NADJA NOTARIANI : An Author's Adventures

Nadja Notariani is a writer based in Scranton. She has this to say about herself and her blog:

From an early age, stories filled with adventure and romance captivated my imagination. Now I have become the storyteller, and I invite you to share with me the adventures (and the struggles) in writing.

Some of Nadja's stories are for mature audiences only, and she clearly flags them as such. She also posts a weekly feature called Man Candy Monday, which apparently features some guys with glowering stares hanging around without shirts on, which is fine if you're into that sort of thing, I suppose...

NADJA NOTARIANI : An Author's Adventures
http://nadjanotariani.blogspot.com/

Primrose Design

Here's an arts and crafts blog by Janet, who describes herself as "a freelance graphic designer with a home-based business crafting pillows and home accessories from vintage materials." Another Scranton-based blog!

Primrose Design
http://primrosedesign.blogspot.com/
Musings on life in the country, art in general, crafts in particular, the hunt for vintage treasures with the occasional garden photo and recipe thrown into the mix!

NEPA Blogs buttons by Leslie Stewart

Leslie Stewart of Darling Stewie has designed a whole bunch of new buttons you can use to link back to NEPA Blogs! Full instructions for doing this are here.

Thanks so much, Leslie! You may use whichever ones you like. If you do decide to use them, why not visit Darling Stewie and let Leslie know which buttons were your favorites!

The Luck Report

So many possible lead-ins. "Down on your luck?" "You've gotta ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?" None of them really appropriate. So here instead is an excerpt of The Luck Report's Mission Statement:


The Luck Report is a blog and podcast dedicated to exploring social and intellectual issues--news, politics, pop culture and pseudoscience--that are of critical importance to individuals and society. Established by Kenny Luck, author and journalist, The Luck Report provides news and information through commentary and interviews.


Luck, M.A., a former adjunct composition faculty member at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, brings his knowledge and experience about writing, education and politics to this web platform with the hope of creating edifying original content. Topics include:


Politics 
Pop Culture
Pseudoscience & Superstition 
Media & News
Education


While espousing a progressive worldview, Luck is committed to responsible, evidence-based form of news making. His core values--liberal education, science-based skepticism and progressive politics--helps inform his stories and articles.


The Luck Report
http://www.theluckreport.com/

So grab your rabbit's foot, rub some bald guy's head, and if your personal astrologer says it's OK, head on over to The Luck Report!

About the Header Image: Wednesday, March 14, 2012

This week's header image is from NEPA blogger Patrick Gensel (http://patrickgensel.com/).  It's an image of the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre taken under a blazing sky.

It's from this entry, where Patrick offers - free for the taking - images perfectly sized to fit the cover photo on your Facebook timeline!

Thanks for letting us use your photo as this week's header, Patrick! We've got several more excellent photos in line to serve as headers in the coming weeks. If you've got an image you'd like to submit for use as the NEPA Blogs header, just let us know at nepablogs@gmail.com!

570 Writers

I check our Sitemeter fairly often to see where traffic to our site is coming from. A lot of the time it's from our Facebook page, or from sites that have been linked by NEPA Blogs, or even from random Google searches. Sometimes it looks like traffic was specifically directed to us by sites I haven't heard of yet. That was the case with this blog:

570 Writers
http://570writers.com/

Information for, by, and about Writers in Northeast Pennsylvania

This looks like a new blog - the earliest entries are from February. It looks like it is trying to do for the writing community of Northeastern Pennsylvania the same things that NEPA Blogs is trying to do for the blogging community. As a member of both communities, I'm interested! I'm looking forward to learning more about writing groups and events in the area from this site!

PA Live! Blog of the Week: Darling Stewie

NEPA Blogs will be presenting a "Blog of the Week" on the WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live! site here:

http://pahomepage.com/palive-details/?nxd_id=233452

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is Darling Stewie (http://darlingstewie.com/).

We've been on a bit of a serious run with the Blog of the Week the last few weeks, especially with last week's look back at the September Flood of 2011. This is definitely a change of pace! Darling Stewie is the cute-as-can-be blog of Wilkes-Barre's Leslie Stewart, who is a Senior Graphic Designer at a local Internet firm. Her work may be serious, but her blog is all fun! From going over (and occasionally modeling) the latest in Japanese-inspired fashions to toys, cartoons, social media, Darling Stewie looks at all things "kawaii"! (Be sure to check out "The 10 Cutest Robots of All Time" - Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000 came in at #7!)

Leslie Stewart's skills as a graphic designer shine through on her blog.  The layout, logos, and overall look of the site have all been designed by her. She also showcases her creativity by designing cartoon-inspired fashion ensembles, decorating her apartment in her favorite themes, designing infographics and flowcharts like this very helpful one for determining "Will I like this video?" (which asks questions like "Does it have cats in it? Are they on a Roomba?"), and sharing images of cute and cool things she's found online and in stores. She's also a published cartoonist, and her site has been featured on the website Design Resource Box as one of their "Excellent Graphic Designer Website Designs."

Sometimes it's easy to get cynical about Northeastern Pennsylvania: the chronic economic issues, the toxic politics, the potholes that never seem to get fixed, and the highway projects that never end. At times like that it's good to remember that there are creative, dynamic, and fun young people in this area, people who just might represent the future of this area. People like Leslie Stewart, and her ultra-cute, ultra-cool, totally kawaii blog, Darling Stewie!



If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!


All are invited to meet the bloggers of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Spring 2012 Blog Fest on March 30, 2012 at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston! Stay tuned for more details!

Faery Dust Designs by Jenny-Em

More creativity from right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania! Faery Dust Designs isn't strictly a crafting blog; blogger Jenny-Em also spends time talking about music, her nephew, social media, her friend's recently-published book, and other things near and dear to her heart. Check it out, and let yourself get inspired!

Faery Dust Designs by Jenny-Em
http://jenny-em.blogspot.com/

Mentally Intriguing

Here's a blog from Scranton I spotted almost a month ago when I was doing a location-based search for new blogs. This one was definitely new - it only had two posts (though the second one was labeled "3rd Blog Post" - was one deleted?), and the most recent one had gone up just the day before. Written by a nineteen-year-old woman who tends bar in Scranton. Cool!

