This blog started out as an assignment for work. Over a period of a few months we were assigned 23 things to do on the web and then blog about what we learned. I'm not sure if I wanted to do this but since it was required, I did it and loved it. My blog has never had a real focus but in the last few weeks I've decided to focus on family. I'm trying to organize old family photos, memorabilia, and genealogical material and post some of this on my blog. My niece is doing a lot of genealogical work too and this has inspired and motivated me.

I may continue to throw in an occasional political rant or a cute dog picture or story but most of what I will be posting from now on will be about my family and our roots. I'm going to try and remember to label everything I post about family as "family" in addition to the names of the people in the posts.

Stuff White People Like (The Book)

What happens when your blog has over 18 million hits? You get a book deal. Christian Lander, the author of the blog Stuff White People Like http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/ has signed with Random House for a book, which will be released in August. It will feature some material from the blog but most will be new content. Christian promises to keep updating the blog too.

Week 10: #23 Is this really the end? Or just the beginning...

Having this blog has been the most fun and educational thing I've ever done at work and I will continue to blog about things of interest to me (unlike the dog in the cartoon)

One really nice thing I've noticed is a spirit of cooperation among co-workers. Everyone in my department has at one time over the course of the 23 Things been the "expert" who helps others and we have all at one time or another needed help with some of the exercises.

Some of the features I like that I didn't know about before are the Library Elf and Bloglines. I've discovered some great sites through Bloglines that I check everyday, like Treehugger and I like the email message I get from the Library Elf every week telling me what items I have on hold, what I have out, and what is waiting for me.

With technology changing daily, I hope that this will be something we can continue, perhaps adding a new exercise every month or so. I believe this will be of benefit to all of us, especially the staff who work directly with the public.

Many thanks to all the people who organized this program and to the poor person assigned to read this blog and wade through all the non-work related entries.