. As far as politics, I've found that on my own site, there's nothing I can write that will convince someone whose viewpoint is on the dark side to see the light, and those on my side already agree, so it's just venting I guess, but not going to change the world or even one vote. That's just my take about my own blog. Maybe they can be changed with the subliminal messages that I embed in my pictures however. We'll see. I've always been curious about what the "thorg" in your url means. Inquiring minds...
Speaking of food porn, I've got some in the queue! And I think that's a direction I'm headed in general. I'm spending a lot of my time cooking these days -- I just need to get into the habit of snapping photos along the way.
As far as politics goes, I spent the last four years busting my hump locally to get people elected and now that I'm stopping to take a deep breath, I can't say for sure that my time was well-spent. The people I help to get elected are still more beholden to the deep pockets than they are to us little people, and on a national level, the corporations and lobbyists are still running the show. I'm starting to feel like the energy I put out there might be better spent elsewhere (like in the slow food movement...).
And there's not much of a story with regard to thorg. When I finally got around to buying a domain, there just weren't that many words left. I spent a weekend brainstorming, but every single word I came up with was already taken and I wanted something short -- in the 4- to 8-letter range. Someone had left the TV on and at some point The Rugrats came on. I was sitting there, racking my brain, when I heard the phrase "thorg hungry! thorg want eat," which always makes me laugh, for some reason. Then I looked it up and it was available, so I snatched it. (I also like that it sounds vaguely like a character from norse mythology, which was prominently featured in the bedtime rotation when Emmie was a little kid.)
You checked out Google Wave yet?
http://wave.google.com/help/wave/
I'm hoping to get a friend invite soon and am interested for all the same reasons as you've noted. It definitely will solve the problem of replicating data.
I signed up, but I'm still waiting for an invite. ;-/ I'll zoom you if I get on, and you can do me a solid back?
That I can. It looks pretty slick.
I'll follow you wherever you go. I still like reading blogs. One advantage: No membership required.
As for finding time for them, I'm siting here thinking the same thing: So many people to keep up with and so little time. Lately, I haven't kept up on either Facebook nor Twitter. Just don't have the time to wade through everything. And now it's national blog posting month. I thought I'd jump on that just to get back into the habit of posting regularly again - this time with an affirmation along the lines of "I always have an idea for a blog post." (Perhaps with qualifications.)
The truth is, I was looking for something on my own blog, came across my wordier years, and discovered I missed writing. "Notes" on Facebook are not an alternative.
I've messed around with Twitter but find it largely unsatisfying and Facebook is just a bit busy for me. I like the blogging but am struggling with anonymity myself at the moment. And with being just a little bit tired of all the social media. But I enjoy it enough to hang in there!
[...] discusses anonymity vs. simplification. I understand where she’s coming from. Sometimes, I get a bit overwhelmed [...]
Keera, one of the things I like about November is that you do try to keep up with nablopomo, and I enjoy the increase in posts! I agree with regard to FB notes -- it's just not the same.
Free Man, I'm not impressed with twitter so far either, but I'm willing to give it some time and see if it finds some legs. I use groups in facebook to keep it from overwhelming me... if I get busy, I can dial it way down by reading just a subset of the whole thing.
I'm glad you're willing to hang in there -- you've got quite a bit on your plate these days!
Well, I've already got several posts queued up! And it felt wonderful to have so much to say!
Sorry about the crappy typing in that - my fingers are not working well today for some unknown reason...
I really enjoy your blog. I have many blogs bookmarked but there are just a few that keep me coming back on a regualr basis - I find them to be great breaks at work, and think of them as my cyber friends and sources of information, and differnt ways of looking at things. I gues s I like the discussions that seem to form in your comment sections, that spin off form a variety of stuff. Maybe
Your political rantings sort of drew mw in (forget how I linked here in the first place..)I was happy to find like minded people. while I get how you may need a break from that for now - it was LONG 8 years - I also appreciate many of the tidbits that you find and pass along.
In terms of time management, maybe daily blogging is not so important - reduce the frequency and let the discussions ensue?
I don't bother with Twitter, have a facebook page - but I find it sort of annoying, and visit it with less and less frequency. The only useful part of Facebook has been finding and maintaining contact with long lost friends and rellies. That can be a mixed bag too quite frankly.
I hope you stick around blog-wise. Its fun to hang with you guys.
Lucy, thank you for the kind words. I also enjoy the discussions in the comments. I don't plan on going anywhere or disappearing, but I did want to let everyone in on the background distractions. Social media, while generally a positive experience (for me, the best part is more consistent contact with the rellies), are also overwhelming. I hope you keep hanging!
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