I was delighted to find, when I checked my email this morning, that this blog was listed on the list of "Hey, go check these out" from the 23 Things On A Stick people.
I have been horrible about updating (obviously: my last update was February 8th), in part because I have been very busy, and have not had time to deal with things 4, 5, and 6, which all begin with my actually getting photos *off* the digital camera and onto the computer. That will change this weekend, so you can expect more content shortly.
My other recent news update is that I did a presentation on February 18th (this'd be one of the things that was taking my time) at a friend's workplace, on online internet culture and how people interact. They're working on a really interesting Web 2.0 community website focused on health care information and experiences, the Healthcare Scoop. It's still in progress, and they're regularly adding new tools and resources. This presentation was a chance for me to talk about some of the other ways that people find and access information online, and what makes them interested in participating in a site.
You can see my slides for this online at Slideshare (which I discovered by reading through 23 Things on a Stick, though it's one of the later activities).
As I work on getting those photos off the camera and onto Flickr so I can do fun things with them, feel free to hang out, comment, ask me questions, or whatever else makes sense.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
Handy videos
Whenever things show up in two different places online within a few days of each other, I tend to pay attention (memes sweeping LiveJournal don't count: that's effectively the same place).
In this case, two different sources (one the Thing 3 post from 23 Things On A Stick) and the other an email from a friend I'm doing a "Why are people online anyway" presentation for later this month.
They come from a company called Common Craft who mostly do work for various companies and other organizations - but they've got four great intro Web 2.0 videos.
In this case, two different sources (one the Thing 3 post from 23 Things On A Stick) and the other an email from a friend I'm doing a "Why are people online anyway" presentation for later this month.
They come from a company called Common Craft who mostly do work for various companies and other organizations - but they've got four great intro Web 2.0 videos.
- RSS in plain English
- Social bookmarking in plain English
- Wikis in plain English
·
Thing 3 : RSS feeds
I have to admit, it took me a while to catch on with RSS feeds - I just started using Google Reader in November of 2007. I'd used something equivalent (the LiveJournal Friends page, which brings posts from other LiveJournal users and other feeds) together on a single page. But a few months ago, I wanted to shift.
Part of the reason was I started reading more outside blogs - but also got busier. I wanted a way to filter what I was reading so that I could keep up with the most important or timely ones - but also catch up when I got some spare time.
My Google Reader has several folders of items:
In terms of finding feeds, I mostly subscribe to blogs that I already knew about, or that I found through links from other sites and bloggers. I have been using Google's Blog Search tool to browse for related blogs, too.
I'll leave a "Library blogs I keep coming back to" for a later post, though.
Part of the reason was I started reading more outside blogs - but also got busier. I wanted a way to filter what I was reading so that I could keep up with the most important or timely ones - but also catch up when I got some spare time.
My Google Reader has several folders of items:
- webcomics : I want to keep on top of these, since they mostly tell stories. They're also a lovely fun way to start my morning.
- important : the blogs I most want to stay on top of, or where I want to keep an eye on comments on some posts.
- when time: blogs I enjoy, but where it doesn't matter if I'm a few days behind.
- folders for particular personal interests : These are like the 'when time' mostly: they let me read all the blogs related to that interest at the same time.
- comment threads: Some of my blogs let me subscribe to feeds of their comments: this is great when the comments are as good as the blog (as is true for one of my favorites, Making Light.)
In terms of finding feeds, I mostly subscribe to blogs that I already knew about, or that I found through links from other sites and bloggers. I have been using Google's Blog Search tool to browse for related blogs, too.
I'll leave a "Library blogs I keep coming back to" for a later post, though.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Signed content
There's a discussion ongoing on the PubLib email list, in which various people are arguing that for content to be meaningful, it must be signed.
The librarian in me goes "There's a point." The rest of me, though, cringes.
Here we enter into a delicate point: this is my professional blog, I don't bring portions of my personal life into it, but it's an awareness that comes from this that makes me cringe. So, let's look at this in very generic terms...
1) I am a member of a particular religion.
2) My religion is sometimes misunderstood, and sometimes discriminated against. (This covers rather a lot of religions, actually.)
3) I discuss and follow my religion in various circumstances - both within my particular personal religious community, but also within the broader community of my faith (and sometimes, outside it). I'm aware of variations between different parts of the community, and what a reasonable range of variation is - and what stuff is clearly not common.