Unfortunately, there haven't been any more posts since then. Bummer. Well, maybe adding her to NEPA Blogs will be enough encouragement to get her blogging again!

Mentally Intriguing
http://kindraaelziabeth.blogspot.com/

Check out her blog, and let's see if we can get her blogging again!

Life in NEPA

Another blog from Nanticoke! This is a personal blog by someone who...well, his motivations are below:

Life in NEPA
http://geneb53-lifeinnepa.blogspot.com/

I often need a place to vent.  And, what other place is better than this.  The topic of this blog is Life in NE PA and life can be difficult at times.  

Several Photo Blogs all from Aaron Campbell

From The Mailbag:

Hello,

I was referred to the NEPA Blogs site via a message on my Facebook fan page. I have several photo blogs, but would like to give the PA Waterfalls blog some exposure... http://pa-waterfalls.posterous.com/

I started it last month and have a couple contributors... fellow PA photographers / waterfall enthusiasts.

My other photo blogs:
Photography from Northeastern Pennsylvania: http://bloodshot23.posterous.com/
Through The Viewfinder: http://aaronc.typepad.com/blog
BMT Photography: http://bmtphoto.blogspot.com/

Thanks,
Aaron Glenn Campbell
BsG Multimedia Aaron Campbell Photography
http://www.bsgmultimedia.com/aaronc

---

It looks like we hit the Photo Blog motherload with Aaron's email! I am adding all of the above links to the blog roll and hope you'll take a moment to take a gander at Aaron's very talented work. Also, you can connect with him through our Facebook Group or on Twitter @bloodshot23.

~Michelle

PS -
Michelle's March Madness Blogs Added: 11.
Harold: 2.

I'm winning!! :o)

Dallas School District: Elementary Library Program Blog

Here's a really great blog I came cross from one of my Twitter followers @thecatcheronrye, Melissa Church, an elementary librarian from the Dallas School district.

Dallas School District: Elementary Library Program
http://misscfromdsd.wordpress.com/

Melissa blogs reviews about children's books, podcasts, and other fun things. I very much enjoyed the "Virtual Field Trip" section of the blog. There are a lot of fun places that your child can visit online for free by clicking through the links. It looks like there may even be a special section on the blog coming soon for students to write their own book reviews. What a cool idea!

Blogs have many purposes, and in this instance, it is being used as an educational tool. I don't think that you necessarily need a child enrolled in the Dallas School district to visit this blog, just one that is enthuasiastic about reading...and even if they are not...Melissa's posts will entice them into picking up a book.

Take care,

Michelle

Right Wing Fringe

Mark Cour, the Blog Father of NEPA, had a recent post highlighting some new blogs from the area. Here's one that appeared on the list:

"In case it went unnoticed, I’ve added a few new addresses to the
“Local Buzz” listings. I love reading the thoughts of local folks. Always did,
always will. It’s interesting how people who may have been raised in the same
areas, in the same municipalities or even in the same neighborhoods could have
such divergent opinions on the same issues.

While a link from this site is certainly not an endorsement of any
other site, I enjoy linking to those who have differing perspectives than mine.

The name of this first site speaks volumes about the content."

Right Wing Fringe
http://rightwingfringe.blogspot.com/

Author, "Aggie95", from Wilkes-Barre, PA writes commentary on news articles he comes across and other thoughts and opinions from a conservative point of view. Right Wing Fringe, joins our extensive list of political blogs already on our blog roll.

I hope that the author of Right Wing Fringe as well as the rest of our bloggers (political and not) will join us for Blog Fest. You can find more information by clicking on the green picture on the top of the sidebar, or by reading Harold's post about it right here.

Until next time,

~Michelle

Investigating NEPA

....Continuing on with March Blog Madness....

Another local news journalist has a blog! Ok, stop your yawning, right now! This is non other than Dave Bohman, the hard-hitting/hard-ass Emmy winning investigative reporter from WNEP-TV (ABC's local news affiliate).

Investigating NEPA

http://davidjbohman.blogspot.com/

Dave has been blogging infrequently since 2010. His blog has been in hiatus since last March, but he's recently vowed to start it back up again on Twitter.

In addition to Dave bringing justice to those who have been wronged in Northeastern Pennsylvania, he's also a sports nut, golfer, community service volunteer, and a Dad.

Be sure to follow his adventures on his blog (which he aims to update bi-weekly), on Twitter at @DBohmanWNEP and also on air at WNEP!

~Michelle

PA Live! special edition: NEPA blogs about the flood of 2011

NEPA Blogs will be presenting a "Blog of the Week" on the WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

You can watch this episode on the PA Live! site:

http://pahomepage.com/palive-details/?nxd_id=231512

A few weeks ago Monica Madeja, co-host of PA Live!, told me that they were planning a special week of shows looking back on the Flood of 2011, its aftermath, and recovery. She asked if we could showcase a blog that specifically talked about this - maybe something set in the West Pittston area that focused on coming back from the flood?

Well, I tried. But finding a specific blog on a specific topic in a specific region can be tricky, to say the least. What I did find were several bloggers whose posts have touched upon the topic, and we're going to look at them. We're also going to look at how blogs capture "the history of now" by looking back  at blog posts from the days leading up to the flood, the flood itself, and the weeks following the flood.

There were lots of NEPA bloggers looking at the flood as it happened. We already linked to dozens of their posts in these two posts:

NEPA Blogosphere Flood of 2011 wrap-up, Part 1
NEPA Blogosphere Flood of 2011 wrap-up, Part 2

And the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania mobilized to help! Co-administrator Michelle captured all the different ways people could help (and be helped!) here:

Giving Help


The flood happened back in September, but six months later recovery isn't done yet. Not by a long shot! Veteran newsman David DeCosmo (whose blog, "No News Is...Good News?" was a recent Blog of the Week) went for a walk in West Pittston a few weeks ago and saw cleanup crews along the river, debris piled in front of flood-damaged houses, and a popular (and currently useless) recreational vehicle being sold for some ready cash!

