COMMENTS ON COMMENTS

          A few weeks ago I changed things on my blog. It was my intention to post a comment every day.

         I admit that I have been struggling the last while. I've found topics hard to come by and the writing wasn't up to what I expected of myself. I've also discovered that my aging slows things down.

         I've had a list of quotes that I wanted to use on the blog for a long time. I wanted to make a side bar with a quote of the day. I collected the comments in my teaching days as I had a quote of the day on the chalk board to get kids attention before I entered the classroom. So my secret for comments was  to get them out of the local paper. Today you can find books of comments.

         I've had some comments on the change. I know I lost some followers but, I also gained some. Some expressed their opinion which was great. I like to see both positive and negative comments. I also like the comments on the way the blog was written before.

     I appreciated one comment more than any other and it didn't make it on to the blog. My son said, "  Dad, it's just not you!" I appreciated his keen sense of who I am and that he will miss that part. By the way he said , " Dad  go back to what you had before."

   A funny thing is happening. I seem to be writing as many posts as before so you are getting two types of blog.

   Thanks for reading from 2008. I've learned so much from this activity. I've found so many interesting  on line friends.

MR PUDDING

    I have been following Mr. Pudding on his Yorkshire blog for many years, He covers a wide variety of topics and does all of them well.

    He's famous for his long walks up in the hills and  taking many photos.

  He's and avid sports fan.

  He even writes poetry.

  He's a gardener and excellent cook.

   He's an obsessive  grandfather. (Lucky grandchildren.)

     As you can see as well  as good  quality he tries to make things interesting. So what does Mr. Pudding do. He throws in a few contests. The latest was to see if people could identify ten bloggers from their photos.

   He's famous for his Laughing Horse awards. He talks about the Laughing Horse awards for days leading up to the awards.

   So there is great effort to make the blog interesting. 

  So Yorkshire pudding is high quality and interesting.

  No doubt Mr. Pudding was an excellent teacher as I'm sure he tried to make everything interesting for the kids

    So keep on writing such an interesting blog.. I'll be there reading it.

THE GRAMMAR POLICE

      The grammar police visited my post A Memory. 

      Have you ever had grammar police visit your blog? 

     This visit was more of a raid as they went a little further than just grammar. 

     I had tried to say that Mr Pudding from Yorkshire Pudding had been to his favorite pub for quiz night. Question # 12 gave me a good memory for my post. I was chastised because  I hadn't explained "Mr Pudding" or "Yorkshire Pudding" In fact, they thought that so much was missing that I may have had a TIA. Well part of this is their problem but I admit that it was a  sloppy paragraph. 

   There were further omissions and out right mistakes. I confess to some very poor editing. I was in a hurry. 

   So this would bring up a question for bloggers. How much should we concern ourselves with grammar? Are bloggers supposed to work to rule? Is it necessary to have completely correct grammar? I'm sure everybody has their own opinions. What makes up a good blog? Does it take correct grammar to have a good blog? 

    When you read my blog I think you see that I am somewhat informal. That's me. I'm that kind of person.

    When I read your blogs, which are all good, I see different styles. People can write the way they talk and it makes for an interesting blog. 

     With so much variety blogging is very interesting. 

      So since I have confessed to some errors, will the grammar police wonder what I'm talking about or will bloggers wonder what grammar police are? There seems to be something wrong with my last sentence but I don't know what it is. 

     

DON'T YOU JUST HATE IT WHEN...

      I don't hate. I might get mildly upset. Most things I can overlook. 

      I'm sure that there are many things that I do that upset people. I certainly upset the Micro Manager from time to time. 

      I received a comment on my last blog post that has got me very curious. I would very much like to know who this person is. Some anonymous comments leave some clue as to who they are. One of my former students usually says "Grandpa" It's the familiarity with this comment that drives me nuts. We both have connections to Yellowknife and the north. We both like gardening and we both live in Red Deer.  So you see the comment below and my reply. 

