BTW, I, too, cannot wait to meet you this summer!

I ask myself all the time why I blog. Ultimately, it is for my own learning. But I can’t help being sucked in to the Technorati thing some times. It feels good when something I’ve written inspires someone else to write about it.

In the end, I can’t write for the ping backs, I have to write from the heart. And the bloggers I like best also write from the heart (like you). You can so tell a “filler” blog post. If you don’t have anything to say, you don’t have to write anything. That is the beauty of blogging. The deadlines are all your own.

-Liz
P.S. You are pretty sassy in person

BTW, I love the photo of you and your cat. I have to tell you, I’m the annoying person who gives commentaries as to what animals and babies would say if they could talk and thought bubbles to family photos. Yours cat looks annoyed and like it would be saying “Would you take the photo already so I can go take a nap!” Sorry I won’t be able to go to NECC this year. Will you be going to the Upstate Technology Conference in June? Maybe we can meet up there?

Cathy, I like what you said about being a Child Advocate. We need more of those for sure.

For some groups, I can see where virtual relationships are more important than face-to-face, at a certain point in time anyway. Some groups (speaking of being a Child Advocate again) don’t yet have the safety to express themselves in a face-to-face way. It shouldn’t be that way, but I don’t control society or make the rules. I can only hope that teenage suicide rates have declined because of the Internet and giving voice to those that continue to be unheard face-to-face.

The blogs and other Web spaces that I enjoy reading the most are the ones where:

- The authors are writing for themselves first and have something to say: a question that they need to resolve, an excitement or doubt that must be explored, a call for participation, etc.
- The blog is no longer trying to be “sticky” keeping readers on their pages as long as possible, but rather collaborative and sharing and promoting other connected web spaces (actually pushing me away from your blog is better to me). I like blogs that say something interestingly unique, then tell me to go somewhere else (and fairly quickly). It should be a launchpoint, part of a connective Web… not an endpoint.
- the author is honest, not manipulative, controlling, sending signals that they are the “expert” on anything.
- there are some visuals included, not all blocks of text. The eyes need some rest and variety, mine do anyway. I think that is why I prefer the Web interface for twitter more than twhirl. I like to see the creative ways that people have personalized their backgrounds and color schemes, rather than seeing the boring blue (or green or red, etc) twhirl box all the time. Variety, visual and content, is good.

So, keep blogging … your authenticity is what is “sticky.”

@Bill and @Pat – Two more SC folks that I’ve developed friendships with! I can’t wait until our paths cross for a f2f meeting. And being from SC, that’s likely to happen sooner than later. Pat, with you in my nw, it’s like having a personal cheerleader.

@Diane and @Carolyn (Futura) you two stretch my thinking almost on a daily basis. SO glad to be able to call you two friends. Also, its extra special that we have a bg in library, so we face similar issues, and I know I can ask those kind of questions to knowledgeable and experienced people who face the same daily tasks I face.

@Julia I will never forget getting to know you at Educbloggercon this last summer. How wonderful it was for our paths to cross again in the IND-PYP.

@Doug AKA The Blue Skunk–you strive to be a little stinker don’t ya-can’t seem to handle compliments very well. That’s okay. Maybe I am striving to be a little stinker too, but hopefully will make a difference along the way.