No News Is...Good News?: Cleanup, Clutter, & Classic

Dave also recently paid a visit to a coffee shop in West Pittston that has finally come back after being wiped out by the flood!

No News Is...Good News?: Good To The Last Drop!



Michelle Hryvnak Davies, co-administrator of NEPA Blogs, was without power for nearly a week following Hurricane Irene's visit to the area in late August.  A few days after getting her power restored she, like many of us, watched in horror communities along the Susquehanna were devastated by the flood.  In the days following the flood she shared some "during" and "after" pictures - and the story of the best, most humbling $60 she ever spent:

mhryvnak.net: Humble Pie

Later Michelle had some extremely useful advice for surviving the next natural disaster - lessons learned from the earthquake that was followed by the winds of Tropical Storm Irene that was followed by the flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. By the end of October, Michelle was growing aggravated with the general state of our region's infrastructure - including a gaping hole in Route 29 that was still just being marked off with traffic cones seven weeks after the flood.  (It was finally filled in three weeks later - ten weeks after the flood!)



Rachel Troychock (of the Blog of the Week "Rachel of All Trades"), thankful to have been spared damage from the flood, dove head-first into volunteering efforts to help those who weren't so lucky.

Rachel of all trades: afraid of the rain

A month after the flood, the Bloomsburg Daily posted an interview with her about the Children's Flood Relief Center she and her husband ran at the Moose Exchange on behalf of the AGAPE social mission.

Rachel of all trades: Donation Center Interview



Dale Wisley gave us a view of the flood in Tunkhannock in three parts:

Manic Frustration: '72 Déjà vu : September flooding in Tunkhannock Part 1
Manic Frustration: '72 Déjà vu : September flooding in Tunkhannock Part 2
Manic Frustration: '72 Déjà vu : September flooding in Tunkhannock Part 3

The Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock sustained heavy damage, and, as explained in the post where Manic Frustration was named Blog of the Week, Dale exhibited and sold his photographs in early October a benefit for the theater at the Scranton Cultural Center.



Dillon Naylor and Old Tioga Farm managed to escape the flood, but in October she wrote about its impact on neighbors and the folks in nearby Shickshinny.

la cascina, the journal of Old Tioga Farm: Flooded


Journalist Andy Palumbo took a look at debris along the river this past weekend.

Andy Palumbo: Bad Photography Sunday: The Debris


And that's just a sampling. Those are just some of the bloggers in Northeastern Pennsylvania who have been hard at work creating "the history of now," documenting the Flood of 2011, its aftermath, and the recovery. If you know of any that we missed, please let us know. We want to add them!



If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!


All are invited to meet the bloggers of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Spring 2012 Blog Fest on March 30, 2012 at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston! Stay tuned for more details!

Mike McGinley -and- His Musings

Our March Blog Madness continues today with the addition of a former news journalist from NEPA. You may recognize the name Mike MicGinley from his articles in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader Newspaper (which, by the way, is being acquired by another holding company).


Mike McGinley -and- His Musings

http://www.mikemcginley.blogspot.com

From the About Blurb: Mike McGinley is a twenty something online marketing professional and former newspaper journalist who's covered entertainment, small-town politics, home & garden, general-interest and cultural stories in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Today, much of his time is focused on working with clients in the online advertising world, spending time with friends & family and living life to the fullest.

Follow him on Twitter at @Mike_McGinley

Mike, interestingly enough, is now working at one of my former employers. You can follow his commentary on local news politics, seo/web marketing, and every day musings by clicking on to our blog roll where he has now been added.

Got an interesting take on life around you? Why not start a blog?

~Michelle

Press Release: Reading the Leaves: Tea, Text and Tarot

As received in the nepablogs@gmail.com inbox:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jim Thorpe Arts in Motion
Jim Thorpe Arts in Motion <contactjtaim@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 9:57 AM
Subject: Special Poetry event coming to Jim Thorpe--first in monthly series

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Jim Thorpe Arts in Motion
434 Center Street Jim Thorpe, PA
www.jtartsinmotion.com
(570)483-8640

Reading the Leaves: Tea, Text and Tarot

Friday, March 23rd at Jim Thorpe Arts in Motion Doors open 7:30, Reading at 8:00 p.m.
A night of poetry readings by four featured area artists: Brooke Au Buchon, Jacqueline Hyde, Jennifer Hill and Rebecca York Moll. Tarot readings by AnneMarie Balog. Open Mic time following scheduled readings bring your work to share! Exotic handcrafted teas and light refreshments provided by Jacqueline Hyde Emporium. Admission includes scheduled readings, tarot, open mic, tea and light refreshments. Limited Seating. Purchase E-Tickets online for $10.00 at www.jtartsinmotion.com or $12.00 cash at the door. Ages 18 and older. First event in a reoccurring monthly series, looking for area artists to feature their poetry, storytelling, music, performance art, etc.

-- Rachel DeMicco
Jim Thorpe Arts in Motion
434 Center St. Jim Thorpe, PA 18229
(570)483-8640
www.jtartsinmotion.com

Three Little Fishies Swimming in the Sea

Mommy blogs! Really, what more is there to say? Amiright, or what?

...what, I need to say more? OK, here goes...

Here's a blog by a new mother that was recommended to me by another (relatively) new mother. Shannon Mizikoki is based out of Carbondale, and writes about her experiences as a first-time mother. She describes herself thusly: "A 29 year old new stay at home mom.  Doesn't have a clue what she is doing. Tries anyway."

Three Little Fishies Swimming in the Sea
http://3littlefishies.blogspot.com/

Follow along with Shannon's adventures as a first-time mom! And keep in mind - this blog is mommy approved!

...now, are there any other mommy bloggers out there in NEPA who would like to network? If you're a mommy blogger in Northeastern Pennsylvania, let us know!

Box to Abu Dhabi

Who doesn't love music? But is there any music you don't love, can't love, because you find it inherently unlovable? What can be done with such music? Some folks from Northeastern Pennsylvania came up with an idea for where it can be shipped.

