#atozchallenge: Getting to Know Me -- Arlee Bird

         Some of you may not know all of the co-hosts of the A to Z Challenge so we thought we'd do a series of getting to know us posts.   We'll give you some basics about each of us and answer some of those questions you've all been dying to know.


ABOUT ME

Name:   Arlee Bird--it's a phony writer name.  If you want to know my real name it's not too difficult to find, but I'm not gonna say here.


Blog:   Tossing It Out is my main blog where it all started.
I can also be found at Wrote By Rote (memoir), A Faraway View (a blog about dreams), and A Few Words (a contemplative blog inspired by Psalms).


Other Online Info:  I do have a page on Facebook and I'd be happy if you signed up to "like" it.   



10 GETTING TO KNOW YOU QUESTIONS

1. What is the most daring thing you've ever done?   I once gave up everything to walk from Tennessee to California.  Well, actually I didn't make it very far on that trip, but 17 years later I did end up in California after an adventurous life.


2. What is your favorite article of clothing?  Hmm---Depends on the time and place, but I do like Hawaiian shirts.


3. What is your favorite monster?   Godzilla was the first monster movie I ever saw.  I saw the film in the theater when it first came out in the mid-1950s.  I was a very young kid then but I was fascinated.  Godzilla was my first monster love and has remained my favorite.
  
4. If you had to dress up as your favorite literary character, who would it be?   Well, heck if I know!  I actually usually don't think about the way characters are dressed.  And I can't think of anything for this--Huckleberry Finn maybe?  


5. What is your favorite fairy tale, urban legend or nursery rhyme?  This certainly covers a lot of ground.  I guess I'll go with first loves again.  Here is the first rhyme I ever memorized and I can still recite it:

Deedle, deedle dumpling, my son John

Went to bed with his stockings on.

One shoe off.  One shoe on.

Deedle, deedle dumpling, my son John.

6. What is a cause near and dear to your heart?   The greater appreciation of juggling and classical music.


7. What's the strangest item you've used as a bookmark?   Candy wrappers?  I used to use them as bookmarks all the time when I was in college.  


8. Do you have any nicknames?   What are they and how did you earn them?   A few guys in high school used to call me "Juggler".   I have no idea why--well, I guess I do know.  The name didn't really come into common use though. 


9. Name one habit you want to change in yourself:   I have a terrible nail-biting habit that I've had since I was a small child.   My parents tried to stop it by putting some sort of hot sauce on my fingers.  I guess that's how I developed my love for hot sauce and spicy foods.


10. Tell us something interesting or shocking about yourself:   I've revealed so much about myself on my blog that it's difficult to think of something I haven't said.  But let me toss this one out:  I love musicals--especially Rodgers & Hammerstein and old Busby Berkeley extravaganzas.  I know, shocking!

SOME A-to-Z QUESTIONS

1. What was your favorite A-to-Z post from 2011?    Not fair!  That's like asking which of my kids is my favorite.  But okay, I'll play this one.  I'll go with my X post II x X=XX.  It's a tough letter and I felt like I came up with something fairly unique. 


2. What brought you to the A-to-Z originally? Tell us about your first A-to-Z:  Short story: 200 followers and I had an amazing time.  You can find the longer story here.


3. Are you doing a theme?  I'm doing at least 3 themes and I'll be saying more about that later on those 3 blogs.  Not sure what I'll be doing on Tossing It Out yet.   I will be doing some blog juggling for sure.


4. Are you writing & scheduling posts in advance?    My 3 themed blogs are mostly done.  I will hopefully have Tossing It Out written and scheduled before the Challenge begins.


5. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet, and why?    What letter do you like least?   Favorite letter is probably "A" since it represents excellence.  "F" represents failure, but I can't totally knock the letter since it also represents fun and fantastic.   Actually I guess I like all the letters.

I hope you've enjoyed these questions and answers. Don't forget, you are welcome, even encouraged, to ask any additional questions you might have in the comments section. Or feel free to answer the questions yourself! We won't tell.

