Things To Do Before Spring

The Writer Magazine has an on-line column called Web Savvy that I thought I ought to read, but to get access I had to subscribe to the print edition of the magazine. Now I get The Writer every month, and even though I don't find it terribly compelling, I feel obligated to skim it so as not to miss some nugget of writerly wisdom. I should take a look at the January issue before the February one arrives.

And I should make it a practice to read at least one Web Savvy post every day. That's the reason for the subscription in the first place, and it would make me more web literate. Reading a single post every day won't be a big deal.

It was Web Savvy that introduced me to Technorati. I've looked at their site a couple of times, but it's like reading something in a foreign language about concepts from another planet. Still, if I read a little every day, maybe I'll begin to understand it and I'll be able to improve my blog.

Speaking of which, I should also make it a daily practice to check out Problogger, where I learned everything I know about blogging. One thing they recommend over and over is to read other blogs.

Therefore, to the list of blogs that I read because I like them, I should add some blogs about chickens and dogs, since I write about these topics often. And blogs about women's spirituality, too, as well as about simple/frugal/sustainable living. I must keep current on these subjects.

For example, I heard yesterday, on NPR's Speaking of Faith, that the program's website has a blog on the spiritual repercussions of the economic crisis. Can't miss that. Then this morning I heard a feature about Wangari Maathai who got the Nobel Peace prize for encouraging women in Kenya to plant trees. Women, trees, sustainability—what could be closer to my heart? Must find out more. And Julia Alvarez, who lives in Vermont, will be speaking on VPR at noon. Can't forget to listen to her.

Maybe one of these evenings I'll finish the New Yorker article I left open on the coffee table (I think a new issue has arrived since then—I lose count). And I have got to read Nourishing Traditions, the cook-and-nutrition book that, among other things, tells you it's good to eat lots of butter. And speaking of books, it would be fun to read Updike's The Widows of Eastwick, a sequel to The Witches. Maybe the library has it.

But I shouldn't be giving in to the lure of the print media. I'm so hopelessly behind on the electronic kind. For instance, I know what a gadget is, on Blogger, but what is a widget? And Facebook. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't sing its praises. I actually have a Facebook page, but I haven't done anything with it. I don't understand the concept. Is the point of Facebook to boil human experience down to a single sentence? And is Twitter (which I have never seen) the ultimate expression of this trend, so that even words are eliminated and expression is reduced to bird song?

I don't know the answer to any of this, but I'd better find out now, while snow is on the ground. Already the sun doesn't set until after five. Before I know it, it will be time to plant the spinach.