Box to Abu Dhabi
http://boxtoabudhabi.blogspot.com/

The world is full of bad music, and it's about time that someone comes along to isolate it all to one location - Abu Dhabi. Meet nine NEPA 20-somethings concerned with the direction that music is going in, and are hoping to put a stop to it before it gets out of hand.

Check it out! And who knows, maybe you'll find some of your favorite music being packed up for shipment to Abu Dhabi!

Mailbag Submission: Hawley Silk Mill

This mailbag submission actually came to us back on February 3rd, but we've been sitting on it ever since. Bad, NEPA Blog Admins! Bad Bad, NEPA Blog Admins! No cookie for you!

Hi, I'm managing a small performance space in the Hawley Silk Mill
called Harmony Presents for music, theater, poetry, creative workshops and
similar. I was happy to stumble upon your blog and find out that you know Abby
Millon. She will be performing with us Feb 24th. I have a site/blog at http://www.silkmillharmony.com/.

I hope we can help each other/ work with each other.

~Jill

We actually now have a large number of blogs on our "Backlog" of blogs to add. We will be continuing to add them 1 per day (or maybe more) over the next 31 days. MARCH BLOG MADNESS. Get some!

~Michelle

Blog Fest (Spring 2012 edition) is coming!

Everybody panic.

Just FOUR WEEKS until Blog Fest (Spring 2012)! Are you ready? Do you have your tux and/or gown picked out? Do you have a favorite poem, passage from literature, or dirty limerick selected to recite? Have you decided what you'll do for the Talent portion? Are you ready for the swimsuit competition?!

...no, of course not. None of that's going to happen. Instead we're looking at a fun, laid-back gathering of bloggers, blog readers, and the blog-curious, along with a smattering of politicians trying to get in the good graces of the powerful denizens of the blogosphere!

From Michelle's original post:

Date: Friday, March 30th, 2012
Time: Festivities start 6pm-ish
Location: Rooney's Irish Pub; 67 South Main Street; Pittston, PA 18640. A menu can be found here.

This is a free event open to local bloggers, lurkers and anyone else interested in hanging out with the "cool kiddies" of the local blogosphere.

***You can RSVP to the Facebook Event Page right here.

See you there!

From the Mailbag: NEPA VMA

This mailbag submission comes courtesy of Karla Porter who has a personal blog at karlaporter.com and is also one of the bloggers over at The Arc of Luzerne County.

What many people may not know about Karla, is that she's extremely community focused and involved in a lot of outreach and community service type of organizations.

"Hi Michelle - It's Karla over here. I think you know
I do work with other veterans and this is our website and the blog is http://nepavma.org/newsblog.

We are a 501 c3 and run on all volunteers - the leadership
are all veterans helping veterans and their families. We do have some
non-veteran volunteers also.

It's important to get as much publicity as possible of
course and we have some exciting things coming up so it would be fabulous to get
listed on NEPA Blogs.

We just started a LinkedIn group called
NEPA Veterans also http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=4327114.

Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/nepavma

Twitter is @nepavma."

Be sure to stop on by the blog and website if you'd like to volunteer time or resources to the NEPA Veterans Multicare Alliance, or even if you know a Veteran that needs assistance!

~Michelle

The Donkey Did It

Ada Mae Compton (this week's #NewHeaderWednesday submission) was the first animal blogger to be added to our blog roll a few months ago, now we have a second!

The Donkey Did It
http://thedonkeydidit.wordpress.com/

Although the blog hasn't been updated for a year or so, I have no doubt that this infamous Poconos ass (pun intended) will return to blogging shortly.

From the About Page:

Howdy, everyone! My name is Murphy and I am with-out-a-doubt the coolest
miniature donkey in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Just call me the entertainment around here. I live at Pocono Manor Stables and I keep this blog to give all my fans a way to keep in touch and to share all the latest
exciting news of the only stable in the Pocono Mountains you’ll ever need to
visit!! We’ve got it all! After all, talent like mine wouldn’t be wasted at any
place that wasn’t simply the BEST!

Now that you know a little more about me, why not stick around?!? C’mon
show a real special ass some support!!

Know of any other famous NEPA animal bloggers? Shoot us a line over at nepablogs@gmail.com!

~Michelle

CacheCrazy.com

We knew this blog was out there - or something like it. Geocaching is an amazingly popular activity that combines hiking, exploration, and navigation (including the use of a Global Positioning System device) to play a global game of hide and seek. I personally know many people who enjoy geocaching in NEPA, but no one could point me to a blog about it. Brute-force searches also came up empty. Then I stumbled across this blog while doing a location search for blogger profiles based in "NEPA, United States."

CacheCrazy.com/
http://www.cachecrazy.com/

From the first post:

I’m still not quite sure what it is about geocaching that keeps me so interested? Maybe it’s the fact that it combines many of the element that I really like such as tech gadgetry, internet community, the great outdoors, exercise and let’s not forget the adventure of the treasure hunt. Even as a small boy while other kids wanted to play Army, I wanted to play Pirate. Seeking buried treasure using a map and clues was always appealing to me so I guess in a sense; I have always been a cacher.

If you're a geocacher in Northeastern Pennsylvania, or are just curious as to what geocaching is all about, be sure to check out Cache Crazy!

PA Live! Blog of the Week: Laughing At My Nightmare!

NEPA Blogs will be presenting a "Blog of the Week" on the WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live! site:

http://pahomepage.com/palive-details/?nxd_id=230042

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is Laughing At My Nightmare! (http://laughingatmynightmare.1000notes.com/) by Shane Burcaw.

Shane is a blogger who lives in Allentown, which is technically outside of Northeastern Pennsylvania. (We're using the Lehigh Tunnel as a cutoff point, and he's just on the other side of it.) But his blog came highly recommended by PA Live! co-host Monica Madeja after one of our weekly spots, and I took a look and knew we had to add it.

Shane is a nineteen-year-old college student with a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (Type 2.) It has resulted in degeneration of all of his muscles, and will eventually kill him, most likely from pneumonia. He knows this.

Which is all tragic and stuff, but wouldn't earn him a spot as a Blog of the Week if it weren't for the fact that he is also an amazing blogger.

