I am  a Link Hound, a Research Ho, and I’m going to share with you some of the best links I’ve found on the ‘net the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, there’s something here that will inspire you, help you, or amuse you. If so, please leave a comment on the site you visit, or leave me one here . Enjoy!

Helpful:

A brand new forum of internet marketers, Simple Machines Forum promises to be THE place to be for all things related to getting your business off the ground and running. It’s in the early stages yet, but there’s the potential for a great meeting of the minds and an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. I’ll definitely be picking some brain cells here.

About Freelance Writing – Anne has a great website  for freelancers. She sends out a newsletter twice a week with the jobs she’s been able to scour from the ‘net. Definitely worth signing up, and I have never received any spam.

I advocate the use of social networking sites to get your brand and your name out there, and Twitter has been great for that. Using TweetDeck, an application that helps you manage your Twitter feeds, allows you to filter searches and connect with other people with similar interests. Of course, I must have my toys, and to make it easier for people to follow YOU, here are some free Twitter Buttons for your site and some free backgrounds to pimp up your Twitter profile.

Blogging Tips is a fabulous resource for bloggers. They have a cast of professionals publishing articles on everything from article marketing to how to set yourself up for 2009 looking for freelance work. Their newsletter is crammed with good information from some of the best in the business.

If you’re on FaceBook (if you’re not, you should be!) check out this freelancing group, where freelancers meet and share job links and information. There’s strength in numbers, and in the Wild World of Freelancing, we all have to stick together.

Insipiring:

Long Distance – I have been an admirer of this man’s work for some time, but this particular story tugged at my heart, and hard. I’m a lover of flash fiction, and this is actually the best I’ve read in a long time. Leave him some comment love if you have a mind — it’s really an excellent story. Flash can teach us a lot about writing in general, and to me, this is a brilliant gem.

Did you know most of H.P. Lovecraft’s work can be found online for free? Neither did I! Sure to steal at least a few nights of sleep, almost his entire body of work can be downloaded for your reading pleasure in a handy-dandy zip file. I am not responsible for the nightmares — enter and read at your own risk. (Thanks, Eric!)

I’ve loved this book since I read it in middle school. In my opinion, it should be required reading for every person. Here it is some thirty-some years later, and this story still resonates with me. That should tell you something (other than the obvious fact that I’m OLD. Like, O-L-D. *sigh*)

Amusing:

Let’s face it, we all spend a lot of time on the ‘net. A LOT. Every once in awhile, you have to let the brain cells rest, lest they overheat and cause a fire with smoke and flames. When I get to that point, I’ll meander over to Crazy Days and Nights for my celebrity-trash fix. The blogger is hysterical, pulls no punches, and it’s refreshing to read about people with money and fame that are worse of than I am, poor and unknown. Heh.

If that doesn’t blow your whistle, then I’d recommend getting a free reading from the Tarot. No, I don’t know what the hell it means either — I keep getting swords, and THAT can’t be good. Oye. You can earn Karma coins, although I’m not sure how, and I’m not getting that involved. I just like to peek in on the Universe and see what it’s up to.

Of course, one must have music to work. Open Pandora, and tweak to your heart’s content, creating a radio station that plays ONLY WHAT YOU WANT. How cool is that? If you’re all set with music, head on over to Jams Bio and read some spectacular memories other people have of the very same music you’ve heard. There’s plenty of inspiration there as well — it’s amazing to me how different, yet how similar, we all are.

Those are my top picks for this round. Leave me a comment if you’d like to see this as a regular feature, and I’ll make it so. Meanwhile, if you visit, don’t forget to leave a comment to thank those that put out such quality work. It encourages them to keep doing so, and we all benefit.

Karma, yanno.

Image via Wikipedia

One thing I’d like to emphasize is the need to document our lives for the next generation. Blogging has been ideal for this. In the olden days, before typewriters, computers and word processors, people actually kept written diaries. You know, like with paper and pen? Actual ink? I know, isn’t that wild?

Not only did people keep written diaries, they also wrote letters to each other. It was one of the only ways of communicating, especially over distance. I find this fascinating — we take so much for granted, these days. We are a society of instant gratification. Imagine writing a letter to a loved one asking an important question, and having to wait for DAYS…maybe even WEEKS for a response. The suspense would kill me.

Because of Momma’s passing, I’ve come to look at blogging in a whole different light. A couple of years ago, I encouraged her (some may say “nagged”, but that’s not entirely correct) to blog. She once had a column in the local newspaper that she wrote for years, back in the 70′s. She was intrigued and curious about blogging, and did end up blogging until March of this year, when she put all her effort into fighting her epic battle with cancer.

I am grateful beyond what I can express that not only do I have the articles she wrote in the 70′s about her children in the early years, but also the blog she kept in later times. When I feel particularly lonely or sad, I visit her there.  Since there is no grave at which to mourn (she donated her body to the local university,) it is a virtual place for her family to be able to pay homage and receive comfort.

