Pipulus Gratia Pipuli
I've recently added a number of new folks to my Twitter stream and expect to continue doing so in the future. I suspect many of those people jumped here from my Twitter teeny-profile, looking for clues about my motivation. To provide those clues, here's an explanation of why I picked the Twitter-ites I did.
My goal with my Twitter account is to get a general sense of the writing community in Austin mixed with a variety of Austin's voices. To do this, I look for the following:
- People in the Austin metro area. It's a big and interesting world, but I can only process so much information at once. For the sake of my sanity, limits must be drawn.
- People who mention writing or editing. This, of course, gives me a pool of writers to watch. It also throws a number of other creative folks (film makers, musicians, photographers) and computer programmers into the pool. And, because every person talks about some form of writing in the course of their lives, my search also grabs a number of people from the broader community.
- People with a reasonable balance of following and followers. If their following is disproportionately high, I suspect they're spammers. And if their followers are too high, I assume they're a personality using the forum to be heard, but not to listen. I want my Twitter queue to be conversational, not a loudspeaker for the obvious pushing of a product.
- People with a reasonable following and follower count. The range is large, but if someone has a very small network, I assume they are using Twitter to communicate with their immediate friends. I don't want to feel like an eavesdropper. And if someone has a very large network, well, they may be able to keep up with that many disjointed half-conversations and random ideas, but I'm skeptical. When someone collects a large number of followers and following, I wonder about their goals and effectiveness.
- People who post a dozen or less times throughout the day. For my purpose, Twitter is a tool for gathering impressions of a community, not detailed information about individuals, so less is more. Plus, when someone posts constant updates, I begin to feel (justified or not) like that person's the jerk at the party trying to dominate every conversation.
When I am followed, I reciprocate - unless my new follower doesn't meet the qualifications I listed above. And since the appeal of Twitter is its public forum, if anyone on my following list makes their feed private, I will unfollow them as soon as I notice.
I don't exclude people I philosophically disagree with or those who have an entirely different view of life than me from my Twitter queue. I use the above guidelines and take what comes. It keeps things interesting and gives me a more open view of the Austin/Twitter community. If you see someone espousing ideas you find objectionable in my following list, please do not assume I share their views.
Also, if I have followed you multiple times, please accept my apologies. I don't intend to be a pest. I re-followed you because you showed up again in my search for people to follow. With so many people on Twitter, it's difficult to keep track of those I previously tagged.
I think that covers it all. For the Twitter-curious, I hope I answered any questions about why I am following you. And if you came here because you were curious about me, there are a couple of other posts on this blog that can help you out.
Thanks for visiting my little blip in the web ether.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Facebook's 25 Things Meme, Updated
Emily Found A Lonely Black Sheep On Her Farm. Oh No!
01: When there are things beyond my control and I wish to control them anyway, I turn to Gypsy magic. Not because I believe in Gypsy magic, but because I find rituals soothing.
02: My dog was a rescue pup, so the best the vet could do was estimate her birthday. The estimate put Caddie in mid-March, so we assigned her birthday as St Patrick's Day. Makes her birthday easy to remember. And her Irish.
03: I wish no one ever told me Jason Lee is a Scientologist. It just ruined him. Why, Banky, why… No one should ever let me know they are a Scientologist. The admission absolutely kills any possibility they could be any kind of reasonable person for me, regardless of every other decision they've made in their life.
04: I detest sea lions. Sea lions are absolute bastards. See Eight Below if you have any doubts.
05: I am a late subscriber to internet memes. After receiving an abundance of "25 Things" tags on Facebook, I gave up resisting and joined the crowd. By then, even the stragglers were chasing everyone else on to the next thing. Memes have to reach a ridiculous level before I'll pay attention. While I was aware of the LOLcats phenomenon, walruses with buckets were getting in on their action before I actually checked them out.
06: The worst moment of my life was when I found out my sister had died. From a condolence email via my smart phone, as I sat alone in the Louisville airport waiting to board a plane to Austin to see her. Turns out Luddites aren't all wrong.
07: I have no particular affection for the Beatles, yet enjoy the goofiness of Help!. I dislike Nirvana, yet wish to have Dave Grohl's mutant babies. I loathe Radiohead, yet will stop what I'm doing to listen to Nickel Creek cover Just. When I say these things out loud, I tend to get reactions somewhere between abject scorn and violence. Still, I feel like the winner when I get home and there's no Thom Yorke lurking on my mp3 player.
