Cotton-Pickin' Days 1.0

Dear friends,

It has been a wonderful two years with you here at LiveJournal. But as of today, my new online home is at



A number of events coincided to make this the right time for my move.

• My two-year blogging anniversary.


• b5media, one of two blog networks I belong to, gave all its bloggers hosting space for their personal blogs. This was an offer that was too good to refuse - a savings of at least $15/month.


• The need for a more polished online presence with my foray into problogging. Ruth pointed out to me long ago that owning my own domain and hosting my own blog seems more professional. It's also an opportunity for me to gain some much needed technical knowledge.


• LiveJournal troubles with this past weekend's data migration.

Even though I will no longer be posting at LiveJournal, I will continue to visit and leave comments (whether you like it or not! ha). And I hope that you will come visit me even if it's a little more less convenient than before.

I've already set out the welcome mat. Please come by and say hello!

Love and thank you,
Hsien aka Cottontimer

P.S. You can add Cotton-Pickin' Days 2.0 to your friends list here. (Any comments left in the syndicated feed posts aren't e-mailed to me so I will most likely miss them. Please leave your comments directly at http://cottontimer.com! Thanks.) And the RSS feed is: http://www.cottontimer.com/feed/.

Thanks to all who shared what you know about London. Everything you said was extremely helpful and I got a giggle out of it as well!

Without further ado, here are the three randomly selected winners of the lottery celebrating my second blogging anniversary:



I'll contact you directly to get your mailing address. Or if you see this first, e-mail me at cottontimer@gmail.com

Thank you for playing, everyone!

Aplogies to readers who are having trouble viewing photos or experiencing other problems. LiveJournal moved their data center to San Francisco this weekend and there are still some kinks to be ironed out.

More info at lj_maintenance.

In today's world, few things are more prized than financial success. Stay-at-home moms (SAHM) know this well. People pay lip service to the tremendous contributions of SAHMs: we're doing the most important job in the world, we're shaping the future, yada yada yada. But I don't believe they're being sincere.

Every single person I meet brushes aside my mothering job and asks me what I do or "used to do." And I feel like I have no good answer. If I tell them I'm a writer, I don't think I'm being completely truthful because I'm really a blogger (with some forays into writing for print publications).

But if I say I'm a blogger, then they think it's just a hobby if they even know what blogging is. Just today, my fellow b5media blogging friend Krissy warned me about becoming addicted to the Internet. She noticed how much I was posting and how (emotionally) invested I am in my blogs.

Where's the line between being addicted and doing my job?

If I had a "real" job, no one would question spending ten hours a day in the office then bringing work home to do late at night or on the weekends. After all, I'd be getting paid big bucks (I'd hope!) so it's expected.

When it comes to blogging, even Marv was surprised to hear that I'm trying to make a career out of it. It's not as if I'm receiving a salary and what little money I make from ads is barely enough for a cup of coffee a day.

The early stages of professional blogging remind me of what Jennifer Niesslein and Stephanie Wilkson, editors of Brain, Child, faced when they first started their magazine.

From an interview in Literary Mama:

Stacey Greenberg, Interviewer: How do you balance work and motherhood? What does a typical workweek look like for you?

( Read about Niesslein and Wilkson's juggling act.... )

Is problogging any less legitimate than starting my own magazine or any other venture that doesn't reap immediate financial rewards?

I may never make a six-figure income from blogging. Yet, I will continue to do my best. I work hard and hope my efforts will be recognized. My passion and commitment depend on more than just financial reward. Because if it were otherwise, I would never have become a mother (or a blogger).

ETA: If I gave the impression that Krissy wasn't being supportive, I'm sorry. She was just looking out for my sanity during one of my snowball sessions.

When I read your blogs, I feel as if we've talked in person. And it's doubly nice to IM or e-mail regularly with a number of you. So, when I tell Marv about my day, I often find myself saying, "I was talking with my online friend today...." or "My online friend said...." Why do I differentiate between online friends and offline friends?

