The Wednesday Wrap (aka the Deets on the Tweets), Vol. 1

Guilt. -noun

1. The fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, esp. against moral or penal law; culpability: He admitted his guilt.
2. a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.
3. conduct involving the commission of such crimes, wrongs, etc.: to live a life of guilt.

Ahh, good old guilt. You know the feeling. Nervous backward glances. A sheepish strain in the soft spot of your stomach. Indecision. Indifference. And don't forget shame.

It's how I feel at the mere mental mention of my blog. And for good reason: I've totally been neglectful of Samantha Warren Weddings' second home on the web (www.samanthawarrenweddings.net). I never told it about our trip to Napa, Sonoma and San Francisco, or shared with it the details of this exciting new part-time job I've taken on, let alone last week's cool trip to Charleston with eight other female photographers. I used to love my blog. Now I resent it.

Pathetic.

And what naturally comes next after guilt? Well, blame of course! And when it comes to my blogging blahs, I blame Twitter.

Damn you, Twitter! With your 140 character maximum microblogging powers and your seamless integration with my Facebook page. You make it so easy - maybe even too easy- to tell my followers about my latest missions and musings. I joined Twitter (which feeds into my Facebook status and also into the little box on the top right of my blog) before it was big, back in early 2008, as a way of getting out quick communications that were important, but didn't warrant a detailed blog entry. My first tweet was to offer one of my couples congratulations on the purchase of their new house. I certainly wouldn't write a blog entry on that, but I was still proud and thrilled for them them, and wanted to let them know as much. And, as I've recently come to realize, as I've become more reliant on this micro medium, I've become less attentive to this blog.

But Twitter isn't all ice cream cones and dollars discovered in the dryer. 140 characters? Seriously? Can I buy a vowel, and a few consonants too? Like a Goldilocks 2.0, I've found that for so many things I want to share with you, a blog entry gives me too much space to fill and a tweet not nearly enough. And so I'm hoping the "Wednesday Wrap" will be just right. Each Wednesday, I'll pick three of my tweets from the past week (feel free to email me with requests), and go beyond brevity to give you a few more deets on those tweets.

More work for me, more love for my blog. Here goes.

•Sunday, August 2 at 10:49 a.m. RT @DitaVonTeese: Did you all know that I only tell you the fun & glamorous things that I do, not the boring & unpleasant things?

This was a retweet (RT in tweetspeak) from Dita Von Teese, the world-famous burlesque dancer I follow on Twitter not because I have any common career aspirations, but because she lives the most luxurious of lives, much of it spent being wined and dined in Paris. A girl can dream! Anyway, Ms. Teese's tweet summed up one of the significant snags I see with social media, and that is that while you may put your life out there through Facebook, Twitter and blogging, it's life filtered, often for a particular purpose. In musical terms, while social media claims to be a jam session, the control we have over our image through its technology makes it a best of collection. And sometimes, it's downright depressing to read how fabulous your friends' lives are. Make that are written.

I was having cocktails with girlfriends a few months back when one perceptively said to the other "Ok. So, you've given us the blog happy. What's really going on?" When is the last time someone Tweeted "Huge fight with husband. Slept on the couch last night." Not me. Luckily we have a spare bedroom. I kid, I kid. Yet my friend's comment got me thinking of how I personally project myself through these mediums. Sure, I use social media for fun and to keep in touch with old friends and make new ones. But more importantly, it's a tool that allows me to further my brand and since I've started utilizing it and really being intentional with putting the real me out there, I've gotten more and more clients who are aligned with my interests and values. And more important to my brand than the fact that I am a skier or sarcastic is that I am honest (sometimes brutally so). Hence the reason you'll get more Tweets from me like the one I posted yesterday: "Kyle is so patient with me during our early morning bike rides. (Insert sarcastic face emoticon here.) Good times. Good times."

It's like we need a sign on our computers: "Objects seen in social media may not be as fabulous as they appear." Ms. Teese's tweet reminded me of that. I want to remind you.

•Monday, August 3 at 7:22 a.m. "Legs wobbly after an early morning pedal around Portland. Kyle smoked me. On his single speed. I'm so proud he's been running every day."

Since moving to Portland one year ago, Kyle and I have made many changes in our lives in hopes of becoming healthier. And let's face it. With all the eating out we do in these fab foodie town, a weekend walk or two isn't going to cut it. Having expressed an interest in road biking, Kyle recently purchased me a new ride bike, and though we've had a lot of rain, I've managed to make it out and get a few miles under my slender, sparkly wheels.

Now Kyle used to road bike competitively, so it's been a rather -shall I say- "interesting" experience introducing me to the sport. I doubt he'd use the word interesting. My bet is on frustrating, aggravating, or downright impossible. He might even compare it to pushing a rope or herding cats. After all, it's one thing to participate together in a shared passion like skiing, something we've both done since before we could walk. It's another to teach your spouse something you already well know, especially when she is disillusioned enough to think that because she once rode 115 miles in a single day during a high school bike-a-thon, she is the next coming of Lance Armstrong. Add in the facts that Kyle has gotten incredibly fit thanks to early morning runs for the past four months while I have softened thanks to swiss cones stacked with scoops from Beal's and you can see that this could all mean trouble.

Yet, as I may have mentioned above, it's been a lesson in patience for us both. And that's always a good -albeit trying- thing. As my tweet suggested, I am proud of Kyle's dedication to getting in shape (and he's looking so good!) and grateful for his support of me doing the same. And, I am excited that we've found yet another thing we can enjoy (most of the time) doing together as I think that's an important cornerstone of a healthy marriage. Plus there have been some unexpected benefits, like my elbows and right knee looking like they just returned from a day at the spa, thanks to some pavement pumice and making guilt-free stops at Beal's on our way home from the beach. And when it comes to ice cream intake, I bet Lance has nothing on me!

•Monday, August 3 at 8:45 p.m. "Just found out today that 2 more of my 2008 couples are pregnant. That makes six from that year alone! Congrats Sam&Scott and Bethany&Brian!"

Talk about a Samantha Warren Weddings' baby BOOM!!! I feel like every day, I am getting the happy news that yet another one of my couples is expecting! And what's more is that most of them are couples from 2008, and of the six 2008 couples, three of them were married in August. First came Katie and Courtney, who were married last year on August 24 in Orland. In June, they welcomed William into the world, within weeks of Katie's sister Jenn and her husband Ben (whose wedding I photographed at the Asticou Inn in 2007) having Joseph, their second child. Then last month, Erin and Jay (09.13.08 in Waterboro) had the adorable Addison. Meanwhile, Lani and Steve (8.8.08 in York) are due in September, as are Sarah and JT (10.04.08 at Sugarloaf) and both Sam and Scott (2.15.08 at Saddleback Ski Area in Rangeley) and Bethany and Brian (8.1.08 at the Dunegrass) told me this week they were due in February. I am so happy for these six couples, and even happier for their babies and babies to be, because I know lucky they are to be blessedly born into these loving homes. So eager to meet and celebrate these new additions, and perhaps photograph them (a good reminder that I do offer maternity, baby and family sessions).

At the very least, I'll definitely be back on the blog next Wednesday (though I suspect sooner), but as always, you can follow me here on Twitter, and friend me here on Facebook.