This next Featured Villager is not only a lawyer, she has accomplished my life long dream to play in Carnegie Hall. That’s right! Janie Hickok Siess is pictured with her flute as the Delta Winds performed in Carnegie Hall on March 28, 2007! Along with the wonderful soundtrack of their debut, Janie is an avid fan of “The Soprano’s” and pens a weekly installment to recap the show.
Janie keeps busy on her blog with memes for almost every day of the week: Sunday Scribblings, Monday Candle Moment, Wordless Wednesday, Thursday Thirteen, Friday’s Feast, and Photo Hunt (on Saturday’s). Her day of rest must be on Tuesday’s!!! Don’t forget to check out her other blogs, “Here’s looking at…me!” and “The Stockton Concert Band”. So without any further ado…I introduce you to Janie @ Colloquium…
Janey Loree ~ Who is Janie? Tell us something about Janie that you haven’t posted in your blog Colloquium!
JHS ~ I don’t come from a privileged background (my father was a car mechanic and my mother was homemaker) and couldn’t care less about money, wealth or the social status those things bring. I just want to have enough to live comfortably. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, I realized I could not spend the rest of my life looking at balance sheets, ledgers, tax returns, etc. because I just couldn’t make myself care about any of it. I needed to earn my daily bread doing something that required a more meaningful investment of my entire self. So I continued on to law school. There, once I took my first civil rights course, that was it. I knew I had found my niche.
Janey Loree ~ What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?
JHS ~ I was moved to start blogging during the final days of Terri Schindler-Schiavo’s life because I was so distraught about the fact that her parents’ legal appeals all proved futile.
For six years, I litigated Conservatorship of Wendland all the way to a victory before the California Supreme Court. I am among a select group of attorneys who understand the stress of handling a high-profile, high-stakes case over a protracted period of time.
The cost for all involved was enormous. In my case, it impacted my physical health, but also changed me in many other ways. I wanted to share my experiences by telling the cautionary tale in order to encourage everyone to make end-of-life decisions while they are capable of doing so and communicate their wishes to their friends and family orally and in writing. A battle about how to proceed in the face of incapacitating illness or injury is devastating to family, friends, caregivers, attorneys, guardians, judges, justices. As noted, I, along with everyone else involved in the Wendland case, am living proof that no one comes out of the battle unscathed.
A lot of people told me I should write a book. I prefer to blog about it . . . which I am doing gradually. It’s too overwhelming to try to write about all of it at once and more than five years later, I’m still processing my thoughts and feelings about that momentous battle.
From there, the blog evolved into a discussion of all sorts of topics, some very serious and some more light-hearted.
In January, I also became a featured weekly writer for Write Stuff. Between the two endeavors, I’m having a great time and learning a lot about writing and myself.
Janey Loree ~ When do you find time to read other blogs?
JHS ~ Late at night and on weekends. I can lose a lot of hours following links . . . I’m sure your readers can all relate!
Janey Loree ~ Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?
JHS ~ I clicked on the link that I found on another blog . . . don’t remember which one, though.
Janey Loree ~ Why did you name your blog “Colloquium”? Is your blog personal, business, therapeutic, or just plain fun?
JHS ~ The word has several meanings, but this one is the reason I picked the name: “An informal meeting for the exchange of views.” That’s what I hope this blog is: A place where people feel comfortable dropping by, reading my ramblings, and sharing a thought, feeling, opinion or viewpoint.
Janey Loree ~ How many BLOG VILLAGE blogs are you linked to?
JHS ~ Oh, gosh . . . I don’t know! Where do I find this information?
Janey Loree ~ If you join sites like “Technorati” or “Referer.org” and add the appropriate HTML coding, you can keep an eye on who links to your blogs. I am sure that other VILLAGERS can give you pointers on this as well…such as Jim over at “Tips For New Bloggers”.
Janey Loree ~ Bonus Question: Of those BV blogs that you are linked to, which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?
JHS ~ I enjoy Scribbit.
But there are so many wonderful blogs listed . . .
Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.
If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Hits IN ---- Hits OUT
If I find this confusing, I'm sure there are others who do, too. So I decided to do a search on the gotop100 forum for administrators, and I found this very simple explanation:
Out of the 364 members who are currently showing on the blog, only 98 have a vote, since the reset on May 9. That's very discouraging, as I thought for sure that putting all the blogs back on with the new SEARCH box would encourage more participation.
But then I got to wondering about how many blogs were being clicked on from our toplist, whether they got votes or not, and that made me feel a WHOLE lot better! Out of those same 364 members, there are 320 that have been viewed by someone who found them on BLOG VILLAGE!!! That's what the Hits Out number means, and that's impressive. People may not be taking the time to vote, but they are taking the time to read, and that's what really counts, isn't it??
