A Digital Migration; A Physical Migration

Greetings.

I know it's been very quiet here on Sandying. So you'll have to excuse me.  I have important news to share.

First, if you follow me on Facebook, you may already know the big physical change.  I'm moving to the Berkshires at the end of the summer!  I will soon be the residence director of the Thai massage school I studied at earlier this year.

That said, I've had a digital change in progress for quite some time.  My blog is moving to my new digital home: SandyKalik.com.  Come visit me there.  This will be my last post on Sandying.

Thanks for reading!
Sandy

The Consistency of Should

I really should practice yoga every day.  I really should write more, blog more, participate more.  In yoga, in social media, in pretty much every sector of my life (personally and professionally, and in all the places that overlaps), I've noticed that I should / could / ought to do more. 

When I think about it, I tell myself that consistency is the big challenge.  And it's something people often write about in reference to branding, blogging, and pretty much everything else.  So clearly this search for consistency is a human endeavor. 

But I'm pretty weary of the word should.  Should usually tells me something funny is going on.  Should usually indicates some sort of judgment call, some sort of negative judgment. 

When I say I should do this, be it practice yoga or write a blog post, what I'm really doing is judging myself for doing (or for the inclination to do) the opposite.  When I say they / he / she should do this, even if it's probably a good idea (like wearing a helmet while riding a bike), I'm usually judging the fact that the person or group of people is doing the opposite.  

Why is it that should seems to be the more reliable constant? 

Silence is Golden, Except When Blogging

Quiet feels so nice these days. Between running from here to there, keeping up surface-level connections with acquaintances and handling the personal necessities (eating, sleeping, etc.), silence really does feel like a coveted precious metal or gem.

I find I'm outwardly quiet when I'm keeping secrets -- though that doesn't last very long -- when I'm unsure about something or weighing options, and when I'm content. I have a lot more to talk about when I'm raising complaints, sharing issues, or looking for answers. Disease is fodder for conversation. Contentment doesn't yearn to be understood. It just is.

It's funny that the state of being content and the thing this blog is lacking lately (content) are represented by the same word. What can I say, synonyms amuse me.

Although I still find myself in that pleasantly calm place, I will be aiming to write more.

Sorting Through Drafts

The other day, my pal on Twitter Leah Jones said she deletes more drafts on her personal blog than she publishes. She was talking about how she doesn't blog much anymore, but she got me thinking. I've had this blog since 2007, and I have my fair share of drafts that I never got finished.

I've got 30 some odd drafts that never made it to the finish line. And I'm thinking that sounds like a pretty great way to spend a Sunday. So if you happen to see a post that looks off topic, or seems out of context, look for an "original date" notation... I'm going to go through those old half posts, update them and queue 'em up for publication!

Wahoo! Cleaning house starts with my blog. Ha!

The above photo is from tellumo's Flickr stream.

Stepping It Up a Notch

I'm sure you've all noticed that I've been quiet these passed few months. On this blog, and on twitter, I've been a little more removed.

As much as I'd like to say that I'm comfortable with a tell all, leave no stone unturned approach for this blog, let's face it: that's not me. I'm a little to introspective to share the juicy bits of my career and personal life, and maybe a little too honest about both of those things to stay out of trouble... So instead, I think it's time I come to terms with the fact that I'm a tell some kind of girl.

You've seen this post in various forms over the past few months. I've talked about struggling to find my voice, changes in focus, conflict (indirectly of course), new goals, etc. Well, I'm a little bit of a lot of things, and my new plan for this blog is to share a little bit of me--the things I find interesting, random stuff I've been thinking about... everything from social media to yoga to current events.

Whatever direction that ends up taking me, I'm stepping it up a notch so I can figure it out!

As always, feedback is welcome. :-)

Thinking About Migrating the Blog

Recently, I've been thinking about migrating my blog to WordPress or some other content management system. I hear WordPress is pretty easy to use, but I haven't taken the time to figure it out yet.

Ideally, I'd like to get rid of the dot blogspot dot com, and get some php practice for another long-term idea I have (more on that later).

But tell me, is it worth it?

I'd love to hear thoughts from folks who have done this recently. How long did it take you to get your new blog up and running?

What do you think?

Oh Yeah, I Have a Blog: Certainty of Uncertain Times

I just got a direct message from someone I follow on Twitter (hat tip to a certain broadcasting Canadian for giving me a kind word and an indirect boot in my hind quarters). He wrote that he had just checked out my blog...

