Hello Trend. Allow Me to Jump on the Bandwagon

 

If you reside outside of a cave and in the 21st century, you've heard by now that Google is discontinuing Google Reader. I have been a loyal user since forever. I check my feeds at least 300 days a year. It's probably more like 330 or 340 days a year. I follow over 200 blogs. I'm a faithful and dependent user. Okay. Hold on and let me say this before I get on with my point.

First of all, I've been using Google as a search engine since before the word "Google" became a verb. I have steadfastly refused to use Bing or any other search engine because I'm loyal (well, and I hate Microsoft and Yahoo). I've also been using Gmail since it was invitation only. I used to hoard my invitations like gold back when you could actually sell them on eBay for actual money. I also use Google Maps, iGoogle, Feedburner, Blogger (obviously) and I have a freaking phone powered by Android. The way that Google is whittling away at it's services i.e., Google Reader and iGoogle, is starting to piss me off. And you know what else? It feels personal. I'm beginning to feel like I'm being abandoned by Google and a bit beat up by them. Google!!! Stop abusing your loyal fans.

Yeah. So anyway, with Google Reader being discontinued (asshole Google), I'm being forced to find another way to stay up to date with all the blogs that I read. I've tried Feedly and Flipboard, Pocket, and Pulse and none of them have the same feel and ease of use that Google Reader has. Yes. Google Reader is ugly and simple but it works and it's easy and straightforward to use. I  know exactly how to page through my unread posts to read them and make them read. I know how to mark them as unread or star them if I want to reread them later. Grr! All the other apps and services that I have tried feel too bulky and flashy.

 

The only good thing that's come of this debacle is that I decided to sign up for Bloglovin' which everyone else seems to have already done. Signing up isn't the good thing. The good thing is that while trying to claim my blog on Bloglovin', I discovered that the feed for my blog was messed up. I have absolutely no idea how long it's been messed up but it's been at least since I was calling my blog "Kingdom of Blogginshire" (I can be so dumb). That was eons ago (back when I was really dumb). Hopefully, getting it fixed, updating regularly (kinda regularly) and being on Bloglovin' will widen my circles and interaction with other bloggers.

So, if you blog and you're not on Bloglovin' get there and do it. If you're a kind, gentle, and generous soul, you'll follow me over there (you don't have to be a blogger to sign up). If not and you don't, I wish a pimple on your butt. The painful, oozing kind. And an ingrown hair on your toe. Those are painful and gross too. It's flip flop/sandal weather. You don't want an unsightly sore on your toe. Avoid the ugly toe and painful butt and click on the button on the right.

On Having a Good Week

I had a really decent week this week. Well, other than being a bit bored. Being a student takes up a lot of time and a lot of my focus. After finishing my classes on Sunday, I was aimless on Monday. The Youngest child was home sick with a fever and sore throat so I had pseudo company but not really since she couldn't talk and she slept most of the day, lol.

Tuesday on though, I kept myself busy. I decided that my blog is going to have more structure and more focus. This means that I am going to start scheduling posts with certain topics on certain days of the week. Some topics may have alternating weeks though. Some of the things I plan on being regular features are as follows:

Monday:  Craft, DIY, crochet, knitting, Pinterest Project day
Tuesday:  Teenager truism day
Wednesday:  Current events day
Thursday:  Books, reading, authors, writing day
Friday:  Things I love day
Saturday:  To Miss or Not to Miss (in San Diego)
Sunday:  Undecided

Mondays are pretty self-explanatory right?

Tuesdays though, I might expand that day to general parenting and/or posts about family. Frankly, I'm running out of teen-specific ideas. I was thinking that maybe I'd ask for topic suggestions for teen posts and/or have guest posters. I'd really appreciate feedback on this one.

Wednesdays will be special. The Mister has agreed to guest post on these days. Topics may include but are not limited to general politics and the military. He'll also be pulling things from the news. My aim here is to present current events fairly and to analyze and provide explanation thereof from both the left and the right. I'm sick of seeing purely biased opinions in the media and would like more balanced information.

Thursdays are self-explanatory.

Fridays will cover things I love like TV, music, makeup and beauty, technology, and maybe cooking and recipes. Those last two things sort of deserve their own day and they might end up being Sundays.

Saturday will be my continuing theme of writing about something I'll miss about San Diego versus something I won't miss.

Sundays, as I've said, are undecided.

What do you think? Pretty ambitious, right? In for a penny, in for a pound.

P.S.

I am still off of Facebook. I don't miss it...AT ALL, lol. I didn't realize how much drama and negativity it was adding to my day until it stopped being. I've replaced it with Google+ where I get to choose my content. More or less. I've joined several communities on there and am thoroughly enjoying myself. That being said, I'll be back on Facebook on Wednesday as planned. I know I'm missing out on positive things from friends and family and shamefully, if I don't read it on Facebook, I don't find out about stuff at all because I don't call anybody and they don't call me. Sad but true. I can also tell, from my absence on Facebook, how many of my Facebook "friends" and "family" don't bother to read my blog. You suck and I wish a pimple on your butt for you.

