private blogs and rss feeds

Alison's blog went private and now my bloglines account doesn't show when it's been updated. Does anyone use an RSS feed that will show a "private" blog so I don't have to remember to go to a million websites everyday? Pageflakes? Google? Anyone?

I'm soooo excited!

You may remember that around the time of my birthday, I purchased a new bag from my friend Alison, who lives in Chicago. My polka-dotted hand bag is perfect for day trips and those times when I need (read: feel like I need) to carry more than just my wallet and phone. In other words, it was perfect for my old job, where I just needed something to hold a few extra things, like a book or the newspaper and my ever important nano.

Since I started my new job (gasp) over 3 weeks ago and have found that I need to carry much, much more with me everyday. I now have a work issued cell phone and palm pilot, keyboard for my palm pilot, case files to carry to court, office keys, and random training materials that I have to carry with me everywhere. On top of that, I now have a crap load of Weight Watchers books to tote (yes, I finally gussied up and joined the WW plan), books for class, and every now and then, my MacBook to bring with me to class. In other words, I have outgrown my fabulous polka-dotted work bag.

Enter: Alison. I e-mailed her a few weeks ago with my dilemma and explained exactly the type of bag I need (read: think I need) for work and/or school, complete with an explanation of why I need a velcro on all of the pockets (which I need many of) and why I need a flap (if you lost your wallet on an airplane on your way to the middle of nowhere South Dakota, you would need a flap on your bag and velcro on your pockets too). Amazing as she is, she designed a pattern, picked out fabric, and sewed it up for my sweet ass (that I like to think has become sweeter since W). She posted the pictures and I CANNOT WAIT for it to get here!


Here is a preview:





But you can see the rest of the photos here.

Titles

Jon just came up with a great post about how he came up with the title for his blog, then asked his reading audience to explain why we titled our blogs the way we did. Call it a challenge, if you will...and I have accepted. His questions were as follows:

"To all my readers who are either bloggers or who have contemplated blogging, here's my question for you: what's up with your title? Why choose the title you chose? Or, why would you choose a certain title, were you to blog?"

I think mine came out of feeling sorry for myself, quite honestly. Or not. I may have been enjoying my ego a bit much and realized that I needed to tone it down and by naming my blog "Mediocrity Is Not So Bad," I imagined that, somehow, my big head might shrink a bit if I wanted to be the humble person that Jesus tells us to be. Either way, it doesn't really matter HOW I came up with it as much as I like the reasoning behind it. Who cares if you're not perfect? Who cares if your clothes don't match 100% of the time or if you look decent at the grocery store instead of magnificent? In other words, who cares if you're just mediocre? I posted it here a little over a year ago, "I'm OK with being unimpressive. I sleep better." Maybe people expect less out of you if you never who them exactly how much you can do. Lazy? Maybe. Mediocre? Absolutely! As said in the Edie Carey quote above, the middle is a pretty nice place to hide--and sometimes, I prefer it that way.

Whew, any comments? Better yet, care to answer the same question about your blog? (Claire, Jon actually posted about your blog in his intro to this topic...I'm sure he'd love to hear all about "Embracing the Awkward.")

another blogger

My friend Jon, with whom I am working on a project for my 507 Policing class (yeah!) a new blog. It's going to be good. Read it.