Pen(ish) Pal

I sometimes wonder if I just have poor luck of the draw. All throughout my life I have encountered friends who openly admit that they are not letter writers. One would think that after doubling my age since that time that I would at least have beaten the odds… but I have not. And since I have been writing letters, Email has emerged. The nice thing about Email is that you can easily send correspondence without having to worry about finding a piece of paper, pen, envelope, stamp, etc.. However, even with this added convenience— I am still cursed with non-letter writers. Of course, as of lately I have not been the best of pen pals either— so I guess I need to get the log out of my eye before I complain about the speck in my friends eyes.

I think if you ever speak to anybody I wrote letters to, they would tell you that I wrote quite long letters. I had stationery that was wide enough to fit in a letter-sized envelope and wasn't much taller than the width of a regular page. I would typically fill at least one side of the page, and many times both sides as well. Since I type faster than I write, I typed all of my letters. Of course, this was long before personal computers and ink-jet printers— so I typed my letters on a typewriter… single spaced. Being the creative person I was, I couldn't just type a letter (how boring). One time I typed the entire letter on a 45° angle, and another time I typed it rotating it every line. It makes me wonder if any of the people I wrote those letters to actually saved those letters. I know I keep my letters and like to re-read them them from time to time.

One semester in college I scheduled my classes in such a way that my week was finished on Thursday at noon. I did have a class on Friday, but that wasn't until 4:00 PM, and never required homework. The great thing about this was that I could get my homework finished before the weekend. The sad thing about this was that everybody else didn't do their homework until Sunday night, so I had my Sundays free with nobody to do things with. This gave me a regularly scheduled time that I could write letters.

I have been trying to write again on Sundays— but much like my blog writing… I have not been as diligent as I would like. That, and the curse of non-letter writers is still in full force— so I'm not as inspired to write if there's no one that will write back.

What about you… did you ever write letters to anybody? Do you think that written correspondence is a dying breed, or just sleeping? Do you still keep in touch with anybody through letters, or has the communication faded?

Blogiversary x5

I can't believe I forgot to make a blogiversary post. Not that I have anything to say, but I've been blogging for 5 years now. I realized how difficult it is to go through other people's posts, so I don't expect you to go browsing through my entire site.

I am curious as to who is still reading after all these years, or crazy enough to still follow me. So if you are… I do expect you to leave a comment so I can thank you for your readership.

400:100

If you are unable to add up the number of posts listed in parentheses under Blog Archive, I have now reached 400 posts. II also have 100 followers!

I was planning on waiting until my 5 year moversary, but that is more than a month away and I felt that I should at least celebrate these two milestones before the luster wears off (or I forget). But then the question remains… how does one celebrate?

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The Big 400

I think that after the first two hundred posts, there really isn't any need to celebrate— the occasion just comes and goes without any fanfare. But since I haven't been posting as often I noticed the 400 milestone approaching and felt I should at least acknowledge it. If you wonder how anybody could say 400 things, I encourage you to browse through my posts.

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Who are these 100 who chose to follow me?

There was a contribution post back in 2009 called "Tuesday's Tribute"— it was soon passed to someone else who changed to be "Tribute Tuesday". The theme of this was that you were to tribute someone or something (It's not all about you). In keeping with the theme— I had an idea to do a spotlight on my followers. I thought… "what a great way of promoting their blogs and give them credit for bearing with my narrative/technical-writer style of writing". I decided to write to those followers that I could and ask two questions so that their words could be a part of the post:

1. What reason do you have for following my blog?
   I know this may seem selfish, but I am curious what motivated you to sign up.
2. Why do you think that others follow your own blog?
   I know why I do and will let you know in my post along with my impressions on what your blog is to me.

I realized that posting on all of my followers would be a very long post— so I broke it up into smaller manageable pieces.

• Hear what the first ten followers have to say.
• Hear what followers eleven through twenty have to say.
• Hear what followers twenty one through thirty have to say.
• Hear what followers thirty one through forty have to say.
• Hear what followers forty one through fifty have to say.

