Two Turtle Doves

There comes a point when you must pair down your Google Reader. Seriously. When I open it to find 1000+ unread posts each time, something has to give. So here are some guidelines to follow when you realize you will never be able to catch up to your reader.

It’s Never Been Worn You know when you clean out your closet and you think, “Have I worn this in the last year?” If you are coming across blogs that you have marked “read all” each time you flip it open, you need to delete.

Scan and Discard If you don’t recognize a blog by name and know the content, you need to do a scan. Open it up and roll through as many posts as you have interest for. If you get through 15 or 20 and nothing has caught your interest, you are probably safe to discard it.

Re-posts are Time savers Some blogs make their living posting links to other blogs. This can be a huge time saver. Is there one blog that you like that takes the best of the best from five others you subscribe to? You can delete the five and keep the blog-scanner with just the one. You know you will get the cream de la cream of your favorites with none of the fluff. (no idea what I’m talking about? Think Crafty Cow. I can get rid of several other blogs that are hit or miss and just reference the Cow to catch up on all the best art projects from around the town.)

This is not Facebook The world is not judging you by how many “blog friends” you make. If you added someones personal blog about their family, friends, and life because of one cool general post six months ago, it is time to delete. You don’t know them and you don’t need to know about their sister-in-law’s wedding plans.

Folders are Friends Once you have paired down, it is time to make folders. Click on the blog you want to read, go to feed options, and make a folder for the content. This way, you can put all the “food” blogs together and all the “knitting” blogs together. When I open my reader, I want to see family news and kids crafts. When I have more time, I explore the general crafts and sewing. On really lazy days I get into food and knitting blogs or the blogs I just wasn’t ready to part with yet. You know…that sweater that you know is pilled and doesn’t fit, but you can’t seem to part with because it might match a fictional pair of boots that you wish you had.

Happy Organizing!

PS — Anyone think it is weird that a blog editor doesn’t recognize the word “blog” as being spelled correctly? Geesh!

Justin gave me permission to post this today:

Justin’s Top 5 Albums of 2008 so far:

1.  My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
2. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
3. The Black Crowes – Warpaint
4. Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
5. Hot Chip – Made In The Dark

In case you were wondering, this is per calendar year not Grammy year. It also has the possibility of being tainted by live performance viewings and general band attitude. Case in point: Not that Kanye West was going to make the top twenty, let alone five, his general sassiness and Bonarroo shananigins have caused his albums to find other homes to live in all together. So, if your band is not on the top five, keep your attitude in check on your rise to greatness (and send free CDs our way, that helps) and maybe…just maybe…you’ll recieve a “Justin” in the future.

I have long loved Tang. So much so, that I have been known to pour it into a bowl and eat it as though it were some form of actual food (as with oatmeal packages and other dry-but-meant-to-be-wet goods). Better yet, I would put it in a cup and add minimal water to make an orange goo that was too thick to drink. I’ve found there are two kinds of people in the world – Tang eaters and Tang haters.

I have clear memories of sneaking more dry Tang into my cup as a child and thinking that “when I grow up and go to college I will eat all the Tang I want!” You’d think I outgrew that childish fantasy, but nay, I was a college-Tang eater.

I actually haven’t bought Tang in years. So why the confession today? When I joined Weight Watchers several years ago, I looked, as all WW-ers do, for a way to cheat the system. For example, if spray butter has no points, then surely pouring the spray butter doesn’t either, right? While I’ve never been a choco-o-holic, I definatley like sweet stuff. In order to stay sane in a world where candy is many a point, I bought Diet Swiss Miss mix to make zero point chocolatey refreshment. (I think you can see where this is going). So if the mix is yummy in water, it is better yet in pure form, right? Right. And it is. And as I sit here and enjoy my 25 calorie chocolate goodness, I think about the days of Tang and wonder how many calories it has….???

As a forewarning…this is a ramble and does not really have a point…read on at your own risk

I was not raised in a sheltered little life or anything like that, but I was raised that certain conversations are reserved for family and close friends or at least take place in debate-approved situations such as the college classroom. For example, I always had the impression that money was not something you should discuss in polite conversation. Like, you should not just inquire about what people make in general. Nor should you ask someone what they pay for their mortgage, etc… unless they put the information out their themselves, they are family, or they are close friends. Likewise, you can’t discuss politics. I guess it would be different if everyone were on the same page, but when you are the minority opinion you learn to keep your mouth shut. Everyone has been around the person that impresses their wildly different view upon you, but yet you are not in a position to argue your point with the person.

Here’s what’s bugging me – someone today asked who Bridger was backing in the election (meaning, who am I backing because even though my child is a genius, he has not been following the election). Well we were poolside and do not know each other that well and it just wasn’t a place where you should ask such. I was forced to state a party and then forced to state a candidate and it all seemed out of place and on the spot. They didn’t argue, but did note who they had liked was essentially out of the running. I just don’t think  you should put people on the spot like with people you don’t know. Maybe it is because I found out quickly upon moving to the great state of Alabama that I was the odd man out in politics, but I’ve found it is better left alone than talked about. Is that old fashioned? I can back my beliefs, I just don’t think I should have to with someone I don’t know.