Every now and then I’m asked to come give a little guest lecture at my local university, and I enjoy doing this because it tickles me to no end that anyone would find me an expert on anything. Also, many college students seem to regard professional bloggers as something roughly on par with unicorns—everyone’s heard of them, but they are regarded as mythical, for the most part.

And then I show up. And I’m neither flashy and glamorous nor some big, fat unwashed hermit who rarely leaves her desk. I look like… an unremarkable, regular person. Probably because I am. I didn’t set out to be a blogger; I didn’t go to school to learn how to do this. And yet, I make my living behind the laptop, and they find that interesting.

Every time I go in to do this, I wonder what to tell them. I’m headed in to a class again this morning, and I’m sitting here pondering what to say.
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So, remember when I was agonizing over portable wireless, and whether or not I really needed it, and perhaps even wondering if I would ever learn how to take a real vacation where I, you know, stop working.

Honestly, I was still on the fence. My husband was researching campgrounds that offer wireless internet. I was still thinking that $60/month was a little unnecessary, deductible business expense or not.

And then it happened. I read about the new MiFi portable Hot Spot. Now—to be fair—this is really no different for my uses than getting a wireless card for my laptop. It does exactly the same thing. Except that it also allows for up to five users to get online at a time, which suddenly made it seem more reasonable. Because both my husband and I could use it. And the kids, even. It’s for the family while I work, really.

Also? It is extremely shiny. Ahem.
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My children are pretty well past the Dr. Seuss stage, but we all still find it endlessly amusing to frame discussions involving choices in the manner of Green Eggs and Ham. Could you, would you, in a boat? Could you, would you, with a goat?

Using this context for a discussion that’s apt to make my head explode is a nice way to attempt to keep it light, I think. And so, today, I ask my fellow writers:

Would you write crap and append your name?
Would you extol a product that’s lame?
Could you, would you, on your blog?
Could you, would you, for a client’s dog?
Where’s the line when “selling out?”
Does it make you want to scream and shout?

(And yes, I’m aware that it’s a very good thing I’m not being paid for my poetry.)
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This past weekend we took a huge step as a family. You could say we’re trying to restore our work/life balance. You could say we’ve decided to embrace nature. Or you could say we’ve completely lost our minds.

We bought a travel trailer. Camping, here we come!

And the big joke, of course, is that I’m perfectly willing to go camping as long as I have a real bed to sleep on and air conditioning at night. Which, of course, the trailer provides. And then I said that as long as I have internet access, too… I definitely need internet access so that I can work a little while we’re gone, right? Well, it turns out that many campgrounds now offer wireless, so that was okay, too. One could argue that I may just be missing the point of a vacation, but as we know, freelancers don’t actually get to take vacations in the conventional sense for more than a day or two.

But then I find myself on that slope again.
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