Packing the Bags and Moving

Hi folks,

It is time for The Sleepydumpling to pack her blog bags and move home. Blogger has served me well for the past three and a bit years, but I need a little more functionality, so I'm going to give Wordpress a try.

I will post some regular reminders here to let you all know that I've moved, but for now, come on over to the new blog:

http://sleepydumpling.wordpress.com

A Public Service Announcement

I would just like to clarify to all for one and final time.

I do not make personal jabs on my blog.

I do understand that these days passive-aggressiveness is the default action of many people, and we are all incredibly battered by it. We come to expect that when people have a problem with us, then we will be on the receiving end of passive-aggressive behaviour.

This is not how I operate. EVER. If I have a problem with someone that I wish to address, I will address it with them directly and personally. If they hear no more about it from me, they can rest assured it is of no consequence to me and I have moved on. Trust me, if I'm angry with you... you will know it, I'm quite comfortable in expressing anger with someone directly.

My blog posts are not of any targeted nature and are about my feelings, opinions, beliefs and thoughts on general situations. Sometimes a discussion or event may bring those thoughts to the surface, or assist me in illustrating a point, but I do not use my blog to make personal slights or attacks on anyone - unless they come here to this blog and attack me.

If you have read an opinion piece on my blog that does not directly name you, link to a comment you made on my blog or to something you have written about me, but you think it is directly targeting you... you are wrong and you need to let go of that attitude/belief.

If you have a problem with me personally, you are welcome to contact me directly to discuss as I will do for you. However if you make any derogatory comments, personal insults or behave in a disrespectful manner, I will delete everything and block you.

But this blog is not some snarking ground to bitch about other people. Others may behave like that but I do not. And I will not tolerate people trying to turn it into that in comments either.

No more will be entered into on this subject.

A Post for the Guys...

This post is especially for the guys. I would like to ask you all to please go and read this article:

On Being a No-Name Blogger Using Her Real Name - Kate Harding

Ladies may read it as well, but I wager it's all nothing you haven't heard or thought before.

I am not using my real name. However many of you know my real name, or I have enough information on here for anyone who knows me, to know that this is my blog. I did have my real name on my Twitter too but changed that, however I use my first name regularly there. I have toyed with using my real name everywhere, as I really want to be transparent in my blogging/tweeting etc, I want my name to be connected to my writing, but I have had some troubling experiences in the life of my blogging. I have been lucky so far, I've not had anything truly frightening, but I have had some upsetting experiences.

However I don't want those to take my joy of writing, tweeting, sharing photos and videos away from me. I want to stay transparent and open, I'm proud of that. I want to share my experiences and the wisdom I gain along the way, and dammit my opinions too.

So that's why I'm asking particularly the guys to read the Kate Harding article linked above. Because when you fellas let it slide when some douchebag makes our lives miserable, or insults us, or "drunk tweets" feral sexual comments about us, or harasses us in blog comments, or rolls their eyes when we get upset about something and so on, you're giving those misogynistic fuckers the message that it's ok. And that encourages them to take it to the next step, and the next, and beyond.

But I would also like to take this opportunity to thank those men who DO stand up and say "Oi, that's not right." when these things happen. I would like you to know how much it matters to women when you do that. Not just because you're seen as being on our side, but because it gives us a feeling that we are safer having your support. That not every man is out to crush us down, shut us up, force us into our "place". That there is hope for change for women who wish to be seen, who don't want to be invisible.

So thank you.

Five Fives

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter or Facebook, a couple of days ago I asked folks to challenge me with blog post subjects, as I was feeling the need to "stretch my legs" a bit with my blogging.  I have some suggestions, which I will start to work on over the next few days, but I'm still open to suggestions (er, challenges) if you have any.  Everything suitable will be attempted!

So this is going to be my first challenge blog, and I'm going to start with a nice simple one until I find my feet.

@lilabris (who is my luvverly friend Kylie) challenged me to a "5 Things" meme.  Which is basically groups of five things about me.  So, here goes.

Five Favourite Musicians Ever (tough one)

• Elvis Costello
  
• kd lang
  
• Tom Waits
  
• Queen
  
• Indigo Girls
  

Five Cities I Could Live In (Besides Brisbane)

• New York City - it's all shades of awesome!
  
• Perth - so pretty and laid back, and much less built up
  
• San Francisco - it has EVERYTHING and is very creative
  
• Chicago - or nearby, I have beloved friends that live at Aurora, I'd love to be near them and Chicago was so funky.
  
• Melbourne - I love the coffee culture and the CBD is so lovely there.
  

Five Favourite Fictional Characters

• Mr Darcy - Pride and Prejudice (what woman doesn't?)
  
• Nick Schultz - Blue Heelers (what can I say, I fell in love when I was very young)
  
• Anne Shirley - Anne of Green Gables
  
• Hellboy - one of my favourite comic book heroes of all time.
  
• Arthur Dent - I always kind of felt that I know just how Arthur feels in the Hitchhiker books.
  

Five Strange Things I Have Eaten

• Echidna (damn good!)
  
• Scorpion (crunchy)
  
• Testicles (Rocky Mountain oysters, bush oysters, prairie oysters, whatever you call them)
  
• Haggis (it was worse than the testicles)
  
• Ostrich (kind of beefy really)
  

Five Random Facts about Me

• I used to own a music shop.
  
• When I was 21, I started a radio station with my friend Marty.  It's still running today, over 15 years later.
  
• I collect postcards, but they must have gone through the post (not necessarily to me)
  
• Peas make me gag.
  
• I am a sucker for underdogs and "waifs and strays" in life.
  

So there you have blog challenge post number 1!  Watch this space for more to come.

