How Do You Organize Your Online Photos?

I have been thinking a lot about this subject lately and I guess I want your help figuring it out. I know people who upload all their photos to Flickr and have them all organized and labeled and that sounds really great but I honestly don't need one more thing to do. I spent a lot of time organizing my Flickr photos several months ago because I get a lot of blog hits from them but I just don't have time to keep up with it.

Another problem with Flickr is that anyone can use the photos you post there for any purpose. Isn't that a little scary? Stranger just told me a *story about a big company that used some one's photo in a national ad campaign and the people can't even sue them because apparently once you upload photos to Flickr they are fair game. I know someone could steal my photos right off my blog but at least I could sue someone, if I wanted to, for taking something that's copyrighted.
In fact my photos have been stolen at least once that I know of. An organizing site that I won't name used one of my photos in an article without asking me. I just happened upon it by accident so who knows how many more of my photos are being used without my permission? It doesn't completely ruin my day because I'm not a professional photographer, or anything else for that matter, but it still feels funny.

I know some people watermark all their photos before they post them so I played around with that one day. You can see the results here. I suppose someone could edit the watermark off though unless it covers the whole photo and it makes it that much harder to post photos. That's not good when you're as lazy as I am.

Then there's the whole issue of posting photos of kids that I've chosen not to think about. Or I've thought about it and decided to post them anyway. Not to mention the completely insane urge I have to organize my photo file on my website to remove all the unused photos and watermark the photos that I am using. I know. It's crazy.

I guess I just want you to figure this out for me and while you're at it make it all easy and convenient. I appreciate it.

*Edited - I looked up that case with the Flickr photo. You can read about it here. Apparently the photographer added a Creative Commons license to his photos so the company was within its rights to use it. I just went to my Flickr page to edit the Privacy & Permissions page to reserve my rights to my photos and I didn't have any CC licenses on them so no one should be using my photos but me. If you are concerned then you might want to check your photos as well. There are different kinds of Creative Commons licenses so you can choose the one that works for you.

Blogging Basics

Remember this little conversation we had a couple weeks ago about posting HTML tags? You ladies were so quick to answer my question. Thank you!

Now Blogging Basics 101 has been kind enough to post the directions for us. Wasn't that so sweet of them? We love you Blogging Basics!

Smart Habit Button

For those of you who want to add my new Smart Habit button to their sidebar you can find detailed instructions at Blogging Basics 101, (A great resource for bloggers by the way.)

I always add a piece of code that makes the button the exact size I want. If this is your code:



I add width="150" to it like this:



Let me know if you need anymore help with it.

Now can someone help me!

How do you add html code as text so the browser doesn't "read" the code? I had to make images out of the code to use it as text. Do you know what I mean? It's pretty and all but it takes too much time!

Warning! I am not organized. View this website at your own risk.

I need to get out of the organizing business and get into the hair styling business! You people went crazy over my pony tail post. Thank you! I've never gotten so many comments on a post in my whole bloggy life! Here is another photo for you pony tail maniacs. I tried this one after K at Family Historian left a link to photos

"At my house everyone can and will help but what do we do when we have company? Well we put them to work of course!"

Find out how in my latest article for GNMParents.

In other news, I don't think I've ever claimed to be organized and if I did I was lying. My only claim is that I try really hard. Really. Do you know anyone who tries harder than me to get organized? I didn't think so.

When I saw this comment about my website at Stumble Upon I laughed my head off for a few days...

"I like this site - interesting, useful tips on organizing your home life. There are useful photos, good details, blah, blah, blah. HOWEVER, I don't find the site all that well organized. I mean . . . is that ironic, or what?"

and then I thought that maybe I could get my website a little more organized for all of you since I love you so much. I decided to start with my Flickr photos since they're not even really part of my website but... you know. That took about three days and then I got a brain cramp so that's as far as I got. Maybe someone else can humiliate me into organizing the rest of my site. Maybe not. But there are new photos over there at Flickr and they all link back to the original post where I used them. That was a lot of work so I hope I get lots of credit for it.

Did you know that you can subscribe to my Flickr photos? I just discovered that! I hope someone else will subscribe to them so I'm not the only one. It's kind of sad when I see the little "1 Subscriber" up there on bloglines and I know it's me. Not that you guys aren't looking at them because, wow! I have a lot of views on there. I had no idea anyone really looked at those. And this week I even got my very first comments. Thanks Rowiegrl!

Ok, I was in bed but then I had to come to my studio to get a ribbon for a little emergency purse organizing idea (I'll show you later) and I got distracted by something shiny. It was my computer and before I knew what I was doing I was writing this post. Good night!

Who knew I'd be a rocker some day?

I never thought I was the type but I'm going to take Christine's word for it because she gave me the Rockin' Girl Blogger award and she also participates in Smart Habit Saturday. We know all those women Rock! Thanks Christine!

Some other rockers I read are:

Meckmom with her fabulous organizing ideas.

My friend Rosie at My Little Corner of Chaos who chears me up with her happy words and photos.

Susan at Friday Style because I know nothing about fashion and she does.

