Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sunday Surf: Shared Items no more

Welcome to the Sunday Surf! Here are some of the best links I've read this past week.

Google has decided to take away my "Note in Reader" and Shared Items feed capability. I can now share through them only in Google+. I'm bummed, considering I just had streamlined a way to make Sunday Surf easy for me! So I'm testing out a few alternatives to keep things simple for sharing links with you. If you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments!

All gone.

This is what it looks like to copy/paste from Google Plus:

Lauren Wayne  -  Yesterday 12:08  -  Limited
This is excellent advice for getting started running! My favorite pieces are to go slower than an arthritic sloth and to fake that you're just finishing up a long run if you pass someone you know while you're looking like a shuffling doofus. (via the comments onhttp://livingpeacefullywithchildren.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/i-may-take-up-running/)

Listen Up, Maggots. I'm gonna make runners out of all you sorry recruits. (At the request of thumbscre.ws.) This is all you need: Comfortable running shoes; Supportive bra (if applicable); Half an...

I don't like how the link is buried, though, and how it will repeat my name for each item.

Because that is an awesome link, and did you even notice it really?

P.S. I've finished Week 7 of Couch-to-5K. Woot!


I really enjoyed this post on open adoption on BlogHer and followed the author to her blog, Write Mind Open Heart, to read this touching post as well:

What does “real” mean: adoption talk with my daughter


“No, Mommm,” she said, exasperated with me, feeling prickly. “Real means the people who are really your parents, the ones who made you.”

So I pulled out my stock answer, which I thought would be used only on curious strangers who weren’t acquainted with so-called Positive Adoption Language. And I spontaneously added some levity.

… “That means…” I picked her up (I can still do that, though not for much longer) and carried her into the adjacent family room where we have room to play. “That means that Fake Mom changed 5000 of your diapers!” I tickled her sides.

“And Fake Mom sang you all those lullabies!” I tickled her underpits (as Reed calls them). I got nose to nose with her, giggled hysterically with her, locked eyes with her.

She joined the game. “Fake mom makes me do my homework! Fake Mom tickles me! Fake Mom takes me for pedicures!”

Soon we were out of breath from laughing so hard.

Guest posts & carnivals


Extra Wool Supplies for Cloth Diapering at That Mama Gretchen — wherein I wax rhapsodic about fleecey solutions to mattress protection and a natural way to make your diaper laundry soft and fluffy!


Check out all the Wool Week guest posts and special wool-related giveaways!

Stay tuned for the November Carnival of Natural Parenting this Tuesday! Lots of good reading on eating.

Fortunately, she has an excellent button.
Which may or may not be a joke I whipped up.
And may or may not be approved by Amanda for promotional purposes.
A lot of folks are signing up for Let's Take the Metro's Gratitude Challenge. How's about you?

Toddler in Tow is asking How Did Your Garden Grow? Link up if you've got a gardening wrap-up post, and check out her pretty new header!

Find & list other carnivals at my Carnival Linky!

November novel writing

Join us for NaNoProgMo: National Novel Progress Month!
NaNoProgMo: National Novel Progress Month

NaNoWriMo too intimidating? NaBloPoMo not your style? No fears — Teresa from Mom Grooves and I have cooked up NaNoProgMo to encourage you (us) to keep on keeping on with our writing this month.

Sign up on our linky to pledge a certain amount of time each day to work on your book(s) — you choose the amount you can spend. Then follow along with us all month!

We now have a button and a progress meter available, so grab those if you're playing!

I'm splitting my time between polishing up my mystery novel (tasks like finalizing names for my characters with sometimes hilarious results) and working on the NPN Cloth Diapering book (because someone has to!). Yes, I realize that second one is not a novel, but that's the bonus of making the rules yourself. (I will grant anyone else similar dispensation.) I have to say, I'm so impressed with the quality of submissions we got for the cloth diapering book! This is very exciting to see it coming together.

