Two Years of Ink In My Sweet Tea: Happy Birthday!

I know, it says birthday, not anniversary. That's because on this day two years ago, a woman was reborn in a way. The writer in this woman finally emerged on that day. So it was really like a birthday for me. And it's not far away from my belly-button birthday. I really enjoy writing this blog. I hope you enjoy reading it.

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Contest over at Constant Revisions Blog

Just want to say that the best blog I've found lately is Simon C. Larter's Constant Revisions. Simon is a hoot, and tells it like it is. I like that. Plus I love his sense of humor. The contest post is here. Check out his blog, and follow him on Twitter @WritingAgain.

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Test Post: Blogging on MyTouch

Image via CrunchBase

I blogged on my Blackberry. I got this MyTouch in February, and I'm just now trying mobile blogging from this phone. Yes, I'm easily distracted.

Anyhoo, I'm using Blogger-droid from Android Market. The photo is from one of my Picasa photo albums. (Photo was edited. See below.) Picasa is required for this app. Don't like that, but only because I don't use Picasa very much.

First thing I checked was if it could save drafts. It does. Second thing I noticed is that the predictive text function isn't working. I don't like that, either. Guess I'd better brush up on my texting accuracy skills, or find another app that will allow predictive text to work.
 
My point in all this is that I don't have the luxury of having a job that allows me to bring my netbook to work anymore. That is what saved my ass during NaNoWriMo last year. So the time I am at the keyboard has been greatly reduced.

I have to find a way to blog on the go as well as work on my novels on the go. My productivity must increase in proportion to the reduced amount of time I now spend at my computer. Hopefully this phone will save my ass this November. Saving as draft now to check if that works. It does.

I have Dropbox, Documents to Go, and the amazing Evernote all on my phone for working on my novels. But I need to blog more often. I got a kick in the creative pants in June on Twitter from my friend Warren Wooden of PLR Internet Marketing. Thank you for that kick, Warren. I needed it. Moreover, I deserved it. Six months with no post! *hangs head in shame* I told you I get distracted easily, didn't I? *checks post* Yes, I did.

I'm also going to check out blogaway 4.2 from Android Market, and also Mail2Blogger with my Gmail. So there will possible be more posts similar to this one. I know they aren't interesting. Sorry 'bout that.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.7

Update: Predictive text is working in edit mode. Links are a pain in the ass on the phone. And I won't lie. I've got that Honest Scrap Blog Award thingie on the sidebar, so I have to be honest. I updated and edited some of this post and changed the post pic using Zemanta on Elvira, my trusty desktop eMachine. And I am not ashamed to admit that. Some habits are hard to break. ;)
Update2: blogaway 4.2 from Android Market won't work right on my phone. That is really sad because that app rocks! It lists all your blog posts and saves drafts. Predictive text works in it. You can even read blogs with it, but it doesn't automatically load my Google Reader, so you have to add the blogs URLs you want to read manually. I don't like manually adding anything nowadays. If the bugs were fixed, this would be the best blogging app for Android in my opinion. I'm following them on Twitter @blogaway to hopefully find some solutions.

Oh, well. I guess I'll stick with Blogger-droid for now. Less temptation to read instead of write that way. And God knows I am distracted easily enough these days. ;) It's a pretty cool app. It lists all my published posts, and when I click on them they come up in my browser so I can see my whole blog. I like that. It seems a little unstable, though. Sometimes the page won't load when I click on "Published Posts." Other than that, it's very good. If the instability continues, I'll have to uninstall and stick with Evernote and Mail2Blogger. I just can't label in Mail2Blogger, and that's pretty important for my blog posts. What's the point of mobile blogging if I have to get on the computer and edit my post for something as trivial as a label? ;)

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New Look for the New Year

The blog has a new look to go along with the new horizons I'm moving toward. I'm very pleased, and I hope you like it. Please leave me some comments and let me know what you think. Just click 'Friends Said' at the top of this post.

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Okay, Already! I Get It!

I read a post over on my eldest's blog and she said something that really got me to thinking. Yes, I know. Thinking's dangerous for me. Anyway, she said that I work a lot and don't update my blog much. I won't lie, because you know I've got that Honest Scrap award thingy on my sidebar. But I will say this: it kinda smarted. Just a little. But it was true.

I used to blog a lot too much. At one point I had seven blogs. This was counting my MySpace blog (which I hardly post on anymore), LiveJournal, InsaneJournal, Wordpress, and I had three Blogger blogs. I think I OD'd on blogging. All was well until August last year, right about the time I started this blog. I got sick with undiagnosed (at the time) Celiac disease. I didn't feel like blogging. I didn't feel like doing anything. How I got a 50k+ novel written in November is beyond me because I had to have a heating pad on my stomach while I sat at the keyboard and typed my fingers to nubs. And out of those seven blogs, this one is the only one I even attempted to keep somewhat updated. And I think NaNoWriMo is the only thing that saved it. I looked at my blog archive and I have only one post for January when I was really, really sick. Since my diagnosis in February, posting has picked up. Slowly, but surely.

