Hurricane Gustav shows Power of Tweeting

I joined twitter about a month ago (http://twitter.com/SecondStory), mainly as a social network tool for selling some of the dozens of earrings and necklaces I make (http://secondstorycreations.etsy.com). Having been a news copy editor (and headline writer) at the San Francisco Chronicle for eight years, I warmed to Twitter's pithy little statements about anything and everything. It was gratifying to read instant thoughts from the DNC attendees in Denver and constant updates on the environment and Florida politics. I even enjoy the moms' laments, pet owners' endless bragging and discovering what people are eating.

But the real power of Twitter came through this morning as I watched the weather channel on the Internet - being a bit on edge in my Pensacola panhandle chair as I did so. Then it hit me. I could read what people were saying about the hurricane in real time on Twitter! So I did a search for Gustav at http://search.twitter.com/ (twitter's search engine isn't all it could be yet, but this Twitter search engine is terrific). My whole tense waiting suddenly spread to a community that is spontaneous as much as it is concerned.

But it's not all pithy statements. One entry gave me to the Gustav Information Center at http://gustav08.ning.com/. At least 154 people have joined already. They are from all over the globe and with endlessly impressive communication skills.

My daughter went to college at Loyola in New Orleans and my granddaughter was born there. I was in San Francisco during Katrina and spent horrified days writing headline after headline about this disaster. Now I am back in Pensacola, about 3 hours from New Orleans and I'm close enough to help with the recovery. People here are taking a "wait and see" attitude. But Tweeple (Twitter People) are gearing up for what will be here in less than 24 hours.

If my power stays up, I'll continuing my Twitter communications. If the power goes out, I will know that others are doing what I can't do: Tweeting about Gustav. It's the most magical thing I've seen, period.

Some great Tweeple and web sites to follow if you want to get started:

http://twitter.com/GustavReporter Chicago Tribune reporters aggregating #Gustav tweets

http://twitter.com/acarvin The fellow who set up the Gustav Info Center on Ning and who is reworking Katrina Wiki to apply to Gustav

http://twitter.com/93octaneNOLA

7 a.m. study in sepia and cobalt - anyone for a photo critique?

As the sun was making its rounds in my bedroom and in the kitchen, I noticed the lovely natural sepia tone that was washing over the rooms. I caught a lot of this on my digital camera as an experiment. I even captured sunlight passing through cobalt glass. Great art photos - or just weird?

You decide. Location: Pensacola, Fla.

For more on this series of photos visit my facebook at http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31632&id=503898817

Tell me if you find the skull that show up in one of the shots!

Tweet me at http://twitter.com/SecondStory

And please visit my etsy store and then buy something!!! I'm offering a great discount just to tempt new buyers. These earrings and necklaces will make great holiday presents! Here's my etsy video if you want to see the images in motion with music by Gaiablue.

New eCrater account

I've just set up an account at eCrater.com. So far, it seems pretty easy to do listings.
Check it out and leave me feedback on how useful the site is to you!! Have you bought or listed anything yourself? Post your link here!!

My store is at http://secondstorycreations.ecrater.com/ with the list of books at:

http://www.ecrater.com/admin/products.php?sida=0261e2c6076c1597af319a2b0ab77c4c

Lots of Vintage Links in Etsy Vintage Directory

I just read about the big sale the etsy Vintage gang is having at their team blogspot: http://etsyvintage.blogspot.com/ . Here's the scoop:



The First Annual EVST Sale has begun! As of this morning, there are a whopping 22 pages of items for sale with more every minute. The sale is running from today until Sunday August 17th, so be sure to check Etsy daily (if not hourly!) for new items added to the sale, additional markdowns and more.To find items in the EVST Sale simply go to Etsy, choose the 'All Items' search from the drop down menu and enter EVSTsale in the search box - it's that easy. Or to make it even easier...Click here now to find all items in the EVSTsale!



Other Vintage connections:

ETSY VINTAGE DIRECTORY BLOG at http://etsyvintagedirectory.blogspot.com/
Lots of hot links and photos. All summed up in a neat package.



VINTAGE INDIE MAGAZINE at http://vintageindie.typepad.com/

Here in your online source for living a Modern Life with a Vintage Perspective.

