Monday, March 9, 2009

Walkabout

After throwing out the idea of travelling through blogs, I figured I should actually try it out. I set some ground rules to keep myself on track - it's hellishly hard to stay focused even with the rules. The rules: Start with any blog and jump from one blog to the next via each blogger's list. Spend no more than 30 minutes in total travel. That's so I wouldn't spend the whole day.

I began with a blog I had visited yesterday because of the title: "Tidings of Magpies" and I went back because I wanted to reread the poem by Robyn Sarah. So that was my jump-off point. From there I emerged into a huge photo of a bouquet of yellow mums and huge red rose hips which brightened the morning considerably. There was also a video clip of Joni Mitchell singing 'For the Roses' at Carnegie Hall in 1972.

Travelling to the UK, I found some wonderful photos which had been taken through glass. I decided to follow this one just for my own interest. Still in England, someone had posted photos of south London in the recent snowfalls there. Very bleak-looking and quite in tune with my mood over last night's storm here.

I flew across the Atlantic to Indianapolis where I enjoyed a vitual cup of coffee with a coffee house owner/operator. There were a few good coffee puns, stories and cartoons. My stop in San Diego was memorable with a video of Otis Rush and Eric Clapton performing 'Double Trouble' at Montreux in 1986. This blogger sells online and has live music in every one of his posts. I had to break away - good thing I had those rules!

And for something completely different, I ended up with a lecturer in educational computing at a university in Glasgow. He treated me to some calculator poetry: my favorite was 'Sozzle'. I then went to a conference which trains teachers also in Scotland. My last stop was another education technology blogger. And then my half-hour was up.

That was fun and I'll try it again sometime. I learned lots. It's interesting to think how different the trip would have been had I chosen different blogs in the same lists. We all have such catholic tastes and our blog reading reflects that.

2 comments:

Joanna said...

All that travel in just half an hour. Yes, there are so many options on blog lists it's hard to choose. The title is crucial to tweaking my interest. I also like the "Tidings of Magpies" and the blog itself with the poetry and images and the long list of blogs. Just yesterday I followed a link to some photographs of coffee houses in Vienna and some outdoor yards in Paris. What an amazing trip. I'm still trying to think up a name for this activity.

Stephanie V said...

The titles can mislead, though. I was kind of disappointed in the 'Coffee Messiah'. And once I got on to the education spiral I couldn't get out. They have good titles but it's all the same sort of blog. It's all interesting, though. And there's only a few million to go.

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