For the past couple of months, I've been printing out the first year of Cedar's Mountain and it's been a blast tripping down memory lane while doing it. I want to share with all of you a few things that I've managed to either rediscover or discover for the first time.
1} My mouse doesn't like posts longer than a page and a half. In order to print out my posts while making my ink cartridge last as long as possible ($20 a pop), I highlight and select. Which means I highlight just the title and text, and select "only the selected frame". 99% of the time, it works, but if the post is longer than two pages, I have to copy it piecemeal onto a Word document (or a WPS document) before printing the entire post.
2} Rediscovering blogs I used to follow. Early on, I was linking up to blogs I was reading. As time advanced, my tastes changed and these blogs fell by the wayside. While I was printing out my posts, I would check out the links to see if they were still valid/current. While some of the links are still valid a year and a half later, others are either closed (like Wit's Bitch) or haven't been updated in over six months (Cute Writing).
3} Checking out former commenters. For the first several months or so, my commenters were few and far between, so I made it a point of visiting those blogs. As in the case of the previous point, some of those blogs are now either non-existent, or still kicking and screaming. For those that are still kicking and screaming, I decided to add them to my personal bookmarks again, so as to once again explore the loopier side of blogging.
4} My blog writing was highly acidic. Almost from minute one, I was carrying a ginormous boulder on my shoulder, which made my blog writing at times, pointed and barbed. Naturally, this lost me quite a few readers during that first year. As time marched on (I'm just full of cliches today, aren't I?), I learned how to....cough....temper....COUGH....my writing. But not my approach. My approach is still to shoot from the lip, but now I really do aim my shots.
There is still a treasure trove of blog nuttiness that will need to be explored as I print out that first calender year (all I have left to do is the month of December). And once I get everything properly situated, I will be taking you along for what is sure to be a most unique and pleasurable sled ride down the face of Cedar's Mountain.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
19 comments:
Go on, give me your best shot. I can take it. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have created this wonderful little blog that you decided to grace with your presence today.
About that comment moderation thingy: While yes, it does say up above I can take it, I only use it to prevent the occasional miscreant from leaving thoughtless and/or clueless comments.
So remember, all of your comments are greatly appreciated and all answers will be given that personal touch that you come to expect and enjoy.
G. B. Miller
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Can't wait, G. I was going down my blog list, the other day noticing that some people hadn't posted for quite a long time. I remembered a post you wrote a while back about where did they go? What happened?
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to delete them off my list.
I wonder if one day I will wake up with nothing left to say. Oh dear. :)Bea
It's always interesting to look back and see how things have evolved and changed and sometimes stayed the same. What always strikes me is how quickly a year does fly by!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how the blogs evolve over time, seeing what works, what doesn't, finetuning our writing, things like that. It's like that sled ride, taking off and flying with abandon until we get the knack of the slope, how to maneuver that sled over icy patches and tricky turns, until it's pretty much smooth sledding.
ReplyDeleteHowdy.
ReplyDeleteWill be back soon to respond to everyone's comments. I'm currently at the public library computer and I only have a minute or so left of usage.
I've been rather "tempered" througout I believe, although at times I've felt like cutting loose a little more than normal. But then I'm a fairly moderate guy.
ReplyDeleteI was going to write a post about this subject, about change etc. My blogging audience has changed quite a bit from the early days and I'm quite pleased by the variety of followers I have.
ReplyDeleteI've also noticed how many blogs I followed a year ago that are no longer active.
I hope I never run out of things to say!
Bea: I deleted some from my list simply because it was no-brainer, and others were reluctantly done, simply because there was no reciprocation beyond the initial comment that got me to their blog in the first place.
ReplyDeleteAs for nothing to say, I don’t think that will happen by a long shot. And I got a few ideas for posts come the new year that will my oldies but goodies.
Talon: Yes, it does seem quick on how a year (or in this case, a year and a half) has flown by. It really was different on how my writing has evolved since that very first year. Harrowing times indeed.
