Pretentious Blogging Meme

But first! For anyone playing Mafia Wars who doesn't want their non-Mafia-Wars-playing friends to see their MW notifications:

1) Set up a Facebook friend list of your MW friends only (Friends>All Friends>Create New List)
2) Whenever you are playing the game and a window pops up asking if you want to post to your friends' news feeds, before you say yes, click the little lock icon at the bottom of the pop-up window to customize who can see the post.
3) Select "Custom" then These People>Specific People and type the name of your MW friends list. Make sure none of your networks are checked.
4) Because the custom privacy window is buggy and only partially displays, just use the TAB key to move around. Then click "save setting" at the bottom and post.

Incidentally, the profile privacy in Application Settings for Mafia Wars only sets who can see the Mafia Wars box on your profile page, and does not control posting to the wall/news feed. But if you want to minimize notifications, you can go to Application Settings>Mafia Wars>Additional Permissions and uncheck the box that lets it post to your wall without prompting you.

Ta-daaa!

Sunday Stealing: The Pretentious Blogging Meme

1. How long have you been blogging?
My very first entry back at LiveJournal is dated April 11, 2003.

2. What made you start?
I was a webmistress and message board admin for a pop band fansite, and my friends from that endeavor took up blogging at LJ. They made me do it. Didn't we talk about this yesterday?

3. Who inspired you?
All those women from the fansite. They were funny and honest in their journals, and we used that medium (and a wild night on a limo bus in Miami) to get to know each other better.

4. About how many hours a week would you estimate you spend on your blog?
around 4

5. What kind of experience or background do you have with writing?
I began writing stories as soon as I could write. When I was in high school I was a prolific writer of poetry and song lyrics, and was published in our school literary magazine, as well as a Houston entertainment magazine. I was also a reporter for the high school paper, and later, the editor and primary writer for the Mothers Club Newsletter. OH! And I wrote an awesome letter to the editor that was published in Tiger Beat when I was 15. Heh.

6. Talk about how you come up with blog topics. Where do you get your ideas?
This is a personal thoughts sort of blog. The ideas come from things that happen, conversations, thoughts I need to get into written form, etc. Sometimes when something hits me that I want to write about, I jot a post-it to remind me to use that for the next post. (A POST-IT to remind me to POST IT. Ahahahaaaa. Ha. Moving on.)

7. What or who inspires you and your blog?
Laura's and my idea for a TV show where we hang out and discuss current topics. Much in the format of "Chelsea Lately" without the professional comedian, or Oprah's live Friday shows, without the delicious Mark Consuelos. The show never came to be, so I do it here. She was originally invited to do a blog with me, but she turned me down, so now I think she was just chasing the fame of television. Daily inspiration? Conversations with friends. The news. Personal experiences.

8. Where and/or how do you do your brainstorming for your blog?
Usually I have plenty to say. When I need to brainstorm, I sometimes go out on the back porch, settle into a comfy chair, breathe the fresh air, watch the squirrels and commune with nature. I can think of all sorts of things to blog about while sitting there in the quiet. Sometimes I even blog on my laptop out there.

9. Do you have any blogging rules or guidelines you follow?
a) I keep it PG-13 for two reasons. First, I don't want to have to put the adult-content Blogger rating on my blog. When you see it, it makes it sound like your blog has freaky porn all over it, and I wouldn't be posting anything that raunchy. Second, my teen daughter reads this thing now and then... when she's really really bored.
b) I never mention my or my friends' full names or post identifying photos, to keep it as anonymous as possible. I'm always very careful about internet privacy. Also, I want to be a generic voice, free to say whatever I'm thinking.
c) I never specify the websites I run or the foundation for whom I volunteer, because I'm not speaking as a representative of them in this forum.

10. Is there anything you will not blog about?
Anything someone has specifically asked me not to post about, or by virtue of my own common sense I figure they wouldn't want me to talk about. Things that are not PG-13 (see above).

11. Do you have any sort of a publishing schedule in terms of day of week or topic? 
I publish every day unless I just can't for some reason. Topic? You need a GPS to follow the randomness here. It's a free-for-all, really.