This week I’m doing a cross-blog conversation with Kathryn from Diary of a Smart Chick. You probably know Kathryn from Crochet Concupiscence which I have mentioned on my blog before. Kathryn is also the blogger behind Diary of a Smart Chick which is pretty much about everything minus crochet. Each day we will be asking and answering questions to each other on our blogs.
Keep Up with the Conversation
Here are the posts so far:
My response:
Hi Kathryn! To answer your first question…I do not have trouble figuring out what goes on the blog and what stays private. Certain aspects of my family life may be mentioned for example: my daughter’s birthday, where we go, what we buy, etc. What I consider to be private information like our address, where my husband works, etc. is not and will not be mentioned. I will not post about topics that I do not want other people’s opinion on as well like if my husband and I have a fight, sorry but you won’t hear about it. I do like to write about my childhood and past but those are more along the lines of stories.
Topics that will never be mentioned on The Steady Hand…religion and political views. Just because I don’t know enough about them and they seem to cause a lot of trouble.
Wow – you have been doing this for a quite a while. I think that you have more experience backing you than most bloggers do. Because you were a freelance writer, I also think it may be a little easier for you as well. Before becoming a blogger, I didn’t have much experience with writing. It was just something I wanted to do and I guess I have done well. But I always worry about using the right grammar, words, etc. Thank goodness there is spell-check!
I spend way too much time on my blog each week but at the same time I don’t think I spend enough time on it. To give you actual numbers I would estimate about 20 hours a week when my husband is not home and 10-15 a hours a week when he is (that is including weekends). That would consist of all the work I do on my computer for my Blog, Etsy Shop and all Social Networking. Most of that time is when my daughter is taking a nap (like now), at Preschool or has gone to bed for the night. It is never a solid chunk of time more like 30 minutes here an hour there. For example, I started this post at around 10 AM and now it is 3 PM and I am still not done! Most of my posts are done ahead of time and scheduled (obviously not this one). You can tell based on my posts how hectic my schedule is…when there is nothing but short posts and deals then it means that the previous week was pretty busy for me. When I do have at least a couple of hours that is when my better posts come out.
The missing child posts I started posting when I came across the Polly Klaas Foundation website. I found the website after I saw someone’s post on Facebook that their child was missing and started doing some searching. I can’t imagine how it must be for the parents and families of the children that go missing and I felt that as a parent myself I needed to do something to help. On the Polly Klaas website you can sign up as a Rapid Response Team eVolunteer. As an eVolunteer, you will receive emails when children go missing and when they are found. You can print out the Missing Child Posters to distribute in your area. I choose to post about the missing children on my blog and Facebook page. You can link directly to the missing child poster on the Polly Klaas website via their Master List of Missing Children. Just search for the child you would like to post about and link to that page. They do NOT want you to post the name, picture or other personal information on your website. Once the children are found that information is removed from the Polly Klaas website and they do not want it lingering on the web. I have been meaning to post links to the already missing children in Texas but just haven’t found the time. Most of the children have been missing for a long time… It is very sad and no one likes to think about it but getting the children’s information out there is one step closer to finding them and bringing them home.
Well, know I know who Jean-Michel Basquiat is! I would never have found out about him otherwise. I looked him up on Wikipedia and there are some pictures of his work there. He has been remembered with poems, books, a documentary film and his work is being sold for millions!
Off the wall random interests?
I like to read Historic Romance Novels. My husband calls them smut books. They are pretty graphic but I like the books for their stories more than I do the “other parts”. My favorite ones are about Ireland in the 1300s or England in the 1800s – yes I am actually date specific.
I like Origami not with the animals but modular origami. I have a couple of books on it and for some reason I do it when I am extremely anxious or stressed. The folding and perfection required is calming to me.
Questions for Kathryn:
- What topics will you not touch on your blog?
- I noticed that you watch Dance Moms – do you like reality TV? Why?
- I was absolutely drooling over the pictures of your Rice Noodle Beef Stir Fry! How close are you to the Japanese Supermarket? I wish I had one around the corner. What sort of cook do you consider yourself? (novice, experienced, professional) I don’t cook very much at all, especially not from scratch…do you use recipes or do you just kind of wing it? What type of food do you like? What are some things you will not eat?
Talk to you tomorrow. Have a great night! ~ Aprile
Do you have any questions for Kathryn? Share them in the comments and I’ll ask!
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