I started sending out the survey after I reached 60 followers, but never quite got the next 60 written (I am currently 3 shy of getting 60). I also found that many of my followers suddenly did not have a blog of their own (yet another reason for calling me one of the "Old Guard"). Both of these reasons stopped me from continuing the series, but that doesn't stop me from asking my remaining 50 to at least ask the first question:

• What reason do you have for following my blog?
  I know this may seem selfish, but I am curious what motivated you to sign up.

Please let me know by leaving a comment, or contacting me directly.

Spining Tags

This weeks Spin Cycle is on Wordle. I wanted to have a spinning tag bundle, but found that implementing it into a post is a bit more challenging than I thought. So… without further adieu, here is my Wordle based on my Personal Philosophy tag:

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I am not grammatically perfect

This week's Spin Cycle is on Things I hate. I think that Hate is a much too harsh of a term— but Irritate, or Pet Peeve is probably more appropriate it for me.

I tend to write from the hip. If someone was to critique my writing in order to make it more clear to the reader, that is OK. But to pick apart my writing because you think you are a better writer than I and will prove it by showing my mistakes, I have to take heed. Sure— I may choose the wrong word, or even use improper punctuation; but I also feel that writing needs its occasional strays from the straight and narrow path of grammatical perfection.

I feel that if all writing were grammatically correct, all writing would be the same and the writing would not have any flavor or appeal. I do not say this because my writing is never grammatically correct and I am being spiteful— but rather that any time you make anything formulaic, it loses its soul. The writing becomes more mechanical and less personal, and much like Latin becomes a dead language.

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Birth of a Blog

This week's spin cycle is on Births. Since I am not a parent, I don't have any memorable birthing moments— neither do I remember my own birth (sadly my first memory is giving up my pacifier). So, instead I will post on the birth of my blog. I always find it interesting to know how someone's blog came to be. I remember others doing this type of post and was inspired to do so as well. The following is a post that I wrote in May of 2009— a week before my one year Blogiversary:

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Birth of a Blog 01: Seeds of Change

I have always had some sort of personal philosophy. I found it to be rather unique and quite profound and felt that I should write a book. However, my writing is typically short and never of any great length. I felt that I should at least write everything down so that when the time came I can sit down with an editor and flesh out my book. I find that I have so many ideas and never have the writing skills necessary to put it in writing.

Since I was already a letter writer— I tried my hand at writing people and thinking that those letters would be the way that I could get these ideas put on paper. The problem with this method is that letters typically use some sort of correspondence and you tend to write a lot of little things and never focus on any one topic. I longed for those types of correspondences you hear about where two people write to each other for years— however I never knew anybody who was a letter writer even when I used e-mail and they didn't have to worry about finding a stamp.

I learned about blogs at an informal demonstration at work several years back. At the time I felt that it was a good educational tool that enables participants to engage in discussions about a given topic— but never thought that I would be using it myself.

Sometime last year I was pondering getting my own Web site so that I could demonstrate some of my Web development skills and be able to reference it in a resume. After viewing some co-worker's sites to see how they set up a Web site, I noticed that some of them had a blog associated with them. If anything I wanted to have some content to my Web site— so I figured I would start out by blogging a few things then later transfer those pages over to my site when I finally bought a domain.

I found it difficult to find a domain using my name without being excessively long and difficult to remember because "chrisjohnson" as well as "christopherjohnson" were already taken. I figured I would try shortening it to be easier to remember and chose my first two initials and the first three letters of my last name— thus Ca-Joh was born.

If you are interested in "The rest of the story", you can read my other posts as well:

• Birth of a Blog 02: Starting Out
• Birth of a Blog 03: Growing Pains
• Birth of a Blog 04: What's to come
• Blogiversary

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I need a little push

I have been trying to get back on the bike and start writing more in my blog. I know that before my hiatus I had a lot of ideas that I was working on, so it isn't that I don't have anything to say. I still have ideas— but lack the motivation to put what is stuck in my head down on paper (or on the screen).