AnonymousSaturday, May 21, 2022

Talking about growing seasons and the amount of sunlight, the two years that I spent living in Yellowknife it was absolutely all inspiring how much light was lost and gained at the change of season. I am not sure but I think that the differences in the days were about 20 to 40 minute increments either way depending on what time of year it was. To my sensibilities have been growing up in Red Deer, it seemed to me that there was about three weeks of spring and then boom it was summer LOL. As for planting I did some last Saturday and we'll do the rest today. Just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best as I learn about this a novice gardener.

ReplyDelete

Replies

1. 
   RedSaturday, May 21, 2022

   Now your story and "anonymous make me very , very curious.

     And another thing, Doesn't it bother you when a regular comment goes dark. Several bloggers I follow live in Ontario where there was a vicious storm and the power was off. This I understand. 

     However sometimes the commenter just disappears for a while.

     So I'm about to make and apology as my commenting has sometimes been sporadic and sometimes missing. But I have an excuse! I find myself busier than I want to be lately. The iliotibia syndrome has really slowed me down. I don't get much sleep at night.

     There will be better days and I will get to the point where I make the number comments I want to make. 

PHOTO BLOGS

     I like photo blogs and there are many of them to pick from. They can be photo journals that picture everyday life. 

     Some blogs focus on topics like birds, landscapes. sunrises or sunsets, trips attractions such as parks.  . Some blogs show pictures of their local area everyday. Apparently they have many photos to choose from as they can pick excellent photos to choose from. 

     I like birds so I follow several blogs that feature birds. Along with the photos these bloggers have a great knowledge of birds. 

    Some bloggers concentrate on sunrises and sunsets. They show many beautiful skies and post their photos on other sites. Everyday the sunrise and sunset is different. 

    Some bloggers give a great descriptions of some of the places they tour. It's almost like going along with them. 

    Some photo bloggers post one photo every day. Some may concentrate on street scenes or wildlife scenes. Some are just random shots. 

    Then there are photographers who want to illustrate and teach how to take good photos. 

    Some photographers just want a good place to show off their photos.

    I don't mind admitting that I like photo blogs.

    Notice that I haven't singled any one blogger out. If I did, I would likely leave out some excellent bloggers. 

    How about you? Do you follow any good photo blogs?

A RECOMMENDED BLOG

       I would like to recommend that you go over and have a look Yorkshire Pudding

       This is a well done blog and is written everyday. There's a good balance in different posts which makes things interesting.

      Excellent photos of Northern England. Some of his photos are chosen to be published in a magazine.

     Some great poetry...not enough though.

    Some strongly worded and well reasoned opinions.

    Some wicked humor.

    Each year Mr Pudding, as he calls himself, sets up an elaborate awards program. The awards are called "Laughing Horse."  Weeks before the awards show there is chatter that gets you thinking. Then there's an announcement about the location of the awards and all followers are invited. Then the big event occurs and bloggers who follow Uncle pudding are described as they enter the awards program. Now he's really whipped up the excitement. We can barely remain seated. Announcements are made.

    It's a fun series of blogs.

    Look on the top right hand corner of my blog.

    Be sure to drop over and visit Mr Pudding.

More Blogger Mumblings

     I recently did a post on blogging that got away on me. I was interested in two bloggers who were making some serious attempts to change their blogs. Sometimes we need to change to rejuvenate and get out of a rut.

    I have some things that I would like to change on my blog and named them and why I would change them. I also went out on the limb to ask people what they liked and what suggestions they would make about my blog. There were no great surprises and it's always nice to reaffirm what is going on. There were many suggestions. I now know how to live dangerously when I want to change my blog. I have to set up another blog and use it for experimenting.

   Now when you ask for opinions you risk hearing some things you might not want to hear and some things that are just plane wrong. All of your comments were great.

   I then reflected on being able to ask for judgements.

   As a teacher , I went through many evaluations. In the 50's and 60's we had one visit a year from the superintendent. It was a terrifying visit. We didn't know what he was looking for and I don't think he did either. I had one superintendent who was most helpful.

   As time went on teacher evaluation changes. Specific skills were looked for. We were trained to use these skills and when an evaluator came to your classroom you knew exactly what he was looking for.

   Evaluation expanded. Principals and vice principals visited the classroom so we had 4 or more visits per year. Not all of these visits were formal.

  I was a department head and I also did classroom visits.

