mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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NaBloPoMo Ends

November 29, 2013 — 5 Comments

All good things must come to an end. My month of blogging daily has been a good practice. NaBloPoMo, the challenge, officially ends today. I had not participated in any blogging events before this one, and have found many new blogs I enjoy reading during the month. BlogHer is very well organized and vast.  Now that I have been there for a month, I think I will look around more and learn how the whole site really works.  The blogging conference they hold each year is popular and well attended.  In 2014 it will be in San Jose, CA.  I am not too excited about conferences in general, and big ones like this are even less appealing.  I do believe I can enjoy meeting and reading other bloggers who participate without getting on a plane and seeing them in person.  I appreciate the opportunity to join in the fun from my own office. Next November I think I will prepare by making an editorial calendar. The best part of reading new blogs is the variety.  I am constantly amazed by the creative and imaginative work I find in blogs.  Finding new work I like to read is like finding buried treasure.  The discipline of producing a post every day was good, but even better was the fantastic artistic energy of the entire group of participants.  I expect it gets bigger each year.  Next November, instead of growing a mustache, consider blogging daily…(They are not mutually exclusive, and many blog about their mustaches).

Triberr Rules

July 11, 2013 — 2 Comments


I value my Triberr membership very highly, and love the opportunity to invite the world to join us. I invite artistic Tumblrs to come on over to see how I Tumble in the Artistic Expressions tribe. I have not promoted this arty little place in the world, but hope other expressive folks will drop by with some art to share.  The benefits of Triberr compound themselves daily.  Deep appreciation goes out to Dino, Dan, and Andres for both getting this party started, and improving it all the time.  Thanks for the t shirt. I wear it with pride.

Throw a Dog a Triberr Bone

January 15, 2013 — 6 Comments

The hardest working men in the publishing business have responded, repaired, and restructured the idea tested recently of limiting members’ posts to 6 per week. They truly care about being excellent Chiefs of this Digital Nation. They have graciously served all the free loading members like me who have gathered to suck down services and enjoy the free ride while they beta test the system. They have now generously capitulated to allow 14 posts to non paying members. This is perhaps a dangerous slippery slope for our three musketeers, caving to the whining of the never satisfied. To balance what has become an unfair fight in my estimation, I am going to start my subscription to the newly created Prime Lite. I double dog dare all other members of Triberr to follow suit. Put up, or shut up, as they say.

I do not resent losing the imaginary bones that were created as currency within they system. As Dan explained, since there is no way to spend them, they have been retired…like Green Stamps, or the game at the grocery store with the bingo stickers. Do NOT resent losing the silly bones. They were imaginary….okay? The expenses the Chiefs incur to create our little wonderland are real. So many have expressed opinions about how the system operates, but so few have bothered to pay for it. I personally love to pay for quality. It means that quality can thrive and be there for me next time I want to pay for it. Triberr is a very high quality service. I want to help it to grow and prosper, because it helps me grow and prosper.

I firmly believe that if you have time to write 14 blogs a week worth reading, you also have time to cough up $10 a month to keep the system flowing. Let us find that $10, and show our Chiefs we love what they do for us. If you have $40, I encourage you to just send it. Go Prime…this is probably the only thing in the world that you can do all the way to Prime for just $40 a month. If you have some reason you do not want to pay, I ,very specifically,do not want to hear about it. You can just go be cheap and quiet in your own pitiful corner.

Triberr Changes Rules, Uproar Ensues

January 13, 2013 — 16 Comments

I have been enjoying meeting and spreading the work of bloggers on the Triberr platform. I went to NYC in September to learn more about it, and have been pleased with all I have gained from my enjoyment of Triberr. Yesterday the stream of blogs started drying up and today we learn that a limit was imposed of a maximum of 6 posts a week for each member. I am not as prolific as many of my tribe mates. I do not advertise or promote anyone’s products on my blog. My thing is simple. I am just shocked that they are going all Netfix with no warning.

I predict there will be an exodus of some kind, and maybe a knock off site. In the meantime it will be the talk of the town, not in a good way. I do not mind paying a small fee, but there is something about changing the rules overnight that causes uproar.  Triberr has some ‘splainin to do.

Birth of a Blogger

October 12, 2012 — 2 Comments

I play the part of Auntie Mame to three kids who live in California. I am not grandmother, aunt, or even Jewish, which gives me a distinct place in the family order. I have creative freedom that the other players do not have. I can be indulgent, which I am. I can go home and ignore them, which I do all the time. I feel a responsibility to model for and with them a fair and loving friendship between kids and an adult. This means the authority card can not be played unless there is a dire emergency. We are equals. Of course if I lived with them full time this would collapse quickly, because adults do need authority in order to hang out with kids at all.

They each have distinct talents and abilities. If I have a favorite it would be Max because we share similar interests in technology. This is the child every Apple share holder wants to meet. I think he wants to marry Siri. The kids inherit my old Apple products and are now officially hooked. The issue is that when a boy is alone with his computer, he is likely to just play stupid games and become addicted to it like to the TV. They need restrictions in order to have balance, so mom has very reasonable rules for tech use, which is a powerful force in discipline. To loose privileges to be with the electronics is severe for these guys, so they do behave in order to avoid it.

Yesterday I negotiated the permission for Max to start a blog. He quickly set up his WordPress page and published a picture of himself from the morning as his first post. I convinced mom that the archive will be her most precious possession that she will not need to file or protect. It will be there. Now comes the fun. He is extremely enthusiastic and interested. Mom is happy too because now he does not like to write. I have urged him to be consistent and thoughtful about his content. We talked about technical quality and how to develop interesting posts others want to read.  I am curious to see how this will develop.  I wonder if his enthusiasm can be maintained, and if he will use this practice wisely.  Do you know any kids who blog, and how they got started blogging?  I am very interested in finding other youngsters who are involved in this world.

It is with great pride that I present to the blogiverse the talented, the witty , and the very young Mr. Max Levy:

Max in front of his house

I ripped off his first post, which is this picture.  Please join me in wishing him blogging success.  We may all learn a lot from this young man.  He teaches me all the time.  Go Max!!!

Big Chief

October 2, 2012 — 2 Comments

Triberr held the first TribeUpNYC on the equinox, 22 September, 2012. I flew in the day before to enjoy the neighborhood with some friends. I was very happy to be in the city after so many years of absence. The weather was perfect, the crowd was the right size, and the speakers all delivered value in different ways.  The face of Triberr is Dino Dogan.  He has a booming voice with a cute tiny accent.  He is welcoming and very self assured.  This event was like no others because this tribe is itself unique.  The material presented was valuable and current. It was the combination of the hospitality provided by Media Labs and the sponsors and the high quality of every aspect of the event that created a memorable afternoon.  To be true to the tribe’s core value of influence over traffic the small group was treated to delicious party food and drink while given plenty of time and space to schmooze.  No name tags, very little Powerpoint, and one guy won a new iPad in the drawing…this was my kind of conference. I am not so much encouraging extra participation in the next New York TribeUP because it was outstanding to be there off peak ( for the first one).  There is a plan to spread the Tribal spirit throughout the land.  I think that is a good idea.  Let’s TribeUp Tucson!!  ( not the same as cowboy up for those of you who live here).