Posts Tagged ‘blogging’
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Reading Upside Down in 2012
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My poor book blog has been sadly neglected this year. I’ve wanted to blog, but it just hasn’t happened.
In 2012, I want to revive Reading Upside Down. I’m going to make a few changes to the way I approach it though. I’ve been thinking about it a bit recently and I think what I am aiming for is something that is more conversational rather than sporadic reviews interspersed with guest posts and the occasional book-related post from me.
In 2012, Reading Upside Down will become focused on only books, reading and writing. I’m inspired by the National Year of Reading and want to revive my own love of books, reading and the written word rather than posting dry book reviews and generic posts. I get so animated when I actually talk with people about books, I want that to come through here too.
There will be book reviews, but there will also be conversations about what I am reading inspired by a character, a theme or perhaps even a simple sentence. Chats about writers, chats with writers and chats by writers too.
I’m excited about putting some energy back into Reading Upside Down this year. I’m looking forward to the bookish conversations to come and I can’t wait to get started.
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There Must Be Something In The Air
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Maybe it is a follow on effect from the Aussie Bloggers Conference, but there seems to be quite a bit of blog launching and blog re-launching in the air.
Monday, the super amazing Kelly re-launched her new look Be a Fun Mum blog only weeks after launching a her new Very Jane Austen Blog.
Yesterday, the lovely Denyse launched her new blog.
Not wanting to be caught using last season’s blog while everyone else was sporting the latest blogging fashion, I enlisted the help of the amazing Laura of Rah! Creative. Laura very patiently listened to my extremely vague descriptions of what I wanted (sort of like this blog, but not really, kind of uncluttered but still with personality, not too bright, but not dull). Amazingly, Laura not only kept returning my emails, but she managed to give Reading Upside Down the facelift it needed. I think she’s done an awesome job.
In addition to coping with my vague renovation requests, Laura has also designed a bright, shiny new blog for me. Living Upside Down will be the place where I write about my efforts to declutter and simplify my life, leaving Reading Upside Down free for posts about books, reading, writing, creativity and thoughts about random things.
I know that several others have undertaken blog renovations and overhauls in the past few months as well including Tina Gray {dot} Me, Christie at Childhood101 and the newly rebranded Digital Parents (previously known as Aussie Mummy Bloggers).
If you’ve undergone blog renovations or launched a new blog in the past few months, I’d love for you to let me know. Leave a comment so that I can come and check out the results.
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It’s All a Matter of Timing
1I have a terrible sense of timing.
I blame this timing-deficit for many things – my lack of sporting prowess, my inability to tell a joke, my limitations on the dance floor and my uncanny ability to purchase an item just before it becomes available at a bargain price. My timing issues have affected me financially (missed the baby bonus + first home owners grant) and even romantically – my wedding anniversary is in mid-December, a date that seemed like a good idea at the time but trying to book a babysitter or make a dinner reservation less than two weeks before Christmas is all but impossible. Who knew?!
The list of times that I have been a little too early or a little too late for events, opportunities or ideas is ridiculously long. It would seem that I am out of synch with the rest of the world. For me, it isn’t a case of ‘stop the world, I want to get off’, but rather ‘pause the world, I want to catch up’.
In another excellent example of my impeccable timing, in the coming week my blog will be reviewed by the Sydney Writers’ Centre Best Australian Blogs 2011 Competition judges. Not surprisingly, I have blog renovations in the pipeline to revamp the appearance and functionality of my blog. Do you want to know when those renovations will take effect? That’s right, about a week after the finalists of the blog competition are announced. Frustrating, but hardly unexpected given my past history.
Fortunately, I’m so used to this kind of bad timing that I’m not bothered at all. Such is life… well, such is my life, anyway.
Many of the blogs nominated for the Best Australian Blogs competition have also been listed in a People’s Choice award category. You can vote for multiple blogs (although you can only complete the voting form once) and if you follow the instructions found on the Best Australian Blogs 2011 Competition People’s Choice Award page, you find my little ol’ blog nestled on Page 3. Or you can simply click on the Vote Now badge here:
All votes received with appreciation from the bottom of my not-quite-ready-for-this-competition heart.
