NaBloPoMo Cometh

National Blog Posting Month begins on Sunday!  Eeeeeeeeeek!

Are you ready?  Am I ready?  I am decidedly unready, but I will pull up my bootstraps and suck it up and do this thing.  I am blogger, hear me roar!

*giggles*

First call for NaBloPoMoers

Are you ready for some NaBloPoMo?!! 

I know, I know.  It’s still September.  National Blog Posting Month (aka NaBloPoMo) isn’t until November, but maybe this year, we need to work up to it, save up some blog topics, write posts ahead of time.

NaBloPoMo is the challenge of writing a post every day for the entire month of November.  I find it to be a wonderful exercise in writing as well as self-expression, where I actually hit POST and publish something that might otherwise stay behind the scenes…and it’s always worked out for the better that way.  I don’t remember if it was Henri Nouwen or Parker Palmer…or C.S. Lewis…who said that when we share those things we are most reluctant to share, those things we think nobody will understand (or care about), we actually touch others’ hearts most deeply.  (I think it was Nouwen — anyone happen to know?)

So, will you join me?  Will you NaBloPoMo?  Not ready to sign up for the full thing, then maybe you could invent the half-NaBloPoMo (writing alternate days, perhaps?).  I love, love, love blogs that are updated often (presuming the content is personal and not links or politics!).

I’d love to know what you have to say every day! 

NaBloPoMo: Friday First Assignments

Alrighty, so here are the Friday First topics for November.  Take ‘em or leave ‘em!  *laughs*  You absolutely do not have to answer every question within the topics — they are just some extra prompts.

November 7th — First Experience with E-mail
When was it, through what “service”, who did you write to, any funny stories.

November 14th — First Time You Felt Grown Up (if ever! *giggles*)
How old were you, what were the circumstances.  (Thanks Denise for this idea — you get extra credit! *smiles*)

November 21st — First Big Purchase
“Big” is in the eye of the beholder and a little relative, of course, but when was the first time you felt like you were spending a LOT of money on something.

November 28th — First (You Choose)
Write about whatever First in your life that you’d like to share.  Some ideas:  first day of school or college, first crush, first car, first apartment, first time voting!

And that’s it!  Can’t wait for November!!

Let’s Get Ready to NaBloPoMo!

Only one week left until National Blog Posting Month!  Several people from my blogroll, plus some friends of the blogroll, are participating.  And someone suggested that all of us write about the same topic once each week, but nobody suggested topics.  I have topics coming out my ears and can come up with some (you may be writing about math and gymnastics then!), but we still have time to make a list.

One idea that I have is we could do Friday Firsts, and come up with a unique list of “Firsts” that people could write about (my first idea was to write about your first experience with e-mail — where did you have it, who did you write to, funny stories, etc.).  There are only four Fridays in November, so anyone got three other interesting, universally applicable and not too personal firsts?  *giggles*

And for people who don’t think they can come up with topics for every day for NaBloPoMo, here are some quick ideas for posts (in addition to stuff that is, you know, actually going on in your life):  photos, quotes, childhood stories (about your friends, favorite activities, worst memories, best memories, favorite Christmas gift, favorite trip, career aspiration you had as a child), stories your family tells about you, people you idolized growing up (could be famous or not), what’s on your frig, pet peeves, links to your favorite stuff online, etc.  Plus, we have election day and Thanksgiving in November, and posts about those write themselves!  We could also do guest spots on each other’s blogs if need be – I’m happy to write about/for any of you who I actually know (…but not every day!) — or someone in your family could write a guest spot (like your kids could do it – that would be fun!).

So, join the fun!  It’s easier than you think!  It’s good for your brain!  It’s calorie-free!  LOL!

—

Silly side note re my title today:  At the gymnastics meets that I go to every winter, they start the meet by dimming the lights, having spotlights dance all over the arena, and starting the “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!” music.  People who haven’t been to the meets before just about fall over laughing!  Rumble?  At a gymnastics meet?

Will you NaBloPoMo with me?

I decided this morning that I will participate in National Blog Posting Month again in November.  NaBloPoMo is basically a commitment to post a new blog entry every day for the month of November.  My buddies Jenn and Heather did it last year, and I suspect they may do it again (yes?), but it would be fun to know more people who are participating as well.  Amie?  Anelie?  Kathryn?  The Mother of Kathryn?  Anyone want to join the fun?  You can do it!!!

Inquiring minds

My friend Kathryn asked a couple of big blog-related questions in the comments a few days ago, and here are my answers…

How do you come up with topics for posts?

I’m not sure I’m a good person to ask this question because, as a writer by nature and by schooling (one of my degrees was in writing), I don’t really have problems coming up with topics.  And it’s just my personality to observe everything and to think almost everything is interesting, so I write about it.  (Whether other people think they are interesting is another matter… Ha!)

