Confucius Would Be Proud

I think it was Confucius, the revered Chinese philosopher of ancient times, who said, "The trip of a thousand miles begins with a single step." (If not, maybe it was that guy who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull--the one who was so popular about the same time as bell bottoms and "Hair.") Anyway, whoever it was really hit the nail on the head.

I'm still a rank amateur compared to the veteran Twitterers and Facebook junkies, but I've come a long way since I started this blog on March 16. I'm tweeting like a cotton-pickin' canary, and have acquired 28 followers (not all of whom are related to me). I've selected 43 people to follow, including my aunt Brooke, Jane Fonda, PR gurus Mark Ragan and Christine Perkett, the wonderful Rachel Maddow, and a very nice lady named Ashley who is willing to share recipes.

I'm checking in on Facebook several times daily, too. Once I discovered that half my family was there, it didn't seem so intimidating. Now I'm enjoying all the little nooks and crannies in Facebook where people stash photos, news about Facebook groups, weird little quizzes, "gifts" to send your friends, and even pretty little come-find-me eggs. There's plenty there yet to know.

I've redesigned my company website using iWeb, the site design program that came with my MacBook Air (there's a link to the site at the bottom of this page). Now I can edit and update it myself instead of having to call the guy who developed my original site.

I've also purchased an iPod, downloaded nearly a dozen albums and two podcasts so far, and even bought a little armband-clip gizmo so I can listen to walking workouts and burn off all the weight I gain sitting like a stump at my desk while Tweeting, Facebooking, e-mailing and doing actual work.

I still have a long way to go before I understand the full extent of the online opportunities, or have the knowledge and technical skill to take advantage of them. But I feel as if I've made a good start.

The best thing about my leap off the social media cliff is this: I feel very energized by learning new things. Making my "leetle grey cells" (as Hercule Poirot would say) work a little harder has blown some of the rust off them. I may be an old dog, but it's reassuring to know I can still learn a few new tricks.

P.S. I just watched Jane Fonda say the same thing--about old dogs learning new tricks--on "The View." She looks MAHVELOUS!