I would also be very appreciative of any tips or advice anyone could give me on how to get myself back in synch with the rest of the world. Perhaps I should simply embrace my innate lack of timing and fashion myself as a true eccentric, not simply marching to the beat of a different drum but rather cha-cha-cha-ing to the beat of my own one-man band.
What do you think?
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When The Words Won’t Come
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I’ve had a very frustrating week, writing-wise.
I’ve had a gazillion great ideas for posts here, articles at Suite101 and posts for my new blog Living Upside Down (launching in May). I’ve gone to bed each night with words dancing about in my brain and I’ve wished for a chinograph pencil in the shower each morning so that I could scribble notes on the tiles to make sure that not one single brilliant thought goes astray.
Despite this burst of mental creativity, I’ve written very little this week. Every time I sit at the computer, the flood of words and ideas dries up and I am left staring at a blank screen, hands poised over the keyboard motionless. When I do manage to type something, I seem to delete every second word.
I feel like there is a dam in my head and the ideas are building up pressure. Eventually, whatever is holding the flow of ideas back will break and there will be a flood of articles. At least, I’m hoping that this will happen. Hopefully this is a small obstruction that will eventually clear by itself, not some kind of concrete, reinforced super-dam that will require Dam Busters-like strategy before it crumbles.
In the absence of a mental Dam Busters therapy, I’m open to suggestions for getting the creative thoughts flowing again. What do you do when you lose your writing/creative mojo?
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Who Am I?
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I’ve really enjoyed reading through the comments on my recent posts about Mummy Bloggers, Blog Awards and Blogging Success. There have been some really interesting points made and I have been nice to discover that I’m not the only one who has been pondering the meaning of life, the universe and blogging over the past few weeks.
It would seem that online as in real life, there are many of us trying to work out how we want to present ourselves to the world. My recent bout of soul searching was sparked by a client profile I completed for personal stylist Alison Triffett. The question ‘What kind of image do you want to present to others?’ had me stumped. Did I have an image I wanted to present? My rambling answer to Alison probably revealed that the image I was most likely to present was ‘slightly confused and indecisive’. I am choosing to interpret this as ‘eclectic’.
I was planning to write something light-hearted and fun today, probably about the passive aggressive struggle my husband and I have over who will be the one to finally cave in and throw out the empty tube of toothpaste. I was stalled on this whole idea of identity though when I looked into the details of the racial vilification court case against Andrew Bolt. If you aren’t aware of the case you can read an article about it at Crikey which contains links to the original Bolt articles. For an interesting discussion of the issues, read Richard Atkins Sydney Morning Herald/National Times article.
My attention was drawn to the case because one of the applicants, Anita Heiss, is someone with whom I have had some contact online. Anita tweets regularly and has the most amazingly positive and encouraging blog. She is an author, academic, satirist, social commentator and all-round awesome individual. I even included her on my list of five people I’d love to invite for dinner when I commented a post on that topic by Donna at Nappy Daze recently.
I don’t want to get in to the specifics of the court case here, but Bolt’s assertions that prominent Austrlians who claim strong links to their indigenous heritage were only doing so for financial/professional benefits kept the thoughts stirring from my blog post discussion firmly focused on identity and how we define ourselves.
I have no indigenous influence (that I am aware of) in my family tree, but I wrote some time ago in a guest post for Oh, The Thinks you Can Think that I feel a much closer sense of belonging to the history of my hometown Newcastle than I do with some distant European past. This includes the indigenous history of the area. I was amazed and a little disappointed recently when a parent commented positively about a full day school excursion to a local historical homestead (mid 1800s) but was amazed that the students would also be spending a full day of activities at the Awabakal centre learning about local indigenous customs and history.
To me, the history of the Awabakal people is part of my history as a Novocastrian. A strong element of how I define myself comes from this town where I was born and raised – not the European heritage, buildings and customs, but rather the geography, landscape and ‘feel’ of the town itself. As a Christian, my primary sense of belonging and purpose comes from my faith, but I do have a respect and, I hope, some level of understanding of the connection indigenous people have with country. No matter where I have lived, Newcastle has always been the place I have referred to as home. Being a Novocastrian is part of who I am.
