The technical blog, Lorelle on WordPress, contains useful information about dressing up and tricking out WordPress blogs.  Importantly, the blog shares a treasure trove of tips and guidance for those exploring how to get the most from WordPress.com features and functionality.

I was so happy to find this February 2007 series of articles, WordPress.com Blog Bling, I celebrated by creating some musical blog bling: 

Ur-Western European-accordion/polka

Ur-Electro-surf noir/exotica instrumental

Thanks to Lorelle VanFossen for authoring the WordPress blog.  Her book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging, is published by Splashpress Media. 

What’s more exciting?  The simple syntax we can use to embed YouTube links in WordPress.com blog posts or a video of Bruce Springsteen? 

Of course, it’s the Bruce video.  Still, it’s a kick to take a YouTube URL, add a prefix to it, surround the prefix and address with brackets, and share a video. 

With the Code tab selected on the Posts page, use the following syntax to add a YouTube video to a WordPress.com blog: [ youtube=http://www.youtubeaddress.com/the_rest_of_the_address]

West Commons, Georgia Tech
Originally uploaded by freerangelibrarian

I linked the photo above using Flickr’s nifty, “Blog This,” feature.  Visit Flickr to see more photos of the two Learning Commons at Georgia Tech.  (Click the “View as slideshow” link.)

To examine other Learning Commons in academic settings visit The Learning Commons Model.  As part of her sabbatical project, Professor Susan McMullen, a librarian at Roger Williams University, investigated “a sampling of institutions that have had more than two years of experience” with the “blended service environment” of the Learning Commons model. 

Her site-reports for 18 Learning Commons include photos, descriptions of facilities and services, lessons learned, and observations informing best practices for the design, implementation, and service of a Learning Commons.

After looking at photos of the Vancouver Library that our instructor shared, I wondered:   What do library and information professionals and students consider to be the should-see libraries of the Americas?   For me, besides the Seattle Public Library, three should-see libraries in the Western Hemisphere are:

**University of Rochester River Campus Library (renovation scheduled for completion in 2007).  Librarians sought student input for the library renovation, and students developed the design for the new space.  A brief Library Journal article sums up the user-oriented approach.

**Prelinger Library in San Francisco.  Read about this library in the May 2007, Harper’s Magazine article by Gideon Lewis-Kraus, “A World in Three Aisles:  Browsing the Post-Digital World.”  The Prelinger may or may not be a should-see library for you, but the article is a must-read.

**Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura, Rio de Janeiro (pictured above).  Many consider this to be one of the world’s most beautiful libraries.  See photos (Portuguese text).

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*In the category of Blunders by a Beginning Blogger:  This entry was published before it was complete and has been edited subsequent to its first publication.

Dabbling with Flickr, I compiled a photo album of READ posters that caught my eye.  Among them is this READ @ Newport Public Library  poster originally uploaded to Flickr by the Newport Public Library.  With Flickr’s online help I learned some tricks, such as how to change the order of photos on the Your Photos page and how to delete photos from the Favorites page.

One task in today’s blogging lesson set me back:  I couldn’t post comments to classmates’ blogs.  *Blush*

I blogged on through the wind and rain, tackling other portions of our exercises.  (It’s been useful and fun creating a second blog post and searching for RSS feeds to add to my Bloglines site! ) 

Tomorrow, I’ll blog on, blog on with hope in my heart, and soon I’m going to become a blog commenter.   Even if I have to phone my professor for coaching.

Greetings! You’re a brave one, bearing witness to my foray into the world of blogging.

In return for dropping by, please treat yourself with a visit to these fine blogs authored by experienced hands.  I think both are easy to navigate and distinguished by distinctive and appealing tone, content, and visual presence.  Let me know what you think about them by sharing a comment.

• LA Observed is an online journal about LA media edited by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Kevin Roderick.  I think it’s an excellent example of an editorial and community-based blog and indispensable for those seeking regional news and information to supplement or substitute their subscription to the Los Angeles Times.

• Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is the journal of Ree, “a ranch wife, mother of four, and moderately agoraphobic middle child.”  Ree is “plowing through life one calf nut at a time,” and she’s posted the (graphic) photos to prove it.  Her posts include lots of other photos and stories depicting life on the ranch and with her family. If you’re not afraid of butter and looking for comfort-food to feed the family, you’ll want to check out her recipes.  Consider the Marlboro Man Sandwich, The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever., and Chicken Spaghetti.  Some may find a few of Ree’s posts coarse or unkind.  For example, I don’t like some of the content she shares about her mentally retarded brother.  Nevertheless, hers is a fascinating example of a personal blog.  With writing, images, and design that are sassy and stylish, Ree conveys a vivid picture of her life as a contemporary country housewife.

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!