This Full House Archive

Tag: old school bloggers

  • Old school blogging, yo!

    One of the many reasons I love blogging (not to mention, why I've been at it for almost 11 years now): I've had the pleasure of watching this space grow and mature into sooooo many wonderfully diverse communities.

    You can't go two clicks without meeting someone new to the blogosphere.

    So, inspired by my friends Shannon and Kendra, I'm kicking it old school and linking up with Elaine from The Miss Elaine-ous Life and Kim from Co-Pilot Mom for some Old School Blogging where I answer a list of random questions.

    [rolls up sleeves, blows bangs out of eyes]

    Okay, LET'S DO THIS:

    What is the last thing you watched on T.V.? Walking Dead; unless there's a zombie close by, then I'm hiding behind Daryl Dixon and keeping a real close eye on his…never mind!

    Daryl Dixon of Walking Dead, YUM!

    BONUS: For all my Walking Dead sistuhs out there AND for all you non-Walking Dead fans — meet Daryl, enough said!

    When did you last step outside? What were you doing? Yesterday, I was waving at my parents as they were pulling out of our driveway. Then I took a quick nap before Walking Dead. I love Sundays!

    What is on the walls of the room you are in? A bulletin board filled with family photos, greeting cards from friends, a valentine from my husband and a chalkboard counting down the days until my kids' adopted Aunt Melisa's visit…YO!

    Countdown until Melisa

    If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? 6 first class plane tickets to Hungary, 2 more tickets for my parents and then iPads for ALL the kids. They have NEVER been on a plane, enough said.

    Tell me something about you that most people don’t know. I dream in color and, if I happen to wake up in the middle of a dream, I can go back to sleep and finish a dream; but I am harmless, promise.

    Who made the last incoming call on your phone? My oldest daughter, to tell me that she was on her way home from work and to ask if I needed her to pick up anyone or anything, so I am much more relaxed about her driving.

    If you could change something about your house without having to worry about expense or mess, what would it be? Way too many things to list, but I would love to get the house sided and we most definitely need a new roof (stupid Superstorm Sandy, dumbass Hurricane Irene!)

    What is the last thing you bought? I ordered sushi for me and my son on Friday when the 3 girls went to the mall, but the girls ended up coming home early and had leftovers, c'est la vie…I mean…sore ga jinseida.

    Would you go bungee jumping or skydiving? Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha…[wipes eyes]…that IS a good one.

    If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be? They're not famous, but I would LOVE to be able to go back in time, cook a meal with my grandmothers/great grandmothers and then listen to them talk about their lives. That would be awesome.

    Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Been there, done that, not a big fan of credit cards. But, we're just pretending…sooooo…Pottery Barn and/or Pier 1 would be my choice(s).

    Is the glass half empty or half full? Half full; unless it happens to be a glass of my favorite wine, then it's totally empty.

    What’s the farthest away place you’ve ever been? Visiting family in Hungary and Austria with my parents when I was 2 years-old, 6 years-old, on my own at 22 years-old and then the last time was when introducing my then new husband in 1991. So, we are looooong overdue for a visit (see: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?)

    What's under your bed? Don't know, I watch way too many horror films and am too afraid to look.

    What is your favorite time of day? Twilight, just before the sun rises or just after sunset, must be the Eastern European in me.

    What inspires you? Spending time with my kids and listening to them talk about their dreams; laughing with my friends; my husband Garth, (not his real name) knowing I'm a dork and loving me anyway, to name a few.

    Okay, now it's YOUR turn. Tell me something about you that most people don't know. Or, hop on over to Elaine’s, grab a button, meet a new blogger (or twenty) and join the fun. G'head, I'll wait!

    P.S. The link up is closed, go figure, but better late than never.

    P.P.S. They do this sort of thing every month, so there's that.

    P.P.P.S. I am SUCH a dork.

    ©2003 -2014 This Full House with a fan page on Facebook, a way for you to subscribe to receive This Full House blog post by Email and everything!   

  • In Blog Years, I Should Be Friggin’ Rich!

    9 Years

    9 years ago, I had a momfriend over for a playdate (remember those?!?) and, while we did share stories about our kids, fueled by tall glasses of spearmint iced tea and assorted kid-friendly snacks (probably fishy crackers and gummy bears, don't judge!) my friend and I waxed poetic about the days when we both dreamed of becoming famous writers.

    Okay, mostly her, because she was (and still is) a screen writer (for real) and I just liked to pretend as if I were just as…you know…writerly.

    "Have you thought about writing in a weblog?"

    Smiling politely, I slowly refilled her glass and effectively acknowledged the fact that I had NO IDEA what a weblog really was.

    "What the frig is a weblog?"

    I'm from Jersey, enough said.

    Aaaaaand, the rest my friends is…as they say…hysterical.  No, really.  Looking back at those first few posts, I swear, it's pretty obvious that I am in no way, shape or form as writer-ly as I pretended to be.

