I have a subscriber! I have a subscriber!

...to a blog that won't get updated anymore...hmm...

I'm a Featured Blog today on the Posterous.com/switch site, and I'm totally psyched! Mostly because these things make me happy.

I switched this blog over from my domain, and it was totally simple. I was using Wordpress, and the hardest part was finding the XML-RPC thing to turn on in WP (FYI, it's under Settings which is the last menu item in the left menu bar, then the submenu Writing, and then the heading Remote Publishing - just check the box).

So while my switching was completely seamless (I had a low-to-moderate amount of posts to transfer and it took like two minutes to complete the process), I won't be updating this blog anymore. I want to keep it as sort of a memorial to what I've written before. In the past, I just sort of dump blogs - they disappear. I don't particularly regret it, but this time I think I might have. I'm going for continuity here.

And since Posterous.com lets you have more than one blog under one account (which is also really easy to do), I've done that. I've even switched around my main blog, changed some subdomains, blog titles - it's all easy!

So if you like me (they like me, they really like me!) and want to keep reading, I've been writing a lot lately.

Idears - my idea blog, where I dump original ideas, other people's ideas, and FML and IMMD posts - all stuff that might make a great story someday. (Remember that Whoopi Goldberg movie where she's got the box of ideas, and then Dianne Wiest takes it and types it all into the computer and indexes it and stuff? Okay, it's not indexed. It's barely tagged. But it's the same thing.)

Off the Beaten Plan: Site B - the continuation of this blog. You may find some of the writing here a little stuffy. You may find the more recent stuff is too informal. If you're leaning towards the stuffy side, Site B is definitely casual. If you're leaning towards too informal, it's more of the same. Sorry, kids.

50K - this is something special. It's a story in first draft form, coming out one "chapter" at a time. Wait, I want to make sure you understand: FIRST DRAFT. When I'm done, I hope to have 50,000 words (I'm a NaNoWriMo freak, what can I say?), and I want to publish it in eBook format (properly edited, of course). Cost to you right now to read my grammatically incorrect, tense-contradicting, run-on-sentencing babble? Zero dollars! Getting to comment on a first-draft and possibly have a say in its outcome if you have a great idea? PRICELESS. ;) This one was private for a bit, but I thought about Seth and Chris, and how things aren't staying the same. This might not be the way they're moving, but it's worth a shot.

So hey! Check out those other sites! And go back to check out the Switch to Posterous page every day for the next 15 - I hear they're announcing a new service every day. You could be the first one to try one of the new ones out!

Completely ready to delete Twitter and Facebook accounts. Blog is next. I'd better go to bed. :)

I was just thinking, I wonder if it ever gets tiring to be Seth Godin, with everyone hanging on your every word and pretty much thinking that everything that comes out of your mouth is gold? Not that it's always like that, but the guy does have a lot of thought-provoking things to say. I've yet to run into someone who thinks he's full of crap. But does that get old? Just thinking out loud. And now that we're talking about Mr. Godin, he had an interesting post today that flows along thoughts I've been having for some time (probably inspired by him):

When does your mind lose the ability to keep up? Then what happens? Is it already happening? from Redoubling to system failure, by Seth Godin

Well for me, yeah. It's completely happening. Not just online - my entire life is too much sometimes - but mostly online. Those people who can put out a blog post and sync its release on Facebook and Twitter using Hootsuite and keep up with every comment and be educated and have time for more research...I want to be like those people, but there's just no way. Those people honestly have made blogging their life - that is their job, and so that makes sense. Me, I'm a woman with a full time (plus some) job and two kids and a husband and a house and a cat even, and the fact that I can even half-ass manage those things and keep up some semblance of a blog and a Twitter and follow a few friends on Facebook - heck, I think that's pretty amazing. But toss in that I also like to watch TV online, and sew a bit, and want to redo my kids' bedrooms this summer, and maybe even lose some weight in all that... You can see where it may be a bit overwhelming. A person has to find their limit of things to focus on, and make those things the best. My things have to be Family, Work, and then Everything Else. It's probably like that for a lot of people. So for all those Mother/Wife/Homemaker types that don't make blogging a full time sport, how do we keep all the other clutter from taking over? A girl has to give up something. Twitter, Facebook, Blog, Squidoo, RSS feeds, News, Television, Movies - it's very hard to draw the line. I love all of them, but they can't all have a place. I think I have some thinking to do. :)

