Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

Blog makeover

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
26 July 2012
0

Yesterday I finally decided it was time to update my blog’s look since it’s been two or three years and my needs have changed.  While my old theme served me well, I wanted some different features. For one, I wanted my intro section to be above the fold. Additionally, I wanted the subscription box to be visible above the fold too. I planned on adding a “Follow Me” section with icons linking to my profiles on social media sites, but that wouldn’t be immediately apparent on the old theme. Other than that, I wanted a similar three-column layout with nice use of colors, but something a little less flashy.

So here’s how my blog looked before and after the changes:

maryqin.com blog using the wordpress theme notedpad chaos

The old look.

maryqin.com blog using the wordpress theme page style

And the new look!

As you can see, there’s more width in the blog post section to allow for larger pictures and videos. You also get more content above the fold since the lists are more condensed vertically. Finally, it’s much easier to see who I am, how to subscribe to the blog, and where to find me on other sites! I’m quite pleased and I’m sure this theme will last me a few more years.

Old writing ways

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
26 October 2011
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After over three years of inactivity, I am back to journal-keeping.  I’m picking up right here, right now, and hopefully will find the time to start filling in what I’ve missed out during this time.  It feels good to be writing again, even if it does hurt my hand a bit.  This habit was so much a part of my life for so long (13 years!).  I’m glad I have the time and the patience to do it again.  For awhile, I wasn’t sure if I would return to the art of putting pen to paper, so it’s encouraging that I have.  Unfortunately I’ve found that doing so has distracted me from blogging!  I guess I’ll have to start to learn how to manage my time between the two and differentiate what goes where.

Perhaps my journal-writing will evolve from the daily journal I’m used to into a more thoughtful, story-like weekly account of my life.  I think if I get too busy again, I will try to still keep up with my journal at least once or twice a week.  After all, with no notes to take at work and no other need to use a pen during my normal routine, it’s a welcome change to be physically writing so much again.  I always found it to be a really therapeutic thing to do.  I might even spend some quiet time writing on the flight to see Panda Friday night.  I remember one time I was on the plane writing so furiously fast that the guy next to me gave me a curious look.  It was a great moment of flow of consciousness that I had fun with.  I’m looking forward to more of those moments again.

Pregnant police with clown shoes

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: ,
15 December 2010
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That was the image I created in my mind to help me remember three topics to write about – being pregnant, the police, and shoes (or more accurately, shoe boxes).  Yeah, when you come up with such ridiculous imagery like that, it’s much easier to remember what you were trying to remind yourself when you were driving home.  I seem to have this uncanny ability to forget all the things I told myself not to forget in the car.  The moment I get out and into the house, my mind is elsewhere.

I’m thinking of getting the mail.  I’m thinking of what to eat for dinner.  I’m thinking of things to do when I get online.  I’m certainly not thinking about what I was just 10 minutes before!  And unfortunately for me, I tend to have quite the collection of brainstorms when I’m driving.  Gotta keep my mind occupied, right?  So I think of random interesting things and usually those become potential blog entries that I try to remember to write.  But, many don’t get written because as soon as I turn off the car, I’ve got a million other things to consider.  And out go all those ideas from the drive!

So one time, I decided to use the power of visual memory and put the three things I was trying to remember into one cohesive image.  The items I wanted to write about were 1. how I never want to be “that” pregnant, 2. my fascination with law enforcement, and 3. how Scions look like shoe boxes to me.  What do you think of my image?  I was having trouble putting the shoe box into the picture, so I went for shoes (and the goofiest kind I could think of).  Perhaps I should have thought of a pregnant police officer driving a Scion, but that just didn’t seem silly enough for me to remember.  And hey, it worked!  As you can see from the posts I linked to, I wrote about each of those topics.  🙂

Powerful imagery.  Try it sometime!

Reevaluation

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: ,
25 June 2010
1

It’s been around a year now since I decided I would do a daily entry for this blog.  As I adjust to working life, perhaps it is time to consider posting a little less than daily.  I have accidentally missed a day or two here and there so far and I wonder if I should just let days like that go.  So far I’ve been making them up right away.  It wouldn’t be a tragedy if posted 4-5 times a week, would it?  I’m just afraid that one day off will lead to another and slowly things will dwindle.  If I stick to the strict regimen of one post per day, it keeps me on track and doesn’t allow room to stray.  Maybe I need that sort of discipline.

