Around ZuZu's Barn

Today I was sitting waiting to have some X-rays done and the only other person in the room began a conversation with me. Come to find out, she worked with computers and was a blogger. I told her about Blogging 101 and my problem of publishing the first assignment on the Commons Page and she said, “Just copy it to your own Blog. Select All, press Control  C, then move it to a new post page and press Control V.” I did exactly what she said and lo and behold, it worked! I danced a jig, did my Bo Jangles’ impersonation (jumped up high and clicked my heels a step) but I did not lightly touch down. So, I may have to have more X-rays. But I got my post back and here it is thanks to my new best friend, Lisa.

Blogging 101 – first assignment: Why Am I Here?

For anyone out there who has read my first, few  blog posts, forgive any redundancy in this post. I am not losing my mind.(That horse left the barn a long time ago.) If you think you are having a deja-vu moment, it’s just me doing Blogging 101 assignments each day for the next three weeks. I’ve  enrolled in this course to improve my blogging skills; the few I actually possess. (Wait, was that passing breeze actually the sound of my friend Peg heaving a heavy sigh of relief? She’s been trying to help me by figuring out what I’ve been doing wrong. She’s an engineer; straight-line thinker. I am a scatterbrain compared to her.) Now, I will have the benefit of input from other bloggers like myself, except, most of them know how to add media and create links. Already, Eric, a “happiness engineer” (Peg is that other kind of engineer who does math, physics, and other science stuff, although, I’m pretty sure she’s happy, too.) advised me to add my hyperlink (sounds like a little Prozac is called for) to my intro so other Blogging 101 students can read my posts. Now, the idea of someone actually reading what I’ve written (besides Peg) makes me very happy because according to my stats, only spammers have been following me on a regular basis. (Thank you, WordPress for that filter thingy, although,I may soon resign myself to writing for my faithful spammer audience. They have been extremely loyal unlike some friends and relatives(I will mention no names to protect the guilty) who are definitely not following me according to the bar graph on the statistics’ page that I stumbled upon by accident. Really, I’m not bitter. But, suffice it to say, “You will not be receiving your personally inscribed, autographed copy of A Berkshire Tale this Christmas!”

For those potential Blogging 101 followers ( read: captive audience) a little bit about my goals. I have written an adult children’s book. (Kind of like those adult coloring books so much in vogue right now, but without the crayons. Although, I would gladly include a pack of Crayolas for anyone  interested in buying my book.) I am highlyqualified to write in this new genre (made up by me) because I, myself, am an adult child. Truth be told, I wrote the book for me. It is composed of ten stories about a tabby kitten named ZuZu who lives on a farm in the Berkshire Hills.

Cow

Laverne and Shirley

Bonnie

I always have wanted to live on a farm up north and intended to do this in my later years. But, when I retired, I married a man who was not enamored of furry, farm animals, steaming cow dung and uncooked chickens. So, I created the perfect farm in my head. I learned how to format a book; illustrated it with my own photos; edited it; figured out how to self-publish and Voila! my fantasy farm was in print and available to the public for $19.95. But marketing the book has become another whole career and on the advice of a potential agent, I created my blog,  “Around ZuZu’s Barn”.  Now, 103 spammers and Peg are following me on a regular basis. But the future is looking brighter under the guidance of WordPress “happiness engineers” and with the help and advice of fellow Blogging 101ers, Glad to be here!