Here is a list of topics that I have been pondering as of late:

• Ancient Spirit/
• Being interesting by posing interest/
• Climatology and ranges of things/
• Conceptual Learning/
• Follow-up/
• Friendship Card/
• Giving credit where credit is due/
• Initiative/
• Initiator vs wall-flower/
• Inter vs Intra/
• Intrapersonal Relationships/
• Motion and Position/
• Social Evolution/
• Spiritual Callousness and Suppleness/
• State of Equilibrium/
• The ones we love and the ones who love us/
• The Up, Down, Out, To, and For of looking/
• Things take time to do/
• Waves and synchronization/
• Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How we ARE/

If any of these topics sound interesting, let me know and that way I will feel more obligated to oblige. Since I sometimes speak simplistically and without courteous clarity, if anything seems confusing, feel fee to ask and I will explain.

Is there anybody out there?

My apologies for putting the Pink Floyd song in your head…

I have noticed that a lot of the people who used to follow my blog no longer write on their own blogs. I am curious how many people still read. I know this seems selfish, but if you can let me know you are here by commenting, I'll appreciate it.

Spin Cycle: Firsts

This week's Spin Cycle is on Firsts. Rather than telling the story of my first kiss or my first date (I suspect that everyone may do that as well)— I thought I would write about first impressions. But then I realized that I haven't pondered that concept very much and would only struggle and feel rushed trying to get a post out. This post may not actually be of my first time in an airplane… nor would it be the first time I posted this story, but it is probably one of my first attempts at story telling.

Author's Note: Please bear in mind that this was written when I was about 14 years old and my not be constructed very well. All the same— enjoy…

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Here I'm sitting on a might be couch (actually) a couple of foam polyurethane with nylon covers sitting on bricks (it looks good though) waiting for a plane to come in about 4:40.

I might as well start from the beginning.

It all started when I stayed up and read The Stand. So far it was a good book even though I only read about "80" pages. Then we all went to the airport. "Wait" go back just a little. Before we started off my dad wouldn't find the checkbook. He looked everywhere, sure he looked right where he found it. He blamed it on the dental things or insurance papers which they were under. When we got there mom and dad were worried about getting to the right place or elevator to the right terminal.

Then we were inside carrying my back-pack got to be tiresome my dad said to carry it on both arms, I refused. Then he told me that it would put more pressure on one strap and it might break, it didn't. At the ticket booth or terminal well my way to the place— I got it the ticket check in. That's it. When we were there my dad was supposed to get a stand-by basis ticket— that is you would get on only if they had the room. Well stand-by tickets weren't working or doing it for five years. My dad had to pay full fare instead of half. He blamed it on one of his bridge partners who so I hear has a problem with her husband or something like that. Well anyway he always has to pass the buck to somebody anyway.

When we got to the terminal gate which was as so written on the ticket holder H-7 his handwriting was fast but we could figure it out well anyway I could because I had the ticket in my hot little hands. On the way to the terminal mom was talking about something it's on the tip of my tongue but I forgot it actually it's about a price slash on round trips dad said only on round trips but mom said he checked it first. Actually the slash is made from a reserved ticketed rather than being it at the luggage check in area.

Well when we were at the terminal gate and we waited for the plane and learned that it was delayed by the rain and thorms in the area from 11:30-11:50. We also had to check in at gate 9 instead of 7 because that's where the plane came in. When I finally got on the plane and we were ready to take off. But the plane was delayed by the thunder storm and we didn't take off until about 12:10. The people in back of me were very rude as you might say in fact they didn't know they talked a lot.

