Giving in to the seven-month itch: two blogs and one Facebook page later

photo by Michael Runtz

These past weeks, I have indeed been beavering away, working hard  on creating a blog,  Facebook page, newsletter and the first of a series of newspaper articles, all for a client,  in my new (communications consultant) body.  And you’ll see that my own blog has gone from black to white.   Literally.

Maybe it’s the seven-month itch,  building over months of learning, then billowing like Marilyn’s skirt in a whoosh of sustained activity.

Coraline called out,  piquing my interest with a scrubbed, clean  face attached to a well-muscled frame.

I’d already sampled  what Coraline had to offer.  Days earlier, we’d had our first encounter when, unencumbered by any existing  relationships, I was drawn to this theme for my client’s blog.

It was now more personal.  For months, I’d been attending to others’ needs, putting aside my own.

So I said yes.

Looking back, I’d never been truly happy with Chaotic Soul.  At the start of the relationship, I was infatuated with the way images displayed against the dark background.  The name itself was seductive. Yet, as happens with the spouse whose “little” habits finally become  more than you can take, I found myself increasingly irritated by the unfriendly white type and  formatting quirks.  I may have contributed to the discord by  importing from Word.  I now practice safe texting,  with Notepad.

Coraline is good for me. I think the new header ties in better with the name of my blog, and my cutline–learning social media, out of my job and comfort zone— is  also more evident and connected in this new theme.

The conversion was, dare I say it, almost easy, enabled by @timethief and WordPress support.  I began by following @timethief’s instructions on setting up a mirror blog. The import/export worked beautifully.  Then it was on to the wicked widgets.  Again looking to my WordPress North Star for help on placing images in HTML tables, I was able  to  set up a welcome text and incorporate social media icons and links in a tidy text box.  I was very happy with WordPress’ timely introduction of sharing  buttons.

There will be some fallout from the new relationship:  I’m changing my name. Yes, by using karenruntz in my URL, I’m cutting past ties.  But I now recognize that it’s better to be monogamous with one consistent name as I build an identity across my new communication channels.

I watched  true master builders crunching and munching almost within touching distance last weekend in Algonquin Park.

Driving along Basin Road with my brother Michael and his spouse, Ann, we had stopped to investigate changes to a downed poplar we’d noticed early the previous evening as we headed the cavalcade for  Bonnechere’s wolf howl.  The howl’s an annual event that Michael, an author, educator and naturalist, is invited to host each summer.

Neat, eh. Watch for the rest of this tale in “Giving in to the seven-month itch” part 2.  Real soon, I promise.