Choosing a Path

I've been reading back through my old blog posts to see if that would help me decide what I want to do with this blog. I'm in the middle of 2008 and I've been reading them in order. There is so much that I've forgotten. Wow. I had also forgotten how much of my blog I had deleted going through massive Vermont drama. Ahhh. Good times. Or something like that.

I've tried keeping traditional-type journals over the years. Even when I was a girl but I never keep up with them. I've tried audio journaling, picturing myself as someone from Star Trek making daily logs, lol. I think I did that about two times and I have no idea what happened to those files. The closest that I've ever come to keeping track of my life is on this blog.

And oh my gosh!! Reading back over old posts and comments (Yeah. I actually used to get comments on a pretty regular basis.) I had forgotten some of the ladies that used to blog the same time that I did. I miss them!! A lot. I wish I could go back to those "hey days" but as I said before, I really think personal blogs are in the past.

I'm going to keep going with mine, for myself if nobody else. I also miss talking about books. I used to blog about books that I was reading quite frequently and I stopped doing that. I don't have anyone to talk about books with anymore.

I really wish there was a way to get some of the "old timers" back to blogging with me. Jennifer, Pam, Liz, Dana, and many others along the way. Pretty wishful thinking on my part, I'm sure. Still, it'd be nice to have some familiar company. Maybe I'll happen along some new bloggers. We'll see. I hope that I have at least one reader out there who will continue my journey with me. ;)

Assessing...Reassessing...Or Something

I read somewhere once, quite a while ago, that as a blogger, you're not supposed to publicly acknowledge when you've lapsed in posting to your blog. You're just supposed to go on like it hasn't been two months since you've regularly posted to your blog and hope that nobody points it out. I am, however, a nonconformist at heart and will tell you, the one single person left still reading my blog, that I'm well aware that my blog is neglected. Why? Well, I'll try and explain myself.

First of all, the holidays wreak havoc with all of my habits and schedules. My house is a wreck, all of my clothes are dirty (I finally did all my laundry yesterday and had to wear an old Marine Corps track suit of the Mister's because I didn't have anything left of my own to wear.), and my blog is in limbo.

Secondly, I started the final semester of my illustrious, long-drawn-out, seemingly endless, undergrad career. My final two classes are American Lit 1914-1945 or something like that, and American Drama. Trying to figure out what I'm going to do once I graduate and contemplating having to start paying back my student loans is sucking the life out of me.

Third of all, anticipating our fifth big move (and fourth coast to coast move) in 15 years is taking up a lot of my mind as well. We're thinking of trying to buy a house again and frankly, I have all kinds of misgivings considering the absolute hell of the whole Vermont house thing. So, do we buy or rent? There are so many unknown variables for the next four and a half years (what's left before the Mister retires) that buying seems like a bad idea but who knows. Anyone have a crystal ball that works??

Lastly, and most importantly where this blog is concerned, is that I think my blog has grown stale. Furthermore, I think personal blogs, such as mine, are going the way of the dinosaur (I love that saying). When I first started blogging, general, all-purpose, personal online journaling was all the rage. There were hundreds, probably even thousands, of blogs popping up online. Those blogs started evolving into niche blogs, like political opinion, book review, and travel blogs to name a few. Then that evolved into mom blogs that were geared towards people with smaller children and product reviews. Moms making money off of being consumer moms. That's a little judge-y but true nonetheless. To be fair, it's not just moms making money off of their blogs, but lots of different types of people and blogs. I've always resisted labels and pigeonholing myself and refused to jump on the mom blog bandwagon, persisting in my blog being the personal journal-type of blog. Again, I think those kinds of my blogs, hence, my blog, have become unfashionable and those original communities of bloggers have broken up. I can only think of one or two blogger friends of mine that are still blogging. Having teenagers, I don't fit into the mom blogger community anyway.

So, I'm at a crossroads. I've been debating for the past couple months, longer really if I'm honest with myself, about ending this blog. It will be ten years this fall since I started blogging. That is such a long time, I can hardly believe it's been that long. I'd be sad to give it up but maybe it's time. Or, maybe it's time to repurpose my blog and blog about something specific like reading/books, knitting/crocheting (which I've been totally into the past few weeks), television and/or music, cooking/recipes, pets, blah blah. I just don't know yet. Plus, my interests ebb and flow so what I'm into now (knitting and Downton Abbey) won't necessarily be at the forefront a month from now. We also bought a totally nice DSLR camera and I'm thinking about taking up photography. Times like these, I think I'm ADD.

