Newbies, Lurkers, and Splashers
Hop on In!
Hop on In!
Question for everyone:
how did you stumble into the world of the political blogs?
how did you stumble into the world of the political blogs?
May the 4’s be with you
Froggy Bottom WELCOME WAGON
Question for everyone: how did you stumble into the world of the political blogs?
I started out as a snarking Farkster many moons ago and Atrios’ Turkee Post from 2003 sent me down the current rabbit hole.
the photo isn’t showing at Eschaton. this should work.
I don’t consider myself as a die hard political blogger, but…here is my answer…
I was first introduced to geek forums and would spend most of my reading about the latest hacks and dry humor. I introduced Man Eegee to Fark and he became one of us. Man Eegee then told me about a new fascinating blog called Booman Tribune, of which, I became a member and lurked around…then I signed up at DailyKoS and quickly became a fan of Cheers and Jeers. Then another new exciting political blog appeared…Latino Politico <- awesome site BTW. From there, I do an occasional surf to other political blogs.
I haven’t been keeping up with all the hype lately, but I’m sure I’ll get back on the wagon and enjoy the ride!!!
my lurking fairy blogmother 😉 Thx for clearing out those cobwebs and remembering your password.
You’re welcome. Fortunately, I got my password right on the third time. Oh the many passwords you accrue in life…
…now back to lurking….
.
Heh ManEe, great to see you put up a Welcome Wagon diary. Lately I found a number of could-be frogs sitting beside the pond, shivering in the cold as none of the existing members would meet them with an extended hand.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I mentioned to BooMan last week that I was thinking about getting a weekly Welcome Wagon diary off the ground. I’m leaning towards a Wednesday Welcome Wagon thing, but we can pretend this week that I got the day correct 😉
I’d love to hear how you found your way into this realm of networking! Paz
Hi Manny.
I honestly don’t remember how I stumbled into the world o’ political blogs. Seems like I was always going onto other types of blogs and making them political – so it seem like a natural fit when distinctly political blogs came along.
makes sense. i have watched with much amusement as some of the bigger blogs directly target the “mainstream” media, especially considering the fact that items previously found on shows like Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, etc. are now featured segments on Larry King (barely)Live.
Keres, Just thinking about you, watching a heliocopter chase on TV. Get this, there following a footchase on the ground. It`s a loose wallaby.
Yes they captured it without any harm to the wallaby.
I got there by a very webby route. I used to go to a lot of arts and books blogs. I noticed some of the blogrolls that included feminist blogs which was something that I was very happy to find. I started collecting feminist blogs and started following links in posts to more straight-forward political blogs.
quite the opposite of the 82 degree day we’re having here in the desert [grumble, grumble] Thanks for sharing your arctic snow and blogpath with us, Andi!
It is really cold here, around 3° — which makes the snow unusual since the cold arctic air is usually very dry.
Got powder, but no lift & no skis:(
I never went to nashville alps. 😉
Number 2 son learned to ski there and eventually graduated to Crested Butte, CO. It was quite convenient for Mrs. Dem and I when we wanted a vacation in the mountains.
We did some cross-country when we first moved out here but the snow was too unreliable to get good at it and we stopped after a few years. I’m too big a klutz to risk my neck at downhill.
I used to cross-country at Yellowwood, but am too occupied with other things these days. Anyway, Number 2 Son has my skis.
We did most of our skiing on our own property, though we did go over to Gnaw Bone Camp a couple of times. But I think it’s just as nice to just put on my hiking boots and go walk in the snow as ski through it.
It is beautiful out there – but frigid! Speaking of which, I have to run an errand. Brrrrrrrrr.
I had been reading a couple of political Blogs but then was a volunteer and one of the volunteer hosts for The Bloogers Breakfast at Demfest 2005 in Austin, Texas. I met quite a few bloggers in that 3 days and enjoyed talking with them and a week later I started my own blog. I then found MLW and DAILYKOS and eventually BOOMAN TRIBUNE. I am most active here and at TEXASKOS. My poor blog goes without a lot as I am now a podcaster. LOL I would describe myself as a passionate blogger instead of one who deals with a lot of facts and figures. LOL
I should have said reserach not facts. I don’t make things up for the blog except my designs. LOL
that mean that you really did attend Blooger Breakfasts? 😉 Thx for sharing, refi69. It seems like Texas has a decently organized state blogosphere, that’s great.