I was alone in the two seats and so was the person in front of me. Well things got worse. I wanted to get some air on me and I saw a button to pull so I pulled it and the waitress came and asked if I needed anything. I said no I don't think so and was very startled until she told me that I pulled the call button. I felt stupid. She left then I wondered when they were going to serve lunch they did in a few moments. They had turkey sandwiches and potato salad with mustard salt and pepper and a tomato. I ate it all. "The potato salad was good" I said to myself even though I hated potato salad. When the stewardess served the drink I had a Sprite she spilled it on my pants and had to go all the way to the front to get an extra napkin. I tried to read the book The Black Marble but it was too distract-full on the plane. I saw what I think was Cairo ILL and the Mississippi river and I knew we were getting close to our destination. When we landed I got up and looked in back of me to see that lady she might be good looking she wasn't at all!

Then I got off the plane and out into the lobby and out of the gate at Memphis airport was pretty good looking I could say and it was small too so I got around it pretty easily but it had it's problems too. I had to find the place where my next flight was to take off at. It was pretty hard. First I saw where the small planes took off and it said restricted do not enter. So I was baffled so I sat down and waited for 4:40 to roll around and I didn't understand anything. So I asked one of the ground crew where the small planes took off and while explaining the situation at the same time. He told me to go to the luggage check in under United Airlines the one the ticket was under and ask about it. So I did and they told me to go downstairs.

Oh yes I almost forgot to tell you about my luggage pickup. I did and from that the fishing pole case was broken in one spot nothing much but the chain.

Well going down there he said to get someone and call this one place, well nobody there I was confused. Disgusted I went back up and asked again. He said to call Memphis Aero and I did, well I tried. I put a dime in the phone and it said that the number was not in service. OK I tried again same response. Then I found out what I was doing wrong. I then dialed the right number and it finally rang about 12 times then a lady answered the phone and I explained and she said they'd send transportation over.

Excellent. So I waited for about 10 minutes and was thinking of calling back but it came and I got in and we went over there and when we did the driver asked some questions about going over there to Mountain Home. I thought he was talking to me but he wasn't he was talking to someone else.

When I finally got inside and I tried to get my ticket checked.

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Fortunately/unfortunately that is where it ends. I thought I had more on how I flew in a small plane, but I didn't. I think that getting to where you started is good enough.

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Vs.

If you thought that this was a post about the Versus Channel, then you are mistaken…

Lately I have found that I have written a lot of comparison posts. What I have decided to do is to group them together in this post so you can look at them yourself:

Inspiration and Motivation

This is my explanation of the difference between inspiration and motivation written at the time of President Obama's inauguration.

Smart vs. Intelligent

I seem to get a lot of hits on this one. This is how I define the difference between being smart and being intelligent.

Pretty vs. Beautiful

This is how I define the difference between being pretty and being beautiful.

Compassionate Comforting vs. Arm-chair Advice

In this post I talk about the frustrations of being a comforter on line.

Movers and Shakers

This is my definition of what it means to be a Mover as well as a Shaker.

Leaders vs. Followers

Followers tend to get a bad rap. I highlight what my interpretations of being a good follower are.

Trailblazer vs. Bridge Builder

This is my interpretation of what it means to be a Trailblazer and/or a Bridge Builder.

Also… if any of these posts inspire you to come up with a comparison you want me to cover— please let me know.

My sabbatical is hopefully over

Sometimes I wonder if anybody really noticed…

There are moments when you wonder if you want to continue. I wonder if starting up again is going to be successful, or will it still be a struggle like it was before. When I looked back at the number of posts I made before I stopped, I realized that the numbers were slowly declining.

Of course, I have a great excuse for stopping— but I don't want to just give excuses. I would much rather know that those people who like to read my posts are glad that I have returned.

I know that I have outlined my recommended posts before— but I have had a lot of time elapse and have a fresh perspective on these posts. This will also allow you the opportunity to "refresh" your memory of my writing style— or even get a taste of my writing style if you are new here.

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Posts that I am proud of writing:

Name, Occupation, Health, Feelings

This is probably my oldest personal philosophy concept as I remember writing about this when I was a freshman in high school. I am considering re-posting it and making it into a multiple post where I outline my thoughts in the first post, then get into greater detail in separate posts.

