Tweets - Our aggregated Twitter feeds

The observant regular reader may have noticed that there is a new 'block' on the right-hand side of this 'blog labelled Tweets.

For those curious as to what this is, let me explain.

I recently attended a 'Handheld Learning' conference where I was persuaded (against my better judgement) to get a Twitter account. Twitter is a micro-blogging service with multiple input channels, designed specifically to allow mini updates to be submitted. Twitter has a 140 character limit on each update, that phone text/sms messages are often limited to 140 characters is not a coincidence - Twitter updates can be submitted via sms, the twitter website, as well as a variety of other 3rd party applications.

As I generally don't spend much time writing to my 'blogs (I have four that I regularly don't use), I never really saw the point of having a micro-blog to ignore also. However I was pleasantly surprised, a micro-blog does not serve the same function as a 'blog, and is actually far better suited to the needs of those of us who don't have the time (or are too lazy) to 'blog 'properly'.

The 'rules' of micro-blogging are also significantly different. There isn't the space for a lengthy meandering trail of ones inner thoughts and angst. No time for long deep, dark, poetry that truly reveals the value of one's inner soul as having more merit than the cruel word gives it credit*. Instead a twitter update is supposed to be a short, punchy, to-the-point response to the question "What are you doing?"

Yes, there may be a tendancy to update too much on what one is thinking as opposed to actively doing, but as space is limited, you the reader don't have to put up with too much inner reflection - phew!

Also, if one 'follows' other twitter users (I follow several that work in a similar field to my own), you get some insight into what they are up to, a nice way to keep up with colleagues, friends, or even the awesome Stephen Fry**.

Right, so I've told you what Twitter is, but there's still that thing on the right that may need explaining. Amy, Ashley, and myself now have Twitter accounts. Amy thought it would be a good idea to import the latest 5 updates from each of us to display on the 'blog. Amy found some code that did it, and she pasted it into the site, all well and good. I decided however that it wasn't good enough. I wanted to take the three individual and separate twitter feeds and merge them into a single list. I wanted to have them appear in true mixed reverse date order rather than sorted by author before date. It wasn't too difficult to do, at least not at first. It worked in Firefox, then I found it didn't work in IE. I fixed it for IE, then it didn't work in Safari. Then I fixed it in Safari and one of our regular readers DARED tell me it didn't work in IE or Firefox for them. I checked, it does work, it works for me. If you the reader are having any problems, it's either the fault of your computer, or your eyes.

So, to summarise, the Tweets 'block' on the left contains the latest 15 Twitter updates from Amy, Ashley, and myself (5 each). There's a chance we might actually Twitter more than 5 times in a day, so if you don't want to miss out on our 140 character comments on the nature of existance, the taste of our dinner, or the colour of the sky, you'll have to visit this 'blog several times a day.

*You know that the cruel world is right, don't you? You don't have a soul. That thing you think is a soul is just your inner voice that's too terrified to realise that the universe is a huge place and your role within it is insignificant. So your poetry is ultimately futile, and your time spent writing it wasted. That time spent can not be recovered, you pointlessly wrote yourself closer to death. Deal with it!

**If you don't know who he is, you should be ashamed of yourself!

Wuv... Twue Wuv...

Firstly, I want to point out that I am completely head-over-heels in love.

Well, yes, with Stephen, but that was not who I was talking about. I was talking about Jamina (as I have named her.)

Jamina is a giraffe.
To be specific, she is an Anne-claire Petit giraffe that sits behind the window of the BabyLove shop that we walk past all the time. I love her. She NEEDS to come home with me. This is not a want - she says they do not feed her behind that glass window, and that no one loves her the way that I already do.

I have spoken to Girard, (my resident male alpha-giraffe who makes quite a good living as a doctor and who wishes me to point out that not only is he rich, but he is also quite cool as he has only 1 ear pierced and wears a groovy hoop in) and he has decided that he will marry Jamina. JoJo (my much smaller and newer male not-alpha giraffe) disagreed and stated that any female giraffe would be his for the taking; but quickly changed his mind after Girard head-butted and bit him a few times. There was much giraffe grumbling for a few days following said conversation, but it has gotten better.

