Micro Blogging Fun

Hi all! Remember me? Sorry to have been MIA for so long, but I've been having a hard time gathering thoughts for a post. Rather than drivel on about nothing (I know, this has never stopped me before), I decided to take a little break.

Work has also kept me very busy lately, so I just haven't had much time to sit down and blog. Such a travesty, right? Well, I'm trying to recommit myself to blogging more. We'll see how this goes. Sometimes it's hard to find a topic you think will be relevant to your audience, you know? Tell me what you'd like to see on the blog.

Another reason I haven't been blogging is because I've been busy over on Twitter. What the heck is Twitter? Well, the technical term is that it is a micro blogging site. What the heck is micro blogging? Well, that's sharing your random thoughts on a minor scale (in the case of Twitter, in 140 characters or less).

The original premise of Twitter asks you to answer the question: "What are you doing?" Instead of simply answering that question, people really seem to share their random thoughts and current experiences. There is a whole vernacular to Twitter (Tweet, Tweeps, Tweeple...) and people have created their own "Twitter Language" in order to get their thoughts into 140 characters.

In the two + years Twitter has been around, it has really taken off exponentially in usage. People from all walks of life are on there (some are even US Congressional leaders who Tweet during the State of the Union, and later get schooled for it). Celebrities have found Twitter to be a way to reach their fans without having to go through stifling publicists. Fans love connecting with their favorite celebs in real-time. That's what I call win-win.

Another nice aspect of Twitter is the interactions it allows you to have with others. If someone says something funny or enlightening, you can @reply to them exactly what you thought! You can also ask a question and get many answers within minutes. I sort of wish I had Twitter while I was in grad school...

So that's the gist of why I like Twitter. Again, I'm sorry to have neglected my blog followers, but surely you understand when life simply gets in the way.

Oh, and if you want to follow me on Twitter, just ask. My account is private to limit the creeper interactions. To compensate, here's a list of celebrities to stalk on Twitter.

Are You Ready to Rock?

This summer, I had the opportunity to pick up a new favorite hobby: Rock Band! That's right - the music snob was able to play a game that caters to her inner music geek! In one night I was able to play guitar, bass, drums, and sing lead vocals. For those of you who have never experienced the adrenaline rush of singing/playing in a band, I highly recommend playing Rock Band. Not only does it allow you to enjoy some of your favorite songs in a new and exciting way, you also get to share this joy with some friends. How great is that?

A friend of mine has taken his obsession with Rock Band to a new (and sometimes unhealthy) level. When you play Rock Band, you get to pick a name for your group. My friend didn't take this step lightly. In fact, he created an entire website dedicated to his Rock Band! Check out the Members page, and you may just see a certain blogger has a profile. ;-)

So if you haven't had the opportunity to play Rock Band, I highly recommend you find a way to give it a try. My personal favorite songs to sing are "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "More Than a Feeling". You know it's going to be a good day when you can hit those high notes in both songs and not crack them.

What are your favorites?

Social Networking on the Interwebs

So, I'm a hip and cool blogger (yeah, I know that saying I'm hip and cool immediately negates my ability to actually be hip and cool), so I'm up with all the new technology on the internet. I am familiar with MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like, and rest assured that if there is something I don't know about, my friendly librarian in California will make sure I learn about it quickly.

As a college administrator, I've known about Facebook, and therefore been a member for a long time. In fact, one of the first times I felt "old" was when some of my student staff were talking about Facebook one day, and I had no idea what they were talking about. They literally had to show me the site to explain what it was.

Flash forward to now, and Facebook has been inundated with everyone and their mother, trying to reconnect with friends from the past and current. Last year, when Facebook moved away from requiring a ".edu" email account for membership, I was worried it would quickly resemble MySpace (a.k.a. "MyStalker") in regards to the creeper factor. So far, I think I've been happily misplaced in my fears.

Now, it seems like everyday someone or other from my past has joined Facebook, and has friended me. It's been quite a pleasure catching up with old friends, to see what they are conquering in the world these days. I only hope that the information they are garnering from my recent years is equally enjoyable.

So I encourage you to give these social networks a try. You don't have to share too much of your personal life, and I strongly recommend keeping certain things private, but you can immensely entertain yourself by catching up with those you had lost long ago.

But seriously, did my mother have to join?

To blog or not to blog

I suppose that is the question. One of the reasons I started this blog was to push myself to create a sort of routine in my writing. Another reason was to become more comfortable with sharing the parts of me I usually keep private. When I first started this blog, I was on a roll, and was very consistent in my blogging. Since then, I have been remiss in blogging as often as I originally intended or would like.

Am I out of ideas? Am I possibly too boring to keep up with a blog? Is there nothing in this world I feel the need to impart my infinite wisdom or opinions upon? Yeah, the answer to each of those is a resounding NO.

Therefore, I hereby resolve to you, my loyal blog readers (the dozen or so that you are) to blog more in these summer months. Summer is a busy time for me in regards to work, so I should have an infinite supply of things and events to blog about. Also, if you see me start to slack in my blogging, feel free to gently nudge me to blog some more. Ideas for blog subjects are always welcome as well.

Long weekend, few plans

Evening everyone! As you can see, I'm playing around with the blog layout. Feel free to let me know what you think, or offer suggestions. No idea is a bad one. ;-)

So this weekend is Memorial Day. Usually I have plans to do something on this weekend - be it camping, going to the coast, or visiting family. This year, I have no real plans to do anything, and I must say, I'm a little excited for that. I really want to spend some time doing some things for me this weekend, and I also want to work my writing.

Yup, I said writing. One of the reasons I started this blog was to work on writing on a consistent basis. Why? Well, I really want to write a novel some day. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have any pretenses that I will write "the next great novel", but I do want to try my hand at writing something creative that will hopefully entertain as well as amuse. This weekend should provide me a perfect outlet for writing, and I hope that I take advantage of this opportunity.