Tip-toeing back into Inside Out: Recognizing what delights

Waking up early and slowly today let me uncover some thoughts, some smiles and some tears before throwing off the covers.

Like most days, I reached first for my iPhone to check on the time, to check for messages, to check what's new via Facebook.

Unlike most days, I skipped over to the Safari application and visited a few blogs. Although each blog delivered delights and insights, I also recognized the pleasure of reading the blogs in their native environments. It is the design, the completeness - blog post with comments - and the focus that delivers the punch of pleasure sometimes hidden when you read through a feed.

Or maybe it is the slowness, the appreciation of the steps taken to get to a specific spot on the Internet and the ability to move from post to post and indulge in a feast on one topic or one writer.

Blog inspiration

There were three that feed an addiction and have inspired my blogging - FarmVille Freaks, FarmVille Fanatic, and FarmVilleFeed. There was one - Free From Editors - that made me cry and delivered a reminder that my blogging is changing. There was one - Louis Gray - that reminded me some people talk about authentic conversations while others have them.

Happy and growing

I still smile when I remember how happy the bloggers were when Zynga, the FarmVille creator, recognized them by distributing giftable items to them.

It has been inspiring to watch them learn to credit the blog that had the information first and to give Zynga the credit for images.

Equally interesting is watching the designs grow. One frequently ends posts with questions that inspire comments or use multiple-choice questions to garner interest in options. The categories change as do how the information is presented.

I knew that!

I can't type in a web address without thinking about Free From Editors, a blog by a former colleague who will never forgive newspapers for giving away content for free on the Internet.

That led to an a-ha moment as I read Jim's post on a Bay City Times reporter who has moved on to a new venture. Reading the post made me recognize the urgency of this blog, my blog, to report on Michigan media changes is fading fast. I had stumbled across Jeff Kart's change via a LinkedIn update, asked a few questions but never posted here about the Mr. Great Lakes site or his new job as online director of Michigan League of Conservation Voters.(since May 2010).

Multiple streaming

Reading Free From Editors also reminded me how I am once again scattering my shares/likes/finds across the Internet and how Facebook is helping me connect with more things. The reminder came in his post on Connor Doran, the son of another former colleague.

I'd shared the video on Facebook on Sunday, meant to write about here and well, you know how that went. I do have a post pending, just waiting for an answer to a question. Stay tuned.

Walking the talk

I'm running into the phrase "authentic conversations" on a regular basis. The disappointment comes with those who limit being authentic to words, not action. I am rarely disappointed with Louis Gray, who models an admirable openness, delivers good information and always pushes items onto my to-do list.

Today's reading added three actionable items and a watch reminder:

• Checking out Brizzly, promoted in Brizzly rolls out picnics for private real-time group chats (although you'll never convince me anything online is private)
• Look at Tungle.me, explained in Tungle is an irreplaceable web scheduling app 
• Spend more time with Amplify,  after rereading Amplify goes mobile with clipping service for curating.
• Keep an eye on Google Me because of posts like Edge Theory Conversations: Google Me rumored to challenge Facebook.(although I still prefer writing over audio and long for transcripts from EdgeTheory and Cinch)

As I said, I'm rarely disappointed by the return on investment when I spend time at LouisGray.com His post on The art of being pragmatic in a world of fanboys is just part of a series he offers on where he is coming from and what he is doing online. I admire him for not only thinking about it, but sharing his insights.

Quick sidetrack: Jesse Stay's blog post on Who Are the Mormons? yesterday reminded me of Gray's openess. It also made me think about why Gray and Stay are at the top of my bloggers to read list.

(Note: I corrected the spelling of Mormons)