Mom Unplugged because she's TV free and loving life.

Lei because her Creativity Cannot be Stifled.

All the rest of you rock too and you know it. Thanks for reading the life of Lazy!

Write Away

Michelle at Scribbit asked me to judge her Write Away contest this month and it was so fun! Thanks for asking Michelle! I have been too intimidated by the words "writing contest" to enter it in the past but after participating as a judge I want to join in the festivities again as a writer. We'll see what the theme is for next time and if I have anything profound to say about it.


Here is my own little blog entry about traditions: Look Out Christmas! If you haven't yet, read it to find out why my motto is, "Put your name on all the good stuff. Make Santa look like the cheap jerk.”

Do you want to feel loved?

I know there are more of you out there that have sweetly linked to my blog. Don't forget to send me your links so I can add them to the Love. Thanks!

Do you know the difference between a turtle and a chipmunk? Read my article today at Grasshopper New Media Parents to find out if you're right.

* Oh, and as my Dad pointed out, turtles live a lot longer than chipmunks. The good side of that is that I will live longer than my mother. The bad side of that is that I have to take better care of my teeth.

Sharing the Love

This is a post for links to people who have been so kind to link to me. Check it out in my sidebar under Odds and Ends. If you have linked to me and you want to be included (and why wouldn't you!) then please e-mail me or leave a comment with your blog address so I can add it. If I get your link wrong or you change your address be sure to let me know.

BTW, every time I update this post it will appear in your feed reader so check out the new highlighted blogs.

Thank you for the Love!

Organizing Blogs

Cathy @ One Organized Chick
Laura @ I'm An Organizing Junkie!
Meckmom @ MeckMom.Com
Marcia @ Organizing Queen
Tipnut @ Tipnut.Com

Mom Blogs

Amy Jane @ Untangling Tales
Andrea @ Just About Perfect
Ann Kroeker @ When Boredom Calls
Brenda @ Keeping Afloat
Corrie @ Tyler's Triumph
Debbie @ Seasons of the Heart
Donna @ Are You Hungry
Donna @ Handsful
Jenny @ Back Woods Wife
Jodi Jean @ Whine Cheese and Chuckles
Julie @ Julie's Corner
Julie @ Mental Tesserae
Kahri @ Our Peculiar Life
Kara @ A Bit of Me
New! Karen @ Family Briefs
Kimberly @ Temporary? Insanity
Lucy @ An Ordinary Mom
Mercy @ Homekeeping Journal
Michele @ Sparks and Butterflies
Michelle @ Life is Just Ducky
Michelle @ Scribbit
Millie @ What on Earth is that Smell?
Minerva @ Making Bread
Montserrat @ Beehive Academy
Rachel @ A Juggling Mum
Rebecca @ Not So Desperate Housewife
Rose @ Little Corner of Chaos
Shuey @ With Six You Get Eggroll
Thea @ I'm a Dramma Momma
Tirzah @ Tirzah Tirzah
Trudi @ Trinkets and Treasures

Search Lazy

Look at me! I have my very own search button! Do you want to know what my views are on hooks or bags or containers? (like you didn't already know) Type it in and find out. Just be careful because as with all good things, this can also be used for evil. Whatever you do don't enter "Chocolate" or you may be sorry.

Scribbit has a new custom search button for Momblogs that is amazing. I love it! But I was so jealous that I had to have one of my very own. Thanks a lot Michelle, for making spend an hour figuring this out, like I didn't have anything better to do this afternoon! That's ok, I love you anyway. You can make it up to me by letting me borrow your clothes. Do you have something formal I could wear this weekend?

Check the Box!

I am joining the blogger e-mail movement that Katherine started! Please join us in checking the box so that we can keep in touch. Thanks for spreading the word Laura!

Super Speed Keyboard Hottie

*Edited

This whole laptop business isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. First of all I have to get all my favorites and passwords and files set up the way I want them and it doesn't have all the same programs that my desk top has. I'm sure there is an easy way to go about this but I'm doing it the hard way. So what do I need to sync my computers? Does anyone have any advice for me?

Dial-up oh how I hate thee! How do people live in the dark ages like this? I told my husband when we bought our property that I wasn’t moving there if we couldn’t get wireless. I was willing to give up Heaven for High Speed. How desperate is that? We’re staying at my sister’s house for a couple days but I’m hoping and praying for the good stuff at the hotel once we get to California. And can I just say that staying up till 2:00 a.m. is not fun when everyone gets up at 6:00 to get ready for school?

Then there is the fact that my third arm has been cut off without a mouse to use. I had already been working on learning the hotkeys pre-laptop but I can see that I’m going to have to speed things up and learn all of them as soon as possible. I think I’m pretty “Hot” with the Ctrl A (select), the Ctrl C (copy), Ctrl V (paste), Ctrl X (delete), Ctrl S (save) and Ctrl Z (undo) but Ctrl+Shift with arrow keys (select text) is more than I could ever have dreamed of!