4) I have formal training in my religion that enables me to perform various religious, teaching, and other duties. (Unspecific, but I can't get much more detailed without being explicit what religion we're talking about.)
5) I'm not an expert on the whole religion, but I'm a careful writer, and take pains to be clear to give citations to other sources, and to general common experiences.
I'm pretty clearly a potential authoritative voice on some topics. But here's the rub: if I use my legal name or another identity tied to it, I also reveal my religious preferences, interests, and other topics to all and sundry.
Why is that a problem?
The problem is that 'all' includes a lot of people.
It includes random strangers. It includes my next-door-neighbor. It includes prospective employers. It includes random internet people who dislike what I say on a forum for some random reason, and who take it to my employer (with whatever ammunition they can pick.)
Sounds silly? Teresa Nielsen Hayden's had it happen with Tor Books several times (here's one example), and she is a moderate and thoughtful writer, well respected in the online community for her moderation (and moderation techniques.) Irrational people do not behave rationally, and there *are* irrational people in the world. I do my best to treat them with kindness, but that's easier to do when they aren't trying to get you fired or otherwise make you miserable.
I might well eventually want to share some of this information with my co-workers, if we start having more extensive conversations about our weekends than "Oh, I had a good time with friends." But I want it to be part of a face to face discussion, not something they stumble across online, possibly out of context.
Let's expand this out, a little. There are people who have extensive experience with chronic illnesses. Requiring a legal name can open them up to any number of employment-related concerns. (Yes, discrimination based on chronic illness is not legal - but it happens.) Mental health issues, sexual health (and sexuality in general), and gender identification concerns all are other things where people may have a great deal of relevant experience and authority - but where details are things they want to keep separate from their work life, or share very deliberately and with appropriate context and background.
While some people are comfortable associating various information with their legal name, not everyone is. The people who can be public may not be better informed, or better communicators about it, or have more directly applicable experience than the people who don't want to be public.
If we want better information - not just 'better verifiable information - that's a problem.
The question of context:
That's the other part. The pseduonym I use for religious discussion online, I've had for over 7 years. I've written at least 100,000 words on various topics (and possibly several times that). Anything I might write now with my legal name would not have nearly the obvious amount of context and background material for evaluation.
(That is, in fact, one of my professional issues, and one of the reasons for this blog, where I do use my legal name. I've been online and active and doing lots of interesting things - but you can't see it from the legal name side.)
End result?
I do think that some way to determine a writer's background would be a good idea - but whatever system there is has to not only accomodate formal (schools, degrees) training, but informal, material covered by outside certification (doctors, lawyers) but also experiential data (material from people with a particular experience, condition, etc.)
I'm not sure there's a way to do that, and verify the data, and protect privacy. But *speaking* freely, and having reasonable access to say "Hey, this info is not so good." in online discussions without abrogating privacy seems essential. I'd rather wade through poor information (and teach others how to do so) than take that away.
The librarian in me goes "There's a point." The rest of me, though, cringes.
Here we enter into a delicate point: this is my professional blog, I don't bring portions of my personal life into it, but it's an awareness that comes from this that makes me cringe. So, let's look at this in very generic terms...
1) I am a member of a particular religion.
2) My religion is sometimes misunderstood, and sometimes discriminated against. (This covers rather a lot of religions, actually.)
3) I discuss and follow my religion in various circumstances - both within my particular personal religious community, but also within the broader community of my faith (and sometimes, outside it). I'm aware of variations between different parts of the community, and what a reasonable range of variation is - and what stuff is clearly not common.
4) I have formal training in my religion that enables me to perform various religious, teaching, and other duties. (Unspecific, but I can't get much more detailed without being explicit what religion we're talking about.)
5) I'm not an expert on the whole religion, but I'm a careful writer, and take pains to be clear to give citations to other sources, and to general common experiences.
I'm pretty clearly a potential authoritative voice on some topics. But here's the rub: if I use my legal name or another identity tied to it, I also reveal my religious preferences, interests, and other topics to all and sundry.
Why is that a problem?
The problem is that 'all' includes a lot of people.
It includes random strangers. It includes my next-door-neighbor. It includes prospective employers. It includes random internet people who dislike what I say on a forum for some random reason, and who take it to my employer (with whatever ammunition they can pick.)