Attraction Factors

This is one of my personal philosophy posts which talk about those things which attract us to others.

Traditional Letter Writing

I talk about how I have many traditions when it comes to letter writing some of which I still follow to this day.

The Tangibles

This is part one of a two part post which deals with the concept of tangibility. I suggest reading both this one and the following one to be able to compare the two properly.

The Intangibles

This is part two of a two part post which deals with the concept of tangibility. I originally wanted to just talk about this— but realized that I was doing a lot of comparing so I had to break it up into two separate parts.

Three Legged Stool

This post uses the analogy of a stool when it comes to relationships.

From the mind, heart, and soul

Here I try to clarify some of the terms I tend to use when it comes to my opinions on things.

Sphere of Influence

This post can stand on its own— but is also related to the next two listings below. It is an interesting concept which is referenced a lot in other posts.

Tyranny of Numbers

This post is related to the Sphere of Influence post but expands upon the concept to include the Internet and being able to find what you are looking for through searching.

Anonymity through Commonality

This post takes the post on Sphere of Influence and the post on Tyranny of Numbers and expands upon it to show how difficult it is to find "Me".

Inspiration and Motivation

This is my explanation of the difference between inspiration and motivation written at the time of the President's inauguration.

Coping Mechanism

This post helps to explain how we cope with stress in life.

Smart vs. Intelligent

I seem to get a lot of hits on this one. This is how I define the difference between being smart and being intelligent.

Pretty vs. Beautiful

This is how I define the difference between being pretty and being beautiful.

Do you have that new myPhone yet…

A tongue and cheek look at how our reliance on phone features could go too far.

The Long Rain

A review I wrote in high school about a science fiction short story.

Trolling for South Pole Traffic

My look at Web statistics services and how they leave out an entire continent.

Couples and Train Couplings

An analogy between people who are couples and train couplings.

Trapped in Time: Act 1

This is part one of a two part story that I originally wrote in high school. It is a cliff-hanger in that you need to read the next post to get the end.

Friendship Types

This is the first part of a four part series on different types of friends that a person can have. I strongly encourage you to read the rest of the series as it took me almost a year to complete.

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Posts that currently have 20 or more comments:

Warm Milk

This was my first post that reached 20 comments. It is also one of my first participatory posts where I am participating in Tuesday's Tribute.

Wordful Wednesday - Spikester Diddly Dog

This one got a lot of comments because… who doesn't like dogs.

Communication Styles

This is an introduction to a series post that I have about communication styles. I encourage you to read the next four posts as well since they cover each in more detail.

Writer's Workshop: C is for Cookie

This is a good story about how my sister taught me a lesson for demanding a cookie. Be sure to read the comments, she tells the real story and not the one a 4 year old remembers.

100th Post

Most people like to wish you well on your 100th post. Hopefully it will give you some topics to ask me to write about.

TT: Spin on the Bed

This is currently the record holder with the number of comments made. I probably tribute it to being both a Tuesday's Tribute and a Spin Cycle participatory post.

What's in a nickname: Naming conventions

I think a lot of people have nicknames and like to share theirs.

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Please feel free to visit these pages if you have not done so already to give you a smattering of my writing style.

You can get up off the floor now

I know that I have not been posting at all, and if that very infrequently. Rather than give excuses, I thought I would make a request.

As I have also not been reading posts either (I Marked all as read in my reader), I would like to read those things you are proud of. So… if you have a post that you wrote within the past month, or know of a post from someone else that you enjoy— please leave the URL to the post in the comments so I can have something to read on my vacation this next week.

Looking forward to reading…

Inquiring Minds Want To Know

If you don't know already, I am currently a contributor over at the blog called In The Real World Venus vs. Mars. Back in January I was asked to fill out a survey which is used as a "Meet the Blogger" series. My number has been called and I am being featured today.

Please stop by and find out more about me here. If after reading my answers you still have unanswered questions, feel free to comment— I'll be glad to clarify.

