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5/12/2012

The Social Butterfly

When I was in the 1st grade, my teacher, Mrs. Buzinky, told my parents I was a good student.  Her only complaint was, “Jenny is a social butterfly.”

It was the same with Mrs. Tubbs in the 4th grade. And with Mrs. Barbarise in the 5th grade.  And with Miss Kaminski in the 7th grade. And with Mrs. Kain in the 10th grade. And with Father Mayzik sophomore year in college.

Vocal. Talkative. Chatty. Motormouth.

That’s me.

I guess that's why I started this blog.  It gives me a place to talk about my favorite subject: Myself. 

But I am not someone who grew up with a computer. I went through high school and college with a dinky Smith Corona Personal Word Processor (a fancy way of saying electric typewriter). It had a screen that displayed 8 lines at a time. The modern-day equivalent of writing essays via text message.

I still remember the first computer I ever bought. It was 1995, I’d just graduated from college, and although I didn’t have a job quite yet, I DID have a shiny new credit card whispering in my ear... charge it!

So I did.

And for all I know, I’m still paying for it.  It was a Gateway, it came in a box that looked like a cow, and it weighed 100lbs. I taught myself to use it and my inner geek was instantly smitten.

When I did get a job later that summer, only ONE computer in my entire office was connected to the Internet. Today -- 3 desktops, 2 laptops, 4 wireless routers, 2 blogs, 7 social networks, 2 smartphones, 1 connected TV, and a tablet later -- I have crossed the final frontier (until they create a new one that involves holograms and/or smell-o-vision).

I bought my own URL.

It’s not like I thought someone would steal it – while my first name's a dime a dozen, my last name is pretty rare. I think there’s only 1 other girl in the WORLD who has it – she friended me once on Facebook in a total Twilight Zone moment. She’s about half my age, lives in France, smokes, has multiple piercings and tattoos, and a boyfriend who is a DJ. Soon after, she changed her name to a French obscenity and unfriended me.

We’re like twins.

In fact, I was inspired by an ACTUAL friend, who writes a really helpful blog. His most recent post was on all the reasons you should own your own name. Huh. He made a compelling argument. I’ve worked in digital for the past 12 years -- how could I NOT own my own domain?

Luckily, he’s also an excellent teacher so he created a step-by-step guide to follow. In about 20 minutes (which included time spent rooting around in 3 different handbags for my wallet), I was up and running.

It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a good place to keep track of all the networks this social butterfly frequents.  And it ensures nobody will confuse me with little Jenny Merde.

Oohlala.



PS: Social butterflies like company!  Follow me, I will follow you (unless you’re creepy, then you’re on your own):
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Google+
Tumblr
Foursquare
Pinterest (my personal fave)

 
tags: polls, technology, work

2 comments:

Connie D. said...

Your a great Blogger, did you take a class on it? I would like to start my own but I do not know how to begin. Thank you.

Jenny From The 'Brook said...

Thanks to everybody who took the poll.

And thanks Connie! Glad you like the blog. No, I've never taken a class in blogging, or even writing for that matter. I just write about stuff that seems interesting to me and hope others will like it too. So should you! Don't wait for a class, just give it a go.