There is Alt+Tab that we all know and love, to go between applications quickly, but Alt+Esc? Who knew? The mouse is for people who have too much time on their hands, not for lazy people like us who want to get things done fast. You know, so we can have more time for folding socks. Not to mention the fact that we could really hurt ourselves pushing that heavy mouse around. Wonderful wide world of Hotkeys! Where have you been all my life??? Now that I’ve found you I will love you and cherish you and never let you go!!!

To find more beloved Hotkeys go here or do a search for yourself you Lazy Hottie.

* You don't have to know hotkeys to use a laptop, they just makes it so much faster. They make navigation with any computer faster. I am determined to learn as many hotkeys as possible so I started making my own cheatsheet. Here you go if you want to use it too. I'll be adding to it as I learn more.

• Select Whole Document – CTRL +A
• Copy – CTRL C
• Paste – CTRL V
• Delete – CTRL X
• Undo – CTRL Z
• Save – CTRL S
• Find Files – CTRL F
• Go To Box – CTRL G
• New Document or Browser Page– CTRL N
• Open Document – CTRL+F, DOC #, or CTRL+F, O, Tab to field, arrows, enter
• Font – CTRL+SHIFT+F, use arrow keys and then enter to select
• Move box- SHIFT+ ALT+SPACEBAR, then press M. Move the window or dialog box using the up/down/left/right arrows then press (ENTER)
• Resize box-SHIFT+ALT+SPACEBAR, then press S. Move the window using two of the up/down/left/right arrows then press (ENTER)
• Restore/reduce - ALT+SPACEBAR, then press R
• Minimize - ALT+SPACEBAR, then press N
• Maximize - ALT+SPACEBAR, then press X
• Close Window - ALT + SPACEBAR + C
• Homepage – ALT +HOME
• Select Checkbox – TAB to box, SPACEBAR
• Select – Shift+Arrow keys selects characters and Shift+ CTRL +Arrow keys selects words
• Move Text - Select the text you want to move. Press the F2 key. Move the insertion point to the location where you want to move the text. Press Enter.
• Change Application – ALT +Tab+Tab+Tab or ALT +Esc+Exc+Esc
• Switch Documents in Same Program – ALT +W then number or CTRL F6
• Close Window – ALT +F4 or CTRL +W
• Close All Windows - Alt + Shift + F4

Organize Your Blog Notes

Here is one you have really been waiting for. Haven’t you always wanted to know how I organize my notes? I have a very complicated system (not really) and I’m going to fill you in on it right now. Are you on the edge of your seat?

First of all, I keep a notebook with me at all times. I carry it in the Tomato so I have it at Church, at the store, in bed, everywhere! Any time I get an idea I want to remember, I write it down. Either in my notebook or in my planner: buy eggs, call the electrician, blog about blogging. I’ve got it all. When I sit down to write a blog I go through my notebook and type up my notes. Sometimes they are a couple words and sometimes they include an entire post. Those are my favorite!

Next, we all know that we must NEVER compose our posts in a blog editor don't we? You are just flirting with Dr. Disaster if you even attempt it. You know Dr. Disaster right? He’s the Super Foe who deletes award winning posts just as soon as you hit that Publish button. Use Word or some other editor that allows you to save every five of your precious words before your baby can come along and obliterate it all with a touch of her little paw.

I keep all my ideas in one file called “The Lazy Organizer”. As of today it is 112 pages long with each entry dated. Just a note about writing blog comments: I’m not weird enough to write them in Word but I am weird enough to copy (Ctrl C) my thoughts before I publish them. We all know how priceless a good comment is and I wouldn’t want to deprive anyone of my sacred words (ya right) before I can deliver them. I can't tell you how many comments this has saved me. One of them was probably for you!

The next thing is to write down all your thoughts. Even the dumbest ideas can turn into stellar, comment worthy blogs once you’ve had enough time to think them through. Cutting and pasting all these ideas together works wonderfully. One story about your baby dropping a library book in a sink full of water might be boring but you put that with a story about the time you LOST your baby in the Library and you might have a hit. Heck, while I’m thinking of it, just head over to Julie’s place because she has some great posts. If you change a few names and add your own photos no one would ever remember where they had read it before and she won’t mind a bit. (Please don't be dumb enough to really do this ok?)

Here’s the really exciting part: I type everything in black until I post it and then I change it to some random color so I can skip over it when I’m looking for a particular old blog idea. All my unused ideas are in black and all my published ideas are in color. Make sense? It makes things very easy to find.

Let’s not call it weird, let’s call it colorful and cheery and organized! Weird would be color coordinating your posts. Like all the green posts are about organizing, yellow would be for your workouts, blue would be for Mommy blogging, etc. Wait that is a great idea! I am totally going to start doing that! But that changes everything! I'll have to write my notes in their assigned color and then change them to black after they are published. Whatever. Just have fun organizing your blog notes you weird compulsive organizer/blogger!

Organize Your Blogs

I know most of you already use a feed reader. For those of you who don’t, go to bloglines to get signed up and start subscribing. You can see at a glance which of your favorite blogs has published since your last visit. Just don’t forget your lazy organizer!