To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Not just Twitter actually, but any type of social media.  Some form of the subject question seems to come up on a semi-regular basis, probably more so in circles where the age creeps upwards and usage of social media is not a de-facto way of life.  The question came up recently where I work, so I thought I'd put a somewhat more reasoned answer in one of the forms of media that sparked the question.

Cutting right to the chase - why do I tweet, blog and book?  There is no one easy answer.  I took my time entering the field of public posting, attempting to make sense of it all first.  I doubt I've made perfect sense of it all now.  However, I think I have learned some things and can provide a "how it works for me" answer.  So in no particular order, here we go:

• Staking out a claim in cyberspace.  With a name like mine, there are not too many of us with the same name - but somebody had to be first.
• Preventing XPFA.  Short for Cross-site Personality Framing Attack.  Semi-related to the point above, follow the link for a not only a good explanation, but the original coining of the acronym.
• Connecting with old friends.  I have found and been found by friends that I'd known all the way back to Junior High.  We'd disconnected for various reasons, mostly unintentional and benign neglect.  The boundary free nature of social media provided a way to reconnect.
• Staying connected with current friends.  Short quick status updates initially seemed like shouting into cyberspace.  Over time, face to face meetups started to include conversations seeded from something that had been posted.  Instead of eliminating in person connections, social media has enhanced them.
• Keeping my friends.  I previously had the habit of occasionally sending out mass emails to various groupings of friends and family with everything from vacation pictures to political views.  I'm a realist, probably a lot of time they were just deleted.  Social media allows the recipient to tune how, when and if they view content you share - maybe helping me keep a few friends in the process.
• Professional connections.  I spent a couple of decades with a large international business that I still very much admire.  However at the time I was there, it was very much inward focused, not participating and thereby missing out on a lot of good people and ideas in the industry as a whole.  Focused national organizations and business networks provide a way to maintain connections and share very specific ideas.
• Giving something back.  It goes without saying that like most people, I've learned a lot through other people posting their experiences to the internet.  Not that anything I've put up is necessarily unique or special, but it just might give someone another perspective to consider.

Overall, it has been a very positive experience.  In addition to the benefits above, I've been contacted by persons who found my words to be useful and found my content cross linked in positive ways.  Being more in the public space has resulted in some harvesting of my name into various bogus listing services, but so far no harm done.

Sometimes blogging can still seem to me like answering questions that haven't been asked.  I started this post with one and will end with another.  Whether you consider yourself a reader, subscriber, follower, connection or friend - are you yet a writer?  There are a lot of choices, don't try and make too much sense of it, just get started and what is important will become clear.

Enjoy.

The Best Discussion

STRTweets posted an entry last week linking to Joe Holland's blog post on "8 Tips for Talking to Kids About the Sermon".  In that original article Mr Holland begins and ends with two observations about kids:

1. They retain more than you think they do
2. They understand more than you think they do

Both are accurate statements in my experience.  The first is encouraging to any parent wanting to pass along their values to their children.  The second echoes my previous thoughts on the ability of children to think critically.

In between those two observations, he makes a number of good suggestions on how to create opportunities to introduce your children to Jesus.  My own experience as a parent is filled with both failure and success, many of each, in making those introductions.  Especially in the area of post sermon discussions.  The remainder of this post focuses on some elements of the successes, as additional considerations in addition to the "8 Tips" linked above.

We've tried a number of techniques to both emphasize a sermon message and to use it as spring board into broader family discussions.  When children were very young, completing the picture in a children's bulletin was a start.  That graduated into writing any three notes about the sermon, which typically became a song title, picture and Bible verse.  Finding the right balance after those early stages has been more challenging and varies between children.  Particularly when as a parent you believe a child isn't "working at their potential", to use a common school phrase. 

Two things that have generally worked well in our family have been big picture discussions and chasing rabbit trails.  The big picture is typically easy to grasp, even for wandering attentions, and leads naturally to a discussion on life application.  Often though, it branch off down a rabbit trail, which has lead to all sorts of interesting insights.  In both, open ended questions help encourage thinking and typically provide guidance for where the conversations will or should go.