Sounds silly? Teresa Nielsen Hayden's had it happen with Tor Books several times (here's one example), and she is a moderate and thoughtful writer, well respected in the online community for her moderation (and moderation techniques.) Irrational people do not behave rationally, and there *are* irrational people in the world. I do my best to treat them with kindness, but that's easier to do when they aren't trying to get you fired or otherwise make you miserable.
I might well eventually want to share some of this information with my co-workers, if we start having more extensive conversations about our weekends than "Oh, I had a good time with friends." But I want it to be part of a face to face discussion, not something they stumble across online, possibly out of context.
Let's expand this out, a little. There are people who have extensive experience with chronic illnesses. Requiring a legal name can open them up to any number of employment-related concerns. (Yes, discrimination based on chronic illness is not legal - but it happens.) Mental health issues, sexual health (and sexuality in general), and gender identification concerns all are other things where people may have a great deal of relevant experience and authority - but where details are things they want to keep separate from their work life, or share very deliberately and with appropriate context and background.
While some people are comfortable associating various information with their legal name, not everyone is. The people who can be public may not be better informed, or better communicators about it, or have more directly applicable experience than the people who don't want to be public.
If we want better information - not just 'better verifiable information - that's a problem.
The question of context:
That's the other part. The pseduonym I use for religious discussion online, I've had for over 7 years. I've written at least 100,000 words on various topics (and possibly several times that). Anything I might write now with my legal name would not have nearly the obvious amount of context and background material for evaluation.
(That is, in fact, one of my professional issues, and one of the reasons for this blog, where I do use my legal name. I've been online and active and doing lots of interesting things - but you can't see it from the legal name side.)
End result?
I do think that some way to determine a writer's background would be a good idea - but whatever system there is has to not only accomodate formal (schools, degrees) training, but informal, material covered by outside certification (doctors, lawyers) but also experiential data (material from people with a particular experience, condition, etc.)
I'm not sure there's a way to do that, and verify the data, and protect privacy. But *speaking* freely, and having reasonable access to say "Hey, this info is not so good." in online discussions without abrogating privacy seems essential. I'd rather wade through poor information (and teach others how to do so) than take that away.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thing 2 : What I think about Library 2.0
I've been trying to get time to watch the video that's part of this week's work for days now, and not managing it (a busy weekend followed by the day job and the last two nights at the temporary job didn't help). I'm going ahead and talking about the rest of it now, and will come back there.
Why participate?
Already answered this, really: I'm looking to improve my existing skills, build new ones, and not-so-incidentally build up professional online material that I can point at in job interviews.
How has the Internet affected my life?
I've met friends and romantic partners online. Every single major (or local) diaster since college, I heard about first online. (Single exception? The 35W bridge collapse: I was sitting in the computer lab at St. Kate's at the time, working on an assignment because I didn't have 'Net at home yet after moving.) It's also how I've known people were safe after disasters.
I'm capable of being offline for days at a time (distraction helps), but it's so much of how I keep up with the people I care about, and the topics and interests I care about, that I don't do it without good reason.
Not counting work, I'm usually online for about an hour in the morning before work, and for 2-3 hours any evening I'm home (which is anywhere from 3-5 of them.) Most of that is for personal interests, mind you, and includes some amount of electronic gaming, but a lot of it is conversation on various sites and through various formats.
Where am I in use of Web 2.0 tools?
I've been on LiveJournal (including volunteer support work) since 2001. I've got accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn, on various forums and boards. I've got an account on Flickr that I don't use much, and one on Ravelry. I read a number of email lists, and post to a few of them.
I find some of them unsatisfying: I prefer longer, more in-depth conversation, which leads me towards blogs and away from social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. I'm a recent convert to using an RSS reader outside of LiveJournal - I find it fantastic for blogs I want to keep up with, but can leave for a while if I'm (especially) busy.
What I'm most interested right now is learning ways libraries are using these tools, and how my existing knowledge fits into that. I have a number of ideas, but more are never bad.
How about my library?
Our website (K-12 private school) is currently fairly locked down: we can have static pages posted, but it goes through our webmistress. Our instructional technology specialist has brought in Moodle (educational course software) that we've used for a library resource area (booklists, links to local event listings, other fun ideas) and classes and some others use wikis, blogs, and podcasts.