08: I want to be Major Doctor Ghastly when I grow up.
09: I love Boy on a Stick and Slither. And I strive to live every day like this is the afterlife.
10: The dentist once said my teeth are short. Then he gave embarrassed apologies, as if my emotional health might be tied up in my tooth height. I didn't particularly care, though I was put off by the idea that I seemed like the kind of person who might have teeth-esteem issues.
11: I've seen Spice World (the Spice Girls' movie). More than once. And I'm not even a little embarrassed.
12: I am a pro-lacto anti-ovo vegetarian, but I turn it off to go on a crab boil binge or eat at Gumbo's a couple of times a year. I don't care what you eat - unless it's eggs in my presence, in which case I will have to leave the room. I'll happily crack open a crab's body, haphazardly yank boiled gills, intestines, and various organs out, then eat what's left. Still, eggs are disgusting.
13: If you only take one lesson away from my bad example, make it this: Never, ever, ever go to law school. Never. Not even if you're somehow the offspring of Job and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and you're looking for a "healthy" alternative to self-mutilation.
14: I am painfully full of pizza. Not all the time, but at the moment I'm typing this line.
15: Nineteen years ago, a complete stranger announced we were going to be best friends. Fortunately for me, when Stacey says something, he's not kidding.
16: Kasper Gutman had a point. It's risky to trust a man who won't drink, talk, or admit he's motivated by self-interest.
17: When I'm having a bad day, I go to the first available movie, regardless of its merit or appeal. I really just want an excuse to sit in the dark and eat popcorn when things suck.
18: I hate my home's property management company with the blazing passion of 10,000 suns. We had to threaten to sue to get them to deal with basic habitability issues (bugs and a busted AC during the 70+ days of 100+ degree highs!) and, when they finally did, they didn't fix them so much as give them a weak crutch. The end of our lease can't come soon enough.
19: I have no sense of smell anymore. None. Many years ago, I called the dogs in from the yard and one of them had a wet face. I petted her wet head, washed my hands, and went back to my day. I didn't know - until my (now ex) husband came home hours later - that the wet was skunk musk.
20: When telling a story from my married life, I never know whether I should call that guy my husband or my ex-husband. Husband gives the impression that I'm either still married or confused about the nature of divorce. Yet husband also is his role within the story and breaking to explain takes the focus off the story being told - suddenly people want to trade up to the emotionally exciting story of a failed marriage rather than hear about the day I let a skunked dog in the house.
21: Soon, the super karate monkey death car would park in my space. But Emily has fancy plans! And pants to match.
22: I have a toaster that can front load or top load. It's simultaneously a toaster oven and a pop-up toaster. I think this is pretty nifty, yet still not quite as amazing as the aluminum Slurpee straw.
23: I'm never going to be the Beatrice to someone's Dante, though I could definitely be the Lucy van Pelt to someone's Charlie Brown.
24: When I was in Louisville, everyone who knew me was at least 1,000 miles away, so I spent a lot of time with my TV. Still, my TV knows nothing about me. If it did, it would stop trying to sell me Hip-Hop Abs.
25: The greatest joke ever is: What's green and sits in a corner?* I've heard it and told it a million times, and it never gets old. For me, at least. For other people, maybe it gets old. There's no accounting for their taste.
* A naughty frog.
01: When there are things beyond my control and I wish to control them anyway, I turn to Gypsy magic. Not because I believe in Gypsy magic, but because I find rituals soothing.
02: My dog was a rescue pup, so the best the vet could do was estimate her birthday. The estimate put Caddie in mid-March, so we assigned her birthday as St Patrick's Day. Makes her birthday easy to remember. And her Irish.
03: I wish no one ever told me Jason Lee is a Scientologist. It just ruined him. Why, Banky, why… No one should ever let me know they are a Scientologist. The admission absolutely kills any possibility they could be any kind of reasonable person for me, regardless of every other decision they've made in their life.
04: I detest sea lions. Sea lions are absolute bastards. See Eight Below if you have any doubts.
05: I am a late subscriber to internet memes. After receiving an abundance of "25 Things" tags on Facebook, I gave up resisting and joined the crowd. By then, even the stragglers were chasing everyone else on to the next thing. Memes have to reach a ridiculous level before I'll pay attention. While I was aware of the LOLcats phenomenon, walruses with buckets were getting in on their action before I actually checked them out.
