Droopy

I'm a little droopy. I started getting a sore throat last night and I've been pretty droopy today. I haven't felt too bad, but I'm a littl under the weather. I've been sucking down zinc and drinking OJ and I'm optimistic that a good night's sleep will do wonders for me. I'm headed upstairs to get started on that good night of sleep. I hope it goes as I anticipate and that I wake up feeling much perkier.

Big News about Big Love

I have Big News about "Big Love," the new HBO series coming March 12 - they're advertising on the "Art of Gracious Living" podcast. I'm very excited about this. It's a cool thing for me, especially since my podcast is so new. www.artofgraciousliving.com or http://www.podcasternews.com/details.php?N=726 to listen on your computer or portable device.

I haven't gotten to see the show yet, but have watched a trailer. You can see it by clicking on the ad above. Time magazine says Big Love "may prove to be... the next cool thing on TV." It's certainly an interesting concept - a man with three wives who live in adjoining houses. It sounds like "Desperate Housewives," but with fewer husbands. Of course, HBO gave us "The Sopranos" so they obviously know a thing or two about interesting concepts.

I'm thrilled to have one of the podcasts they're advertising on. Podcasting is one of the parts in my plan to make a living being me, so I'm tickled to have an advertiser so early in the show's history, and really excited it's a well known company. Obviously, my show is far too new for this to generate tons of money for me, but it's a big step in the right direction.

It's also exciting that a company of HBO's stature understands the value of podcasting. Podtrac and PodcasterNews have been instrumental in making this deal happen. Podcasting is going to be a driving force in the advertising market, and it's gratifying to see that some companies are already grasping that.

That has been my big news for a few days but I couldn't announce it until this week. Needless to say, I'm tickled pink.

Ramblings

I have spent a large part my free time the last 24 hours at the computer. I've been working on websites I already have and also getting some new domains I'm interested in. I'm also trying to move one of my sites to a new server and that's not going as smoothly as I'd hoped.

I'm contemplating a couple of new podcasts and decided I should go ahead and see what domains were available before I picked a name. That's getting to be a necessity these days.

It was gorgeous here today. My neighbors were barbecueing when I got home from the office tonight. That may seem odd in February in Kansas but it was in the 70s today. It's supposed to be 80 tomorrow. I have more flowers blooming.

I took advantage of the weather to hang out clothes early this morning. It was a bit cloudy but already warm. I also got the numbers on the mailbox this afternoon. I don't suppose it's really necessary as I've never had them before, but I bought some small ones and put them on anyway.

I went up to see Terry's mom again tonight. She was sitting up and had been up for about an hour. They moved her out of intensive care today. I'm so tickled she's doing so well.

I'm thinking about scheduling another journalling class. The last one I taught went pretty well. I think there might be interest in another one - maybe with a different bent.

I'm trying to get motivated to work more on the house. But I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day to get everything done I need and want to get done.

Podcasting Basics

I'm getting a lot of questions about podcasting these days. So, I'm going to attempt to answer the basics about doing a podcast.

One really important thing from a listening standpoint - anyone can listen to a podcast. You don't need an iPod. You can listen on your computer.

Podcasts are sort of like TIVO or VCRs for audio.

Please realize I'm a novice at this, so if you're really interested in getting into the podcasting business, it might be wise to invest in a book that gives you some details. Todd Cochrane is the head of the network I podcast with now and he wrote one of the first books about this format.

Here's what you need to do a podcast:
*computer that has a place to hook up a microphone - anything produced in the last few years will have that
*microphone
*software to record with - I use audacity - it's free - and it will convert to mp3 files, which you can use online
*somewhere to store your files - I used my own webspace until I started with the network, now they handle that - libsyn is a popular place for doing that - you upload your files just like you'd upload a photo or anything else
*if you want to take it a step further you'll need an rss feed - google for instructions on how to do that - I did it and I'm no technical whiz - but you don't have to have that

The other thing you need is a topic. There are lots of podcasts, and more every day, so spend some time listening to what's out there. Decide how much time you want to invest in this, and schedule yourself accordingly.

Art of Gracious Living is only five minutes long, but it certainly takes me more than five minutes to do it every week. I update every Friday but I think I'll move to Saturday because in my category on the network almost everyone updates on Friday and its too much content all at once in that category. So I'm going to move mine, I think.

There are lots of people who are doing this for "the fun." I am not. I'm doing this as part of my long term plan to make a living being me. The idea of doing it for fun is the same as people who get radio jobs because it's fun. It is fun, but I've never had any job that wasn't fun on some level. I've been paid for my voice work, producing and writing since I was in college - so more than half my life now - and I don't intend to start giving it away.

What many people who don't have a broadcasting background are going to find out a few weeks or months from now is that this is work. There are already podcasts that have mysteriously disappeared after a few episodes. So, be prepared that this is an extra job you're taking on. There's a reason people get paid to do radio - it's work - fun work, yes, but work.

I have a couple of other podcasts I'm considering, and bought the domains just today. But, at the moment, I have very exciting news about Art of Gracious Living. HBO has purchased some advertising on about 30 podcasts and Art of Gracious Living is one of them. I will be sharing more details in the near future, but it's for their new show, "Big Love." I could not publish this information until midnight EST on Feb. 27, but it's now officially public. Needless to say, I'm very excited about this development.