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#atozchallenge: Community & the A-to-Z

When I took on the A-to-Z Challenge last year, one of the most rewarding things I experienced was the warmth of the blogging community. Before the A-to-Z I'd been trundling along, randomly talking to myself on my blog. I wasn't really visiting other blogs, and I certainly wasn't commenting on them. Yet I yearned to have people comment on my own posts; I just had no idea how to make that happen.

What I learned was that talking to myself meant I wasn't embracing the full glory of the blogging community. You see, we get to know each other, we comment on each other's blogs, we support each other. And this is no clique, no closed community. Anyone can take part in it by jumping in with both feet and putting yourself out there.

How do I do that?

Visit other blogs. Leave comments. Follow other blogs. If a blogger recommends another blog, check it out; you may just like it!

On your own blog, you can respond to any comments left to you. There are a number of ways to do this, either by email or by posting your reply in the same comments section. You can also carry the conversation back their blog, as long as it is done respectfully. I make it a point to not only respond to the comment, but to then also visit the other blog back and leave a genuine comment.

You will find that as you do this more people may wander by your blog. They may even follow you and/or leave comments. Speak to them, not to yourself, and you will go a long way.

How does the A-to-Z help me with this?

The A-to-Z gives you an easy means to connect with similar bloggers, as well as bloggers who may not be similar but still interest you. It gives you a list of blogs, a virtual cornucopia of reading material and connections, right there on the linky list.

In addition, it provides inspiration for what to post about. The possibilities are endless, yet a prompt can help get you ideas you might not have had otherwise. You have a built in audience coming by to see what you have to say.

On top of that, you get energy and excitement. Everyone has something to prove. Engines are revving, and there's nowhere to go but out into the blogging community.

The A-to-Z gives us all the opportunity to step outside our cocoons and stretch beyond our comfort levels. There is a good chance you'll find that this is exactly what you've been waiting for, and what you've needed all along.

May you find your Muse.

Shannon
The Warrior Muse

How to Make a Hyperlink Signature: Guest Sue Travers

       You can find Sue Travers at Traverslife among other sites.  Today's guest article is a reprint which offers a how-to explanation on leaving a link to your blog in the signature you leave on comments.  Here Sue explains why it's a good idea to do this and how you go about creating the link.

Hyperlink signature for the A-Z Blogging Challenge

Non technical, non threatening instructions for making a hyperlink signature!

Why do you want a hyperlink signature?
• You've signed up for the A-Z April Blogging Challenge
• You plan to comment on other bloggers posts in a caring and sharing way after The Challenge has finished
• You hope the person for whom you crafted a kindly word, will come tovisit your blog in return
• You want to make it easy to visit your blog. You don't want them to have go to your profile page, scroll down, find you have 3 or even 8 blogs, and wonder which one to look at first
• Sadly, people give up in frustration if it's not easy to work out which is the relevant blog
• The nifty signature will take them to the specific blog (or post) you'd like them to visit. Easy!

How to do it:
The letters and symbols below are what the computer needs to navigate to your blog or post, (and you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a blog title that hadn't been taken!) I've colour coded it for ease, normally it's all in black, and appears more or less in one line. It's only broken up like this because I put it on a powerpoint slide so you can see it. (Otherwise it goes straight into a hyperlink signature which wouldn't help you at all.)

All you do is copy those letters and symbols out - the whole lot up there, exactly the same (but of course with your personal, relevant information) - including the space after the a - into a Word document or equivalent. Don't add anything else. Save it where you can refer to it easily.

Next. Where it's red is where you put your blog address (what you originally called your blog - if you can't remember click on the title of your blog and check in the address bar at the top of your page.) But of course you do it in black, not red.

Now choose your signature. Are you going to use your real name, the name of your blog, a nom de plume or what? Type that in where I've used blue. That will become your hyperlink or 'clicky' signature, and is what I should see in the comments section when you copy/paste from your saved word document.

That's all! It should work.

Please, please, please, feel free to give it a go here. I was nervous the first time I tried it in public, thinking I'd stuff it up (which I did about 4 million times before I got it right). I won't be critical if you get it wrong...honest! Please ask for help if you get stuck.

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