I thought typing this up would help me make a decision, but I haven't sorted my thoughts out at all. I still need to think about it I guess.

Nostalgia

Pic from our anniversary vaca. This is from the side of the road on the way to San Luis Obispo.

I was looking back through my blog last night trying to figure out when I started up my business. Turns out it was June-ish of 2008 in case you were curious too. Anyway, reading back through my old posts made me realize how much my blogging, or lack thereof, has really changed over the years.

I used to have blogging friends. I still have a few, but I've lost touch with more of them than not. I used to actively read blogs and search for new blogs to read. Nowadays, I'm really selective about the blogs that I read and comment very rarely. I used to blog more than once a month. In 2007, I had 358 posts. That's more than one a day for the entire year. In 2011, I've posted 15 times. This will be #16. I've been blogging since late 2003 so I've been a witness to the ebbs and tides of blogging. It certainly isn't as trendy as it once used to be. Lots of people claim that blogging isn't even relevant anymore. As I feel very out of the loop, I can't offer an opinion on the state of blogging in general. I know that my RSS reader has about 150 new threads every day and that I subscribe to 210 different feeds. I read maybe four posts a day though, lol. I usually just click, "mark all as read".

I miss it though. I miss the community of bloggers that I was part of at one time. I miss having things to say that I want to share with other people.

Blah blah blah.

One blogging trend that I don't miss and I think it contributed to my reading blogs less is moms using their blogs to endorse products. I got really tired of that. If I want to be hawked at, I'll stop fast forwarding through commercials on TV. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with it, just that it's not the kind of casual blog reading that I want to do.

NaBloPoMo is right around the corner. Maybe I'll put some serious effort to making it through that challenge this year.

What the Future Holds

I’ve become a busy person. When I first started this blog in 2004, I think it was to fill something that was missing. I was unhappy and living in Vermont and my blog was an outlet. I say this with complete honesty and no sarcasm whatsoever:  I think I would have fallen into a deep depression had I not had my blog during those dark times. I’m sorry if that sounds dramatic, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

I have since found other ways to round out my life. I’m still going to school (I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever be done with that.), the hubs and I make time to go out alone, and I have my own business. The only thing I can think of to make my life any healthier would be to start interacting with people face to face more. I have real life friends, but I never see them. We text, Twitter, Facebook, and read each other’s blogs. I also have several clients and lots of people that I work with almost on a daily basis. Again, we text, Twitter, Facebook, and talk over the phone. I’ve only met ONE person that I work with/for in person. I took one of those online evaluation things that said I probably have social anxiety and should seek help, lol. I’m actually going to do that because I think I do have social anxiety which is why I’m content to deal with people virtually rather than in person. That’s a whole other topic though.

Anyway, I suppose this is why my blog has been sadly neglected. I’ve even considered calling it quits but I don’t think it’s necessary to be so extreme. Who would’ve guessed that real life would take over my online life? Raising a teenager and a child with ADHD is a job in and of itself. Throw in trying to get my undergraduate and ramping up my online business manager business, and I have a little bit of chaos in each day of my life. I like it though. Other than my daily fight/argument with my teen, it’s a positive chaos. Oh. And base housing still sucks. But whatcha gonna do?

And  hey! I still find time to read.

New Layout/Theme/Template

Whatever you want to call it. Not sure what I think yet. I always need to give new templates a few days before I decide whether or not I like them. And besides. Let’s face it and be honest…How many people actually visit blogs rather than read them in a feed reader these days? Still, if you’re curious to see the changes that I’ve made, feel free to click over and check it out and leave me a comment with your opinion.

The whole reason that I changed was that I wanted to find something more Christmas-y or at least find a template where I could make the header more Christmas-y. I missed the mark there, lol, but I like that this template is brighter than my old one. I was seriously getting tired of the dark brown.

Anywho, dinner is in the oven and I’m cramming for finals tomorrow. Gotta run.

Good Moods vs. Bad Moods

My blog has certainly evolved, or de-evolved depending on your point of view, since I first started it back in 2003. What started out as a simple and easy way of updating family on our move to Vermont turned out to be the only thing that kept me sane during our time in Vermont. A theme has never been seen around here either. I’m not a mom blogger even though I’m a mom who blogs. I’m not a book blogger even though I love to read and occasionally talk about what I’ve read or am reading. I’m currently rereading J.D. Robb’s In Death series in case you were wondering. I’m not a thinly disguised money-making blog. I’ve never earned one red cent by blogging. I’m not even sure how you’d categorize my blog other than to call it a personal, not professional, blog. Blah blah.

What I have learned through the years of blogging is that it is much easier to find things to write about when I am in a bad mood. Ranting, raving, complaining, and just plain bitching are things at which I excel. Idiot drivers, lousy neighbors, family, the Mister’s job, money or the lack thereof, cleaning house, my kids, other people’s kids, and I could go on and on. These are just some of my favorite subjects that I like to blather on about.