There are so many different ways to categorize friends:

• Online or Offline


• Married or Single


• Parent or Child-Free


• Classmate or Random


• Meat-Eating or Vegetarian


• Glasses-Wearing, Contacts-Wearing, or Free-From-Wearing


• Type A or B


• Dyed or Au Naturel Hair


• And the classifications can go on and on and on....

In the end, you're all my friends. It doesn't matter if I've never met you face-to-face or if we've had completely different life experiences. Each of you contribute something to my life that no one else can. You are a friend indeed.

Two years ago this week, I started blogging here at LiveJournal. In real people years, two years isn't much time, but in blogging years, two years might as well be an eternity.

Over a million blogs are up for only one day before being abandoned and the average blog lasts only 126 days. Not only that, active blogs are updated only every 14 days on average while I update daily - an average of 7 to 10 posts a day over four blogs.

I'd like to ask you to help me celebrate my blogging anniversary. Since we're moving to London in January, I want to know more about my future home.

Please leave a comment telling me
something you know about London.

It can be something you read, heard, or saw. It doesn't have to be a first-person account. It doesn't even have to be true.

Just tell me something about London, and I'll enter you in a lottery. One week from today, I'll randomly choose three winners from all the comments and send you a handmade souvenir from Vietnam.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement. I'll be counting on you in the years to come.

UPDATE: The contest is now closed.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that my life would be undergoing some major changes. The biggest one, of course, is our impending move to London.

The other big change is a professional one. Via a merger between About Weblogs Network and b5media, my precious Genetics and Public Health Blog will be joining one of the most promising blogging networks online today.

This news probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but it's a huge one to those of us involved. We're moving to our own domains and are looking forward to building up our blogs even faster. In particular, I hope the Genetics and Public Health Blog will reach a wider audience and help spread the news about the genomic revolution.*

