Well, I did.  I do have another one though.

I have completed my first week in the new position of Internet Marketing Manager at Noritake, specifically working in the tabletop division (you’ll note that I’ve linked right to the Noritake China site – there’s a new site coming soon).  It is a new position within the organization, and I’m very excited about the opportunity.

I got some lovely responses on Twitter when I mentioned that it was my first day, and I responded to thank my Twitter and blogger family members, many of whom have helped me to learn more about so many topics that have contributed to my knowledge base – the knowledge base that I knew would help me to find a new position.

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#53)

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#11)

I haven’t written in a while, I have many half-written posts saved in the draft area. I was excited to get some inspiration on Sunday for a blog post from Chris Brogan’s list that I didn’t think I was up to writing just yet, because I don’t have kids and don’t plan on any in the near future.

However, in my Twilight fangirldom, I came across a YouTube user (tiffanyd666) who has created her own versions of the trailer for the upcoming Twilight film, New Moon.

This first one has been online for nearly a year and has been viewed over 8 and a half MILLION times.

This second one is similar to the first, but with footage from the new official trailer weaved in. It’s been up for 3 days and has nearly 200,000 views.

I think I was 11 or 12 when my family got AOL and I was regularly online.  All I did was hang out in chatrooms and send emails.  Of course, since then, the internet has affected me greatly, I even met my husband on a message board in 2000.  However, this is where things will be different for my children.

My children will always have the internet, the way it is now and bigger, better.  They won’t think twice about unofficial movie trailers made by a teenager having 9 million views. They might even become masters at creating web video with beautiful transitions, titles, etc, and think nothing of it.

Yesterday at the office, I actually pulled out a dictionary. You remember those, right? The big book of words with their definitions? I then reminisced a bit with my colleague about books and how kids now don’t go to the library to research for school assignments, they go online.  They don’t get the tangible thing about books, which I find sad.  The benefit is that they can get the most current information possible, but I feel like there was some character-building in all of that manual labor!

Of course, I’ll have nothing to say when I do have kids, if I say something like that I’m sure they will remind me that my career path is based on the existence of the Internet, and then I’ll be that Mom who realizes that she has kids that are just like her. In some ways, they won’t do it differently.

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#34)

1. Photography stuff: lenses, books on photography and Photoshop, etc.

2. Music. I heart iTunes. There are certain artists (David Usher, Tori Amos, Nine Inch Nails) that are part of a select group of which I insist on owning the actual CD. All artists that have been part of my life for a long time, whose music I have relationships with. Who knows how long the CD (the format, not an actual CD) will actually last though?

3. Concert tickets to see such artists and also others I am interested in. I’ll pay more money for those I love though. Will also fight for tickets if I have to.

4. Travel. Though recently I have spent less on travel in order to address other things. Such as…
5. Credit card debt reduction. In part, I am still paying off the debt accrued to keep a long distance relationship alive and well. We are married now, so this doesn’t bother me too much.

Sure I spend money on other stuff, groceries, gas, my electric bill, but those aren’t fun to write about are they?

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#9)

Travel is one of the things that inspire blog posts. Photo credit, uricacid.

I will create yet another list to address the topic of “how I find blogging ideas.” 

• Travel
• Photography
• Friends
• Family
• My job
• The Internet and all of the wonderful tools that we have access to
• The people I interact with online
• Blogs I read, including specific things such as the list of blog topics that I’ve been working on lately
• The grocery store
• Television
• Magazines
• So much more.

What inspires your blog posts?  Do you have any one thing that generates more ideas than anything else?

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#83)

This topic is vague and could be interpreted in a number of ways. I have definitely let go of some things in recent years and I am really proud of myself for having achieved some growth in that area. However, I have a long way to go.

A stream-of-consciousness list seems to be the best way to go about this.

I need to let go of my need to finish my to-do list at the office each day. I am perfectly aware of the fact that things can often take longer than initially expected, but I still do not like to leave for the day knowing that multiple items from my list will appear on the list tomorrow. This leads to staying at work too late on too many nights and it means that by the time I get home, I don’t want to do other things like write blog posts or clean my bathroom.

I need to let go of my need to sleep in, at least a little bit. I am a complete night person, but it results in getting about 6 hours of sleep on weeknight and then sleeping for 10-12 hours on the weekends. I should probably force myself to go to bed earlier on weeknights and get up earlier on weekends. Not rocket science, I know, but I have been doing this as long as I can remember.y

(Even though there’s a wonderful story that I just read about the benefits of staying up late and sleeping in that makes me feel justified.  Thanks to Caterina Fake for the link.)

I need to let go of the way I steer myself towards negativity. I notice this the most when I am disappointed with photos I’ve taken, while I pass over so many in a set that are great, because I’m annoyed with myself for not getting the exposure right or missing the selective focus I was trying to achieve. I think I expect too much to be perfect and it clouds my ability to see the good stuff that is there.