Lately, I’ve been in a really good mood. I seriously can’t figure out what’s gotten into me. I’m usually an up and down kinda person. Holidays usually make my moods worse. This year, I just can’t get enough of Christmas. Maybe it’s because I don’t have sucky renters trying to make me go insane this year like I did last year. Or maybe it’s because the Marine Corps isn’t being a major PITA!! like they were in 2006 at Christmastime. Who knows? All I know is that I’ve been in an exceptionally good mood lately which makes it so that I don’t have anything much to say. At least nothing new to say anyway.

I seem to be alone in my joyfulness. I’ve been reading around Facebook and blogs how people aren’t in the Christmas spirit this year. Stop it!! Put out your decorations, bake some cookies, put on some Christmas music or a movie, adopt a reindeer, burn a pine scented candle, whatever it takes!! And hurry it up! My good mood surely won’t last for much longer. ;)

Being Awarded

I recently had two awards bestowed upon me by Bridget at Mama Belly Blog. What a sweetheart! The first one is

."These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

The second one is

Honest Scrap award:A) First list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!B) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

 

And here are my ten honest things:

1. I’m a girl gamer and a nerd at heart. I enjoy MMORPG games, watching shows like Battlestar Galactica on television, and learning about SEO, social networking, and website development.
2. Along the same lines as being a nerd, I get addicted to my gadgets. My new iPod goes with me everywhere including but not limited to restaurants, the car, and my bed.
3. Sometimes I tell my kids that I’m working even when I’m not just to get some peace and quiet in my office.
4. I get tired of defending why I was first a sahm and now why I’m a wahm. If I worked outside of the house, I’d probably have to defend why I neglect my kids, home, and husband. It’s really a no win kinda thing.
5. I got my hair cut and colored the other day and I’m really not sure I like the color.
6. I have chosen some truly lovely people to call friends. My only wish is that they lived in the same town or even state as me. (((Hugs)))
7. I get insomnia and migraines when I’m stressed out.
8. I honestly think that some of my online blogger friends and I would hit it off great in real life.
9. No matter how much I clean it, my desk is always a mess and I have no one to blame but myself which sucks, lol.
10. This was harder than I though it would be.

Now I must choose blogs to award. This is hard but not because I can’t think of anyone deserving but because I try not to pick the same people every time which  I will inevitably do anyway, lol.

• Lady Banana
• This and That
• Musings of a Bookish Kitty
• Tropical Fruit
• What Happened to My House
• 30 Something
• Books Love Me!
• Love to Read

There ya go. If any of you have gotten these awards before, you must’ve really deserved them. ;)

Opinions

I have been an Entrecard dropper, off and on, for some time now. It generates a lot of traffic (yeah, I realize these are meaningless stats), but more importantly, I have found a lot of awesome blogs to read. Probably 50% or more of my RSS subscriptions have come from Entrecard discoveries.

I also realize that the general opinion of this medium is mixed. I figure it’s about 50/50 from what I’ve read around the Net. Some people think that the traffic generated by dropping is empty, pointless clicking. People don’t actually visit your blog to read it, they simple do so to drop their card. Others think that it generates legitimate traffic and is worth the effort. My opinion? I think Entrecard has it’s place, but don’t put too much stock in your inflated statistics. I also think that if the only reason you blog is so that you can be giddy about the number of hits you get a day, you’re blogging for the wrong reason and will eventually get burned out and quit at some point.

I make it a point to read something off of every blog on which I drop a card. Okay. Maybe I skim a little faster on the blogs that are political, but I at least glance around. Like I said, I have found many great new blogs to read through dropping. I also think that actually reading the blogs is a way to make Entrecard work for you. If you read someone’s blog and leave comments, they are more likely to reciprocate. Blogging friendships are formed in this way.

Card dropping is also an excellent time waster. I spend many a morning zoning out while dropping cards. It’s therapeutic. It’s something to think about rather than contemplating how much weight the ceiling fan will hold. Ha. Just joking. It really is a good way to while away the time though.

Anyway, I hope people aren’t too judgmental about Entrecard. It’s fun, it’s harmless, and you get to meet fabulous bloggers along the way. And no. This isn’t a paid advertisement. It’s merely my opinion such as it is.

A Meme About You

Jennifer so kindly suggested that I do this meme. I often like to send them to her because I know she doesn’t particularly like them which is how I have my fun with her, hehehe.

I have to link the last 10 comment leavers, answer the questions, and then tag unsuspecting bloggers to do it too. I’m using my last ten commenters without repeats.

