I just clicked over to Megan's site, The Velveteen Mind because there is a link (below) that I wanted to include as a reference and this is what she has posted today. It shows the community that is being built one blog at a time and the interaction that it creates. LOVE IT.
So the link that I went over there she references as one of her most popular:
MommyBloggers: The reference
And
How to be a Popular Mommyblogger
These are amazing resources if any of you would like to join the mommy blogging realm.
If you are interested in trying it out, I would glad to be of assistance.
OK, I promise that is the last post for today. I am going to play RockBand now...goodbye.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
WITNM (next part, I can't keep up): Starting to pull things together...
Ron Davison again appears in our discussion after writing this yesterday:
A New Kind of Conversation: A New Kind of Democracy
(Hi Ron...how is it you keep popping up in my WOMEN in the new media series?)
I would love to get your ideas on this on Tuesday...
Another thing we will be discussing is how I know Ron will see this...
That will include tons of the information about how traffic flows on the internet, how I know if anyone mentions me, my name, my blog, my blog address and how anyone can become a "Big Brother" of sorts. It is information that just may change how you navigate the www.
A New Kind of Conversation: A New Kind of Democracy
(Hi Ron...how is it you keep popping up in my WOMEN in the new media series?)
I would love to get your ideas on this on Tuesday...
Another thing we will be discussing is how I know Ron will see this...
That will include tons of the information about how traffic flows on the internet, how I know if anyone mentions me, my name, my blog, my blog address and how anyone can become a "Big Brother" of sorts. It is information that just may change how you navigate the www.
WITNM (part next): How this topic got started...
This is a Nightline show segment that will introduce you toHeather Armstrong. Heather writes Dooce. She is one of a few (very few) MEGA mommy bloggers...she is BIG. VERY BIG.
This appearance of Heather Armstrong earlier this month on the Today show was the catalyst for my topic this month:
One of the topics we will discuss on Tuesday is how much information is too much. I have a very different perspective on this then I did 6 months ago when blogless. I will be interested to hear what you have to say.
This appearance of Heather Armstrong earlier this month on the Today show was the catalyst for my topic this month:
One of the topics we will discuss on Tuesday is how much information is too much. I have a very different perspective on this then I did 6 months ago when blogless. I will be interested to hear what you have to say.
Monday, May 26, 2008
WITNM (part next): Published authors who blog...
"If you are just about to publish a book or have just published a book, you need a blog."--wise woman who helps authors publish books
A blog is a way to get the word out. A way to make connections with others. A way to create buzz. A way to get grassroots support.
I really was clueless about all of this until I was contacted by someone who regularly read my blog who was also a friend of Jenny Gardiner. She wrote that Jenny had just written the book, "Sleeping with Ward Cleaver" whose title reminded her of my June Cleaver Nirvana title. She put the two of us in touch.
Jenny suggested that we could do a book give away on my blog for her new book. I read the book. Fell in love. Said yes. And it was done.
In the process, I started really liking Jenny. She is funny and has a bunch of kids. So I startedstalking following her writing. She posts weekly on two blogs and does guest spots on others. The main one is The Debutante Ball which is a blog for women authors. It is a fun read.
We email back and forth on a regular basis. I have made a friend that I never would have met otherwise. We are trying to figure out how to convince her publisher into a Texas book signing...
A blog is a way to get the word out. A way to make connections with others. A way to create buzz. A way to get grassroots support.
I really was clueless about all of this until I was contacted by someone who regularly read my blog who was also a friend of Jenny Gardiner. She wrote that Jenny had just written the book, "Sleeping with Ward Cleaver" whose title reminded her of my June Cleaver Nirvana title. She put the two of us in touch.
Jenny suggested that we could do a book give away on my blog for her new book. I read the book. Fell in love. Said yes. And it was done.
In the process, I started really liking Jenny. She is funny and has a bunch of kids. So I started
We email back and forth on a regular basis. I have made a friend that I never would have met otherwise. We are trying to figure out how to convince her publisher into a Texas book signing...
Saturday, May 24, 2008
WINM (part four): Writers who blog...
As I was introduced to more and more blogs I began noticing that many of my favorite bloggers were amazing writers. Blogging is an obvious outlet for writing. It is a forum for brain storming, testing the waters and receiving instant feedback from readers. I feel priveleged to be on the frontline of reading these women's initial thoughts, drafts and storylines. Sometimes they will repost the same story later from a different viewpoint or with more detail. Sometimes they mention projects they are working on. Sometimes they write to encourage others. Sometimes they write in need of the encouragement.
I am more reader then writer. I hope to be support. I hope to someday be first in line at one of their book signings.
