Red Shoe Ramblings

Over at Create a Connection this week, Charlotte is hosting the Getting to Know You feature and she wants to know more about our blogging habits. So here we go…

When did you begin your first blog and what inspired you to do so?

I started blogging in mid-February of 2005, mostly because my friends Julie and Dara kept telling me I’d like it. I was skeptical. I was a member of several email lists and bulletin boards (still am, for that matter, although I am definitely not as active on them as I was before I started blogging) and I really didn’t see at first what having a blog could give me that I couldn’t get elsewhere. But those two had talked me into new projects in the past that had turned out to be interesting, fun, or both (NaNoWriMo 2004 anyone?) so I decided to give it a shot.

They were right and I was wrong.

Do you have more than one blog? Why? How are they different?

I have two, although one is really just a duplicate of part of my main blog (this one). I have one I called RSR: 365 Days of Art where I post only my Daily Art Thangs - no explanations, descriptions, or other writing. I like having someplace I can scroll through and look at just those photos all in one place without any other distractions.

How would you characterize your blog?
Creative
Political
Informational
Community-oriented
Or something else?

I’d have to go with Something Else. I kind of think of this as my own little creative and editorial space in the world.

You see, I figured out what blogging gives me that things like email lists or bulletin boards don’t. Those things are group endeavors and usually very topic-specific. Depending on the group, some of them are relatively tolerant about people rambling on about things that are off-topic for the list, while others aren’t tolerant of that at all. But even in the ones that don’t mind a certain amount of off-topic chatter, I always felt like blathering on about any old thing was a bit of an imposition on the group. If they signed up for an email list about quilting, or books, or whatever, they may not WANT to hear about my day not-fishing at the lake. (I know, it shocks me too, but there’s no accounting for taste. :-))

But this blog is MY space (hey, that could be a great name for an online community, yes? snort!) and the only true theme here is “Things that Interest Deb (at least at a single given moment as she’s typing a post).” If people want to read along, comment or discuss, that’s great! I love when that happens. But I don’t feel like I’m imposing on others if my topics are all over the place here because I never promised that the content of this blog would be anything but the ramblings of my quirky brain.

To paraphrase Oprah, what is “one thing you know for sure” about blogging?

That there are as many different types of blogs as there are types of people and if you keep looking you’ll find other people out there with whom you feel a connection.

Is it important to you to get feedback in terms of comments or pings? Why or why not?

Yes. A part of me would really like to say no. I’d like to think I’d keep writing this even if no one read it but me and my immediate family. And maybe I would. But I think comments are a bit of positive reinforcement that someone, somewhere, thinks some of this stuff is interesting. If I feel like people are reading then it reinforces my commitment to keep posting every day. I suspect if I had no comments and no idea who (if anyone!) was out there that I’d post much more sporadically and maybe eventually lose interest in blogging at all.

What 3 blogs would you recommend to our readers and why?
(They don’t have to be blogs you read everyday and CAC is disqualified because everyone would, of course, put it on their list!)

Hhmm, let’s see. Some of my favorites are probably answering these questions themselves so I think I’ll try to name the blogs of some people who don’t usually visit or post at CAC.

Faster Than Kudzu - One of the first blogs that ever hooked me and I still read it regularly. Joshilyn is funny and smart and I love the glimpse into the life of a working, published novelist.

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman - Again with the funny and smart, but this time through the eyes of Ree - a wife, mother, and fabooo photographer who lives on a working cattle ranch.

Michele - This is a sort of “audience participation” blog, where Michele posts anything from silly quizzes to thought-provoking questions on current events, and the real action takes place in the comments as any visitors who want to participate chime in with their answers and opinions.

Thanks, Charlotte. That was fun!

Lia is hosting Photo Thursday at CAC and this week she asked us to show our shades. So here ya go:

I know this is probably not quite what she had in mind, but I like it. This was a self-portrait I took on the lake Wednesday. I didn’t like how the pic turned out overall, but I love how I can see so much of what’s going on in the lenses of my sunglasses. This one is definitely better viewed larger if you want to click on it.

And here’s today’s DAT, another lake shot:

” ‘ello, Ducks!” (also clickable)