50 States? 50 Blogs!: Florida

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Fourth Grade Nothing

Florida -- now home state of my parents! 

WARNING: There may be a lot of ramblings in this post.

Anywho, I'm pretty sure that my finding this blog was kismet. Not only am I a child of the '70's, which is the premise of this blog (I guess if you weren't a kid in the '70's that gobbled up Judy Blume books then the  title of the blog would mean nothing to you), BUT the very first post ever on this blog spoke to me in a personal way that not many other blogs do. (A photo is required.)

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Know who that doll is modeled after?
Archie Bunker's grandson Joey.
Know who got that for Christmas one year?
ME.
I got a doll with a penis that peed water when you gave it a bottle.
The horrors!!!!
Yeah, so the author of the blog writes in her very first post about her Mom giving birth to a boy (she bawled her eyes out because she wanted a sister) and her Dad went out and got her the Joey Doll and all was well. Ally and I are forever tied together through the Joey Doll. ::sigh::

Further proof that perhaps we were separated at birth? We both LOVED Pippi Longstocking. (I remember that I had the Pippi Longstocking View Master reel.)

Oh, and even though Ally's a Yankees fan, I still love her blog.

Things that caught my eye about this blog:

• Ally is REAL. She tells stories about her childhood (and not some picture-perfect faux childhood). This post about being a not so-good student in phys ed classes keeps it real. (Oh, and I can relate.)
• Ally has taught me a thing or two. I thought I was up on all '70's & '80's toys. How come I don't remember a Holly Hobbie Bake Oven? (Admittedly I got some rockin' gifts as a kid [see above for Joey Doll], but this would have been THE best. [I had a Holly Hobbie themed bedroom.]) Oh, and that pink boom box in you just saw in the last post I linked? I rocked that. Literally & figuratively.
• She seriously has some of the best photos of  '70's/'80's 'stuff.' This post with early '80's accessories is one of my faves. Yup, I had all of these.

Things on this blog that I'd like for my blog:

• Giveaways! And I'm not just pointing that out because I happened to win this one on her blog.
• Ally has a "companion" Facebook page. I know that a lot of blogs do that and I think it's cool, just not sure that I have a large enough readership.

I admit that I haven't read every post on Ally's blog, but I'm dying to. It's like taking a walk down memory lane!

If you were born in the early '70's or are just a '70's/'80's pop culture lover, I highly recommend you check out Fourth Grade Nothing!

I Need to Write a New Blog Post or Two or Twelve

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This picture reminds me of high school.

"Why" you ask?

Senior year we had to take a "computer" class. I put that word "computer" in quotes. I'm not even sure if "computer" was in the class title. Might've been "Keyboarding." (Any of my fellow classmates remember?)

Classroom was in the basement and I remember having to RUN to get there because if you were one of the last few people to arrive, guess what??

You had to work on a TYPEWRITER.

Yes, that's right.

Some of you may not even know what a typewriter is, but that's one in the photo.

There were only so many "computers" in the classroom.

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(Do you see why I put "computer" in quotes? Yup.)

(Yes, this roundabout ramble should be coming to a close soon.)

There were a few times when I didn't run fast enough (could've been the hairspray weighing me down) and had to work on the typewriter. Ugh. Even in 1990 that was so 1980's.

So, yeah. I Googled "must write blog post" and that picture of the typewriter is what I got. And you got this story. See how that all worked?

Back to the business at hand.

Things I must blog about:

• Bon Jovi concert (another item to check off of the "30 Before 42" list)
• Consumer reviews of some new food items I've tried
• Movie review of "Mud"
• "50 States 50 Blogs" -- Florida is next and I have a blog to review
• Volunteering
• And drumroll please...we have progress in moving towards finishing the basement! (Here's a little teaser):

Let's Talk Twitter

I joined Twitter in June 2011 (hard to believe it's been over two years -- time flies!). I joined because it seemed like the thing to do.

I was on Facebook.

Next step in social media progression?

Twitter.

Only a few of my friends were on Twitter at that point and I quickly lost interest. (My attention span isn't that long to begin with.)

Over time, I realized that many of my favorite celebs were on Twitter. (Confirming that it was really them by only checking out the verified accounts.)

Here's a smattering of celebs that I follow (although my husband might call it stalking):

• Susan Wittig Albert (@SusanWAlbert): One of my all time favorite mystery authors.
• Denis Leary (@denisleary): Funny comedian/actor.
• Jerry Remy (RemDawg) (@Jerry_Remy): Broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox
• Chris Bohjalian (@ChrisBohjalian): Author of several amazing books.
• Kelly Ripa (@KellyRipa): Actress/co-host of "Live with Michael & Kelly" (or is it "Live with Kelly & Michael?)
• Kevin Millar (KMillar15): Former  Boston Red Sox player

and on and on.

I never really thought much about actually sending a Tweet to these people, but mostly just reading their innermost thoughts (of course, revealed through Twitter.)

Then, I wrote a blog post about five things I'd bring to a deserted island. Since one of those was books by Marian Keyes, my hands down most favorite author ever, I decided to tweet the link to her:

I didn't get a response and I was disappointed (I'm so naive.) I kind of laid off Tweeting to "celebs" or if I did, I just told myself to have no expectation that they'd actually read it, let alone reply.

And then...

Just a few short months later...

During a Celtics game, I randomly responded to a tweet by Holly Robinson Peete (for those of you from my generation, star of "21 Jump Street" and "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper." for those from a later generation, contestant on "The Apprentice.")

She had made some comment about Doc Rivers' (coach of the Boston Celtics) voice being hoarse and him needing a throat lozenge.

I replied to her Tweet and the magic happened.

Holly Robinson Peete (I almost typed "Tweete") LOL at ME. Little ole' me. Can you believe it?

I then figured the sky was the limit and started replying to other celebs' Tweets or even just sending my own Tweets to them. (Now, let's get one thing clear. I wasn't doing this 24/7. I don't live in my parents' basement. I'm just talking more than almost never...Occasionally.)

I ended up actually getting a few more responses or "favorites" by celebs!

Chris Bohjalian (aforementioned author):

Melanie Benjamin (author of the recent hit, "Aviator's Wife" and supporter of libraries):

Cowboy Troy (country/rap (?) singer who sings, "I Play Chicken with the Train," which was the song that Donald Driver & Peta Murgatroyd danced to and won "Dancing with the Stars" with. [Isn't my pop culture knowledge downright frightening?])

OK...my favorite of all. Remember (I'm asking just in case you have a short term memory problem) how my first Tweet to a celeb went ignored? My fave author of all time, Marian Keyes was silent?

Well, guess what? She "favorited" a Tweet that I sent to her (I realize that you can't see that SHE favorited it, but take my word for it.) Oh, and I like her even more now that I know that she hated the movie Lincoln just as much as I did. (Which I know puts us in the minority.)

Twitter's not all about the celeb connection for me. I started following the Massachusetts State Police after the Marathon Bombing and came across this gem. My witty friend @adeandorau had a response that put a smile on my face:

Twitter's cool in its own way, but still not my favorite form of social media.

However, should you choose to listen to my drivel/sometimes witty posts, you can follow me @KatieSully3.