We're doing a bit of education (to parents, but also students) about online safety and literacy issues, but not a lot of proactive education (how to have good experiences online, not just avoid bad ones) and not a lot of it is integrated into other activities yet.
What am I looking forward to with 23 things?
I'm looking forward to trying thing out with a fresh eye, and having a chance to explore how to use these in library settings, not a personal one or a school one.
Interactive Usage history:
One thing that occured to me while reading this Thing's articles - I remember (fondly) the days when you could find other books you liked by looking at the check-out cards, and seeing who had it, and looking for their name. I found great books that way.
This is something I miss - and something that Web 2.0 is managing, but that libraries might potentially harness. Obviously, there are sites like LibraryThing and GoodReads where people can share their reading lists are great, but one that lets you filter for both people in your geographical area and who like the same books (or a subset of the same books) would be fantastic. (GoodReads does have a "People near me", but it doesn't seem to have a "People near me who read a bunch of the same books" combination.)
Why participate?
Already answered this, really: I'm looking to improve my existing skills, build new ones, and not-so-incidentally build up professional online material that I can point at in job interviews.
How has the Internet affected my life?
I've met friends and romantic partners online. Every single major (or local) diaster since college, I heard about first online. (Single exception? The 35W bridge collapse: I was sitting in the computer lab at St. Kate's at the time, working on an assignment because I didn't have 'Net at home yet after moving.) It's also how I've known people were safe after disasters.
I'm capable of being offline for days at a time (distraction helps), but it's so much of how I keep up with the people I care about, and the topics and interests I care about, that I don't do it without good reason.
Not counting work, I'm usually online for about an hour in the morning before work, and for 2-3 hours any evening I'm home (which is anywhere from 3-5 of them.) Most of that is for personal interests, mind you, and includes some amount of electronic gaming, but a lot of it is conversation on various sites and through various formats.
Where am I in use of Web 2.0 tools?
I've been on LiveJournal (including volunteer support work) since 2001. I've got accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn, on various forums and boards. I've got an account on Flickr that I don't use much, and one on Ravelry. I read a number of email lists, and post to a few of them.
I find some of them unsatisfying: I prefer longer, more in-depth conversation, which leads me towards blogs and away from social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. I'm a recent convert to using an RSS reader outside of LiveJournal - I find it fantastic for blogs I want to keep up with, but can leave for a while if I'm (especially) busy.
What I'm most interested right now is learning ways libraries are using these tools, and how my existing knowledge fits into that. I have a number of ideas, but more are never bad.
How about my library?
Our website (K-12 private school) is currently fairly locked down: we can have static pages posted, but it goes through our webmistress. Our instructional technology specialist has brought in Moodle (educational course software) that we've used for a library resource area (booklists, links to local event listings, other fun ideas) and classes and some others use wikis, blogs, and podcasts.
We're doing a bit of education (to parents, but also students) about online safety and literacy issues, but not a lot of proactive education (how to have good experiences online, not just avoid bad ones) and not a lot of it is integrated into other activities yet.
What am I looking forward to with 23 things?
I'm looking forward to trying thing out with a fresh eye, and having a chance to explore how to use these in library settings, not a personal one or a school one.
Interactive Usage history:
One thing that occured to me while reading this Thing's articles - I remember (fondly) the days when you could find other books you liked by looking at the check-out cards, and seeing who had it, and looking for their name. I found great books that way.
This is something I miss - and something that Web 2.0 is managing, but that libraries might potentially harness. Obviously, there are sites like LibraryThing and GoodReads where people can share their reading lists are great, but one that lets you filter for both people in your geographical area and who like the same books (or a subset of the same books) would be fantastic. (GoodReads does have a "People near me", but it doesn't seem to have a "People near me who read a bunch of the same books" combination.)
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Thing 1 (part 2) : A comparison of blog software
Before moving on to Thing 2, I wanted to talk more about one of the questions in Thing 1 - how different blogging software packages compare. I've used WordPress, Blogger, Moveable Type, LiveJournal, and a few others over the years.
Digital native:
Functionally, I'm a digital native: I have preferences about what software I use, but in practice, I'll learn how to use most things without too much difficulty. As an example: my preference for personal use? Either WordPress or LiveJournal via FireFox on a Mac. This blog? Blogger via FireFox (okay, I admit I adore tabbed browsing) on a PC running Windows XP at the moment, since I'm at work. Still totally happy.
