Q & A With Todd

27 June 2008 by

A couple of weeks ago our friends Todd and Marti went to see Dave Barnes in concert. And after we texted back and forth about 35 times in the hours leading up to the show (I WAS SO EXCITED FOR THEM, YOU WOULDN’T EVEN BELIEVE IT), I asked if he wanted to answer some questions about the concert (and some other stuff, too) for the blawg.

Todd was gracious enough to agree, and I for one am WAY BEYOND GRATEFUL because I am in the middle of a writer’s block smackdown.

So it helps when someone else provides All The Words.

*****

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how happy does Dave Barnes‘ music make you?

10 +

Dave Barnes knows how to craft a catchy song that incorporates all of the vital ingredients: great melodies, soulful harmonies and they ever so important opportunity to play the shakey thing as you drive in the car. Oh yeah, and he is not one bit scared of embracing a key change in his songs.

And he’s from Mississippi so that makes me unbelievably proud, even though I had nothing to do with his tremendous talent.

Would you like to tell the internets what happened before the Dave Barnes show when you walked back to your car to get your camera?

I’m at the corner waiting to cross back to the venue and I say to myself, “Hey, that looks like the talented singer-songwriter Dave Barnes talking to some people on the corner.” So I immediately got a little giddy/nervous/excited and I approached Dave and his bandmates. I introduced myself and told them I was a friend of yours. They couldn’t have been nicer more down to earth guys.

I told Dave I was originally from Mississippi and how much I’ve enjoyed his music and was looking forward to the show. He was really modest and gracious and obviously had no idea just how much I had been obsessively listening to his stuff over the past week.

And were those guys pretty much the nicest people you’ve ever met in your life? Just like the people we grew up with in Mississippi?

Gosh yes. They were so genuine.

Side note: As we were talking, he asked me how long I had been in L.A. and what I did. When I told them I worked at [Large Movie Studio] they were like “that is so cool!” (as you and David know, it is so not), and I was like this close to saying “Hey y’all if you want I can give you a tour of the studio tomorrow if y’all are staying around L.A. and if you need a place to crash, Marti and I have a guestroom…”

Thankfully the exchange ended with my standard closing when I get too nervous: ”See y’all inside. Take care now.”

Would you recommend a Dave Barnes show as pretty much the perfect date night? Did Marti enjoy the show as much as you did?

Oh yeah, totally a date night show. Marti loved it and so did her older sister, Angie. She’s a member of the obsessed, listen-to-Dave Barnes-while-driving club as well.

It was a great night. Period.

So. Did y’all eat anything good before the show?

Uh, yeah. We ended up going to the Rainbow Bar & Grill, which is next door to the Roxy (where Dave Barnes was playing). Someone at work said we had to try the pizza. So we did.

And did you look at your plate of food and say, “THE PORTIONS! I CAN’T BELIEVE THESE PORTIONS! I’VE NEVER SEEN SUCH LARGE PORTIONS!” in honor of Martha?

You know, Martha would have been beside herself at dinner. Even I was pretty shocked when they brought out those two pizzas. There were five of us eating and we still had I think four pieces left over. And believe you me, I did my best to make sure that didn’t have to happen. But I failed. I know you’re disappointed.

In your opinion, have I ever exaggerated when I’ve told stories about my mother-in-law here on the blog? Because people tend to think that I exaggerate, that she can’t possibly be like I describe her.

Nope. No exaggeration. No ma’am, not one bit. They broke the mold with Martha.

Which is more fun? Seeing Dave Barnes in concert? Or performing a choreographed dance at your wedding reception so that said choreographed dance can be featured on a national television program?

You know, as fun as the Dave Barnes concert was I’m going to say the reception. I mean as stressed out as I was the weeks leading up to our wedding day with being followed around by a reality show cameras and having to learn a dance routine all under the cloak of secrecy, with all of that being said, I was so happy to finally marry the woman of my dreams. It was the happiest day of my life.

*****

And all the internets said: AWWWWWW.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Filed Under: Rambling

Even Yet More Deeply Still Than Before

27 June 2008 by

I’m headed to Atlanta this morning for Deeper Still. Mel and I have been looking forward to this weekend for a long time; in fact, I booked our hotel room EIGHT MONTHS AGO.

(Just typing that makes me giggle a little bit, because trust me: if my mid-20s self had known that my late-30s self would make arrangements to attend a two-day Bible study EIGHT MONTHS IN ADVANCE, my mid-20s self would have ROLLED HER EYES like nobody’s business.)

(Oh, believe you me: I was a CYNICAL DELIGHT.)

Anyway, if you’d like to keep up with what’s going on at Deeper Still, Melanie and I will be blogging over at AllAccess while we’re in Atlanta (technology permitting, of course). The folks at the Deeper Still blog will be updating all weekend, too.

I also have it on good authority that The Jeans will be making a return appearance.

I don’t want to get my hopes too high, but I do expect to have a bit of a holy moment when I see those jeans again.

And you’d better believe I’ll be taking some pictures.

Happy Friday, y’all.