Special thanks to Shai Coggins for being a terrific network owner, boss, and friend.

~~~~~
*As an aside, I was excited to see that the Genetics and Public Health Blog made it on to the blogroll of Free Association - the new blog of Nature Genetics, one of the most prestigious science journals in the world.

NB: The Children's Books, Toys and Things Blog is also part of the About Weblogs Network and will be joining b5media as well.

And, since Shai has already spilled the beans, I'll be starting two new blogs in 2006 (bringing the number of blogs I write to six): The Stitching Blog and The Cardiovascular Disease Blog. Hope these will appeal to some of you too!

ETA: The merger's official press release.

When I post pictures that I didn't take or artwork that doesn't belong to me, I feel guilty. For the most part, I refrain from posting anything that isn't mine, but sometimes a picture helps illustrate a point better than a hundred poorly strung-together words. I try to lessen my copyright infringements by acknowledging and linking to the source, but that probably still doesn't give me the right to take it.

Recently, I wanted to share Wunderkammer - Gene Tailoring; the artwork incorporates genetics, embroidery, sewing, and craft. Many bloggers might have gone ahead and posted a picture of the piece without a second thought, but I decided to do the right thing and wrote to the artist for permission.

I haven't heard from her yet. It's disappointing because I'd like to start a DNA art series at the Genetics and Public Health Blog, but I'm not willing to spend the time obtaining permission for every single piece I want to feature. (I suppose my laziness means that I don't deserve the permission either.)

According to Shai's set of copyright tips for bloggers,

Don't be overly scared by copyright. Most people do not experience copyright infringement allegations or problems, unless they are putting lots and lots of movies or MP3s on their website. Basic common sense will mostly be sufficient to avoid problems: Don't copy too much and only copy where it is 'fair' - where you're not competing with the owner's market.

This is what I've decided to do whenever I'm tempted to post something that isn't mine: I'll ask myself how I'd feel if I were the owner.

• If I were a large corporation or commercial entity, I wouldn't feel too angry especially if people were promoting me and/or my products. (And, of course, if I were of this caliber, I'd have the resources to sue people's pants off so that may be a deterrent to copyright infringers).


• If someone took my pictures of Vietnam or other scenic-type pictures, I think I'd be ok with it as long as they attributed the shot to me.


• If someone copied all my pictures all the time, that would definitely bother me.


• Most importantly, if someone copied and posted pictures of Stephen without my permission, I'd definitely be upset. (Maybe I shouldn't post any more pictures of him).

It's a basic question if we put any part of ourselves online. How much do we own and how much belongs to others to do with as they please? Because, realistically, we're able to control very little of what we produce once it's out there. Sort of reminds me of kids...but that's another post.

Marv has had a Dilbert daily calendar in his office for over five years now. Occasionally, I'll take a peek and it always makes me chuckle. Now Scott Adams has a Dilbert Blog that will probably be just as entertaining. The guy is prolific!

When I see news stories about people all over the world who are experiencing hardships, I worry about them, and I rack my brain wondering how I can make a difference. So I decided to start my own blog. That way I won't have time to think about other people.
*****
The blogger's philosophy goes something like this:

Everything that I think about is more fascinating than
the crap in your head.

~The Dilbert Newsletter, October 25, 2005

Via The Health Care Blog

My blog assets total $42,481.64.

My personal blog, Cotton-Pickin' Days, is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

My Genetics and Public Health Blog is worth $39,517.80.
How much is your blog worth?

( The worth of my other two blogs.... )

They're all priceless to me.

Via Pharyngula.

Yes. I am now www.hsienlei.com. The domain is being forwarded to here and I also got a spanking new e-mail address at my own domain to go with it.

Being a dot com is nothing new. Almost everyone has their own domain name nowadays and if you don't already, you'd better snap one (or more) up before somebody else does. Like most people, I decided to register my own name first. Luckily, my name is relatively unique so it was still available.

Consider this my attempt to hang out a shingle for my problogging business (now four blogs and counting). It takes more than a domain name to establish credibility and professionalism, but I think it's a good start.

ETA: In case anyone is interested, Yahoo! is offering domain registration for only $2.99 a year - http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/. (And, no, I don't get a kickback if you sign up there. Although I should look into it....) They have good customer service too. I messed up my DNS settings and they got back to me within a few hours and fixed it.

