Thirty-Sixth Anniversary of the footnoteMaven Blog
Of The footnoteMaven Blog
Just
so you know, the Web doesn't run on human years, it runs on Web-years.
Every blog year is the equivalent of six human years. That means footnoteMaven celebrates six human years of blogging, the
equivalent of 36 web years.
Last year I had three wishes
and amazingly those wishes haven't changed,
but there has been one addition:
May I enjoy good health
May I continue to blog in these interesting times
May I continue to enjoy writing, and you continue to enjoy reading what I write
May I never find what I'm looking for, whatever that may be
Good Health:
As you may know, or perhaps wish you didn't, I had my legs knocked out from under me this year. Both of them. Literally. As hard as some in the medical community tried they didn't succeed in killing my spirit. And to those who worked tirelessly to save me, thank you. I am not back at full strength, can't sit for more than fifteen minutes at a time, but I refuse to lay down and accept my circumstances. Every day is a gift and you know how I love presents. To all my dear friends and family a big thank you for the gifts, carefully chosen words, and an ear and a prayer when I needed it.
Interesting Times:
There
is no doubt that our times, today's times of family historians, have
become increasingly more interesting. Family historians are more engaged
in the online world; a tech savvy, entertaining, "willing to try
anything new" segment of the entire genealogical community.
We have learned to communicate with each other through the emerging and interesting aspects of social media. Facebook has become my life journal while Twitter has introduced me to some of the most interesting people on the planet. Google Plus has slipped into the conversation and "ouch!" we're pinning everything that catches our fancy. The community, education, and support I receive daily through social media is astounding. Thank you!
Magazines and books no longer pile up in the corners of our offices, instead they reside in the Cloud or on our new best friends, tablets and smart phones. Publishing has come to the genealogy masses. We can now write the book we've always wanted to read or trend with the community by publishing our own magazines.
If you have a question the online community has an answer. Online webinars have developed to the point where even if you're snowed in somewhere in this wonderful country you can continue to educate yourself with a computer and an internet connection; joining those who were able to make it to the conference in person. Pod, Vod casts and those Google+ meet-ups are anytime education. All things are becoming possible.
In the past year I've taken classes for iBook creation, creating interactive PDFs, using InDesign to publish, Acrobat to organize, Photoshop for my my many photos and still had time to search out those elusive female ancestors. All while lying in bed with my leg in the air. Love Apple TV! All those classes viewed on the big screen TV at the end of and from the comfort of my bed. Wonderful!
Everyday I marvel at the connections I make. A conversation with a friend in New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Scotland, the East Coast, Midwest, or just down my street. Online. When those online encounters translate to real life encounters it is as if we have been friends forever. Skyping and chating with my sister and my grandchildren. In real time! Isn't that amazing? Amazing!
Television continues to recognize the mysteries of our histories. Family history is becoming sexy via celebrities. And some of our own family history community members are becoming celebrities in their own right. With all the beautiful people discovering their roots before our very eyes we are now viewed as relevant, interesting, and yes, even sexy!
Not everything online is good. This year so many of my friends have traveled the world only to be mugged and left in an American Embassy in a foreign country with no money. They've had to write me and ask that I send several thousand dollars so they can get home. Of course, I'd just spoken to them on the phone and they were smack dab in the middle of the good old USA when I received their email.
My Amazon account was hacked at two in the morning. Fortunately I was awake and online catching it immediately. My bank was hacked. Many were. I've received so many emails from sites I use requesting that I change my password I've finally gotten an App to control the pesky critters.
Comments to my blog this year have hit a sad note. A perfect example:
Writing:
I still love to write and to blog on my version of a Seinfeld blog; a blog about nothing in particular and anything and everything that strikes my fancy. And if you read me you know my fancies are rather eclectic. But that life switched to faceBook this last year where I use the "Today" posts to keep my hand in the writing game. The only drawback is that I am now a crazy cat lady whose Monkey Kitty has a larger following than Maven.
While down I outlined three books I plan to write, only to find that someone wrote one of them while I was sleeping. I paid $35 to order the book, relieved to find it was not the scholarly project I intended to write. There is still room for my book. Whew!
This last year real life fell on me like a ton of bricks. This blog has suffered and I apologize, but I love it no less. I've gained a new appreciation for the time I was afforded to speak on this blog and I look forward to regaining that precious time in the next year. That and my health. A year where I will return to my roots, writing.
Dear Lord let me live long enough to get this done. They say 72 is the new 30, so I'm in my early twenties. Funny, I remember my body being much more cooperative in my early twenties. Ah, well, plenty of time to get it done.
May I never find what I'm looking for:
May I never find what I'm looking for, whatever that may be, as it is the challenge of discovery that gets me out of bed every morning. The excitement of what the world has to offer footnoteMaven today, tomorrow and forever.
As you may know, or perhaps wish you didn't, I had my legs knocked out from under me this year. Both of them. Literally. As hard as some in the medical community tried they didn't succeed in killing my spirit. And to those who worked tirelessly to save me, thank you. I am not back at full strength, can't sit for more than fifteen minutes at a time, but I refuse to lay down and accept my circumstances. Every day is a gift and you know how I love presents. To all my dear friends and family a big thank you for the gifts, carefully chosen words, and an ear and a prayer when I needed it.
