1. Try my hand at travel writing.

That's the first item on my list of 100 (link to it over there on the right if you haven't read it or want a refresher).

It seems the universe is telling me I need to do something about this.

A few days ago I noticed I had a new member - Dave. Linking to his profile has introduced me to a whole community of people who travel far and wide and write about it. And he found me!

Seriously, Universe, I'm listening. I really am.

And then yesterday, I discovered I had two more followers. I'm not entirely sure, but I think their blogs are in Portuguese and that they are in Brazil. I can only imagine how the things I say here come across in translation. It's exciting, scary, a little freaky ... it makes me wonder what I said that caused people I don't know to stop by Shiny Things. And not just stop by, but also register as followers.

I know there are several people I do know well who read my ramblings but most don't see a reason to sign up as followers. My neighbor asked me why someone would do this anyway. Well, gosh. I'm not quite sure actually. Some blogs don't have the member/follower thing. Like June Gardens on Bye Bye Pie. Other bloggers, like Dooce, require that you join their "community" to comment. And I wanted to participate in a conversation once, so I did. I'm sure the reasons to become a member/follower are many and varied.  It's like a friendly, reciprocal thing bloggers do with one another: You follow me, so I follow you. In some cases, it allows you to access restricted content. Or get member-only benefits.

I think following is another one of the practically infinite options available to us today to connect and build community. The blogs I follow come up on my Google reader, so I can skim recent posts for several all at once. It's one of the ways messages go "viral" ... and that the boundaries on our communities become wider and wider. And even though after more than 18 months I just have a few followers, really, seeing those little blocks up there in the right corner makes me feel like a real blogger. About a third of my followers are people I don't even know at all! And yet, maybe some day I will.

Exciting. Scary. A little freaky.

So I should go somewhere, right? And then write about it?

I'm quite fine with this. I have been so incredibly restless lately. I need a change in scenery.

All right, universe. I'm ready for my assignment.