Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
May 22, 2013
We Now Return You to the Regularly Scheduled Program
Well I guess you can't describe me as consistent. Yet if you've been visiting for a while you know there are times I just disappear ~ but I always come back. My last post wasn't even really a me post ~ though I do love sharing what I'm reading. Life is well life and sometimes it just gets in the way and sometimes is just rolls right over you. These past few weeks have been a bit of a combination. Hell these past 9 months have felt that way.
November 1, 2011
Why Blog?
It seems that everyone and their brother has a blog today. But why? I know that sounds arrogant as I sit here writing and hoping many are going to read these words. However I believe it is a valid statement just the same ~ why are people blogging?
When I started blogging back in February it was a way for my voice to be heard. Well actually if I'm honest I actually backed my way into blogging. I started posting notes on facebook when my voice was failing me. I was so frustrated with all that was going on around and to me that I needed some sort of release. At that time my intended audience was friends, close friends. Even when I moved the notes into this "official" blog format my audience remained friends. It was at the encouragement of different therapists to make my blog public in the hopes that other stroke victims and their families would find common ground and hopefully comfort in my shared experiences. Now 8 months later, and after almost a 4 week hiatus, I continue to blog simply and honestly because my stroke recovery is still the elephant in the room. I need this blog to continue to be my voice through this journey.
OK that's why I am blogging, but I still wonder why so many have blogs. Actually that's not my complete question. Not only do I wonder why so many blog but why do they think their blog is something "strangers" will be drawn to.
In some ways I am jealous of this medium and the impact it has for families. We lived in Virginia when we started having children; all of our extended family lived in New York. A blog would have been an incredible way for us to update everyone on the daily fun and growth of our children. What an incredible opportunity that would have been for Pop-Pop et AL who missed those milestones. With that being said I don't think I would have ever made those pictures public. Nor would I have thought that strangers would have wanted to subscribe to my daily life of diapers, nursing and general motherhood.
At the end of 2010, according to Royal Pingdom there were over 152 million blogs on the Internet. According to Digital Mom Blog this time last year nearly 4 million American Moms had blogs. Interestingly I couldn't find statistics on how many Dads had blogs though I'd like to highly recommend these two blogs: The Real Matt Daddy and Chopper Pappa. Sometimes an opposite view point is quite interesting and entertaining.
The next major category of blogs are the coupon/giveaway blogs. Within this category you can find a blog dedicated to your region and the sales offered. If you're into giveaways then these are you. Most have twitter accounts attached to their blogs alerting you of the recent prizes available.
My favorite group of blogs are those wordsmiths that simply make me smile and laugh out loud. They are modern day Erma Bombecks or even what I think Phyllis Diller would have done if blogging was around in her day. Extremely popular is The Bloggess she has a number of blogs she writes. You need to find her post about Beyonce, no not the singer rather the 5 foot metal chicken she bought who now has its' own facebook page. Warning she is a bit blue and drops Fbombs like my teenage son drops his clothes. My other current favorite smile maker is Caffeinated OC Mommy. She has a bit of a lipstick obsession and a great way with stories.
Not too long ago a my friend Louise at Girl Left Behind wrote a great post about why she blogs and that's what I'd like to leave you with today,
Why I Started Blogging
PS should you visit any of the blogs mentioned today please tell them that I sent you :0)
When I started blogging back in February it was a way for my voice to be heard. Well actually if I'm honest I actually backed my way into blogging. I started posting notes on facebook when my voice was failing me. I was so frustrated with all that was going on around and to me that I needed some sort of release. At that time my intended audience was friends, close friends. Even when I moved the notes into this "official" blog format my audience remained friends. It was at the encouragement of different therapists to make my blog public in the hopes that other stroke victims and their families would find common ground and hopefully comfort in my shared experiences. Now 8 months later, and after almost a 4 week hiatus, I continue to blog simply and honestly because my stroke recovery is still the elephant in the room. I need this blog to continue to be my voice through this journey.