   I also had many student teachers and had to evaluate them. This evaluation was a pain because of the way the evaluation form was set up. Having student teachers was always a good experience.

   So it wasn't hard for me to ask for opinions and I'm glad I asked as I learned some things and certainly had things reaffirmed.

 

Blogger Mumblings

     This last week I've heard a couple of bloggers mumbling about making changes to their blogs for the sake of improvement. 

    It's always good to hear a blogger talking out loud about making changes. You can read into that making improvements. Sometimes a change in direction is what is pondered. Do they want to change the emphasis from self to others? Do they want to change the topic a bit? Is there a set pattern that they would change?

    One of the bloggers meets up with other bloggers once a year. This year they are going to make it into a writing workshop. What a super idea. Most of us are writing by ourselves. We don't discuss things with others. I hope these bloggers have a productive weekend. When I tell others that I write a blog they put a pleasant smile on their face and that's about it. They don't really know what a blog is. So I don't get to discuss my writing. 

    Another blogger has a fairly narrow subject matter but it is extremely well written. I hope she finds the new direction so that she keeps being enthusiastic about blogging.

   I have a little note on my desk to remind me of the objectives I laid down when I started blogging. I cover these goals but have wondered widely to other areas. So the list I started with was incomplete.

   It's fun to go back once in awhile and look at the things I wrote. The writing has changed. I guess along the way I've maybe learned some things. Reading other blogs certainly helps. Other blogs give ideas for topics. I never want to get in a rut and write on the same topic.

    There are some things I would like to change. I'd like to change my header. I'm sure the regulars would like to open this blog up and see something different. I would also like to change the format. I've monkeyed around with the format but can't make anything that is much different. 

    So do you ask yourself questions about your blog? Are there things you would like to change? What things have you changed that you really like and feel that were successful?

    What things would you like to see change on my blog? What topics would you like to see on my blog?  Now that I've given you a chance to make comments, I'll have to make some response.

Pleasant Blog Conversations

      Blogging intrigues me. I do a post once in a while on some aspect of blogging. I think the last  post I did on blogging was about bloggers who just disappear. Poof! They're gone. No goodbye! I've done a post on blog comments. Today is another post on comments.

      The blog post together with comments becomes a genuine conversation. We write a post which says something or shows something. The topic can be a standard for a particular blogger or like me, I post about anything that happens to be rolling around in my head.

      I like to make comments on other bloggers's posts. People write very interesting things which promotes a reaction. As in a conversation, we reply and add to a comment or question for more information or validation. I follow some very excellent photo blogs. They are the kinds of things that catch your eye. Some photo blogs cleverly mix photos with prose or poetry.

    On my blog I reply to comments that are made the first day after the post. My conversation can say thanks, add to my post, widen the scope of what I said or just plain kibitz. Kibitz comes from teaching days where I had to carry on several conversations at once.

    I really have to be happy about the type of comment I get. I feel that someone has read the post and can make an honest and respectful comment. Some people have a great sense of humor and it comes through in the comment. Some people will always expand my thoughts and I will say , "Why didn't I write that?" Sometimes I'm just plane wrong. I like someone to tell me when I'm wrong. I get about 10 to 20 comments per post. I couldn't respond to any more. I only have so much time for blogging.

    I'm not sure how many active blogs I follow, but there is a limit to how many blogs I can comment on per day. I get frustrated on days when I'm busy and can't take time to think about my comment.

     Each blog and blogger is different. Each blog you open has something new and different.

    So with all the back and forth of posts and comments a very pleasant conversation takes place. Non bloggers don't know what they're missing.

I Can Always Find Something Useless to Whine About

     Don't you just hate it when blogs just disappear? They just stop.

     I guess why I get upset when a blog disappears, is that I've enjoyed the blog and am just plain disappointed when it's gone.

    A few people do say that they have decided to stop blogging. I can handle this because there's closure. They also give reasons as to why it's time to stop blogging. Good! There was some thought to this decision. One blog I really liked and was disappointed when it closed was Just Another Day on the Prairie. A good reason for stopping was given and a good bye was said.