Shane's stories and videos will have you crying with laughter. His stories will also sometimes leave you crying with sadness and anger. Every once in a while he will just rip your guts out with his stories, because he can. He's that good. His writing is powerful, moving, and - when he wants to be - sometimes very, very funny.

Shane's not content to sit in his wheelchair at home and blog. He's currently a sophomore in college. He's also started a non-profit called Laughing At My Nightmare, Inc. (visit their official Facebook page here). Their first official project is a video that you can view here.  Eventually Shane intends to gather together many of his Laughing At My Nightmare! blog posts into a book. You can access a set of links to his story posts, in order, here.

Mel Brooks once said, "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die." Shane Burcaw is up against a nightmare many of us could not even imagine, a death sentence that looms somewhere in his future. He's chosen to face it with laughter. He's wrapped tragedy and comedy up into one neat package, and posted it for all of us to see on his blog - Laughing At My Nightmare!

See this post for a news story from Philadelphia's NBC10 all about Shane, his blog, and his nonprofit.



If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!


All are invited to meet the bloggers of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Spring 2012 Blog Fest on March 30, 2012 at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston! Stay tuned for more details!

Cooking with Booze

Some blogs have cryptic titles, titles that are based on quotes from literature or have odd little stories behind them or are otherwise incomprehensible without some explanation.

Cooking with Booze isn't one of those blogs.

Cooking with Booze
Recipes from Laura's Kitchen
http://boozecooking.blogspot.com

Cooking with Booze is a recipe blog by Laura Herron, a Pastry Arts student at Luzene County Community College's Joseph A. Pagliante Culinary Institute, located in downtown Nanticoke. Every single recipe on her blog (as far as I ca tell) calls for some sort of booze - whether it's Veal Scallopini with Lemon-Sherry Sauce, or Cornish Game Hens with Lemon-Wine-Rosemary Marinade (made with Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio), or Grilled Mojito Chicken, or the somewhat more blunt Pork Roast with Beer (which opens with the statement "This recipe is so easy that you could train a monkey to make it.") If you like cooking and you like booze - or if you just like good food, and like finding delicious new recipes - this is definitely a blog you should check out!

NEPA Blogs Pinterest

Local blogger/fashonista extraordinaire Shannon Nelson sent me an invite to Pinterest about a month or two ago, and I've only recently started to dig in and figure out what it is all about and how it can work for NEPA Blogs. Below is some of the research that I found online and through the help of some of my contacts. Hopefully this will help you get started with the latest social networking craze.

What is Pinterest?

To answer this question, I defer to the FAQ section of the Pinterest webpage:

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

I'd also recommend watching Shannon's PA Live! segment which aired on Friday 2/24/12 right over here: http://pahomepage.com/palive-details?nxd_id=229382 (unrelated: I REALLY wish WBRE would make their videos embeddable)

How do I use Pinterest?

I found two very helpful articles at the USA Today and by one of our local bloggers "The Nest Effect", which you can read right here. These articles should get you comfortable with the basic terminology and use of the website.

What can I use it for?

Hubspot has a great article/pdf on using Pinterest for business purposes that you can read here. Mashable did some research on Pinterest, and found that Pinterest pins increases traffic to your website/blog more so than Google+, LinkedIn and Youtube combined which I found fascinating. I found that local business Refer Local is using it to attract people to their website to find the latest NEPA deals that they are offering.



Issues?

Some website owners are blocking their content from being pinned due to copyright issues. Pinterest is currently following the Digital Millenium copyright act, but there are still ways around it. Mashable did a good article about it here, but you can watch the video below to get the gist of it.



NEPA Blogs and Pinterest...

I've created http://pinterest.com/nepablogs to share and showcase the talent of some of the photography of our local bloggers and photographers. I'm not sure where this will go. I already update Twitter, Facebook and blog, so adding another website to my already growing list of Social Networks is a bit overwhelming. I will add pins as I come across something interesting in my RSS feeds giving credit back to the original author. As you can see, I've added pinboards for New Header Wednesday, Local Blogger Photography, Books of Interest (with a NEPA influence), and NEPA Places of Interest. Hopefully, we can get some interesting content on each of these boards that will attract attention and traffic to your blogs and maybe...just maybe...attract more visitors to the Northeastern PA area.

I invite you to connect with us, if you are already a member of Pinterest.

Not a member?

Send an email to nepablogs@gmail.com with your email address, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter and we'll be sure to hook you up with an invite.

~Michelle

A Jesuit's Jottings

During a recent location-based search of Blogger profiles, I put a stake in the heart of the notion that there are no bloggers in Scranton. There are LOTS of them. We now have a huge backlog of Scranton-based blogs, and hundreds more to check out. I don't know why they didn't show up in my previous "brute force" searches.

Here's one that definitely should have. It's by Rick Malloy, S.J (that stands for "Society of Jesus," indicating that he's a Jesuit,) a college professor and Vice-President for Ministry and Mission at the University of Scranton. He posts on, among other things, Catholicism, spirituality, social justice, the experience of being a Jesuit, and his favorite music videos.

A Jesuit's Jottings
http://jesuitjottings.blogspot.com/

Trials and Triumphs: Lost Virtues and Captive Hope

Here's another blog from my location-based search. It's another one from Nanticoke, and it's by a young lady who describes herself as "an aspiring potential artist/photographer." (What is it about Nanticoke that seems to produce so many art blogs? Whatever it is, I'm not complaining!)

Trials and Triumphs: Lost Virtues and Captive Hope
http://cooperish.blogspot.com/

My Trials and Triumphs I shall display for you. A story regardless of how grim or colorful it may seem. An adventure unknown, in a world unexplored. I will write you a story. Will you tell me yours?

Scott Sanfilippo

If the name Scott Sanfilippo sounds familiar, it's probably because you've seen him on the news a dozen times. Scott is the driving force behind the pioneer internet marketing site TheFerretStore.com - and later, a little company known as Solid Cactus!

Read all about him here, and then visit his personal blog, Scott Sanfilippo, Curmedgeon @ large

http://www.scottsanfilippo.com/blog/

Blog Roll Maintenance

It has come to our attention that one of the blogs on our main blog roll list has been hacked or has an exploit which has caused Google to flag our site as being potentially unsafe. I should mention that this is the same blog roll that we are unable to add or remove any blogs from due to an issue with blogger (which DB wrote about here). So since we are unable to remove the offending blog from the list, the only way to correct the issue is to remove the blog roll in its entirety.

