Plus One Collection Limited Edition Fine Art Photography Book

 

If you’ve been following me at all you know that I’m a big fan of Google+ and feel that it’s the best social networking platform out there nowadays, and especially if you’re a photographer. The Photography community there is vibrant and active and engaged, and I can’t say enough good things about the connections I’ve made and the amazing work I’m exposed to every time I log on and watch my stream move by. I’ve had the best conversations about art, life, and passion there and it’s a part of my day I truly look forward to when I sit down at my computer.

Here’s another sign of community and art flourishing there – with Ivan Makarov at the helm, and many others working hard to contribute their efforts, there is a beautiful G+ community photography book that has been created. The book holds the work of photographers active on G+ and all net profits go to Kiva, a fantastic charity organization. There are going to be 3 versions of this book, and the very first one is available NOW.

You can purchase it here: +One Collection, 2011

The Limited Edition of the Plus One Collection launched TODAY and is only available to purchase for 10 days. After that, it will never be made available for purchase again. Here are some details about the book:

• 193 artists featured, 200 pages long
• 11×13, landscape
• Printed on Fine Art Paper
• Includes a bonus print, made to museum standards, of one of the photos in the book
• Only Available to purchase for the next 10 days
• Ships in early March
• All profits go to Kiva

Don’t miss your chance to purchase this book – one of a kind, limited edition with big, beautiful photographs and a wonderful contribution to charity.

 

 

When the 10 days for this Limited Edition are over, there will be a standard version of the book available as well, and eventually an eBook version with over 500 photos submitted from the G+ Photography Community.

Are you using Google+ yet? Here’s why you should be.

UPDATE: Click this link to grab one of my invites to G+ and sign up RIGHT NOW!

Are you on Google+ yet? I’ve been there for a couple of months now and you know what? I love it. Now, is it new and something you have to put a little work into to get rolling? Yes. (You’ll have to put some time and thought into creating your circles and adding people.) If you’re going to roll your eyes at me or bitch about that, well, then, hey. Go back to working on that thing where you’re looking for someone to wipe your own ass too.

And when you figure that out, let me know. Also, the whole doing dishes and laundry thing. Man, do I hate that shit. (Insert: worst.housewife.ever.)

But really, look. Google has created a social media platform in G+ that answers so many of the problems we’ve all had with others. I’ve been on board with SO many social media platforms in the past few years. Notably and largest: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr. (More, but those are the biggest and best of them.) I’ve heard (and had) so many complaints about these platforms over time (especially FB). The smart muthas over at Google have been sitting back taking notes, people.

You know what happens to me all the time on Facebook? I get notifications about crap I have no interest in whatsover. It’s basically spam that is not only tolerated, but supported and integrated into the system by Facebook. Oh look, someone did something interesting and I got notified! Nope, someone asked me to like the Chevy Tahoe Fan Page. Oh, look! Something in my sidebar! Oh. It’s an ad asking me if I’m a Mommy Blogger Who Wants To Go Back To School. Um. Really? Oh, look, someone posted something on my wall! Oh. It’s a request to help their cow birth a calf on Farmville.

On Google+ none of this crap is happening. On G+ I am not limited to 140 characters, conversations can be easily had on every update in comments, images are huge and beautiful in posts and on my stream, nobody tries to get me to help them water their corn or shave their sheep, I don’t have ads in my face, WetBecky8325 isn’t following me and inviting me to her nude webcam, and I’m not forced to go in and turn off email settings every time some yahoo adds me to a new group just so I won’t get spammed ridiculously. Games are there for those who love them (including Angry Birds!) BUT – I haven’t heard a single peep from them in my stream. They are in a separate tab, and you don’t have to become involved.

Ahhhhh. (That’s me breathing a huge sigh of relief.)

“Circles” allow you to share your content exclusively with certain groups of people and not with others, publicly, or just with one person. They allow you to filter the content you receive in your stream, as well. You can block OR ignore specific users, based on your needs. You have control over your content, where it goes, and what you see. Oh, that just makes all kinds of logical sense, doesn’t it?

Google+ launched in Beta with a better product because they’re overcoming issues that we’ve all had with Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr for years. And on top of that? They’re actively listening and innovating like CRAZY right now.