Spin Cycle: My mePhone

This week's Spin Cycle is about Technology. I posted this in April of 2009, but have decided to re-post it as a Spin Cycle entry since it seems to fit with the theme. This is a tongue and cheek look at how technology could go too far…

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Do you have that new mePhone yet…

THEY SAY I MUST BE CRACKED
Until the brown paper parcel landed on my welcome mat
Even the pretty secretaries who wouldn't even
Let me HANG MY HAT
All recognize my handwriting
And return to sender as a matter of fact ¹

Lately I've been receiving mail indicating that I have won a new cell phone which got me to thinking… What if they actually sent you the phone instead? I currently do not have a cell phone— nor am I going to fill out those forms to get the one I just won. Of course you have to realize that many new phones have GPS built in for E-911 tracking purposes— which makes you wonder what else is being tracked. I'm curious what would happen in a world where they forgo the application form and just send you the phone instead…
Come jump in my adjective dementia dimension machine and I'll take you to that world:

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When I got home from work my wife lets me know that there is a package on the front stoop with my name on it and jokingly asked if would I please take it inside before the neighbors call the bomb squad again. As I open the box there appears to to be a green glow emanating from under the packing peanuts. I start reading the promo letter that came with the package:

Congratulations, you have just won a new mePhone.
There is no need to activate this phone because it has already been activated for you. Service is free to all mePhone subscribers. All we ask is that you use our service and enjoy your new mePhone.

I try to empty the box of the packing material and accidentally spill the phone on the floor and the glowing stops. My wife picks it up and says I broke it and hands it over to me. Instantly the green glow reappears the moment it touches my hand and the glow starts to pulse as well. I quip back… "it's not broken— it's just sleeping".

I snickered a bit when I saw "11G" on the case (4G is so passe— I guess it goes to 11 now). I tried calling a friend to test out the reception and got the following automated message:

******** is currently on the phone with ******…
If you want to leave a message, press 1…
If you want to page this person, press 2…
If you want to leave a text on their phone, press 3…
If you want to locate this person, press 4

Intrigued, I pressed 4 and was instantly displayed with a map. Not only that, but the balloon indicator was moving rapidly across the map as if the person was in a car traveling along. Unwilling to continue, I hung up.

A few minutes later, I got a call from the person who I tried calling earlier…

Friend: Hey, I didn't know that you got a new phone
Me: Uh, I didn't even leave a message—
Friend: That's OK, pretty cool how it said it was you and that you were looking for me— how sweet.
Me: Yea, just trying to figure out the phone.

I hung up and was instantly asked to give an audio prompt to identify this caller for future reference. I spoke their name and pressed save and turned off the phone. I then wondered how it knew how to find this person and instantly the phone came back to life and proceeded to ask If I wanted to find ********… and repeated the name I just spoke using my voice. It was at this point that I knew something strange was happening.

If I were you I'd change my name again
They don't care what they do to you believe me ²

I put the phone down and decided to take the dog for a walk. Funny how I kept seeing a plain colored Civic with a strange tripod on top silently turning the corner every time I walk down another street with the dog. And why is it that all through my walk I kept thinking the phrase: "If you would like to make a call— please pick up and try again"… I think I'll return the phone now.

I'll write this story down, but you'll never guess the
Final Twist
Blow the whistle on the whole design
As they find my name on that fatal mailing list
I hear the clatter of a typewriter
Another rookie eating up the reams
I think it's time to place my feet under the desk
And PLACE MY MARK ON ANOTHER MAN'S DREAMS ³

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^{1, 2, 3} Excerpts from the Elvis Costello song: "King of Thieves" from the album Punch the Clock.

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Happy Blogiversary Two Me

No… it is not a type-o. I purposely used "Two" in my title to indicate that this is my second Blogiversary.

For wedding anniversaries, you typically exchange gifts with your spouse like Paper, Gold, Diamonds and the like. On those anniversaries that are not milestones such as the first, the 10th, 25th, etc. there does not seem to be any standard gift to give. The same confusion as to what to do to celebrate my second Blogiversary is very similar to this.