I have already pulled all of the blogs from the list and have split them into two categories: ones that have a working RSS feed, and ones that do not have a working RSS feed. They will be split up and placed into a new blog roll accordingly.

This is going to be a very time consuming process, but once complete I will post another update.

We apologize for any confusion or issues this may have caused you. Google will unflag our site within 48 hours after the issue has been resolved.

~Michelle

Pop Rox

Here's a pop culture / local entertainment blog by Michael Sadowski! Part of the thepoconos.com/blogs family of blogs, Pop Rox is updated at least three times a week. Be sure to check it out for information and reviews of movies, things going on in the Poconos, Lindsay Lohan, and all sorts of other stuff!

Pop Rox: The latest in pop culture and Pocono entertainment
http://blogs.thepoconos.com/pop-rox/

Politics in Healthcare Blog

Here's a blog from Karin Spak, aka Mrs. Big Dan! From her "About" page:

Karin has a BA in Elementary Education, an AS Business Administration,10 years of life & health coaching, 7 years as an elementary teacher, 8 years private duty geriatric nursing, 10 years as a herbalist, and 3 years as therapeutic support staff. Karin was also the chairperson for Northestern PA Fresh Air Fund 15 years, providing vacations to underpriveledged minority children from New York City, which emphasizes education and new experiences, while giving them a break from crime and violence. In 2002, Karin was named National Fresh Air Fund Chairperson Of The Year for running the program from her hospital bed while undergoing a double mastectomy for Breast Cancer. Now cancer-free, Karin continues to raise awareness on health issues.

Politics in Healthcare Blog
http://www.911-natural-healthcare.wildapricot.org/blog

PA Live! Blog of the Week: No News Is...Good News?

NEPA Blogs will be presenting a "Blog of the Week" on the WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live! page:

http://pahomepage.com/palive-details/?nxd_id=228642

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is No News Is...Good News? (http://no-news-is.blogspot.com/) by veteran NEPA newsman David DeCosmo!

David DeCosmo is a familiar figure to TV viewers in Northeastern Pennsylvania. A longtime news reporter for WYOU, he now reports on NEPA in a different way - on his blog! Updated daily, No News Is...Good News? provides a relaxed and funny look at life in this area and beyond. From reminiscences about the days when coal was king - and the only way to keep your house warm was to make sure your furnace was well-fed! - to the totally true story of an on-air bear attack, to as-it-happened reporting on the Flood of 2011, No News Is...Good News? brings us tales of NEPA today and yesterday as seen through the eyes of someone who really knows how to report on a story.

A few months ago I heard a professor of Folklore describe folklore as "the history of the now," and I realized that blogs serve that same purpose. By having someone like David DeCosmo observing current events with his newsman's eye, and then creating a record of these observations and events on his blog, No News Is...Good News? is becoming a chronicle of the history of NEPA as it is unfolding today. As bloggers throughout NEPA look at these same events through different eyes, a complete history of the now is being created. The good news is, anyone can take part in writing this history! Just get yourself a blog and get started!



If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!


All are invited to meet the bloggers of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Spring 2012 Blog Fest on March 30, 2012 at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston! Stay tuned for more details!

Mommy Knows Best

http://MommyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com

http://ThePracticalMommy.hubpages.com

Here's another blogger that I've located from Twitter. I have to be honest and say that I've been sitting on this blog for a while now because I wasn't sure if the author was truly from NEPA or not. The blog does not have a very decisive profile or about me section. Today I received a response to a direct message I sent to the blogger awhile ago:

Sorry I'm just responding now! Yes, I'm from NEPA and I do have a blog: MommyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com & ThePracticalMommy.hubpages.com . Thanks for asking!

Here's the tag line from Marissa's profile on Blogger: "A mommy, a wife, a daughter, a sister...so many life experiences, so little time. On HubPages.com, I am ThePracticalMommy, writing articles about practical parenting and other ideas of mine. "

You can also follow her on Twitter @PracticalMommy2.

~Michelle

Three art blogs from Nanticoke

A few years ago I had a vision of my home town of Nanticoke transformed into an art colony, as artists took advantage of readily available housing at very affordable prices. Whether or not something like this could even happen, I don't know. But it is interesting that three of the six active blogs I recently found from Nanticoke are explicitly about art! Check them out! Are we seeing the beginning of a Nanticoke Renaissance?


drawing a blank
http://joedillon.blogspot.com/

Drawing inspiration and appreciation from many manners of art, I continue my journey to become an artist like my forefathers.


Cool Blue Studio
http://coolbluestudio.blogspot.com/

A peek inside an artist's studio and all that happens during the creative process of a regular day. My primary focus is on equines, but I love keeping my hands busy with illustrations and clay too. Join me daily, won't you?


Erika Baez Art
http://www.erikabaezart.com/

I am originally from New York City and I am currently an art apprentice at The Ani Art Academies-Waichulis in Pennsylvania. My posts are about Art, Books, Travel, Food, Movies... To view and shop for my latest work, please visit My Art Store.

UGI Connection

Some NEPA utilities send out newsletters to the community from time to time. For example, PPL (formerly PP&L, for Pennsylvania Power & Light) sends out the newsletter "Inside Susquehanna" three times a year - which is odd, because it's presented as a seasonal publication, but every year going back to 2005 has skipped one season (frequently Summer, but occasionally Spring, and even one Winter.) This is useful because "Susquehanna" refers to the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant located at Salem Township near Berwick, which has been making local residents feel vaguely uneasy since 1982. The newsletter allows for corporate outreach, community involvement, and puts a human face on the utility by providing information about tours, tests, special programs, and other activities.

But how much more immediate would this information be if it were presented in blog form? Rather than waiting three or four (or more) months to get out information, a blog would allow information to be disseminated as soon as it is posted to the blog. It might not reach those community members without computers or internet access, but using a blog as an adjunct to rather than as a replacement for a newsletter would offer the best of both worlds - at no added cost, if the information presented on the blog is the same as the information provided on the newsletter.