Joanne: A very good analogy. The growing pains were tough indeed during 2008. For that entire year I really did wonder whether or not I was going to get fed up enough to chuck in the towel. But, as I grew more comfortable with my writing and my blogging, it was only going to be simply a matter of time before the blog became a seamless extension of me.
Charles: You should have seen me during early part of 2008. I was a raving lunatic with my blog, at least how it applied to the chat rooms. But as you can see, I’ve mellowed out during the past year or so. Now my anger is more narrowly focused. I think.
Joe: I echo that sentiment. I’ve been very pleased as to the eclectic following I’ve developed over the past year and a half, and I’m glad that I can still keep everyone coming back for more. As for some of the blogs that I used to follow, I’ve only lost a half dozen or so. Sad, but understandable.
And I hope I never run out of things to say.
Shoot from the lip! I love it! I am totally stealing that line. Joey, don't worry - you'll never run out of interesting things to say :)
ReplyDeleteR.K.: I have always shot from the lip. Goes with the territory of being a fattie (top weight 275) while growing up.
ReplyDeleteShooting from the lip is an excellent way of getting into trouble at work as well.
Feel free to steal the line.
I've done this same thing and it really is an interesting exercise to see how much both yourself and your readers have changed..
ReplyDeleteTravis: It really was an eye-opening expirience printing out these old posts.
ReplyDeleteMy early stuff was simply so hit and miss that I was really embarrassd re-reading it, and surprised that people actually commented on some of it to boot.
Sometimes I go back to my blog from a year ago and surprise myself with how much I liked a particular post. Another blogger asked his readers to submit a favorite blog posting of ours for an online book for charity. I couldn't think of any and never did it. So I think your idea of printing your blog out is a great one.
ReplyDeleteI am going to steal the phrase "Shoot from the lip"
ReplyDeleteLynn: Thanks. I actually enjoy using my old blog posts as reference points for new posts from time to time.
ReplyDeleteProblem was that after publishing some 360+ posts, it was getting to be a pain in the butt searching for posts from 2008.
I will be doing the same thing for 2009 as well. And I just figured out how to repost some of my earlier ones (courtesy of Blogger Help Forum), so some of those will be making an earlier appearance.
Bearman: Be my guest, but remember to use the power wisely Grasshopper.
Yeah, I try to get back to old links and check them out periodically. Since the sidebars on my blog got so cluttered up, though, I've put them on a linked page or on google reader, which ended up giving me a hundred or better posts per day. I'm getting to the point i cannot give any of them really serious read throughs more often than once a week or so. So I miss a lot that way!
ReplyDeleteI think I should try this dust bunny clean up too. I know that I've lightened up over the past few months. I would like to see if there is any kind of connective thread to what I'm blogging about each day. We all love the bloggy nuttiness!!
ReplyDeleteWrittenwryd: I have about a half dozen blogs that strictly through my dashboard/reader which I read at least twice a week. Other than that, the rest of my blog links are in about twenty different folders under my faves. I actually make the entire 65+ round at least three times week. It can be time consuming, but I managed to get it done both in the morning and evening, along with the sporadic bits and pieces during the week.
ReplyDeleteKelly: Sounds like a good plan. Mine was mostly due to wanting to get a better grip on what I actually got for posts. I was starting to get aggravated in spending twenty plus minutes searching for an old post to reference and not finding it. At least this way, I have a handy guide that will give me a basic idea of what I did for 2008.
It is a bit sad to see blogging friends fall off our lists, but that's a natural part of life, as in Real Life.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how we are always growing, learning and stretching?
happy day to you.
Jannie: It is a bit sad yes. I have a few blogging friends that I do think about from time to time, but as old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. What is past, is prologue.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how far I've come since 2008, and I'm really looking forward to my third year of blogging (and second calendar year for the blog).
Happy day to you as well.