...  I haven't met yet.       i just know somebody important originally said that, but right now, i can't seem to find out exactly who .. A quotation that appears all over the net, I found this one the most entertaining:

"My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet. She's now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.  "

                           ~Dame Edna Everage                 

        Yesterday I took a vacation day.  It was GREAT.  Bright beautiful sunshiny totally perfect day!    The highlight of the day was driving over to Floyd -- about 45 minutes, almost directly south of here, and joining in a bloggers-meet at the Cafe Del Sol.  Let me say it again: It was GREAT!!!   I took my knitting - thinking maybe it would be a lecture-style meeting, where one presenter handled several topics.  Well, suffice it to say, I won't take my knitting to another of these meetings!   We were so busy getting to know each other and exchanging ideas, that my knitting sat forlornly under a table, totally forgotten.   I wished for 8 sets of ears!

    Before we get to identities of my formerly stranger / new-friends here's a quick look at a couple of the (many) important things I learned ...

    Trackbacks    David St. Lawrence (of Ripples) was kind enough to briefly educate me about this mysterious option on our "Add New Entry" page.  You will note (somewhere in or near this entry) the presence of a new "trackback" - which will (if all goes well) take you to David's post about our meeting yesterday.  So, to paraphrase (hopefully correctly) David's explanation :    When I write about something which is mentioned in another blog, I can use a trackback to direct you to that other blog.  Thus, a trackback will show you the "track back" to where I got my original idea .. maybe ...  Seemed like an easy way for me to remember what it was.  So, I'm experimenting - hoping that  the picture i got was the real one. 

        Edit added after-the-fact:  My grasp of the trackback concept isn't so very clear .. but David's comment below is wonderful!  It'll give you the REAL picture... 

Speaking of pictures, David took some good ones of the group meeting yesterday.  You can find those by following the "track back."     Punny thing about that:   if you back-track in the woods, would that be putting your feet in your own steps backwards, til you get to where you started from?  ok - i know, i know .. enough already ..

   Still on the subject of trackbacks, Fred 1st was having some spam problems, which, in retrospect, I surmised had some connection with trackbacks .. Maybe not - it may have been that Fred's problem just surfaced while we were talking about trackbacks and my ADD-ness failed to separate the two - anyway ... Doug Thompson commented that Fred was having "the bird-flu pandemic of spam."   which, as the discussion continued, evolved into  "spam-demic".     I was there when it happened folks, and I heard it -- new word -- which seems totally appropriate to me.  Now who do we write to get that entered into the Merriam-Webster's?   Doug was also the source of another great grin yesterday - which I got from his business card.  It states   "Determine What Sucks ... Don't Do It"       timely advice, don't ya think? 

    Permalink:  Now here's a handy little tidbit ..  Say I wanted to let my mother know  I'm writing a blog  (On second thought, I personally haven't told mine - she would be appalled at my abandonment of  dignity  .)   Ok, so that's a bad example -- let's use one of your friends instead.  If  you emailed her a link to your blog, she might have to conduct a mind-bogglingly painful search to drill down to where you formulated some great instructions for making soap ..  You can save her all that pain and frustration by setting a certain post as a permalink which will generate a unique address for that page - which you can then use to direct folks to the specific page you're wanting to tout.   Clear as mud yet?   I'm going to try it, and let you know  .. 'k?    Before I leave this topic, I've just GOTTA share a couple of things with you that David had to say about permalinks:   Permalinks are resources where we can share information with people who are likeminded, such as  "left-handed people who like blue stuff "   or "Here's where all the bones are buried." 

Stat Counter  Another idea that I'm so looking forward to implementing is getting one o' them thar fancy site meters.  If you're joined at the hip with your blog, you've probably wondered if anyone ever visits it...  I mean, sometimes folks will leave you a note and then you know at least ONE person visited .. but there's the niggling question in the back of your mind about whether there are any, or who the lurkers might be.  No offense to you lurkers, I just wonder if anyone comes around.  So - the veteran bloggers in the group dropped some hints that it ain't all that hard.     The counters are free, and you can get one here:  http://www.statcounter.com/  or here:  http://www.sitemeter.com/.  Colleen commented that when she first set up her counter, a tiny little voice questioned whether she might be invading people's privacy - but counters do not pass on personal information.  So, we're all off the hook on that point.     Count Away!

       Now for a quick cameo of the folks who came out for the Floyd-Bloggers Fest:   Rigel is from California, and had been writing a blog about the day-to-day adventure of moving to Floyd County Virginia.  She left the blog behind, apparently, in January when she actually completed the venture - but hopefully she'll restart it now that she's settled in.  

       Leslie is the angora-bunny grower, spinning lady - who writes At The Top of Squirrel Spur and Greenberry House Days and Dreams, and who maintains a personal quiet peace and serenity no matter how much hub-bub is going on around her.  She is on my top-5 list of  People to Emulate. 

        Colleen writes Loose Leaf and her personality sparkles animatedly through her eyes.   Colleen could be heard commenting to us gals that we should visit roanoketimes.com, where she is the only female blogger on the site!   Chris is a sculptor and the Director of Educational Programs for The Jacksonville Center for the Arts.  Chris is a wonderfully refreshing personality - full of wide-eyed wonder and ready friendliness and warmth, with a bit of  trepidation about jumping off into personal blogging.  But, I think David was able to give her a gentle nudge (and some reassurance)  in the right direction.   I mentioned Fred earlier, apparently a prolific blogger, and author - with spam problems.  Didn't get any other details about Fred, as I was picking the brains in the opposite corner from where he was.  I'm afraid to link his website ..  SpamDemic has got to be contagious ...     

        Jamie is a personable, smiling, friendly fella from Australia.  I was disappointed to realize that I had barely spoken with him.  Jamie - if you're reading - i fully intend to ask you all kinds of questions about Australia!  I want to listen ... Aussie accent is one of my favorite sounds.  Tom hasn't started a blog yet, is retired military and, (if I overheard correctly,   ) has a wonderful dog who made the trip with him by truck when he moved from California.  Tom is quick, and outgoing, and I hope to be seeing his thoughts in print soon.  Doug, mentioned above, is not only a word-smith, he is a photographic artist.  There is probably a better word for it - and if I run across it in the next minute or so, you'll be the first to know. 

      I was so thrilled with meeting these folks, listening to the brain-storming, and knowledge-sharing.  And, these are not the only blogging folks in the immediate area -- some couldn't make the meeting.  That might even have been a good thing -- There just wasn't enough time to visit with everyone as much as you'd like.  Within the first 20 minutes, the experience already had me mentally planning to take a vacation day when the next meeting is held.  now, I'm off to grab a stats counter!  Cheers!

The Moon's eye-view of Cafe Del Sol:   

Ya'll come on back now, ya hear?           

PS  There are photos at David's Ripples, Colleen's Loose Leaf, and Doug's Blue Ridge Muse.  check 'em out.  

Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out

on the joke of the century. ~Dame Edna Everage

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