May 23 will be our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. In that time, we have had a total of 512 Villagers, many of whom I have deleted for not keeping the BLOG VILLAGE voting banner on their blogs. Only a handful have been asked to take the banner off, because of their unwillingness to edit posts or pictures that were not appropriate for our community.
We have actually grown to be one of the larger toplists on gotop100, which speaks well of all of you, as other bloggers are constantly asking to join. In fact, I have 6 blogs waiting for me to look at them right now. So, I guess I'd better quit rambling and get busy checking them out, right??
I've met a lot of interesting people, become good blog friends with some of you, and enjoyed reading about a lot of places and lives that I would never have know about otherwise. All in all, I think it's been a good year, and the number of Hits Out makes me feel like my efforts have born some good fruit. I hope you feel the same way.
Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.
If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.
Incoming hits are how many visitors a site has sent to your top list using their link code. Outgoing hits are how many visitors your top list has sent to the site.I've been rather discouraged that I haven't been able to interest our Villagers in voting for each other, but I must admit that finally understanding HITS OUT makes me feel a little bit better about BLOG VILLAGE and my goals for our Village. I checked to see just what our statistics are at the moment, and I'm feeling better.
Out of the 364 members who are currently showing on the blog, only 98 have a vote, since the reset on May 9. That's very discouraging, as I thought for sure that putting all the blogs back on with the new SEARCH box would encourage more participation.
But then I got to wondering about how many blogs were being clicked on from our toplist, whether they got votes or not, and that made me feel a WHOLE lot better! Out of those same 364 members, there are 320 that have been viewed by someone who found them on BLOG VILLAGE!!! That's what the Hits Out number means, and that's impressive. People may not be taking the time to vote, but they are taking the time to read, and that's what really counts, isn't it??
May 23 will be our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. In that time, we have had a total of 512 Villagers, many of whom I have deleted for not keeping the BLOG VILLAGE voting banner on their blogs. Only a handful have been asked to take the banner off, because of their unwillingness to edit posts or pictures that were not appropriate for our community.
We have actually grown to be one of the larger toplists on gotop100, which speaks well of all of you, as other bloggers are constantly asking to join. In fact, I have 6 blogs waiting for me to look at them right now. So, I guess I'd better quit rambling and get busy checking them out, right??
I've met a lot of interesting people, become good blog friends with some of you, and enjoyed reading about a lot of places and lives that I would never have know about otherwise. All in all, I think it's been a good year, and the number of Hits Out makes me feel like my efforts have born some good fruit. I hope you feel the same way.
Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.
If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Who Is Naomi?? Read about Our FEATURED VILLAGER
Janey Loree ~ “Who is Naomi? Tell us more about Diary From England!”
Naomi ~ “I’m a British born secretary and aspiring writer, currently working on my first book. I have lived in England all my life. My hobbies include writing, travel and dancing. Diary from England is an online journal covering the latest news, updates and information on life in England. A wide range of diverse and interesting topics are covered to attract a wide readership. I also have useful information and links on my blog for anyone planning to visit England in the future. I only set up my blog in January last year but I have already attracted a lot of interest. Some readers are people who hail from England originally and like to read news from their homeland. Others are just curious to hear what goes on in another country of the world apart from their own! A lot of people have e-mailed me to say how much they enjoy their visits to Diary From England, which is great. After losing my dad to cancer, I have also recently set up a charity initiative so that anybody who enjoys their visit to Diary from England can show their appreciation by making a donation to a cancer charity. It could save a life.”
Janey Loree ~ “What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?”
Naomi ~ “I saw a few blogs when I was surfing and thought it would be good to start one myself. I thought it would be good to have a little space on the worldwide web and somewhere to practise my writing skills. I always think life is for living and I always try to live my life to the full and enjoy every day. I enjoy meeting new people and trying new things. Setting up my blog, "Diary from England" was a challenge and a whole new adventure for me. Its been a lot of fun and I'm learning new things every day. I'm also building up a good readership of many people from all over the world which is great!”
Janey Loree ~ “When do you do your blog reading?”
Naomi ~ “I don’t have that much spare time as I hold down a full-time job and am working on a book as well! But when I do, (usually at weekends), I do most of my blog reading at Blog Village. It’s a great community of good quality blogs covering a wide variety of topics.”
Janey Loree ~ “Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?”
Naomi ~ “I saw the Blog Village banner on a number of blogs I looked at, so I went over to have a look and decided to join myself. I really enjoy being a member of Blog Village. It’s a nice community of friendly people over there. I have made a few cyberfriends whilst being a member.”