LiveJournal:
There are two features of LiveJournal I really like: the ability to 'lock' posts so that only selected other LiveJournal users can see them (in various combinations) and the fact that a number of design choices lead towards active online communities.
People can either post in their own journals (and keep track of new comments in other people's journals very easily) or they can post in communities. I really like the interplay: I find new interesting people to talk to regularly.
I use LiveJournal extensively for my own personal processing. I like that I can talk or vent about something, but not burden any one particular friend in email or on the phone (if they're busy, they aren't reading, and therefore aren't answering or feeling guilty about not answering, either.) But I also like that it's easy for me to find other people I might enjoy talking to. I like a number of the community tools (even while there are some I would love, like fully threaded new comment tracking.)
I leverage my friends list (the list of people whose journals I read regularly) heavily for information, too: I can ask a question there about something I'm exploring, and get answers and ideas back quite quickly. At the same time, it's more private than a wide-open blog, and I have a better idea of the background of the people answering.
WordPress:
I use WordPress for my 'public' personal blog (which is related to my religious life, and is also under a pseduonym). I like the versatility of WordPress. I can set up a relatively straightforward design with relatively low technical knowledge - but I can also fiddle with things endlessly or design my own themes if I like.
I also like the combination of tagging and categories for being able to organise topics: on that blog, I have categories for general types of posts, but use tags to note specific series of posts that people might want to look at later.
Blogger:
I like Blogger's ease of use: for this professional discussion, where I don't want to do a lot of design work (I just want to write, and post, and get on with life). I do feel a little frustated by some of the settings options: the things I'm more interested in (format and design changes) are harder or impossible to do, while things I don't care about (lots of eye-catching plugins) are easy to do at a click of a button. (I very much go for simple but visually appealing in my preferred design.)
Overall:
All three (and some other systems I've used, like MoveableType) are perfectly workable systems - but they do slightly different things, and they appeal to different audiences. I enjoy using all three, but which one I'd recommend if someone asks me about starting a blog depends on a lot of factors (Do they like playing with design features? Do they just want to write and post, and not fiddle? Are they looking for online communities to join?)
Digital native:
Functionally, I'm a digital native: I have preferences about what software I use, but in practice, I'll learn how to use most things without too much difficulty. As an example: my preference for personal use? Either WordPress or LiveJournal via FireFox on a Mac. This blog? Blogger via FireFox (okay, I admit I adore tabbed browsing) on a PC running Windows XP at the moment, since I'm at work. Still totally happy.
LiveJournal:
There are two features of LiveJournal I really like: the ability to 'lock' posts so that only selected other LiveJournal users can see them (in various combinations) and the fact that a number of design choices lead towards active online communities.
People can either post in their own journals (and keep track of new comments in other people's journals very easily) or they can post in communities. I really like the interplay: I find new interesting people to talk to regularly.
I use LiveJournal extensively for my own personal processing. I like that I can talk or vent about something, but not burden any one particular friend in email or on the phone (if they're busy, they aren't reading, and therefore aren't answering or feeling guilty about not answering, either.) But I also like that it's easy for me to find other people I might enjoy talking to. I like a number of the community tools (even while there are some I would love, like fully threaded new comment tracking.)
I leverage my friends list (the list of people whose journals I read regularly) heavily for information, too: I can ask a question there about something I'm exploring, and get answers and ideas back quite quickly. At the same time, it's more private than a wide-open blog, and I have a better idea of the background of the people answering.
WordPress:
I use WordPress for my 'public' personal blog (which is related to my religious life, and is also under a pseduonym). I like the versatility of WordPress. I can set up a relatively straightforward design with relatively low technical knowledge - but I can also fiddle with things endlessly or design my own themes if I like.
I also like the combination of tagging and categories for being able to organise topics: on that blog, I have categories for general types of posts, but use tags to note specific series of posts that people might want to look at later.
Blogger:
I like Blogger's ease of use: for this professional discussion, where I don't want to do a lot of design work (I just want to write, and post, and get on with life). I do feel a little frustated by some of the settings options: the things I'm more interested in (format and design changes) are harder or impossible to do, while things I don't care about (lots of eye-catching plugins) are easy to do at a click of a button. (I very much go for simple but visually appealing in my preferred design.)
