BEDA: In which I practice not being boring...

One of my Jacks-in-the-pulpit. I wonder just what he's preaching on...

A few weeks ago, I happened upon Maureen Johnson's blog and discovered that she'd initiated a movement of sorts when she decided to BEDA (Blog Every Day in April). This seemed like a bandwagon I could climb onto. So I did!

Then, suddenly, this morning, my hubby announced that today is the last day in April.

Really? I wasn't expecting this just yet.

But guess what! I did it. I blogged every day in April! And it wasn't so hard, really. Half the work was in deciding. After that, it was mostly a matter of calling up the empty page and putting words there. And pics. Definitely pics!

The challenge, I think, is to post words and pics that actually say something. I keep reading that blogs should share useful information. But few of us love a lecture. And if an author is going to preach, she had better keep it upbeat and not boring!

So this month, I practiced keeping my blog posts a bit shorter. And worked at keeping my sermons interesting...

IN WHICH BLOGGING TAKES ME OVER AND I GO ON A RANT

Late last night, I blogged about my need to read MARCH for my book club meeting on Monday night. Early this morning, I got an email from my sis (who happens to be in the same group) saying that MARCH was last month's selection!

Told you I've been a bad member lately. Turns out, I have a Toni Morrison around here that I need to devour in 3 days.

I could probably do it if I didn't have to blog. I "joined" the BEDA challenge (Blog Every Day April) so now I have very little time for anything else! There's time only for putting words in the little posting box, adding links, tweaking the words, eliminating a space here and adding one there. Then uploading pics, rejecting pics, browsing for more. Ooops! Need to crop that one. And where in the world did I put those school visit photos?

This leads to a grand but futile effort to reorganize the pictures in my computer (relabeling, moving to more appropriate folders, and generally forgetting what I was doing in the first place.)

Ah, yes, blogging. It takes way too much time. Good grief! In the time I get a blog post up I could write a chapter of my work-in-progress!

There has to be a faster way to blog. I should be able to sit down, spit out a few words, and publish! After all Maureen Johnson who started this BEDA idea writes a long - really, really long post every day. (She also has published 7 books in 3 years so maybe I should get the hint that I won't be keeping up with her any time soon!)

But I'm seriously considering starting up a month of my own. I'll call it CEDJ - Chapter Every Day June (or July). It might also become BNDJ - Blog No Days June.

And then again, maybe someone out there can tell me how to blog fast. I'm open to suggestions. As long as you don't tell me to eliminate the pics.

I gotta have my pics. Maybe I'll start blindly inserting one from a random folder and take whatever comes!

That's how I got the one at the top of the post. And hey, at least it's not me on a bad hair day! I'd tell you what school visit I discovered this BLUE poster on, but that would take way too much searching.

And right now, I've got to go read A MERCY, by Toni Morrison.

BEDA

I just joined the BEDA club! (Blog Every Day in April) Here it is April 4th and I just now learned about BEDA. But hey, I’m in luck! So far, I’ve met the challenge that I didn’t know existed.

And then again, maybe it isn’t luck. Maybe it’s simply that I’ve had some extra computer time on my hands since hubby landed in the hospital.

Anyway, credit where credit is due – I was web surfing and discovered Maureen Johnson’s blog and read her BEDA idea and it suits me well so I signed up!

April promises to be crazy busy. I had my school visits carefully spread throughout the month but now Chuck's unexpected illness has rearranged things. By the end of the month, I’ll need my GPS just to locate myself.

So why do I think I can blog every day in April?

Because I need to learn to blog fast anyway. And short. And sweet. Watch me BEDA!