1 Write Way

A Few Things You Need to Know About Me #MondayBlogs

Hello, dear Reader, and Happy Monday (or whatever day upon which you are reading this).  I thought it would be good to share a few things you should know about me.  Now, if you’ve been following my blog for a long time, maybe these items won’t surprise you.  If you’re new to my blog, these items might make or break whether you ever come back.  Such is life.  I do try.

What you should know:

  1.  I’m in the process of knitting a baby set (sweater, hat, and blanket) for a dear friend’s daughter-in-law.  The baby shower is in a couple of weeks.  I started knitting today so my fingers need to fly on the needles, not the keyboard.
  2. As I’ve closed some social media accounts (Tumblr, LinkedIn, Instagram), my presence on others is rather spotty. You might say random.  I don’t know when I’m going to show up on Facebook or Twitter or even WordPress. So if you see me and think to message me, don’t be surprised if your message seems to fall into a black hole.  I’ll try to get back to you, but lately when I do jump off social media, I don’t return for many hours, sometimes even a whole day … or two.
  3. I’ve been reading more.  I finally finished Kingsolver’s Lacuna and started reading Gulp by Mary Roach.  I’ve been having some intestinal troubles lately and think her book might be as informative (or more) as a visit to my doctor.  I’ve also been reading essays in Harper’s and Poets and Writers and Creative Nonfiction.  When I’m reading this much, I’m writing very little.  And yet I feel like I’m writing because these are essays that make me think about writing.
  4. I’m learning a new web-based reporting system at work which is interesting and actually stimulates my little gray cells enough that I sometimes forget about blogging, checking email and other things.
  5. I will be continuing this blog for the foreseeable future. I have plenty of posts in my head; it’s just finding the time to sit down and write them.  For those who know me very well, I don’t like writing off the cuff, as I’m doing with this post.  So Time is important. I try.

I just need to try a little bit harder.

Marie A Bailey

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37 responses to “A Few Things You Need to Know About Me #MondayBlogs”

  2. Nice to read a few things about you. 🙂 Except for #4 I’ve been doing allot of the same things. After a rough start I’m finally halfway through the baby blanket I’m knitting. Been reading a lot too and plan on continuing to write on my blog even if I’m not on as regular a schedule as I used to be. Life does get busy! As for social media…I’ve never been on twitter, tumbler or instagram, which is okay with me. I can’t even keep up as it is! Happy Monday.

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    • #4 is a lot of fun. I enjoy learning new software, especially if it does promise to make our reporting more efficient and easier. That’s great that your son still has his baby blanket! Even if it is full of holes 🙂 I’ve always wondered about the baby blankets and quilts I’ve made for friends and family. Some of the kids are tweens now and I doubt they still have the blankets.

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  4. Glad you’re continuing to post!
    Wow! I’ve only knitted one sweater for a baby. I’m sure your gift will be gratefully accepted. I’m crocheting daisy coasters. I can knock those off while watching a show or a movie.

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    • Hi, Linda! The nice thing about knitting baby stuff is you usually can knock a hat or sweater off over the the course of a few TV shows. I don’t know if I’ll get the blanket done in time for the baby shower. I’m trying to be smart by starting with the sweater and hat so I can at least give those if the blanket isn’t done. Daisy coasters sound cool! I want to go back to knitting socks. I was on a tear with socks a few years ago 😉

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    • I definitely had more time to focus on writing back then. The thing is, I really like the blogging community. It really works for me since I’m too much of an introvert to join any face-to-face groups. But like so many other writers, I bought the hype about needing to join every single new social medium out there. What a time suck.

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  6. Good to hear what’s going on with you Marie – and frankly I enjoy the small details. It is hard to step away from Social Media, but it takes a lot of time to do it properly, so its better to be where you can be rather than everywhere. BTW, I’m a knitter too – have just finished my first cat hat!! Ita a reasonable success as far as our cat goes. We’ll see. Hope you have time for the Iowa writers fiction workshop which should be starting soon.

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    • Oh, yes, I do want to participate in the fiction workshop, although I don’t think I’ll put myself through the wringer like I did the poetry workshop. LOL. I worked hard enough to get the certificate, which I’ve yet to print out 😉 I’d love to see a pic of your cat hat.

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  7. I think that’s a smart idea to close out unused social media sites. I leave them open because of my books, but I so rarely get to Google+ and LinkedIn, and I’m sketchy with Facebook. Only so many hours in a day. Glad to see you’re putting yours to good use. 🙂

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    • Indeed, too few hours. Weekends are way too short because that’s when I set up my weekly post. If I ever have a book to peddle, I might join more social mediums. But I know that won’t be for a long, long time 😉

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  8. Well I like your “off the cuff” posts Marie, so I hope you continue, especially since you’ve decided to stick with the blog. I know how you feel about unplanned posts though… What I’ve found with this “Writing in the Dark” thing is that some good stuff can come out of just banging away at the keyboard. The first few minutes tend to be tripe, but I think that’s just because it’s all of the garbage floating at the top. It’s all about finding that little hidden trail and following it.

    Good for you for reading more as well. It really is amazing what a consistent reading plan does for the writing mind. My problem is similar to yours, though, where it’s easier for me to pick up a book than a pen or keyboard. I’m still trying to find a way to balance the two.

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    • Phillip, I don’t think we will achieve balance until we’re retired and don’t have that pesky day job taking up so much of our time 😉 I hate sneaking time at work (as I am now) but sometimes that’s the only way to try and catch up 😉 I think you have a good pace with your blog. I see you have another installment of WitD — I hope to get to it soon!

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      • Well, Marie, yesterday I thought, “You know, I really liked that blogging!” (thought bubble) and since I liked it when I was doing it, I know it takes time time time…I decided to do some, not as much as I was doing, but a little. I do miss it. And it is good hearing from you too!!!

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    • Thank you, Carol! That can be true about baby clothes, although I have had a couple of sweater patterns that were very challenging. When you think that a baby might wear the sweater only a couple of times, you have to wonder why some patterns are so intricate 😉

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  16. I’ve maybe said this in another post comment, but I think it’s great you’re making efforts to get away from social media. I certainly have a love/hate relationship with the whole shebang. I’m proud of myself though this week. I haven’t made any blog comments until Friday because I prioritized other activities instead.

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    • You should feel proud of yourself. I think when you step away and focus on other activities, you can get a better sense of the false urgency that social media promotes. These past few days were kind of surrealistic for me. I could see I had WP comments piling up, but couldn’t muster the energy to respond to any until I got some chores out of the way. I feel a lot better having readjusted my priorities, too.

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