I’m learning how to make web banners. For those of you proficient, I take my hat off to you. Considering I have to kick my dear hubby or tween off the computer to get any time to fiddle around with them, I’m pleased with my progress so far.

So, above, my third web banner ever. My darling tween painted a vibrant picture of birch trees in autumn which inspired me to use a colorful snippet from it as the base. Thanks sweetie!

And more props to The Pioneer Woman for her tutorials too.

My office had a little Halloween party and costume contest. The party involved all of us, the costume contest was truly just little. Four of us dressed up. I submit for your viewing pleasure, me in the winning costume.

Can you see it? Snow. If you look closely you might see the snowflakes in this photo … maybe around the UPS truck? I promise you they are there.

Even the New Yorkers we met said snow in October is unusual, even a 5-minute snow flurry.

I love visiting the city, but every time I do, I realize I don’t have quite enough black in my wardrobe.

I was sad to read today that the Little Rock anchorwoman who’d been attacked in her home died yesterday from her injuries. Here’s the story. The story quotes police who say the attack was random. My heart goes out to her family and friends.

When I was her age, I was a news anchor in a small Southern town. Luckily, nothing like this happened to me or my fellow anchors and reporters, mostly single girls who were living and dating. We had to consider our privacy and either pay extra to have an unlisted phone number or ask our roomates to put the phone in their names. And this was before Google and cell phones, digital cameras and Gawker-like sightings. It was like hiding in plain sight. I can’t imagine how much tougher it is to do today.

I had a great time at ConvergeSouth on Friday. Hosted again by NC A&T State University (Aggie Pride!!), the conference was a full day of ideas and accessible thought leadership, tip sharing and affirmation.

I’m sure it’s being blogged about more articulately than I am doing here, but it was really interesting to meet Robert Scoble (who is sure to add my business card to his 8 or 9,000 collection of them, even though they are just cold artifacts and old technology that does not add to the dialogue) and learn so much more about broadcasting. Because, you see, that’s what I am.

I’m a broadcaster without a studio, without audio, without video. And it sort of drives me crazy. After 20 years of “casting”, I stopped when I left TV. I think that’s why I’ve been dashing so hard towards web, new media, social networking and these tools. That’s why I say you can take the girl out of the newsroom but not the newsroom out of the girl. That’s why I’ve been telling people for three years (since BlogNashville 2005) that blogging is like our Founding Fathers — it’s like Benjamin Franklin getting his own printing press and spreading his message. (And didn’t I just feel so vindicated when Chris Rabb said blogging was like what Thomas Payne did with his pamphlets?)

What makes it so tough for me is that most nights, not five feet away from where I type is a Sony DSR-500. And I can’t pick it up or use it. My husband’s still in TV and shooting video. He’s editing stories and posting them to the web. And I couldn’t.

But, actually, I can. I own a cheapie digital point and shoot camera. A Kodak Easy Share. With a big enough memory card, I can shoot some stuff and edit it together. It’ll be kinda rough. No lavalier mikes = crappy audio. Oh well. No light kits, no mixing audio channels, I don’t think. But that’s okay. And now I’ve learned all the places I can post it on the web.

I sort of thought I was too late for the party. So many people are doing so many interesting things with these tools.

But Anil Dash spent a good part of his time at ConvergeSouth letting us know that it’s never too late to join the conversation, and that you have to communicate in the way you love to communicate. Some of it could be broadcasting, some could be social media, some could be blogging and it is going to converge so that going from platform to platform will be more effortless.

So I met some new people, regrouped with others I’d met before, found some new people to follow on Twitter and have had some more follow me. (Confession: I totally love Twitter!)

There is just one thing left to figure out. When the heck am I gonna sleep?

Okay, it’s really nothing to brag about. But I made the banner at the top. I wouldn’t call it pretty. I’m certainly no designer. But I’m just so happy to have made something that fit up there, that wasn’t too small or way too wide.

I’d like to give a shout out to The Pioneer Woman, who decided to share how she makes her banners. She posted instructions here, which took me through the patterns and basic backgrounds. Then I just started fooling around.

And while I’m thanking people, how about Cathy Zielske who not only inspires my scrapbooking but also linked me to The Pioneer Woman? Please visit them both.

Scoble: great info about ways to broadcast video on the Internet. Sites to check out: stickam, ustream, kyte, mogulus. Need to ask Santa for a flip camcorder.

Anil Dash: Social media’s future. It’s converging. Don’t rush to try to join every network, worry about aggregators, etc. The information you need will generally come to you through your network.

And while I’m telling you about contests to enter, you should head over to Bleeding Espresso and My Bella Vita. Not only are these blogs written by fabulous women who are now living in Italy, but they are also giving away autographed copies of Justin Catanoso’s My Cousin the Saint: A Search for Faith, Family and Miracles.

Full disclosure: I am helping Justin get the word out about his book, published recently by Harper Collins/Morrow. It is a wonderful story – part travelogue, part memoir, part quest for faith. I encourage you to read it!