Blog Love

Got a lovely Sunday morning surprise today!  I found a comment on one of my blog posts alerting me that I had been given a blog award.  Awwww!

My friend and fellow blogger Megan from over at Doing What the Cool Kids Do has left me this award:

I'm very touched!

Now as these blog awards go, it's my turn to award it to some of my favourite blogs.  So, here goes:

Life of a Flibbertigibbet - I don't even remember how I stumbled across this blog, but Ms Flibbertigibbet seems to me like the kind of lady I could be great friends with, if we didn't live a gazillion miles apart.

Katagal Kapers - Kerri is a friend and colleague of mine, and she's such an amazing lady who sees the best in situations, even when they drive her to distraction.

Big Fat Deal - a collaborative blog of fat activists, challenging the common attitude that being fat makes you less than other people.  Which they do with humour and attitude and a whole lot of intelligence.

Sleepy Jane - A lady from South Africa who's blog I never  miss, and I enjoy her posts on Twitter too.

Enjoy your cupcake awards ladies, and keep putting out the quality blog posts!

My Few Minutes of Fame

I'm quite chuffed that I've been blogged up over on Spy Journal 3.0 as a featured Geek Girl Blogger.

On the weekend, Tim put the call out on Twitter asking if anyone new any geek girls that could be featured on his blog, and I asked if I was geeky enough for what they were looking for.  A few emails later, a bit of a survey for me to fill out, and today I'm up there in front of everyone!  *blush*

If you'd like to have a look, go to:

http://www.spyjournal.biz/geek_girls/KathRead

New Design

As you can all see, I'm tinkering around with a new design for my blog.

It still needs some tweaking to get the text to fit in the boarders, but it's getting close!  I just haven't quite worked out how to get it to work just yet.

If anyone has some tips or tricks, please let me know!

Ada Lovelace Day

Today, for those of you who don't know already, is Ada Lovelace Day.  Who was Ada Lovelace you ask?  Well, she is credited with being the first female programmer.  And in honour of her birth, I have taken a pledge to blog about women in technology today.

As a woman in technology myself, I know it's not an easy career path to travel.  Long a male dominated profession, we ladies who have chosen to work in technology face a lot of challenges in our every day working lives.  From the challenges of actually obtaining employment in technological careers, through to having to endure being dismissed as "lightweights" by our male colleagues, or spoken to as though we wouldn't understand.

Quite often we're told we're not "technological enough" because we choose the so called softer side of technology to work in.  Those of us who choose to work in roles that deal with people and communication are dismissed as not really working in technology.  Yet with technology permeating so much of our lives now, women (and the men who also choose) are needed to work in communications and the people side of things.  We're the ones that get people adopting and accepting technology.  We're the ones who understand why when people don't pick up technology.

I love working in and with technology.  It fascinates me, challenges me and is always changing, growing and surprising me.  Sometimes I do get frustrated with the environment others create, but I am never bored.  And most of the time, it's FUN!

Are you a woman in technology?  Do you work with/know women in technology?  Tell me your story about women and technology.

I've Been Awarded!

I just found out today that I've been given an award! How special!

My friend Megan awarded me for this one over on her blog Doing What the Cool Kids Do.

Sweet!

Now what I need to do is -

Here are the rules to follow through when you receive the award:

1. Post a copy on your blog.

2. Mention who gave you the award.

3. Pass the award onto 6 others.

4. Leave a message on their blog letting them know the award has been bestowed upon them.

I'd like to nominate, in no specific order:

Katagal Kapers - my lovely friend and colleague Kerri, who is always so positive and upbeat.

Terri's Ramblings - I have only met Terri in person once for a few days, but she's like a sister that I never had!

Morphine Dreams - Jacqueline is just too cool for words.

Random Thoughts and Rambles - Jules is an open hearted lady, always around to lend an ear to her cysters.

The Bruising Adventures of Girl Clumsy - A thought provoking and often hilarious lady.

Mandie's World - Another fabulous cyster who I only met in real life for a few days, but it was an AWESOME few days.

Congratulations friends!

Grumble Bum Again

I'm back at work today and have still got the grumps. But at least I am out of the 33+ degree heat.

Why have I got the grumps? Cos I'm feeling ripped off again. It's a whole bunch of things but my work situation pisses me off and I'm just about at the end of my tether. I need a holiday. I plan to take one in March when it is a little cooler and I can enjoy it more. I'd like to go visit my Grandma for her birthday, she will be 80 in March. I don't get to see her as often as I would like to, mostly because the rest of my family sucks. Well, a big proportion of them do.

But let's talk about something that isn't grumpy.

I got a calendar for Christmas that is one of those "New Word a Day" things. You know, where you get a cool word and it's meaning on each page for each day. I think I should set myself a challenge to blog every day, and use that word of the day in the blog! Do you reckon I can do it? I reckon I can have a really good go at it!

Soon I won't have to update two blogs, I will be able to just use this one. Our training programme finishes tomorrow evening and I won't have to do a constant blog for work colleagues to maintain. I think I will bring some of the posts over here cos I really like them. Or I'll just archive it until we need to use it again. If you haven't already looked at the other blog, you'll find it at http://kathx23.blogspot.com

New Years Eve tomorrow night. I'm going to a party at my friend and colleague Robert's house. Will be fun. I have a new outfit to wear. It's all black - I don't normally wear all black, I love colour but this outfit was so pretty I had to have it. I also have a bottle of strawberry champagne to crack at midnight. Yummy!

I Am Blogging...

Just on my other blog, because I need it for work purposes. If you want to read it (and be warned, it will have stuff about libraries in it, but there is a bunch of other stuff), go to:

http://kathx23.blogspot.com

If nothing else, go find the post called "Beached as". I love that video!