Just Start Typing...

Ok, I have no idea what I am going to blog about tonight. I'm too lazy to get up and get my little ideas book that I keep in my bag, for jotting things down that I want to write about. But I did read somewhere that with any kind of writing, if you just sit down and start, then something will flow and you'll find yourself writing something interesting. At least I hope that's what will happen!

Oh, I know what I wanted to talk about. RSS feeds. I keep getting people saying to me "I don't know why I would bother, it's just more stuff to read." Or "I can't see how I would use it, I just go to whatever I want to read." What I'm thinking is that many folks just don't "get" the usefulness of RSS feeds at all. So I'm gonna tell you how I use them and why they work really well for me.

Think of all the magazines in your local newsagent. Say there's about 500. Now you're not going to be interested in every single magazine there right? Out of that 500, maybe 20 of them are something you'd like to read. So you buy a copy of each.

Now some magazines are weekly, some are monthly, some bimonthly, some seasonal, some totally sporadic. We know that from trying to catalogue the damn things. If you want to read them regularly, you need to keep going back to the newsagent to see if there is a new issue out. OR, you can subscribe and get them delivered to your door, whenever there is a new issue. No more multiple trips to the newsagent, it just shows up ready for you to read when there is a new one.

Think of RSS feeds as being subscriptions. Of course there are millions of things out there on the internet available for you to read. But you choose the ones that interest you. Now you can either go back to those websites every day, to see if there are any new posts (or issues) and waste all that time visiting sites with no new content, OR, you can subscribe via RSS feed, and have the new posts come to you. You get notification that there is new content, and then you can go and read it.

In my case, I'm finding it a Godsend when it comes to keeping up with all the 23 Things blogs. When I tell people that I read ALL of the staff blogs, they look horrified at me. But then I explain that I do so in usually less than an hour each day. That's because a) not everyone posts every day, and b) I subscribe to them all, so that I just go to bloglines (my subscription reader of choice) and it collates all the new posts for me. Easy peasy. And trust me... there are over 240 of you who are blogging so far, so that's a lot of trips to the newsagent so to speak!

But when I'm not 23 Thing-ing, there are other blogs I subscribe to. Friends of mine are blogging, and I love to see their photos and stuff, so I subscribe to those so I don't miss anything. There are a few fun things I subscribe to, like Cake Wrecks, Cute Overload, Ugly Overload, Shorpy, PostSecret and Photoshop Disasters. Then there are the informative things that I like to keep up with. Mythbusters website, some writers blogs, some library industry stuff and some women's health things I'm involved with.

The point is, what you subscribe to is what YOU find interesting and useful. Just like the magazines you read. We're not all going to be reading New Scientist, or Women's Weekly, or Patchwork and Quilting. It's all about collating what you read and getting it to you in an easy, timely fashion.

Subscribing!

Where the Hell is Matt?

I needed to smile. I've had a bit of a rough day, got some worrying news this morning that has had me upset, and I was feeling really ragged. So I came back from lunch and was thinking I should blog, but just wasn't feeling like it, so I looked through the little notebook I keep my writing ideas in, and I found an entry called "Where the hell is Matt?" and I knew that's what I needed to post.

So may I introduce you all to Matt:



I discovered Matt Harding way back in 2005, when he made this first video and it became a bit of a viral thing on the internet, being emailed around, cheering people up. I watched the above video and was just delighted. Apparently he made this first video for his friends and family, so they could keep up with his backpacking around the world, posted it on YouTube and it got picked up from there.

Then I heard a bit over a year later that he had been sponsored by Stride Gum in the US, to go around and make another "Where the Hell is Matt?" video to advertise their gum. Being a wise man, Matt said "Yes! I will take your money and go visit all kinds of exotic locations and do my goofy dance." And here you have Where the Hell is Matt 2:



I particularly love the Rwandan children dancing with him in the second one. I always break into a smile at that point, if I'm not already doing so.

After seeing the second video, I emailed Matt through his website http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/, and told him how much I enjoyed watching his goofy dancing all over the world. He replied back and told me that he would be in Brisbane in late October/early November 2007, and was looking for people to come and dance with him for his next video. Unfortunately, that happened to co-incide with when I was in the US myself. D'oh!! I was really disappointed that I couldn't take part.

But then earlier this year, I saw his latest video:



It has brought me even more joy. I love that he's expanded on dancing with groups of people, particularly children around the world, and that he's been able to do his dance on the "vomit comet" zero gravity experience. And I LOVE the Bollywood bit in this latest one. You can see he has indeed included Brisbane again (I believe he has lived here on and off) by dancing in front of a Moreton Bay fig tree in the City Botanic gardens.