  One blog that really impressed me was where the blogger posted until a few days before his death. There were some intense comments shared on this one. I learned a great deal from this one. Much reflection took place after this one closed. His wife wrote a couple of posts when he was too sick to write. His daughter wrote a final post.

    In one or two blogs illness has set in and I think that the blogger passed on. Sad.

     Sometimes a very active blogger just starts to slow down. Time between posts gets longer and longer and then ceases. Sometimes bloggers try something new. They go from posting every day to once a week. You know something's up. Not long after things dry up and stop. Some bloggers are involved in more than one blog and they are stretched too far so something has to go. Sometimes bloggers move on to a completely different area and start a new blog. I can follow their new blog or call it a day.

    Sometimes the area that they cover just dries up and they have no new material to use. 

    Sometimes the fire in the belly just goes out.

    I would think that some bloggers find something else to occupy their time and blogging is what is dropped.

    So once in a while I have to go through my blog list and "clean it up."  It's sad to take these blogs off your blog list. They are old friends.

    On the other side of the coin one can search for more blogs. That's a blog post for another time.

   So how do you handle things when a blog shuts down?

Bumbling Along on the Blog

      A fellow I finished high school with had a look at my blog the other day. He made a couple of comments and a compliment. Since school days take me back to the mid fifties I got thinking about the origin of  my blog.

      Now comments and compliments send me to greater wildness. This set off reflections on how I started blogging. 

      The only thing I knew is that I wanted to write. I thought I had some weighty and serious things to say. Many of you will laugh because my blog is not that serious. I was completely naive. I did not have the Internet at my house. I had an email account and had searched the web. I had also used the word processor. 

    So I set up Hiawatha House. I thought anything I wrote would be hung out there on the net and everybody would see it. People would open their computers and there I would be! I would have the world reading my blog. This would so cool! I made 2 posts in the first 4 months. Click here to see my first post. Slowly I began to realize that nobody was reading my blog.

    So fast forward to Blogging for Dummies. A few things made sense to me in this book that was written in very simple terms. I really got hung up on URLs. I couldn't figure out what they were but they were important. One time I bumbled into what a URL was. This brought about many changes and developments but still no readers. 

     I began looking at other blogs. To this point I had not read any other blogs. I bumbled into comments and related it back the Blogging for Dummies. I read comments for a while and finally learned how to make a comment.

    I discovered stat counters. This showed that my readership was between none and very few. Finally I was very surprised to see a comment. I didn't know what it was. To say the least I was very excited.

    Another hurdle was that I did not know how to cut and paste. A friend accidentally asked me to cut and paste something and I though ah ha this is how it's done. I had done cut and paste on the word processor but it had not transferred to the blog. Cut and paste helped me advance by leaps and bounds.

    The learning curve was steep and very slow. I still spent a lot of time with Blogging for Dummies. 

     When I look back I can not understand why I persisted. I just bumbled along and made discoveries. 

     Little did I realize that I would still be blogging in 2014! Little did I realize that I would some day have written over 800 posts. Little did I realize that I would meet many other bloggers and things would develop into a  very interesting and supportive community.

    My blog has become an interesting and time consuming hobby. I can not see giving up blogging.

     Thanks to all the bloggers who have been a part of supporting Hiawatha House.

      Thanks to my high school friend for causing me to go back and reflect on what Hiawatha House has become.

I've Been Thinking

     Now with a tile like this I'm sure many have come backs which will have come to their minds. Many bloggers make a special post in the New year and comment on their satisfaction with their blog and point to where they would like to go in the future. I'm just getting around to thinking about my blog's future. Okay , then , on with the post.

     When I started my blog in 2008 , I had thought about what I would like to blog about. I listed eight general topics. Now I thought I would see how I was doing. Have I stuck to the topics? I'm afraid that i have strayed from my topics and posted about many other things. Why did I start thinking about my blog? Many of the posts lately seem to be about myself. I was not intending to write so much about myself. I wanted to write about things other than myself. I have covered all the topics but some of them quite rarely .  So I will tape my list of topics beside the computer and see if I can do a little better with my original intentions. So here is my first post.

  What does one say when one starts a blog ? Obviously something must be on my mind . I'm interested in the environment , music,reading, Xcountry skiing , cycling , issues of health and education ... So from time to time I will leave comments on these topics and other related issues . I hope that you find something of value ...informative, interesting or something which you wish to comment on.