Google+ is especially vibrant for photographers, and that is so great! If you are a photographer, you really, really need to be there. Photo sharing rocks, the photography community is bright and engaged – photowalks are happening all the time (and being actively supported by Google Staff) and you just can’t find a better place for photographers on the web right now.

So yay for Photography on G+! But you know what? This can also be an amazing place for Bloggers, Musicians, Videographers, Crafters, etc., as well. The key is getting your community over there, testing the waters, asking for changes relevant to your community and making it happen. The community on a social network is built by… guess who? The members of that community.

The developers will give the burgeoning community the tools they need. You can believe that this time that’s true – I’ve seen myself the members of the Google+ team interacting with the community of users, asking in posts and “hangouts” (awesome video chats on the G+ platform) what ideas we have for making things better, what we want, and talking about what they’re doing. They are hungry to make this product the best it can be, and just what we want.

Feed the machine by not only signing up for an account with G+ but also if you have one USE IT. Engage, consume, interact, add content, and use that “Send Feedback” button at the bottom right to tell them exactly what you think and what you’d like to see.

I haven’t seen anything in social media as good as Google+, and I’m really active in that area, and have been for years. Get in early and help build this thing up. Circle me here on my Google+ profile, leave your G+ profile link in comments – let’s hook up there.  Support your community of users, whatever that may be (blogger? Go post your content there and also engage with your peers! +1 their blog links and comment on their stuff).

And if you’re not on G+ yet – click this link and grab one of my limited invites or just let me know you want an invite and I’ll send you one. I have a bunch to give out and I want you there with me.

Like this post? Get in the spirit and click that +1 button right down here on the lower left.

On processing my Blissdom Conference experience.

There is so much. So very much, and there is no way I can touch it all in one post. I’m going to break this up into posts on different days (non-consecutive, of course, wouldn’t want to ruin my lazy douche reputation by posting two whole days in a row with words and stuff) as I speak specifically, and share photos (mine and others’) and videos with you as I go along.

photo by Mishelle Lane

And even then, I won’t be able to get it all across to you. The excitement, the freedom, the friendship, the FLASHMOB (oh yeah!), the chance to speak and share, the Community, the panels, the musical performances, the food and drinks, the fun, the laughter. The LOVE.

photo by Mishelle Lane

I’m going to try very hard, but there just seems so much and some parts of it seem so deep, that I fear I have not the skill, the time, the energy… to really make you see, hear, and feel it the way you should, the way I wish for you to, the way I did.

I’m going to tell you now, before I start the posts by day, that I truly love this community of persons I’ve become connected to these last several years. Some of you I am only connected to by the wisp of a thread, and we float into and out of one another’s lives only occasionally. Others of you spend time with me every now and again, us keeping up in bouts and starts and stops, flowing here and there; you make my life your here sometimes and your there at other times. Still others of you are tied to me like a lifeline, and I think of or hear from you every day; we’ve been with one another through happy times and hard ones, and everything in between.

photo by Mishelle Lane & Lotus Carroll

All of you amaze me, inspire me, and collectively form a thing I am constantly in awe of and drawn to endlessly.

Each of you should attend this conference next year, or the first time you have the chance to do so. I’m rooted in the heritage of BD and have been a part of this Blissdom Community since it began in a crazy, cowhide-covered-walls hotel with a pink crayon brazier in the lobby (no really), and I’ll be a part of it for the rest of its fabulous ride down the road. I can tell you that with absolute surety, and I will also tell you now that what keeps me coming back is not just my ties to its past, or my deep and abiding love for the woman whose heart dreamed this dream so fiercely that she made it come true, but for the HUGE sense of love, friendship, and community I feel while I’m at this conference.

There isn’t any substantial amount of time that you will spend alone while at Blissdom (unless you really want to be alone, and I’m right there with you on that one, we all need to decompress, and for me that’s hiding in my hotel room every now and then in the dark because I will be a complete hag to someone in that moment if I don’t, and also because I get REALLY GASSY when I’m traveling/nervous and you gotta excuse yourself every little while and let that out, but I digress) and you won’t find one minute when there isn’t something amazing right at your fingertips.

My word for this conference is LOVE.

Call me cheesy (I really don’t mind, cheese is one of my favorite things in the world), but that is the truth. And Love, when it is truly felt and shared and spread around, is basically the most wonderful thing that exists. Some pretty popular and talented Liverpoolers once said that it’s all you need.  I think they were pretty much right.