"Vintage Indie started out as a love for all things vintage, vintage inspired and antique related. Being a mother and an entrepreneur herself, founding editor Gabreial Wyatt has a passion to support independent small businesses and artists. It is our goal to give life to older things once disregarded and blend them with the world that we live in today. Find useful do-it-yourself projects, inspirations, books, events and products to render that feeling of nostalgia in today's fast paced society, all while supporting the independent business owner.We hope you enjoy what you find and read here at Vintage Indie and we hope to become your magazine for all things vintage within your modern life. "



VINTAGE PULSE at http://etsyvintage.ning.com/

"Vintage Pulse" social networking. They describe their group thus:

Vintage Pulse is the sister site to vintage indie mag, dedicated to connecting vintage enthusiasts all over the globe. Engage in community resources for buying, selling, collecting and enjoying vintage,including handcrafted with vintage materials.


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TRADE? YOUR BROKEN VINTAGE AND FUNKY JEWELRY AND UNWANTED BEADS

FOR MY FINISHED PIECES MADE FROM VINTAGE AND RECYCLED JEWELRY PARTS.

Visit secondstorycreations.etsy.com

for samples and then let me know what you have and want!

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Picture of Sweety Petey the Poodle at his Sweet 16th Birthday Party

For those who wanted a closer look at Petey on his 16th birthday, here he is in all his glory. People who know us say he's got 9 lives like a cat, attacked by big dogs, falling down a flight of stairs, being dognapped, losing his vision, getting hippoed (arthritic), going deaf and unable to bark loud any more. But he can find any small morsel of food wherever it's stashed and he does still love being held and petted. We go back 16 years together, and if it were up to me, we'd go forward 16 more. Dogs (and not diamonds) are this girl's best friends. HAPPY SWEET 16TH, SWEETY PETEY!!

Tag: The "It's It" of social networking

Tag!

- I'm it, thanks to TanyaRoss of http://tanyaross.wordpress.com/ aka "Not Quite Stream of Consciousness" blog (which she quickly points out is not the same as "stream of not-quite consciousness"). Tanya's beautiful handcrafted jewelry can be found at: http://www.tanyaross.com/. She presents her work in a unique gallery that brings to mind some of finest jewelry shops I've visited.

Random fact: "It's it" is a legendary ice cream in San Francisco.
See http://www.itsiticecream.com/ for more facts.

But I'm digressing here. I must tell you these rules so that when you get tagged (watch out, I'm looking for you right now), you'll know what to do next:

1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Post the rules on your blog (that would be these)
3) Write 6 random things about yourself
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Apparently, whoever started this tag game likes sixes. So here goes six random things about myself:

1) I am a former news copy editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, and when people ask me if I miss San Francisco, I say: "Only several times a day."
2) My daughter Teresa aka triberoots set me up as a musician on myspace (myspace.com/pensacolamusicians) so I could upload some of her early songs. The truth is I can't sing or play any instrument. To extend our etsy social network to myspace, I add etsy designers as my myspace friends. Perhaps they will be among the next tagees.
3) My granddaughter and I posted a video at youtube.com/pcolamus in which she lip-syncs the "Monk" show theme while the show plays in the background. We are OCD (joke intended) when it comes to watching our fav detective (who happens to live in San Francisco).
4) I learned about twitter and blogging from the etsy esmarts group. I joined to learn how to market my jewelry on the Internet and have had so much fun learning about everyone else, I've almost forgotten about the jewelry. But if anyone reading this wants to be the first to buy something I've listed at secondstorycreations.etsy.com, I'll send you a crisp $5 bill as a rebate on your purchase.
5) I live in a 100 year old house that was built by an early Pensacola physician who was trying to fend off the yellow fever epidemic that plagued the Gulf Coast in the 1800s. Thanks to the esmarts team, I learned about Squidoo and posted an article about this house at http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/workshop/Pensacolahistory.
6) I have a toy poodle (Petey) who just turned 16. We had a birthday party for him, and several dogs were invited, including my son's two American bulldogs. Here's a scene from the party. Petey's the one sleeping on the coffee table and wearing the gold bow.