LOL Yes I was there telling people where the food, drinks, beverages and bathrooms were. I was also their two hours early to set up tables and all that mess. LOL
For me, it was partly professional but mostly personal. I’d say my first blogging experience was lurking at Slashdot. I am not geek, but very geek-interested.
I’ve never been to Slashdot, but just checked it out. I’m highly amused with the Psychoanalyzing Resident Evil and Silent Hill topic-starter, however. We used to play RE on the bigscreen at my parents’ house and scare the you-know-what out of our younger cousins with the zombies on screen.
Love the sig line, btw. Hope you’re doing well. paz
Thanks. It was time for a new sig line. Again I’ve borrowed from a movie–this time, Mission Impossible III, said by the fabulous Laurence Fishburne. I couldn’t stop laughing.
And of course, given my environs, it’s even more appropriate.
oooh. you’re not a geek. but I am? heh.
Having met both of you I’d say that’s a fair assessment.
I wear my geek face proudly when Mrs. Dem’s network needs tweaking;-)
I’m going to leave it as an exercise for the audience whether or not you mean that literally or if it’s a clever euphemism…
I was waiting for the snark to arrive;-)
You’re a bigger geek. I’m a cuter one.
That is, if you can call a political and geek-interested person with almost no tech skills a geek.
The hubby is a handsome political poet geek. Total package.
Time magazine had a note about Daily Kos. I wandered over there and liked what I saw. Diaried some, commented a lot, got irritated by the flame wars and really honked off at the pie wars. I noticed after that one that a lot of the folks whose posts I’d been looking out for migrated over this way, and lurked here for a while before signing up and getting a hearty welcome. My experiences with the folks at the froggy bottom and in my diaries convinced me this was a good place to do what political blogging I do. Lately I haven’t been around much because my writing career has been taking off and soaking up big chunks of time. The blogging I’ve been doing has been mostly writing related and over here. But I’m still lurking around under the lilypads for at least a little while most days. Ironically, I canceled my Time subscription over the Coulter cover story and haven’t been back since.
Wow, you hang out with Eleanor Arnason. I think A Woman of the Iron People is absolutely brilliant.
It’s a fabulous book and I adore Eleanor. The fact that I get to read her stuff in draft and get her comments on my work a couple of times a month is one of the cooler things about being a Wyrdsmith. I’ll pass your compliments along if you’d like.
Now I am even more jealous that you get to read her stuff — I wish she would write more. An anthology of her short fiction would be grand.
There may be a couple of anthologies in the works. She’s got the material and I’m hoping she can find the right publisher for them. If they come through, I’ll try to remember to let you know. You’re not alone in wishing she’d write more, and that may start happening in the not-too-distant future. She’s been talking about retiring from the day job, and that would give her a lot more writing time.
You did so well with Pat Hodgell. 🙂
and in this case, a little synchronicity. Pat and Eleanor were actually both part of a writers group in the Twin Cities long ago before either of them had made the publishing breakthrough, and in some ways their careers have run in parallel.
Or, shorter form. I happened to be in the right place at the right time to be the bearer of good news that I had nothing to do with producing.
because I’m going to send after Rosemary Kirstein next.
said to the man in black, “there I cannot help you.” At least not unless she shows up at WisCon or NasFic this year. However, if I do run into her, I’ll see what I can do.
and I’ll try to remember to reiterate them when I see her next week.
about writing for a living is that I get to meet and hang out with a lot of my heroes because it’s such a small world. The trick is not turning into a tongue-tied fanboy when I meet them for the first time.
and I imagine nicely inspiring.
That too.
I’m glad to hear your writing career is going well. It’s certainly well deserved, I loved WebMage.
Thanks, ejmw.
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed WebMage. It was an absolute joy to write. The sequel is in and through copyedits and should be out September/October. I’ve recently sold two more books, but the contracts haven’t come through yet, so I can’t say to whom or what. That’s actually a good bit of why I haven’t been around. I had another spec book that I was working on and I wanted to get it finished before I started in on the deadline work. That pretty much ate January. This new contract will bury February and March pretty thoroughly, but then I’ll hopefully be far enough ahead to get some breathing time in again.
Awesome! I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the concept. I’ll pick up the sequel for sure.
