It’s a snowy, cold day here in NYC. I barely made it back from a business trip to Rochester yesterday, so I’m taking advantage of the snow day and working from home this morning. Sometimes, there’s nothing better than working in your pajamas. While I’m waiting for the coffee to kick in, I thought I’d share a few posts that have caught my eye lately.
Category: Weblogs
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Tidbits
- Apparently, I’m a big nerd.
- Now that I no longer work in the area, it looks like some really good food has found its way to 6th Ave & 50th St.
- People other than yours truly have had challenges with cohabitation, a decision not to be taken lightly in NYC, where the ridiculous real estate situation often pushes otherwise intelligent people into making unwise choices
- If I ever am in a serious relationship again, I might consider getting a “taken” shirt, although I’m not sure how I feel about being viewed as chattel. Then again, let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?
- Looking for something to do on Valentine’s Day? New York Magazine has not one, but two bar crawls for singles. Not quite sure what makes these so singles-specific, however. As far as I’m concerned, bar crawls are an equal-opportunity sport for singles and couples alike. Someone’s got to help you home when you’re blitzed, right? It’s very handy if your boyfriend/husband/significant other can help you out. Otherwise, you may have to rely on the kindness of strangers . . . oy.
- If you have a snow day today, I just heard on NPR that the NYC parks department is setting up sledding stations in the parks in each borough. You don’t even need to own a sled — you can use theirs. Hooray!
- And if it’s cold enough (below freezing), you can pick up some free hot chocolate to warm yourself up.
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Dorks-R-Us
So I took a big step last night. It was a huge leap, but I decided I was ready for it. I bought blogcards. These are like my alternate business card — to give to folks in order to publicize my blog. Before I clicked on the “purchase” button, I realized that what I really was doing was agreeing to myself that I’m doing this — making a commitment to my blog — and will continue to blog for the forseeable future. I’m quickly being sucked into the vortex that is the “blogosphere” — getting excited when other blogs link to mine, learning new blog-related terms like “blurking” (thanks Brad!) and “google juice,” and learning to use the word “blog” as a verb and a noun. Yep, I’m an official dork. No turning back now . . .
courtesy of Gaping Void
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Dork Protocol
I have a friend who only recently got email. He doesn’t own a computer, but checks his email at his gym, where they have terminals for free internet access. He sent me an email last night that was ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS. I called him to tell him that, according to email protocol, this was taken to mean that he was YELLING. His response? “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You really are a big geek.”
Yes, I guess I am. And I fully embrace my geekiness.
Speaking of geeks, there’s a certain geek out there in Seattle who was very upset that he was not yet mentioned in my blog. So — here’s a BIG SHOUT OUT to you, Geek!
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I’m Down with O.P.B.*
* Other People’s Blogs
There’s something inherently voyeuristic about weblogs. They offer the general public a chance to peer inside other peoples’ thoughts, feelings and lives. For example, a co-worker was telling me that she started reading Megnut, because the author was a classmate of hers from Tufts (go Jumbos!). Around the same time, she started reading kottke.org. Somehow, through reading the two blogs, she and other readers realized that these two bloggers were dating. At the time, they were in two different cities, met at a conference, and began to visit each other. Reading their blogs carefully, readers could see things like — “when I was in San Francisco . . .” and ultimately followed the progress of their relationship.
I have met one person through my blog, but have tentative plans to meet even more. After stumbling across Gaping Void and posting one of his cartoons on my site, Hugh MacLeod sent me a lovely email, wishing me a happy belated birthday and thanking me for plugging his cartoons (if you haven’t seen them yet — they’re great! Go check them out!). We have emailed a little and I offered to take him for a drink if/when he ever comes back to NYC. After reading his blog a little more closely, I noticed a rather provacative post (which of course caught my eye), and followed the links to another blog. Turns out that Hugh and Franny have a little blog-comment-flirtation going. Suddenly I felt like I had just hit on someone else’s boyfriend, which is a little strange, because I haven’t even met any of these people in person yet! Sorry, Franny — it was all very innocent, I swear! At least so far, I suppose — keeping my options open these days. Sadly, so far, no blog-comment-flirting for me yet (no wonder, considering that according to the roll-call, I only have three readers — all female. C’mon people — who are you?! I know you’re there — I can hear you breathing!). Ho hum. Guess I’ll have to stick with the in-person version!
courtesy of Gaping Void (thought this one was appropriate!)