OK that's why I am blogging, but I still wonder why so many have blogs. Actually that's not my complete question. Not only do I wonder why so many blog but why do they think their blog is something "strangers" will be drawn to.
In some ways I am jealous of this medium and the impact it has for families. We lived in Virginia when we started having children; all of our extended family lived in New York. A blog would have been an incredible way for us to update everyone on the daily fun and growth of our children. What an incredible opportunity that would have been for Pop-Pop et AL who missed those milestones. With that being said I don't think I would have ever made those pictures public. Nor would I have thought that strangers would have wanted to subscribe to my daily life of diapers, nursing and general motherhood.
At the end of 2010, according to Royal Pingdom there were over 152 million blogs on the Internet. According to Digital Mom Blog this time last year nearly 4 million American Moms had blogs. Interestingly I couldn't find statistics on how many Dads had blogs though I'd like to highly recommend these two blogs: The Real Matt Daddy and Chopper Pappa. Sometimes an opposite view point is quite interesting and entertaining.
The next major category of blogs are the coupon/giveaway blogs. Within this category you can find a blog dedicated to your region and the sales offered. If you're into giveaways then these are you. Most have twitter accounts attached to their blogs alerting you of the recent prizes available.
My favorite group of blogs are those wordsmiths that simply make me smile and laugh out loud. They are modern day Erma Bombecks or even what I think Phyllis Diller would have done if blogging was around in her day. Extremely popular is The Bloggess she has a number of blogs she writes. You need to find her post about Beyonce, no not the singer rather the 5 foot metal chicken she bought who now has its' own facebook page. Warning she is a bit blue and drops Fbombs like my teenage son drops his clothes. My other current favorite smile maker is Caffeinated OC Mommy. She has a bit of a lipstick obsession and a great way with stories.
Not too long ago a my friend Louise at Girl Left Behind wrote a great post about why she blogs and that's what I'd like to leave you with today,
Why I Started Blogging
PS should you visit any of the blogs mentioned today please tell them that I sent you :0)
August 11, 2011
Manners for Bloggers
Well don't I sound quite ominous BAWAHAHA
Being fairly new to blogging I realize that there are quite a number of things I need to learn. I have been able to find numerous posts on how to have a successful blog. However, I believe that it is time someone clearly established a set of Blogging Manners. Being Royal I feel it was my duty, please enjoy.
1. Spell/Grammar Check I don't care if you have a Doctorate in English Lit, there is ALWAYS a chance of misspelling a word. You cannot buy a computer today that doesn't come with some type of editing software. For best results create your document in this program run spell and grammar checks THEN post to your blog.
2. Learn and Distinguish Homophones There, Their and They're have very different meanings. When I read a blog and the writer has the wrong homophone it simply drives me nuts and when it happens repeatedly I truly question their level of education.
3. Read your blog Seriously read your blog before you post it. Very often we know what line of thought we're following and sometimes forget to take our readers along the complete ride. I actually read my blogs out loud, often to myself, as I'll catch mistakes more often when I hear what I've written.
4. Acknowledgements If you see, hear or read something and use it in your blog please do not pass it off as yours. Someone else should receive credit. However if that someone else is your spouse, child or other family member consider it yours, seems fair they should be happy we're including them in our blog anyway
5. Allow Comments At first I was guilty of this, however on second thought. I don't understand why many bloggers invite comments yet those comments won't be posted until approved by blogger. If you want your blog to have a true dialogue you need to allow open discussion. Remember you can always delete any comment that is truly offensive or simply irritates you. The one time I did remove a comment I acknowledged that I did so and explained why in my next blog.
,
6. Proper Thank You Should you be fortunate enough to have your blog picked to receive an award of any kind in addition to posting that glorious new button be sure to thank that blog, with a link, in a separate post. I learned this the hard way. I was new and received notice in an email that I was the epic blog of the week. I replied and thanked her. What I should have done is posted the button and her button proudly and boldly on my page.