Here are the last 10 commenters:

1. Pam at 30something

2. Liz at Habit Blog

3. Dana at This and That

4. Jennifer at Tropical Fruit

5. Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty

6. Daphne at Tanzanite’s Shelf and Stuff

7. Arlene at Three Baseball Fanz

8. Exmi from Expensive Mistakes Cheap Thrills

9. Josette at Books Love Me!

10. Miss Mae at Pure Southern Genteel

Okay, here are the questions I am supposed to answer about my commenters.

1: What is your favorite post from number 3’s blog?
I don’t have a favorite. I like it when Dana posts at all because she doesn’t post that often and I miss her and her family.

2. Has number 10 taken any pictures that have moved you?
Hmm. Not that I’m aware.

3. Does number 6 reply to comments on their blog?
Yep. She sure does.

4. Which part of blogland is number 2 from?
Well, Liz happens to live in N.C. like I do. I believe she’s in the Raleigh-Durham area.

5. If you could give one piece of advice to number 7 what would it be?
Hmm. I would advise that she take me on some of those fantastic vacations that she’s always going on.

6. Have you ever tried something from number 9’s blog?
Josette and I have a similar love of meme’s so I’ve tried a few from her blog.

7. Has number 1 blogged something that inspired you?
Not that I can think of. Not that Pam’s not inspirational but it’s more that I’m un-inspirable.

8. How often do you comment on number 4’s blog?

I dunno. Whenever I have something to say. Sometimes I veto commenting and send an e-mail or call instead. Some things can’t be said in a comment.

9. Do you wait for number 8 to post excitedly?
Not so much as I do people that I know in real life. I subscribe to her feed in my reader though so I don’t miss anything.

10. How did number 5’s blog change your life?

I’m not sure if Wendy’s blog has changed my life so much as it has introduced me to lots of new books and authors.

11. Do you know any of the 10 bloggers in person?

Yup. I know Jennifer, Dana, and Arlene in real life.

12. Do any of your 10 bloggers know each other in person?

Well, Arlene is Jennifer’s mom so I would hope they know each other.

13. Out of the 10, which updates more frequently?
It greatly varies. With November being NaBloPoMo, I’m getting frequent updates from a few of them which I’ve totally been enjoying.

14. Which of the 10 keep you laughing?
Jennifer’s blog used to make me laugh but now she just depresses the hell out of me. ;) Josette makes me laugh with some of her meme responses though.

15. Which of the 10 has made you cry (good or bad tears)?

None of them. I’m not a big crier.

That’s it. I don’t tag but if you’re on here and you didn’t already do this, consider yourself tagged. I mean it. I’m watching.

Something Nice and Less Whiny

I saw Thursday Thoughts while surfing the blogosphere today and thought it would be a nice alternative to Booking Through Thursday when I choose not to do that meme.

From Thursday Thoughts:

Why did got you begin on your blogging adventure?  Tell the who, what, when, where and why!  How many blogs do you maintain?  How often do you write on your blog and how much time do you spending reading other blogs?  Do you feel a compulsion to share your blogging experience with the people in your life?  Have you made real connections via your blogging?  And, last, but NEVER least…

ARE YOU ADDICTED?

Why did got you begin on your blogging adventure?  Tell the who, what, when, where and why! 

I began my blogging adventure back in 2003. I think it was October or thereabouts. We were still living in California at the time. Ahhh. Those were the days. Anyway, we knew that we were going on recruiting duty and while we didn’t know where, we knew it would be a big move. Our families tend to be worriers and nag us about this sort of thing so I figured that rather than fielding calls about where we were going, I’d set up a blog that I could update and not have to speak directly to anybody. It turned out to be a really great way to keep everyone up to date with our move, where we were going, and what it was like when we got there. Honestly, if I hadn’t had my blog those three loooong years in Vermont, I truly think I would have ended up in a mental hospital. No joke. Now, 5 years later, I don’t think ANYone in our family still reads my blog and it has evolved into whatever it is today.

How many blogs do you maintain?

This is the only blog that I maintain with any regularity. I have a blog that’s private that I put pictures of my kids on but haven’t updated it in forever. Also, there are WordPress and OnSugar versions of this very blog that I was experimenting with. I have no idea what I plan to do with them at this point.

How often do you write on your blog and how much time do you spend reading other blogs? 

I update 4.7 times a week on average according to Google Reader, heheh. I dunno. I try to update Monday through Friday and take the weekends off but sometimes I’m inspired to update multiple times a day (like today) and on the weekends and sometimes I don’t feel like writing at all. I try very hard not to let myself feel obligated to update because I’ve seen really good bloggers give up blogging for that very reason. As for how much time I spend reading other people’s blogs, well, I would estimate that it’s A LOT. It’s one of my favorite pastimes and these days, I read blogs more than I do books and that’s saying something.

Do you feel a compulsion to share your blogging experience with the people in your life?