Some corporations have opted for the online route. One of those is UGI, a natural gas utility that serves   customers throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania. Its blog, UGI Connection, also provides links to their Facebook page and Twitter feed. It also provides basic customer service information on the "About" page. (Unfortunately, while it does supply a link to the main UGI page, it's hidden in the blogroll, which might be confusing to customers who have come to the blog by accident,)

UGI Connection
http://blog.ugi.com/

Brian Fulton's Blogs

It's odd how natural disasters bring people together. As you may or may not know, Harold and I were administrators on the "Wyoming Valley Flood 2011" page on Facebook (which was a hastily organized resource to share information and resources for the residents of the Wyoming Valley about the flood of Sept 2011). This afforded us the opportunity to meet people from NEPA that we wouldn't normally associate with through social media. I gained a lot of new followers on Twitter and Facebook after the 2011 Floods. Brian Fulton was one of the new followers that I picked up after the disaster.

Fast forward to January 2012...I found out that Brian signed on to be one of the presenters at Pecha Kucha Night. I love meeting people in real life that I know through blogging and social media, so I was excited to meet him.

Brian's Pecha Kucha presentation was all about Library Crimes. As it turns out, library crimes happen more often than people realize. Harold and I chatted briefly with Brian after the show and exchanged blogging business cards.

Me (to myself): "SCORE! Another NEPA Blogger to add to our blogroll!"

Brian blogs professionally through the Scranton Times-Tribune at http://blogs.thetimes-tribune.com/pages and personally through a Tumblr blog located at http://foodphotosandlibcrime.tumblr.com/.

You can also follow Brian's adventure's through Twitter at @bgfulton where he tags himself as a "Newspaper library manager, graduate student and candy enthusiast from Larksville, PA."

We welcome Brian to the blogosphere, and hope that you will as well by following his blogs.

~Michelle

Cardealou

Here's a blogger from NEPA Michelle discovered through Twitter. It's a Tumblr blog, an image reposting blog from the looks of it.

Cardelou
http://cardealou1.tumblr.com/

"Design, Decor, Antiques, Dogs, Cats, Music, Inspiring photos & quotes, gay rights, noh8."

(Unfortunately, this blog hasn't been updated in a while. I wonder if it's still active? The blogger was also very active on Twitter but seems to have stopped posting there at the end of 2011. I hope everything is OK.)

Flood of 2011 plus six months

We're coming up on the six month anniversary of the Flood of 2011. For people affected by it, this flood was worse than even the legendary Agnes flood of 1972 and the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936. For areas that were protected by levees, this was a time of tremendous fear as the levee system was pushed to its limits and beyond.

Driving through West Pittston and West Nanticoke I can see that there is still tremendous recovery work yet to be done. Not everyone has come back from this flood, or will come back from this flood.

The story of the flood was captured in dozens of blog posts written as it happened and in its immediate aftermath. What about the recovery? We're planning a special six month retrospective for the second Tuesday in March. If anyone has a story they'd like to share, or is planning to do a special blog post about the flood and its aftermath, please let us know and we'll be sure to add your post to the links!

NEPA Blogosphere Flood of 2011 wrap-up, Part 1
NEPA Blogosphere Flood of 2011 wrap-up, Part 2

PA Live! Blog of the Week: ada.mae.compton

NEPA Blogs will be presenting a "Blog of the Week" on the WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live! website:

http://pahomepage.com/palive-details/?nxd_id=227302

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is ada.mae.compton (http://adamaecompton.wordpress.com/).

We've covered quite a few blogs by quite a few bloggers, but this is the first one we're talking about that's written by a dog. A three-legged dog, at that. She didn't start off life like that. As she explains here:

I’m a three-legged rescue dog named Ada who’s living the country life here in northcentral PA. My name is short for Americans with Disabilities Act. I was adopted from the vet’s office after I was abandoned by some guy who works in the natural gas industry. So the story goes: I was brought to PA from TX and left here when he went back to TX. After I became a stray and was hit in the road, someone dropped me off at the vet.

The vet saved me by amputating one of my front legs. A month later, I was adopted by my new master and he gave me my name. He lets me blog, but moans about using too much bandwidth, whatever that is.

This is the blog of my life and the ongoings here in the country…

Ada blogs about a lot of things. The natural gas extraction industry and what it's doing to her home in the northwestern reaches of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The state of humanity as she sees it. The connections between critical citizenship, the literacy of power, and symbolic interactionism. And sometimes, just what it's like to be a dog.

Ada's been blogging for almost a year, which is, like, seven years of blogging in human years. Her story is sad and inspiring, and tells us about the cruelty and kindness of humanity. And the things she blogs about are important for all of us here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.


If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!


All are invited to meet the bloggers of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Spring 2012 Blog Fest on March 30, 2012 at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston! Stay tuned for more details!

JUST ONE MORE THING: Wand'ring with Wizzy

Karen Rice, who writes the real estate blog Wand'ring Thru Wayne & Pike County, PA (which isn't just about real estate!), recently let us know through the NEPA Bloggers Facebook Group that she also has a personal blog that also involves wand'ring!

JUST ONE MORE THING: Wand'ring with Wizzy
http://wizzyswandrings.wordpress.com/

Rick's Pocono Blog

One industry that has embraced the use of blogs is Real Estate. Real Estate blogs allow individual realtors to tell their stories, showcase their properties, and be both more personal and more persuasive when it comes to connecting with potential customers.

Rick Cordisco is a blogger and realtor operating out of the Poconos. His individual posts focus on specific properties, or show the wonders of the Poconos in general - all the things that might appeal to someone thinking about purchasing a property in the region. In doing so he paints a picture of the Poconos many of us are familiar with, but at the same time highlights features that may be new even to lifelong residents of NEPA. Check out his blog and see for yourself!

Rick's Pocono Blog
http://www.poconofinehomes.com/

Vote for Amber!

Amber Gates Roskos, the blogger behind "Country Baby Handmade", is auditioning for the Every Creative Endeavor's Creative Blogger's Got Talent competition. Details about the competition can be found at http://www.everycreativeendeavor.com/ as well as all of the other talented people she's running against.

