New View For 2011

Ok, so I made many of the changes in 2010, but I wanted to introduce you to a few of em.  One of my goals this year is to post entries 3-5 times per week.  This can get challenging when traveling and I can almost guarantee that this will happen less often when I’m on my honeymoon later this Spring.

So first, you might notice the fact that my blog looks different.  I may make additional tweaks as the year goes on, but a few friends encouraged me to lose the lighthouse theme, and go with something a little more contemporary.

In an effort to make the posts more “share friendly, each post has buttons at the top that allow you to share posts that you like with friends on facebook, twitter, google buzz, your own blog, or even through email.  And, for those of you who don’t like to leave comments,  you can check a box for “funny” “Interesting” or “cool” and give me feedback with a click.  You can also “follow” posts from my blog if you have a gmail account, and tell others (and me) that you like reading my posts.  It is always encouraging to get feedback from folks and following my blog is a simple way to do it.  

I’ve attempted to “clean up” my links to other blogs and websites a bit.  Many of my blogging friends who were listed there have either stopped blogging or moved their blogs to more private settings, so I have thinned out the links.  If yours was one of the links removed, I’ll put you back if you let me know you started blogging again.

I’ve tried to make the blog my one stop place to read my micro-blog on twitter as well as keep up with other things going on in my life.  I also added a badge for Nuru International’s fan page (If you are on facebook, you should join it!).  You can also see which blogs have most recently been commented on as well.

One idea I’ve been playing around with is creating themes around different days of the week. I was thinking that at least one day per week would be dedicated to a review of a book, music, movie, or some other media.  Another day would be dedicated to social justice, advocacy, and sharing opportunities.  I thought one day might be good for stories and reflections, and yet another might be snippets from travels. Are there any particular subjects you would like to see me write about?  Please let me know.

If you have any suggestions on how to further improve this blog, I’m all ears.  I hope you enjoy the changes, and I look forward to continuing to share thoughts, reflections, news, reviews, dreams, and more in 2011.