The Daily News

LFCA Latest Issue: Friday, September 25, 2009.

Latest Post on BlogHer: Parenting after Infertility.

My Status: Fed Josh's almonds to the squirrels. They needed them very badly.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Friday Blog Roundup

I have already admitted to being dumber than a napkin, so it probably shouldn't surprise you to learn that it took many months into the game to finally figure out Twitter. I was getting ready for bed and had an epiphany--it's micro-blogging. It's a blog entry in two sentences. And it's like an enormous blogging IM conversation. The people you follow--you watch their thoughts unfold in two sentence chunks and then people respond (sort of like a comment) and you follow their thoughts and build off of that...

I get it.

I think I get it a little more than Facebook. I certainly get it more than social bookmarking. In the long continuum of things I need to understand on the computer, this is how I would rank my knowledge:

Blogging
Google Reader
Twitter
Facebook
Social Bookmarking
How spam sites actually make money
Why every spam person this side of the Mississippi wants me to get a bigger penis and sends me an email about it

So, I decided to actually use Twitter now too. Though the site rarely seems to be working. Is this just me? Am I hitting it on its bad days? It seems to be in a constant state of getting too many tweets. Which makes me think of a large flock of angry birds, pecking at the computer keys.

I added some people successfully before getting kicked from the system and will add more when I can. If you would like to follow me, follow away: stirrupqueen. Though, if I could do it all over again, I'd be Lollipop Goldstein. It still makes me happy to say my new name.

I only have one question: how often do you respond to Twitters? Do you sort of read them and let them float by you, or do you feel compelled to reply and have that conversation as you would in the comments on a blog?

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Have you ever heard the term "roadie" (hi, Rick!) used to mean a little drink you take with you on the road? As in, "wait a second, I need to grab my roadie." A little cup of wine or beer that the non-drivers drink on their way out to a social event--on their way to drink more wine and beer? Is this a Southern thing? I heard this from someone in Atlanta. Are Atlantans all lushes?

I predict that Sunny will respond to this with, "that's not a Southern thing! That's a smart thing!"

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Y'all are very tricky getting in extra words with the IComLeavWe description. On one hand, if part of what you write about is "secondary infertility", that should only count as one word. You shouldn't lose a word simply because you need two words to describe one thing. But Io's "being poor ass broke"? How can I not keep all of those words in? When I can shave it down, I do: "random life" has been reduced to "life." But you can't shave down being poor ass broke.

I love having the descriptions. They're not only helpful in the sense that you know what you're going to get when you click on the link, but it's also cool to see this mini bio of every blogger on the list. What they're dealing with, what they're thinking about. It sort of expands the blogroll list with its categories and allows people to be listed in multiple categories at once. So...if you're searching for new blogs, the IComLeavWe list is also a great place to look. Just saying.

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It is the 4th of July here. I'm using it as a writing day. I love fireworks but I hate crowds. So no Mall this year. When did I get so old and crotchety?

And now, the blogs...

Alison at (Un)complicate Me had a post about feeling lost. I love how it begins: "I'm afraid this post might turn into a brainpuke, but it needs out." That sensation of simply needing to have it said and have it heard. And then the post: the balance of being grateful and being scared simultaneously. And finding faith within your faith.

Where's My Damn Answer is a group blog, but I loved a post on it this week by contributor Lindaloohoo about adoption. This week was the last time she needed to fill out paperwork concerning her son's adoption and she writes: "But today. Ahhh. Today. I can’t even describe the feeling that hit me as I was making photocopies of our three year report and it dawned on me that this is the last time I’ll be doing ANY paperwork for this process, EVER AGAIN." The weight dropping from her heart. I cried reading about the connection between the butterflies that flew around her house back in California and the ones that swung from the ceiling in Guatemala. You will get chills up your arms when you understand this line: "we’ve always said that it was not the stork who brought our son to us, but the butterflies." Go over and read the whole post.

Bon at Scrambled Eggz has a gorgeous note written to her not-yet baby. I challenge you to get through it without crying.

Topcat at Indisputable Topcat has a very intense post about an argument with her husband. I could not stop thinking about it after I read it. I think the part that touched me so deeply was the part before and after the women came to her house. She writes about the meeting: "I needed that meeting SO. BADLY. I cried with sheer relief when it started, and was quite amazed when everyone started sharing. Why? Because other people are having struggles of their own!! Who knew!!" and then after the meeting: "They all left, I had a physical reaction to that meeting, like a weight had been lifted and I could breathe for a bit." Perhaps a subconscious and running theme for me this week with the roundup is the lifting of a weight. It is a gorgeous, albeit angry, post. Please go give her some love.

