Bloggers Convergence
Alina’s in the market for a new laptop. She perused the table full of them at our recent Blogger meet-up, asking pertinent questions about their performance and convenience, before settling down to take mine for a test run. Behind her, Fred was signing some of his newly published books, Slow Road Home, for Rigel. Rigel was inspired to move to Floyd from California after reading Fred’s blog, Fragments from Floyd, and she’s been a regular at our monthly regional blogger meet-ups.
The sun was streaming in Café Del Sol’s large windows. One of the glass paneled doors was boarded-up, a sign of the damage created when a deer crashed in and out of it on Monday, prompting Doug’s Tuesday blog post, “The Deer who Came for Coffee.”
There were pockets of several conversations going on at once. Doug opened up the Floyd Press newspaper and there was the deer story, written by none other than himself and sporting a new title. And so the details got retold, and some got re-enacted, for those who hadn’t already heard.
After Fred had finished signing a small stack books and delivered them to Rigel, he and I talked book publishing for awhile. Somewhere I managed to squeeze in a question to Doug about deleting stored junk comments, and Alina, whose blog is just over a month old, shared a concern. After a confident start, launching her blog and posting daily for a couple of weeks, she lost momentum when she went on a trip, and now she’s been feeling shy about continuing.
“It’s been a year and that still happens to me,” I told to her. Fred, who’s been blogging for over 3 years, nodded his head knowingly.
“And every time it happens, I learn something about myself and use it as an opportunity to re-evaluate my reasons for blogging,” I continued.
“What about you?” I asked David, an upbeat guy who exudes self- confidence. “Do you ever feel shy or vulnerable about putting yourself out there?” 
David doesn’t, but his wife Gretchen confessed that one of their family members precedes some of their conversations with, ‘And don’t let David blog about this!’
Our meet-ups – the 2nd Thursday of each month – are fun and stimulating. They bring balance to a sometimes isolating activity. It’s good to exchange ideas and foster enthusiasm for what we do. I especially appreciate being able to draw on the knowledge of our more seasoned local bloggers and techies (compared to me): Fred, David, and Doug.
May 12th, 2006 9:40 am
now I know there is a blogger’s anonymous
My name is Shane, and I’m a blogger.
“Hello Shane”
lol
May 12th, 2006 10:35 am
Every time I read one of your Floyd posts, I want to pack up and move. The only flaws seem to be that there’s no ocean there, and that it gets too cold for this southern girl.
It’s like “Northern Exposure,” only real.
May 12th, 2006 10:40 am
Terrilynn, Let’s trade places for a few days! Let me know if you want to come visit.
May 12th, 2006 11:27 am
i was thinking the same thing about floyd and ‘northern exposure’….geez colleen…maybe there is an idea for your next book…or SERIES of books…about life in floyd!!! 🙂
May 12th, 2006 2:05 pm
I’ve made the Northern Exposure comparison before too. Only in Floyd it’s a deer on Main Street, not a moose.
May 12th, 2006 2:18 pm
I first came across Fred’s blog about two years ago when I was searching for yellow labs online. Unfortunately, I can’t remember just how I came across his site in particular, but I fell in love with Tsuga as soon as I saw his picture. I’ve been a fan of Fred’s site ever since, especially because photos are absolutely breathtaking.
You raise a good point about feeling shy or vulnerable in blogging. I must say that I often have that same feeling, because my family and friends read my blog. It takes guts to put yourself out there, so to speak, especially if one is not a writer by trade!
It has led to much self censoring in the past, and I often find that I don’t write the things I would REALLY like to write about.
ahh well, all things evolve with time.
And I’d like to add that Floyd sounds like a wonderful place to live. I’ll have to come up there someday when I need to get away from the concrete jungle I’m living in!
May 12th, 2006 2:34 pm
what a wonderful resource to have. To my knowledge my area has nothing like it. Love the advisory of don’t let David blog this.
May 12th, 2006 5:27 pm
I don’t get shy about posting on my blog if I miss a few days, but I do tend to feel hesitant to comment on another blog if I’ve been a regular visitor, and have to be away. Sometimes it takes a good subject to break the ice!
May 12th, 2006 6:06 pm
I can’t believe that girl just up and moved to Floyd from CA. That just shocks me! The deer doesn’t shock me….but it made for a great story.
2nd Thursday. I will remember that. And you do bring your computer?
May 12th, 2006 8:26 pm
I moved to Floyd from Texas after reading The Museletter! I didn’t know anyone or hardly anything about the place.
I bring my laptop (and most others do) each time, but I have yet to use it, except to let Alina try it. The cafe is wireless. Hope to see you next month, Deana.
PS that was Rigel who moved to Floyd from California. There is no picture of her here. Maybe next time…or maybe David has one at his place.
May 12th, 2006 8:45 pm
Anything with an Apple logo – especially the new Intel-powered units that support booting into Windows XP as well as Mac OS X.
HP has some compelling new models now as well. Great post-sales support. Toshiba and Dell are other can’t miss brands.
Avoid off-price tier 2 (or 3, or worse) brands. Support is almost impossible to find.
One piece of advice: ALWAYS ensure the warranty is extended out to 3 years. It usually costs under $200, and one repair will justify it. Some plans even replace the battery – which WILL die.
I write about this for my day job. If she has any questions, please have her e-mail or call me.
May 12th, 2006 8:49 pm
How truly wonderful Colleen that you have this Blogger Group that actually meets! (For some reason something about your post today made me think of “Northern Exposure”. Did you ever see that show? IT WAS FABULOUS!! It took place in a little town in Alaska and there was a ‘meeting’ place like you have spoken about before–meet & eat..but it’s the meeting of everybody to dispell isolation that reminded me of “Cicely, Alaska”. If you don’t know this show…rent it, if you can. WONDERFUL writing…)
Anyway..I envy your getting together in this way. I can see how it would be such an addition to all of your lives.
May 12th, 2006 8:50 pm
Forgot to say I’, here from Michele tonight! If you get a chance Colleen, come on by…I have the 2nd of my Mother&Daughter posts up…
May 12th, 2006 10:38 pm
evening.
nice to find so much activity in this creative soup!
March 14th, 2010 6:06 pm
[…] she knew from my blog post that I was there playing Scrabble. And I’ll never forget when the deer crashed into the café window. I got a couple of blog comments after blogging about that saying that Floyd was […]