Final - Thing 23

Even though SAPL's 23 Things debuted in last fall I was very late to the party, for a number of reasons.

About a year or so ago I looked at a 23 Things program offered by another library system. The organizers posted it to a listserv. As I mentioned in a previous post one of the things was exploring Second Life ... not my cup of tea. I was glad to see that wasn't one of SAPL's 23 things, but still, RSS and Tecnorati and such sounded like too much strain on my brain. Then there's the whole issue of blogging. About a zillion people have blogs, and many of them are the virtual equivalent of telling a total stranger standing in the grocery store line some of the most intimate and personal details of life. Way, way TMI.

When Didi sent out a reminder and notice of the extension I thought I'd at least give it a try because I like Didi and I want to be supportive on her project. It didn't take long until I was totally and completely hooked on maintaining my blog, playing around with my photos, ready to use Google Docs, checking out the new stuff on other people's blogs. I gotta have gadgets and I need more widgets.

This whole 23 Things process has been a total blast! Part of the reason for my reluctant to join early was that I wasn't sure I had enough time and attention to learn that many new things. Maybe I was a little intimidated even. I'm fairly techno savvy, but still ... After 23 Things, I still don't have an expert's grasp of a few of the subjects I at least now have a working knowledge of them - enough to be able to better my skills with practice. I even added NPR's podcast to my Blackberry!

The experience has been enjoyable and very benefical on both professional and personal levels.

Would I attempt a similar program again? Yes, and I wouldn't wait so long to jump onboard.

Thanks!

Ah, blogging - Thing 3 & Thing 4

Maybe because - by nature - I am an introvert, but blogging has never really appealed to me.

It is a great tool to use when you're involved with a committee. You can toss up an idea to your fellow committee members (read bloggers) and post minutes or ask questions that need answers quickly. Yahoo Groups was a bit of a forerunner in this realm in that you could post comments, ideas, etc. and send emails to fellow participants.

I Googled blogs and found Google Blog Search. Clicking there brought up a list of various blogs on various topics. There are 160 blogs that discuss New York Gov. David Paterson's decision to name Kirsten Gillilbrand to the U.S. Senate, and the announcement came just a few hours before. Kelly Osbourne heading back to rehab is mentioned on 39 blogs. The fact that President Obama headlined several Italian newspapers was the subject of 16 blogs.

Some people simply copy and paste news stories found on various news agencies' websites. The ones that truly confound me are the people who post the minutiae of their lives on the World Wide Web.