Filed Under: Rambling

Be Sure To Catch Her Upcoming World Tour

25 June 2008 by

The girls and I each had a different kind of microphone for our Q & A session on Saturday.

Shannon had a cordless microphone.

I had a lapel microphone.

And Melanie? She had this kind of microphone.

It brought me untold delight.

I kept waiting for her to break out with some choreographed dance moves while she lip-synched some lyrics.

Or at the very least to lead us in an impromptu cardio-funk routine.

But sadly, she forgot to pack her leotard.

Filed Under: Rambling

I’m Not Here. I’m There.

25 June 2008 by

I have a new post about hoochie mamas over at AllAccess.

Okay. Maybe not hoochie mamas.

But I am talking about the fact that it wouldn’t hurt if people would put on some clothes.

Some clothes with coverage, to be more specific.

And I’m asking some questions, too.

(Fancy!)

Filed Under: Rambling

Finding Your Bloggy Identity

24 June 2008 by

The first session that Mel, Shannon and I led at SheSpeaks was called “Blogging: What Works and What Doesn’t.”

You may have noticed that we went a little broad with our topic.

But the whole idea was that we wanted to be able to give information that would be relevant to both beginner and veteran bloggers, so a sixty-minute session on the finer points of search engine optimization might not have been very relevant to everyone in our audience.

Not to mention that what I know about search engine optimization wouldn’t fill up a thimble. So leading a session on that particular topic would be approximately as successful as if I decided to teach an advanced algebra class.

Which is to say: not at all.

So my part of the What Works and What Doesn’t presentation was about Finding Your Voice, but before I jumped into the particulars of that topic, I asked three general questions that I think all bloggers need to consider – no matter how long you’ve been blogging.

1. Why do I want to do this? – If you start a blog because you’re hoping to get a book deal or because you want to make some money from ads, you’re probably going to be disappointed. So if blogging isn’t fun for you, if you don’t enjoy the process of writing and posting and commenting, then this probably isn’t your ideal writing outlet.

And another thing – which I didn’t mention at the conference but I wish I had – is that ultimately, blogging shouldn’t be some extended exercise in networking. It’s about community, at least in this little corner of the web (and it’s NOT a replacement for real-life community, by the way). If you’re not interested in community, then you’d do just as well to type out your thoughts in Word and call it a day.

I’m just sayin’.

2. What’s my blog’s purpose? – It’s good to know this and be consistent with it. Are you trying to interact with an audience you’ve gained through books or speaking? Do you want to document your family’s life? Entertain? Encourage? Inspire? Exhort? Advise?

Think about it this way: if you started visiting here and finding posts about the best brands of car parts, you would be puzzled. Ditto for if you clicked over and found me talking about a critical piece of legislation that’s up for a vote in Iowa.

It’s not that you can’t go off-topic every once in awhile, but I think there do need to be some common threads that run throughout your blog, and if the purpose of your blog is constantly shifting, then those threads get broken.

LOOK, MAMA! I MADE A METAPHOR!

3. What’s my blog’s personality? Every blog has a personality, and ideally that personality is a reflection of the person who writes it. Authenticity is the thing that results in bloggers meeting face-to-face and saying, “She’s the same in real life as she is on her blog.”

Plus, a blog is easier to read if it has a reliable tone. People like to know what to expect when they click over. And if you’re happy one day, frustrated the next, manic the next, etc., people will get tired of the bloggy whiplash and quit reading.

This, of course, is just my opinion. There may be a large contingent of blog readers who enjoy moody.

So with all that established, there are three things I think you can do to help establish your bloggy identity:

1. You need one online identity. Be consistent with it. – It’s easier for people to get to know you if you comment under the same name as your blog, and if your blog name matches your URL.

For example, I comment as BooMama, the name of my blog is BooMama, and you can find my blog at https://www.boomama.net.

See how it all matches?

It gets confusing for people – and makes it difficult for them to keep up with you online – if you comment as Nancy, write a blog called I Love Corn More Than You’ll Ever Know, and your blog is located at http://youwillnotbelievehowtirediambecauseofthesekids.bloghost.com.

There’s a lack of consistency in Nancy’s approach.

When it’s possible, keep your blog name and your URL short and sweet. If you like using your real name in comments, then try using something like Nancy @ I Love Corn to help people remember where it is that you blog.

2. The look of your blog should reflect its purpose and personality.

THINK ABOUT the colors and the graphics and the photography you use on the masthead of your blog. Think about how much of “you” is on the front page (if you’re a published author or a speaker, you might have one of those cute little pictures where you’re crossing your arms and tilting your head at the top of your blog so people will realize that Hey, she’s the woman who spoke at my church).

But if you’re like me and want something a little more title-focused, then really think about if your font and your colors reflect the personality of your blog.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t go spending any money to personalize your blog until you know you’re going to stick with it. That would be like buying a car when you’re not really sure if you’re going to take to the whole driving thing.

Also: a general rule, readers prefer light backgrounds with black type. They like frequent breaks in paragraphs. They like fonts that don’t require magnifying glasses. And they typically don’t like music that plays automatically, nor do they care for things that blink.

