"Would you like to come over this Saturday and let the girls play for a few hours?" the woman next to me asked as we watched our daughters tappa-tappa-tappa their way through dance class.
"I'm sorry. I have a photo shoot so we won't be able to," the words tumbled out of my mouth before I consider the consequences.
"Photo shoot? Are you a photographer?" she asked.
"I...uh...sort of. It's a part-time thing," I hesitantly replied.
"Oh! Do you have a website?" she responded, clearly interested in perusing the conversation in a whole new way.
FUNNY QUESTION, THAT.
Website? Me? Do I have a website? Hmmm...let me think about that. I don't have a photography website. Yet. Soooooooo...no! I don't have a website!
Oh. This one? THIS ONE? Hooboy. This one isn't at all a secret, but I don't exactly walk around telling people it exists. You aren't going to catch me telling the cashier at the Iggle, "Hey, check out my blog!" nor do I casually mention it in any conversations with anybody EVER. NEVER EVER.
(Side note: one of our neighbors always seems to walk outside just as Alexis and I are working on a chalk photo. That neighbor has to think I'm insane. Normal people do not routinely teeter on top of a ladder with a camera while their kid pretends to fly.)
To be honest, I don't often mention any sort of social media to people I know outside of social media. Twitter? What's that? Facebook? Oh, I don't really use that. You know, privacy concerns, n'at.
The thing is, I'm not the only one who compartmentalizes social media activities. It seems like the people who don't get it just plain don't get it. They trivialize the value of social media and we let them. I mean, how many of you have blogs that you keep secret from your families? Or twitter accounts that you use heavily, but you freak out if somebody from "the real world" finds your account?
Why are we ashamed of the very real conversations and relationships and successes we have because of social media?
I don't know.
But right now I want to fly my social media freak as high as I possibly can. I want to run through my neighborhood yelling, "I love the people who read my blog!" (I hate the word blog, for the record. Like, it makes me cringe just typing it. HATE HATE HATE. I still want to go yell that I love you for reading it, though.) I want to grab a bullhorn and drive through Pittsburgh proclaiming, "SOCIAL MEDIA IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Christmas Crazy. Goal Reached.
$3500 worth of toys will be going to Womansplace this Friday. $3500 worth of toys will be under the trees of kids who have suffered the consequences of domestic violence. $3500.
You guys are absolutely amazing.
GROUP HUG!
I'll post the final total for Christmas Crazy 2011 next week. There's a whole bunch of stuff I haven't included in the running total because I work in phases with this stuff, but I will tell you now that it's a very good number. It's a very good number that includes stories about generous souls who drive three hours with a carload of toys, young men who choose to collect toys for a donation instead of birthday presents, and a whole bunch of other Awesome People Who I Will Forever Adore.
It's a number that makes me incredibly grateful for each and every one of you.
Oh, and if you haven't had a chance to donate, there is still time to get in on the lovefest. It all goes to Womansplace so that they can continue to do amazing things.
Thank you. Yes, YOU.
(I'll post the photo later. That much big hair deserves a post of its own. Trust me.)