06: The worst moment of my life was when I found out my sister had died. From a condolence email via my smart phone, as I sat alone in the Louisville airport waiting to board a plane to Austin to see her. Turns out Luddites aren't all wrong.
07: I have no particular affection for the Beatles, yet enjoy the goofiness of Help!. I dislike Nirvana, yet wish to have Dave Grohl's mutant babies. I loathe Radiohead, yet will stop what I'm doing to listen to Nickel Creek cover Just. When I say these things out loud, I tend to get reactions somewhere between abject scorn and violence. Still, I feel like the winner when I get home and there's no Thom Yorke lurking on my mp3 player.
08: I want to be Major Doctor Ghastly when I grow up.
09: I love Boy on a Stick and Slither. And I strive to live every day like this is the afterlife.
10: The dentist once said my teeth are short. Then he gave embarrassed apologies, as if my emotional health might be tied up in my tooth height. I didn't particularly care, though I was put off by the idea that I seemed like the kind of person who might have teeth-esteem issues.
11: I've seen Spice World (the Spice Girls' movie). More than once. And I'm not even a little embarrassed.
12: I am a pro-lacto anti-ovo vegetarian, but I turn it off to go on a crab boil binge or eat at Gumbo's a couple of times a year. I don't care what you eat - unless it's eggs in my presence, in which case I will have to leave the room. I'll happily crack open a crab's body, haphazardly yank boiled gills, intestines, and various organs out, then eat what's left. Still, eggs are disgusting.
13: If you only take one lesson away from my bad example, make it this: Never, ever, ever go to law school. Never. Not even if you're somehow the offspring of Job and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and you're looking for a "healthy" alternative to self-mutilation.
14: I am painfully full of pizza. Not all the time, but at the moment I'm typing this line.
15: Nineteen years ago, a complete stranger announced we were going to be best friends. Fortunately for me, when Stacey says something, he's not kidding.
16: Kasper Gutman had a point. It's risky to trust a man who won't drink, talk, or admit he's motivated by self-interest.
17: When I'm having a bad day, I go to the first available movie, regardless of its merit or appeal. I really just want an excuse to sit in the dark and eat popcorn when things suck.
18: I hate my home's property management company with the blazing passion of 10,000 suns. We had to threaten to sue to get them to deal with basic habitability issues (bugs and a busted AC during the 70+ days of 100+ degree highs!) and, when they finally did, they didn't fix them so much as give them a weak crutch. The end of our lease can't come soon enough.
19: I have no sense of smell anymore. None. Many years ago, I called the dogs in from the yard and one of them had a wet face. I petted her wet head, washed my hands, and went back to my day. I didn't know - until my (now ex) husband came home hours later - that the wet was skunk musk.
20: When telling a story from my married life, I never know whether I should call that guy my husband or my ex-husband. Husband gives the impression that I'm either still married or confused about the nature of divorce. Yet husband also is his role within the story and breaking to explain takes the focus off the story being told - suddenly people want to trade up to the emotionally exciting story of a failed marriage rather than hear about the day I let a skunked dog in the house.
21: Soon, the super karate monkey death car would park in my space. But Emily has fancy plans! And pants to match.
22: I have a toaster that can front load or top load. It's simultaneously a toaster oven and a pop-up toaster. I think this is pretty nifty, yet still not quite as amazing as the aluminum Slurpee straw.
23: I'm never going to be the Beatrice to someone's Dante, though I could definitely be the Lucy van Pelt to someone's Charlie Brown.
24: When I was in Louisville, everyone who knew me was at least 1,000 miles away, so I spent a lot of time with my TV. Still, my TV knows nothing about me. If it did, it would stop trying to sell me Hip-Hop Abs.
25: The greatest joke ever is: What's green and sits in a corner?* I've heard it and told it a million times, and it never gets old. For me, at least. For other people, maybe it gets old. There's no accounting for their taste.
* A naughty frog.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Playmate Data Sheet, Updated
Because There Are No Deeper Questions Than Those Found On Playmate Data Sheets
Ambitions: To become the kind of world-dominating evil that can only be destroyed by a farm girl with a bucket, while still occasionally using my powers for good just to keep everyone on their toes.
Turn-offs: The horrors of willful stupidity and screaming children.
Turn-ons: Brainy arrogance, big words, and shiny lures.
A few women I admire: My sisters. Sappy, yet sincere.
All about my pet: Caddie's a kitten in the body of a 60-pound terrier mix - clumsy and unaware of her own strength. And she's always crazy happy to see me.