3. The writing on your blog should reflect its purpose and personality.

This is the biggie, my friends.

Here’s the way I look at it.

There is only one you. There is only one person in the whole wide world who has your background, your experiences, your perspective. You have the ability to articulate the events of your life like no one else can.

So. Given all that, WHY IN THE WORLD would you try to sound like someone else? Why in the world wouldn’t you use the UNIQUE voice that God’s given you?

And your voice doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be yours.

The best way in the world to develop that voice is to write regularly. Your voice will get stronger and better the more you use it, and you’re shortchanging yourself and your readers if you’re content to imitate someone else’s.

That being said, it’s only natural that certain phrases are going to get passed around the blogosphere. I believe that’s what we call slang. And I think using a little bloggy slang every now and again is perfectly fine and normal.

What I object to is the notion of sitting down to write and thinking, “I want to sound like Veronica in this post. Or “I want to sound like Shaun.” Or “I want to sound like [some-other-blogger-whose-style-you-enjoy.]”

Bottom line: there’s only one you, sister.

So get after it.

The last thing I did in my little presentation was to show some screenshots of a few blogs that do a great job of keeping their look and voice consistent with their personality and purpose (I found MANY blogs that do this well). You can find that list here.

And I’m sure I said lots of stuff besides this stuff because, well, I RAMBLE, but this is the gist of it.

So there you have it. I believe I’ve fulfilled my advice-giving quota for the next, you know, forever.

Thank you and have a lovely afternoon.

Filed Under: Bloggity Fun

Oh, Wouldn’t It Be Fun If I Had A Good Title?

23 June 2008 by

I would be lying if I told you that I was easy-breezy in the weeks leading up to SheSpeaks. Because the fact of the matter is that I was what you might call PLAGUED BY ANXIETY. I was utterly convinced that any situation that involved me saying real-live words in front of a real-live people had DANGER! DANGER! written all over it, and there were days when the simple act of, you know, breathing raised my heart rate to aerobic levels.

In fact, I’m thinking of writing a book called The Crippling Fear and Anxiety Workout: Lose Weight – And Your Sanity! – While Sitting Perfectly Still.

It’s sure to be a bestseller.

Fortunately, the anxiety subsided a little bit when I landed in Charlotte. And once I actually settled into the swing of the conference routine, I had so much fun. Even if I wanted to throw up as Melanie, Shannon and I made our way to a luncheon Friday afternoon.

Because nothing conveys an attitude of calm confidence like vomiting in a lovely, light-filled atrium.

The luncheon turned out to be great, though. Lysa was as gracious and encouraging as ever, and I loved getting to know some of the people who work with her at Proverbs 31 a little bit better. They were, without exception, warm, engaging and kind. I tried my best to behave so that I wouldn’t embarrass them.

Though I may have crossed the line when I used the phrase “pimp my post” in our Q & A session Saturday afternoon.

I do, as ever, have such a delicate way with language.

One of the weekend’s biggest highlights was being led in worship by Lindsey Kane, a girl so adorable that Melanie and I honestly could not look in her direction without lapsing into our very best Martha imitation and saying, “She’s darlin’! Just darlin’! Can you even BELIEVE how darlin’ she is?!”

Because, well, she’s darlin’.

And talented, too.

I especially enjoyed getting to hang out with blawgy friends. Mel, Shannon and I met so many neat people, and do you know that Robin even brought me a box of the fancy Cheez-It Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan Duoz? They’re PRACTICALLY MY LOVE LANGUAGE, Y’ALL.

I was deeply touched and will remain forever grateful.

And I finally – FINALLY – got to meet DeeDee and Tina in real life. After two years of reading their blogs. And they were just as wonderful as I knew that they would be.

Saturday night several bloggers made an impromptu supper run, and I ended up sitting across from Annie and Missy, also known as my Bravo-Watch-What-Happens soulmates. I laughed until I just flat-out guffawed, and I was slack-jawed, really, over how much we have in common. It felt like we’d known each other for years.

Yesterday, as I was alternating between dozing and reading Us magazine on the flight home, I couldn’t help but think that if I’d let that stinkin’ anxiety get the better of me – if I’d done what comes naturally to me and said no to Lysa’s invitation – I would’ve missed out on so much.

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Missy, Mel, Shannon and Annie

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Dawn, Shannon, Jo-Lynne, Mel, Annie, Some Loud Girl, Robin, Valerie, Lisa B., and Sarah

Because I would’ve missed out on them. And so many others.

That would have been a very sad thing indeed.

So yeah, I’m a person who is most comfortable when I’m sitting on my couch, wearing my pajamas, hiding behind my computer and cranking out some stunningly mediocre content. I’m a behind-the-scenes girl who will tell you in a heartbeat that Home Is My Happy Place, especially if there’s some quality reality and/or home improvement television involved.

But this past weekend reminded me that every once in awhile it’s good to stretch my heart and my faith by stepping outside of my comfort zone. It’s not easy for me, but it’s good. It’s necessary.

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And it’s worth it.

It really is.

Filed Under: Rambling
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