I’m a Latina – here, I said it. I was born in Romania, from Romanian parents, a Latin legacy that burns like a flame in my heart since the day I finally understood that poetry was first written by love…

I am, and I breathe passion, and I am blessed to have a soul to respond like a thunder. But before this… I was wearing a black shirt, I had a black heart. It feels good to have light now, but the past, well… sometimes the past, comes to haunt me. And I had to share this: we shall never forget what gave us roots, what thought us to be, what made us understand… We shall never forget that we once had a bleeding heart, and a black shirt. Thank God we can sometimes strip off the past.

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If you want to feel my heart… I was wearing a black shirt

As I grow old and I look down my life
I see my roots have vanished in the dust
Or is some kind of fog blinding my eyes
Keeping me far away from my own past?
I move my legs and see no footprints down
Though mud was covering my toes till now
I cannot help but wonder all the way
Should I go back? What happens if I stay?
I was just born, I have no wings to fly
I need a hand but how to ask and why?
This heavy tongue makes poetry a curse
All I can wish for this land is accurse.
It was my choice to die and than re-born
What I forgot is how my heart was thorn
With heavy spines of miss and loneliness
And bitter nights with not one dream to bless.
Visions of death come crawling in my sleep
There’s no way back, in vain I weep.
No songs to sing, no dance to dance
No hopes to hope… and sure no chance.
Where should I go? I’m far from home
And in this very country I’m alone.

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Far from Home

If you wondered why I was so silent the past few (OK – many) months, today’s entry might offer some answers. A few close friends already know, but most of my readers are still wondering: what happens; why is the SEO book for WordPress not updated yet; why are my posts here so seldom and so on.

Well, there are many answers to these questions, but the one that matters the most is a simple: because I am a mother now.

My son, Paul-Jules, is 9 months today – easy to see that the past nine months were heaven for me. The months before his birth were not easy at all: I had a difficult pregnancy; a time I would rather forget than discuss here or anywhere else. I just mention it because many mothers and expecting women don’t have to cut work till the last minute. I had to do it from the first months – exhaustion and stress might have ended with a tragedy. I thank God for being on my side and giving me this wonderful baby.

I will not start now a mommy blog, nor do I have the intention to broadcast my child from now on. This is a onetime announcement: I am proud to be a mom, but I will focus my online activities on professional issues rather than private.

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Meet Paul-Jules, My Pride and Joy

Cheryl Smith runs this Friday the 13^th a social media experiment to help the Linkhorne Middle School(LMS) Library. All books, music, video and café purchases (excluding gift card and online purchases) made at any Barnes & Noble in the US on Friday, March 13, 2009 using the LMS Code #423129 will help raise money for the LMS Library.

Why you should help? First of all because it is a good cause and it doesn’t cost you anything but some time. Note that, although I am not living in the US, I still think that taking time to spread the word about a good cause it’s worthwhile. There are no borders on the Web – content published here is available for readers in any country. My US readers – about 20% according to the stats – are not the only one who can help, they are however the only ones who can make purchases at the local Barnes & Noble stores in the US. Too bad that online and gift card purchases don’t count: imagine how much more we could do for the LMS Library if these were allowed. However, if you don’t live in the US, you can still help:

1. Spread the word.
2. Leave a comment at The Friday the 13th Social Media Experiment
3. Buy the stuff at local US Barnes & Noble stores and use the code #423129 when you make a purchase.

The experiment is simple: use all your social media connections and all possible Internet tools to spread the word (take care: no spamming): email your friends; tell your coworkers; send a Facebook message to your high school friends; forward the pictures or create your own. Share this blog post The Friday the 13th Social Media Experiment or Digg it. Write your own on Multiply. Make a video on 12 seconds tv or post it on You Tube. Tweet the message to your followers on Twitter. And ask everyone to do the same. Use your social media channels, whatever they are and help spread the word.

Cheryl even make it worth your while to participate in this experiment: leave a comment on her blog post (The Friday the 13th Social Media Experiment) with the link to your  tweet, You Tube video, Facebook status – whatever you do, and she’ll kick in a chance for you to win a $25 American Express gift card. Must be 13 or older to participate. Use of inappropriate or foul language will automatically disqualify entry. Winner will be randomly selected from all participants and notified at or around 9 a.m. on Friday, March 13th, EDT. Winner may opt to donate gift card to the school of his/her choice.

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Help Raise Money for the LMS Library

A single rose can be my garden…a single friend, my world.” – Leo F. Buscaglia

Thank you for being my readers and my friends! Happy Valentine’s to you, and your loved ones!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

From public relations to social media, from amazing startups to new SEO tools, the week we close has offered a wealth of information. Here are just a few entries you’ll probably enjoy reading in your spare time.

At SitePoint, Phil Butler reviews a startup that could mean the end of Facebook and the like: Stream Your Life Completely with thisMoment.