At a bar, I’ll order: Double short Sapphire and tonic, lots of limes. Or Makers rocks, depending on my mood.
Democrat or republican?: More Democrat, yet neither in a strict sense.
Family snapshot: We love each other very much. And our home should have had padded walls and a dispensary.
Favorite animal: Komodo dragon.
Five bands that move me: Foo Fighters, Cake, Son Volt, Nickel Creek, and Stabbing Westward.
Good first-date idea: Funny guy, dive bar, jukebox, and bourbon.
I will never: Understand how Nicolas Cage keeps getting movie roles.
In the morning: I need good black coffee.
Mild or spicy?: Spicy, definitely.
My best feature: My pretty, pretty hair.
My favorite activities: Reading and 'riting.
My favorite books: 1984, Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe, Knockout Artist, Why I Write, and Zombie Survival Guide.
My three guiltiest pleasures: Maudie's, Hulu, and TMZ.
On most nights I go to bed: Theoretically, midnight.
People I’d love to meet and why: Stephen Colbert’s writers, because they are so very good.
Reason why one should visit Canada: Dollar coins.
Something I need to learn: Navigation skills.
Sports I love to play or watch: Baseball and soccer, from the stands.
The best concert I ever saw: Ben Folds Five at Liberty Lunch.
The key to my success: Pockets.
The most beautiful place I have seen: Big Bend National Park.
The place I meet the most guys: The internet. Excuse me a moment. I have to go... Cry. Over there.
Things Italians do better: Speak Italian?
TV shows I can't miss: The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
Why people should visit Louisiana: Swamp tours and river boat casinos.
Ambitions: To become the kind of world-dominating evil that can only be destroyed by a farm girl with a bucket, while still occasionally using my powers for good just to keep everyone on their toes.
Turn-offs: The horrors of willful stupidity and screaming children.
Turn-ons: Brainy arrogance, big words, and shiny lures.
A few women I admire: My sisters. Sappy, yet sincere.
All about my pet: Caddie's a kitten in the body of a 60-pound terrier mix - clumsy and unaware of her own strength. And she's always crazy happy to see me.
At a bar, I’ll order: Double short Sapphire and tonic, lots of limes. Or Makers rocks, depending on my mood.
Democrat or republican?: More Democrat, yet neither in a strict sense.
Family snapshot: We love each other very much. And our home should have had padded walls and a dispensary.
Favorite animal: Komodo dragon.
Five bands that move me: Foo Fighters, Cake, Son Volt, Nickel Creek, and Stabbing Westward.
Good first-date idea: Funny guy, dive bar, jukebox, and bourbon.
I will never: Understand how Nicolas Cage keeps getting movie roles.
In the morning: I need good black coffee.
Mild or spicy?: Spicy, definitely.
My best feature: My pretty, pretty hair.
My favorite activities: Reading and 'riting.
My favorite books: 1984, Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe, Knockout Artist, Why I Write, and Zombie Survival Guide.
My three guiltiest pleasures: Maudie's, Hulu, and TMZ.
On most nights I go to bed: Theoretically, midnight.
People I’d love to meet and why: Stephen Colbert’s writers, because they are so very good.
Reason why one should visit Canada: Dollar coins.
Something I need to learn: Navigation skills.
Sports I love to play or watch: Baseball and soccer, from the stands.
The best concert I ever saw: Ben Folds Five at Liberty Lunch.
The key to my success: Pockets.
The most beautiful place I have seen: Big Bend National Park.
The place I meet the most guys: The internet. Excuse me a moment. I have to go... Cry. Over there.
Things Italians do better: Speak Italian?
TV shows I can't miss: The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
Why people should visit Louisiana: Swamp tours and river boat casinos.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Ode On Imitations Of Mobility
For Jammal, Who Asked Why I Haven't Posted Recently And Suggested I Write About My Move
I moved from Austin to Louisville
Law school was the future, I thought
Instead I grew ill
Of human nature, conflict for naught
And missed enchiladas prepared with skill
So I packed the dogs and headed south-west
Nashville, Memphis, on through
Arkansas (ewww)
Back where I started, not much to show for my quest.
I moved from Austin to Louisville
Law school was the future, I thought
Instead I grew ill
Of human nature, conflict for naught
And missed enchiladas prepared with skill
So I packed the dogs and headed south-west
Nashville, Memphis, on through
Arkansas (ewww)
Back where I started, not much to show for my quest.
