Yearly Archives: 2006

The Valentines Day Massacre (sorry, post).

This year I am at a loss with what to do about Valentines day. Most every other year I can get together with my single mates and loudly denounce the event as the Hallmark-holiday that it is.

This time around, I find myself in somewhat of a quandary. I still feel that Valentines day has no real meaning, nor do I understand why we are only permitted to show our feelings for that significant person in our life on just one day of the year. Surely every day should be Valentines day? Or rather, surely you should never need an excuse to demonstrate your emotions.

At the same time, there’s this tiny traitorous girly part of me that will not die, no matter how much I hit her over the head with mallets and feminist literature. I, in my infinite wisdom, have decided that, seeing as how it’s the first time in a long time I’ve had the opportunity, I’m going to celebrate Valentines day. I am aware that this desire has lost me much credibility in the eyes of my friends and, much to his consternation, the CC was forced to do some quick re-evaluation. But, I am adamant that this year, and this year only, I will celebrate Valentines day.

(If only so I know what I am so loudly slagging off every other year).

So what if the SO is over 3000 miles away digging in the frozen wastes of Ontario. (He is so hot that just by standing there he melts away the tundra and the permafrost…)

You make the best of the situation you’ve been given, so that is what I am doing.

The problems started though, when I went looking for a card. Yes, I am female, and yes, I am looking for a Valentines day card, but no, this does not mean that I have had all taste and common sense surgically removed. If you are a man giving your girlfriend a card, you can (more or less) get away with the cute and fluffys. The deep and meaningfulls are also not bad. When you are a girl giving your chap a card, on the hand, you have the option of cards so saccharine sweet Tate & Lyle are calling because they want their stock back. That’s it. Nothing else.

NO female who has any self respect would ever give such a card to a man she didn’t want to scare away very, VERY quickly.

In some of the bigger card stores you are given an option of the crude and “funny”. I say funny in quotes because, really, when was the last time you laughed at a card you got given that was designed to be funny? Yes, you laugh AT such cards, but you don’t laugh with them.

I’m sorry, but there was just no way I could give any of the cards billed as “valentines cards” to the CC. I wouldn’t have been able to face myself in the mirror in the morning, let alone him.

No, I’m not going to tell you what I did get for Valentine’s day in the end. I messed up the posting dates (oops) so even the CC isn’t going to know for a few days. Figure he deserves to find out first 😉

Where do you lot all stand on the Valentines day issue? I know Moose is disappointed in me. Anyone got any big plans?

Oh, before I forget,
Happy Valentines Day all my lovely readers 🙂

You know when you’ve been tango’ed

You know when your blog is taking over your life when, as you are going to the grocery store, you are mentally composing a post, and you suddenly find you are halfway down the highstreet with no recollection of how you got there.

Yes, I walked right past Somerfields today, and didn’t even notice for a good two or three minutes.

Sunday Roast: in my country only women drink their tea with milk

It’s been an eventful week all told, for both blogging and personal reasons.

  • The CC’s moved to a new city, started a new job, and started a blog, all in the past week. Yes, the man who was violently anti-blog has cracked and joined the blogspot crowd. Clearly, a year and a quarter of knowing me has wrought some change in the beast 😉
  • Bright Meadow has got into double figures for RSS readership (and stayed there) for the first time (*waves at new people* Hello new people). I’ve also earned a few comments from A-listers. Despite my best efforts and avowed dislike of cliques and celebrity, yes, I was flattered. I am ashamed to admit it, so let’s leave the topic there, shall we?
  • What else? Well, I’ve discovered that I like my hair when it’s curly (but lack the skill to make it curly myself) and got me a new job which I start tomorrow. I’m not sure if this is going to be to the detriment of the blog or not – probably not, because I am going to be so bored out of my brains that I will have nothing to do but think of blog posts. I’ve had some great IM chats, we named the penguin, I’ve had an apology to a nasty comment I had a while back which I called the guy on, I was temporarily the eight most commented blog on CoCo, and…
  • Oh, too many things to go into here.

Now that I’ve got all that out of the way, on with the Sunday Roast:

Well, this is one less blog I have to check now – Russell Beattie has turned off comments. Now, all fairness to the guy, he’s lain out his reasons for turning off comments, and they are good reasons. I don’t have to deal with the volume of comments he does, so I don’t know how much hassle it might be. But, at the same time, part of what makes blogging worth putting up with the word ‘blogging’ is the fact it is a conversation. Two way communication, not one-way broadcast. Quite often, most of the fun happens in the comments. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule of mine, but if I stumble across a blog without comments, it makes me think twice about if it is really worth my time. This one, sadly, didn’t make it for me. Bye Russell 🙁

Following up on that, Darren asks if a blog without comments is still a blog? The answer for me is yes, it is still a blog (a blog being really just the back-end publishing system), but it is probably not a blog I want to read.