I wish I had something grand that I could share with you my readers, but I'm at a loss. Looking around at others who have celebrated this occasion I don't seem to find any consistent way of celebrating that would clue me in. The first Blogiversary is usually a momentous occasion, but the second seems more like a non-event. But much like the spouse on their wedding anniversary— I feel that I must do something or feel guilty by forgetting the occasion.

So, I'll leave it up to you. What do you suggest?

Being In The Real World

You may be familiar with the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus— but did you know that there is a blog site dedicated to discussing this difference…?

If you don't know already, I am currently a contributor over at the blog called In The Real World Venus vs. Mars. This site has many contributors who post about relationships, and we encourage you to to join in on the discussions.

Since much of my personal philosophy posts revolve around relationships— this allows me the opportunity to talk specifically about relationships and give real world examples rather than talk abstractly as I sometimes do. So if you are interested in hearing my perspective on relationships— feel free to sign up and read not only what I have to say, but what others have to say as well.

The Old 300

Being a singer in a church choir you tend to hear certain hymns referred to by their number in the hymnal using the phrase "The old whatever". This typically means that the hymn is a popular one and is usually known by its number rather than the actual hymn name.

Television shows typically celebrate their something-hundredth episode with a special episode of their own. Even in the blogiverse many bloggers tend to celebrate their something-hundredth post with a special post to mark the occasion. So I guess what I'm eluding to is that this is my 300th post.

I usually strive more towards quality versus quantity— so it has taken me a while to reach this 300th post. If you are new here, or if you are curious as to what on earth someone would say 300 different ways— I encourage you to look through the Labels on the right to get a feel for my previous 299 posts. Think of it as viewing the reruns— many of the old shows are really good even though not many people actually saw them the first time around.

Being around as long as I have, I have seen many a blogger come and go. Those to whom I thought were untouchable and would continue blogging forever, either faded or fell off the face of the blogiverse. Some of them are still listed as being a follower, yet when you go to read their blog you get a blog not found or a message back saying that they have gone private. This worries me, and I wonder if I will ever run out of material. Safe to say, I do have a lot of ideas floating around in my head which should keep you occupied for quite some time now.

Sometimes I view myself as one of "The Old Guard" in the bloging world. In certain circles you typically find those individuals who can be considered a part of The Old Guard because of their longevity. These are the ones who have been around for a very long time and are looked up to because of their experience. I have found that many bloggers that I looked up to as being Old Guard actually started their blogs after myself. I never realized this until I read about their own blogiversary and noticed that they are actually younger than myself.

A clarification needs to be made between having longevity and being popular. I usually say to myself that I got my followers the old fashioned way— I earned them. It has taken me almost two years to get the number of followers I have. Even though many of my readers do not indicate that they are a follower, I can safely say that I have about 100 or so unique readers. If you compare that with other bloggers out there who have followers in the hundreds, I have a very small niche of dedicated readers.

So I would like to thank the Academy… oops, wrong speech. I would like to thank all of my readers— those who have been around from the beginning, as well as those who have just discovered me. I do not think I could write as much if I was writing into a void. I hope that you have enjoyed my first Three Hundred, now on to the next…

I've been a Bad Blogger— Please Don't Hate me

I have been preoccupied with work lately and have not had much time to think, let along blog. I realize that if I don't say something, that people may just forget that I haven't posted in a while and never come back.

The sad thing is that I am three posts away from my 300th post and since I have not been reading your blogs either… you may never know of my accomplishment. I was going to write 300 things that I share with my wife— but after looking over the now 325 items, I realized that much of it makes NO sense when taken out of context. Also, many more of them have accompanying singing or hand gestures which makes listing them not worth listing.

I have been feeling my age (blog age) lately and will probably write my 300th post about that. Please spread the word around that I am going to have my 300th post and stay tuned.

Blogging The Brand

Today I'm putting my own spin on the Spin Cycle's topic:
Behind the scenes of a blog.