I have linked to specific posts of three amazing writers who blog. Just browsing their websites is a treat:
Angela at Reality Testing
Jennifer at Thursday Drive and
CCE at MadMarriage
I am more reader then writer. I hope to be support. I hope to someday be first in line at one of their book signings.
I have linked to specific posts of three amazing writers who blog. Just browsing their websites is a treat:
Angela at Reality Testing
Jennifer at Thursday Drive and
CCE at MadMarriage
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
WITNM (part three): Random fun...
I have placed my GoogleReader share widget in the sidebar to the right in the pink box. Don't you love how I can sound all technical? Let me break that down into normal speak...
GoogleReader: I read a lot of blogs. To keep track of them all in one place I use a reader. There are several ones out there to chose from, but I use my Google account's reader function. All the blogs I read have a "feed" that sends whatever is written in the body of that blog to one page. This allows me to read a ton of stuff without clicking on each site.
Share: In my reader I can click on a "share" button if I find something I really like.
Widget: This is a gadget that will send information from another source to a cute little box. The pink one now displays all my "shared" posts from the reader.
If you want a laugh today (or anyday) just click on one of the titles in the pink box and it will take you to something funny. I have one of these widgets on my blog too.
One of the easiest ways to get into social networking is to Twitter. Twitter is a way to instant message the world by simply answering the question, "what are you doing?". The instant messages of an ever widening group surrounding you can create some interesting conversation or just give you a peek into the lives of others.
I have placed a Twitter widget (see, you already know what that is now) on the sidebar as well so you can follow my ever-evolving solution to world peace. Actually you are more likely to hear how my laundry turned out...details, details.
GoogleReader: I read a lot of blogs. To keep track of them all in one place I use a reader. There are several ones out there to chose from, but I use my Google account's reader function. All the blogs I read have a "feed" that sends whatever is written in the body of that blog to one page. This allows me to read a ton of stuff without clicking on each site.
Share: In my reader I can click on a "share" button if I find something I really like.
Widget: This is a gadget that will send information from another source to a cute little box. The pink one now displays all my "shared" posts from the reader.
If you want a laugh today (or anyday) just click on one of the titles in the pink box and it will take you to something funny. I have one of these widgets on my blog too.
One of the easiest ways to get into social networking is to Twitter. Twitter is a way to instant message the world by simply answering the question, "what are you doing?". The instant messages of an ever widening group surrounding you can create some interesting conversation or just give you a peek into the lives of others.
I have placed a Twitter widget (see, you already know what that is now) on the sidebar as well so you can follow my ever-evolving solution to world peace. Actually you are more likely to hear how my laundry turned out...details, details.
Monday, May 19, 2008
WITNM (part two): The Mommyblogger...
Mommyblogger. It is a title that actually makes me cringe a little, but in effect that is what I am. I am not alone in my status. The internet is literally crawling with us.
I love this article written by Ron Davison: Are They Reinventing Motherhood (or just giving us a sneak peek into previously private journals)
Ron links to four blogs that I read regularly (I also read Ron's regularly but he doesn't qualify as a woman in the new media). All amazing accounts from completely different viewpoints. Amazing women writers who grant us a peek into their lives, marriages and families.
When I think of mommies in the trenches who beautifully balance the awe of motherhood with the often less glamorous tasks of the job, I can't help but mention
JCK at Motherscribe and Fullheartsandhands mama at Yes and so my heart. I think these two blogs are classic examples of what many of us are trying to portray. The tightrope that moms walk. The sheer amazement at our situation. The sheer chaos that it often creates.
I love this article written by Ron Davison: Are They Reinventing Motherhood (or just giving us a sneak peek into previously private journals)
Ron links to four blogs that I read regularly (I also read Ron's regularly but he doesn't qualify as a woman in the new media). All amazing accounts from completely different viewpoints. Amazing women writers who grant us a peek into their lives, marriages and families.
When I think of mommies in the trenches who beautifully balance the awe of motherhood with the often less glamorous tasks of the job, I can't help but mention
JCK at Motherscribe and Fullheartsandhands mama at Yes and so my heart. I think these two blogs are classic examples of what many of us are trying to portray. The tightrope that moms walk. The sheer amazement at our situation. The sheer chaos that it often creates.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Women in the new media (part one)...
I am going to start at the very beginning. I am going to begin with how I began.
Six months ago I had no idea the land we are about to visit even existed. Six months ago I had not seen the sights, visited with its people or fallen in love with its diversity. Six months ago I didn't have a blog.