     I look forward to coming up with topics and putting them together for others to think about .

    Yes, that was the very first post on Hiawatha House on Aug. 27 , 2008. I made three more posts in 2008

    I must admit that when I started the blog , I had no idea of what a blog really was. I didn't look at other blogs. My learning curve was fairly flat for the first couple of years. Although I worked very hard, it's been fun. The fun part was discovering readers and other blogs.

Blogger Blues

    My most ardent followers have noticed that I've been missing. I've reminded some that I'm still in business.  When you follow so many blogs it's hard to notice when some one goes missing.

    I've been missing for a month. I've been posting but people weren't finding me. In other words my feeds were not being picked up.

    It was disappointing for me as I missed the contact. It was difficult to post when you didn't know what might happen. You keep hoping the feed will magically return.

    I was trying to find out why my feeds were not being picked up and what to do about it. I did lots of searching...mostly in the wrong places. I found many people had the same problem I had. I didn't find any solutions. I got mixed up and confused many times. I contacted my son. I contacted a good friend. Everything came up empty. My friend left me with one comment ringing in my ears, "You should be able to find a blogger site which will help you." Sure enough. Yesterday I stumbled on to a blogger forum site. I asked my question. This morning in my email was an answer. I then started to worry about the security of the site. The answer came from nitecruzr. I hadn't seen anything about nitecruzr on the forum. I then realized the answer to my question was in the email. I reset what I was told and bingo my feeds returned.

    So a big thanks to nitecruzr.

    A big thanks to all of my followers. I've missed you. 

    Now don't give yourself homework and try to comment on all the posts. I'm  just happy if you start to comment on the new posts.

    So did I have blogger blues or what!

The Thanksgiving List

     I was introduced to the thanksgiving list a few years ago where we would say what we are thankful for. It's a good exercise. It puts some meaning into Thanksgiving and leads us to stop and  appreciate things .

  Since this is the blog world I thought I would keep my list connected to the blog world.

   1. I'm thankful for the people who follow my blog. You are the ones who put meaning into what I write. I very much appreciate that people stop by and visit Hiawatha House.

   2. I'm thankful for all the great blogs that I get to read. I go for variety . So some blogs publish excellent photography. Others are humorous. Some blogs are very descriptive other other places. Other blogs relate daily life. Many blogs have very attractive layouts. Some blogs stick to a very narrow topic that is covered in depth. I have to be thankful that you work so hard on your blogs and that I benefit from it.

    3.I'm thankful for comments. Comments do many things. Comments make me think more about what I wrote. Comments often gently show another point of view. Comments are always enlightening for me!

    4. I'm thankful for the genuine friendship of fellow bloggers. You have to really care to read and comment on what I write. You pick up on things that you like and things that I struggle with. Thanks for the help and support.

     5. Some of you are great huggers! So thanks for the hugs. They are most appreciated. 

     I look forward to more high quality blogging. 

Introducing: A New Blog and Blogger

      Ordinarily new bloggers don't have an introduction by another blogger. But this time it's special so I'm proud to push a new blog.


      In Sept of 2011 my neighbor , Brenda, fell from a second story deck and suffered a spinal injury. She has been fighting back ever since. 

A special tricycle which gives more therapy and pleasure.

     Brenda has recently started a blog to publicize her condition and ask for support. I'm sure you will be impressed if you visit Brenda's blog. So go to her blog and she will describe what has happened and how she is succeeding. 


      I first met Brenda when she was a preschooler. She walked by my house everyday to elementary school. I taught her in middle school. Then I lost contact with her for a few years. About ten years ago she moved back into my neighborhood about three houses from me. I've enjoyed having Brenda as a neighbor and watching her two sons grow up. They are really neat kids. 


      So what I'd really like you to do is hop over to Brenda's blog and take a look. Any support would be most appreciated. After I visit Brenda I come away feeling much better as Brenda's great determination to get back to normal has really influenced me. 

Large Volume of Writing Today: What Will Influence be on our Society?