So often we hear about brand loyalty. There are some people who will only buy certain products because of the brand it has— even if there is a less expensive product that is just as good. How can we as writers show our blog's "Brand" and gain readers.

There is a concept in the business world called "Living the Brand"¹. In this concept, a person has a picture in their mind as to how they want to be perceived by other co-workers, and even their customers. This picture is their brand. Using this picture, the person then strives to present themselves so that they will be perceived by others according to the brand.

How do you present yourself through your blog? In the article by Tara entitled: Your online identity: the art & business of crafting your online self, she talks about communicating your "true self" through your online identity.

I have a statement: "Be true to yourself as your own self true". In this context this means that whatever you are writing, you need to be truthful. You cannot make up some persona if it is not the true you— nor can you write things that are simply untrue.

Many of you have either commented or communicated to me your impressions on my writing style. I have even had some people mention the way in which I comment on their blogs. With these words I get a sense of validation— and with that I am both moved and humbled.

If you are new here, or just curious as to what I am writing about— feel free to read my About this Blog page. I feel that it is a good mission statement and offers a flavor of the topics I cover.

I strive to live my brand in that I don't just say the words I say to impress you, or impose my philosophy upon you— but rather impart of myself to you so that you can know "me" a bit better. Through my writing and comments I am "Blogging The Brand" and striving to live up to those words I convey.

¹ More information about this concept can be found on the site:
Living The Brand.

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Letter to the Editor

When I was a Sophomore in college, I wrote a letter to the editor. Based upon what I wrote about you can determine how old I am— but that is not the exercise. Looking back on the article I realize that what I talked about still seems to apply today. I am going to present both my article and one that was printed in response to my article a few days later. Enjoy:

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View activists with open mind

Editor:

With the rise of events in such places as Nicaragua and South Africa, political activists have formed committees to help support or protest these happenings. An analogy can be drawn from these political activist groups active in the '60s such as groups for and against Vietnam and civil rights.

Many of these activist groups are formed and only live a short time, which brings me to the question: Why do we even form such groups in the first place if they don't last?

Basically, these activist groups are making a political statement about society through their public actions. But with all this hype, the committees draw in overzealous individuals which don't gorily represent the underlying ideas, but only exemplify them and blow these ideas out of proportion.

If you can understand the underlying ideas and opinions created by these groups without being caught up in the hype, you can then directly observe history in the making. So I encourage you, if not for yourself— for humanity, to look at both sides of all of these groups' ideas with an open mind, not a biased one, so then you can have a better understanding of today's world and how it works.

Christopher Johnson
Sophomore
Music Education

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Activists are history in making

Editor:

I am writing in response to Christopher Johnson's letter on Tuesday, April 15 concerning viewing activists with an open mind. Mr. Johnson drew an analogy between political activist groups of today and those of the '60s such as groups for and against civil rights and Vietnam.

Mr. Johnson questioned the reasoning behind the forming of such groups stating that they didn't last very long.

He then went on to advocate being unbiased by not getting "caught up in the hype" and this unbiased attitude according to Mr. Johnson, would allow one to directly observe history in the making.

What Mr. Johnson actually seemed to be advocating was indifference, non-involvement and apathy. With Mr. Johnson's views of directly observing history in the making came as an image of being acted upon by one's circumstances rather than acting on them.

As I looked back on the pages of history, I was keenly aware that had it not been for the formation of activist groups, this country would not be America. For surely it was those who took a stand that made a difference.

Because I am a part of mankind, I am concerned about its destiny. Therefore, I choose to be an activist in any positive way that I can in order to further mankind.

It is far past time to cease from be in indifferent! I encourage you to look around you and view history in the making: Nations are engaged in conflict with each other and our being indifferent to this, and other issues, will only hasten our destruction.

I therefore urge you — if not for yourself, for humanity — to stand up and be counted; to be an integral part in making history not merely in observing its making.

Robinzina Bryant
Sophomore
Social Work

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What's your opinion…