OK - drum roll, please. Here are the next 6 tagees:

1. Heather Dixey - Alycnwonderland http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=75406 Heather is a Pensacola neighbor who also runs a great web site at http://emeraldcoastarts.com/ and writes an informative and creative newsletter.

2. Reclaim Artist Laura Bergman - Bottled Up Designs www.bottledupdesigns.etsy.com . This recycler of antique glass can do more with broken cobalt blue Noxema jars than you can even begin to imagine. She's got some great pics posted at http://www.myspace.com/bottledupdesigns .

3. Heather Bixler - Crafty Moms Online at http://craftymomblog.com/crafty-moms-online/ Have your crafty blog, website, etsy store, or any creative blog/website listed in their directory for free! Twitter Heather at hbixler03. She designed the CraftyMomBlog.

4. Serena Lee Pena - www.sapphireice.etsy.com On her twitter page, Serena offers to exchange links to etsy bloggers. You can reach her blog at http://sapphireice.wordpress.com/. Take a look at her beautiful glass beaded cuff while you're there! She also blogs at http://sapphireicestudios.blogspot.com/ Serena's posted many, many great marketing tools at this latter blogspot.

5. Molly Lorenz of Sheybogan, Wis., at http://www.emmask9kitchen.etsy.com (also her twitter name). Molly is a vegan, runs an etsy shop called Emma's K9 Kitchen, where she sell vegan dog treat recipes and run the Vegan Etsy team. 100% of profits from sales in my store go to Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary. Her blogspot is at http://veganflower.blogspot.com/, where I find out about Cruelry Free etsy at http://www.crueltyfreeetsy.blogspot.com/.

6. Dave Lifson at CaterpillarCowboy.etsy.com. He doesn’t have anything in his shop at present, but Davew works for etsy on the Product Team and is a devout promoter of all things blog and social networking. Check out his forum post asking about how etsyans use the view stats. He also has a great blog at http://www.socialstartups.com/.

I claim a safe haven from any more tags for a while!!

Ann

First Twitter, now Twellow -- a great Twitter tool!

Thought I'd post this email I received from Jayde this morning:

Introducing Twellow - the newest, coolest tool for online users to connect with people of like-minded interests.

Twitter is a popular communication service, and one of the best ways to get ahead in any business is by networking. Twellow effectively merges Twitter's micro-blogging service and this professional pursuit within one easy-to-use site. Even as people tweet about what kind of sandwich they're eating or movie they're watching, Twellow looks at their areas of specialization and job titles. This information then becomes the basis by which you can search for and sort folks. Collect enough useful contacts through Twellow, and you'll be well on your way to success. There's a lot going on at Twellow, and we're sure it can help you find loads of interesting people. So go ahead, connect with people who know at www.twellow.com!

Keep on Promoting
Jayde Admin

PS - Please visit my etsy site at secondstorycreations.etsy.com.

Bloggers say the darndest things!

What's the speed of light compared with how many blogger posts, twitter "where are you now" messages, myspace friend requests, facebook updates, flickr photo albums, youtube downloads and etsy.com esmarts team contacts I've gotten in the past three hours? I know that the Internet's information highway keeps me from going gaga in the small Florida town where I live. What I didn't realize is how many savvy computer friends you can acquire by just being a bit sociable. Some of the info can be earth-changing.

For example, today I learned about http://www.superuse.org/ from Etsy seller Tanya Ross at http://twitter.com/tanyaross. What is Superuse.org, you ask? It is a online community of designers, architects and everybody else who is interested in inventive ways of recycling.

Why is this interesting to me? Take a look at some of their photos: the hockey stick bench, for example, or the Redneck Mansion, or snow ski fence. This makes me want to go out and grab people's garbage cans and build something fantastic.

So far, I only recycle jewelry parts and sell them at secondstorycreations.etsy.com. Oh, and I did make a few sculptures out of very old glass I found while rescuing plants from a long-empty lot across the street.

For the etsy jewelers out there, I found another excellent recycled design - a CD Spindle Earring Stand. Instructions are at: http://www.instructables.com/id/CD-Spindle-Earring-Stand/