More KiniaCat on the Internet

I seem to have expanded my Internet "Footprint".

Inspired to Read more by the Internet
I was Introduced to the Goodreads website by an invite from Heather Ordover, my Tri-Fold Knitters Bowl teacher who is also an author, the mastermind of the Craftlit Podcast and of Crafting a Life Originals.

I went to peek at Goodreads, became rather smitten with the prospect of something like a "Raverly" for books, and created an account - as KiniaCat. (I try to be consistent with my alter-ego names and limit my AKAs.)

I have always loved books; a love I inherited from my parents and that is shared with my siblings and friends. Reading is my original hobby. Although Knitting is now the primary addiction interest, I still love to read (sometimes while knitting!) and generally have several books underway at the same time.

But, I have to confess, I think logging what I'm reading is actually inspiring me to read more.
(It might appeal to my list-making/check-it-done mentality.
Or maybe it just gives me some "evidence"of my book-reading accomplishments?)

Inspired to Tweet. 
(I know, I never thought I'd go there either.)

When I traveled to Portland for Sock Summit 2011 (yep, more SS11 blogs are pending), I got to meet Natalie, NatKnit of the "I am addicted" blog, the "Cloudy with a Chance of Fiber" podcast, AND...she puts out a daily internet magazine: NatKnit Daily. I am agog at what this woman accomplishes - she definitely has more than a Footprint on the Internet! AND there's more...one of the things that made me think about going to look at Twitter...she hosts weekly KnitChat on Twitter. That caught my ear. It's a weekly forum on Twitter where folks "tweet"/discuss knitterly stuff (there's also a CrochetChat and a SpinChat!).

I was tempted by her Twitter adventures and put "Check out Twitter" on my Internet to-do list.
I also began to notice most of my favored Podcasters were on Twitter: The Knitmore Girls, David Reidy of the Sticks and String, the Knit Wits, and favored blogger, The Yarn Harlot has been tweeting for a while. The list of tweeting Knitterati goes on...

Yep, I finally went to look at Twitter and I created an account as... {surprise} @KiniaCat.
(Note - I'm only "real-time" tweeting when I have access to wi-fi so most of my Tweets are tardy comments.)

My original intention had been to lurk and I found alllll sorts of other spiffy people to "follow" on Twitter: the Dalai Lama, Heather Ordover, Tina Newton, Cindy from Sock Summit (Yeah!), NatKnit's Natalie, Cast On's Brenda Dane, Stephen Colbert, Cat Bordhi, Robin McKinley, Franklin Habit, Simon's Cat, Dolores Van Hoofen...the list is long and varied. Pretty much a good chunk of the people I admire, knitterly or not, are on Twitter.
(I have to say, I find the ironic contrast of following both the Dalai Lama and Dolores Van Hoofen rather delightful!)

Again, my original intent had been to lurk. And then...one of those knitterly people I so admire... "Followed" me back on Twitter. (I'm pretty sure out of sheer politeness.)

Suddenly, I felt like I was required to tweet something clever and interesting.
And my mind was a blank! I literally looked around the dining room trying to think of something interesting to say.
Nothing useful came to mind beyond "Need to refill the cat bowls" and "I really should get my sewing machine off the dining room table".

There was nothing in my mind that seemed remotely interesting. And even as I knew that they'd followed me as a kind, polite, response to my following them, the personal expectation that I needed to somehow perform/reward that following was nearly overwhelming.

So...what were my first Tweets?
You guessed it, the Cats provided (and continue to provide) cheap twitter entertainment:

"Treating cats to small lunch meat bits. CooPurr's lands on his head. He shakes head furiously. Gryphon licks lunchmeat off cabinet door."

and later...

"BTW...Gryphon has been revisiting the cabinet door this evening to make sure there is no more meat stuck to it..."

Oddly enough, I now have a few more followers beyond that first "courtesy" follow. Some are friends from SS09. And some are spiffy new-to-me knitterly types. I don't know how they found me, but I follow them back gladly when I perceive their fiber orientation and clever minds.
However, there are also...spam-y types that appear suddenly to follow me, but they seem to go away in a day or so if I don't follow them back.

I am finding that I'm getting exposed to more worldly news and fibre-articles as the folks I'm interested in tweet about topics in which they're interested. I retweet the things I'd like to remember, things with which I wholeheartedly agree, and also the things that make me laugh out loud.

So. I'm Tweeting. (still can't quite believe I went there.).  And...I like it.
But I still have a great deal to learn about Twitter and Goodreads. My cluelessness is seriously evident.

Will there be more "KiniaCat" on the Internet? I don't know.
There are some seriously clever things being created here.
However, I have realized I am spending a bit more time on the internet. Possibly more than I should.

We'll see what happens next.
It could very well be that there is already more than enough "KiniaCat" on the Internet.

(Oh, but there is this one other website folks keep mentioning that looks amazing: Pinterest.
It reminds me of "Inspiration Boards")  ;-)