#blogpostfriday - This fine Friday I am remembering the call to go beyond a 140 character post.  What triggered this recollection, I’m not sure–but I’m glad it’s here. 

The sun has just come out.  Greens dominate out the window here.  The blue is showing through the tops of the trees up the hill.  There’s a tranquility, a source of wonder.  A gentle breeze caresses the trees, butterflies flutter carelessly.  It is a picture to behold.  The recently cut grass (if you want to call it grass–it’s more clover and assorted weeds) stands, a pleasant still carpet.  A very handsome, tidy area.  The view is great from here, the music/writing room.  Deep breath and thanks.

The weekend in all its recreational glory.  Ahh, relief, let the stress roll off.  It is most welcome.  I’ll get some work done, make calls, visits.  We’ve got exercise machines in the house, so it is tempting to keep the doors shut and get workouts done here.  The house is so darned comfortable, it’s sometimes hard to get out anywhere.  And there is the tendency to remain sedentary.  Gotta fix that one…

What a challenge to get a grounding in this ever-changing, ever-growing information age.  I vascillate between computerized and manual systems.  A constant is that handwriting cannot go away.  There’s an ancient connection that must remain in me.  The technology is nanofast, efficient, superior in many respects, yes.  However, this connection is increasingly more important–it’s core identity, uniqueness.  It must stay, it must always be a part of my life.

The grounding comes from calm, perpetuates calm.  Managing self-talk, managing the noise, it’s a full time job, especially in this technomatrix.  The power to turn off the noise is invaluable.  There’s power, no pun intended, in finding that switch and knowing how to use it.  In my mind’s eye I analyze the switch, wondering how difficult it is to use, wondering how often to use it, instead of just flipping the damned thing!

A late breakfast with Lori.  Standard fare, GoLean Crunch, All Bran, skim milk.  We introduced Mom to GoLean, and now she can’t get enough of it.  It’s high-fiber, multi-grain, crunchy perfection.  It’s filling too.

I saw Lori gaze down at a magazine, saw her chuckle a bit.  A drawing on the cover of the University of Virginia alumni magazine.  A view of a campus lawn, with a young student wipping a frisbee at a professor, a squirrel on the head of another young student, all sorts of humorous little scenarios in the busy scene.  Lots of personality.  The headline was “Drawing on Cartoons”.  Nice pun.

A short while later, she chuckled and said “Exposure to cuteness increases fine motor skills”.  I thought she was putting me on.  Nope.  She was reading an actual study asserting this.  It was one of the articles in the magazine.  Subjects who had exposure to cute pictures of puppies and kittens performed better in the game Operation versus a group of people exposed to adult dogs and cats.

Just what I need, and excuse for more cuteness in this house. :0

Bring on the weekend, bring on the recreation!

My RSS through Google Reader is jam-packed with items, always showing 1000+ to read.  Evelyn Wood, where are you now?

#blogpostfriday:  I didn’t put the reminder on my calendar yet–but I should not need to, this tradition should be instilled, automatic.  As Dave Winer mentioned, instead of following folks via #followfriday, follow your own thoughts and get them down.  That’s precisely what I’m trying to do here.  We call all of this interactive, these innumerable posts, pages, videos, slideshows, ads, you name it.  But maybe it’s not.  Maybe it’s really a one way situation, with a click or a chuckle here and there.  Are we responding or creating in any way really?  This is a good chance to put some thought into it and get the juices flowing.

I’m sitting back here right now perplexed.  Wondering what is real anymore.  In this world of cyberwhatever, we don’t even know who is behind what post.  Possibly we know who’s providing our own posts!  I have not a ghost blogger, yet.  No ghost blogger, twitterer, myspacer, anything.  When you have one, does that mean you’ve arrived, or that you’re too lazy?

I see the WordPress word count at the bottom left.  Curious when it actually increases.  Seems to do so as I type.  At 200 now, approximately.   But then again, I’m not so sure.  I’ll look at the code.  Be right back.  Looks like it happens during saves, auto or manual.  Thought it might have been some ajax deal.  It’s not quantity, it’s quality.  That’s all you’re going to get here.