I love to hear that. Thanks again.
Glad the career is going well!!!!
Thanks, Refinish. I’ve been missing the froggy bottom and all of you of late, but writing time has been at a major premium.
You have to do what you have to do. I have missed sometime with my design work and other things but still spend a lot of time in the pond. LOL
I stumbled onto the pond via the Orange Place and liked very much what I read while lurking here. When one of my neighbors discovered I was here because of a photo I’d posted, I just had to jump on in and get wet.
not only jumped in but stepped up your involvement in the local machine 🙂
3, I hit the wrong key on the puter
peace out y’all ; )
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
your bad wolf has been getting fat around these parts…need to get the good wolf some scraps. 🙂
Me? I found my way to dKos via a link from another site — I think it was actually Wil Wheaton’s blog of all places. Spent a lot of time there, took a break after the 2004 election, returned and spent more time there, signed up here when Martin made the announcement (hence my coveted 2-digit UID), started hanging out more frequently when the original pie foofraw came up, mainly because a lot of the writers I liked migrated here for a time, then I stuck around and made some connections. Returned to dKos and becoming more active on the fringes — mainly been helping out with the Tag Cleanup Project and a few other projects, and I’m actually attending YearlyKos this year, for the potential learning experiences.
Now that I’m close to getting one major home crisis resolved, I’m trying to figure out what direction to take my life…stay tuned…
I am hoping to attend either yearly Kos or Demfest this year as it is an off year for elctions. LOL Election years I save my cash for the conventions after getting a tatse of the Texas convention this past year.
hope you’re doing good and that the home crisis is solved soonest.
heeelarious – my vote is 6 and 7 simulaneously 😉
I feel happier than I look!
sorry for leaving you sitting there for so long, I hope you enjoyed the bath 😉
Such a great pic, heheh
Hey Manny – good question which I have been asking myself quite a bit lately.
My first political campaign to follow and be involved with was McGovern – I took the change in voting age seriously and I was thrilled to work for someone who made sense. I had no doubt he would win. Well, after that election I decided politics was insane and focused my energies elsewhere, though I generally followed presidential campaigns and I always voted.
Moving ahead a couple of decades(!), we had the Gore-Bush election. I went to bed thinking Gore was winning and woke up to…WTF!? Over the days that followed I’m thinking, “This is America – what is the big deal? Type up new ballets for FL, with circles directly in front of the candidates name, photocopy them, provide pens, re-do the election, and count the votes.” Supreme Court decision…not good. Read Vonnegut, I think, who wrote, “We just had a coup.” …Really not good.
Everyone I know is yucking it up over Bush’s speech and “colorful” phrases. I remember saying to a friend that Bush worried me. She responded with, “Bush – pff – no big deal.”
9-11 changed a whole lot of things. Got more familiar with the internet. I also became aware of Anne Coulter and discovered a place that it was possible to post comments. I began to write “CounterCoulter” pieces. It was exhausting – she wrote crap and I researched and tried to write thoughtful counters. Talking with people about news and where they get theirs I was told about BuzzFlash. I began to read there.
Afghanistan – Iraq
Kerry (already chosen by the time of my state’s primary) campaign I got involved again. (Heavy sigh)
Continued to read BuzzFlash – there was something from DKos. I followed the connection. Didn’t really get involved, but enjoyed many of the posters. Pie to here.
I don’t like politics at all. But I appreciate the news, the analysis, the explanations, and the questing…
I wonder how many of us feel that way about politics. I’m not very enamored with the nuts and bolts but am absolutely energized with the activism that helps move it along.
Always appreciative to read your words!
I was on the Kerry blog first, then went over to DKos.
I spent some time over at the Kerry blog during the campaign. I managed to finagle tix to the last debate between him and Shrub, what an experience. sigh…
cool! Was that the “Got wood?” one? I can’t remember – it seems like a thousand years ago.
Good morning everyone.
I got some good news yesterday. My great niece is home from the hospital. I think FMom and I are going to see her this weekend. The doctors say she is doing fine and will continue to improve.
Other than my good news anybody else got any?
More news — there’s a Wednesday cafe opened. 🙂
I’m so out-of-the-loop on what’s going on with everyone, had no idea about your niece. Glad to hear she’s home and that you’ll get to see her soon.
It looks like everyone is over at today’s Cafe One. See you over there!