Instead of sleeping off the jet lag like Marv and Stephen, I've been click clacking away at the computer getting started on my latest blogging (ad)venture - healthcare.wurk.net.

As wurk.net founder Barry Bell wrote,

healthcare.wurk.net is the freshest resource on the web for careers and jobhunting in the healthcare sector. Part of the wurk.net network of weblogs (or 'blogs'), it's an essential read if you're passionate about getting a great job - and building a rewarding career.

Despite my relatively short career history, I've had a number of different jobs (all in the healthcare industry) and have been successful at getting the kind of job I was aiming for in every job search I've attempted. I'll be sharing my resources and resourcefulness with anyone who's interested in having a career in healthcare. Hope it won't end up creating too much competition for me when I decide to return to offline work.*

If you'd be interested in blogging professionally about careers and job hunting in any sector where you've had a significant amount of experience, contact Barry at info@wurk.net. Tell him I sent you!

*Of course I'm kidding. The vast array of healthcare jobs guarantees that there's one for you if you're willing to put in the effort to get hired.

ETA: You can add healthcare.wurk.net to your LJ friends page here.

xposted: public_health

Cary at Cancer NewsWatch has started the BlogSpaces Project where he's collecting photos of people's blogging environments. I thought it would be fun show you all my extremely ergonomically incorrect blogspace.

The desk and chair are provided by building management because we live in a serviced apartment. The laptop is a clunky Dell Inspiron 8100 that we've had since 2002 and the screen shot is of my Genetics and Public Health Blog. The hideous seat cushion is one of my mother-in-law's from the days when she used to have mah jong parties.

To the left you see Stephen's overflowing boxes of toys. His artwork is on the wall and on the desk next to the computer. I usually blog a lot in the morning so there's my Rosenthal coffee cup and saucer set.

Can you picture me blogging away now?

NB: If you'd like your blogspace included in the project, leave a comment at Cancer NewsWatch.

You can find some of these answers and more in my user info.

1. My username is cottontimer because Cotton Time is one of my favorite Japanese crafts magazines and I was living in Japan when this journal was created in November 2003.

2. My journal is titled Cotton-Pickin' Days because I wanted to continue with the cotton theme and because "cotton-picking" is a slang adjective that tells someone you're annoyed, i.e., "Keep your cotton-pickin' hands off my intellectual property!"

3. My subtitle is Striving for excellence because my good friend WHLK and I used to say that to each other in jest when we needed to get psyched.

4. My friends page (aka feed aggregator for those not familiar with LiveJournal lingo) is called Something Interesting because...well that should be self-explanatory even if not always true.

5. My default userpic is



because it's the most recent picture I have that's suitable and doesn't freak me out every time I look at it.

First seen at river2sea72.

( The meme questions in their original, fill-in-the-blank format. )

Google Blog Search is live! Indexing began around June 2005 and is done via site feeds (RSS or Atom, both of which are available for LiveJournal blogs, see Syndication FAQ). I've already found people who linked to Cotton-Pickin' Days without me ever knowing about it before. (And lest anyone is mistaken, I'm pleased to be linked.)

Pointer from ProBlogger.

Last updated September 13, 2005

Spurred on by a post I saw at The Zero Boss, I've decided to list the blogs I frequent here rather than in the limited link list (LiveJournal only allows 30 lines) on the sidebar. In addition to personal LiveJournal blogs, I also read the blogs in my Genetics and Public Health Blog blogroll.

The following is my complete blogroll excluding those I just mentioned (although there is a little overlap). This blogroll will be updated when necessary and the link to it can be found on the sidebar.

( My Complete Blogroll )

One of my blogging friends, Christina Jones of The Beauty Blog, was just ragged on UNDESERVEDLY by a crappy blog (I refuse to link to them to give them even one extra visitor). I can't decide if I should leave a comment in support of Christina or just ignore them. I know the crappy blog thrives on negative comments so maybe I shouldn't feed the monster. Just to get it out of my system, here's my comment:

Great comment, Jeff [a previous commenter who stood up for Christina]. Your comments are better than the entire site combined including this awful design that doesn't even wrap the comments properly in the comment box.

I'm sure Christina appreciates the free publicity. As soon as people go check out whether or not Horatio is right (and he's not!), they'll see what an upbeat blog she has.

It never ceases to amaze me when people choose to spend their time spreading bile and making this world an even worse place to be than it already is. As for me, I'd prefer to live my life positively - doing good, thinking positively, and being kind. Everything this blog is NOT.

No one will be linking to this detritus, you can be sure of that! Oblivion is your middle name.