I’m looking forward to sharing these next several posts with you. I hope you enjoy them.

Oh, and one more thing: All you women out there, the ones I know well and hold dearly in my heart, the ones who have been with me for the past few years, and those who only check in once in a great while, as well as any woman who just happens to stumble through here for whatever reason, and even those who never read these words themselves at all or know me in the least (can you tell them for me?)…

~You are beautiful.

Community. Beautiful. #reverb10

Two prompts rolled into one post today. It’s like the Reeses Cup of Reverb Posts. How can you resist?

Day 7 Prompt – Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? (Prompt Author: Cali Harris)

Day 8 Prompt – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Prompt Author: Karen Walrond)

Community.

I’ve found it in my neighborhood – for the first time in my life I have neighbors who I’d also call best friends.  They have enhanced my sanity in countless ways over the past many months, and, man, am I grateful for them. (They also ply me with wine, and man, do I love them for that.)

photo courtesy of Kristi Pryor

I’ve found it in my town.  Friends who see your flaws and issues and don’t care, but go the extra mile to help you get around them are pretty damn priceless. (Especially the ones who make thinly veiled crotch jokes with you.)

And I’ve found it where I’ve found it for the last several years: online. On blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and with Skype, I have found, forged, and maintained friendships that will last a lifetime. Many of these are with people I’d never have met, much less had lengthy emotional conversations and in-depth philosophical discussions with, if it hadn’t been for this Information Super Highway.

The Internet saves my life a little bit every day (laugh if you will, I am not joking even a little) by connecting me with people who form a support network that gives me advice, makes me laugh, sometimes makes me cry (jerks) and lifts me up when it seems impossible to be anywhere but down.

Different?

I’ve spent my whole life focusing on the ways I’m different. My parents taught me that it was okay to be different. The world argued.

As an adult I know the truth: we’re all different from someone (which is okay, fabulous even), but nobody is different from everyone. And that is one of the very reasons we can find community here.

Because the things that make us different and the things that make us the same are all beautiful, in their place. They keep us connected while at the same time interesting and valuable to one another. We are able to share different perspectives, experiences, and strengths, while simultaneously finding kindred souls who share our heartsong.

One of the greatest lessons of my life has been this: the most beauty blooms when we don’t focus on either the similarities or the differences, but on being there for one another, supporting, building and growing together. Dare I say it, Loving together. Then we truly thrive.

Community. Beautiful.

Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. Use the end of your year as an opportunity to reflect on what’s happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead.

Compie Update & me ordering you to be my poem writing slaves.

Okay, quick compie update. Dropped computer off with awesome and super hot handsome and wonderful Tech Geeks today. Lugged the comp into the shop while pushing stroller, and one came running to help me. See? Super Wonderful and stuff. He said could be software issue, could be the hard drive (choking on own spit). His words: “If it’s the hard drive… well… it is what it is.” (blank stare of death)

Okay!

And, as I type this, the old comp I’m using is making… interesting sounds. Like, it literally sounds as if the thing is ripping farts occasionally. So, needless to say, I’m in a hurry to finish this and shut it off.

I have a fun proposition. Well, it could be a complete disaster, but I think it will be fun.

Neil did this fun thing where he wrote a poem with a friend… it’s really very good, go read it.

I want you guys to write a poem here. No, I’m not going to help. That would TOTALLY downgrade the whole “lazy douche” thing I have going. I would never want to do that! In fact, I’m thinking of changing the name of the website to Lazy Douche. Not sure yet.

ANYWAY.

I want you to write a haiku series in the comments section, like I post here on most Fridays.

What’s a Haiku? Read this if you want to know what Wikipedia has to say about it.

All you need to know though is that it’s a poem with 3 lines.  The first line has to be 5 syllables, second line is 7 syllables, 3rd line is 5 syllables.

(Again, you can click on “Fridays” above and see my past examples if you’re not sure.)

Got it? Okay. First commenter drops a five syllable line. When you get here, look at the last comment and figure out what to do next.

I know that there will be screwups and such, like people posting at the same time, but let’s just roll with the punches. When it’s all said and done, I’ll clean it up, and the end result will post here this Friday as my Haiku Friday Post.

