Paper Bridges » Internet culture

Bible reading resources for the summer

Monica Brand — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:21:28 +0000

I’ve found three ways to help you get more Bible reading this summer. All are online so you can take these on vacation with you.

Read the Bible in 90 Days hosted at Mom’s Toolbox. Starts July 1. I will be doing this, watch for updates here.

Bible Cafe for Women is working through the workbook Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy by Kelly Minter as part of a Beth Moore Summer Bible study 3. I signed up for this six week study and have yet to purchase my book, so I need to do a little catching up.

Scripture Dig is a new website designed to help you dig deeper into your Bible. Daily posts on how to get the most out of Bible study, meditation on Scripture and which version is right for you. No Bible study offered right now, just getting really comfortable with the ins and outs of the Bible.

Let me know if you are going to participate in the 90 day Bible reading or with Bible Cafe. See you there!

Did I miss a resource? Online, book or website, share the link in the comments.

Blog Hop for book bloggers

Monica Brand — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:15:41 +0000

Aren’t they a cute couple?

I just found the Book Blogger Hop in my Internet-rabbit-trails exploring. If you are in need of more Kindred Spirits of the book blogger fare, click over to link up and have fun getting to know new-to-you book fans.

Reading American Gods with thousands of my friends

Monica Brand — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:48:42 +0000

As I was checking out @donttrythis‘s Twitter time line (yes, we are huge fan’s here), I found a link to a gem.

It’s called 1 Book, 1 Twitter and as of May 5, the group is reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I think it’s fair to say this group reading project might be the largest book reading club ever. A fellow reader put together this map of those who indicated they are reading along, so you be the judge.

I’ve never anything by Gaiman before, and am now currently somewhere in Chapter 4 of the book. I will not be using this novel as a read-aloud to the kiddos (that’s my nice way of saying this novel has it’s naughty bits, be forewarned, Gentle Reader.) But I’m going to ignore the s*x, looking for the undercurrent of gods and God. I’ve already found a reference to Jesus in one of the god-characters – interesting is all I can say without spoiling the book.

Now. If only I could magically transport all the 1 Book, 1 Twitter participants into my living room for coffee and pasty and book chat, this would get only better. O, the joys of Twitter!

So if you see me with a #1b1t next to my tweet, you know what I’m talking about.

Join us? Follow @1b1t2010 on Twitter, use the hashtag for discussion.

Are paper books dead?

Monica Brand — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:06:17 +0000

I do. I don’t know how long it will take. You know, we love stories and we love narrative; we love to get lost in an author’s world. That’s not going to go away; that’s going to thrive. But the physical book really has had a 500-year run. . . But no technology, not even one as elegant as the book, lasts forever.

That’s Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, mastermind behind that eReader gadget known as Kindle answering the question posed by Newsweek magazine: Do you think that the ink-on-paper book will eventually go away?

Now I ask you -

Will the traditional paper book cease to exist?

Is technology that powerful?

Are we so addicted to our electronics that the eBook will send the paper book into extinction?

And do we care?

image: scrapetv.com

I won! I won! Ok, I’m calm now

Monica Brand — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:18:42 +0000

I won!

O, happy day! A Sony Pocket Reader! I’ve been fantasizing of how awesome a Kindle would be, but at the price tag of almost $300, it’s a not happening right now. I had to read the post at 5 Minutes for Books twice to make sure I wasn’t dreaming – I was that shocked and excited. A Sony Pocket Reader! I can’t wait to try it out. Woohoo!

Have you won anything lately from a blog, Twitter or other another place in the online world? Let’s jump up and down together.

No related posts.

Focus elsewhere

Monica Brand — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:04:41 +0000

Not a break from blogkeeping, just social media. Have fun in the Land of Constant Communication. I’ll be back…

Yesterday afternoon

Monica Brand — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:32:19 +0000

For those of you not in the know – I called 911 yesterday afternoon because I thought I was having a heart attack. Welcome to 40, eh? Sheesh, I’m feeling old.

I’ll give a more detailed update later as to what happened, but for right now, I’ll leave you with this:

Twitter is the fastest way to communicate with a ton of people. Many thanks to everyone who responded to my call for prayer – you guys are the best. I wish I could reach though the computer and give you all a huge hug.