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My So-Called Blog*
Great article today on teen blogs in the New York Times Magazine.
Like the author, I truly wonder how blogging would have fit into high school in the 80’s. Hard to imagine, huh?
(* Clearly a tribute to My So-Called Life — AMAZING, yet stupidly cancelled show.) -
Welcome to My World
It’s readership appreciation day! Perhaps there are, indeed, at least fourteen of you out there.
Update — apparently Erika has started a roll call — feel free to join in! (now I’m curious . . .)
Courtesy of Gapingvoid.com.
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Welcome to My World
It’s readership appreciation day! Perhaps there are, indeed, at least fourteen of you out there.
Update — apparently Erika has started a roll call — feel free to join in! (now I’m curious . . .)
Courtesy of Gapingvoid.com.
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Search and Ye Shall Find
One of the fun things I’ve learned about having a blog is that you can get all kinds of stats about how people get to your site. One way is through various searches — google, yahoo, etc. — and not just in the U.S., either. People are finding out about me in Australia, France, Canada, Russia, and the UK! Crazy thing, that internet. I wanted to share with you some of the search terms that people are typing into their search engines that bring them to my site, because they really crack me up:
- scary monsters
- proscuitto pictures
- tipping doorman for holidays in NYC
- slim pickins
- sweet nicknames
- nicknames for guys
- venezuelan food east village NYC
- riding on the metro
- dorks unite
- crazy shit
- paul prudhomme egg cream
- turducken washington dc
- committment-phobic men
- sushi memo
Okay, so I’m easily amused . . . -
Search and Ye Shall Find
One of the fun things I’ve learned about having a blog is that you can get all kinds of stats about how people get to your site. One way is through various searches — google, yahoo, etc. — and not just in the U.S., either. People are finding out about me in Australia, France, Canada, Russia, and the UK! Crazy thing, that internet. I wanted to share with you some of the search terms that people are typing into their search engines that bring them to my site, because they really crack me up:
- scary monsters
- proscuitto pictures
- tipping doorman for holidays in NYC
- slim pickins
- sweet nicknames
- nicknames for guys
- venezuelan food east village NYC
- riding on the metro
- dorks unite
- crazy shit
- paul prudhomme egg cream
- turducken washington dc
- committment-phobic men
- sushi memo
Okay, so I’m easily amused . . . -
Epilogue
You may be wondering, as I was, what my parents’ reaction to my weblog would be. (You may not — in which case you should probably skip this post entirely.) It was very — underwhelming. I’m not sure it was because a) they didn’t really take the time to read it; b) they don’t really care; or c) they did take the time to read it and do care, but weren’t particularly excited by it. I’m rooting for a. My dad offered one comment — “you’re funny! Especially the thing about the hotdish. And it’s great that you have a link to the recipe for Kim’s cheesecake.” I’m going to interpret the surprise in his voice when he said, “you’re funny” as a compliment. Something along the lines of “gee — who knew my daughter was so witty!” Maybe they don’t quite “get” the weblog as a medium. They’re not super-techno-savvy. I sent my stepmother an Evite and she was flummoxed. Dad had to help her respond (which she did — nice teamwork!). I’m hoping they realize that they can comment on entries if they choose to do so, etc., and actually take the time to check it every now and again. I think my brother and sister read it from time to time. Keep in mind, that I actually have two sets of parents. I haven’t given my mom and stepfather the link yet. Maybe later this week!
And by the way — how ’bout that snow!?