I think I’ll give it a try though, allowing myself to skip a day here and there and see if I start slipping.  If that’s the case, I’ll tighten up my resolve and go back to one a day for consistency’s sake.

Dedication

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , ,
06 May 2010
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I never really paid attention much, but it seems that my dedication is unusually strong.

One thing I’ve noticed lately is that a lot of blogs fall to the wayside, with people starting off hopeful and then posts end up dwindling to nothing.  The same thing goes for journals.  For years I’ve been hearing from friends and others I meet that they tried to keep one too, but it never really got anywhere.  Meanwhile, I kept daily journal for 13 years, accumulating around 50 volumes of journals before I stopped (I blame meeting Panda :-P).  I’ve still got notes for my journal from when I left off and I’ve been considering picking it up again.  However, there’s always the battle of “is it worth the time?” or “does this matter enough to me to be recorded?”  After all, the time I spend writing is time I’m not spending doing other fun and interesting things worth writing about.

What is it about writing blogs or journals that makes nearly everyone want to do it at some point?  I guess there’s a certain human quality that craves documentation and future historical value.  There are memories that we’d like to have to look back on.  On the other hand, it could really be a more technical issue, with those who want to practice their writing and develop it over the years.  Certainly lack of consistent writing will have a detrimental effect on the quality of your pieces, especially years down the road.  So professional or not, a blog or journal can at least force you to keep up your writing skills, to some degree.

I’ve also wondered what it is about me that makes me continue writing when others would have stopped.  Why do so many people want to write regularly, but don’t?  Perhaps it is because I am stubborn.  Perhaps it is because I got started at a young age (10).  Perhaps it is because my sentimentalism drives me to keep on going so I’ll have a lot to look back on.  I’m not quite sure what it is exactly, but many factors have urged me on over the years, as I continuously questioned the value of writing so much.  I’ve spent countless hours huddled with the latest journal design I was using, accompanied by a lovely stash of colored pens that I wrote with.  Now I’m spending countless hours typing away my thoughts, exploring some of the things that have been on my mind.  It certainly is a great outlet, preserved for all posterity.

Ultimately, I guess it just comes down to that fact that I want to keep going.  Whatever the reasons for wanting may have changed over the years as my style and even medium of writing transitioned, but that desire has not faded.  And so, I will keep on writing and wondering what this is all about, if only because I am dedicated to this part of my life.

Themed blogs

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: ,
20 March 2010
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I find that most of the successful blogs out there seem to adhere to some sort of theme.  People brand themselves as an expert in a subject, or at least stick to writing about a specific topic, and those interested in that particular area come and read about their opinions, thoughts, ideas, etc.  For me, however, something like that doesn’t quite work.  I’ve got too many interests to just focus in one area (and not enough time to create separate blogs for each!).  I’ve always liked my theme to just be me.  All my interests, all the experiences in my life, all the random things that go through my mind.  I guess it’s a good thing I’m not out to be a professional blogger!

Technomary

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , ,
18 March 2010
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When I was up in Ojai for a lovely weekend away, my boss from the internship with Opportunity Green called me “Technolo-Mary” during dinner, which struck something in me.  He had been referring to how I seem to know all the newest gadgets and services out there.  It made me realize that I really am a great resource for many new technologies that have come about in the past couple of years.  I liked that someone as techy as he (he got a degree in engineering and is awesome at all things related to building and maintaining websites) found my knowledge useful enough to consider me a valuable go-to person.

I do like to stay on top of things, whether it’s things like Google Voice, Dropbox, and reQall or more of things like new social media forums, mobile technologies, and many more.  I’ve always loved to learn more about technology, so anything new captures my attention and I like to spend time learning more about it.  If I like what I see, I’ll usually go on to become an adopter and even spread the word.  That’s what I’ve been doing with CauseWorld, which is a great app for your smartphone that allows you to choose where sponsors’ money is donated.

I really enjoy troubleshooting (for the most part) and solving problems through logic and trial and error.  Also, it’s rewarding to discover the best technical solutions for everyday issues, like streamlining processes.  Whether it’s organization, documentation, or retrieval, there’s probably a better way to do it than the one you’re doing now.  I’m all about efficiency and effectiveness, which is probably also why technology fascinates me so much – it solves a lot of our problems and saves us a lot of time and effort!