      I find it challenging to even think of an answer for the question I have asked in the title. There are so many things to consider. What might the future hold that would influence the use and storage of all things written and saved today.
   
    There is a tremendous increase in writing volume today compared to any time in our history. In the 1950's when I was a little kid I would write two or three letters a year to my friends and maybe one to my Grandma. Today I write a blog that is nearing 400 posts. If conditions had remained as 1950 I would have written very little. 


      Today there are thousands of blogs and the common man and woman are able to write an exponential amount because of the use of  computer technology. If one  browses blogs for a few minutes you can find an endless variety of well written blogs which would never have been written before this time. Some blogs are made up of endless beautiful photographs which record our life. Digital cameras and computers have made it possible for almost anybody to take photos and post them for all to see .


     About 700 AD the quill pen and powdered ink was invented. A very limited amount of writing could be done. I would think that only a fraction of this writing would have survived. The common man did not write. The primitive printing press was invented about 1500. This not only allowed for more writing but more readers. The first fountain pens were developed in  about 900. This allowed more people to write and more writing survived. In the 1930's the ball point was developed and refined in the 1940's so pilots could use it during the war instead of fountain pens which did not do well with great altitude changes. Even with these developments few people wrote and little was kept. 


     My Dad was born in 1912. I do not know of any of his writing that has survived. We did find a letter he had written to our Mom before they were married. My brother found this letter in a stove where Dad was disposing of papers. Dad had just filled the stove but had not lit a fire. I'm not sure if this letter survives.


     I do not have an answer for the question I asked in the title. I can only assume that by the exponential increase in writing we will leave a vast amount of information about how we lived a this time. Archaeologists should not have to dig carefully around in the soil to find small bits of garbage to see how we lived.

Bumbling Blogger? That's Me!

    When I started blogging I thought I had something important to say. I also thought that anything I put out on the Internet would be automatically seen and read by millions. Well, I was much more than naive. After a few months I discovered that few or none were reading my blog. What should I do?


     So I got the "Blogging for Dummies book."  That would do the trick. First , I got the impression that  I had to be on search engine lists, I tried to put my blog on search engines and couldn't tell whether I got my blog on search engines or not. Anyway there wasn't any noticeable increase in hits.


    So what's next? I discovered that I had to follow some blogs. How do you do that? After awhile I got the hang of it and was following half a dozen blogs. I also found out that I had to have followers so I told my friends and got a half dozen followers. However , my friends didn't have blogs so that wasn't going to go very far. Still no more traffic. Finally, an honest to goodness blogger showed up to follow me and even left comments. Until  that time I didn't have any comments. Of course, I hadn't left any comments. So Red, get busy and make comments on other blog posts. 


     So the "Blogging for Dummies " book was consulted many times. I then knew that I had to follow more blogs and make more comments before I would be noticed. Slowly this process has been succeeding.


     Now the seed for this post started in another place. In writing courses you are told to consider your audience. In other words who are you writing to. Obviously the audience thing didn't sink in. I did not have it in my head who my audience would be.


    It would go like this. I might want to write about music so my audience would be musicians  and  music listeners. I might expand this to the arts in general and I could include acting, dancing, writing and visual arts. I had no idea who I would write to.


     Gradually I gained some readers and followers. These people don't really know what to expect on my blog. I bounce around on a wide variety of topics. Lately, since I have regular followers , I'm influenced by  readers. Comments give me ideas for posts. Other bloggers give me good ideas for posts from what they write. I write mostly about experiences I have had. 


      So after three and a half years of bumbling around there are some things that are making sense and bringing about more blogging success. When I look back some of these things should have made sense a long time ago. A focus of my writing may have made it easier for readers to follow me. I'm sure people drop by my blog and wonder ,  "What's this guy all about?"


     So I am extremely happy with the people who have chosen to visit me on a regular basis and that you can put up with someone who bumbles from topic to topic.

Blogger Perceptions

       I have always wondered about blogger perceptions. We deal in an almost one dimension medium. Sometimes we add photos and some bloggers use mainly photos. But how close are we to the "real meal deal" in the blog world. 


