Food for the Soul

You wouldn't know it from the fact that I have a blog, or the fact that I work in a very service oriented field, but I am an introvert. I can talk and be loud with the best of them, but if I don't get my me time, I'm sort of a wreck. It also takes huge amounts of courage for me to go to any social event.

Due to that and some less than perfect timing (weeknights are hard) I didn't sign up immediately for the great blogger meetup/charity event that Missy organized awhile back. However, when the earthquake(s) in Haiti hit, and a last minute cancellation meant an opening, I felt like I had to participate.

I couldn't make it to the mixer earlier (which means I didn't meet as many people and didn't come home with a giant tomato can), but I did make it to the main event at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC).

You may have heard about them, they've been in the news a lot lately because their mission is to package nutritious meals to feed over a billion starving people around the world. One of the places they focus on is Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. In Haiti, 80 percent live in abject poverty. As in, not a little poor, but impoverished and barely living. It is a country with a complex past and a variety of issues. Issues compounded to the Nth degree by the multiple earthquakes lately.

So, FMSC is a Christian faith based organization that raises money to buy the raw supplies, locations, and shipping, and gets volunteers to do the work, and feeds millions of people around the world. I always struggle with the faith thing since that is not the path I have chosen, but while it is clearly a huge part of why they do what they do, it wasn't presented in a way that I had any issues with. Hunger knows no faith, so when it comes to helping those that it effects, I can easily set aside my issues with how some people represent their faith.

It was a great experience. I got to meet some new bloggers, I got to finally hug in person some of my favorite local bloggers. I even got to see that my shredding has inspired some others. Now I'm wishing I had been able to make it for the mixer portion. Maybe next time.

Photo credit Darcie Gust.

For other views on the evening, see Missy's post as well as the links to everyone else.

Integrity, It Lives Here

When the Blog With Integrity pledge first came about, signing it was a no brainer for me. Really, who doesn't want integrity. I was fresh off of an amazing experience at BlogHer and full of conviction. Then I wrote about the experience, got a lot of really amazing feedback, and promptly had no idea what to write any more. Especially when it came to blogging with integrity. Missy even asked me to guest post about it on her blog, and I just couldn't do it. The truth is, I wasn't sure what it meant for me. I needed time to figure it out.

I've been a major user of the Internet for a very long time. Back to the days when the Internet didn't have pictures other than the ones created using numbers and letters. I love the Internet. If I can't research it on the Internet, it really doesn't exist to me. I've been intentionally favoring businesses with a web presence for years. I trust the Internet. The Internet in return has been very good to me. I wouldn't have a career that I love it weren't for the Internet and technology.

Until recently, it never occurred to me that an opinion, specifically a blogger's opinion, could be bought. (I know, naive) Product placements in movies, never trusted, but blogs, blogs are honest person to person communication. It helps that the people who's opinions I love (Cool Mom Picks, Popgadget) are not, but I always assumed that any review that I read was an honest opinion. I was wrong. I know the pressure of providing for a family. I know that the way I was raised is not the same as other people. I know there are shades of gray in the world. However, I don't need to be one of them.

If I offer an opinion about something, I want you to know that it is my own opinion. I won't say I'll never do anything for compensation, but I will say that if I do, you will always know about it. You can know that I will not be bought. I value my words, they are my words. What I write about is far too personal for me to not own them. I trust you, the Internet, with a lot of what I feel and think, and I want you to trust me in return. Opinions here are that of the writer.

Finding clarity in this has helped me clear up a few more things about my relationship with the Internet. I stopped following people on Twitter who just tweeted contests, or the same tweet over and over again about their blog. I removed a few contest only blogs from my reader. I try to keep any contest stuff out of my tweets (with a few specific exceptions), and I try to only link to my own posts once. I rarely enter a giveaway anymore unless I know something about the how's and why's of how it came to be (or it is for a million dollars or trip to Hawaii, because really, just for the excuse to dream). I am trying even harder to make sure I am supporting primarily local and independent businesses. This holiday season, I'm trying to do more handmade, even if I didn't make it myself. (something cool relating to that as soon as it gets here)

I will never be someone who makes a living through the Internet, unless you count the day job. I will never be a big name blogger, I don't want to be. However, I owe it to myself to live my life in a way that I can be proud of. This, is something I am proud of.

When my blog grows up...

... She wants to be taken seriously.

I knew I should have figured out how to do this before BlogHer, but that whole damn life thing just got in the way. I knew going in to BlogHer that my intention was to be more serious about what this blog is. Not that I want to write about serious stuff. In fact, since my lifelong dream of being a stand-up comedian is never going to happen, why not pretend I'm funny occasionally on the Internet. That is however beside the point.

I've been mulling over what I want from my blog, and it comes down to a few things.

1. I want Integrity. I took the pledge even. I think it will help me focus on being a better writer.

2. I want my own domain. I've gone through registering ameliasprout.com. I had thought about rebranding, but I heard over and over again this weekend what a cool blog name it is. Especially when you know why it is.

3. I want a new design. I think I want to break up the photo stuff from the writing. I also want a section without advertising. I'm not saying that I want to do reviews, I just want a place that isn't governed by contracts. I will, no matter what, disclose what goes there. See point number one.

3a. About the ads. A domain, hosting, etc, do not come free. Just in case you were wondering, ads don't pay any bills. I'm keeping them because they may some day make a dent in things.

4. I need a better bio. I would much rather be a blogger who has a kid than a mommy blogger. If you've noticed things around here recently, I don't blog nearly so much about my kid as I do my fat (shrinking) ass and my garden. My bio should reflect that. However, I'm still not sure who I am.

5. I want to do things outside of the blog. I've been dreaming of doing those little pieces on NPR for just about as long as I can remember. I've also been dreaming about Oscar acceptance speeches. One of those is attainable. If I am going to call myself a semi-professional writer, I need to actually put some effort in to the semi-pro thing. It could all suck horribly, but then again, maybe not.


So, what do you think? Nuts? Weird? Something worth doing? I'm guessing with the hour or so every other day I have to think about it, this is going to take some time. I've got to find someone who can help me some design stuff and hope to god that the tweeps will be there to answer any questions I have along the way.