Lastly, Sunny from My Journey Towards My Little Miracle had a post about Facebook (see it all comes back full circle: the dropping of the weight, the social media sites and the social media sites). She writes about reconnecting with old friends through the site and what they think when they see her profile sans kids. She writes: "I wonder what they think when I don't list my kids' names and ages like they did. If they look hard they can see I am part of an infertility group. If they ask I will let them know. In fact I talked about our infertility to one of my 'friends' after she told me some tough stuff from her life. When she replied to my message she skipped the IF part." It was a sweet, sad side of reconnection.

Roundup to the Roundup: Twitter questions for those who twitter. Roadies. The IComLeavWe descriptions. Oh, and check back Saturday night/Sunday for Show & Tell. Josh made me business cards (a long story) and you will crack up when you see them.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Re: "roadie" -- not a term I've heard here, but "one for the road" is taken literally as MO open container laws aren't federally compliant & only apply to the driver. So it's not unusual to have a cooler on board so that passengers can have a drink on the way to drink some more (e.g., bachelor/ette parties, BBQs, maybe even a baby shower if you happen to be dealing with infertility *cough*).

chicklet said...

I've just started twittering and I put it on my blog so people could follow there instead of at stupid twitter. I did it though cuz I'm going on vacation for a month and thought I might be able to do two-sentence posts through that, instead of trying to do full long posts? Don't know, will have to see how it works out.

Io said...

I have no clue about Twitter. It's somewhere near the bottom of my understanding.

I have heard the term roadie - it's illegal here, I'm pretty sure. But I like Ellen's idea of where to use it.

I'm sorry I used too many words! If you say it really quickly it is like one word though...poassbroke

Natalie said...

I rarely reply to things I read on twitter... I kind of just listen.

Tracy said...

We also call a roadie a roadsoda...same thing. Normally my roadie would be a margarita or vodka-something, but these days it's caffeine free diet coke. Whoooo I am craaaaazy!

I'm with you. Fireworks? But what about the parking? And the traffic? And the no bathrooms? Can't we just watch them on TV? Surprisingly my husband agrees this year. We are getting old.

He came home from the grocery store the other day and shouted happily, "Hey! Milk was two gallons for $5!!!" He stopped. Thought a moment. Then said, "You know you're all grown up when THAT gets you excited."

It has happened.

Julybug said...

I can understand about that person's "friend" skipping the hard news about her infertility in their response... just got one of those last night, along with news that that friend is expecting a second child any day now with his wife. Thanks for giving me your freaking good news on the baby front, and not even acknowledging that we're having trouble and need lots of good thoughts/prayers... ugh.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the mention lolipops! ;)

Lauren said...

I'm from the south and I can honestly say I've never heard that definition for roadie. To me it was always some one who traveled with a band, but hey, maybe I'm just not in "the know".

I'm learning to Twitter too and actually was already following you. Evidentally you were saved in my gmail addresses and it picked you up! YAY! LOL Hopefully I can figure out how to do it right.

Samantha said...

I'm not really a twitter person, as of yet. I just feel like I have enough stuff to keep up with IRL and on the computer, twitter just seems like one more thing. Maybe I'll be convinced.

Never heard the term "roadie."

Anonymous said...

hey there - lindaloohoo here.
thanks so much for the shout out and for sharing in my joy.
i know how hard that is sometimes, so i appreciate it extra, with a cherry on top :-)
if i had to condense two words down into one, today's word would be 'lollipopilicious'
how did i do?
i was all excited about twitter and signed up. so far i think i've only posted three times. cause it's always broke. damn. cause i'm pretty good at thinking in terms of 140 characters or less. not that you could tell that from this comment though.
and a roadie means something completely different to me. it means the guys you have to sleep with if the band is busy.
although, your roadie and my roadie kind of go hand in hand.
cause usually doing a roadie requires ALOT of roadies first, if you know what i mean.
allegedly.
happy fourth of july!

Sunny said...

Do you know how much I love you? You made my day! AND YEP I think it is a smart thing. teeheehee. I actually learned of this term from a friend. She was the queen of roadies~!

Bea said...

Another great round-up. Although I have never heard the term "roadie". And I cannot keep up with Twitter, although I just clicked through and started following you anyway. I might get the hang of it sooner or later.

Bea

Sue said...

I have to laugh...southern by birth, but now living in the midwest, the concept of a "roadie" is one I am all too familiar with. However, we refer to them as "go cups"--as in to-go cups. But, in true southern fashion, you have to drop part of the phrase (word, whatever...)!

Wishing 4 One said...

I thought of screaming girls following rock bands, I know they are called groupies, but I thought of them when I read the word roadie. Thats a new definition for me- I like it though and may just start using it for my non-alcohol drinkin self.

Can u break twitter down, in less than 5 sentences....I know I can google it, but don't want to. Thanks Lolli!!!