In my sleep deprived state last night (thanks to a 1.30am bedtime the night before after getting tempted by a Twitter conversation where I ended up teaching Jo Foster how to count in binary) I was still pondering the idea of identity. I found myself wondering if our sense of who we aren’t isn’t linked with what we do (occupation, hobbies, interests) or our relationships (mother, friend, daughter, sister) but rather where we get our strongest sense of belonging and connection.
Who am I? I am a Christian, mother, writer, reader, thinker and Novocastrian. It is in 
these things that I find my strongest sense of self and belonging, in these things where I get the strongest sense that I am connected to others and part of a community.
Where do you feel most connected?
(PS The delightful Anita Heiss will be guest posting here at Reading Upside Down on Monday to celebrate the launch of her new novel, Paris Dreaming. There will be a copy offered as a giveaway as well, so make sure you call back next week.)
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Mummy Bloggers, Blog Awards and Blogging Success
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I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the nature of blogging this week. A discussion on the Aussie Mummy Bloggers forum about what the term ‘Mummy Blogger’ really means, the planning and design of my new blog (more about this soon) and the listing of Home Loan Daily’s ‘Mummy Bloggers with the X-Factor’ award nominations (which sparked an interesting discussion on Twitter this afternoon with @Seven7Cherubs @TarynRucci @Shortn_Tweet and @CateBolt) have all had me thinking about how I define myself as a blogger and how I measure the success of my blogging efforts.
The term ‘Mummy Blogger’ seems to carry an undeserved stigma. For many, it seems to translate as ‘Mumsy Blogger’ and to signify a blogger who is using their online space as a way to indulgently celebrate and share every single second of their child’s development in detail.
The truth could not be more different. The ‘Mummy Blogger’ community is full of women who blog intelligently and eloquently across a broad spectrum of ideas and themes. Some focus primarily on family life, others include a range of other topics on their blogs. They cover issues related to family, parenting, education, social and emotional well-being for children and adults, social justice, mental health, literature, pop culture, health, beauty and fashion, self-esteem, humour, current affairs, finance and business.
I tend to think of myself as a Personal Blogger rather than Mummy Blogger, largely because I don’t generally mention my children or family. I’m a mother who blogs rather than a mummy blogger in the same way that I am a wife who lives in a house, but am most definitely not a housewife (well, not a very good one, anyway). To be truthful, I tend to think of myself as a writer who blogs, but the term Writer Blogger sounds ridiculous.
Blogging awards raise another issue. How do we define what makes a successful blog when we can’t even come up with a clear definition of the different types of blogs? Is it simply a matter of popularity (which is reasonably easily measured with voting processes such as the one used in the Mummy Bloggers with the X-Factor award or Facebook fan page numbers)? Is it about the quality of the writing and content or the interaction of the audience (large numbers of post comments, RTs on Twitter etc)? Perhaps it is about the impact on readers or more simply the level of enjoyment the blogger gets from the process of writing and interacting with their audience.
I like the judging criteria for the Sydney Writers’ Centre ‘Best Australian Blogs 2011’ award. I like that nominations are divided into four categories and that the quality of the writing is a significant (70%) factor in the judging criteria. I do think that the Lifestyle category is still too broad, but I guess it becomes unwieldy to have too many separate categories. I’m tempted to nominate myself, but I’m not sure whether to put myself in the Lifestyle or Literary category. I imagine there will be less competition in the latter, but given the high quality of some of the Australian book blogs (which I plan to nominate), I don’t imagine my little blog will hold up in comparison. Maybe I should wait for them to declare a ‘Have No Idea What Type of Blog I Have’ category.
If you’re a blogger, how do you feel about the success of your blog? Do you need to feel ‘successful’ to get enjoyment from your blogging? Do you feel overlooked when blog award nominations are announced or are you happy to simply write and reach out to whatever audience comes your way? Do you judge the success of your blog based on the satisfaction it gives you and/or the enjoyment you gain from your involvement in the blogging community or are you looking for something more tangible?