Hmm. Well, I’m not shy about the fact that I blog but I don’t know how much I talk about it outside of the online community. When I do talk about blogging with real live people, I tend to become enthusiastic and I probably come off as insane.

Have you made real connections via your blogging?

I’m not sure how to answer this part. Some of the people that read my blog I know in real life because I either went to high school with them or they were friends and neighbors at some point. Also, there are some bloggers that I feel that if we were neighbors we’d be friends. But I just don’t know how much I believe that “real” connections can be made with people you’ve never met and will probably never meet. It makes me feel a bit stalker-ish to think I have real connections with people I “follow” online. Define “real connection”.

Am I addicted? I suppose I would say yes to an extent. I would be sad if I never blogged or read blogs again. Would I have withdrawal if I quit cold turkey? Maybe. I would definitely feel like I was forgetting to do something. I would also miss reading my regular blog haunts. You do feel like you get to know people when you read their blogs every day. I asked my hubby this question and he answered, “YES!!” without hesitation, lol. Oh well. I could be addicted to much worse things in life.

Don’t Be Such a Whiner

I've been reading stuff around the blogosphere recently that has caused me to pause and reflect. I interpret it as whining and since I'm a huge whiner myself, I should be considered an expert whiner spotter.

Anyway, what I've been hearing is that people don't like the word verification deal on blog comments. Again, my interpretation: they're too lazy to squint, do their damndest to make out what the jumbled letters are, and then type them into the box. Oops. You mistook the "q" for an "a" and now you have a whole new "word" to squint at again. Whine, whine. So, as an experiment, I'm disabling the word verification on comments. But just so's ya know, the first spam comment I get, I'm putting it back on.

Secondly, people have been whining about bloggers that only show the shortened version of their posts in a reader. Well, if you're gonna comment, you have to go to the blog anyway. Am I wrong? But I’m flexible so I’ll experiment with this one too and turn on the "full" option there too. Honestly, I had to check to see which one I had turned on in the first place. Makes no difference to me.

Another complaint is bloggers that don't allow anonymous comments. Who doesn't have at least one Google, WordPress, AOL, Live Journal, or TypePad account so that you can leave a comment using one of these ID's but still reads blogs regularly? I'm sorry. I won't compromise on this one. Anonymous users tend to use their anonymity to spread nastiness and I don’t like it.

Lastly, comment windows:  Pop up window or full screen? This one seems to pretty much be a toss up with everyone so I’m leaving this the same too.

Am I accommodating or what? I don’t get why people think I’m so mean, heheh.

Finally. A Productive Day.

I got my inspection sticker today so I’m legal, heheh. After that, I ran some errands. Actually, to be honest, I was on the hunt for BSG season 2.0 but I couldn’t find it at Target and didn’t feel like going to WalMart so I’m outta luck for now. Target had season 2.5 and 3 but not 2.0. Disappointing.

While I was out, I stopped at the grocery store for dinner and picked up a deli salad for lunch. I should’ve looked at the salad closer because the lettuce was brown-ish on the bottom and nasty. I picked out the cucumbers and threw the rest away. Even the tomatoes were mushy. Then, I forgot to get any side dishes for dinner so I’m going to have to go out again sometime today. I don’t want to either. It’s hot today. Real hot with a heat index of 102. On days like those you just want to say in your a/c.

I also forgot to tell you all about our trip to Pier 1 over the weekend. I wanted to go in because they’re having big sales and I wanted some decorative stuff for the new house. While we were browsing, the Mister snagged some dried flowers which knocked over some vases and one shattered on the floor. It was SO funny. He usually tries to blame stuff like that on me but I was in the next aisle so he couldn’t blame me this time, lol. He claimed that the flowers jumped out at him. The sales people were really nice about it and said that they’d put it in their records that an employee broke it so we didn’t have to pay for it. I did end up buying another box of dishes that I already have so I have a complete setting and two vases.

In other news, I got another award from Pam at 30something. It's a really sweet award with a nice story behind it that you should go read at Memoirs of a Mommy.

The rules: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**

So, I'm going to share this with Arlene and Dana because they always leave nice and funny comments on my blog.

Now I'm off to do some work. Lots of work actually. No rest for the wicked.

Blog Award

Amateur de Livre nominated me for this award. It’s my first award so I’m pretty surprised and happy about it. Thanks Amateur!!

This award comes with guidelines as follows:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

One and two are done now for my nominations which makes me totally nervous and they are in no particular order whatsoever.

1. Jennifer at Tropical Fruit

2. Pam at 30something

3. Wendy at Musings of a Bookish Kitty

4. Josette at Books Love Me!

5. Monkey Toe Momma at Donna Reed in Blue Jeans

6. Softdrink at Fizzy Thoughts

7. Liz at Habit Blog

Gosh! That was hard. I read so many great blogs. I tried to pick ones that hadn’t already been nominated for this award.