I was delighted to see that he has included two of my favourite sights from my trip to the US (though my visits didn't co-incide with him being there unfortunately), the "Bean" in Chicago, and the "painted lady" houses in San Francisco. Proof that I've been there myself, here are two of my photos from my trip:



and



Anyway, watching Matt do his goofy dance around the world has been just the tonic I have needed today after having a really tough morning, and I hope the videos make you smile as much as they do for me.

I Heart BrisVegas

Just thought I'd share the new project I am working on. I'm writing a blog about Brisbane! It's nothing lofty or precious, just the thoughts of a Brisbanite talking about my favourite bits of Brisbane. If you want a look, go to:

http://iheartbrisvegas.blogspot.com/

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Yesterday afternoon while waiting for the bus, I heard a little tyke of about 4 years old pipe up "Mummy... you suck!" Darling child. Wonder where he learnt that from?



But it got me thinking of some of the hilarious things that I've heard children say. Some of you might not already know, but before I got into libraries, my career was in child care. I was a full time, live in, 24 x 7 nanny for 5 years, and then years later I worked in a child care centre for a couple of years. I've also done stints in kindergartens, after school care and home day care.



When I worked in the child care centre, dealing with LOTS of kids from all kinds of backgrounds, I would hear the funniest things. One that particularly stands out in my mind as a bit of a hilarious eye opener was the dainty young miss of 5 who, when I complimented her on her adorable glittery shoes, piped up "Yeah, my Mummy stole them from the shop for me." Okkaaayyyy....



It was made all the more funny by her older brother nudging her and going "Shhhh!"



And then there was the little lad at after school care. We were having a group conversation with the children about the perils of smoking, and the teacher asked the group, "Put your hand up if anyone smokes at your house." A gorgeous little boy of 4, as cute as a bug, pops his hand up and the teacher asked "Who smokes at your house house Daniel?" To which Daniel eagerly replies "Uncle Marty does, sometimes through a bong." Righhhtttt....



Have you had any really cracker stories of kids saying highly inappropriate, hilarious or bizarre things? Leave me a comment!

Fancy Pants?

Tell me something. When did wearing pants become optional? Now I'm not talking about knickers, I'm talking about PANTS. Trousers, slacks, jeans, or as my Grandad calls them, strides.

I ask because I notice an alarming number of young women wandering around Brisbane who don't seem to have any pants on. And it's not just Brisbane. Have a look at this picture of Mary-Kate Olsen:

She's not wearing any pants!!! I know she's not a shining example of young womanhood, but the look she is currently sporting is one I see often around the traps on ordinary, every-day girls. She was just an easy photo for me to find with Google to give an example.

Somewhere, tights or pantyhose became pants. Now I'm not talking leggings, those cotton/lycra mix fitted pants that we all wore in the 80's and 90's. They're pants, you can't see through those, and there are usually seams on at least the inside leg. If they are made by Razamattaz or Kolotex, and come in a cardboard packet... they're not PANTS!! They go under a skirt ladies. They are not a garment on their own.

Are pants now considered an accessory? Something you can choose to wear to accessorise an outfit? So often I see young ladies wearing an outfit that consists of a white man's shirt, a wide leather belt worn high under the bustline like an empire line, and opaque tights or even pantyhose. Yes, sheer pantyhose.

I know Humphrey B. Bear never wore them, but he was a man in a large bear suit, not a lady on her way to work or the movies or shopping.

The other day, I was walking down the street (along Fairfield Road to be exact) and was walking behind a young lady wearing the white shirt/no pants configuration, when she started to walk up the stairs of the overhead pass to Yeronga Station... and I got flashed by a white cotton gusset!

That's right - as a pants substitute, she had those pantyhose on with the white cotton gusset. Talk about a traumatic experience.

Perhaps young women are adopting Coco Chanel's old adage of before you leave the house, take a look at yourself in the mirror and take one thing off... and they're choosing their pants to be that one thing.

It makes me wonder, do parents no longer say "You're not going out like that!" to their daughters any more? I remember being told that when I was fully clothed, only in some kind of trendy 80's garb that my parents totally didn't understand (ripped jeans, black tights with holes in them worn over coloured tights, fluorescent leg warmers and sweat bands to match... you know, that goofy stuff from the 80's), but I can't imagine what reaction I would have got if I'd have tried the "pantyhose as pants" combination. I mean, I used to get hassled if I had make-up on, let alone the lack of any garment covering my body.

I asked a young friend of mine the other day "Kylie, am I getting old? Is this why I don't get the "no pants" thing?" to which my dear young friend answered "No Kath, I'm only 21 and I don't understand the lack of pants thing either."

Phew, I thought I was just becoming like my parents and just not getting the younger generation. But I'm not bothered by all the other trends that folks are running around in these days, while I wouldn't necessarily wear them myself, I know it's just fashion and they'll look back on it one day and cringe, just like I do when I think of my fluoro leg warmers and stuff.