Personally, I’m happy to have my own little corner of the internet where I can host my own little conversations. I put forward an idea then sit back, drinking tea and eating chocolate biscuits, while I wait to see if anyone is interested in chatting. I kind of like the randomness of it all. I love the people I’ve met through my blogging and get a lot of enjoyment from being part of the Australian blogging community. I’ve made some wonderful friends, I’ve been inspired and encouraged, I’ve learned some amazing things and I’ve laughed. A lot. Sounds like a successful venture to me.
ETA some linky love. These great bloggers have also posted thoughts on this issue. Well worth reading:
- I’ll Think of a Title Later: From Nappies to Nikes; Thanks for the Mammaries
- Reservoir Dad (with Joe Schatz): Can’t Sleep – Mummy Bloggers will Eat Me!
- Good Goog: Are You a Mummy Blogger? and The Real Mummy Bloggers
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We Came. We Saw. We Conga-ed
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Actually, that’s not entirely true. As anyone who attended the dinner/dance at the conclusion of the Aussie Bloggers Conference last weekend would know, we actually NutBush-ed, but that didn’t have the same kind of poetic ring to it.
If I’m going to be entirely honest, I should also admit that I didn’t actually NutBush either, as I was busy chatting with Helen of BellsKnits at the time, but the title We Came. We Saw. They NutBush-ed. is more than a little ridiculous and I’m sure that you’ll appreciate why I chose to fudge the details somewhat.
I’m so glad we cleared that up.
If you want to watch a group of Aussie Bloggers NutBush, you can find the video on YouTube here.
In the wake of the inaugural Aussie Bloggers Conference, I’m feeling inspired to refocus on what I love most about blogging and setting myself some clear blogging and writing goals for the coming year.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking clearly Saturday afternoon and missed a wonderful opportunity while minding The NDM’s phone to take photos for a post titled ‘The NDM’s Phone Does Sydney’. Instead I offer you a much less humorous but more informative summary of my highlights from #AusBlogCon2011.
The Blogging Community
My strongest impression from the conference was the sense of being part of a strong, vibrant, dynamic, diverse and supportive community. As someone who has very few friends IRL who understand what blogging is, it was amazing and quite reassuring to be surrounded by 170+ people who understand the value of blogging on both a personal and professional level.
The stories shared through the conference sessions and in conversation were inspiring and demonstrated to me that while blogging is different things to different people, it is fundamentally something that gives us the opportunity to voice what is closest to our heart and to connect with others who share our vision, values and interests. Thank you so much to the brave and amazing bloggers who stepped up to the mic and inspired us all.
Meeting Long Time Friends for the First Time
It was a slightly disconcerting feeling to ‘meet’ people with whom you already feel a strong, personal connection. I was so excited to meet Annie (Life and Dandelions), @Gabfran (Caveat Calcei), Catherine (SquiggleMum), @TheNDM (Not Drowning, Mothering), Megan (Writing Out Loud), Jodie (Mummy Mayhem), Christie (Childhood101), Yvette (Happy Child), Glowless (Where’s My Glow?), Sarah (Ah, the Possibilities), Allison (Life in a Pink Fibro), Bianca (BigWords), Zoey (GoodGoog) and others that I have chatted with online. Putting faces to the names of people who have inspired, encouraged and challenged me for 
some time was a wonderful experience.
Making Amazing New Friends
Did you meet Kelly (Be a Fun Mum), Kim (Pop Couture), Susan (Mummy Daze), Benison O’Reilly or Helen (BellsKnits) at #AusBlogCon2011? They are amazing and you should definitely add them to your Aussie Bloggers Conference Dance Card for 2012. So many awesome and amazing people gathered in one spot. It’s a shame there wasn’t more time for chatting and networking, as there are so many people that I didn’t get to meet, chat with or learn more about.
Gaining Focus and Purpose as a Blogger and Writer
I don’t think I came away from #AusBlogCon2011 with concrete information as much as I did with a greater sense of purpose and enthusiasm for developing and shaping my blog into something that best represents me and my interests. With another blog in the pipeline (watch this space for more details), it was great to come away from the conference inspired to set myself some clear goals for what I want to achieve through my blogging and writing online.
Christie Burnett from Childhood101 and Dave Lee from Nuffnang both asked specific questions that have really inspired me to develop a clear purpose for how I approach my blogging with a vision for the future. I’ll write more about my blogging vision for now and the future soon.