That’s all for now; 3 things is quite enough to work on at one time.

What do you need to let go of? Do you have trouble letting go?

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#7)

Photo credit, gregoconnell

1. Do not ramble.
2. Research your facts, back up your comments with data where applicable.
3. Be respectful, no matter the tone of your comment.
4. Only comment if you have something useful to add to the conversation. It is certainly alright to disagree with the original post, just do it in a manner that doesn’t make all of the readers shut you out for being rude. Try to avoid posting “I agree” and nothing else, which just fills space on the page.
5. Be honest about who you are, your email address, etc. In a corporate situation, I think it is highly appropriate to make yourself known to those within the discussion. This will lend credibility to your comments.

What are your guidelines for posting on a corporate blog?

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#3)

I absolutely think that my town should use social media.  I just spent some time reviewing the town’s website, and I’m impressed at how much information is there and how often it appears to be updated.  However, seeing as I’ve lived in this town for 5 and a half years and have never visited the site before, I wonder of what sort of traffic this site gets.

Basic ways I think that my town should embrace social media:

• Create a Facebook fan page.  This doesn’t take much time at all, and it creates a great portal for residents to get information on what’s new and happening.  Especially now with the new page layouts/page status updates.  I can’t imagine why anyone who lives here wouldn’t become a fan of the town, and the exposure to new content available on the town’s site would likely increase the activity on the site.  A Facebook fan page could also provide a spot for locals to discuss events being announced on the page, discuss local town news, share knowledge and opinions, etc.  There are so many resources for creation of Facebook pages, such as this great white paper from The Advance Guard, so there is really no excuse for not taking some time to create a page, especially as Facebook keeps growing and growing.
• Get a Twitter account.  I realize that this is becoming standard fare now, and look at the explosion of Twitter across multiple demographic groups.  Twitter and Facebook can be synched together to expand the availability of updates on new happenings in town or new site content.  Not to mention the power of Twitter Search when it comes to people talking about the town and surrounding areas.  I have had a few wonderful experiences in the last few months with mentioning something in a tweet and hearing back from someone representing that interest, and being completely helpful.  (Look at @visitPA for an example of this – I mentioned a visit to one place in PA and after they alerted me to their site, I am planning a much more involved trip.)

I’m sure the process of getting the town involved with social media would have to be a process with steps, but I think these are two major steps that would start to really develop the footprint of my town in the social web.

Does your town participate in social media? Do you think your town SHOULD participate in social media?  What are your ideas for this?

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#54)

When to cut back on web habits:

• when you start referring to family members as @theirtwittername
• when you start thinking about what hashtags would be applicable to live conversations
• when you don’t remember the last time you spent a day free from internet access
• when you stay up too late/ignore other responsibilities because you are obsessed with reviewing everything in your feed reader

I also asked this question on Twitter: What makes you realize you need to step away from the computer/internet for a while?

• From BlankStareKY: i can’t help you — i’m so into the internet right now i’m almost the lawnmower man. that’s a reference only cool people get.
• From BlankStareKY: OH! i have one! if you’re tweeting references to The Lawnmower Man then maybe you need to step away for a while. that counts.
• From SparklingAmber: when I check my feeds and there is nothing, because I just read them all a few minutes ago, and nobody has blogged yet.. time!
• From computerguyz: My eyes begin to cross each other

Thanks to everyone who participated in my mini-poll.  Anyone else with thoughts on this topic?

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#40)

I chose this because it’s fun and light, a good Friday blog post, but mostly, none of these “guilty pleasures” are so shameful that I really hide them.  Mostly everyone who knows me has heard about at least a few of the weird and sometimes inappropriate things that I enjoy.

1. Britney Spears
2. I’m consolidating my Twilight love: the Twilight books and movie, I also am subscribed to multiple Twilight blogs and listen to 2 Twilight podcasts.
3. Figure skating (watching not doing)
4. Fan fiction
5. A snack that my mom makes that involves white bread, canned asparagus spears and cheese whiz. I refer to this as the “white trash appetizer.”  So wrong but so delicious.
6. Reality competition shows that focus on talent, including American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and most recently, RuPaul’s Drag Race.
7. Marlboro Light 100s
8. Storage containers with labels (I love them WAY too much)
9. Teriyaki chicken from Feelgood Cafe, a local restaurant near my office. This would not be guilty except that everyone at the office already knows what I ordered if they see me eating because I order it at least 2 times a week and I NEVER get anything different, and the predictability is sort of shameful.  I just don’t think you should mess with a good thing.

OK I will have to come back because I really can’t think of 1 more.  I’m SURE I have some people who know me who might be able to comment on what I should add.

EDIT:

10. Nutella is definitely number 10.  So bad but SO GOOD.