We have learned to communicate with each other through the emerging and interesting aspects of social media. Facebook has become my life journal while Twitter has introduced me to some of the most interesting people on the planet. Google Plus has slipped into the conversation and "ouch!" we're pinning everything that catches our fancy. The community, education, and support I receive daily through social media is astounding. Thank you!
Magazines and books no longer pile up in the corners of our offices, instead they reside in the Cloud or on our new best friends, tablets and smart phones. Publishing has come to the genealogy masses. We can now write the book we've always wanted to read or trend with the community by publishing our own magazines.
If you have a question the online community has an answer. Online webinars have developed to the point where even if you're snowed in somewhere in this wonderful country you can continue to educate yourself with a computer and an internet connection; joining those who were able to make it to the conference in person. Pod, Vod casts and those Google+ meet-ups are anytime education. All things are becoming possible.
In the past year I've taken classes for iBook creation, creating interactive PDFs, using InDesign to publish, Acrobat to organize, Photoshop for my my many photos and still had time to search out those elusive female ancestors. All while lying in bed with my leg in the air. Love Apple TV! All those classes viewed on the big screen TV at the end of and from the comfort of my bed. Wonderful!
Everyday I marvel at the connections I make. A conversation with a friend in New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Scotland, the East Coast, Midwest, or just down my street. Online. When those online encounters translate to real life encounters it is as if we have been friends forever. Skyping and chating with my sister and my grandchildren. In real time! Isn't that amazing? Amazing!
Television continues to recognize the mysteries of our histories. Family history is becoming sexy via celebrities. And some of our own family history community members are becoming celebrities in their own right. With all the beautiful people discovering their roots before our very eyes we are now viewed as relevant, interesting, and yes, even sexy!
Not everything online is good. This year so many of my friends have traveled the world only to be mugged and left in an American Embassy in a foreign country with no money. They've had to write me and ask that I send several thousand dollars so they can get home. Of course, I'd just spoken to them on the phone and they were smack dab in the middle of the good old USA when I received their email.
My Amazon account was hacked at two in the morning. Fortunately I was awake and online catching it immediately. My bank was hacked. Many were. I've received so many emails from sites I use requesting that I change my password I've finally gotten an App to control the pesky critters.
Comments to my blog this year have hit a sad note. A perfect example:
Anonymous has left a comment on your post:
I seldom leave a response, however, I did a few searching and wound up here. And I actually have 2 questions for you if it's allright. Could it just be me or does it look like a few of the remarks looks like left by brain dead folks? ;p And if you are writing at additional social sites. I'd like to keep up with anything fresh you have to post. Would you list of every one of all your social pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or Twitter feed?
Signed Kohl's, numerous web cafes, cleaning and repair companies. Fill in the blank for the latest spammer.So, to the hackers and spammers I've got my eye on you.
I still love to write and to blog on my version of a Seinfeld blog; a blog about nothing in particular and anything and everything that strikes my fancy. And if you read me you know my fancies are rather eclectic. But that life switched to faceBook this last year where I use the "Today" posts to keep my hand in the writing game. The only drawback is that I am now a crazy cat lady whose Monkey Kitty has a larger following than Maven.
While down I outlined three books I plan to write, only to find that someone wrote one of them while I was sleeping. I paid $35 to order the book, relieved to find it was not the scholarly project I intended to write. There is still room for my book. Whew!
This last year real life fell on me like a ton of bricks. This blog has suffered and I apologize, but I love it no less. I've gained a new appreciation for the time I was afforded to speak on this blog and I look forward to regaining that precious time in the next year. That and my health. A year where I will return to my roots, writing.
Dear Lord let me live long enough to get this done. They say 72 is the new 30, so I'm in my early twenties. Funny, I remember my body being much more cooperative in my early twenties. Ah, well, plenty of time to get it done.
May I never find what I'm looking for:
May I never find what I'm looking for, whatever that may be, as it is the challenge of discovery that gets me out of bed every morning. The excitement of what the world has to offer footnoteMaven today, tomorrow and forever.
And to those who take the time to read, enjoy, comment, and
become friends, thank you! I wouldn't be here without you
and it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.
Notes:
Whatis.com defined a web year as the length of time it takes for Internet technology to evolve as much as technology in another environment might evolve in a calendar year. Early posts by old line bloggers quoted 3 months as equaling a web year, but that was in 1996 and things have sped up since then.
The author of "Manage your speed in web years," on the Business Management Daily website had the what and why of conversion. In 2006, BMD wrote:
Whatis.com defined a web year as the length of time it takes for Internet technology to evolve as much as technology in another environment might evolve in a calendar year. Early posts by old line bloggers quoted 3 months as equaling a web year, but that was in 1996 and things have sped up since then.
The author of "Manage your speed in web years," on the Business Management Daily website had the what and why of conversion. In 2006, BMD wrote:
"Ever hear of Internet time? It’s kind of like dog years: Each calendar year equals six Web years.
More organizations are realizing that they have to measure time by this new clock: New-product development speeds up from years to months. Developing new technologies accelerates from months to days. Decisions are yours to make in
hours. . .Lesson: If you’re not six times faster than your competition, you’re in trouble. Your dog days are coming."