And now I feel sorry for the poor chap – Russell Beattie is drowning in a flood of nay-sayers after turning off comments. As he points out, it’s his blog, we should stop telling him how to run it.

Darren has a sobering reminder about the dangers of the Internet and stalking.

Full Circle has a great piece on ‘right speech’ and how it can facilitate dialogue. This sums up perfectly the philosophy I try to live my day to day life by, let alone how I try to act when I comment online. Note the word ‘try’ in that sentence…

I… I have nothing to say to this. Other than it foils half the fun of sleeping bags – having races with your brother to see who can hop quickest round the caravan awning. SELK’BAG Sleeping Bag – Gizmodo

GoogleBooks has fallen off my radar somewhat of late, but the bru-ha-ha is still going on.

Is the robots.txt file confusing ten kinds of crap out of you? Worry no more, because it’s Google to the rescue!

As a blogger and long-time student of all things online, this recent BBC article says nothing new exactly. It does, however, point to a slight shift away from the standard ‘blogs are evil’ stance of much traditional media. An interesting read.

TechCrunch has a preview of 3Bubbles, a dojamyflip that will add the ability to have realtime chat on blog posts. Tingle time again!

And Stowe has a bit more about 3Bubbles. Exciting.

I stumbled across Kristin’s site last night thanks to the wonders of CoCo. Thanks to her, not only does Bright Meadow now play nicely with CoCo, but I am also jonesing for a new tat after looking at her Samoan Ink photoset. Got this great design for a curly one from the big toe, over the bridge of the foot, to the ankle bone… Sadly, no money, and no good artist that I know of round here. I’m also on the bone marrow register – getting another tat would knock me off that for a year. Not sure if it’s worth it. Still, a girl can dream.

Go people, read her site, and glory in the wonders you will find therein.

And, just in case all that isn’t enough for you, there’s always the leftovers and assorted other fun bits to keep you occupied.

The ‘About’ page. How useful is it really?

How important is it to you to know a little something about who is writing the blog you are reading? Am in the only one who reads the ‘about’ page automatically when I stumble across a new blog? In fact, it was a problem with his about page that got me talking to Josh in the first place. I am constantly tweaking my own, trying to second guess what potential readers might want to know, and what will make me sound interesting/intriguing enough to make them subscribe (or at least bookmark me for future browsing when they’re bored).

I found a site the other day – the author’s comment on another blog I read caught my eye, so I went clicky-clicky and liked what I saw, but… I find myself wanting at least something on an about page. From just reading posts, I have worked out he is a he, and I *think* he is UK based. That’s it. It’s added an extra dimension to reading his posts now. I can slowly piece together little bits till I know more. Reading someone’s blog can be a very intimate experience and… I think getting to know this author is going to be fun (in a non-stalker type way, I assure you). Still, if the first post I read hadn’t been the one it was, but the one before, I doubt I would have stayed around. Luck of the draw.

I’m not saying that the presence of an ‘about’ page would make me more likely to stay when content doesn’t grab me, but I can think of several instances when I’ve given a blog the benefit of the doubt because it looks like the person could have something interesting to say, even if they’ve not said it yet.

I can think of one site that recently linked to me in a very complimentary fashion. The site styled itself as a ‘blog’ with multiple authors, yet there was no about page – either setting the goals of the blog, or telling me about the individual authors. Added to that, all the writers strove for a impersonal style. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with that per se, it makes it a deal harder to pick apart who’s saying what, and to form valid opinions of their ideas.

In this age of splogs, an ‘about’ page can be a valuable clue. Not that it is a sure-fire test – there’s nothing to stop a sploger putting some fake blurb – but it is one extra piece of the puzzle. If a site fails to have an about page, I find myself asking what they are trying to hide.

It doesn’t have to be much, but I like there to be something. Something telling me about the person writing. Something telling me about why they write. Something telling me about their credentials… Something. Something that makes them not a faceless corporation or nameless scribe. Part of the beauty of blogs for me, and why I read them, is that they are personal.

Given the prevalence of blogs and websites out there, it’s hard enough to grab potential readers attention. I find that putting personality into posts is the best way to grab my attention. If I wanted straight news I’d go to a newspaper. I come to blogs for the news filtered through individual perceptions.

As a writer your voice is unique. Let it shine. And let me see something about you. I’m not saying give me your whole life story – but a little something to make you stand out from the crowd would be nice.

So, dear readers, do you read ‘about’ pages? What do you expect or want from them? Does their absence make you think twice about a blog if you weren’t sure in the first place? Do you prefer blogs where the personality of the writer shines through, or more impersonal unbiased blogs/sites? I’m genuinely curious here.