Help Spread the Word – Writing for the Web Class

There is still room available in my Writing for the Web course at Clark College Corporate and Continuing Education in Vancouver, Washington, just across the river from Portland, Oregon. This professional development course runs from June 11 – 27, 2013 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9AM – Noon. The class size is limited so there […]

WordPress Course at PCC-Rock Creek in Beaverton

I will be teaching a WordPress Introduction college course at Portland Community College in Beaverton, just west of Portland, Oregon, starting April 3 – June 12, 2013. The course is a hybrid online course meetings Wednesdays from 6-9PM with a minimum of two hours online per week. Called “CMS Website Creation: WordPress,” this 3 credit […]

Blog Exercises: Quoting and Blockquotes

In “Copyright: How to Quote and Cite Sources,” I explain all the details you need to know about how to quote and cite other sources. Let’s review for this Blog Exercise. According to International Copyright Law, you are allowed to quote from original sources without violating copyright law if you copy content in accordance with […]

Welcome to the New Blog Exercises

Your doctor tells you to exercise. You tell yourself you need some exercise. You play Sudoku and other mind games to flex the brain. We all need exercise, even bloggers. In the past, my Blog Challenges have been well received but its time to update them. I used to call them challenges, then prompts, but […]

What Would You Do Over If You Could Blog Over?

I recently ran across an article from 2008 by my friend, Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today called “If I Could Start My Blog Over Again….” It made me think about what I would do if I could start over again. In August of 2005 I sat down to write my first few posts for a […]

Blog Challenge: Worst Business Decision

As we continue exploring our mistakes, with last week’s blog challenge about the worst mistake we’ve made in a relationship, this week I’m going to challenge your work history and experience. Blog about the worst business decision and mistake you’ve ever made. We’ve all made dumb business decisions. Taken jobs we hated, told off a […]

Blog Challenge: Worst Relationship Mistake

We all make mistakes in everything we do. That’s part of learning. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to challenge you to blog about some of the mistakes you’ve made, and the lessons you learned and how these mistakes changed your life. As usual, these blog challenges are very specific, encouraging you to dig […]

Blog Challenge: Where Do You Consistently Find Inspiration?

In response to a post on Pennwriters Area 6 HQ on Inspiration and Dedication: Creative Resources, I wrote: …And yet, I find incredible inspiration in the little things, the things that inspired writers for thousands of years. A moment shared. A conversation overheard. A glance down a new street. A journey. A unroutine routine event. […]

Blog Challenge: Describe Your Software – Then and Now

Last week’s blog challenge was Describe Your Computer Setup – Then and Now. This week, I am challenging you to blog about your blog software, then and now. I’ve used just about all types of computer technology, from the early days of data storage on gigantic floppy disks to magnetic cards to “640K is enough […]

Blog Challenge: Describe Your Computer Setup – Then and Now

This week’s blog challenge is to blog about your computer setup as it was “then” in the early days of your computer life, and how it is now, in your modern technology life. What computer tools are you dependent upon for your blog that surround you on your desk? Do you podcast? What do you […]

Blog Challenge: Unusual Blog Subjects

This week’s blog challenge is: What’s the most unusual subject for a blog you’ve found? There are a lot of bloggers out there, but who have you found blogging about the most unusual subjects? Please do not list yourself. Let’s celebrate the diversity of others in blogging. So much of the time we spend studying […]

Stripped Down Naked to Honor Web Designers and Developers

In honor of April 9, 2008, as CSS Naked Day, my blog is going naked. I discussed this a few days ago with details on how to strip naked your blog if you would like to join in the celebrations. By going naked, my blog stands with thousands of others who recognize and honor the […]

Blog Challenge: Whatcha Reading?

I recently finished rereading all the books, one after another, by two of my favorite authors, Alan Dean Foster and Terry Pratchett. I read the whole Discworld series in order, then the Humanx Commonwealth by Foster in “chronological” order. It was wonderful to submerse myself in other worlds for extended periods of time, putting off […]

Blog Challenge: Testing Your Blog’s Accessibility

I’ve talked a lot over the years about how important it is to design your website or blog to be accessible. There is a growing number of bloggers and blog readers who are reading your blog right now with a screen reader which reads your blog to them, or some other magnification or screen customization […]

Blog Challenge: Blog About Being Small

Last week, I challenged you to blog about being “big” or a success, giving you the challenge to blog about a moment when you felt “big” or write about what it would look like if you were “big” or a success. This week, I want you to think “small” – when you weren’t a success. […]