Saturday, April 30, 2011

The Wedding, as Tweeted by Me

I never would have thought I'd be on Twitter, much less tweeting about the royal wedding of Wills and Kate - but it was nice, given that I was at home with Jody on our couch, to feel like we weren't the only two people watching. I made tea, cucumber sandwiches, and curried egg sandwiches, and we toasted the couple.


 jzgarnett


Nearly missed the first glimpse of  in her dress b/c Jody chose tonight to rip apart TV and other cables 

In reply to my friend KF, who tweeted: Advanced Hair Pro William. Speak to Warney after,  Better a balding husband than one with big ears. 

John Rutter has composed a song with lyrics from Psalms for the Westminster choir - what a lovely wedding gift

It's ok to transform your partner, but don't try to reform them - wise words. This address is very nice. # royalwedding


In reply to my friend KF, who tweeted: YEE. I heard the word YEE. And now doth. THIS WEDDING IS THE BEST. Thou! Oh man. THEE.Don't forget TROTH

What is up with Princess Beatrice's hat? 

Now that's what I call a carriage  

Waiting for the balcony kiss. It better not be on the cheek,

Two little kisses, and now the flypast.  

 couple interviewed by ch 7 - he flubbed his words, "It's a once in a moment lifetime."  

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Bait & Switch

Dear readers,

I'm not sure how many of you there are these days - I know I have some lurkers - but if you have a minute, could you comment below or send me a message? I have changes in mind for my wallflower of a blog and I'd like some input.

At the recommendation of a few friends in my MLIS program, I checked out WordPress, and a username that matches my new Twitter account was available. I've registered with WP but am trying to decide whether to:

abandon Blogger altogether
mirror content on both blog sites
start a new WP blog and continue on Blogger

Is WordPress the way to go? Maybe...I might still decide to stay with Blogger but get a new location (and let juliapoet.blogspot expire) that suits me more. Stories? Yes. Essays? Yes. Poetry? Haven't written any in a long time, unless you count song lyrics.


I don't really want to start a second blog if my first isn't even being read but in part, I write for myself, so if I feel there's enough content for two I may do so. I guess I'm asking what content my readers do and don't want to see - what would be enough to tempt them to follow my ramblings here, or on WordPress.

Are my posts too long? Too personal? Not enough pictures? Too boring or uninteresting? I've been trying to update four times a month so the content here on Randomly Yours isn't stale, but, as the name suggests, I'm not a stickler for what type of personal updates I post.


The WP blog, then, will likely have stricter guidelines for its content. As part of launching my career as a (specialty to be decided later) librarian, I intend to build up my online presence, in particular my professional and library-related profile. Sure I love to cook and take photos of my gastronomical successes, but that doesn't have a place on a library-related blog. *Edit: I intend to get web hosting.


Do you have any tips for me, or ideas for how to shape the content and format of a new blog? Do you have experience in creating your own professional/career-related online presence? Would you be sad if I let Randomly Yours go? What would it take for you to follow me over to WordPress or a new Blogger home? Let me know.

Randomly Yours,
Julia

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Power

Power is one of those English words that I wish had a wider vocabulary, like 'love' in Greek. Dictionary definitions run the gamut from political authority to energy or exerted force to strength and ability. For a word to be used in so many contexts is frustrating to new English speakers and bothersome for writers (and librarians). If you take a moment, I'm sure you'll think of a variety of ways we use the word power. Here's some I came up with:
  • Political - "in power"
  • Rights movements - "empowered"
  • Car ads - "powerful engine"
  • Sports - "power play"
  • Faith - "power of the Holy Spirit"
  • Business - "power words, power suits"

It struck me that many of these uses are worthless unless there is belief behind the power. Stay with me, I do have a point - or at least some thoughts. See, if politicians can't gather people to believe in his/her ability to lead, they won't come into power. And if you believe a cause isn't worthy of a fight, how is it empowering to stand up for your rights?
Read more »

Monday, April 18, 2011

Cinema boredom

Can I just say, blech.
It's nearly Easter holidays and the weather is drizzly, so I thought of what I might see at the movies. The choices at my local cinema find me somewhere between bored and disgusted. Let me run it down for you:

Fast and the Furious 5
Vin Diesel and Dwayne The Rock Johnson. And cars. Take 5.

Paul
I do love Simon Pegg, but I'd rather just watch Hot Fuzz again. Tell me if you see it and there was more to know than what they've shown in the trailers. I hate when they reveal the whole plot in the trailers.

Mars Needs Moms
What is this? Nevermind.

Justin Bieber Never Say Never (2D and 3D)
I have no interest in the Biebs.

Rio (2D and 3D)
A bird who can't fly...I momentarily thought of Happy Feet and a penguin who had no heart song. But they got great voices, and it looks fun! I'll skip the 3D.

Hop
This looks great! Who cares about James Marsden, but the animation looks good, and they got Russell Brand to voice EB. Have I mentioned how much I love Despicable Me?
Read more »

Monday, April 4, 2011

Down the wire

I've been reading and thinking about communication lately. I had an assignment to speak to an information professional, for instance, and I learned that intuition and communication were prized tools in management. It got me thinking about how I will apply what I'm learning in a corporate or academic environment, and what I can do to improve my own communication skills. For starters, I'm trying to keep up this blog with an average of 4 posts a month. That's the goal, anyway. Secondly, I joined Twitter, but to keep my freakout quotient down, so far I'm just following uni cohorts and library-related accounts.

I still get excited when there's a new e-mail in my box, like I used to when I got snail mail addressed to me. If you know anyone who's deployed, or is constantly relocated, correspondence is gold. I kept shoeboxes of letters sent from my penpals for years while my family was overseas. Now I just re-read my e-mails when I'm lonely or feeling out of touch, and it's not quite the same thing as seeing your friend's handwriting.


I rarely get anything in the mailbox now but bills, real estate ads and pizza coupons*, but I use my cell/mobile phone throughout the day. I'm sure I use it more for text messages, social media, and e-mail than actual phone calls. Sometimes I'm even surprised when it rings!

How about you? How do you like to communicate? Over a cup of tea, on the phone, with Skype? Do you think our communication skills have suffered under the influence of social media?

Should we be worried, or is this just a natural progression, and our skills are simply becoming more diverse? Is the immediacy of digital communication a bonus or just another way of tying us to our devices?

On a more contentious note - are your family members part of your online experience, or do you try to keep family and friends in separate spheres? How about the older generations in your family? Some of mine have e-mail and nothing else - I'm quite proud of them for learning that, but I still send paper cards for special occasions because an e-card just doesn't seem to cut it. Others don't even have a computer, and I admit I could be better at sending them letters to keep them in the loop.


Today on facebook I came across a survey that asked which 3 out of 100 websites I visited daily, and mine were facebook, Twitter and Gmail. It struck me that all three are related to communication... I suppose that shows I value keeping up with people. But how personal is personal communication when it's mostly text and intangible attachments?

*Edit - My family and close friends keep in touch via e-mail, Skype and facebook for the most part, but they also send me birthday and holiday cards and the occasional care package - often with chocolate.