Through photos, video, blogging and social interaction, thisMoment creates a user experience unlike any I know of. Imagine Twitter, Friendfeed, Flickr, Delicious, Facebook, MySpace and more, all packed inside a beautiful and functional box.

For parents who want to safeguard their children online, the same author numbers Two Trillion Reasons Why KIDO’Z Will Succeed

Can the children’s browser KIDO’Z help moms and dads ensure safe surfing for their children? Or perhaps more importantly, from a development standpoint, can narrowly focused niche tools effectively provide the greatest value to Web consumers?

At Everything PR, a public relations news publication by Pamil Visions, I analyze what it really takes for a small business owner to be successful using a social network in Social Media Spells Opportunity?

Social networks are crowded places and, as with any crowded place, it’s hard to “stand out.” The web has already become a bubble of gibbering crowds. Not only are folly and nonsense increasing in numbers, but every interest, personal, political, religious and business easily degenerates into confusion and propaganda. Whether it is personal fame, or bigger profits, or justice, or a better environment that we desire; to succeed in any social network we must write our philosophy in blazing headlines and sell it to the market. But how do we sell to sellers? How do we market to marketers?

Phil Butler is writing about the goofiest PR releases and campaigns: Say What You Mean Damnit

Reading this press release from a PR firm triggered my schnapps intake response mode. Does anyone honestly read these things and actually assume the general public will understand. I think the person who wrote the book may not even be able to grasp the concept. Any way, English 101, write as if the person reading knows absolutely nothing about the subject you are covering. The other principal that comes to mind for press releases and life in general is KISS. Keep it simple stupid!

Aaron Wall launched a new SEO tool: the SEO toolbar.

What would happen if you smooshed together many of the best parts of Rank Checker, SEO for Firefox, the best keyword research tools across the web, a feed reader (pre-populated with many SEO feeds), a ton of competitive research tools, the ability to compare up to 5 competing sites against each other, easy data export, and boatloads of other features into 1 handy Firefox extension? Well, you would have the SEO Toolbar.

Google launched A new Google Sitemap Generator for your website

Our new open-source Google Sitemap Generator finds new and modified URLs based on your webserver’s traffic, its log files, or the files found on the server. By combining these methods, Google Sitemap Generator can be very fast in finding these URLs and calculating relevant metadata, thereby making your Sitemap files as effective as possible.

Steve Rubel published links to “Obama’s Social Media Toolkit” and a short list of lessons from Obama’s social media campaign.

At AdAge Bob Garfield dissects Gatorade’s new advertising campaign ‘G’ Is Not Only Gatorade, It’s Good — So Far, Anyway

Many other matters were discussed, including plenty of nakedly racist debate about the video’s black-centricity, but more on that presently. The point is, it worked. People are talking about G. This is what a teaser campaign is meant to do. Therefore, for TBWA, so far, so good.

At the Times Online Andrew Stone tells the story of a brewery that managed to market its products via blogs and social networks. Blogging your way into the big time

Soon after starting up, Scottish beer business Brewdog was struggling to sell its product until its co-founders hit on the idea of using the internet to market their distinctive beers.

David Airey published a list of 7 SEO Blogs and 21 useful articles.

At SitePoint I wrote about Twitter’s Little Known SEO Value.

If you can make people come to your site via Twitter, then this is an SEO advantage you cannot afford to miss.

And speaking about Twitter, Steven Hodson hits the nail on the head: Is Twitter the next affiliate link hunting ground?

What if Twitter becomes the new affiliate marketing arena for less scrupulous people than Robert Scoble.

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Recommended Reads this Weekend

From public relations news to public relations goofs, nothing escapes the scrutiny of the talented authors from Pamil Visions’ new PR news site “Everything PR.”

Founded on January 6, 2009, Everything PR is a webblog dedicated to reviewing and promoting public relations companies and services; corporate communications and marketing trends; as well as various social media aspects of the Web. The site will also review Web startups and the way they conduct their public relations campaigns. In addition to covering PR news, we also write PR and marketing editorials that analyze current online PR, marketing and communication trends.

The site is our first of many improvements that will expand Pamil Visions PR’s influence in the PR industry. Next we will re-launch www.pamil-visions.com with an improved corporate design, interactive features like live chat and rating/reviewing system, a comprehensive list of PR resources for professionals and novices alike and much more.

eWritings will remain a resource for those interested in different aspects of PR and SEO, and as usual it will also cover other aspects like body language and personal opinions of its author, Mihaela Lica (that’s me).

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Everything PR Hits the High and Low Spots of Public Relations Online

A Special Someone Made All My Dreams Come True

It’s not a secret: I hate lists. But somehow, at the end of the year, I mean at the end of every year, I end up making lists. You know the kind: all I’ve done right, all I’ve done wrong, accomplished dreams, dreams yet to accomplish, wishes and ideals. This year I am happy with the results, in all fields.