For anyone who appreciates a little or a lot of beauty in their world, Christina's Beauty Blog is the place to go.

Here are my five recommendations for Blog Day 2005. As much as these bloggers and blogs are different from me and mine, there's still a common bond that keeps me going back. Hope these blogs will enlighten you as much as they've enlightened me.

• Creek Running North by Chris Clarke
  
  Differences: Male, older, non-Asian, unconventional background, environmentalist, animal lover
  
  Why I keep going back: Chris writes in a very friendly and engaging way about diverse topics. He always makes me feel welcome by responding to my comments and I always learn something when I read his posts.


• Virtual Doug by Doug and Mystery Guest Blogger (his wife)
  
  Differences: Older, non-Asian, their kids are grown, both served in the Vietnam War, born and bred in the US of A
  
  Why I keep going back: Doug and his wife are currently teaching English in Hue, Vietnam in their retirement. They view both American and Vietnamese cultures in positive ways, yet are able to see things for what they are. I can tell in every post that they are kind and fun; just the people to share a nice afternoon cup of coffee.


• So what can I do? by Karama Neal
  
  Differences: Non-Asian, soon to be newlywed, strong ties to African-American culture, from the South
  
  Why I keep going back: I first became aware of this public service blog through river2sea72. Since then, I've been impressed with Karama's zeal for improving the world and the concrete suggestions she gives on her blog. I especially like her post, Spread the love, about how to share some of the $25,000 that's spent on weddings in the U.S. on average: donating leftover food, choosing environmentally-responsible rings, donating the flowers to a nursing home, etc.


• finding my way by methegirl3
  
  Differences: Younger by more than a decade (gasp!), single, student, Singaporean living in the U.S.
  
  Why I keep going back: methegirl3 is an avid reader who is sensible and strong. I'm not sure if I was as contemplative at her age but it gives me hope to know that she's part of the generation that follows mine.


• The Philippine Culture Blog by Gloria Gamat
  
  Differences: Single mother, Filipina, born and bred in the Philippines
  
  Why I keep going back: The Philippine Culture Blog is a new blog on the About Weblogs Network which isn't even "live" yet (but you can still visit). I've known many Filipino people and have often wondered about their strong cultural heritage that seems strangely similar to Chinese culture yet remains alien to me. Gloria answers some of my questions by sharing everyday events and delving into the history of Filipino culture.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

Jean of riceandsoup is my blogging mentor. Jean of riceandsoup is locking up shop and cutting a limited number of keys. Jean of riceandsoup wonders why people don't write more "entries of substance, written beautifully even if the topics addressed were mundane."

When Jean talks, I listen or maybe it should be when Jean writes, I read. When I read her two most recent posts today, I immediately wondered how my own blog measured up. Do I write more than drivel? Do I make people read heartily, instead of just snacking? Do I tell enough stories? Do I share enough of myself?

I think I do all of that. To continue the food metaphor, because I like a party mix of different kinds of reading, that's what I aim to offer. It can be exhausting to read long, contemplative entries one after another. For some people, that's the style they're most comfortable with and of course, they can do as they wish.

I read personal blogs to know someone and people are not always thinking so deeply. When I read your blogs, I like to know the little fuzzy things that tickle you, the prickly things that make you wince, and the deep cuts that make you cry. In essence, anything that gets a reaction out of you.

As for journaling the mundane*, I'm afraid I'm not so keen to do that. Here's a sample of the truly mundane everyday existence I lead:

Marv has been gone since last Wednesday and won't be returning until Thursday. Stephen misses his Baba and asks for him frequently throughout the day.

"Baba coming home soon. Baba bring Stephen present. Where's Baba?"

I miss Marv too. Without him around to guide our schedule, we wake up aimless and it feels like one day flows into another with no direction. We don't all wake up around 7 a.m. when Marv starts getting ready for work. And the anticipation of seeing Marv come walking through the door is not there in the evening so the day trails off like string unravelling with no beginning and no end.

We wake up in the morning and go through our usual routine. Me: check e-mail, look at blog stats, edit blog posts that went up during the night, make breakfast, respond to comments, read others' blogs and the news, chat with my parents on webcam and Skype. Stephen: watch his shows, muck about with his toys and books, hassle me, and eat breakfast.