As my trusty old Honda Civic was being repaired the other day (ouch, I didn’t have that kind of money), news of Senator Kennedy came on.  Excerpts of his speeches were reviewed.  The man was larger than life.  As part of this mythical clan, one that tragedy often visited, he survived, not letting himself be deterred.  The figure was huge–something like 6500 pieces of legislation had been put into place with his involvement.  The power of his words and commitment to everyday Americans will resonate for many years.  I saw just recently that an official twitter account for the Kennedy family was created–@kennedynews.  Yes, there is mention of the vigil, of an official site, tedkennedy.org.  What a loss, what a pivotal figure in our history.

Here was a figure who was involved in the moving forward of civil rights, a figure who was involved in the marches; he passed the torch to Barack Obama, offered his endorsement, his support.  Backing him in healthcare reform efforts.  How far the nation has come, how the world has come, since those times.  Who’d have thought our nation would have an African American leader.  It says so much for our country–and Senator Kennedy was there to see this, the movement, this success.

In the healthcare debate, and beyond, in politics, I’m clueless as to how to keep track of all of the rhetoric, clueless as to who to trust.  One of the most disturbing discoveries in most recent looks at C-SPAN was that legislators were voting on items they had not even had the chance to read.  There’s not much American about that, but it’s rampant.  Even if a representative is fully trusted, how the hell can we have any confidence in a system which requires votes under these circumstances?  Who the heck knows.

The world will keep doing its thing.  I guess.

Getting Started. – I’m always looking into improving my writing skills.  This page is on a site I bookmarked long ago, a very friendly way of looking into English composition.  It describes FreeWriting, Clustering, Outlining and more, with examples of each.  It is interesting how topics are discussed, how they become the starting point.

Often I’ll start freewriting without any particular topic.  I just get the pen moving, or the keyboard buzzing.  Letting go is the name of the game.  Judgment, criticism has no place in these efforts.  Even as the words come across, the presence of the critic can be felt, but I keep going.

The freewriting is enjoyable–it helps you get to know yourself pretty well, with journaling and so on.  However, ultimately real development has to take place, direction has to be clarified.  For me, anyway, that’s the biggest challenge.  This site is a great place to start.  I heartily recommend it. 

Yes, it was a terrific day here in Nashville.  I made solid progress on client tasks and took time to enjoy this magnificent weather.  There is much gratitude here.  Breathing, loving, and smiling.

UberBeyond Information Overload

OMG, I need filters and need ‘em fast, at least if any attention will be paid to real time web or anything similar.  And tell me it’s going to get any slower or more manageable from here on out.

Organization is crucial.  It starts with deep breaths, quiet, and patience.  Understanding too.  Just a few questions occurring:

• What are you looking for?
• What to buy?
• How to enhance skills?
• Looking for a job?  Tips on how to get them?
• Where do you get the information?
• Who do you trust to tell you any of this?
• Who are reliable sources?
• What are those sources’ motivations?

I am going to drown without a level of trust, a real idea of what actionability is, a time limit, a goal.  Set that goal, get in, get out, if ya can…. everyone in the world is clamoring for attention, has a story to tell, has a product to sell; the noise is UberBeyond Info Overload, at least in terms of this dynamic, real time paradigm.

Step Away From The Internet.

Real time web blowing my mind.  I wonder what the world will be like after this.  It’s already after this, and another million pages and entries and blog posts and tweets and retweets have been created.  I’m not offering hard numbers here, just a personal reaction as a tail end baby boomer who was born way before the information age barely kicked in (or at least the mainstreaming of it).

We are getting it all as it happens–but what are we getting?  Once again, and most importantly, we have to look at a trust issue.  In what comes across our radar, our content, interest, what do we act upon?  Do we consider our sources?  How and where do we filter the data?  Can we really call it information yet?  Assertions are made, but for the most part, they’re fields in RSS streams.  The have not been assessed, we don’t know their true value yet.  Caveat emptor and good luck sorting through it.

Who does it by hand anymore?  It seems that so much of what I do is computer bound, whther it’s the PPC or the laptop, or the web, or something else.  As I’m writing this I am in the auditory shadow of my Mac Book Pro.  I don’t have to do this–well there is some way I do as it is difficult to get the machine out of the way–tethered still to usb external drives.

Happy Hand

It is addicting, this world of the web.  Every day, it’s different.  Different links to go to, different voices, different articles and topics.  What are topics?  What are trends?  Oh I think about Google trends, finding the hottest thing people are speaking about –and then navigating to the pages with those subjects, with that content.  So the hum of the MBP is there, it is such a nuisance of a sound.  It’s a growl, it’s a tiger, maybe it’ s the Leopard OS doing its thing.