Laughter, Tears, Hugs, Smiles and a Sense of Belonging
The interactions with other bloggers – hearing their stories, meeting them, offering and getting advice, building friendships, chatting, learning and being inspired by their honesty, openness, resilience and strengths – was the ultimate benefit of #AusBlogCon2011 for me. While blogging involves a lot of time spent in physical isolation in front of a computer screen, the conference was a powerful reminder that blogging also connects us to a much wider community of people.
I am grateful for the amazing organisation and planning that went into making #AusBlogCon2011 a success. The organisers and sponsors chose to place a value on blogging and bloggers and this enabled us to come together and realise that we belong to a community of amazing people.
Did you attend #AusBlogCon2011? Feel free to link your AusBlogCon2011 review posts below.
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I’m Going to a… Writers’ Conference
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The Australian corner of the blogosphere has resounded with posts about the Aussie Bloggers Conference over the past couple of weeks. Nervousness, excitement, anticipation and insecurity abound. For some, attending a conference with 150 strangers is very confronting, for others it is leaving young children at home for the weekend and travelling alone that presents the greatest challenge. For yet others, it is the fear of meeting in real life people who have become friends online. Will we still like each other when we meet face to face?
I particularly enjoyed reading this post by Bianca of BigWords and this post by Helen of BellsKnits. Both got me thinking about what I was expecting from the conference – what I hoped to learn, who I hoped to meet, what I hoped to bring away from the conference that would help me to shape my blog into what I want it to be.
Some bloggers, such as The Organised Housewife, have written about their nervousness and others have been tentatively stepping out from behind their blog logos (hello there, Glowless!). All over Twitter, blog logo avatars have been replaced by photos so that we don’t all have to turn up to the conference carrying a picture of our blog banner, although I was considering simply wandering around holding a book upside down to see if anyone recognised me. Even the extremely gorgeous NDM and Mrs Woog now have happy, smiling photos for their avatar.
Personally, I’m not feeling all that nervous. I would like to think that this is because I am an incredibly self-confident individual who thrives on new challenges and is always at ease in social situations. Or it could simply be because I will be travelling to the conference with someone that I have known for more than 25 years. It’s hard to be nervous about meeting strangers when you’re thinking about the fact that you’re travelling and sharing a room with someone that you’ve known for more than a quarter of a century. When did we get so old, Meredith?
So, I’m not nervous about meeting all my blogging friends (I’ve even put together a list of all the people I want to meet). I’m not stressed about what to wear (although if you are, you can visit Nikki at Styling You for some last minute conference styling tips). I’m not nervous about travelling to Sydney or spending time away from my family.
Why am I not nervous about all these things? Probably because I’m really looking forward to getting together with a group of people who ‘get’ blogging. Many of my IRL friends don’t understand social networking or the online world. Very few read blogs. When I mention my blog, I get a vague, confused look and then the topic changes to something that everyone can relate to. I’ve even started referring to the Aussie Bloggers Conference as a Writers’ Conference to save myself the effort of explaining what a group of bloggers might possible have to learn or share with each other.
I am really looking forward to meeting the other bloggers at the conference. I think for all our differences in blog content and style, it will be great to spend a little time with people who understand this part of my world. People who don’t need me to explain what a blog is, how to use Twitter and why I refer to people I have met online as friends.
Do your friends and family understand what your blog means to you? It doesn’t matter whether you’re a mummy blogger, personal blogger, whether you blog your hobby or use your blog as a business, do you have people around you who understand what you do and why you do it?
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The Things That Cannot Be Spoken
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When I first started this blog, I made a decision that I wouldn’t write about my family. General comments and remarks were okay, the occasional parenting anecdote or child-inspired post, but nothing too specific about my children, husband or close friends.
This has extended to references to my extended family as well. No airing of dirty family laundry or reports of family disputes or general antics. There are occasional exceptions, such as this post about attending a memorial for my cousin, but generally family behaviour, no matter how entertaining, is off limits. Maybe one day I’ll set up an anonymous blog and let it all hang out. Trust me, between my family and my in-laws there is enough material to keep me posting for quite some time.
