At Peace with Social Media

You can find The Tao of Twitter here.

This semester my Media Writing students at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester have been tweeting. They tweet whenever they post an assignment to their blogs; they tweet when we decide on a hashtag to promote during class, and many of them have been tweeting about things that are of interest to them outside the requirements of the class.

After reading The Tao of Twitter by Mark W. Schaefer, the students were required to blog about the book. All twelve of them did, and they tweeted about it. In perfect harmony within the Twitterverse, Author, Blogger, Professor, and Consultant Schaefer tweeted back to some of them, retweeted many of them, and in some cases even followed the links to their blogs and posted complimentary comments for them.

My students were thrilled that one of the leading social media marketing experts took the time to respond to their assignment. By gaining a response to their work from someone other than their professor, Schaefer instilled in many of my students a sense that social media really is a place for conversations to flow and new friendships based on common interests to flourish.

The Tweet @markwschaefer sent me to share with my class:  @biscottidana Please thank your class for me. I really appreciate the very wonderful blog posts they are writing! Great job!

Wondering What's for Dinner?

Gluten-free corn bread, which can also be made dairy free.

If you're eating gluten free and low acid like me, it's a challenge to create interesting, delicious dishes night after night. After more than a year on my restricted diet, I've launched a page on my "Confessions of a Chocoholic" website, the site that is dedicated to those who are newly diagnosed with interstitial cystitis (or IC, sometimes also referred to as the lovely and sexy "Painful Bladder Syndrome").  I am trying to bring new ideas to the table, posting five recipes a week.

Fish is always a good choice. Striper is delicious when fresh.
(Poster created by my son when he was in junior high.)

Gluten-free yeast bread can be tricky. This was easy though,
thanks to a new mix from Bob's Red Mill. 

Does beautiful Polish pottery make the meal taste better?
I like to think so! Inside the casserole dish is a Shepherd's Pie
waiting to be baked.