Ok, let's be honest. We want our NEPA girl to win this thing! First, Second and Third prize are a bunch of crafty things that Amber can use to help out her thriving online business.

Amber is entry #100 on the website, the Valentines Day Wreath. Here's the thumbnail of it:

All you have to do is click the "Like" text beneath the thumbnail, and that it's, you've voted! You don't have to sign up or anything like that. It takes 5 seconds.

Well what are you waiting for? Go do it!
Pretty please with cherries on top?

~Michelle

The Arc of Luzerne County Blog

I was employed at The Arc of Luzerne County for several months at the tail end of 2011 and working there was a humbling experience that made me feel like I was making a true difference in the community. It was an experience I won't soon forget. I also worked with some of the most amazing women I have ever met in my life. One of which I was exchanging text messages with earlier in the day....Karla Porter.

Karla, who is an avid human capital management blogger over at http://karlaporter.com, alerted me to the fact that The Arc of Luzerne County now has a blog!

The Arc of Luzerne County Blog
http://thearcofluzernecounty.org/site/news-info/

The Arc of Luzerne County's mission: Dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and adults with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities.

The Arc is celebrating its 60th year of advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. They have many great resources to families that may have no where else to turn for information and assistance. You should also know that, specifically, The Arc of Luzerne County has just recently moved from the North End of Wilkes-Barre (near Wilkes-Barre General Hospital) to Downtown Wilkes-Barre for greater accessibility to those in need in the community. You can read more about the move in the Times Leader article here. Along on with the move, they now have a freshly redesigned website that features a blog. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

We <3 Non-Profits and Community Service groups at NEPA Blogs. If you know of any that we do not already have listed on our blog roll, please send us an email at nepablogs@gmail.com and we'll be sure to get them listed.

~Michelle

About this week's header photo - Wednesday, February 8

When we create the NEPA Blogs header image each week, we're looking for an image that is a good deal wider than the typical-ish 4:3 aspect ratio of most cameras. All the header images are set to a standard width of 920 pixels at 72 pixels per inch. The goal is to have a header image which will also allow the Twitter updates and part of the most recent post to be displayed on a typical screen. Recent images, as submitted or after cropping, have had aspect ratios (width:height) of anywhere from 1.63:1 to 2.65:1.

Often photos - particularly casual snapshots, more so than professionally framed photos - have some elements that can be trimmed without losing the essence of the image. Different crops can actually be used to shift the focus of the photo. Is it about the central image? The ground below? The sky above? I advise people ahead of time that we will be cropping to try to get close to a 2:1 aspect ratio, though some people submit their photos in an aspect ratio that approaches this.

Lorraine from We are clamco recently submitted two images for the header. Both were breathtaking images taken on the Penn State Lehman campus right after the October 2011 snowstorm. They had aspect ratios of 1.595:1 and 1.566:1, respectively, and really could have been acceptable as-is - a few weeks ago we ran one at 1.63:1. But my knee-jerk reaction was to start looking for what I could trim without mutilating the photo.

And I couldn't find anything.

In the end I shaved an eensy bit off the top and a little more at the bottom, but I didn't feel good about it. I adjusted the aspect ratio to 1.75:1, which really isn't that big of a change.

So I am sharing here the original photo, resized a bit. It was originally 3264 pixels by 2046 pixels at 300 pixels per inch, which is pretty huge. This version is 920 pixels by 577 pixels at 72 pixels per inch. But it contains the entire gorgeous image as submitted by Lorraine. Enjoy!

PA Live! Blog of the Week: Cheri Sundra's Blog

NEPA Blogs will be presenting a "Blog of the Week" on the WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode online at the PA Live! site:

http://pahomepage.com/palive-details/?nxd_id=226012

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is Cheri Sundra's Blog (http://cherisundra.wordpress.com/).

Cheri Sundra is a photographer who is fascinated with ruins, abandoned places, and the forgotten history of Northeastern Pennsylvania.  Time, decay, and vandalism all work to gradually chip away at the past, and Cheri is grabbing visual records of those places that are all but forgotten. From Concrete City in Nanticoke to the once-thriving but now vanished Kirby Park Zoo, from the relatively recently closed Angela Park to the rapidly decaying Croop's Glen Amusement Park in Hunlock's Creek, Cheri makes a record of those places that have been, for the most part, left to rot. In some cases, like the Huber Breaker in Ashley, there is an effort under way to stop the decay; in other cases, photographs and memories will soon be all that is left.

Northeastern Pennsylvania has a long history that goes back hundreds of years, to before the founding of this nation and even thousands of years before that. Some of that history is still with us; some of it is now known only to archaeologists. And some of it is in an in-between state, passing from the ruins that are still with us to the point where nothing recognizable will remain. That's what Cheri is working to capture.

Do you know of any secret, hidden places that are passing away forever? If you have a camera and permission to be there, and if you can do it safely, why not grab some images while there's still time? And then why not share these records of our region's past with the rest of the world. If you decide to do it, let us know at nepablogs@gmail.com!



If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!



All are invited to meet the bloggers of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Spring 2012 Blog Fest on March 30, 2012 at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston! Stay tuned for more details!

Sweet Valley Sunrises

If you've been reading NEPA Blogs for a while, you know that co-administrator Michelle is the Queen of All Media, social and otherwise; that she is a working mom who is also a blogger, a tweeter, a student, and is heavily involved in the Northeastern Pennsylvania community; and she is responsible for the revival of NEPA Blogs last year and its continued growth and expansion beyond being just a blog.

But what you might not know is that she has a thing for sunrises. She loves to capture sunrises in photos, several of which have graced the NEPA Blogs header in the past year. And for the past few months she has been posting these images to a new Tumblr blog, Sweet Valley Sunrises.


Michelle's Sunrise Tumblr Photo Blog
http://sweetvalleysunrises.tumblr.com/

No two sunrises are ever the same, and the nature of sunrises changes throughout the year. Follow along as Michelle shares these subtle changes on her blog, Sweet Valley Sunrises!