Just before housekeeping comes at about 11:30 a.m., we get dressed and clear off the floor so they can vacuum and mop. A few times a week, we'll go out for lunch and a little shopping then return home for more computer, TV, and playing. Today, we also went to "play" pool downstairs and spent some happy moments getting to know all the different balls by color and number. Then we bought about 15 bags of Vietnamese dried fruit chips to bring back to California. It's all incredibly routine with no surprises, but somehow the day passes quickly and we're already at mid-afternoon.

And what am I thinking during this whole time? I think about what to write for the Genetics and Public Health Blog, what to eat for dinner, why Stephen is complaining even though we've done everything he's wanted to do, how to get rid of these headaches that plague me at least once a week (most likely because of eyestrain), and what I want to read next after finishing the latest Atlantic.

Bored yet? I certainly am.

Maybe my account of everyday life is unexceptional compared to other online journals because I'm unwilling to reveal the dirt. And not just my own dirt, other people's dirt as well (no matter how much I may dislike them).

I have a policy of not talking about other people and sharing their story. I'm even tapering down the number of stories about Stephen as he gets older and I am more wary of violating his privacy. Instead, I'd rather share with you my thoughts on things that affect us either in concrete or emotional ways.

This blog, my home on the Web, is a place where I try to be a better person - more analytical, informed, creative, understanding, and compassionate. I hope most of my posts are of substance, even if they're not written beautifully and are sometimes mundane. I strive for excellence in all areas of my life including my blogs.

*Kamigoroshi calls them noodle posts.

What will happen on BlogDay?

In one long moment In August 31st, bloggers from all over the world will post a recommendation of 5 new Blogs, Preferably, Blogs different from their own culture, point of view and attitude. On this day, blog surfers will find themselves leaping and discovering new, unknown Blogs, celebrating the discovery of new people and new bloggers.

Sounds like a challenge! Who's in?

First seen at RConversation.

In my opinion, reading about blogs is as much fun as reading them. Joel Achenbach of The Washington Post has a hilarious take on his own blog and the blogosphere in general. Here's a snippet:

I constantly tell myself: Ignore the blog. Do your work. You are an enormous literary figure and cultural icon, not a mere "blogger." You must produce high-end journalism with grand themes and huge groaning multi-syllabic words like "eschatological," and you can't be dribbling away all your ideas on the blog. Be strong! Resist the blog!

And then . . . I hear it yowling.

The blog is hungry. The blog will not be ignored. It is an insatiable little beast, a creature still unclassified by science -- hairy, warty, slobbering, with its own fiendish agenda.

*****
As an artist, my normal impulse is to write things that people don't care about and, ideally, can't even understand. Gibberish.

It's obvious what people want: political screeds and celebrity gossip.

I know that my blog will be read by more people if it mentions famous celebrities who might be secretly boinking, such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

This is so true. One of the most popular posts I have ever written was about the DNA test Oprah took to confirm her membership in the African Zulu tribe. Since then, I've kept my eyes peeled for stories about celebrities and their DNA. No such luck yet.

Pointer from SYNTAGMA.

Before I joined the About Weblogs Network four months ago, I was only vaguely aware that some people were making a living out of blogging. Like most of you, I was blogging for fun and my own edification - processing the information overload that threatens to overwhelm me every day.

Starting the Genetics and Public Health Blog allowed me to go a step further. I was finally motivated to get back to speed on my field and had the chance to share it with others. What a great combination.

Because the About Weblogs Network is for-profit, network bloggers are encouraged to look for sources of revenue via Google Adsense (not allowed here at LiveJournal) and other affiliate programs. While doing research on making money online, I came across Darren Rowse's blog, ProBlogger. It opened my eyes to the potential of blogging.

Darren's been blogging for over two years and has been able to earn well over $10,000 a month from a combination of almost 20 different blogs. So he's undoubtedly an expert when it comes to problogging.

Yesterday, Darren wrote about how to decide when it's time to blog full-time as a main source of income. After reading it, I realized that problogging is probably not for me. I'm not interested in writing on a variety of different topics so as to diversify my income stream and I don't think I could crank out over 20 blog entries a day like he does.

Just when I was starting to get real, I find that both Cotton-Pickin' Days and the Genetics and Public Health Blog were included in the Global Roundups* at Harvard's Global Voices Online. It's both flattering and a bit disturbing. With every small bit of recognition, I get more confused. What's the blogosphere trying to tell me? Should I get serious and stop fantasizing about having an online career or should I actually consider it?

Only time will tell.