In slightly related news, last chance to take the poll telling me what my Facebook page URL should be! I know, it's a thrill to be involved in such a momentous decision.


Visit Natural Parents NetworkFrom Natural Parents Network:

I found this week on homeschooling very apt for where we are right now!




Current giveaways!





Find more giveaways at my Natural parenting giveaways linky! Add your own, and enter some good ones.

You can find more shared items during the week at my public Google Reader recommendations feed {to be determined}.

Check out Authentic Parenting, Baby Dust Diaries, Anktangle, Navelgazing, Momma Jorje, Pineapples & Artichokes, I Thought I Knew Mama, Enjoy Birth, A Domesticated Woman's Adventures (various), Fabulous Mama Chronicles, Kelly Hogaboom (Fridays), The Parent Vortex (weekends), Ichigo Means Strawberry, TouchstoneZ, Hippie Housewife (Saturdays), Multiple Musings, Motherhood Moments, Mama and Baby Love, and A Little Bit of All of It for more Sunday Surfing! (If you also participate in a regular link list, whether on Sunday or not, let me know and I'll add your link.)

Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments. Happy reading!

15 comments:

Saoirse McGinnis said...

My best suggestion for your Sunday Surf woes would be to have a draft you can use and edit throughout the week then publish on Sunday. Add your links and notes as you find them.

Lauren Wayne said...

@Skye: Oh, dear, I hate to ruin your faith in me. Because this is an awesomely practical idea, but I'm always creating umpteen drafts that I never get back to. And mostly during the week I leave a bunch of links open in my browser meaning to read, comment, share, note them whenever I get the chance, which is code for "on Saturday or Sunday just before I put up Sunday Surf." {Sigh.} (And/or, all those links disappear when my browser crashes because I've left it clogged up too long.)

What I liked about my Note in Reader function was that I'd gotten it so automated — it shared it on FB and Twitter for me so I didn't have to try to remember to. It made an easy list to copy & paste from, complete with my note on the post. I didn't have to fiddle (much) with formatting on Sundays. With the death of the Note in Reader bookmarklet, I know it seems supremely lazy to say that I can't be bothered to open a new window (in this case, Google, any page) and copy and paste the link into the Share... box, but … I can't be bothered. This is why I can't use StumbleUpon (can't get the bookmarklet to work there, either). I seriously am that pathetic.

I'm trying out Tumblr, because they have a bookmarklet. But I'm being greeted by much bugginess within the dashboard of my new account, which worries me. We shall see…

P.S. Sorry to spring a novel on you when you leave an innocent suggestion… I'm just going through it all in my head and emoting about the glory days now past.

Shannon said...

If your Pin This button from Pinterest works, you might try that. I know I've seen people link to "Things I've pinned this week", but I don't know if there's a way to do it in list format. Good luck!

I need to finish up my Sunday Surf post, but I am participating. Please add me to the list!

Momma Jorje said...

Well you've seen my format. I just use an Unordered List. Good luck! Let us know when you find the magic answer!

Zoie @ TouchstoneZ said...

I'm thoroughly bummed about the share feature disappearing. I was enjoying reading those in my reader because some of my friends had some really good stuff that I never would have found.

I'm starring items for now, but I may start using the "press it" feature in wordpress that posts it to my private blog that I play with stuff on. Or, I may look into creating a new blog that is basically like my shared items that can be subscribed to or reposted on Sundays...

Is that the Gratitude button, because holy awesome! I'm laugh my great white booty off!

Yay! for this wonderful month of writing and reading!

Saoirse McGinnis said...

I don't think I can be much use for the Sunday Surf posts, but in regards to your browser, which one are you using? I'm using Chrome (gah, another Google product) and it saves my pages during crashes, justs asks me to restore them. My computer overheats and I've got 3 different windows with around 10 tabs or more open in each. It takes a while to reload them all when I need to, but it's not much of a hassle other than patience.

I'm pretty sure firefox and maybe opera have those options too.

macondo mama said...

