Bloggers on Blogging --Barb

"Barb ~ Єpiѕtling ŊutΩpian" writes...

To blog or not to blog, that is the question each of ask ourselves every day when we power up the PC or lap-top. Did anything out of the ordinary happen in the last 24 hours that must be addressed, dissected and pontificated about in long verbose sentences that sound like poetry to us, maybe even funny in spots, deep and penetrating, thoughtful and insightful or so ground breaking in it's magnitude that some hoity-toity person "out" there will read it and decide that it is worthy of a golden comment? See how long that sentence was. Haha - are you as out of breath as I am?

OKAY - you decide to blog, of course. What else gives your existence meaning and purpose? Yeah, yeah, blogging may be on your top 10 and let's not go overboard. After all it's just a bunch of words about topics that have collided with your gray matter in a way to make the zinging neurons light up, giving you that jolt of inspiration which results in your daily blog.

WOW - another long sentence. I’m on a roll!

You may decide that just rushing into the daily rant is too precipitous and so you make the rounds of your favorite blogs, you know, the ones that always have some clever bit to add or not but seem to elicit 15 comments before 10am. You may ponder that a bit and think about adding a comment too, but if that person has 15 comments already, why would they give a rat's ass what you have to add. Moving on to a blogger who needs my comments and appreciates the depth with which I compose my concise retort. Jam on the pillow case, nope - ants in the kids cereal, nope - consumer report about a new sex toy, nope - dealing with head lice in a 7 yr. old, nope - and by this time you are getting hungry. Time to get some toast and that much needed cuppa whatever or cold bottle of whatever before you faint dead away. Listen to the news, watch a lil'daytime TV, maybe something there will inspire you to blog smart.

OKAY again, you come up with a topic and decide it is worthy of at the very least 6 good long winded comments. (You hope) - Next step is to open your blog word document, you know the one you have on desktop so you can just bring it up and start typing like a mad fool. Oh, you say, you don't have such a word document that is easily accessible to you, for your daily preblog ritual so just in case Yahoo decides that your blog is going to be sucked in that yahoo vortex, you have it neatly saved. (haha - I'm smarter than the average bear) Anyway, that is usually what most of us have learned about 360° . Have your blog backed up just in case you spend an hour typing, searching, inserting, formatting, HTMLing and Yeehoo balks at loading it.

Ditto - You get that all done and now you need a graphic or photo to match your blog. The hunt is on or you may have a graphic in mind already and it is easy to pin down. Where do most of actually get the graphics we use? A lot of us have scads of personal photos that fit right into the sort of blog we plan. We may even be blogging about the photos we take. Then there are the topics that goad us to find jus the right picture, drawing, cartoon or clip-art to make our blog take off. You are off to the races – the writing part is done, the picture part is done and all you need to do now is load her in and wait for the adulation of all you many blog friends who find you the most witty and erudite person an all of 360°.

Take a break – get away from that keyboard before your arse falls asleep. If you are at work, get that 4th cuppa coffee after you make that all important pit stop. If you are at home, get that load of laundry in the damn washer, clean up the morning dishes and let the dog out. Now that you have blogged for the day, you are off the hook. All you really need to do on line for the rest of the day is read other blogs, make comments, maybe change your theme a few times to make you feel good. Ohh, if you are working at a paying job it would be prudent to actually get some (work) done.

What else is important to know about blogging on 360°? Please do not take yourself too seriously. If you do, you will spend more time in a state of apprehended suspension than actually living and we are here to live. In the grand scheme, 360° is merely a diversion, entertainment, self-talk to the wind and a new fangled way to get to know interesting people without having them come into our home, eating and drinking our stuff or worse, smoking and stinking up the place. Relax and have fun. Blog about what you find interesting. If others are moved to comment, that is a bonus. Blog is a self chronicle that can and will take you many places. Remain positive and sure that there are more good people out there than bad. The choices are in your hands.

There are rules to consider, well maybe not so much rules as common sense etiquette of the whole thing, just so you don’t alienate people. The friendship bracelets are passé and a no-no. Group messages about your latest blog are for twits, dissing others or making a blog that says unkind things about a fellow blogger is tacky and shows those who DO see it that you are an ignorant fool. Dirty laundry is not for 360°. If you do have an issue with another blogger bout somethang or tother, do it in private or not at all. Remember mud thrown is ground lost.

As I am writing this in my word document, of course, I am also thinking what song I will feel is appropriate to match this masterpiece of literary drivel. Humm… a Weird Al song may prove best here.. but I won’t know till I start surfing around Imeem to find one. Remember, I laugh at myself all the time - listen to this song today and ponder your arm pits.