metabloggery Archives | The 3 R's: Reading, 'Riting, and Randomness

February 24, 2020 • 'riting, Show-and-Tell •

Last Week This Week, Edition #1

It’s going to take a little while to build up a regular blogging habit after such a long time away. The “weekly recap post” seems like a good way to wade back in, so I’m giving that a go. Welcome to Last Week This Week, Edition #1.

The best part of my week

A warm welcome back to this space!
One reason I rarely unsubscribe from a dormant blog is the pleasure of seeing a post pop up from it after a long absence. It’s gratifying to see that some of you feel the same way. I have honestly felt a bit adrift without this space—and the community I associate with it—and I’m happy to know that it’s still as welcoming and accepting as ever.

(Disclosure: the title of this section was stolen from the NPR podcast It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders)

The most important thing I did this week

I voted.

For the first time, California’s primary election is being held in Match—on “Super Tuesday”—instead of in June. That’s early enough to actually matter. But even with the new schedule, it’s remarkable how many of the candidates who qualified for the ballot aren’t actually candidates anymore.

california 2020 democaratic preseidential primary ballot rendering — *Some of them are gone..and frankly, already forgotten*

I have voted by mail for over a decade, and this year more Californians than ever are expected to cast ballots that way. Voting by mail lets me take my time and research on the fly–it’s like a take-home open-book test. The biggest (little) drawback to it was not getting the coveted “I Voted” sticker. But this year–maybe because the state expects so many votes by mail?–they’ve corrected that little problem.

Books of the week

currently reading week of february 24 2020 Wild Game Uncanney Valley Daring Greatly

Some behind-the-scenes changes happened during my absence from the blog. Most of it still worked (whew!), some of it worked better (yay!) and some things were brand-new. The most exciting new thing was the Book Database plugin that Ashley at NoseGraze had installed. (Disclosure: NoseGrazes BookHost hosts this site. Additional disclosure: these are not affiliate links.)

One huge reason I switched to a self-hosted WordPress blog in the first place was NoseGraze’s Ultimate Book Blogger plugin. The Book Database does some of the same things but has some unique new features. I’m especially excited about the Reading Logs. These don’t display on the blog, but they feed to a “Currently Reading” widget in the admin dashboard. It’s easy enough to share what I’m reading at any time with a screenshot.

Coming up this week

We are escaping to Margaritaville on Leap Day. I’m expecting this musical to be Mamma Mia! for Parrotheads, basically, so it should be a pretty good time.

What are you looking forward to this week?

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January 4, 2019 'riting, thinking out loud

And Now A Few More Words

I shared my #OneWord for 2019 with you on New Year’s Day, but I don’t want that to be the only words we exchange this week. And now, a few more words… about blogging On the afternoon of December 31, I opened my feed reader (yes, I still use one) for the first time in weeks. I clicked the “mark all as read” checkmark. New year, new start. On the morning of January 1, I opened the […]

January 4, 2018 'riting, thinking out loud

The Year That Disappeared: So Much For 2017

I keep thinking of 2017 as The Year That Disappeared. To be honest, though, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. It was a year that mostly disappeared from the blog (18 posts in 365 days!), but some of it’s on Instagram. On a personal level, the highs points of 2017 were pretty darn high: I stepped up into a new high-level role at work. Paul and I spent 12 amazing days in Italy. We appreciated […]

January 1, 2018 'riting, thinking out loud

Getting in Gear for a New Year!

Turn the key. No response from the engine. — Dead battery? Probably. This baby’s been sitting idle for quite awhile. Do we still have jumper cables or should I call Triple A? …OK, it’s charging, but it may be a little while before we can actually go anywhere. This is post #2500 on The 3 R’s Blog. (Post #2499 went up on August 8, 2017. Post #2500 is the first one I’m writing on the […]

August 1, 2017 'riting

While I Wasn’t Blogging: A Recap #dontcallitacomeback

Four months is a long time for a blogger not to blog. In my case, it was absolutely one of those “life got in the way” intervals in a blogger’s life. True confession: Sometimes it felt liberating just to do things without mentally narrating or critiquing them in preparation for a blog post. That said, here’s a brief accounting of some of what I did while I wasn’t blogging. While I Wasn’t Blogging… I worked. […]

July 30, 2017 'riting

Currently: And Four Months Later… #dontcallitacomeback

Hey there! Remember me? I blogged here for ten years. Back in March, I put up a tenth-anniversary post. And then I did a disappearing act. I suggested something like that might happen when I took on a new role at work almost six months ago, but I honestly didn’t think it would be to this extent! As of last week, that new role is no longer “interim,” but official. (Time to update the ol’ LinkedIn […]

March 20, 2017 'riting

10 YEARS of The 3 Rs Blog! [Currently] #Blogiversary

THE 3 R’s BLOG turned ten years old on March 16th! I missed posting that day, but I couldn’t let that milestone go by with no comment whatsoever. When I started this thing, all I intended to do was set up a place to record my thoughts about the books I read. By early 2007, more and more websites were incorporating, or morphing into, blogs. It looked easy enough to start one, and a reading journal […]

July 28, 2016 'riting, A Reader's Journal

LibraryThings Have Changed: I Still Love You, LT, But It’s Not The Same

My love for LibraryThing has been well-documented here in the past. While the flame still burns, things have changed between us. I still appreciate all that LT has done for me, don’t get me wrong. I got a paid, lifetime LibraryThing membership in 2008 to keep track of all the books I owned, whether I’d read them or not. Having my LibraryThing collection on my phone has saved me more than once from buying a book […]

March 27, 2016 'riting, Show-and-Tell

Bloggiesta Bust…and a Bit of a Blog Break

My only Bloggiesta accomplishments were connecting with my Bookish Masterminds group and participating in last Monday’s Twitter chat, which was scheduled during my lunch hour–I did not get to anything else on my Bloggiesta to-do list. But I’m not actually all that surprised by the #fail, to be honest–I knew the event coincided with a busy week of work and non-blog life. I also knew I’d have a couple of days off right after to […]

March 21, 2016 randomness

Spring 2016 Bloggiesta Begins!

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March 17, 2016 randomness

Things to Do for Spring Bloggiesta

So this happened yesterday, and I didn’t mention it here: It’s my 9th #blogiversary! No new post today, but please stop by & say hello! https://t.co/ONqn1jukIM pic.twitter.com/HgN57pCD1s — Florinda PVasquez (@florinda_3rs) March 16, 2016 I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I probably wouldn’t make much of a to-do over this particular blog birthday, and I still feel that way. That said, a blogiversary always feels like a particularly appropriate time to sit back and […]

March 24, 2015 'riting

From Me to You: 5 Best Bits of Blogging Advice #Bloggiesta

After eight years of doing this, I thought I might be able to put together a response to the special Bloggiesta request for our “best blogging advice.” For me, it all comes down to this credo: Then again, you have to have a few rules in place in order to know when and whether to break them, right? With that in mind, I offer you my top five blogging guidelines: 3 R’s: Read, Research, Reflect. […]

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