Blog. What blog?

(Really, I haven't forgotten that I have a blog. But I imagine it looks like it...)

I'm embarrassed to say I've had a long period of uncertainty about the nature of things. Over-thinking, I've been asking those big "what do you want to do with your life" questions. Irregardless of the fact that there are no answers.

Though I am well aware I stand to benefit from the depth of knowledge available to me via community and social networks, exuding an absence of clarity is far from confidence inspiring. Not exactly what I want to portray to my co-workers, clients, acquaintances or the general public... So I've kept to myself a bit, lest I give myself away. (Don't read too much into that; there are very few finite answers to such issues as identity.)

Last night, I attended an event on social media marketing at Emerson College. One of the smartie panelists pointed out that building a personal brand takes a lot of dedication and commitment to the community. Perhaps part of being a young professional, and thereby part of my personal brand, is being okay with the uncertainty of adulthood?

Catching Fire, Meeting Sasquotch and Other Sports-Related Exploits: Part 1

Part 1: Catching Fire: My Story of the AFC Championship Game

Alright, I'm giving into the requests; I'm going to tell you all how I actually caught myself on fire. I've mentioned the fact that I caught on fire at the AFC Championship game both on this blog and on Twitter. But I haven't shared the how part. So here's the long and short of it.

There were four of us cramped into my car from Newton to Foxboro--me behind the wheel, a middle-aged die hard Pats fan, my boyfriend (a die hard Pats fan just the same, but boyfriend is more interpersonally descriptive) and a mutual friend who was rooting for the other team (we tried not to hold it against him). It was freezing out, so aside from the four of us, there were multiple layers of clothing on all of us and spread around the car there were extra coats, sweaters, gloves and hats. In fact, the middle-aged die hard brought a full body suit to keep warm.

We got to Foxboro with about an hour's worth of time for tailgating. So after the car was parked, we made our way to the tent to get some grub. We passed patriotic and rental RVs, cooking fires and grills of all sizes, and lots of cheap beer, before finding the friends we were looking for.

The tent was full of people slowly moving in all directions to talk, stand by the propane space heaters or get at the food. But by the time we arrived at the tent the cooking was winding down. The chili was almost gone. And there was some chilled American chop suey--it wasn't supposed to be chilled, but when it's twelve degrees out, that happens.

I was leaning over a propane space heater to get at the more food.  But wearing the three layers of pants I had on to keep warm for the game, I couldn't tell I was too close to the space heater.   

From the other side of the tent, someone shouted, "she's on fire." 

That she was me... I was on fire. 

Of course it got put out; otherwise, I probably wouldn't be as jovial about the whole thing.  And the only thing damaged, aside from the pride of the retired firefighter who through wine on me to put the fire out, was my sweatpants and my partially melted fleece.  

Coming soon:
Meeting Sasquotch: My First Beanpot and Social Media
Watching the Super Bowl: Trial of Errors

Morning Epiphany: This is Not a Weekend Blog

The other morning on the way in to work, it suddenly struck me. I'm not a weekend blogger. I come home from work with ideas, from the articles or posts I read or from something a client mentioned, or the home life gives me an idea and I try to type through it before, after or during (lunchtime, folks) work.

I usually do my best writing when it's completely spontaneous--when I get the idea and immediately write it down. Admittedly, that's not always possible and I have three or four unwritten posts on less than news worthy topics and two or three evergreen ideas in the cue.

But the perfect time for writing is when everyone else is asleep (like now) or out. And right know, everyone is asleep.

Got Sick Last Night & Didn't Get This Post Up: Clients and Competitors

Wasn't feeling great last night, but I went to bed with a blog post in mind.

I wanted to talk about blogging on clients' competitor. One of my clients that has yet to launch has a competitor in the space that I'm actually interested in trying. I worry about the ethically issues. If I try it out and write about it--regardless of what I say, there's the possibility of it being taken all wrong and coming back to me in that light. If I right something positive, then I've given a competitor publicity. If I right something negative, it looks like Astroturf.

So clearly, I haven't written about this topic yet. What do you think? Can I review a product or service on my blog knowing it's a client's competitor?

With Twitter Down

I have no one to talk to directly; I don't have instant gratification for my fleeting thoughts. But perhaps that's not a bad thing.

