I’ve been thinking about how my “family” has grown over the past year. I’ve had online friends and been part of online communities for over a dozen years now but the last year my involvement in the Twitter community and in smaller part the Facebook community has brought a lot of great people into my life that I consider not just friends but family. Even though I’ve not met most of them.
Like any family there are few people that drive you crazy. You have the creepy uncle that makes you feel a little nervous, the aunt that hovers over you and treats you like you’re still twelve, the cousin that never seems to do much but he’s always around, the sister that always borrows your shoes without asking. But you know they’re always here for you when you need them. Gran’s always there with her compassion. Papa’s always there with his wisdom. Sometime there are squabbles and even a family feud on occasion but when it comes down to it you’re always part of the family.
This morning it’s time to groove to Sister Sledge. We are family. Happy Thursday.
MacLeod - cartoonist, author, blogger, all around Renaissance man - will be sorely missed by his legions of followers. You can subscribe to his blog to keep up with him now.
It seems that the more popular Twitter becomes, the more of the early adopters are shifting away from it.
Earlier this week Lifehacker.org featured a Firefox add-on called LeechBlock which allows you to set time limits and block websites (such as Twitter) that you feel suck up too much of your time.
As a writer (who tends to avoid actually writing as much as I possibly can) I know that communities like Twitter can be unbelievable time wasters but at the same time I know that I get a lot of value from the Twitter community as well. I’ve installed LeechBlock to hopefully cut down on using Twitter and other sites as procrastination (protwitstination?) tools. I can’t see myself deleting my Twitter account any time soon.
I’m not sure why I woke up with this song in my head this morning but here it is. Everyday People is from Arrested Development’s 1992 album 3 Years 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life of–
It’s an album that got a lot of play in my house in the early 1990s. I think it might be time to dust it off and give it a spin or two this week.
This morning is Twitterville MayorBrogan’s birthday. I wanted to find a song that sums up all of the things that Chris Brogan has brought to the Twitter community and the various other social networks he’s involved in. I wanted to make a statement about what Chris Brogan has done to affect how I personally think and interact in social networks.
But when it came down to it there are a few specific songs that come to mind when I think Chris Brogan but there’s one that stands out for me… Mr. Jones by Counting Crows which Chris played after the Jeff Pulver show one afternoon many months ago at my request. So what else could I dedicate to him today?
It’s Monday! I absolutely love Mondays. A new start. A fresh week. Unlimited potential.
This morning I’m listening to Muse - a band from England that I’m really starting to get into. Here’s Sing for Absolution from their album Absolution released in 2003.
Enjoy your Monday. Remember, you have a choice today. Dread the Monday and the week ahead and set yourself up for negativity or embrace the Monday and seek to make it a wonderful, positive start to the week. Your choice.
Are you the type of person who can roll with the punches? or are you the sort that freezes up with a plan goes awry?
I’m not sure if I’m a roll with the punches sort by nature but I’ve had to learn the skill over the years and I’m getting pretty darned good at it.
In fact, if there’s one thing I can count on in my life, it’s that whatever plans I make will somehow get turned upside down by some person or some event.
I could blame the world for this. I could blame the people, the events, the circumstances. I could shut down, curl into a ball, and say I don’t wanna play any more. To be honest I do shut down, curl into a ball and say I don’t wanna play any more - but only for a day or two and then I have to stand up, dust myself off and start marching forward again.
It comes down to choices. When something doesn’t go your way you still have choices. You can choose to quit. You can choose to fight. You can choose to run. You can choose to blame. You can choose to shake your tiny fist at fate. You can choose to move forward. You can choose to learn. You can choose to be angry. You can choose to be defeated. You can choose to put it behind you and start fresh.
No matter how bad things look and how dire the situation seems you can still choose how you will react to things. You can choose what Plan B or C or Z will be. You can choose to be positive or negative. You always have the choice.
Do you have a soundtrack to your life?
Do certain songs bring you back to specific moments in your life?
I’m one of those people that has a constant soundtrack in my head. There’s rarely a moment that I can’t think of a song or a lyric that sums up exactly how I feel right in that moment.
I’ve decided to post a link to a song/video each morning to get the day started. Genres will vary from indie rock to classical to classic rock to jazz to … anything goes. My soundtrack shifts and flows moment to moment so I can never predict what tomorrow’s Morning Music might bring.
Meanwhile, here’s a taste of Neverending White Lights. This video is for The Grace, from the first album and features the vocals of Dallas Green (City and Colour, Alexisonfire). Enjoy!
So there was a lot of buzz this week leading up to Earth Hour. From what I understand there were events, concerts, and celebrations in some areas. While I understand the motivation, Drew Beatty had it right in his blog post yesterday when he suggested that the energy used for the big events was ridiculous and in many ways was counter to the purpose. And what about all those candles:
Lots and lots of people are going to be burning candles tonight. Remember that paraffin (most cheap candles are made of this) is a by-product of petroleum. In other words, candles ain’t clean either. And flashlights? Well, are you just going to toss those batteries when you are done?
So how do you spend Earth Hour? Did you observe it at all or carry on as normal or attend a community event?
For my part, I turned off all lights, computers, television for the hour. I lay on the sofa with an audio book on my mp3 player (which has a rechargeable battery) and just had a really peaceful hour.
The point of the event is to remind people that just the simple act of remembering to Flick Off a light when you’re not using it can save a lot of energy. I wonder how many people will remember the message in a week or a month’s time? Will this exercise and the buzz surrounding it have a lasting impact?
I certainly hope so. Whether you look at it from a global viewpoint or a personal viewpoint saving energy saves money as well as saving our planet.
Confession time… despite the best of intentions, and yes I did indeed turn off lights (and electronics) during Earth Hour… I woke up at 6am this morning to discover I’d fallen asleep with my reading lamp on again. So… my lights were off for an hour but a reading lamp was on all night. One step forward. Three steps back.