7. Responses This goes hand in hand with number 5. If someone is kind enough to take time out of their day to not only visit your blog but leave a comment you need to acknowledge that. Now I understand when your comments start running into the hundreds this isn't practical. BUT how do you think those bloggers got so many loyal followers in the first place!!
8. The Golden Rule If you want other participate in any kind of hop whether it be blog, Facebook, twitter or whatever to visit your pages be sure visit theirs as well. Do not simply drop your link into the linky tool and not visit the other participants' links. While you may not be able to visit all depending on the number of participants, make a good effort to visit as many as you can.
9. Reality Chances are you will eventually stumble across a blog or such that you do not like. No reason to leave a negative comment. Just as Lowe's offers 162 shades of white everyone isn't going to like everything~ and that's okay. Remember to be respectful *see rule 8
Of course ALL of my Royal Postings are gloriously and fabulously perfect, not. As much as I have learned there are volumes out there for me to tackle. Please feel free to share any other manners you think bloggers should adhere to.
~~Royal Note.... if you are reading this blog rest assured it doesn't apply to you. Guess it is similar to preaching to the choir~~Lady Bren HRH
Seriously I just don't understand the mind set of some people/bloggers. Do they somehow think that their blog is going to have such an impact on my life that I should be grateful I found them? Or by simply receiving their tweets my day would be enhanced? And don't forget the added benefits we acquire because we liked their Facebook page?
What could possibly have my royal crown in such frenzy????? I sincerely wonder why some people drop their blogs, twitter and Facebook address in linky tools on blog hop pages and NEVER visit anyone else? Very simply put..... How Rude
Being fairly new to blogging I realize that there are quite a number of things I need to learn. I have been able to find numerous posts on how to have a successful blog. However, I believe that it is time someone clearly established a set of Blogging Manners. Being Royal I feel it was my duty, please enjoy.
1. Spell/Grammar Check I don't care if you have a Doctorate in English Lit, there is ALWAYS a chance of misspelling a word. You cannot buy a computer today that doesn't come with some type of editing software. For best results create your document in this program run spell and grammar checks THEN post to your blog.
2. Learn and Distinguish Homophones There, Their and They're have very different meanings. When I read a blog and the writer has the wrong homophone it simply drives me nuts and when it happens repeatedly I truly question their level of education.
3. Read your blog Seriously read your blog before you post it. Very often we know what line of thought we're following and sometimes forget to take our readers along the complete ride. I actually read my blogs out loud, often to myself, as I'll catch mistakes more often when I hear what I've written.
4. Acknowledgements If you see, hear or read something and use it in your blog please do not pass it off as yours. Someone else should receive credit. However if that someone else is your spouse, child or other family member consider it yours, seems fair they should be happy we're including them in our blog anyway
5. Allow Comments At first I was guilty of this, however on second thought. I don't understand why many bloggers invite comments yet those comments won't be posted until approved by blogger. If you want your blog to have a true dialogue you need to allow open discussion. Remember you can always delete any comment that is truly offensive or simply irritates you. The one time I did remove a comment I acknowledged that I did so and explained why in my next blog.
,
6. Proper Thank You Should you be fortunate enough to have your blog picked to receive an award of any kind in addition to posting that glorious new button be sure to thank that blog, with a link, in a separate post. I learned this the hard way. I was new and received notice in an email that I was the epic blog of the week. I replied and thanked her. What I should have done is posted the button and her button proudly and boldly on my page.
7. Responses This goes hand in hand with number 5. If someone is kind enough to take time out of their day to not only visit your blog but leave a comment you need to acknowledge that. Now I understand when your comments start running into the hundreds this isn't practical. BUT how do you think those bloggers got so many loyal followers in the first place!!
8. The Golden Rule If you want other participate in any kind of hop whether it be blog, Facebook, twitter or whatever to visit your pages be sure visit theirs as well. Do not simply drop your link into the linky tool and not visit the other participants' links. While you may not be able to visit all depending on the number of participants, make a good effort to visit as many as you can.