The Public Humiliation Diet: A How-To Huh. You know, I've tried doing this kind of thing before. Here on my blog (maybe not this one, but one of them), throughout other sites, with other programs like Lose It! for the iPhone, but it hasn't worked for me. The public humiliation bit is just humiliating, never really motivating. I tend to like to keep things to myself, but then eventually I give those things up as well. It's a tough sell. It all boils down to determination. How bad do I want it? I guess not bad enough, because my pants size keeps going up, along with my weight I suppose. (I haven't been on a scale in a year, probably.) *sigh* It's all very difficult. Nothing is very easy. (Now I sound like my 7-year-old...heh.) LoseIt! logo from LoseIt.com

I wanted to add a comment to a blog post I read and really enjoyed. But then I read the disclaimer that said (basically) if I didn't say something meaningful, my comment would get deleted. So I didn't say that I think revenge stories that get revenge by being positive and constructive make the best stories. I didn't share that I enjoyed what I read, or that it had meaning to me, because I felt as if I couldn't just say, "Go, you!" If you want to leave a comment that isn't spam but isn't constructive, I don't mind. Just no hating here, please. :) In other news, my Monday wasn't great. I forgot a meeting (BAD, BAD Nicki!), endured some drama, and got a little overwhelmed and confused because of sheer quantity of information, but I survived. Now I'm watching some Avatar and not dwelling on the fact that my sweet, stubborn son took 1.5 hours to do his homework, or that he felt it was necessary to cut his own hair after his shower. Tsk.

So I haven't been a fan of LOST since the beginning. In fact, I watched the first season on DVD during the 2nd season, and then didn't watch anything else until this February. At that time, I decided that I would catch up and watch the final season in a more timely manner. So, borrowing three seasons from a friend to supplement the two seasons my husband owns, I caught up. And now it's time for the very last episode. Today is the last bit of new LOST. Since I don't have cable, I obviously won't be able to catch it at home in my broken chair. (My poor chair...) And I don't want to wait until tomorrow, when I'll be sharing an office with a die hard fan who had a party the night before and has had a whole evening to analyze it, etc. So about 6 p.m. I'll be hopping into the car and driving 45 minutes to my parents' house to watch LOST with them on their TV. Now my parents aren't fans - the only exposure they've had to LOST was in February when I was catching up. So this should be fun. :)

I think that pretty much says it all. :)

"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a generalist: a person that is competent with many skills but is not outstanding in any particular one. Wikipedia

Is that an insult, or a compliment? A person can be good at many things, and be a person who is respected, with a large tribe of people who will turn to her with questions and know that she will have a solution. And a person can be good at many things, but when a job needs to get done, they may never be the one who is called. After all, would you hire someone who only changes their own oil to repair your timing belt? I am good at many things, but I can't be excellent at all of them at once. It requires time and effort to stay on top of the game. I can excel at work and write a great blog, but I can't also create an amazing website template or keep up on my Squidoo lenses. I could possibly do all of those things and be an absentee parent, but that really isn't an option. You understand. My attention can't always be in one direction. It needs to wander, to take care of different tasks. To be the best I can at what I need to focus on now, so later I can be the best at something else. A jack of all trades? I think not. But I will master some.

I've made myself a bedtime schedule, and tonight I stuck to it. To bed by 10 pm, iPod off by 10:30. At the end o the week I'll see how I feel in the mornings, in the evenings, and in the afternoon. I hope to feel more energy by next Sunday, even if the change is not significant. EDIT 5/3/10: 10:45 pm tonight. A little but late, but not excessive. Today felt pretty good, after I'd woken up all the way. :) EDIT 5/6/10: I've logged two nights in bed at 10:10 pm, and three at 10:15 pm. I feel successful with my goal so far this week.

I admit, I am the most productive when I have looming deadlines and am panicking over trying to get things accomplished. When I have extra time, I am not nearly so productive. I get antsy, impatient, and my attention wavers. Or at least it did today. But the truth is, the stress and deadlines are not good for me. Yes, I get more done because I have no choice. But I do other things - eat without thinking, drink high-calorie, highly-caffeinated drinks in order to stay awake, and don't get enough sleep. So it's not good for me. The stress, the deadlines, the panic. Finding a way to be driven without being pressured is hard. Aggressive accomplishment without the threat of penalty doesn't come naturally to me. I need to practice, without hurting myself.