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And now for the footnote: I heard about some online tools that help with citations, bibliographies, and other research helps. One was Zotero. Zotero is a Firefox 3 plugin that helps you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. I installed it and gave it a whirl. Easy. I also tried out Easybib, which is what I used to create the professional looking citations that I use below, following the quote from each blog. Another tool I learned about is Noodle Tools. I was so happy with Easybib, I never got around to trying out Noodle Tools. If I was researching something extensive, Zotero would be a big help.
OK. That was the footnote. Now, on with the actual story.
I recently subscribed to BlogHer's social media and technology RSS feed. (You can subscribe, too.) When a new blogger joins BlogHer and classifies her blog as being about social media/tech, her blog gets mentioned in thw RSS feed. I love this RSS stuff. I love it because I've been finding some really interesting new blogs to read and follow.
Kim Weiss writes about writing, books, publishing and book PR on her blog. She recently talked about writers who can't get started writing:
My prescription: the morning pages ala The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Each morning, before any activity takes place, even before that cup of Italian Roast, write. Write with no rules. No judgement. With complete abandon.
Write for about four notebook size pages, nonstop. Don’t even go back and read what you wrote. Just write like your life depended on it.
Because it just might. Writing like this EVERY day for a few weeks will surprise you. Things will come out that you didn’t know you had inside. You may even find some questions answered but what I do know, is that this practice will loosen up something creative in you. Even non-writers can benefit in other areas of their lives by doing their morning pages.
OK. Here comes the cool, scholarly citation info for Kim's blog that I made with Easybib:
Weiss, Kim. "The Morning Pages: Write Like Your Life Depended on It." Kim Weiss Talks Books and Beyond. http://helpmewithmybook.com/blog/2008/08/the-morning-pages-write-like-yo....
MLA, APA, pick your style. Bibliography or footnote. Handy? Indeed.
Next I found a site called Women Wired In, belonging to DigitalSista. She talked to some T-mobile folks at BlogHer08 and got on their mailing list for a report about cell phone and teens. Here's a bit of what she learned:
Wireless companies were selling safety to moms without disclosing the new dangers that lurk with the addition of cell phones like cyber bullying, abuse of texting, pictures and videos. Some have come up with creative ideas and contracts for parents to in helping them manage cell phone concerns, including the risks. Parenting Teens Contracts: Cell Phone Use is a great example of what parents should consider in their decisions.
Sprint teamed up with Disney, Cingular got the Firefly, and now T-mobile has family allowances. Each offered parents a little something to make them feel better about giving their children cell phones. Control over the minutes used, blocking some services, being able to call predetermined numbers but not others and a few other features.
DigitalSista. "Teens, Cell Phones and the Wireless Goldrush." Women Wired In. http://www.womenwiredin.com/2008/08/teens-cell-phones-goldrush/.
I just bought a great album by Catherine Russell called Sentimental Streak. Catherine sounds like something from 70 years ago in New Orleans—like Bessie Smith or Louis Armstrong—some bawdy blues queen talking 'bout how she can't do without her kitchen man. I love the old, swinging, blues and jazz. But I'm an old fogey, let's face it. (Singer Catherine Russell, on the other hand, is definitely not an old fogey.) You may want a younger and more with-it music critic. Someone exactly like Liz Frith at Blisslist, who likes The National.
I simply cannot ignore this recently-discovered post on Stereogum. Apparently, The National have been performing a new song called "A Thousand Black Cities." A NEW SONG. High five!
I have to post this clip, even if the sound quality is simply horrid. And then I will fret some more over whether or not to drive 8 hours to the Street Scene Festival in SD next month. It's a soul-crushing decision and I have been mulling it over for weeks—only $85 to see The National, Spoon, The New Pornographers, Vampire Weekend, Hot Chip, Devotchka, TV on the Radio, and more. If I end up being MIA on September 19, just take a lucky guess where I ended up....
Frith, Liz.
