Happy, happy Thursday evening. J It’s time for a ‘this and that post’… tons of little things that need addressing. Here I go ~
I love words. Really, really love. There’s a magic that carefully chosen words can weave. Anyone who shares my intense love of reading knows that a superb writer can make you laugh, make you sob, make you joyful, make you wonder, and even make you love or despise a character, a pure figment of your imagination who only exists in the world of a book. So, when I write a post I choose my words very carefully. While I don’t claim to be a superb writer by any stretch of the imagination, I do spend a lot (perhaps too much!) time when composing my next words to share with you. I’m afraid I may have fallen short with my last post.
I often get lost in my private and lovely world of thoughts. I find that the realm of my daydreams is a most joyful place to be. Recently, I got to thinking about how different I am than pretty much every single person around me (prompting my last post), and how that was quite a challenge at the beginning of my journey. I realize that not everyone is comfortable with being different than the norm, making them sad, or angry, and longing desperately to fit in. Even at the expense of denying their personal truths and intuitions. I wanted to write my last post to say to all of you struggling ~ it’s okay. There is a rhyme or reason to it all. What I wasn’t trying to do was complain or feel self-pity, and I apologize if that is how my words read, there is nothing worse than a pity post! ;) I accept being unusual as the unexpected gift that it is and revel in my uniqueness. And I thank all of you wonderful women for your kind words supporting me and all I do. J
 |
| The photo I sent Tay to be included in her video! :) |
Next up… my daughter, Taylor, over at Perfectly Sensible Nonsense needs your help. For those of you who don’t know Taylor
 |
| Vote for Jordan!! |
Moving on to daughter number 2… Jordan Jordan
Shifting gears...I believe that one of the most amazing achievements I've seen in my lifetime so far is the Internet and the limitless knowledge and information that is available at my fingertips. Truly awesome. As a homeschooling Mom I find it invaluable and search its fathomless depths almost daily. You may have heard about SOPA or PIPA, two acts before Congress right now. I just went online and signed a petition here protesting these two acts. Only took a second... here's a bit of an explanation in the words of Taylor ~
First of all, I think that the intention behind the acts is a good one. I don't believe in pirating. However, the WAY that these acts propose to stop piracy is pretty extreme. Because most piracy sites are foreign, the US government can't take them down, so instead SOPA and PIPA are before Congress. They propose to censor the web in order to block those piracy sites.
The reason that so many major sites, like Wikipedia, Google and Craigslist, were protesting is because if SOPA and PIPA are passed, they could vastly compromise our freedom on the internet. If you were to post copyrighted photos, even unknowingly as I have no doubt done on my blog, your website could be blocked, censored or shut down without warning. Not only that - if I were to unknowingly link to a site involved in some kind of piracy, not only would that site be in trouble, but I could get into big trouble, just because I didn't check into the site that I linked to well enough.
This sort of thing could be crippling to search engines and informational sites like Google and Wikipedia, to internet businesses, and even to small sites like my personal blog, which is exactly why everyone was protesting yesterday. Not only that, but according to an informational video (watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjrPuYLAIkk), it could also make the internet unstable. If SOPA and PIPA are passed, they could mean the end of the internet as we know it.
And finally, one more thing before I leave you… anyone who spends any time on Blogger is aware that the Blogospere can be tempermental… touchy… and unexpectedly rotten at times. Viruses, disappearing comments, missing posts, glitches, inability to log on. We’ve come to expect them all. I used to hold my breath when logging in, really afraid that all I’ve invested so much time and energy into would be… gone. Lost in the world of cyberspace forever. Then, sometime last year my friend Sonya over at Kanelstrand offered up a simple and easy solution. It totally put my mind at ease. After each post I download my entire blog to my computer, safely stored in case the unmentionable happens. You can visit Sonya’s link here for photos and a more detailed description, but it’s really very easy.
~Visit the SETTINGS page. (At the top of the old Blogger interface you’ll see Export Blog right at the top of the page. In the new interface you’ll find the Export Blog prompt in the options section under settings.)
~Click on EXPORT BLOG.
~Then DOWNLOAD BLOG.
~I then SAVE the file.
~A window pops up on my screen, I name the file, click SAVE again and I’m good to go!
Phew, no more worries that all those words I struggled over will have disappeared in the blink of an eye! (I have had trouble Exporting my blog from the new Blogger interface, which I use and prefer. I simply switch back to the old interface to export.)
And I think that ought to do it. Thanks for those who stuck with me through this very, very long post, and don't forget to export and save those precious blogs! Have a marvelous evening friends. J
Peace & Blessings ~ Melinda