So much of what I think about is web related technology.  Will I ever break free?  Step away from the CPU….

A hearty thank you to the inventive, brilliant Dave Winer. His suggestion to do a #blogpostfriday versus a #followfriday is most welcome, and I’m going to follow this new tradition. We have become so used to the short form. 140 characters can convey a good deal, no doubt–especially with hyperlinks. But there must be a place for more thorough thought than this.

It seems that in this day and age we are conditioned to follow.  It’s a snap to follow by clicking and supplying a few grunts and mindless reactions of acceptance, conformity, and compliance.  Will we go beyond that?  We certainly have.  I have been a writer for many years and for many reasons I see it is imperative to continue to put words down at length.  Paper, screen, anyplace–keeping the hands moving, keeping the connection with what goes through my mind, hopefully keeping this brain healthy.

Every Friday,
rain or shine!.

We are focused on those clicks, on catching the latest fad, the latest gadget, the snappiest way to snap our fingers on our MacBooks, Toshibas, iPhones, G1’s, Wings, and other “miracle machines”. We forget about taking the time to think things through, to savor ideas, maybe outline and plan a little bit. We need vehicles to carry our thoughts–so we can save them for ourselves or convey them clearly to others. To have a meaningful exchange.

Dave’s name has appeared quite a bit in my FriendFeed, through his direct posts or through the admiring words of others.  To find out that he was a pioneer of the RSS protocol and more, and he is still continuing to work on ways to enhance these open technologies–these are  noteworthy accomplishments indeed.  How small do you feel when you stand beside the ocean?  How small do you feel when you stand beside one of the inventors of it?!  This is the man PC World calls “The father of modern-day content distribution.”. So when he speaks about blogging, I would be inclined to listen.

This whole world seems ADD’d out to the max.  Focus seems next to impossible in this uber-rapid information age.  I fight for it every moment, for my clients, for my friends, for my wife, for myself.  Let’s say there’s room for improvement.  How about for you?  Are you ready to cast that first stone?

What are we sculpting?  What are we planning?  Is there structure to it, or is it a formless ramble?  I for one see value in randomness, in quick shots, thoughts in spurts–but settling back and really saying something.  That’s what I want to be about.  I want to think.  Complexities abound; shouting as well.  Extended words, built sensibly, with balance, solid construction, direction and detail.  That’s my goal.  At least now and then.

Imagine folks taking time to assemble their thoughts, their responses to events, to stimuli–careful, considered responses.  How much would be different!  The moments to be still and get to know a subject a little bit, to live with the words, chew on them–there’s a novel way to approach the day.  A novel way to approach a Friday–a #blogpostfriday!

Write on.

Enjoying xml pruning for IMG Thumbnail Gallery. Hope to check out the RSS capability soon.

Making great use of the ScreenGrab Firefox plugin.  This one’s might convenient, with a very unobtrusive icon at the bottom right and handy options for cut/paste or save to folder.

It’s a quick download then smack into WP media library.  Working well in FireFox 3.x on both Mac and Windows.

Invariably I will search for pointers on songwriting.  Google Reader even knows this.  Figures.  The Reader recommended “Career Songwriting“.  It naturally caught my eye, piqued my interest.  No choice–I clicked.

I was pleasantly surprised by the clean look.  There was no shouting “Hey, I’m a Web 2.x site,” or anything of the sort.  The colors seem relatively neutral, allowing Andrea’s words to do the shining.  And shine they do; there’s terrific content here.  I’ve got something in common with Andrea; I have studied with Pat Pattison.  Some of his books are in my library as well.  Andrea’s recent discussion of rhyme reminded me of how pertinent Pattison’s approach was.  We rhymers so often settle on the perfect, obvious rhyme.  Andrea supplements his approach, shares it, brings it into the context of the everyday.

For many months this extended look at rhyming has been nagging me.  So many other projects and techniques get in the way; however, looking at these on virtual paper is refreshing.  I will put in conscious effort to employ these techniques.  My writing will be better for it.  It will come off more current, more natural.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that WordPress was powering the blog.  Frequently I check out which blogging platform is being used.  I wonder whether it will reinforce my WordPress loyalty overall.  This site did.  Thanks again, WP.  You did it.  I’m stickin’ with it.  It clicks.  And I rhyme, with your friendly backend magic.  Woohoo!