Overall:
All three (and some other systems I've used, like MoveableType) are perfectly workable systems - but they do slightly different things, and they appeal to different audiences. I enjoy using all three, but which one I'd recommend if someone asks me about starting a blog depends on a lot of factors (Do they like playing with design features? Do they just want to write and post, and not fiddle? Are they looking for online communities to join?)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thing 1 : Getting Started (23 things on a stick)
I just signed up for the 23 Things on a Stick project. This is put together by various Minnesota libraries, as a way to encourage people to learn Web 2.0 technologies in an accessible way. It counts for credit for some statewide programs, too. (Why the name? Well, we have a state fair, see, at which it is common to have food on a stick. Ice cream. Cheese. Chocolate covered bananas. Ostrich. Scotch Eggs. Thus 'things on a stick' is a well-known state-wide phrase.)
I already know a number of things on the list (I've been online in various forms since 1994, after all, and have put in significant volunteer time at LiveJournal.com). But a lot of my online time is not under identities linked to my legal name (and which talk about some things, like my religious life, that I prefer to keep separate from work.) so I've been working on building up a professional online body of work/commentary (part of why I started this blog late last year!)
I'm using 23 Things on a Stick as a chance to try out some new specific sites and resources, and also as a way to document what I already know and think about different resources. So far, I'm really impressed with what I've seen: the instructions are clearly written without being too tedious for people who already have some experience, and there's plenty there to keep me busy, even though I'm already familiar with many of the sites under discussion in a general sort of way.
The first Thing is to create a blog (that part, I'd already done) and to set up an avatar. I wanted to choose something new (and appropriate) for this, so I'm riffing on my blog (and email) name. The name was suggested by a friend who knows of my general appreciation for Hypatia, and who suggested the 'modern' part as a nice way to make a unique handle.
Hypatia, as many of you may know, is popularly considered to be the last librarian at the Great Library at Alexandria, who was murdered by a rampaging mob. The actual story is a little more complicated (Wikipedia actually has the best one-page summary I've found recently) but there's still a lot of good to emulate there. Also, it makes a lovely professional image.
I was delighted, when I played around with Yahoo's Avatar offerings to discover that they had a Roman-style stola and a laurel wreath crown included. I'm always a little edgy about online avatars (I don't know about anyone else out there, but they're rarely my shape or height: I'm short and descended from long lines of European peasants who were good at surviving famines, which is to say 'so not tall and leggy'.) This, though, amuses me greatly.
That's enough for today: I intend to blog in the near future about some of Thing 1's challenge questions (especially different blogging platforms and book-related blogs I read regularly.
I already know a number of things on the list (I've been online in various forms since 1994, after all, and have put in significant volunteer time at LiveJournal.com). But a lot of my online time is not under identities linked to my legal name (and which talk about some things, like my religious life, that I prefer to keep separate from work.) so I've been working on building up a professional online body of work/commentary (part of why I started this blog late last year!)
I'm using 23 Things on a Stick as a chance to try out some new specific sites and resources, and also as a way to document what I already know and think about different resources. So far, I'm really impressed with what I've seen: the instructions are clearly written without being too tedious for people who already have some experience, and there's plenty there to keep me busy, even though I'm already familiar with many of the sites under discussion in a general sort of way.
The first Thing is to create a blog (that part, I'd already done) and to set up an avatar. I wanted to choose something new (and appropriate) for this, so I'm riffing on my blog (and email) name. The name was suggested by a friend who knows of my general appreciation for Hypatia, and who suggested the 'modern' part as a nice way to make a unique handle.
Hypatia, as many of you may know, is popularly considered to be the last librarian at the Great Library at Alexandria, who was murdered by a rampaging mob. The actual story is a little more complicated (Wikipedia actually has the best one-page summary I've found recently) but there's still a lot of good to emulate there. Also, it makes a lovely professional image.
I was delighted, when I played around with Yahoo's Avatar offerings to discover that they had a Roman-style stola and a laurel wreath crown included. I'm always a little edgy about online avatars (I don't know about anyone else out there, but they're rarely my shape or height: I'm short and descended from long lines of European peasants who were good at surviving famines, which is to say 'so not tall and leggy'.) This, though, amuses me greatly.
That's enough for today: I intend to blog in the near future about some of Thing 1's challenge questions (especially different blogging platforms and book-related blogs I read regularly.
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