Have you met Joe yet? He interviews friends and photographers on one of his blogs and I was honored to be the subject for this post. Joe is an incredible photographer, a good friend, and someone I cannot wait to meet one day!
Category Archives: Blogging
Bloggers: The Most Incredible Gathering of Friends!
We’ve all said it, and many of you have as well.
WordPress Blogging has become so much more than we ever thought it would be. What started out as travel diary, forum for writing, sharing of photography, enlightenment about art, gardening, or crafting, or keeping up with family has become a community of international friends.
Over the last several days, 8 WP bloggers from 3 countries and 2 states, have met in various locations to continue in person, the relationships that have been forged through the world of blogging.
Laurie, Boomdee, Pauline, Alys, and Julia in Old Town Alexandria.
We marveled that while most of us had never met each other, we talked and laughed as if we’d known each other for years.
Which, of course, we had.
Laurie, Stacy, Boomdee, Alys, Lisa, Pauline, and Patty in Georgetown
What might have seemed unusual to friends and family (“you’re letting someone you’ve never met stay in your home?”), to us seemed natural. No doubts.
Our days have been full of laughter, many hugs, lots of delicious food and the sharing of stories.
Pauline, Shelley, Boomdee, Alys
We’re still in the middle of this amazing gathering of friends, but I wanted to share the joy, because of course, there are so many of you out there that I would love to meet!
Let’s get to planning. I promise it is worth the effort!
We’ve got another couple days here in Radford before I put Boomdee, Kelly, and Pauline on the train back to DC. Until the, we’ll fill every single moment with the joy of being together.
And now, while the others get a bit more rest, I’m off to work on the campaign for a couple hours.
Good Friends and Votes for Women!
The WordPress world, and the bloggers who live in that world, have been so good to me! In just a few short days, 5 in fact, according to the countdown widget, I’ll be meeting with women that I’ve come to know through blogging. Energized excitement is flowing from Canada to New Zealand to California all the way to Virginia and DC.
There are many others who blog on WP that I’ve come to know and love, and today I want to tell you about one of them – cat lovers, pay attention! Suffragette Kitty is written by Louisa May Alcatt “a reincatation of one of the world’s most notable women”. LMA is “a tortie with cattatude, who despite a 125-year cat nap, remains passionate about women’s rights”.
A visit to Suffragette Kitty offers a great education about many of history’s notable women. I’m always inspired and in fact, after reading one post, was moved to donate to Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. What a fascinating family the Alcotts were!
Just the other day, the mail carrier delivered inspiration for my campaign from LMA and her publicist (Maureen, the writer of the blog). The Votes for Women items seen in these photos are a reminder that not only was there a time when women were not able to vote; they were also of course, not able to run for office.
LMA tells me that Marmee – Abigail May Alcott – lobbied for a woman’s right to vote from age 16 until her dying day at 77. While she never lived to see her dream come true, she paved the way for women today. LMA says “in my opinion, Marmee was an unsung Women’s Rights Activist”. I love this sachet and hope, that as LMA intended, that it brings me luck.
Thank you, LMA, for this wonderful gift, which brought a huge smile to my face and warmth to my heart.
I feel truly blessed.
The Gift of Friendship
The Contented Crafter has now become the Wildly Excited Crafter! Check out this post and see why!
If you have been tagging along with this blog for a while you will have read on many occasions of my appreciation for the delightful people that blogging has introduced into my life. I love how certain folks circle around different bloggers, how we introduce each other to new and exciting blogs – how we click with new people. I sometimes forget how I stumbled across someone and then will see another name in the comments and remember that I gatecrashed their party a year ago and have been having a growing relationship ever since ….. I’ve made some really good friends while blogging. And never actually met a single one of them!
But that is all about to change!
Recently some of these friends put their heads together and decided to make something happen. They invited me to come stay for a few days. A week of…
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Kindness in the WordPress World
The great wide world of WordPress is filled with talented, creative people.
Some put words to paper that inspire me, make me think, and bring a tear to the eye. Others fill my screen with photographic images that are so visionary and incredible that I exclaim out loud. History and humor are found here, too, as are recipes, travel tips, gardening ideas, and of course, motorcycles!
And then there are the crafty ones.
The ones who spend hours using their creative spirits and their hands to make items that have the rest of us wondering how they do it. The quilters, painters, scrapbookers, knitters, crocheters, candymakers, and artists of every sort.
Since beginning my blogging journey with WP, I’ve been blessed to be the recipient of valuable friendships, and gifts of photography, handmade cards, folded books, t-shirts, and most recently a chrocheted bunting, which arrived all the way from Australia! Incredible! How on earth did Dani from Teddy and Tottie find the time to make so many festive buntings and then to mail them to friends all over the world?
How did she know that, because of family, work, and civic commitments, I have not yet put even one Christmas decoration out? How did she know that her gift of time and kindness would be so welcome in my home.
Thank you, Dani. You are, in addition to being talented, a kind and generous woman.
These gifts, and the people who make them, inspire me to up my game! I frequently read blog updates where one blogger is sending gifts to another. Their planning and organization is impressive; the generosity incredible. You all know who you are.
You inspire me.
Harley
How wonderful to have a photo of me on my bike serve as an illustration in a blog post. Please visit Meditation Travelogue to view the photos and read the thoughts from Noelle. Her blog is a lovely place to visit.