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The point of all this is, you might have a “business” blog, but I encourage you (not nagging, heh, just saying) to keep a private one as well. There are plenty of sites that offer this option; LiveJournal provides filters for subject matter, and MySpace lets you keep your entries to private only. Many sites allow you to password protect your entries; some hide everything from the search engines. The passwords to my private accounts are in a safe place, and should I Buy The Farm unexpectedly, there is protocol in place to unlock all my secrets.

Well, maybe not ALL. A girl has to have some things for herself. Heh. You know, like my Sex Secrets and where I’ve hidden my millions. (Millions of what, I’m not telling.)

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My private blog contains letters to my unborn grandbaby. It documents life-changing experiences that have ultimately affected both my children and their children. Maybe it sheds some light on when and why I’ve done the things I have, imparting some kind of sense on how they’ve become the wonderful people they are.

When I’m gone, my children will have documented memories of me. My grandchildren will know me in a way previous generations never knew their ancestors. Some day, historians will use stories like mine to reconstruct a time gone by, in my own words with my own experiences.

I think that’s pretty cool.

Image by PrASanGaM via Flickr

Blogging has really become second nature to me. When I started, almost five years ago, I had no goal and no agenda. I was just beginning to seriously put words to paper, and two writers, whom I admire greatly, maintained blogs. I thought it was great discipline, a way to connect to others, and didn’t really think too much beyond that.

It wasn’t until I was writing an assignment for a client on spiritual and ethical wills that the scope of my daily blogging really hit me.

Ethical wills have been around for centuries. A family of Jewish rabbis (scholars and translators) became known for their translations in the 12th and 13th centuries. This one family (ibn Tibbon) is responsible for the translations rendered into Hebrew, of the chief Jewish writings of the middle ages, and their legacy of ethical wills is still studied today.

Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon wrote an ethical will to his son, Samuel, that is noted for its homely style and frankness. In it, he conveys advice ranging from morality to how to prepare oneself for translations, and recommending a free library and constant practice of writing and translating skills. His loving and fatherly advice shine from every word, and you come away with a clear picture of what made this man tick, what he cared about and how much he wished for his son.

Over the years, my purpose in blogging has undergone several changes. I’ve blogged for myself, for my friends, and for my family. What I have come to realize it is a legacy, of sorts, a legacy that money can’t buy. My experiences are unique, and hopefully contain some kind of wisdom that my heirs can use.

Every one of us has a story, and every one of us has a unique voice. Blogging or journaling in some way gives us an opportunity to reach across generations, and leave to our heirs the story of our lives that only we can tell. Lessons we’ve learned, opinions developed, special family moments preserved. Through my blog, I’m hoping that a future generation will know me as a person, and not a distant ancestor, boring and old. I’m hoping that my children and grandchildren will know me as someone who lived life, and didn’t just sit on the sidelines, waving.

When you’re thinking of blogging or composing an ethical will, keep in mind the following questions to help you focus:

Of course, not every blog entry is so seriously considered, nor should it be. Some things are private and personal and should remain so. My purpose is to convey more than moral lessons or proper social etiquette. My purpose is to reach out and touch, to document and inspire. To me, that’s a legacy worth more than any material thing I could leave behind.

Image via Wikipedia

I’m a big fan of blogging. I’ve had a personal blog for friends and family for four years, and I’ve tried to blog every day. To date I have over 1800 pages – enough to fill a couple of large books, or four smaller ones, or a combination thereof.

Why, you ask, would someone blat out a blog entry every day? What on earth have I found to talk about every single day? More to the point, what is the motivation for my daily blogging habit?

I started blogging because a few of my writer pals from another site had blogs, and it seemed interesting and a good way to keep in touch with family and friends who span the four corners of the world. It seemed to me to be a great form of discipline; a good habit to develop. It soon became my daily crack – venting, whining, celebrating, weeping, laughing – and I met some amazing people who were doing the same thing. (Well, maybe not as much whining.)

Then, something happened. All of a sudden my silly blog took on a whole new significance for me. I started doing freelance work for a client, and one of the subjects was spiritual and ethical wills, and how the sum of your life is more than the pile of toys you’ve amassed. And I started to ask myself…Self? If you made out a will today, what would you be leaving your children?

I don’t have a big pile of anything really, other than words. Words that build the story of a life of a woman in the 21^st century, trying to make sense, make a living, and make something of herself. Hopefully, my children and grandchildren will know me as more than Mom, or Gramma, and through my blog and my words, know me as a real person. A person that’s silly and irreverent; creative and still suffering from an identity crisis. Hopefully, they’ll be able to relate to the trials and tribulations, and maybe they’ll find inspiration or even just a laugh or two.

I don’t have a million dollars to leave my children, but I may have a million words – and I think that’s worth more.

So, if you don’t blog, think about starting one, even if it’s just for you, at first. And if you do blog, think about what legacy you’re leaving behind for your loved ones. Blogging is a great way to communicate your belief system, lessons learned from this life, and opinions garnered from the unique experiences of your life. No one can tell your story like you can.

Now, go tell it.

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Today’s Quote: “The only reason people hold on to memories so tight is because memories are the only thing that won’t change when everything else does.” Author (Unknown)

Today’s quote courtesy of coolquotes.com.