February 7th -- Steemit Ramble #140 -- Curating Great Posts for You

shadowspub (70)in #curation • 8 years ago (edited)

Wel, started off the week with a very bleak looking set of markets, not only the crypto markets but the fiat ones as well. We’re seeing a strong turn around today and the price of both STEEM and SBDs are on the way back up. Who knows how long the rise will last but we’ll enjoy watching the green a whole lot more than the red.

In my part of the world we got a dump of snow Sunday and are getting another one today. January went by without much in the way of snow. The long range for February is looking like this will be the month for it. Since I don’t stir out of the house when it’s snowing. That is more writing time for me.

Looking forward to having the time for more writing.

Onward to today’s rambling

Introducing the Writers’ Block Book Club (TWBBookClub): Where writers read

Writers write and good writers read, a lot. @thewritersblock has opened up a book club. One book a month will be read with accompanying questions and a writers prompt depending on what perspective you want to take. Looks like it could be fun.

My 1 Year Anniversary on Steemit (I survived the Great Flagging Wars of 2017, Met Ned, and Paid Rent with Steem 10 times)

@xtrodinarypilot writes about the ups and downs of his first year on Steemit. Like all of us, he went through a learning curve. Part of that curve was learning to be less about creating content that sells and more about sharing and being real. Along the way, he met and enjoyed the company of some other Steemians and created some businesses on the platform.

GINAbot: Secret Weapon To Skyrocket Engagement

If you are not yet on Discord or using Gina, a discord bot, you are missing out on a fantastic way to look after your engagement on Steemit. @jrswab takes you through how to register for Gina and how to set her up. Well written, you’ll have the full picture when you get through this post.

TWO New Episodes of Cabinet of Curiosities. Can You Handle The Awesomeness??

If you aren’t showing up for @lenadr’s show on Sundays, you really should be. She does a ton of research and her listeners get really excellent information on the topic of the show delivered in an entertaining manner.

Steemit Ultimate Challenge 8 Weeks - Week #2: Steemit's Impact on My Communication Skills

@ethandsmith shares with us how producing content on Steemit has improved and expanded his communication skills. Not only his writing skills has improved but his verbal communication confidence that has led to him producing a very well done podcast.

The Positive Expression of Passion = Compassion

@maneeka is a newer member of the platform and is sharing with us some of her travels over the years. This post shares a trip into the deepest part of India and the heart of the Ayurveda practices. Ayurveda is easiest described as alternative medicine originating in India. She also shares an image and the story of her visit to an elephant rehabilitation facility. Interesting reading.

Lets not loose our past!

February 1st is the Feast of St. Brigrid in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. It is traditional to fashion a cross from rushes the night before and bring them to church to be blessed the next day. They are then placed strategically to bring safety to the occupants of the house and the animals. Read about @anmeitheal’s quest to preserve these age old traditions and teach the younger generation.

January retrospective - goals, results, lessons learned, insights for Steemian writers

@jayna is one of the current participants in the Writers Club which is a boot camp for writers with some tough assignments and deadlines. As if that isn’t enough she took on the task of writing a post a day on Steemit and following a strict diet. The diet shouldn’t have been too hard, since she wasn’t going to have time to eat or sleep. Read about her results and observations.

Never Again: The Lesson We Have Failed To Learn

This post was nominated by @battleaxe

@didic shares his thoughts on Israel’s practices framed against the vow of ‘Never Again’ to indicate something like the holocaust must never happen again. How we treat people from different places or of different races sows the seeds for either good or evil in the future. While he speaks of Israel, his message should resonate with many countries and peoples.

Tears seem to be endless today, missing my 2 oldest kids

This post was nominated by @futuredigicoin

@anouk.nox writes with raw emotion about being separated from her children through the need to be separated from a abusive husband who managed to get custody of the children and keeps her as far from their lives as possible. I really hate when children become the collateral and currency in battles between couples.

"Ride the Wave" original collaboration song with @amberyooper ,lyrics by @staceyjean. Featuring the song and production video

This post was nominated by @staceyjean

@stickchumpion posts about the collaboration between @amberyooper and @staceyjean to create a song with the music by @ammberyooper and the lyrics from a poem by @staceyjean. The amount of collaboration on the platform is really great to see.

My Birthday Celebration Plan

This post was nominated by @thekittygirl who writes: “My sister-in-law (my late husband's sister) just joined Steemit and made her first post. Her post deals with a different and unique way to celebrate birthdays! She is FULL of nothing but POSITIVE energy. I would appreciate it if she received some encouragement as she begins her minnow-hood. This is a link to her first post on Steemit, but she has plans for a more conventional introductory post in the near future.”

If I’ve read this post correctly @doana is celebrating her 78th birthday. Kudos to her starting out on a journey on this platform and what a beautiful positive message she brings us. I concur @thekittygirl. Welcome to Steemit @doana.

Reconciling relationships ... with my self

This post was nominated by @firststeps

@wwf writes about his healing journey and what has made a difference for him. While many subscribe to the idea of thinking positive thoughts to bring positive change into your life, @wwf boldly realizes that the darkness which creates the pain in life can’t just be banished but must have light shone on it, confronted and integrated. Interesting reading.

The fall into Homelessness.

This post was nominated by @samaritan

Many of us live closer to economic disaster than we care to admit. For @hickorymack it took a run in with wildlife to start the snowball that became her descent into homelessness with 3 young children.

HastyMarkup v1.1 Powerful App with GUI for the Markdown Editor

This post was nominated by @wylde. Here are his comments: “Have you ever wanted to make your posts beautiful, but don't know how to write in HTML/Markdown? Now you can!!!! @Odrau has created a Markdown tool for computer illiterates like me to make our posts look pretty without wanting to smash the keyboard or punch the screen, that works great and is pretty easy to use. Unfortunately, he is just not getting any exposure for it.”

I have briefly played with it. I don’t write my posts in the Steemit editor, I prepare them in another program and then do a copy/paste. Having said that, @odrau’s tool can still be of use to me to get the syntax for formatting I am not familiar with just by opening a blank post window using the tool’s interface to give me what I need. Most interesting.

Wrap-up on Day 140

Times are getting interesting on the platform. Dan Larimer, the developer of the STEEM blockchain who left last summer to work on his latest project EOS revealed over the weekend that he intends to have a competitor to STEEM on the EOS platform.

There will be considerable speculation and debate on the platform over the coming months of what that means to STEEM. Competition was inevitable. Developed by the original developer of this platform, that could get interesting.

Nominate Your Favourite Post

With all the chaff that I end up trying to sift through each time I sit down to do the Steemit Ramble, I think it is time to give you dear reader an opportunity to nominate your favourite reads.

Just visit the Steemit Ramble Discord and post the link in the Nominate-A-Post Channel.

As much as you may love your own post, I am really looking for someone else to say, “Hey, I like this post, have a look”. When I post a Steemit Ramble, that is what I’m telling my readers.

Once you’ve shared someone else’s post, you’ll be given access to a channel where you can share your own posts for me to consider them. It’s only fair for you to have the chance.