Urban Dictionary defines blog:
I started my blog to keep in contact with a dear friend who lived in another state. I hadn't seen her since college (over 18 years), but our lives as mothers were running parallel tracks and we had started emailing each other on a regular basis. We exchanged stories, advice, sympathy and encouragement. She started a blog. I started a blog.
I started a blog before I had ever read a blog.
Within minutes of setting up my account at Blogger, I was officially a blogger. I had a blog.
What am I going to do with a blog?
I started recording what what was going on in my life. I posted pictures. I wrote about the kids, the TV I watched, the electrician that over-charged me. It was a natural extension of the scrapbooking that I was 3 1/2 years behind on.
It was instant. I took a picture. Downloaded. Posted.
I started reading Heather's blog that chronicled a lot of the events we both attended. I started reading another blog written by a girl who had married one of my childhood friends. I started venturing out of my circle of people who I knew in real life...
And then I received the first comment on my blog from someone I was not related to or knew. Soon I was reading her blog. And that is how it starts.
It became a game of networking. Finding new people who made me laugh, cry or shared my views. New people link to new people. New links to explore. New stories to share.
It soon became apparent that there are many reasons people blog. I was not alone in my daily life report. Many people blog to record.
Many people blog to network.
Many people blog to vent.
Many people blog to sway opinion.
Many people blog to teach.
Many people blog to earn a living.
Many people blog for no reason.
Many people start on one path and end up on another.
Many people switch gears daily.
What I would like to do over the next week is to explore a few of these reasons. The internet has been dubbed the new media. A large portion of that new media are women just like you and me who express their opinions on a daily basis through their blog.
How are these women changing the way women interact?
How are these women changing the way advertisers relate to this demographic?
How are these women changing politics?
How are these women changing the path of their families lives?
This subject is limitless. I would love for everyone to have read everything I have over the last 6 months. Since that is impossible, I am going to try to pick out a little tiny portion of a little teeny corner of this subject to share.
I am going to try to sprinkle throughout my entries links to blogs I love to read. Even if you just visit a few you will get a feeling of the world that is out there. And please try and visit my blog over the next week. It will be helpful for perspective and I could use the traffic...
Six months ago I had no idea the land we are about to visit even existed. Six months ago I had not seen the sights, visited with its people or fallen in love with its diversity. Six months ago I didn't have a blog.
Urban Dictionary defines blog:
blog
n. Short for weblog.
A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life. Consists of such riveting entries as "homework sucks" and "I slept until noon today."
v. intr.
The act of posting to a weblog.
I started my blog to keep in contact with a dear friend who lived in another state. I hadn't seen her since college (over 18 years), but our lives as mothers were running parallel tracks and we had started emailing each other on a regular basis. We exchanged stories, advice, sympathy and encouragement. She started a blog. I started a blog.
I started a blog before I had ever read a blog.
Within minutes of setting up my account at Blogger, I was officially a blogger. I had a blog.
What am I going to do with a blog?
I started recording what what was going on in my life. I posted pictures. I wrote about the kids, the TV I watched, the electrician that over-charged me. It was a natural extension of the scrapbooking that I was 3 1/2 years behind on.
It was instant. I took a picture. Downloaded. Posted.
I started reading Heather's blog that chronicled a lot of the events we both attended. I started reading another blog written by a girl who had married one of my childhood friends. I started venturing out of my circle of people who I knew in real life...
And then I received the first comment on my blog from someone I was not related to or knew. Soon I was reading her blog. And that is how it starts.
It became a game of networking. Finding new people who made me laugh, cry or shared my views. New people link to new people. New links to explore. New stories to share.
It soon became apparent that there are many reasons people blog. I was not alone in my daily life report. Many people blog to record.
Many people blog to network.
Many people blog to vent.
Many people blog to sway opinion.
Many people blog to teach.
Many people blog to earn a living.
Many people blog for no reason.
Many people start on one path and end up on another.
Many people switch gears daily.
What I would like to do over the next week is to explore a few of these reasons. The internet has been dubbed the new media. A large portion of that new media are women just like you and me who express their opinions on a daily basis through their blog.
How are these women changing the way women interact?
How are these women changing the way advertisers relate to this demographic?
How are these women changing politics?
How are these women changing the path of their families lives?
This subject is limitless. I would love for everyone to have read everything I have over the last 6 months. Since that is impossible, I am going to try to pick out a little tiny portion of a little teeny corner of this subject to share.
I am going to try to sprinkle throughout my entries links to blogs I love to read. Even if you just visit a few you will get a feeling of the world that is out there. And please try and visit my blog over the next week. It will be helpful for perspective and I could use the traffic...
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