Photo by Laurie Buchwald from http://lifeonthebikeandotherfabthings.com
On the soul highway it doesn’t matter if you’re souped up on a Harley or riding a tricycle. Speed is not determined by the vehicle, but rather the clarity in vision of the driver.
Thank you Laurie Buchald for the great Harley shot. If you’d like to see some other great photography from her travels on her bike please visit her blog at http://lifeonthebikeandotherfabthings.com
Blog Tour: Partial Failure
What a whirlwind week it has been, one filled with many big and small things!
The biggest and most important thing was undergoing my 15th procedure since the wreck and to finally have my smile restored! I’ve not devoted much blog space to the events of the past 9 months, and the only reason I’m doing so today is because this important event kept me from fulfilling an obligation that I committed myself to.
I’d been asked by 3 different bloggers to participate in a Blog Tour. I appreciated the invitations but knowing that I was a bit over extended and had a big case pending, I initially declined. Eventually I did agree to participate because it seemed fun, and a nice way to meet other bloggers.
The rules are simple. The invited participant composes a one-time post. 4 questions are answered and then 4 other bloggers are invited to create a post, answering those same questions.
I dutifully made a calendar note to create a post, but then … I forgot to invite others to participate!
I must apologize to Emilio for only partially fulfilling my role as participant. Please check out his post about the Virtual Blog Tour.
And since we’re talking Tours, why don’t you visit a Displaced Beachbum. She’s traveled the world and is currently touring Scotland.
Jo the Tart Queen is another blogger whose posts share delicious sounding recipes and beautiful photos from her travels.
So … the Answers to the 4 Questions in brief:
What am I currently working on? I’m continuing my growth as an amateur photographer and am so happy to have been included as one of the photographers in a new B&W Photography Blog called Monochromia. Please visit the blog and check out the great work of the participating photographers.
How does my work differ from others of its genre? I have no specific goal other than to improve and no specific subject other than what draws and attracts my eye. I do like to travel as much as I can and many of my posts are about the things I see from the road … short, local trips and longer, more adventurous ones.
Why do I write/create what I do? Simply put: It’s all about the joy, the fun, and the opportunity to be creative in a life filled with work and structure.
How does your writing/creating process work? Oh gosh … let’s see. Something draws my attention. I pull over, crawl around on the ground, climb a ladder, fence, or bed of the truck, or slide down a riverbank, and shoot and shoot and shoot. Once I get home, I just pray that something worked! I do edit but not extensively.
Thanks Emilio for inviting me to be a part of this tour!
International SkypeTea Party!
Somehow, a Harley riding photographer from Virginia, became linked, via the joy that is WordPress blogging, with a talented, creative group of women from around the world. When Boomdee suggested we have an international Tea Party by Skype, we all jumped at the chance to particpate.
We each wore a hat and gloves, and were prepared with tea to drink and a poem to share. I was tempted to wear my helmet and leather, but couldn’t resist letting my inner Lady shine through with elbow length white gloves. You’re not surprised to learn that I had wine in my tea cup, are you?
Despite a few technical difficulties, and most of us not being able to see the others, we were able to hear each others voices, and enjoy poems, laughter, and stories. While I would have loved to see faces, I truly feel that I got to know these women a little better just by listening to their voices.
And before we knew it, a couple hours had passed, and we had all enjoyed a fabulous evening!!
Please, please, please check out the posts from the other Skype Tea participants. They have described the process far better than I – including how to coordinate a Skype session for 6 busy women from several different countries and time zones!
Thank you Boomdee, at Boomdeeadda for organizing this international Skype Tea Party. Check out her post Blogging With Friends From Far Away
Alys at Gardening Nirvana entitled her post Blogging Nirvana. How perfect is that title?
Dani from Teddy and Tottie wrote More Lady Edith than Audrey
Pauline from The Contented Crafter described the tea in Still No Art – Just More Life
(I’ll add posts from our last two Skype Tea partiers soon).
I’m such a lucky woman and I can not wait for the next Tea Party!
Additions to the Shrine
A few months after the wreck, I realized that I had unintentionally created a shrine of sorts, to the bike.
The shrine contains the helmet I’ll never be able to use again;
the one remaining glove, the other left behind in that intersection;
the photo of me, taken on the morning of my last ride on that bike,
the camera that somehow survived,
and a box filled with the many, many cards I was so grateful to have received.
How nice that, through the joy of blogging on WordPress, I was gifted with wonderful additions to that collection. Debby, from Apple Moon Creations, sent me what I like to call Book Art. She folds the pages of books into familiar and favorite things.
For me: a motorcycle and a camera
Debby is so clever and if you want to know how she folds these books into art, check out this link.
Debby made the comment that it is hard to photograph a folded book and I very much agree!
Blogging has brought gifts of friendship, and more blessings than I ever thought imaginable. In addition to the connections with people from all over the world, I have gained insight, been inspired, and grown as a photographer.
Thank you so much, Debby! Everyone – please check out Apple Moon Creations!
Cheers!
Cheers to you, my blogging friends!
You have embraced my blog, enhanced my life, supported my health, and made me better in so many ways.
Peace, contentment, joy, and health to all of you! Have fun and Ride Safe!
Life on the Bike and other Fab Things 