~~~~~
*From the Global Roundup post: "Cottontimer is a Chinese-American who keeps two blogs to occupy her hours as full-time mum in Vietnam...."

The comment I left to the post there: "BTW, I just want to point out that full-time moms already have their hours 'occupied'. Maybe you didn’t mean it this way, but I resent the implication that full-time moms don’t already have their hands full and need to blog in order to do something productive with their day besides just sit around."

NB: More than a couple of people have suggested that I have too much time on my hands if I'm able to blog so much on more than one blog (my personal daily goal is three posts on the Genetics and Public Health Blog, one post at the Children's Books, Toys and Things Blog, and one post here). To them I say: Read ProBlogger and see if you still think bloggers, blogs, and related services aren't going to be huge economic successes.

A smaller version of the banner.

Finally, finally, I have a personalized blog banner! Using the LiveJournal S2 style, Quite Lickable, I managed to upload my own banner.

It took me all of yesterday morning to design it but it's exactly what I wanted. Learning to use Photoshop's special features is going to take some time, but someday I hope to make cool banners like the ones Sheryl makes for her Paper Napkin blog.

the nonist has a public service cartoon pamphlet that's worth reading if you're an avid blogger like me. *cough*

I especially identified with this part:

Content Anxiety - If the simple act of reading a magazine fills you with a deep sense of disquiet, if you break out in hives, or find yourself inexplicably weeping, it may be content anxiety, in which you subconsciously equate every piece of information as a potential piece of blog content.

Oh man, I need to get some help!


Click on the cover to see more.

Pointer from ProBlogger.

Aside from the narcissistic satisfaction of seeing my own words on the screen, one of the greatest pleasures of blogging is getting to know many of you through your comments and blogs. I'm guessing, though, that there may be a few of you out there from whom I've never heard. I'd love to meet all of you, so I'm asking you to tell me about yourself.

Following Shai's example (again!),

You see, I’m curious. I want to know if the people who find this blog are mostly males or females.... Are you in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s? (I know a few readers are teens, so don't be afraid to speak up too!) What do you do with your life? Are you a blogger too? How did you find this blog? How often do you come to visit? What topics interest you the most?

If you humour me and tell me all about you, I promise to do these things:

1) I’ll visit your blog. If you have one, that is. And, if you leave the link when you comment here.

2) I’ll leave a comment or two in your blog. Maybe more, if you convert me as a regular reader.

3) I’ll tell you at least ONE thing that I like about you/your blog. I might even write all about you!

If you don't have a LiveJournal account, please feel free to click the "anonymous" option and leave the link of your blog along with your comment.

Even if you routinely leave comments here and we "talk" often, you can always tell me something about yourself that you'd like me to know - maybe something surprising, something you're proud of, or something you think is cool about you.

Looking forward to hearing from all of you!

As part of her effort to become a better blogger, Shai Coggins has set a target of 1000 blog posts. I've already made 1000 posts since starting this blog in November 2003 (this post is #1,045). My goal is to make 100 posts on the Genetics and Public Health Blog by the end of July (I'm at 73 now). Better get cracking....

Join in the fun!


ETA: Mission accomplished. On the three-month anniversary of the Genetics and Public Health Blog, I posted my 100th entry. Next goal: 500 posts by the end of 2005.

Every now and then, I encounter a flurry of concern over the improper use of blog content. Recently, Jean refused to allow Singapore's metablog, Tomorrow.sg, to link to her; a site was found to be collecting online pictures of children in diapers; a restaurant threatened to sue a customer for posting a negative review in his blog; and governments have been censoring and blocking blogs. And, of course, there are the usual concerns about family privacy and job security.

These are my thoughts on each of these issues:

1. Being quoted or linked without permission.

Many different kinds of blogs and bloggers are out there and people have different reasons for why they blog. For me, this blog, as well as my other blogs, primarily serve as a way for me to share my thoughts, opinions, and life experience.