Generally, my decision doesn’t restrict me too much. Other times, I’m left writing and re-writing posts in frustration as I desperately try to edit out anything that will be an obvious reference to a person who may or may not appreciate having their actions, or my opinion of them, emblazoned all over the interwebz.
Today is one of those rare times. Today, the attitude of someone who has been a long-time thorn in my side has severely annoyed me. I am unable to vent about it, or the underlying issue which is close to my heart, because it would be too easy for anyone I know IRL reading this blog to identify the source of my frustration.
So, instead of having a good, healthy rant about the issue, I am left quietly seething in silence. Well, not quiet silence. Virtual silence. My family will attest to the fact that my seething was rather vocal and prolonged before I approached my computer and the cone of silence descended over my keyboard.
The underlying issue will no doubt be raised in a blog post in the near future, sneaking in through a side door and hopefully the hat, dark glasses and trench coat I dress it in will disguise it sufficiently that no-one will recognise the source of the story. Perhaps I will give it a humorous sidekick or an intriguing back story to further muddy the waters. The creative possibilities are endless…
In this world of social media where nothing stays private or anonymous for long, how do you deal with skirting around issues that could be embarrassing for others? How careful are you, not only about what you blog, but what you say on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook? What topics do you consider off limits?
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Do You Have An Aussie Bloggers Conference Dance Card?
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It’s less than one month before a large group of really cool and amazing Aussie bloggers gather in Sydney for a day of fun and frivolity serious networking and sharing of useful information.
I’m looking forward to meeting some of my favourite bloggers and actually meeting in person people I have been chatting with online for some time. I don’t want to get home from Aussie Bloggers Conference and realise that I’ve missed out on meeting one of my blogging friends/idols so I’m preparing a little ABC Dance Card.
So, who do I want to take a turn about the room with? Just about everyone, but I’m particularly keen to cha cha cha with
Brenda (MummyTime,The Mummy Media), Tina (Tina Gray {dot} Me), Veronica (Sleepless Nights, Veronica Foale, Veronica Does Food), Karen (Miscellaneous Mum) and Nicole (Planning with Kids) – the splendiferous organisers of this wonderful event. I’m sure there is something in an etiquette book somewhere about making sure you chat with your host/hostess when attending a social function, so these ladies will definitely be on my must meet-and-greet list.
The NDM (Not Drowning, Mothering) because, despite her recent post advising us all to keep our expectations low, I remain convinced that she will be extremely super awesome and well worth meeting. I’m a tad worried that she will appear incognito, thus preserving her anonymity, but if I wander about the room checking everyone’s name off a list of attendees surely I will find her eventually by a process of elimination.
I’ve chatted with these ladies on Twitter often and I can’t wait to meet them in person, although I am a little apprehensive that this also means that they will get to meet me in person. Maybe I can hire a stunt double and simply meet them by proxy.
- Sarah (Ah, the Possibilities)
- Megan (Writing out Loud)
- Annie (Life and Dandelions)
- Allison (Life in a Pink Fibro)
- Bern (So Now What?)
- Anj (Anj Writes About)
- Jodie (Mummy Mayhem)
- Cath (SquiggleMum)
- Yvette (Happy Child)
- Christie (Childhood101)
- Jo (Business and Baby on Board, t-changers posterous)
Then there are the lovely ladies that I have started chatting with recently
- Glowless (Where’s My Glow)
- Zoey (Good Goog)
- Mrs Woog (Woogs World)
- Tiff (My Three Ring Circus)
- Toushka (Ramblings from Toushka)
- Naomi (Seven Cherubs)
- Katrina (The Organised Housewife)
- Cat (Wouldn’t it be Loverly)
- Deb (Science @ Home)
- Caveat Calcei (Law and Shoes)
And then there are the bloggers who write about encouraging children’s creativity – I want to chat with them about the book I’m working on…
And the other great writers who blog…
And the great family bloggers…
Did I miss you? Let me know. I still have a few spots spare.
At this rate, I think I might need to pack in a spare pair of dance shoes. 
What about you? Which bloggers are on your ‘must meet’ list for he Aussie Bloggers Conference?
