As I was standing in the hallway at the Blog Indiana conference last week waiting for a session to end, two men were chatting next to me about burning down the place where I work.

“Yeah, I hate PastaQueen’s workplace,” one said. “They’re evil.”

The other man got out his business card and said, “I agree. I’d love to take them down.” He handed his card over.

“I’ll help you go down there and torch the place some night,” the first man replied.

Wow, I thought as I stared through the glass door willing the session to end. I’d better not mention where I work. And next time I’m at the office I’d better take careful note of the fire exits.

Despite this flaming start, I enjoyed hanging with Hoosier bloggers last weekend. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a first-time blogging conference where the main focus was our location. Indiana is known more for its corn than its blogs and physical location seems irrelevant when it comes to the web. Many people blog because they can’t find people [...]

• Continue reading "Blog Indiana: I am not the only blogger in Indiana. Who knew?"

I cannot read your mind, but I try to. When I write blog entries I try to anticipate how my readers will react. I try to avoid writing words that will unintentionally piss people off. I try to counter-argue objections in advance. I try to avoid analogies that might swerve the conversation off topic. I think about the unexpected ways people reacted to entries in the past so I can avoid mistakes in the future.

I call it defensive blogging.

Still, I’m a long way from putting a sign on this blog saying, “Readings from PastaQueen, certified psychic.” Sometimes I post entries about vulnerable issues and I’m scared to check my email because I don’t know whether I’ll get a “Hell, yeah!” or a “Yeah, you’re going to hell.” Sometimes I read an old post and wonder why the hell I didn’t anticipate the ways people reacted. Here are some of the ways I try to blog defensively, and some of the reasons I’ve failed to block a punch.

Missing landmines because I focus on the whole [...]

• Continue reading "Defensive blogging – I’m not clairvoyant but I try to be"

Yesterday, I told you how my formerly fat ass ended up in Kansas City at the Hallmark Blogger’s Conference. To find out what happened after that, continue reading.

• Continue reading "Greeting cards from Kansas City, Part 2"

Why is this man holding a sign with my name on it?

Continue reading to find out.

• Continue reading "Greeting cards from Kansas City"