My Favorite Red-Haired Blogger Chicks - Part Two
I think I should have written my original post about the number of blogger chicks I follow that DO NOT have red hair! Am I blind or something? I feel horrible that I forgot two, er three MORE red-haired writers who are favorites of mine.
Part One list:
@CherylHarrison http://www.beingcheryl.com/
@TheNakedRedhead ~ Sarah Storer http://www.thenakedredhead.com/
@WordsDoneWrite ~ Amber Avines http://www.wordsdonewrite.blogspot.com/
@RachelintheOC ~ Rachel Thompson http://www.rachelintheoc.com/
Again, in no particular order:
@JPlovesCOTTON ~ Janice Person is a member of the public affairs team for Monsanto. But that's not how I got acquainted with her. My round about introduction came through the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (@OFBF) and then through a very social media connected Ohio farmer, Mike Haley (@farmerhaley). Actually the US agriculture and farm/ranch community is one of the most cohesive tech savvy communities I see using social media sites to stay in touch and stay on top of the game. Something like 2% of the US population are farmers and ranchers who have been operating small family businesses for several generations. And let's face it folks, we haven't consistently made it easy for them to continue do so! But that's another story and there more informed people than I that can insure their legacies stay alive. Follow #agchat on Twitter and you will see what I mean.
My friend Janice was born and raised in Memphis but despite being from what folks from the North consider a rural US state, Janice says she was born and raised a city girl. She got involved with the agriculture community while studying journalism in college when she took a job at an ag publications firm. Her first actual farm visit came in the late 1980s and the ag bug hit her. Besides Tennessee, Janice has also lived in a small town of 600 in the Mississippi Delta, in Oklahoma and in White Plains, NY. She is a world traveler (among other things). And has trudged through fields of corn, soybeans, rice and peanuts. But cotton is her real passion! As a matter of fact I once sent Janice a question about regular cotton versus organic cotton and she honored me by answering my question with an entire blog post about the differences between the two so I really understood. I'd like to share it with you:
Janice also introduced me to an exotic fruit that I had never heard of before:
http://jplovescotton.com/2011/03/02/no-need-to-breathe-fire-cool-off-with-dragonfruit/
But the biggest honor and most fun I've had is when I was given honorary #agnerd status. What is an agnerd? Cattle veterinarian, artist and jewelry designer (oh yes she does all three), Kathy Swift (aka @cowartandmore), said if the word appeared in Wikipedia, this would be the definition:
noun - 1. a person pursuing knowledge in technology, science and/or obscure facts who also actively participates in the ag community. 2. a mythical creature thought to only exist on social media networks. 3. A being considered "unusual" by other people.
Anyway, one day I sent out a tweet saying if Kathy's design team created an agnerd pendant I would buy and wear it. A couple more folks chimed in including Janice. However, Janice, coming across an opportunity to take matters into her own hands and designed a custom one off agnerd pendant and then put it up for auction with proceeds going to the Agchat Foundation (@agchatfound) I was the highest bidder. Janice had worked so hard on it I offered to let her keep it if she so desired and I would still make the donation, but the graciously person that she is, she replied no it's yours. I've been sifting through the mail this past week awaiting it's arrival. But I can give you a sneak peak at it here:
http://jplovescotton.com/2011/04/06/handmade-unique-silver-jewelry/
Just so all the redhaired bloggers know, Janice just started a redhaired blogger list on Twitter. As ever the organized woman is making it easier for everyone to follow redheaded blogging awesomeness!
@KirstenWright ~ Social Media Strategist, Speaker, Designer, Writer ~ You will always know Kirsten in a crowd of Social Media types, she'll be the one in the signature cowboy hat! Kirsten says most people butcher her name either calling her Kristen (I think I did this originally which is how we started chatting on Twitter) or Kiersten. It's actually pronounced KUR-sten. So when you see her at some big SM event, now you know. lol
Kirsten has a degree in Rhetorical Communication from Cal State. She's a self professed PC and a Microsoft junkie but doesn't understand why everyone thinks Apple rocks. (Hey Kirsten I cover my bases and own some stock in both companies #justsayin) She also likes and uses Bing instead of Google because she thinks Google is trying to take over the world. That may be true but Bing is also the brainchild of Mircrosoft which may have a teensy part in her choice? This is purely conjecture on my part though. I like Bing too (but own Google stock too...told you, I cover my bases). So I can be a little wishy washy on some subjects. But not Kirsten. She says it's okay to be a little sarcastic, a little stubborn and to have bad days. I have never observed her being any of those things but I will say she takes a stance and holds her ground unless someone produces information that gives her pause for thought. But isn't that what strong intelligent people do? Uh, yep!
Here are some other things that Kirsten likes: expensive shoes (attention @RachelintheOC [Miss Prada Thompson] is it an Orange County thing?) , #ee367e pink is her favorite color (I think @thenakedredhead likes pink too...), likes to play Civilization for Xbox (she really IS a Microsoft junkie!), watches the Disney Channel and loves to read (@CherylHarrison likes the Harry Potter series) and Kirsten would like to visit every capitol city in the world with her husband Steve (a lifetime goal). I be remiss if I neglected to mention her canine companion,Happy (Amber Avines [@wordsdonewrite] has a canine family member or a few?).
But what Kirsten does really well is to write and teach with her blog. She recently finished up a five part series on how to set up for and blog effectively. Tips, how tos, design, plug in and links all explained and provided to the reader (and new blogger). Tricks from her business sent to us her readers for FREE! Please check out her wonderful blog at:
http://wrightcreativity.com/blog/
P.S. I just started following this red-haired lady because @thenakedredhead said her trip highlight to SXSw in Austin was meeting this well known writer. So as I agonized over my guilt about excluding my two friends above I thought I would add her too. 
@RedheadWriting, Erika Napoletano, says in her Twitter bio that she is aHash tag abuser in 10 step program b/c I can't commit to 12. Columnist for Entrepreneur Mag (launch 6/11). I keep companies from looking like assholes online. I recently clicked on a post that was so wonderful I want to share it with you:
http://www.redheadwriting.com/what-makes-us
Now really, can YOU say you follow 7 Red-haired Blogger Chicks that all rock like mine do? You can if you follow them. #justsayin