Perhaps I should start a help line called “Technomary” – not “techno Mary,” but “tech-nom-ary.”  A play on technology and Mary AND -ary as a suffix that means “having to do with.”  It’d be a fun name for a tech blog, if I were to ever write one.  It could be a cool place to get answers for your “Dear Abby” type tech questions like how to convert a scanned JPEG into a PDF or what type of free phone services there are.  Hmm, now there’s a thought…

Food and travel blogs

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , ,
01 February 2010
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I’ve been looking through some of the Bloggie nominees and I found that I have no interest in the food or travel blogs.  Ironic, since I love food and travel!  But I think that is precisely the problem, actually.  Rather than looking at pictures and videos of other people enjoying eating delectable dishes and fantastic adventures, I’d much prefer to be the one doing those things!  So maybe it’s in part jealousy, but mostly it is just the fact that I’d rather go discover it myself.  I don’t want to live vicariously through these other people having a great time when I could be the one loving life like that.

Food blogs are great for those who want to be shown new foods to try, how to cook cool things, or just love to look at food.  Food blogs are not good for those who want to discover the great edible things out there themselves, don’t care much for cooking, or see images of food and must go eat.  Now.  Can you guess what type I am?  I absolutely love to take pictures of my food and share it with my friends.  I quite like seeing their pictures.  However, reading a blog with pictures and extensive descriptions takes up too much time when I could be at a restaurant or little street stall, munching away.  So though they could come in as a useful reference if I’m really having trouble finding something to eat (ha!), food blogs are generally not worth the effort to me (except in times when I miss something and just can’t find it in LA, or whichever city I’m in).

Travel blogs are great for those who can’t go and want to see what it’s like, don’t want to actually go but want to see what it’s like, or are about to go and want to see what it’s like in a new place.  Travel blogs aren’t ideal for people who can travel (just not at this exact moment) and experience things themselves, don’t care about traveling at all, or want to find their way around a new city themselves.  Though I can’t make it out to a far-away city right now, it’s certainly within my means in the near future and I like to not really know what it’s like til I get there and I look up places of interest, or talk to locals and recent visitors who can share their wisdom.  I don’t want to spend my time hearing about other people’s travels because I want to be traveling.

Generally I’m obsessed with researching ahead of time, but when it comes to traveling, I am perfectly content with vaguely knowing what a country is like, showing up, and finding some really awesome experiences.  I also seem to have random run-ins with locals.  And you know what?  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Once again, I find that I would prefer to just use these types of blogs as references (aka: “Hey, I want to go to [insert country/city here], I wonder what random things they have to do there?” *searches entries on travel blog and glances through titles and tags*  “Ah, ok, got an idea, let’s go!”).  Beyond giving me an idea of what’s available, especially obscure stuff, it doesn’t interest me to frequent those type of blogs.  Let those people enjoy their travels and share it with those who want to hear about it!  I want to go out and do it too, without tainting the experience with too much foreknowledge!

So really, it just comes down to me not wanting to live a vicarious life.  Why do that when you can be the one sharing your experiences?  As my friend Ninja once said, I want to live a life worth making a movie about (or writing a book about, in my case).  You can’t do that if you’re too busy cooped up reading about other people’s lives!  Not that those blogs aren’t great for certain crowds.  I just find that I don’t belong in the particular group that reads food and travel blogs, that’s all.  🙂

What about you?  Do you like to safely follow the lives of those more adventurous than you?  Or do you prefer to go have the adventures yourself?

Baring all on Facebook

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
22 November 2009
0

facebookI came across an article today detailing the dangers of giving too much away on Facebook.  People are forced to make a choice between sharing whatever they want with their friends and not “friending” anyone at work or being very cautious of what they share on their accounts and allowing people from their company to view their profile.  To a certain extent, I can understand why it is important to be more reserved and not let your wildest personal moments leak into your professional life.  However, I think some companies have taken things too far and are basically stalking their employees.  Are we not allowed a mistake here and there?  A fun day/night/weekend out with our friends?

One of the unfortunate side effects of being involved in social media is that sometimes people get to know you too much.  Whereas previously what you do on your own time rarely made it back to the office, now people don’t need to run into you to find out what you’ve been up to.  Plus, since we list our professional affiliations on our profiles, we are judged much more harshly for what we do, since it also reflects upon the company we work for.  It’s human nature to see one bad instance and suddenly discredit the person entirely, or even the organization(s) they belong to.  And so, corporations begin to crack down on this to prevent their name from being tainted by an individual within.