In the end, the best discussion might be not be a specific discussion technique at all.  It might be the experience of spending time and talking with your children.  It just might provide a memory of what you value to them, in more ways than one.  Something to pray about.

Enjoy.

A Big Savings

Everyone thinks their dog is the best in some way.  I recognize that when I say that we thought our Yorkie-Poodle mix was too.  Last October, after thirteen plus years of companionship, we had ample opportunity to reflect on that when she passed on.

We knew we'd get another one.  It was only a question of when.  There were a couple of months of contacting shelters, rescue operations and private breeders.  That odyssey itself is enough material for another post, particularly the rescue operations that required more paperwork to just talk to us than I've signed buying some cars.

The question was finally answered when my wife visited the Petland Arboretum location.  The frustration of the previous months and the irresistible nature of holding anything small, warm and furry won out.   A full AKC Yorkie, now named "Oscar" resides with us.

This many months later, while organizing some files, I ended up handling the receipt for Oscar.  These little dogs are in demand.  We learned that from the private breeders.  We really learned that at Petland.  Such is a free market economy.  Nobody forced us to buy him, but he was well over our original target amount.  What struck me fresh today was at the bottom of the receipt:

"You Have Saved:  $13.10".  Hmmm.  What exactly was the cost comparison here?  This wasn't a commodity purchase.  No mass market comparison shopping is possible on individual dogs that I know of.  Possibly on the "free" stuff that was thrown in as part of the package?  So what is the amount - an automatically added random number designed to induce customer loyalty?  If it wasn't for the seemingly random and inconsistent pricing on the dogs we've seen there since while buying supplies, it probably wouldn't have struck me this way.

Oscar is a good dog, although a bit of a rascal since he is still a puppy.  All in all I'd have like to have paid less, but we did get what we paid for.  Most importantly, my wife loves the little dog so I guess it was a big savings.

A New Front Porch

The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed for Halloween that focused on the apparent lack of real physical danger to children participating in trick-or-treat.  I'm a little behind in my news feeds (what else is new?) but jumping through the articles I'd missed, this one gave me pause with two different thoughts.

First of all, the guilt release after allowing our youngest to consume the confections he brought home.  Not all at once mind you, even now there's more to go than already consumed.  Just that it might not have been the risk we may have been led to believe (except for the dental issues).  Turns out that through statistical analysis there might be merit for claiming Halloween: The Safest Day of the Year.

The second I almost missed toward the end of the article.  Its a little more subtle.  The author states that "...trick-or-treating is building the very thing that keeps us safe: community."  If this had been a typical year where we simply responded to the doorbell's ringing at random intervals, I wouldn't have thought this applied to us.  With a combination of grown kids and those old enough to be tour with friends and their parents, it would be easy to isolate ourselves from the day's tradition.  Instead, this year we choose to put ourselves directly in the middle of it.  We created a new front porch at the end of our driveway, as shown below.

This purposeful setup allowed us the opportunity to connect with the adults who typically stay at the curb.  The flags, fall produce and heart carved pumpkin all provided conversation points.  Keeping a safe distance for the little ones, the fire pit proved very popular as the evening turned out to be fairly chilly and people would linger a while to warm up.  Closer to tradition, we did give out "goodie bags" my wife assembled of nominal value with candy, school supplies and novelty million dollar bills.

It seemed to be a good combination of purely social and outreach elements.  We talked to people who lived only blocks away, but yet we haven't talked to in years.  There was catching up on kids, jobs and the small things that when combined, weave the fabric of life.  We also met new neighbors that similarly hadn't found or made an opportunity for expanding their neighborhood connections.  A truly unexpected event was when a tractor pulled hayride pulled into our village and most of the riders jumped off to visit.

So while it might not bring back a 1950's front porch atmosphere year round, it did provide a re-union of sorts among neighbors that have drifted into benign neglect.  We have a great neighborhood with all the superlatives you'd hope for in suburban America or most anywhere.  However, that sense of connection can't help but further increase the sense of community in our neighborhood.

Besides, we enjoyed it and are already thinking of how to create the same experience again.  Hmmm, BBQ....?