A few tips though for those with writer’s block…

(1) Try to usually stick to one topic per post.  I see so many posts that are multi-topiced (how do you like that word?!) that could have been a week’s worth of posts because everything was so rich.  So, if you have seven different thoughts, write them all in separate posts and save some for a rainy day.  Almost nothing is too small to be its own post.

(2)  When in doubt, go backwards.  You have a long past that wasn’t recorded on your blog, so write about it.  What were your favorite childhood times and trips?  What do you remember about school and about your neighborhood?  What traits in your child self do you still see show up in your life?

(3)  Start a weekly feature.  Could be Photo Friday or Medical Monday or Silly Saturday.  I find it really easy to come up with topics under a theme.

Do you keep a private journal in addition to your blog?

At this point, my private journal (handwritten) is updated only sporadically.  I like to keep a journal, and when I really make a point to do it, I’m good at keeping it updated.  I always wish, in retrospect, that I had journal entries written daily because it’s interesting to go back and read what I was thinking, what I was worried about, etc., at times in the past.  So often, I’ll be reading my old journals and think, “Gosh, I don’t even remember being worried about that!”  It helps me put things in perspective too, knowing that today’s worries will probably be forgotten sometime too (then things don’t feel so huge).  I am planning to keep a private, handwritten journal through my upcoming graduate studies.  There is a lot that goes in my life and in my head that I wouldn’t put on a blog, mostly for privacy reasons, so it’s good to have somewhere that’s safer to be more open.

Is the blogosphere dying?

So many of the blogs that I frequent (much more than my blogroll would indicate) are mostly silent these days.  And several blogs that I either read or know of have suddenly gone private, allowing only authorized readers to join in.  I’m not sure I’ve seen a new blogger really flourish for quite some time.  Has the blog world — or at least the world of personal blogs — run its course?  An interesting question.  From where I sit, it looks like that may be so.

I decided some time ago that I’ll probably take my blog down next year.  I never intended to blog long-term, and I know that if you want to have a serious professional life, it’s better if your private life isn’t out there for all the world to see.  (And besides which, how much more could I possibly have to say??  I’m not that talkative!)  But, my decision had nothing to do with the blogosphere in general, and I’m curious as I watch things changing and wonder what’s up.  Have people run out of hot topics, good discussions, enlightening stories?  Have we done all the memes, taken all the quizzes?  Have we seen it all, read it all?  Have we gotten what we needed from the blogosphere (a sense that we’re all connected and not alone)?

Any thoughts?

NaBloPoMo Sisters

We made it!  An entire month of daily posting.  Hugs and high fives to Jenn, Heather, and Hillary from my very short blogroll who met the NaBloPoMo challenge!  Heather and I post most days anyway, but it was an especially special treat to read so many posts (often more than one in a day!) from Jenn whose blog had been more quiet in recent months but who is a wonderful writer and person.  Go Jenn!

Every so often, people do a little blog survey to find out who is reading and why they stop by.  My answer for why I read certain blogs — and why they are on my blogroll — is often that the blogger posts often!  That’s a huge draw for me!  The blog has to be at least somewhat interesting to me too (I don’t read political blogs, for example, or blogs that are just full of links to other things), but mostly if it’s updated often, I’ll go back.  I like reading blogs.  I think they bring out a certain quality of sharing of the small details of our lives that people sometimes don’t mention in conversation but that make me think, “Hey, me too!” when I read about those small details in someone else’s life.

So, happy end of NaBloPoMo!  I only had a couple of days when I had a really hard time figuring out anything to say, but it’s been fun.  Now I’ll take December off from writing.

Just kidding!  *grins*

Ode to NaBloPoMo

Once upon a time
there was a girl from the midwest.
She signed up for NaBloPoMo
so her blog could never rest.

But then came a Tuesday
where she graded all day long,
and when she sat to write a post
her brain just worked all wrong.

She didn’t want to drop out now
and she knew she couldn’t owe ‘em,
so she sat down at her computer
and instead wrote a poem.

Boo and NaBloPoMo

Happy Halloween!! 

I’ll miss the trick-or-treaters tonight because I’ll be teaching, but I usually only get a couple of them anyway.  I hope that at least one of my students or colleagues is dressed up so that it at least feels like Halloween!

* * *

Tomorrow is the beginning of NaBloPoMo.  What, you ask?  It is National Blog Posting Month, and the mission (if you choose to accept it), is to write a blog post every day for the entire month of November.  I post most days anyway, but I will be committing to the NaBloPoMo mission this year.  Two folks on my blogroll — my friend Jenn and a Canadian teacher named Hillary — are participating.  Anyone else want to join in the fun?  There is an official website if you want to be all official about it (just do a search for NaBloPoMo).