    Still, living out my life online, sharing stories that I now treasure (okay, more like cling to like a forgotten child) and the extreme privilege of getting to know and eventually meeting some of my best friends in world…priceless.

    Something that, up until this very day, a lot of folks still can't seem to wrap their heads around and that's totally okay.

    It's hard to explain, I guess I'm just not that writer-ly.

    So, for your reading pleasure and in celebration of my 9th blogiversary, my first blog post ever with no revisions, left as is when I first wrote it, one big friggin' paragraph of misspellings and all:

    9/02/2003
     
    Every pillow in my house has been relocated to the center of my
    living room. Why? The oldest of my four children, who is 9, has a
    playdate and it's raining outside. Enough said?!? My daughter's little
    friend is a well mannered, intellegent little girl who happens to share
    in my daughter's facination for pretend. One would think that at 9,
    thanks to Brittany Spears, Bratz Dolls and belly shirts, MTV would hold
    their interest rather than the giant maze totally constructed of pillows
    growing ever taller behind me. I mean every pillow, down to my
    youngest, who is 2, crib pillow. She was not very happy at first, but
    with a lot of reassurances made by her older sister, she gave up her
    pink frilly pillow for a promised entrance into the once completed maze.
    Everyone is in the act. My second oldest girl, who is 7, is busily
    adding her inventory of pillows. My son, who is 4 and the only boy in
    this house besides the two cats at the moment, has been accepted into
    the fold as well, light saber in hand. Play dates are very difficult to
    control in my house. With good intentions, I invite the 9 year olds,
    the 7 year olds and even a 4 year old friend (my son is in desperate
    need of male bonding) for some summer or after school fun. I have a 9
    room house, 2 of which are bathrooms, 2 of which all 4 of my children
    share as bedrooms, 1 of which is my room dedicated to stock piles of
    clean and dirty laundry. This basically leaves the main part of the
    house (where, by the way my desk is smack dab in the middle of) open to
    attempted organize play. We bought this house because of its,
    "kid-friendly" potential. Today, I find myself retreating to my
    computer and reflecting on the mountain of pillows, soon to be
    dissassembled if anyone even thinks about getting any supper placed in
    front of them. My four year old son, who is half naked with a feather
    sticking out of his head, is screaming somewhere toward the back end of
    the house ("He's an indian for goodness sake!" I only asked.) My 2 year
    old is happily slamming the bedroom door upstairs ("She's thunder! We
    need thunder 'cause it's raining outside!" Again, I only asked). My 7
    year old is bent out of shape ("They never want to play what I want to
    play!" No, we cannot have Kaitlyn over this afternoon.) The 9 year
    olds are running back and forth between the upstairs and the downstairs
    bedrooms screaming, "Can you hear me now?" ("The commercial is totally
    hysterical, Mom!" I didn't ask this time.) I look at the clock and see
    that the play date has an hour and a half to go and so do I, because
    thunder just pooped!
    – posted by Liz @ 9/02/2003 03:38:00 PM

    See, I told you.  Not very writerly-ish, right?  To me?  PRICELESS!!!

    © 2003 – 2012 This Full House

  • Don’t Have a Zombie Name for BlogHer?
    Go Ahead and Get One (I’ll Wait!)

     

    One of the things I'm looking forward to the most about attending the BlogHer Conference, next week (besides, enjoying the company of online friends and meeting up with co-writers, some for the very first time, not to mention, the whole, yah, San Diego is GORGEOUS thing, of course!) is attending the Old School Blogging session.

    Not only are 2 of my most favorite people in the whole wide web, Jenn and BusyMom, speaking (Melisa and I have reserved the front row, just so you know) seeing as I will also be celebrating my 8th Blogiversary, in September, I feel as if we are INDEED kindred spirits.

    (AM SO!)

    I am also honored to be able to call them out as very dear friends, IRL, too (yes, they know about it!)

    Why?  Is that weird?  It's not meant to be, really. 

    We've shared the ups, downs and somewhere in-betweens of blogging, while under the influence of children, for 8 years, now (not an easy feat, by the by) and each of us has, quite literally, watched our kids grow up, online.

    Because, contrary to all the reports about blogging being passé, or very nearly dead (at best) there are some things that don't translate well on Facebook, or Twitter.

    So, at the risk of sounding all mushy (I know, E., too late!) I thought it would be fun to wear my new Zombie Name Tag proudly at BlogHer, this year:

    Zombie Name Generator

    Seeing as I'll be very surely, nearly dead, by this time, next week, anyway, preparing for a 6 hour plane ride and all (Dramamine is my co-pilot!)

    Either way, if you are a blogging newbie, or a first-timer to this particular conference circuit, as a 5 time attendee, my best advice (unsolicited as it may be) can be summed up in 3 simple bullets: 

    • Do NOT sweat it, my friend (we are ALL as nervous, as you are, I promise)
    • Blogging is most assuredly alive and STILL kicking creative ass (see blogroll above)
    • There is plenty of room for everyone (even dorks, like me)

    Just don't make me have to bite you, okay?

    © 2003 – 2011 This Full House