Blog book tour: Flickering Pixels (How technology shapes your faith) by Shane Hipps

Monica Brand — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:38:48 +0000

A snip from Flickering Pixels (How technology shapes your faith) by Shane Hipps:

The Internet is a lot of things, but it is emphatically not a neutral aid. Digital social networking inoculates people against the desire to be physically present with others in real social networks — networks like a church or a meal in someone’s home. Being together becomes nice but nonessential.

What say ye, readers? Agree or disagree? Let’s discuss.

Twitter is the new blog

Monica Brand — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:49:35 +0000

I really believe that; Twitter is now the most popular way for online women to communicate to a large audience.

As you know, I took an extended leave from Twitter and Facebook from late February to April 9. Not clicking over to Facebook was easy; Twitter I missed terribly. A few times I thought of breaking fast and jumping back in. The chatter, the direct messages, seeing that @ reply in the stream is a real kick in the pants.

And I was lonely. Giving up Twitter, it was like I wasn’t part of the blogging community anymore. I was still here blogging, leaving comments and reading other blogs, but I wasn’t part of the larger group, because they were all still giving their attention to Twitter (imagine that!). All my traffic coming from Twitter, dropped to almost nil. I missed that too. It reminded me of being a newbie, trying to find readers and build up traffic.

It wasn’t that long ago when we would visit blogs to meet each other, now we visit Twitter to meet virtually.

Not only that, but when one of us – and I’m talking moms who blog - is hurt, suffering or wronged, Twitter takes up the cause. Remember Motrin Moms? Currently, twitter moms are raising money for the March of Dimes in memory of the daughter of a mom blogger. You can do that with a blog, but with Twitter, and the amazing hash tag, it’s so much easier.

So I’m back on Twitter, but this time with a better approach. For one, I’m not going back to that compulsion to constantly send tweets out regarding little snippets of life. I enjoy the word pictures of what people are doing, that’s why I like to tweet that too, but I feel a need to tip the balance toward helpful information. Links folks can use, learn and grow in knowledge.

If you follow me, you may have noticed I’ve been sending out links about women and children in crisis. The more I read about poverty, it’s connection to human trafficking and the sex trade… sad stuff there. That’s the new purpose to my tweets – getting the message out about these precious lives worth far more than the 140 characters I dedicate to them.

Blogs won’t die. But they are no longer the dominate means of social interaction for women on the web.

What do you think? Am I completely crazy or wicked smart? You have up to 140 characters to explain your opinion. Kidding – Twitter humor, of course.

A Woman Inspired: final thoughts

Monica Brand — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:14:35 +0000

I say final, because we’ve been chatting all week, haven’t we?

At the A Woman Inspired conference, we learned, laughed, even crying together – all though our Internet access. Who says nothing good can come from cyberspace? Humph. I’d sign up again – and still go back for more. There is nothing like getting encouragement and godly teaching from like-minded sisters.

My final thoughts:

1. Even though I didn’t get to “attend” all the sessions, it’s okay, I’m not freaking out like I lost money. I can download them for listening at my leisure (read: when the kids are in bed and I won’t be interrupted too much).

2. Loved the chat feature. That really made it interactive and not just one gal lecturing at us. Lectures get dull fast, the chat was just enough to keep me engaged without getting distracted. On Monday, the chat wasn’t up yet; I’m so glad it worked for the rest of the week.

3. Twitter. Then when we weren’t listening, chatting and asking questions at the conference site, we were on Twitter with the #awi hash tag to talk even more. How very ladylike of us. Looking for ways to talk. The good thing about the extra place to chat, was that we didn’t fill the conference chat up with too much silliness. Twitter helped us get that out.

4. It wasn’t a conference, it was a Church. My favorite moment of the conference was Tuesday morning when Heather shared her concern about her MRI scheduled the next day. How amazing it was to watch these ladies encourage, pray and love all over this home schooling mama. It was beautiful. From what I remember, there was a bit of “I’m crying” posted in the chat box (yes, I was teary too.)

Janice had a lot to say regarding depression and taking medication. Natalie told me if I practiced, I could have an accent just like hers. Shelly wrote a book I want to read. Ali and Melissa teamed up to talk blogging, and I heckled Mrs. F from the cheap seats. Too much fun! (FYI: If I tease you, I want to be your friend. I’m weird like that.)

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea – I enjoyed myself.

That’s it for me. What did you like about the conference? What didn’t you care for? Heck, let’s CHAT about the conference some more.