I picked Jennifer because she has persevered with her blogging despite giganto obstacles in her real life.

I picked Pam because I totally enjoy reading her blog. She always has fun things to post.

I picked Wendy because she is such a great writer and her book reviews are amazing.

I picked Josette because we both like memes, heheh, and her blog is fun to read.

I picked Monkey because reading about her mom escapades are fun. I also really like her blog template, lol.

I picked Softdrink because I enjoy seeing her photographs, she likes memes and books, and her blog is just fun for me.

I picked Liz because I think she is totally brave for posting her spending habits for the entire blogging world to read. I’ve also learned a few shopping tips from her as well as meal ideas.

See a theme? I like fun blogs, lol. It was really hard limiting myself to just seven but I wasn’t going to list all 95 blogs that I subscribe to, lol, so I made myself stop at seven.

Made Some Changes

I’m not doing the WordPress thing yet. I’m just not sure it’s for me and it seems like too much trouble for right now. Instead, I uploaded a new design. It’s really simple and I’m not sure that I like it. I prefer more color. White is hard on the eyes. Finding a three column design that I like is difficult business.

Anyway, stuff that is missing is a list of blogs that I read and a list of websites that I frequent. Blogger recently added an “add your subscription” widget that I tried out on the previous design. You may or may not have noticed. I didn't like it because my list is WAY long. I need to figure out how to add a scroll bar to it. I've done it before I just have to remember how, lol. Until I've settled on a new design, I'm not adding those lists because they take too much time. Between the two, I'd have over 100 links to add. Also, some of my clickable stuff is missing because the code didn't copy. I'm sad because I didn't make a list of what was there and I don't really remember.

With not having anything to blog about these days and my newest obsession with the design, you're all lucky I just don't dump the whole thing and crawl into a hole.

Now, I'm sleep deprived, annoyed, and starved and there's nothing to eat in my house so I'm leaving.

Time to Move?

I’ve been contemplating a move to WordPress…again. I was messing around with my blog template yesterday and accidentally deleted some code which screwed up a thing at the bottom. I’m not sure how to fix it because I don’t know what I deleted, lol. Well, that’s not exactly true. I know how to fix it, just not easily.

It’s just that I’ve been with Blogger since I started blogging back in 2003. I like that I know how to customize my blog on Blogger (with the exception of accidentally deleting code, ::snort::). I can add or delete stuff with little to no problem. I can’t really think of anything that I would complain about it about. I know. That’s a rarity for me. WordPress, on the other hand, would take some getting used to. You can’t tweak the code or change the appearance beyond WordPress’s themes unless you pay to do so. Or maybe there’s a way and I just haven’t figured it out. When I try to add my own widgets, they don’t show up or work right. It just seems to me like WordPress restricts you in order to make you either host your own blog or pay them for stuff.

I don’t know how I feel about either a) paying to have my blog hosted or b) paying WordPress to be able to customize my blog hosted by them. I feel like I’d be taking myself too seriously to pay for my blog. Now I feel like I’ve wasted way too much time thinking about this at all.

Dos and Don’ts

I’ve been working for a little over a month now. My job consists mainly of researching relevant websites for a links or resource page and then asking the appropriate party if they would please include a link to the Edge Foundation on their website. It’s called link building. I couldn’t even begin to guess how many websites I’ve visited in my quest. The first couple of weeks I visited personal blogs and professional websites and organizations that had resources for ADHD. When I exhausted a preset list I was given, I moved on to .edu websites. I can tell you that I have clicked on 164 different .edu web links. In all that web surfing, I have learned a few things. First of all, I’ve learned TONS about ADHD. TONS. There is so much information out there that it’s unbelievable. I ran across a rather scary website that I thought discussed the pros and cons and gave information about ADHD medications. Turns out that it was a website for anorexics that discussed which medications were the best for losing weight. I was disturbed.

Next I came to discover what should and should not be included on websites, especially professional websites. Granted, this is just my personal opinion, but as someone who is visiting websites for the express purpose of evaluating them and then deeming them worthy of including our link, I’ve become a discerning browser. I’ve compiled a list. These mostly apply to universities and colleges or professional websites but some would apply to personal blogs and such:

1. Include the name of your website and/or the institution you are from on EVERY page. I can’t count the number of times a link has taken me to a PDF or Word document and said link didn’t include the name of the college or university from which is was written. Wouldn’t you want people to know what, exactly, they are reading?
2. Put a “contact me” or “contact us” link on your website and make it an e-mail address.
3. Make sure your contact e-mail address is valid and has a large storage capacity if you don’t check it on a regular basis. I’ve had a few e-mails bounce back because mailboxes were full. It’s a missed opportunity for us both and a waste of my time.
4. Use spell check. I was at a certain website that was authored by a Ph.D. that had spelling and grammar mistakes on it. It makes a person wonder where they got their degree.
5. If you are a professional website and have a “contact me” link, leave your first and last name so that the person writing knows how to address their e-mail. “Dear Ms. So and So” sounds much better than “Dear Webmaster”.
6. Another e-mail issue:  Use an auto response if you are going to be out of your office. It’s a nice courtesy.
7. Pop ups are an absolute NO NO!! Pop ups, even if they’re relevant and valid, remind people of spam and viruses and they’re inconvenient. I was browsing blogs tonight and someone had a pop up that locked up my browser and forced me to restart my computer. It could have been malicious or it could have just been incompatible with my browser. I don’t know but I’ll never go back to find out.
8. Have a search field on your website or a site map or both.
9. Don’t be online in any capacity at all if you can’t figure out how e-mail works. That may sound a bit harsh, but man! If you don’t know how to read, compose, and send e-mail but you have a website that includes a “contact me” e-mail link it makes you look incredibly dumb.

I think that’s about it. Basically, if you have a website or blog that you use to provide specific information to people, you should be as professional about it as you can. Don’t call your website, “Information About ADHD” and then have entries that talk about porn. Not kidding. Wow!

My Summer Plans (edited)

Now that the semester is over and I don't go back to school until September, I figured it would be necessary to do something with myself over the summer. Also, my kids will be heading to their grandparents' in Ohio at the end of next month, so I really won't have anything to occupy my time other than the dogs. Here's how I plan on keeping busy.

The local community college here in N.C. is offering some courses that are right up my alley. Neither of them would be for credits but they will be fun and interesting. One is an editing class. Yeah, I just finished up an editing class but that was for technical documents and such. This class is for fiction and non-fiction novels, articles, and things of that nature. The other class is about publishing. Both classes sound really cool to me and they have five different start times so I can stagger them to make them last longer.

Another endeavor of mine is to help the Mister finally get his cheesecake deal off the ground and moving forward. He needs some help with the particulars like finding a box supplier, figuring out something for a website, things like that. I'm also going to see about approaching some of the local restaurants around the area as well. We figured out how to ship them and it is not cheap. Of course, the customer would pay shipping, but still. This could, potentially, be quite a bit of work in the end.

We're also going to try and find the time to go to Texas this summer for about a week or so. We're considering the Houston, San Antonio, Austin area as a future place of residence. Do you know how amazingly inexpensive real estate is down that way?? It's nauseating.

Then I have the usual odds and ends. Things like my blog, catching up on some reading, Readers Anonymous, a new blogging project, and the beach. I've been keeping my nose in the classifieds but the job market here is dismal to say the least. I'm not qualified, nor am I willing, to work in construction or sales and that's about all there is. Sometimes living in small, rinky-dink, rural America can be a drag.

That's about it. Now that I'm over the disappointment of my unplanned break from school, I'm actually looking forward to it. Really looking forward to it. I can see now that I was starting to feel burned out.

**Edited to add that I forgot to mention that I'm also participating in a volunteer proofreading project. I'm sure you've all heard of Project Gutenberg. Well, they have an affiliate website called Distributed Proofreaders where volunteers edit pages of the books that are uploaded to the Internet for people to read. My editing prof mentioned this at the end of class and I think it's a worthwhile activity. Plus, it gives me some editing experience even if it's not a paying job. Plus, you can do as much or as little as you want so there's no pressure. Me likes. ;)

Blog Stats

This came up the other day in my book discussion group and now I'm curious so I totally expect comments on this post and I've never said that before.

1.) How many people consider reading blogs a hobby? 2.) How many blogs do you subscribe to or read on a regular basis? 3.) Is there a such thing as too many? 4.) Comments. Do you leave them or not?

1.) For me, I think blog reading could be considered a hobby separate from regular reading. I sure devote enough time to reading updates from the blogs I subscribe to and more recently, hunting new blogs to read.

2.) I subscribe to 67 blogs in my Google Reader but 12 of them have not updated recently ranging in date from 3/2/07 - 1/31/08. With that amount of time, I have to wonder if I'll be hearing from them in the blogoshere ever again.

3 and 4) Just like I don't think it's possible to read too many books, I don't think it's possible to subscribe to too many blogs. I admit, some blogs I skim more than I read but I still pay attention to what they are saying. Also, feeling obligated to leave comments on so many posts can get really overwhelming which makes me feel neglectful when I don't. Sometimes I also feel like I'm just saying the same thing that 10 other people have said on the more popular blogs. So, I suppose that leaving comments just because you feel like you have to makes the sentiment and empty one but some bloggers are so comment hungry that they probably don't care. I say, leave comments when you really want to and not just because you feel like you should.

I would like to ask more questions about blogging but they would be too gossipy so I won't, lol. Like I said, I'm curious though.