Often times, the links I share through twitter, could also make interesting blog posts. Yet, because I've already shared them, I don't feel the need to write more than 140 characters about whatever the topic of the link was. (Note: I have no intention of creating all link posts--and if I ever do, please feel free to yell at me.)


Hopefully, with Twitter on hiatus, I'll write more shorter posts. Hopefully. Hopefully.

Social Media Buffet

I am one of those people that goes to a buffet with that gotta-eat-my-money's-worth mentality. Sometimes, I'm meticulous about trying each and every tasty looking morsel. Then other times, I pile on the usual favorites (i.e. mashed potatoes) and eat and eat until I'm so overstuffed I can't eat any more. Wait a second. Take a deep breath. Go back for thirds.

There are long periods of time where I avoid buffets all together--either because it's not worth the cost or because it's not healthy.

Social media is a buffet. With the best of technology and relationships, social media allows you to snack and sample (as Jeremiah Owyang suggested), over do it or skip it for more diet friendly options.

Eating healthy in social media requires a balanced diet of community engagement platforms (Facebook, Twitter, a blog, etc) and real-time networking (i.e. human to human time). Knowing that, and putting it to good use are two different things. If social media is a buffet, I fall into the binge and purge pattern of social media consumption--interested, engaged, participating, overloaded--stop. Ignore it all for a little while. Start over.

This seems to be my natural pattern for social media--binge and purge. So I'm looking for good ways to maintain a steady level, while still leaving room for breaks and snacking elsewhere. It feels funny to structure social media into my day--it's not organic to plan for X amount of blog posts or Z amount of time on Facebook or Twitter, etc. What do you think?

So Much for Current Content

I just looked at my blogger cue and my notes from the events I've attended recently and realized I've been bad, well at least as far as social media goes. I've been holding content in the wings, greedily attending events without so much as offering the briefest of hat tips.

So here goes nothing... Since the end of last month, I've attended Podcamp (three or four sessions still left to post on), an event on new media at BU, a PRSA Boston event, Jeff Pulver's Real Time Social Networking, a NEDMA event, and a breakfast with Jeff Pulver and friends. All great events, with great people and better discussion.

Will I get to posting on these events? Hopefully. But I wanted everyone to feel some link love, so I would feel less like the quiet kid from tenth grade English lit--greedily taking in everyone else's thoughts and contributing nothing.

Participating in NaBloPoMo

I'm participating in the NaBloPoMo--National Blog Posting Month, in which you post at least once a day for the entire month of November.

They have a series of entertaining bagdes you can put up on your blog to announce your participation. I liked this one best because it's ridiculous.

Awhile back, I was pointed to this post called "Are You an A-List Bloglebrity?"--it contains a rating scheme based on the (sometimes contested) Technorati ranking and authority. You type in your URL and find out how cool you are in social media terms.

I made the D-list.

At first I couldn't decide if I was proud or embarrassed. But I knew I didn't post enough to move up in the social media ranks.

So let's see that happens if I post once a day for a month. Maybe I'll be a C-list blogger in the end. Maybe I'll be happily typing away and not notice the ranking system. Either way, I'll have posted a lot.

Words that Flutter

Saw the link to this image on a friend's Google chat away message and felt it was worth sharing.

It reminded me that I hadn't posted in awhile and that I haven't given much of myself to my blog (and my readers) lately. The nature of blogging is to share words that flutter through your mind...

Words that flutter. Extraordinary.

I Am Not Unique!

Turns out this blogging thing is quite popular. I launch my blog and a day later the Globe calls Boston the top blog city. How exciting it is to be a statistic!

Apparently, "Greater Boston had 89 posts per 100,000 residents," which beats out all those other wired, tech savvy, well-educated places... How many of those are there anyway?


Jargon Jar: Blog
(I'll have to make a cool graphic for that later.)
The term blog comes from mashing together the words web (i.e. world wide web) and log. A blog is an Internet based journal put out there for all to see. Blogging--the verb meaning to create or maintain a blog-- enables citizen journalism, where anyone can start or join a conversation.

Some blogs now are highly regarded news sites, which initially stirred up a debate on journalistic integrity. Check out TechCrunch or BoingBoing to see examples of popular blogs. It goes both ways however, now traditional media outlets are sponsoring / hosting blogs--these often take the form of digital opinion columns.