sparkling in the blogosphere

i've thought about my recent blogosphere run-ins a bit more and what i think is behind them, in both cases, is actually a message to me that i wasn't welcome in those particular bloggy circles. because there are bloggy circles out here. and while i've tried very hard to have my own bloggy circle be a wide and inclusive one, not everyone feels that way. and while i undoubtedly don't always succeed, i think that save one instance with the flickr group where someone was just downright nasty to other members, i have never intentionally excluded anyone from my little corner of the blogosphere.

there's a particular gang on flickr that i honestly tried to be part of (the wanna-be 3191s, as i think of them (note: the REAL 3191 people are not part of that group and i am most definitely not implicating them)) and i was just thoroughly and roundly rejected. the whole tumblr photo thing was with a member of that circle and it was just, at the base of it, another message to me that i wasn't part of their gang. so i've long given up. as i realized i didn't need the validation of a few stuck-up snobs in order to feel ok with myself and my photos and well, my life. there's way more validation and warmth and life to be had in my own bloggy/flickr circles.

i think the other one was signaling that i don't really belong in another of the crafty circles. my experiments in natural dyeing are sporatic at best, as are my stitching efforts. i love contemporary fabrics. i don't fit. i'm not one of them (i felt that last winter with the slow cloth group on facebook) and that's ok with me too. while i thought it was only a compliment to link to the beautiful and inspiring things that people are sharing online, apparently you should only do that if you're of them.

jenna wrote recently of being a jack of all trades and proud of it. i guess that's a bit where i'm at too...of late, my interest has been in sewing clothes for sabin. i've also been knitting a bit here and there. my cooking interests are subdued at the moment by my horrible old kitchen, but they will return as well. and i will go back to the stitching and i'm still following many inspiring blogs, but i guess i have to be content with my place in the scheme of things. and actually, i am. it is just jarring to be told outright that you don't belong.

but that's not how i want to be and the only thing i can change is my own view on these things and know that in both instances, my intentions were good, and that's really all i can say.

a big thank you to everyone for your supportive comments and the reminder that things aren't all awry in the blogosphere. i have put up a small blogroll once again, but this time, it's a link up under my header. i will be changing it regularly and keeping it small, so if you're worried that you're not there at the moment, you just might be the next time you look.

happy weekend one and all...

blue in the blogosphere

B is for blogosphere

it feels to me like changes are afoot in the interwebs. it's becoming a more hostile place and i wonder why. first, i got bawled out by some righteous witch on flickr for tumbling her photo, despite the fact that tumblr gives full credit to the original and provides a LINK to it for odin's sake. and despite the fact that my tumblr clearly states that i'm sharing my flickr faves. honestly, i created it because it has a dark background and i enjoyed seeing my flickr faves on a dark background. but, i've gotten downright afraid to tumble anything after that. i don't do well with the righteous ones. the way i look at it, if you put your things online to be seen, you shouldn't be surprised when people see them, nor should you object to someone giving you both full credit and directing more traffic your way.

then, yesterday, i got an email from someone whose name wasn't familiar to me, accusing me of constantly "backpacking" on her blog (her: 73 followers, me: 1249, hmm, "backpacking?" methinks not.) by creating a link to her posts which she then had to delete. i didn't even recognize the blog initially because she blogs under another name, but i later came to find out it was on my blogroll as an "inspiration." needless to say, it's not anymore. granted, she also said she was notifying me, in case i didn't know, which i didn't. i had no idea that those blogroll lists would create links elsewhere in the blogosphere. but even if i'd known, i don't think i'd have imagined that someone would be upset by it. nor did i imagine how upsetting i would find it to be on the receiving end an accusation of "backpacking" (which i think i would call piggybacking, but that's just me).

but these are strange times in the blogosphere.

it seems to me that a big part of what the blog as a medium is about is linking. linking to other bloggers, to articles of interest, to inspiring photos and art around the interwebs. but it seems it's not about that anymore. people are getting protective of themselves and their content. the spirit of sharing and crediting and sending your bloggy friends to your other bloggy friends by way of links and favorites, is fading. and it makes me sad.

and it also made me take down my blogrolls today. so, it's not that i don't still love all of you, i've just gotten a little afraid about whether that's still ok with you...

more snow? where's the global warming when you need it?

8:48 a.m. february 2, 2010

 3:06 p.m. february 2, 2010
difficult to see how much snow is actually coming down, but it's a lot.

another snowstorm is moving in. or should i say, it has moved in. and that actually fits quite nicely with my mood. one moment the world (and the blogosphere) seems like a sunny, nice place to be and the next, wham, you're broadsided by a flurry of a storm you didn't see coming. the weather, all nice and polite and happy and pleasant turns rude and unpleasant. it's really quite disappointing and frankly, i could use some spring.

my weaving class is canceled for this evening. but i've laid in a supply of chai and firewood, so we'll be fine. i've also got a dozen clarity birds to work on:

and if that's not enough to do, we've got a 3000-piece puzzle going as well:

you can see that it should keep us busy for awhile.