      When I was teaching I would ask the kids what I did when I first came into the classroom for each class. I explained that I took a look at each individual student before I started my class. I told them that I wanted to see if anyone came in upset. I wanted to identify that situation and try to settle it rather than wait part way through class when everything boiled over. So in this situation perception was everything. I could observe actions, sounds , body language and other student reaction. I could also observe some sequence.


      When we blog , we are limited to the written word alone. Some writers express themselves extremely well and give us a good picture. But we are missing a couple more modes of perception. It would be nice the hear the bloggers spoken word. It would be beneficial to see the body and the body language. We certainly communicate through body motion. I have stamped my feet or banged my fist down a time or two. So how close do we get to the complete picture of the blogger we read or follow?


      Sometimes I read about bloggers who meet a fellow blogger. They are always excited to meet the blogger in person. They usually report a very positive experience. I've only met one blogger in person. It was a super experience. She was older than I thought because I was going by a picture on the blog. However the person I met was exactly who I knew on the blog. The surprise was her partner. I had pictured him very much as a follower. He was no follower and was an impressive character as he held strongly supported views.


      So I was just wondering how we saw things on our blogs. Do we get it right or does it matter.


      What ever the perception is out in the blog world, I like the blogger as is on the blog. That is the real person in the blog world and that's all that matters.  

Mommy Blogs

      On "Sunday Edition" on CBC there was a documentary on "Mommy Blogs." I had never heard the term "Mommy Blog" before.


     The documentary went on to explain that women with children began blogging as away to support each other. Ideas of dealing with children were exchanged. Various products designed for children were discussed. 


     Gradually some of these blogs became used by advertisers. Products aimed at women and children were featured on some of the blogs. Many Moms joined in on this situation as it was a way to obtain some extra cash for the family. Moms were then persuaded to post positive things about various products. Of course, some of these people never saw  a product they didn't like. One of these blogger now has about 100 000 hits a day!


    Now large conventions take place for Mommy bloggers. A huge number of companies are there  to display their products. Samples are given away in huge numbers. Hospitality suites are numerous. So the bloggers are wined and dined and the companies find more bloggers who will post for them. Some tape of one conference was played as a performer was singing to the group. As in most concerts this crowd of women were completely into the performance.


     So who am I to say that the Mommy blogs are an eyesore to the blog world? I have bumped into the odd one of these blogs. You usually see that they have 2000-3000 followers and lots of advertising. So if you find one of these blogs that you find interesting, so be it. I for one, will try to avoid following blogs that have advertising. 


     I like the blogs I follow that have a genuine interest in people's day to day activities, exhibit excellent photography and artistic skills. If a blogger is able to combine some of these , it's just a much better blog!

Bloggers: Hard Working People

       The longer I participate in the blogging world, the more I realize how hard bloggers have to work to put out an interesting blog. I'm not trying to tell you that I am a hard little worker. No , I've been reading many blogs this last while. 


       A good blogger reads and follows many blogs on a regular basis. A good blogger doesn't just see a good idea and copy it. When bloggers look at good blogs it prompts them to come up with their own original creations. The blogger may have some ideas that have been rolling around in the back of their head when they see something and then their whole post pops into their head. I think of how many blogs the Smitten Image must read before awarding Posts of the Week!


     A successful blogger is going to make meaningful comments on other posts. A dialog can be set up that benefits both writer and reader. Comments stimulate and support other bloggers. Blogger support for each other is crucial. It's interesting reading comments to find many of the same bloggers show up on many posts. One of my friends recently started a blog. He has a great idea: combine technology and nature. He is an amateur video-ographer and naturalist. He will not post very often but he has an excellent blog. He works full time and there's not enough time to post more often


     There's a tremendous talent among bloggers when it comes to photography. Some blogs succeed completely on their photography. Some bloggers tell an excellent story through use of photography. Good photography is hard work as well as talent. Other bloggers skillfully use clip art. You have to have your post in your head before you set up the illustration. All of this takes time and work. How many times is a post done before it's complete?


      I've said before that it's sad to see some blogs start and just as soon cease. They are blogs with all kinds of potential. Most reasons for ceasing are not enough time to spend putting out quality posts.


    So at the beginning of 2012, hats off to all the hard working bloggers in the blogosphere. I  look forward to spending pleasant time following your blogs.