Each line of yours that gets used will become a link back to you (if you have a website).

Yay! Make me proud, you wonderful people.

I just wanted to say…

You guys rock my world.
Thanks for all of your support
during these weird times.

You are amazing.
I really mean that. There is
so much love out here.

I wish everyone
could get so much support when
they are feeling low.

Your kind words, emails,
so often restore my faith
in humanity.

I’m always rocked by
how many of you I’ve “met”
in such a short time.

Thank you for caring.
Thanks for sharing compassion.
Thanks for being you.

It feels good to know
that I really can be real…
It’s okay with you!

I may seem like ‘she
who cares not what others think.’
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I care what you think.
And it means a lot to me
that you feel the same.

So I can show you
my highs and my lows and you
will not turn away.

And, apparently,
some even want to see my
unshaven armpit.

I mean, one of you
even triple-dog-dared me!
How can I say no?

Now you have suspense.
“When will she post her armpit?”
Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I guess what I’m saying is, can’t we all just get along, bitches?

Sometimes, when I’m surfing around Ye Olde Blog World, I notice, here and there, some rather harsh words relating to the whole “Mommy Blogger” Trend. The harshness seems to be multiplied when referring specifically to the Stay-At-Home breed of MB’s.

I try not to get offended. It ain’t easy, because:

1) I’m stupidly sensitive and ridiculously, pathetically easy to hurt.

2) Ack. I’m a “Mommy Blogger” (the SAHM breed), and those rude comments? Could be directed at me, easily.

(I realize that they are not, but I’m into taking things personally. It’s part of my Mental Issues thing.)

It’s funny. (You know, not funny-ha-ha, and not funny-queer, but funny-f’ed up.) I see people say things out there like how if you stay home all the time with your kid(s), you aren’t a “real person” with your own identity. Or maybe they mention that if you talk about your kids every day, or even quite often (especially if you talk about their fecal habits or post “inappropriate” photos of them), you are clearly vacuous.

[Oops. I happen to talk about my kid's fecal habits. And I'll mention now, some people have told me that my photos of Braden are inappropriate, and should not be posted all over the Internet for "pedophiles to drool over." Rather, they should be kept private. (Thanks for your opinion!)]

Further? It seems that there’s a group of people out there, for whom, just saying, “Oh, that’s just not for me,” is not enough to get their feelings across on the whole matter. For some reason, there is a need to actually flame “Mommy Bloggers,” and to put them down in an extremely derogatory fashion. I’ve seen comments out there like, “Mommys make me sick and wouldn’t go near one of their blogs with a ten foot pole.” Wow, alrighty.

I want to point out that I quite understand that no one will like every type of website. I mean, I’m not hittin’ up the Automotive Blogs every day, because I just don’t care for them. Besides, who has time for Automotive Blogs when you surf as much Asian Porn as I do?

But I digress.

My point here is, you don’t like something, cooool, but there’s this condescending, derogatory undertone I’m noticing; this sense that talking about your kid(s) often is just completely intolerable. As in, you know, it would make you sick to have to read that. As if it were all about bashing in the heads of bunnies with a mallot, or extolling the virtues of Martha Stewart’s Towel Line at JCPenny. I mean, THAT I could see throwing up over.

Sometimes, the indication is even that if the SAHM would just get a job and do more outside of the home then they could be considered to be an actual, intelligent woman with a life. Someone with a brain. WTH, people? Have we taken such a huge step backward as women – hell, as people - that we can’t just SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER no matter what our decisions in life are?

So, here I sit, feeling stupidly offended and ridiculously, pathetically hurt.

**Not asking anyone to come to my rescue. There is no “troll” to hunt down, no bashing to be done. Let us not form a mob today. (We’ll save the pitchforks and fire for another day, eh?)

I just want to “talk” about this for a minute. And maybe “listen” to you guys have some intelligent discourse on the matter when I’m done.

Pretty please?

See, on a personal note, the thing is this:

This is a season in my life. I have, in my short 31 years, already been through a variety of phases and stations in life. I have occupied many different roles, and continue to do so today.

My opinions, feelings, beliefs, and values have changed over time, and also continue to do so (maybe I’m just a flake!)