Janey Loree ~ “Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?”
Naomi ~ “My blog is personal. I use it as my little soapbox on all the latest happenings in England! I’ve always loved writing and I’m in my element when I’m writing posts for my blog. Writing on my blog gives me a real buzz. I find it very relaxing and a good way to unwind after a busy day at work.”
Janey Loree ~ “How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?”
Naomi ~ “I try to post two or three times a week and just maintain the one blog:- www.diaryfromengland.blogspot.com Come over and visit me soon! Thanks for taking the time and trouble to interview me Janey.”
You are most welcome Naomi. Since I first interviewed Naomi, (back in January) I have developed a cyber friendship with her. Her blog is filled with great posts about health issues, the Queen, the English Bobby, English news as well as taking the time to post a couple of articles that helped me out with research for a couple of our paperdolls! I am even more partial to Diary From England now that Naomi is our International Correspondent from England!! Drop by and tell her that you read her interview on the BLOG VILLAGE News!!!
If you would like to be interviewed email me at memories@pjscorner.net. Keep in mind that there are several interviews ahead of you so your interview will not be posted right away. At this point in time, look forward to interviews from Janie over at Colloquium, Lynda at Pilates & Reiki in Paradise, Granimore at Funeralis, and Bill at Recovery Addiction Basics.
Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.
If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.
Naomi ~ “I’m a British born secretary and aspiring writer, currently working on my first book. I have lived in England all my life. My hobbies include writing, travel and dancing. Diary from England is an online journal covering the latest news, updates and information on life in England. A wide range of diverse and interesting topics are covered to attract a wide readership. I also have useful information and links on my blog for anyone planning to visit England in the future. I only set up my blog in January last year but I have already attracted a lot of interest. Some readers are people who hail from England originally and like to read news from their homeland. Others are just curious to hear what goes on in another country of the world apart from their own! A lot of people have e-mailed me to say how much they enjoy their visits to Diary From England, which is great. After losing my dad to cancer, I have also recently set up a charity initiative so that anybody who enjoys their visit to Diary from England can show their appreciation by making a donation to a cancer charity. It could save a life.”
Janey Loree ~ “What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?”
Naomi ~ “I saw a few blogs when I was surfing and thought it would be good to start one myself. I thought it would be good to have a little space on the worldwide web and somewhere to practise my writing skills. I always think life is for living and I always try to live my life to the full and enjoy every day. I enjoy meeting new people and trying new things. Setting up my blog, "Diary from England" was a challenge and a whole new adventure for me. Its been a lot of fun and I'm learning new things every day. I'm also building up a good readership of many people from all over the world which is great!”
Janey Loree ~ “When do you do your blog reading?”
Naomi ~ “I don’t have that much spare time as I hold down a full-time job and am working on a book as well! But when I do, (usually at weekends), I do most of my blog reading at Blog Village. It’s a great community of good quality blogs covering a wide variety of topics.”
Janey Loree ~ “Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?”
Naomi ~ “I saw the Blog Village banner on a number of blogs I looked at, so I went over to have a look and decided to join myself. I really enjoy being a member of Blog Village. It’s a nice community of friendly people over there. I have made a few cyberfriends whilst being a member.”
Janey Loree ~ “Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?”
Naomi ~ “My blog is personal. I use it as my little soapbox on all the latest happenings in England! I’ve always loved writing and I’m in my element when I’m writing posts for my blog. Writing on my blog gives me a real buzz. I find it very relaxing and a good way to unwind after a busy day at work.”
Janey Loree ~ “How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?”
Naomi ~ “I try to post two or three times a week and just maintain the one blog:- www.diaryfromengland.blogspot.com Come over and visit me soon! Thanks for taking the time and trouble to interview me Janey.”
You are most welcome Naomi. Since I first interviewed Naomi, (back in January) I have developed a cyber friendship with her. Her blog is filled with great posts about health issues, the Queen, the English Bobby, English news as well as taking the time to post a couple of articles that helped me out with research for a couple of our paperdolls! I am even more partial to Diary From England now that Naomi is our International Correspondent from England!! Drop by and tell her that you read her interview on the BLOG VILLAGE News!!!
If you would like to be interviewed email me at memories@pjscorner.net. Keep in mind that there are several interviews ahead of you so your interview will not be posted right away. At this point in time, look forward to interviews from Janie over at Colloquium, Lynda at Pilates & Reiki in Paradise, Granimore at Funeralis, and Bill at Recovery Addiction Basics.
Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.
If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.
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Girls Can Change the World
Adolescents make up a large percentage of the population, especially in developing countries.