Tag: blogging

We Really Do Complain Too Much

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So I posted this on Twitter a few months ago:

Kinda funny, right? I mean, the brown box itself might have actually been less obvious than the doormat thrown over the top. I thought it was a silly picture to share. A few hours later there was a response:

It’s official, we have way overused Tweet-shaming. I didn’t even put @UPS in my tweet, so apparently they have some lowly intern who is required to sit at the computer and monitor tweets for any negative mention of UPS.

Really, is that what it has come to? Companies have to constantly patrol the Internet for irate (or even slightly amused) customers? Seems like a waste of resources when there are so many other ways to express dissatisfaction with a company, like those automated phone surveys that call five minutes after you pick up your car from an oil change or off-shore phone centers you can call to berate the underpaid employees who have no connection to your problem whatsoever.

I Should Start A Trophy Shelf :-)

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Or I could just let this post be my virtual one. Yeah, that’s probably better.

Waaay back on May 30 (yeah, a whole week ago) the wonderful SzaboInSloMo of She Can’t Be Serious bestowed not one but two whole awards on me. I feel so special to be noticed, especially during a week-long hiatus from the Internet during a whole month where I was pretty darn scarce from the world wide web on all fronts. So what better way to come back than by passing on some awards?

First up is the Blogger Appreciation award. As with all awards in the blogoshpere, this comes with a few rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated me by linking his/her blog. (Again, the blog is She Can’t Be Serious)
2. Answer the 4 questions below.
3. Award the Blogger Appreciation Award to fellow bloggers.
4. Let the Bloggers know that I have nominated them.

I’ll get to the nominating at the end, but first – Questions:
1.How long have you been blogging?  Uh…This one’s existed since October 2010, although I’ve had at least three in different platforms before this.
2. Why did you start blogging?  I was getting fed up with MySpace and the school filters blocked it anyway. A couple of my friends were on Xanga, and the school district’s computers didn’t know about it yet, so I started a blog there freshman year. (It doesn’t exist anymore.)
3. What type of blogs do you like to follow/read? A bit of everything. It helps if the writer has a good sense of humor.
4. What is the one thing you’d like to improve on as a blogger?  Actually writing more often. I’ve taken a few weeks break and I think I’m ready to dive back in. I’ve got a bunch of posts planned.

Next up is the Living Passionately Award. The rules for this one are a little simpler:

1. Take a deep breath.
2. Think about who you’d like to pass this on to.
3. Do something weird and out of the ordinary today. (I spent six whole days in a row watching a three-year-old, I’ve done enough things out of the ordinary this past week.)
4. Post the award someplace conspicuous…framed in your cubicle, as a place mat, or lining the kitty litter box.  (Mine is “posted” as my phone wallpaper. As is the emerging trend, I also am out of color ink in the printer.)

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the nominees are:

Snoring Dog Studio – She’s an amazing artist and an awesome writer. She paints wonderful watercolor portraits, and you should go check them out right this minute.

Katie of Cookies and Crafts – Katie inspires me to do new projects and drool over my keyboard with all the delicious treats she makes. I keep saying I’m going to try some of her recipes, but mostly I just drool over my keyboard at the pictures of the ones she makes. Katie also shares my love of reading, especially YA books.

Nathan Badley of BadlandsBadley – Nathan’s hilarious, do you need any more reason to check his blog out? He’s also quite nice, at least in responding to comments.

Cassy of Knit The Hell Out – Cassy’s a designer, she’s a knitter, and she’s always got something amazing on and off the needles. She’s also a self-professed sock-yarn-hoarder.What can be better?

And, last but not least, Charlotte of The Great Fitness Experiment – Charlotte often shares embarassing moments and confesses her tutu-obsession. Oh yeah, and she tries a different style of exercise every month so you don’t have to to know what works. Plus, she wrote a book and is working on the follow-up.

There we go, awards accepted and given away. What a nice way to come back to the world of the Internet. Thanks, SbazoInSloMo!

An Internet Vacation

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No, not one of those virtual vacations where you look up the place you wish you had the money to visit on Google Maps. I’m talking about the vacation I took away from the Internet over the last week and a half.

I was house-sitting for the family I usually babysit for while they took a trip. It was just me and the two giant dogs in an empty house. Considering this took the place of my normal work week, I had a lot of free time. Usually, I would spend said free time messing around on the Internet or playing games on my iPod over the internet. This time, though, I didn’t have an Internet connection.

It was actually wonderful. I still used my computer a lot, but I got things done on it. I learned how to use Flash, I wrote almost 5,000 words on a story I’ve been trying to get started for a long time, and I did a lot of reading. Finished three books in a week. Then there was the just plain creative time I had. I knit two pairs of gloves (which you will see on Thursday), drew my first fashion illustration in a while (coming next week), and spent a lot of time singing and practicing on my guitar.

It got me thinking about all the things I could get accomplished in the afternoons when I do work  if I were to limit the time my Internet connection was running. So, for at least the next two weeks (because then I am supposed to be without Internet again for a week), I am going to try turning off the Wi-Fi connection on my computer until 4pm*. That’s when I usually sit down and start watching TV for the evening, so my productivity is beginning to wane at that point anyway. That way I will hopefully be able to get more things done.

Who’s with me? Does anybody else sit down at the computer to “check something quickly” and then look up to see that three hours have flown by?

*Except when I actually have something to do, like post this. But that is still being productive since it’s something I can mark off my to-do list for the day.