First Friday Five

I have been in the blogging world for a long time. I actually began "blogging" when I was in my sophomore year of high school. This was back in 1998, so about 11 years ago. It was not called blogging back then, though. It was referred to as online journaling. There are a few old school sites out there that existed back when the interwebs were new.

There are a few online journalists that I have been "following" since then, and every once in awhile I will remember to check their journal. It is interesting to see that their lives have changed just as much as mine has in the past 11 years. I really enjoy looking through old entries from when they first began. I remember sitting and reading their posts when I should have been in class.

One of my favorite online journalists was someone who began "blogging" beacause she wanted to spread the word online about a con artist who had taken advantage of her. She wrote this extremely long entry all about her account of what happened. I remember this as one of my first experiences of reading about someone else's life like I was reading their personal diary. It was awkward, and wonderful. I felt like I knew this person, even though I didn't even know their real name or where they lived. She was faithful about posting every. single. day. I found that I became addicted to logging in online just to see what she had written every day.

One thing this particular online journalist would do is her "Friday Five". She would ask her readers for 5 questions and she would answer them. I looked forward to Fridays often for these entries. She still writes every day. She no longer does Friday Five, though. I just visited her blog to see that she has posted today, and no one has commented on her blog for quite some time. I feel a little bit sad for her, but I know for a fact she does not do it for sole purpose of getting feedback from others.

So, because her online journal did a lot to shape who I am online today, I figured I should begin my own version of "Friday Five". I will probably take some of the questions that she has been asked in the past, and then if I ever get asked questions through my blog, I will collect them and answer them on Friday. I am fully aware that this is a practice of someone who has many, many followers... so I am going to rely on the vast internets to get my Friday Five started.

Genevieve's First Friday Five

1. If you owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
I would love to open a Sweet Shoppe with donuts, cupcakes, chocolates, cakes, and other pastries. I don't think I would do a lot of the cooking, but I would definitely love the business side of it. I believe I would ask my husband to take care of the cooking, and I would help decorate.

2. If you owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
I think it would be fun to make an actual eBay store where people could come and shop on eBay. I would have a "personal shopping" service where someone could come and set up an appointment to get help finding something on the site. The service could include setting up favorite searches, and getting a phone call or email when their product was available. I am completely aware that this probably wouldn't be popular, but I think having some sort of centralized place where people could come and get help buying on eBay would be cool. I can imagine booths with large tv screens to sit and shop for things. I'm sure this would never fly, but it would be fun to try. :)

3. If you wrote a book, what genre would it be?
Probably fiction. I used to be really interested in writing, and even took a creative writing class once. I wrote a weird short story about a ghost. It wasn't very good, and I spent way too long trying to get a good storyline. When I was young I wrote a lot of little short stories. I had a real hard time with character development and conflict resolution. I finally figured out that in order to make a story interesting you had to have someone die or something. ;) I don't really write anymore, aside from blogging and the occasional written journal entry.

4. If you ran a school, what would you teach?
I would run a charter school for high school dropouts. It would teach them how to be a successful adult in a non-traditional way. I am in no way a successful adult, but I know that a lot of high school dropouts sometimes just need someone to show them the way and help them figure out what they want out of their professional life.

5. If you recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
I would love to learn how to mix music and create a trance album. I will sit in front of our Mac and mess with Garage Band for hours trying to figure the stupid program out. There are so many possibilities for great music in that program... the problem is just figuring out how to use it. Maybe I'll come across someone someday who will pity me and spend an hour or two helping me figure it out. I so badly want to let some of these beats out! :P

There you go, the first Friday Five. Check back next Friday for the next 5 questions!