I’ve always struggled with how much to share.  I innately want to share much more than I probably should at times, but hiding aspects of my life just feels fake to me.  I don’t want to go around living some sort of secret, underground existence!  I don’t do things I’d be ashamed of and though I may not always do things I could tell my parents, I never do something I couldn’t tell my friends.  Some people in the world may be too uptight to appreciate some of the fun I have, but should I limit myself just because of them?  Am I not allowed to participate in silly things like Undie Run?  Am I not allowed to express my femininity in a photo shoot?  My actions aren’t always G-rated, but they’re PG-13 (which is probably the best you’re going to get from young adults!).  That’s pretty mild, yet I still feel unsure sometimes about how older generations will view me from a single picture they may have seen.

I would hope that any employer who stalks me on Facebook would be realistic enough to understand that the two or three times a year I do something unconventional do not define who I am.  I mean, I don’t curse, don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t even have a coffee/caffeine dependency!  If I’ve got the discipline to maintain that despite everything that’s going around me, certainly I can be trusted to have some responsible fun occasionally.  In the future when I’m running my own venture, I’d want to have a culture that accepts the alter-egos people sometimes have on their own time.  I saw a company that gives two “I just didn’t want to get out of bed” days to their employees annually because they recognize that sometimes you may not have a family emergency or be sick enough to get a day off, but you really need one anyway.  Now there’s a company that understands that employees are people!

Pictures

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
29 August 2009
1

Pictures tell a story.  Pictures capture things that the mind may never think to include in writing a novel.  A picture’s worth a thousand words, as I’m sure you’ve heard.

photo credit: kidstechreview.com

It only looks like a toy. photo credit: kidstechreview.com

To me, pictures are a way of life.  I am ever grateful for the advent of digital cameras and the ever-growing memory capacity their chips can hold.  I still remember my very first camera, which I got on my birthday when my parents and I were in Florida visiting Sea World and Disneyworld.  It was a pink rectangular wind-up thing that looked more like a toy meant for Barbie than a functioning camera, but it certainly did work.  Rolls of film were precious to me at that time, over a decade ago, so I took pictures sparingly and carefully.  After that came a more professional-looking black camera complete with neckstrap and nice fancy buttons with a digital display screen to indicate photos left.  No more of those little numbers rolling by a magnifying glass (except on disposable cameras).

photo credit: dphotonews.com

My current camera model. photo credit: dphotonews.com

At some point in high school, I began to use digital cameras and never looked back.  From that point on, I felt the freedom of taking pictures as I wanted, pretty much whenever I wanted and as much as I wanted.  It was liberating.  I don’t think my picture-taking obsession hit full swing until college though, when so much was going on that I wanted to document.  I generally go for action shots that tell a story, but I’m a sucker for some good food or just posing with friends for posterity as well.  Mostly I try to get a candid shot, probably a little goofy if there are people in it, and definitely one that explains why it was taken.  My observation skills got put to good use as I documented all the little things I would find, from the insects around us to the odd sign or cool building.

Perhaps the influx in college was also due to the birth of Facebook, which became a great way for me to share the photos I took for myself that most people never even saw.  Now I had a way of showing them as well, which just encouraged me to continue capturing all the action around me.  Soon enough, my friends knew they could always rely on me to have a camera at hand for any occasion that may spring up.  In fact, it is well known that I have well over 3000 pictures tagged of me now and certainly thousands I’ve put up in the dozens of albums I have.  I used to go through and delete it all every few months, but at a certain point about three years ago, I decided I may as well leave them up – after all, there are no limitations on storage!  It’s a pity I didn’t keep everything up though; it would be a fantastic chronology of my life starting in the fall of 2004, as I embarked upon my years at UCLA.

Because of the significance pictures have had on me, I am drawn to photo blogs (phlogs?), where a picture is posted each day to depict a certain moment during that day.  Marylin kept something like that, meant to chronicle her life in a year picture by picture.  I don’t know if she ever got to 365 before stopping though.  I am tempted to do that here and let the images of my life do the talking.  I have been considering whether I should finish up an entire year of writing an entry per day and then do another year of photo blogging, or just start integrating it now.  I’ve been trying to use images as much as I can to help illustrate my entries for many months now, which I find is a nice break amongst all that type.  I suppose I could try doing one of each for awhile, or switch off every other day, or just do whichever whenever I feel like it.  It might be a slight challenge to have an interesting picture every day, what with my policy of not including people I know in the shots.  Guess we’ll just have to see!

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