9. Reality Chances are you will eventually stumble across a blog or such that you do not like. No reason to leave a negative comment. Just as Lowe's offers 162 shades of white everyone isn't going to like everything~ and that's okay. Remember to be respectful *see rule 8
Of course ALL of my Royal Postings are gloriously and fabulously perfect, not. As much as I have learned there are volumes out there for me to tackle. Please feel free to share any other manners you think bloggers should adhere to.
May 21, 2011
Still here/God's Cake
Just a quick note to say sorry that I haven't posted in a bit... thank you for the many emails and encouragement. Everything here is fine :0) I just can't seem to get those creative juices flowing but hope to have something soon>
I shared this on fb thought all of you may enjoy this as well:
I can't take credit for this. We found it on the wall of the restroom at our new favorite bakery..... Cupcake Girls
God’s Cake
A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong.
She’s failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her, and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack. The daughter looks at her mother and say, “You know it, Mom! I love your cake.”
“Here, have some cooking oil,” her mother offers.
“Yuck,” says her daughter.
“How about a couple of raw eggs?” the mother asks.
“Gross, Mom!”
“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?”
“Mom, those are all nasty!”
At this point, the mother says to her daughter something that puts things in perspective:
When we’re going through troubled times, sometimes it seems to be an eternity before things get better, but when we’re in the middle of the fire — when things are at their absolute worst, we must simply know, in our heart, that God is there, totally in control of the situation (if we allow Him), and is working all things out for our good. When we try to keep things in our control, well, that’s when we knock things off-kilter with God’s plans for our lives. At that point, you see, God will have to work His plans for our life in a different way — and when He has to do that, sometimes the consequences of our actions have to play out, as severe as they may be — but in the end, His plan still comes shining through.
God really is focused on us — the creatures He calls people. We are supposedly civilized. If you stop and look around, many of the things we do to each other are anything but civil, but what’s He do for us every day? He sends us flowers every spring, a sunrise every morning, and birds to sing and serenade us each and every day.
Whenever you want to talk, He’s ready to listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, yet He chose your heart.
If you like this, share this page with other people you really care about.
My thoughts
As you head out into the world today — no matter if it is morning, noon, or night — reflect of this story and try to understand how life really can be a piece of cake.
I shared this on fb thought all of you may enjoy this as well:
I can't take credit for this. We found it on the wall of the restroom at our new favorite bakery..... Cupcake Girls
God’s Cake
A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong.
She’s failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her, and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack. The daughter looks at her mother and say, “You know it, Mom! I love your cake.”
“Here, have some cooking oil,” her mother offers.
“Yuck,” says her daughter.
“How about a couple of raw eggs?” the mother asks.
“Gross, Mom!”
“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?”
“Mom, those are all nasty!”
At this point, the mother says to her daughter something that puts things in perspective:
“Yes, all those things seem bad by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!”God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through bad or difficult times. God knows that when He puts these things — our life, the universe, or anything at all — in the order He knows is best, things always work for our good! We just have to trust Him, knowing that things will turn out fine.
When we’re going through troubled times, sometimes it seems to be an eternity before things get better, but when we’re in the middle of the fire — when things are at their absolute worst, we must simply know, in our heart, that God is there, totally in control of the situation (if we allow Him), and is working all things out for our good. When we try to keep things in our control, well, that’s when we knock things off-kilter with God’s plans for our lives. At that point, you see, God will have to work His plans for our life in a different way — and when He has to do that, sometimes the consequences of our actions have to play out, as severe as they may be — but in the end, His plan still comes shining through.
God really is focused on us — the creatures He calls people. We are supposedly civilized. If you stop and look around, many of the things we do to each other are anything but civil, but what’s He do for us every day? He sends us flowers every spring, a sunrise every morning, and birds to sing and serenade us each and every day.
Whenever you want to talk, He’s ready to listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, yet He chose your heart.
If you like this, share this page with other people you really care about.
My thoughts
As you head out into the world today — no matter if it is morning, noon, or night — reflect of this story and try to understand how life really can be a piece of cake.
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