But no pants... well, there's just too much exposure. It's not just some crazy fad, it's the complete lack of one crucial garment in any ensemble. It would be ok if there was a skirt present in lieu of pants, but I'm talking about no acceptable lower body garment at all.

So young ladies, if you are reading this, please put some pants on if you haven't already got some on. Again, Razamattaz is not a brand of pants. Cardboard packets with plastic windows in them containing garments that are in colours like nude, flesh, sun bronzed, midnight black, these are not pants. If it has a white cotton gusset, it is expected that you will wear something over the top of it.

You'll thank me in 20 years, I promise you.

Mmmm.... Mashy...

I'm finally making a little time to actually do my own 23 Things. I feel like I'm way behind because I actually haven't had a chance to do the modules myself, I've been so busy making sure everyone else is plugging along.

But today I decided to dedicate some time to it, as I really wanted to have a go at some of the things I'm not really up on.

One of those, is mashups. I knew already what mashups were, and was used to using other people's mashups, but hadn't really done anything along the lines of creating my own. So using http://www.bighugelabs.com/, I made this wonderful poster:



Whaddya reckon? I'm over cuteness at the moment, I'm going for some HOT! Ole Cedric Diggory up there does well as a vampire. Absolutely can't wait until the Twilight movie comes out, that's going to be awesome. Mind you, I need to catch up and read some more of Stephenie Meyer's series. I just haven't had a lot of reading time which sucks. I'll have to do something to actively change that. I don't buy the whole "There isn't enough time." schtick really. My belief is that if something is a priority to you, you'll make time for it.

Right, I'm off to play with some more mashups!

Petting the Sweaty Things

Why do we get ourselves so worked up, and so stressed, and so frustrated over things that shouldn't really bother us. I get a lot of emails or read blog posts that are simply "venting", and I don't take them personally, but I do wonder why we let things work us up so much. Because when you let yourself get worked up, you send out all those worked up stressy vibes out and the person you're venting at gets all worked up... and it just snowballs.

Is the world really going to end if we can't embed a video on our blog? Will your house fall down if the link to a page doesn't work? Is a policeman going to break down your door and haul you off to the big-house if you have to do a module of 23 Things again to "get it"? Are you going to lose your job if your blog comes out all funny with gobbledy-gook? I think not.

I do understand, sometimes it really gets on my quince when something doesn't do what it wants to do. I've got one blog site that "eats" my blogs the minute I hit "post"... which is particularly traumatic when it's a 2000 word blog I've just typed up! But really, is it WORTH getting so irate at it that you find yourself spewing out a big long email or blog post of complaint? I think not. Sure, have a bit of a foot stomp and a curse... and then let it go.

Remember, you can always ask someone for help. That's how Web2.0 and indeed 23 Things works. It's a form of "viral" education. I blog, you blog, we all blog. I post a video, or a link, or some other fun doohickey, and then if you like it, you post about it, learning from what I've done. The same way I have learnt from what someone else has done. I know it is a change to how you normally expect to learn something, but most importantly, it's a far less formal and structured way of learning. There is no real right or wrong with this programme and Web2.0 technology. It's all about having a go and tinkering with new things, and learning as you do so.

And besides, I see all of your odd bits that "don't work" before you get to fix them, and not one of you yet has done anything that's made me go "OH MY GOD!!! Look what so-and-so did! The idiot!!" Sure, I've got a few laughs, but none of them are laughs that I haven't had at my own self at some point.

So, a few pointers in how to deal with things that don't want to do what you want them to do, or don't make sense:

1. Take a big, deep breath.
   
2. Save whatever you're doing so you can go back to it later.
   
3. Walk away... you don't have to finish anything NOW, THIS MINUTE.
   
4. Ask someone. Calmly. If they don't know the answer, don't take it out on them, just ask someone else. Ask one of the "helper" folks, and yes, you can always ask me (just remember I will always get to everyone eventually, but I do get a bit swamped.)
   
5. Take another big, deep breath.
   
6. Have some chocolate, it always works for me.
   
7. When you really want to have a rant, have the rant, but write it down and then save it.... don't hit send or post straight away. Pop it aside until tomorrow. It's more than likely you'll have got over it by then, and besides, the recipients don't really want that big blast of rant coming in their direction.
   
8. Do something different. Ok, so the video doesn't work. Go find an article of interest or read someone else's blog. You can go back to what you were doing later, but still feel like you're doing something 23 Things related.
   
9. And most of all, remember that this is supposed to be fun, relaxed, open ended training. The world won't end, I promise you. Nobody is going to write a big nasty report on you about how you were too stupid to embed a video, seriously. Instead, they're more likely to say "Oh, I couldn't do that either, doesn't that suck?"

And if you're really needing some help in the stress relief department, here's a nice video I found...