And this is my life....

At least, according to my husband, who claims I am obsessed with blogging and fish fries.

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying my vacation blogging, going to fish fries and reading goodies on the internet, in addition to the behind the scenes work of running a household--such as cooking, making beds and doing the laundry. Ahh, the excitement seeps into my life here and there, and ultimately, vacation is a fun thing to do. I recommend it highly throughout the year.

Here are a few interesting things I've encountered around town and on the internet recently.

Star Trek Fans 'Getting their Kirk On' from www.nytimes.com
All I have to worry about is stereo equipment, thankfully, this chair will never grace my living room.

Young and old are facing off for jobs (also www.nytimes.com)
I'm having deja vu all over again reading this article, but thankfully, I have not graduated recently. I'm just crossing my fingers that all those old nurses don't try to come and get their jobs back on my unit!

Richardson saw doctors hours after fall (www.nytimes.com)
They call the first hour following any trauma "the golden hour", which makes this story even more troubling. As a rehab nurse, I can only hope it will make more people aware of the potential for traumatic brain injuries, even with innocent-looking bumps to the head.

And yes, the really important stuff...
Did you know that they're filming a new movie here in St. Louis? Why yes, they are and George Clooney happens to be the star of Paramount's upcoming Up in the Air.

While I was out and about this week, I saw the "snow" at Affton High School (it looked pretty impressive since it didn't melt at 80F...it was shredded paper according to some reports. Another day, I saw a caravan of Paramount trailers. Who knows...one was probably George's, rolling down Gravois and turning to go north on I-55. Nevertheless, it doesn't take much to entertain St. Louisans before spring actually shows up.

Another Sunday Stealing classic - meme on blogs

The Meme About Memes & Blogging

How do you feel about being tagged for memes?
Personally, it doesn't bother me in the least.

Do you participate in any regular weekly memes? Which ones?
No. I would if I had the time. Sometimes blogging weekly is difficult. I have two other blogs I write for besides this one (see the sidebar), and lately it's been challenging.

Have you found any bloggers that you began to read regularly after participating in a meme with them?
No, not exactly, but I have read blogs I wouldn't normally read because of some memes.

Do you know of any readers who found you through a meme and became regular readers?
No.

Did you find any favorite blogs through comments or blogrolls on others’ blogs?
Yes, I do all the time. I love reading comments and then checking a blog. It's fascinating stuff.

Did you find any favorite blogs from someone else’s recommendation?
Yes, I have.

If you comment on someone’s blog, do you expect a response? If so, do you prefer that response to come through an e-mail, a comment from them on the same post, or a a comment on your blog?
No. Sometimes I subscribe to comments, but most often, I do not. I'll check the posts out later if I go back at a future date.

Do you ever struggle with your blogging “voice”?
Yes, I started this blog on a lark, when "blog" really was a foreign word, even for someone in an internet-oriented job like mine. I developed it further when I was looking for a specific internet job. I didn't get it (I was one of the finalists), so I only blogged sporadically.

Then 2006 rolled around after I had successfully launched and run http://www.stbonifaceonline.com/ once the parish had closed. I started that blog and posted daily for a little over a year. Traffic picked up and I developed the very popular Ultimate Fish Fry Compendium. I then realized I needed to come back to this blog and have fun bouncing stuff around, since it had been a while since I was managing any sort of real web content of my own that was fun and fluffy.

By May of 2006, I was in nursing school and this was just the diversion I needed when I wasn't ripping my hair out in between class, clinicals, studying and chasing a little kid around the house.

Since graduation in 2007, I've been busy working, but I love messing around here. It is a lot of fun. I started my own tech-oriented nursing blog, IT RN because I couldn't find anything like it anywhere else.

Are there certain types of blogs that attract you?
I read all sorts of stuff, related to my current and former jobs, as well as all sorts of general things.

I read and get the idea of a blog usually in the first page and from the About section. A really good About section gets me to come back, because it gives me some background on the blog to understand it.

Are there certain types of blogs that repel you?
Not really. I'll read anything once. I don't appreciate the texter (r u 2 gr8) spelling stuff. I appreciate authentic American English standard grammar for the most part. (I say American, so those non-American English speakers don't give me trouble...I love English in whatever localization I get it!)

What time of day do you usually blog?
Whenever I have a free moment at home. I follow the rule of never blogging at work. I've got enough to do there...that's why they call it work!

Do your family and friends know about your blog? Do they read it? Do they mind if you mention them? Do they suggest posts for it?
Yes, they know about it. Some read it, some don't.

No one has accused me of revealing any family secrets (yet!), nor have they objected to me mentioning them. I use pseudonyms whenever I can. Occasionally, I get a post suggestion, but not too often.

An interesting perspective

This article from www.nytimes.com talks about women who blog and the blogher conference held recently in San Francisco.

It makes me ponder a few things about how all this works. I blog myself for entertainment. I also maintain other blogs for work-related and hobby purposes.

I took a short vacation from my blogs this weekend (because I purposely left town without my laptop), and I will continue to do the same for a bit until I decide what my real purpose is for this blog. Any suggestions are welcome, even if they aren't used.

More later...