Oh, but the agony! You see, for all that I NEED to bring Jamina home, I just can't bring myself to frivolously part with the money to do so. And it is an interesting thing, the UK tends to frown on shoplifting. Goodness knows I can't stand to be frowned upon by matronly English women. They are seriously scary when they frown like that. So for now, Jamina the wonderful English lady giraffe sits locked behind a glass window, Girard gripes at me to hurry up and bring his wife home, and JoJo pouts about not being an alpha-giraffe. Maybe someone will rescue her in my name for Christmas and all will be right in the giraffe world again.

Secondly, there are lots of exciting things happening with our family blog. Stephen, the computer deity, has added the sidebar with our Twitter feeds. Right now it is just mine and his, but I suspect Ashley may be adding one in a few days time also. Then you can see what the whole family is saying at any moment.

I want to say a few things about this that I consider to be a phenomenon. I have known of Twitter for a bit: I read some other blogs that have Twitter feeds on them. I, to be frank, thought they were silly. Micro-blogging seemed like a bit of a waste of time. But Stephen, after attending this year's Hand-held Learning Conference last week in London,

(yes, *moan* I was abandoned for three days! Woe! Woe is me!)

came home not only with a Twitter account, but excited about it and something else he called 'picto-chatting' on his hand-held video game device thingie. (Don't ask me which one, I can't remember. The name has a DS in it, it is rectangular and black, and you can write on it with a special pen. It has sudoku. And 'picto-chatting', apparently.) He told me basically that, if I want to read what he writes, I had better get my own account. So I did. And to be honest, I love it.

Writing a blog is a huge deal, requiring lots of planning and lots of time. I usually start them a few days before in a separate file and add to them as I go. If I sit down to write one from nothing, I can count on a few hours slipping by while I write, rewrite, and edit. Micro-blogging takes me maybe 30 seconds! Which means that I can do it more than once during the day without losing a lot of time. Time is a commodity with me lately, especially while I try to write papers and finish this degree.

If you want a Twitter of your own, follow the link on the side. It won't lead you directly to us, but if you want my Twitter info, and I know you, email or message me and I'll give you details.

And finally, the actual stuff that is going on with us. Because I know this is really what you wanted to know anyway and the rest is just you all putting up with my inability to shut my mouth.

The linen closet is still leaking. It is now leaking badly enough that we have put a 10 gallon trashcan under it and we must change it 3 to 4 times a day. We have started turning off the water in the house at night because it was overflowing by the time we got up in the morning, even after emptying right before crawling into bed. We now have the plumber's direct number, so Monday perhaps we can get ahold of him and get it solved.

Stephen has been sick since he got back from London last week. Poor him, running a fever of 101 and being all yucky. He stayed home from work, which I think was a good thing. He had a cold a few weeks before that, too... and I haven't been sick. Last year was a terrible year for me health wise, and I am so very glad to see that my immune system has gotten itself picked up and back into shape. I really want to stay healthy.

Ashley has a new boyfriend, which I see she has neglected to tell any of you. His name is Michael and thus far he seems to be fairly gentlemanly. Last night I overheard him telling her off because she was putting her required amount of study off until the last minute. He told her she was being lazy. Considering that previous beaus didn't really care if Ash studied, I am very grateful that this one is pushing her to do well. Of course, I haven't made my mind up entirely... I reserve the right to continually evaluate him. She is, after all, my little girl.

The weather has been pleasant, though it is easy to tell that we are heading through fall and into winter. The leaves have started changing colour on the trees. The sun rises later and sets earlier, and the wind is cold in my ears. I have moments where I am absolutely swept away by the beauty of where I am living. I am very blessed and very grateful for my life right now. I still miss my Boo-bear, though.

Dinner for Stephen's birthday went wonderful. The food was perfect. The house was completely clean, and smelled lovely. (I LOVE smudging. I used white sage, and it worked brilliantly.) It was crowded, but went very well. The company was very nice too. Stephen's nephews have grown so much. It was nice to have little ones around.

Stephen's mum had a lovely little Spanish fan that she used when the house overheated, and I liked it. The way she would let it fall open with a practised flick of the wrist was beautiful, as was the fan itself. I mentioned that I would love to have one, and asked if she would be willing to pick one up for me the next time she went to Spain. Instead she sent one home with Stephen when he came back from his conference. I have been practicing opening it so that I can be as beautiful as she is when she does it. I'm not convinced I ever will be, though. She has had her whole life steeped in the culture that created those movements, and it shows. I am, and ever will be, a foreigner to the movements of the fan.