I’ve been the Curious Kid, the Ambitious Pre-Teen, the Angst-Filled Teenager, the Party-Hardy Young Adult.

I’ve been a Slacker, Driven College Student, Hopeful Graduate Researcher, Disillusioned Degree Seeker.

I’ve been an Ice Cream Scooper, Weight-Loss Trainer, Milk-Shake Maker, University TA (Teacher), Retail Temp Worker, the Manager of an Upscale Store.

I’m a High School Graduate, College Graduate (BA), and Grad School Graduate (MA).

I’ve been Drama Club Dork, Band Geek, Phi-Kapp-Phi, Psi Chi.

I was Magna Cum Laude. And I will still laugh at the middle part of that.

I’ve been a Daughter, Sister, Best Friend, Jerk, Worst Enemy, Girlfriend, Cheater, Ex-Girlfriend, Mistress, Betrayed Wreck, Lost Soul, Fiancee, and Wife.

Now I’m a Momma, Mommy, Mother, Mom.

I’m a Woman. A Person.

I’ve been an Atheist, Agnostic, Christian, Other.

I have FREAKED OUT on people. I have held my tongue and moved on.

I’ve been a Thief.

I’ll even admit to having been, to some degree, no matter how small, Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, Righteous. (Feel free to throw stones. Just make sure to step out of your glass house first.)

I’ve also been Moral, Just, Tolerant, Humble, Meek.

I’ve Wronged, Grudged, Apologized, Forgiven and Been Forgiven.

I’ve learned and grown and changed and loved. I laughed, cried, rejoiced, wanted to die, and just been mellow.

I’ve regretted, hoped, wished, and planned.

I’ve done wrong and I’ve worked to make things right.

I’ve been compassionate after being judgemental, and understanding after being intolerant.

I’m a Woman. A Person.

I used my heart, body, and mind (BRAIN) all the way from there to here.

Now is when I have a website where I talk about my current station in life, and the experiences related to that. Now I happen to be a mother who is not gainfully employed outside of the home (label me whatever you want – “Mommy Blogger,” SAHM, Ignorant Loser, PunkAssBitch – whatevs).

I will talk about my child. Often. Shit is an experience I’ve had with him. I’ll talk about it. I’ll also say lovey-dovey, sickly sweet and annoying things about my feelings for him. I will post photos of him that I think celebrate his beauty, without worrying who lives down the street from me or what “weirdos” are viewing this website online, because that’s not how I live my LIFE.

Others will judge. So be it.

When I started this website, I didn’t even know about the whole “Mommy Blogger” thing. While I had recently discovered her blog and loved it to pieces, I didn’t know that Dooce had planted a seed that blew up like gang-f’in-busters and that fifty-gagillion other moms decided to write about theirs lives and kids, too, as I was embarking on just that enterprise.

I just want to talk about what floats my boat right now, ya dig? I want a creative outlet where I can celebrate exactly who I am right now (and maybe talk about who I used to be, and who I might become, too!). I want to create a history of this time in our lives for my family. I’m a mother, and I’m not ashamed that I stay at home and devote my time here. For now, it is what I choose to do, and I am lucky to have that choice. Later, it may all change. Let’s see where life continues to go, right?

Incidentally, I use this website to broaden my horizons and practice other interests I have, such as writing and photography. And, of course, I have other hobbies and interests that I’ve never even mentioned here. But, alas, when they pick apart the “Mommy,” they judge with slanted eyes while viewing just a slice of life. Just the portion you’ve had time to tell.

Like I said, it may be a little ridiculous that I am even offended. I don’t feel that I fit the derogatory “definition” I see out there of the so-called “loser Mommy” who “has no life outside her children.” And yet, somehow, I feel that perhaps many women are being crammed into that category just because The Crammers are in short supply of actual facts, and in a hurry to judge those who have chosen a different path than their own.

Do not assume that I do not have a brain or that I am not a real person with a real identity just because of this station in my life, or just because I rejoice in and focus on things that are different than those which you rejoice in and focus on.

And I will not assume just as rude, ignorant, and short-sighted things about you.

Deal?

Veronica’s Courting Me

I swear it. She’s trying to butter me up for some lesbian love.

Only kidding!

But she did give me another button that makes me smile all big and toothy:

If you give me chocolates next, Veronica, I’m going to know something’s up.