I'm not a Google Reader sharer, but I just came across a post (here: http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/) that mentions this fix:

http://lifehacker.com/5856188/readersharer-brings-sharing-options-back-to-google-reader-in-firefox-and-chrome

Hope it works!

Lauren Wayne said...

@Shannon Hillinger: I was excited about the Pinterest idea, because that bookmarklet does work for me. But as I expected, I ran into a snag on my very first try to pin just an article, because it had no pretty pictures in it. Sigh.

I've added you to the list!

Lauren Wayne said...

@Momma Jorje: Well, that's exactly what I used to do! It's just that any extra step makes things that much more difficult for me, you know? Especially since I have this sense of obligation to promote every carnival, NPN article, giveaway, etc., I'm affiliated with. Maybe if I skipped all that…nah, I'd feel too guilty. :P

Lauren Wayne said...

@Zoie @ TouchstoneZ: I know, I didn't even touch on the community aspects of Shared Items disappearing, but that's a bummer, too. It really was just more convenient to have it all in Reader, considering it was shared *links*, not just shared *everything* as in G+.

The private blog idea is basically what I'm going to try with Tumblr. I guess I'll see how it goes. The WP option is a good one, too — maybe I'll try that if Tumblr keeps misbehaving for me.

That's my joke Gratitude button I made for Amanda. :) Glad you & your sharkiness enjoyed it! She didn't fully embrace it as the face of her challenge — I have no idea why. LOL

Yay indeed! I'm so excited to be writing in community with you fine folk.

Lauren Wayne said...

@Skye: Ah, I switch back & forth between all the browsers. ALL the browsers, ha ha. I'm in Safari right now but ticked off because the newest update makes it periodically refresh all my windows. What a marvelous feature!!! (That was sarcasm.) It does remember the tabs, but I find (with any browser) that if I don't do a clean restart after awhile, it starts lagging something awful. Maybe I ned a new computer, ha. (Don't tell my husband I said that.) And sometimes I lose my tabs if I open it but don't have it immediately restore the old tabs and it crashes in the meantime. I do that quite a bit actually… Oh, well. I wish I could find the perfect browser, but every one of them has some weirdness for me. Like, Opera won't even open for me anymore. Chrome won't let me use several of my bookmarklets (which we now know from the times I've said bookmarklet on this page that I am addicted to). Firefox is really slow for me for some reason. I don't know — weirdness all around.

I will say I'm glad I'm not the only one with umpteen tabs & windows open!

Lauren Wayne said...

@macondo mama: Thank you! I was poking around in the comments after that and looking at the Delicious option as well. I guess I'll see what works best — thanks for the idea!

Lori Lavender Luz said...

I'm honored to make the Sunday Surf!

I just started doing a roundup, too, and am looking for the easiest and most effective way to share. I feel your pain!

But really, I thank you for the shout out, HoboMom. Namaste :-)

Rachael @ The Variegated Life said...

Sorry to hear about your Google Reader woes! I didn't even know about the change until I saw a friend's status on Facebook. Meh. Sorry, Google, but I'm still not joining Google+. Not now, anyway.

As for the couch-to-5K, I had no idea! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! Oh, the envy! Oh, how I miss running! Yesterday was the NYC Marathon, and I couldn't even bear to think about it! Even though at the end of my last one I said NEVER AGAIN. Well, maybe never again, but I do wish I were running even just a bit.

Inder-ific said...

I miss getting your feeds through Reader. Boo. I'm a huge Google fan (or I was until a couple weeks ago when they closed my account and erased my blog off the face of the internets for a "violation of policy" then restored them but refused to tell me why!), but I don't like this whole "forcing people over the +" thing. (1) Google + is not an RSS feed, and it's NOT THE SAME; (2) My Reader friends were a particularly tech-savvy and intellectual lot, not easy to reproduce on +; (3) I thought Google was all open-source blah blah blah and above trying to force me to go to some Facebook-like social networking site.

ARGH! :(

Related Posts with Thumbnails