Hopefully, I've found two blogs that will help me to get back to posting on a regular basis. One is The One-Minute Writer. The other is C. Beth Blog. Both of these blogs are the creation of one person, C. Beth. She posted about Blogging With Discipline, and it was something I really needed to hear read.



Now that I have deleted all my Blogger blogs but two (yes, Flying From the Inside is no more) I have two blogs that focus on the main things in my life at this time: writing and Celiac disease. So I will be implementing discipline back into my blogging by regularly updating this blog. I can't really say that about my other blog, but I can this one. And I'll use C. Beth's The One-Minute Writer as a tool to do that.


At the same time, there must be balance in my life. So I am also implementing B.W.O. It's Blogging Without Obligation. What this means to me is that I blog regularly, but I am under no obligation to blog every freakin' day. This is freedom from guilt. If I don't post for a day, I don't beat myself up about it.

tartx has opened up her post about this to public domain and given permission to take it and run with it, or walk away. So here is my take and run, in her words:

Blogging Without Obligation:

Because you shouldn’t have to look at your blog like it is a treadmill.

Because its okay to just say what you have to say. If that makes for a long post, fine. Short post, fine. Frequent post, fine. Infrequent post, fine.

Because its okay to not always be enthralled with the sound of your own typing.

Because sometimes less is more.

Because only blogging when you feel truly inspired keeps up the integrity of your blog.

Because they are probably not going to inscribe your stat, link and comment numbers on your tombstone.

Because for most of us blogging is just a hobby. A way to express yourself and connect with others. You should not have to apologize for lapses in posts. Just take a step back and enjoy life, not everything you do has to be “bloggable”.

Because if you blog without obligation you will naturally keep your blog around longer, because it won’t be a chore. Plus, just think you will be doing your part to eradicate post pollution. One post at a time. . .

Anyway, I feel better crappy now. I just remembered that I will probably lose my internet connection temporarily pretty soon due to financial issues. We'll see how long it takes for me to go into internet DT's. *sigh* Stupid recession.

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The Blog of Personality

The Artists

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.

I think that's a pretty good description of me. I do worry a lot. I don't talk much. I prefer to do let my fingers do the talking on the keyboard. =)

You can have your blog personality type checked here.

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Honest Scrap Award

I've received a gift from jiggins @ con·tin·u·um for my blog "Ink in My Sweet Tea: The NaNoWriMo Journal of a Southern Writer". I'd seen blog awards on other blogs and wondered if I would ever be the recipient of such an honor. This is my first blogging award to be given to me by one of my peers in the blogging community. Thank you so much, Jiggins. You have been such an inspiration to me. Even though I've never "met" you, I count you among my friends, and I'm blessed to have you in my life. :)

Here's the guidelines as I received them from Jiggins:
1. List 10 honest things about yourself (make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!)
2. Pass the award on to 7 bloggers (I hope I don't pass it to someone who already has it!)

Ten Truths About Me:
1. I will never get married again. Three times is enough. Done. Finished. Out of the game.

2. I wish my sister and I had some kind of relationship.

3. I wanted to be a singer before I wanted to be a writer.

4. I didn't submit my writing for twenty years because I didn't think it was good enough. To me good enough had to be perfect.

5. I have realized that perfection will never be attained in my lifetime, but good enough is totally possible.

6. I used to be a chameleon. I could adapt to any situation, any time, any place. Now I'm just me, take me or leave me. I'll still be me.

7. I can let people be where they are, how they are.

8. I can only change me. I am powerless over everyone else.

9. I believe happiness is a choice.

10. I am a person who is motivated by pain. When I get tired of hurting, I will make the necessary changes. Unfortunately it's usually not until I'm in a lot of emotional pain that I'm willing to change.

I pass this award on to those bloggers who have the courage to write and tell their stories with the scrap of honesty it takes to get down to the absolute, unadulterated truth. Such are the writers I admire most. This list is not complete, just a tip of the iceberg of the list of blogs I read on a daily basis. I wish I could pass out more than seven!
Thanks again. See you soon!

1. Shon Bacon @ All the Blog's a Page.

2. Carolyn Townes @ Becoming a Woman of Purpose.

3. Kim Smith @ Writing Space.

4. Lea Schizas @ The Writing Jungle.

5.Lyndsey @ Open Up Your Folding Chair.

6. Holly Lisle @ Pocket Full of Words.

7. Clesha Staten.

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