I'm flattered if something I wrote generates discussion either here or elsewhere. There's no need to ask me for permission in advance as long as I am given proper credit for whatever is linked or quoted. Letting me know would be a nice gesture, but it's not required.

For example, I found via Google that as preparation for BlogHer, Julie Leung linked to my post on why my blog is here at LiveJournal. I'm happy to know that I'm providing unique information that others find useful.

2. Posting pictures and family privacy.

Every few days, I post a completely innocent picture of Stephen because I know my family and friends enjoy seeing them. Not that there aren't other ways for me to share family photos, but it's nice to tie in a picture with the story.

In my opinion, there are many other ways that pervs can get a hold of children's pictures. Child models face a lot more public exposure than kids featured in parents' blogs. Anyone with a camera can take a picture of you or your child without your knowledge. In fact, camera phones are regularly used to take Peeping Tom pictures under the table.

A few months ago, when I started professional blogging, I decided to go ahead and reveal my true identity instead of hiding behind cottontimer. At the same time, I opened up Cotton-Pickin' Days for indexing by spiders and bots. In my mind, this is what a professional writer does - she puts her name and reputation on the line and stands behind what she writes. I don't see most authors and journalists moaning about their lack of privacy.

3. Being accused of slander.

I'd like to say that I'm not afraid of this, but I really don't want to cause myself unnecessary grief. Even though I think regular customers like us should be just as free as professional critics to tell everyone what we think about a place, it's probably safer to do it on a less public platform than the Internet.

4. Government censorship.

Here again, in a perfectly free world, talk about politics and ideology should be allowed anywhere and everywhere. Sad to say, I can't think of a single country where this is true, so it's best to be cautious or get an unwelcome knock at the door.

5. Job security.

Luckily, this is something I don't have to worry about because I'm not working for any corporation or academic institution right now. I don't know how my personal blog will change, however, once I go back to work full-time. I'd like to think that I wouldn't work for anyone or any place that didn't think along the same lines as me or isn't tolerant of different points of view.

So now you know where I stand. Where do you stand?

Our internet connection has been off and on since Saturday. Some sites are completely inaccessible while others load veeeeerrrry slowly. It's been so bad that I keep Great Books next to the computer and can read an entire page while waiting.

One of the first sites I couldn't get to was LiveJournal, which of course gave me palpitations. I started making contingency plans in case blogging sites were being blocked - where I should move my blog, how I would notify everyone, how I would continue reading everyone else's LJ and blogs on other platforms, and how I could continue to leave comments. I was relieved when I could connect to LJ again after half a day, but of course, other sites that were previously ok now were and still are not.

Not having reliable Internet access cramps more than just my social life. It means I am unable to do the research necessary for the Genetics and Public Health Blog as well as the Children's Books, Toys and Things Blog, both of which I take as seriously as any paying job. Last week, I considered applying for a freelance editing job that involved evaluating medical websites. It was perfect for me except that I'd probably miss the deadline because the Internet is down every other day for at least one to two hours.

I now understand why it's difficult to get excited about getting stuff done when tools are not available or in decrepit condition. I've been so frustrated these past few days that I've spent less than half my usual time online. No wonder many kids in inner city schools don't care about doing well because they sit in dilapidated classrooms with torn textbooks; Africa is struggling to make economic and social progress because their people and natural resources have been exploited; and people in countries with oppressive governments don't rebel because they have so little to work with, both materially and spiritually.

A couple of weeks ago, Stephen and I were at the bookstore where he found an inexpensive kids book on astronomy. It looked fine until I saw a more beautiful space book, Escape from Earth, that had real photos of stars, planets, satellites, rockets, and astronauts. Escape from Earth was more than three times the price of the kids book and my helper told me I should just get the cheaper one. I disagreed.

It is much more inspiring to have the best materials we can afford than the cheapest we can find. If only my internet service provider felt the same way.