My life has never been more whole. I have a wonderful partner, who shares my life completely, personally and professionally. He made possible all so many dreams and gave wings to so many others… With him Pamil Visions grew, while I was watching from the shadow… It’s Phil Butler I am talking about – I’ve never met someone more kind, more generous, more honest and straightforward than him and if there is one thing I am truly thankful for this year, well… that’s him. Everything else… is a consequence of his presence.

A Thank You Note for My Guest Writers

I said I was watching from the shadows while Pamil Visions grew. Yes. Many of you already know that I’ve spent more time offline than online, due to some health issues and other personal matters I will not discuss this time. When I did find time to take care of business I only did emergency tasks and sometimes I wrote blog entries for eWritings, Rounite, TerraHermess and a few clients. I’d like to take the opportunity and thank those of you who helped me keep eWritings “fresh” by writing guest entries:

• Heather Johnson – Public Relations Through Video Blogs: 5 Tips
• Kelly Curtis – Good News About Youth Is There When We Seek It
• Lillie Ammann – Getting Published with a Little Help from My Friends and Where Did That Idea Come From?
• Sue Bride – Oh No! Not Another Social Networking Site
• Theo Veenstra – Information Overload and the Social Internet

Of course, your contributions are highly appreciated. So once again, thank you and… it was a honor to be your host.

2008 – The Year of Quality Writing

I have to admit that this year I was more critical than in 2007 – my tone changed and became more aggressive – my writing style matured, influenced by some of the great online writers I read so frequently – I’ll write a special entry about these soon. As a result, although I wrote less, the quality was higher. I am now a SitePoint author and my expertise is often required by other authority sites such as BBC News.

In the little time I did spend online this year, I managed to write a few blog entries that made a difference and triggered a change. I cannot end the year without summing up these entries – at the time they were written they meant a lot to me and by the response some of them triggered, they meant a lot to you too, my readers. So, without further delay, here they are: eWritings’ best blogs of 2008.

• MyBlogLog, What’s Wrong With You?
• Performancing Lacks Performance
• Destroying Wikipedia from the Inside Out
• How to Promote a New Search Engine the Cuil Way
• Don’t Pay for Google Sitemaps
• Email Spammers Are Stupid – I Have the Proof
• The Secret Body Language of Marilyn Monroe…
• Hakia Is Still Behind Pigeons
• The Telegraph Pushes Local Search Engines as “Google Threats”
• New Logo for Pamil Visions – Which One Would You Choose?
• The High Authority Social Network’s Drama
• The Higher You Climb, the Less That You Know
• Social Network Automation and Why You Don’t Want to Be Part of It
• The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

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Best of eWritings 2008

A few days ago I asked for the help of my readers and community, and to my surprise I received more feedback than expected. 19 responses on this blog and more via email helped me build a valuable database of user feedback than any other survey I conducted. I am so grateful for this… I can hardly find the words to thank everyone!

I don’t know any other way to express my gratitude to all of those who answered to my call, than to list their names and links here, for everyone else to know that there are enough people online ready to help when needed. This is what “social media” should all be about and not only about sharing links and exchanging votes. The feedback from my friends will certainly help Fairtilizer improve their web presence and deliver a better user experience for all their visitors. So, without further delay, thank you:

• Jehzeel Laurente
• Billy Warhol
• Mike
• Karen Lynch
• Rob Jongschaap
• Andrew Flusche
• Lisa
• Dude Dean – UX Design Master
• Ilker Yoldas
• Jamie with Las Vegas Pool Service
• Nicole Z
• Pearl
• Deborah
• Hopeful Spirit
• Beatrice
• Edward Beckett
• Sharmistha Neogi
• Ballast
• Sueblimely

I cannot add to the list the names of those who chose to reply via email due to privacy issues. Besides… the list will certainly become too big to handle. But it’s good to know that all these people are members of various social networks and they are all eWritings readers.

My partner Phil Butler often wrote about what is appropriate behavior on the Web and the response I received when I really needed my friends makes me believe that there is still hope, that the Web is a good place where you can truly find friends to count on!

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True Friends Are There When You Need Them

What can I give you this weekend? I always look for blogs to read, but recently I had less time than usual to explore and review the wonders that come from the peoples’ hearts. So today I invite you in a miraculous journey in the blogosphere, with places to see, new people to meet, new flavors and rhythm.

Enjoy a trip in my native country Romania, the country that has it all, even ice under the hot summer sun.

Discover new bright horizons. Let your heart follow your dreams, hope is bright.

Live the life in the fast lane, where the most amazing places and people showcase fantastic worlds.

Learn to be humble, learn how to pray, learn how to write and how to evaluate a true blessing.

Teach your children.

Discover a world of epic proportions. Discover God.

Live a healthier life, respecting the environment. Protect nature for your children.

Make some time to see an art gallery. Discover a new artist. Behold the beauty of the world in photographies.

Enjoy an interesting read. Listen to an interesting podcast. Have some fun. Play a game.

Read a love poem…

Have a beautiful weekend.

Photo courtesy Weirena.

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A Beautiful Weekend in the Blogosphere