The Blogiversary

As of this Thursday, I’ve been doing this blog for six years. It’s weird because it really doesn’t feel that long. Two or three years, tops. But time seems to be going by a lot faster these days, so maybe that’s the reason why.

When I look back on my first posts, I totally cringe. I had no idea what I was doing, I swear! Back then, I posted every day, usually about whatever was on my mind at that particular time. Which means a lot of in depth posts on the minutia of writing and other really stupid things. No etymology! No stick figures! Just blathering. Lots and lots of blathering.

If I could go back in time…well, I’d totally warn myself about the total sh!tstorm the world was going to turn into in 2016. But if I could go back in time an only warn myself about blogging related stuff, I’d tell myself “Seriously, maybe don’t write down every thought that’s in your head. You know what people like? Cat pictures. Also stick figure comics for some reason.” Hindsight, amiright? I suppose the blog wouldn’t be what it was if it hadn’t gone through that awkward growth, but man. Embarrassing.

Six years. If this blog were a kid, it would be in school by now. It would also be that weird kid that no one can figure out what the hell they’re talking about. And the name! I’m going to be honest: I went with Still Writing… because I am really, really bad with names. It was literally all I could come up with after several hours of mulling it over. Now I’m kind of stuck with it. Why do names have to be so hard???

So I guess that’s all for this year’s reflections. I think I’ll take my own advice and shut up and leave you with a cat picture.

Yes, her mouth is open in that pic. She’s so classy.

Short Scares

Several months ago on Tumblr (wait! Don’t leave! It’s good, I swear) I stumbled across a blog called Sixpenceee (the extra E’s are silent) that is absolutely filled with scary goodness. Her posts range from scary stories to weird events to random science facts. Being that this is October, we’re going to stick with the scary stories, but there’s a link to all the different subjects she covers over in her sidebar.

The scary stories she posts are (mostly) written by other people and range from mediocre to downright frightening—she’s actually also holding a short story contest this month and you can take a look at the entries on her forum. Anyway, I’ve tracked down the ones that I think are the best, as well as several others that have been highly recommended:

Three girls came into my ER last night, I have no idea whatthey are

The title is pretty self-explanatory for this one.

The Undying Love

A quick one, definitely amusing in a horrifying way.

Betsy The Doll

Considered one of the best stories on the site.

Dr. Ramsey

Made even more horrifying by the fact that the writer claims these are real events that took place in the late seventies.

Her Lips Taste Like Cigarettes

Really short but really good.

Autopilot

Another that’s considered one of the best, and it’s definitely a punch to the gut.

NoEnd House

A psychological mindscrew.

Minimalist

Another psychological story, this one about the degeneration of the mind.

My Daughter Learned to Count

Another short, creepy and amusing story.

This New, Old House

Short and scary.

The Guardians

This one’s probably going to squick out a few people…

Rocking Horse Creek

More sad than scary, but definitely good.

Both My Parents Were Surgeons and I Used to Talk to Furniture

In my opinion, the best one.

Okay, I guess that’s enough. I actually had to trim this back a bit because I just wanted to link to all of them if you like scary things, I suggest you try them. And definitely check out the Short Stories link because there’s a lot more where that came from. Just clear a few days off your schedule first as you won’t be sleeping.

Reflections on a Blogiversary

I always spelled it “blogiversary”, but I know some people spell it in different ways. That’s the problem when you make up words. You have to agree on a spelling or it’s just confusing. That’s literally the reason spelling was invented.

Anyway, it’s been five years—five—since I first decided to start blogging because I had heard things about writers having “platforms” and it seemed like something I should do. I kind of thought that by this point I would be published, but, obvs, that didn’t happen. I don’t blame myself for that as much as I blame the fact that life just gets in the way sometime. I know a lot of you have managed to do so (and hey! Congratulations. It’s really great), but perhaps I don’t have the same fortitude as you. Or free time. There could be a million reasons. It’s not like I’m journaling your every single move throughout the day. Although if I was (not that I’m admitting anything!), it would explain a lot about my lack of free time.

I’m not all together pleased with my lack of progress, but I’m not blaming myself either. I had to make choices and some of those choices involved putting writing to the side. It’s disappointing, yes, but…well, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And please forgive me for using the improper “gotta” but it would sound funny if I didn’t.

Also, blogging has changed quite a bit in the last five years. So many fellow bloggers have vanished into the digital ether! I’m glad all the cool people are still around and reading this blog. How boring would it be otherwise?

Five years. Wow. It just keeps hitting me. I wonder where I’ll be in another five years. What about you? Where do you think you’ll be?

Regularly Scheduled Programming

While I didn’t gain scads of new followers during the Challenge, I figured I’d do a filler post devote a day to explaining what my blog is about when I’m not doing a month of etymology. See, normally I only do one day a week of etymology. Big difference.

Unlike most bloggers, I post on a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday blogging schedule because I just have to be different, and you don’t want to be bored just because it’s an off day, do you? Anyway, I use the word ‘anyway’ to segue a lot, and I’m always trying to crack jokes in hopes of making people laugh and feeling less insecure. I also like to post about writing/publishing on Tuesdays, etymology/other word related stuff on Thursday, and something fun on Saturday. Or a rant. Sometimes I rant. You should get used to that.

So that’s what my blog is, and it’s a pretty good representation of who I am, too : ). In general, my posts are a bit longer than this one, especially the etymology ones!, but not so long that you can’t read them during a coffee break. I do this for you. Certainly not because I can’t think of long posts to write. All for you.

Later! Have a nice weekend!

Challenged Out

It’s done, okay? Done. April is over. We’re free!

Well, the Challenge was certainly an interesting experience. I like that I was able to meet some new people (hi guys! Any of you still around?), and there were some pretty interesting posts. I didn’t visit as many blogs as I should have, but some days I just didn’t have time. Especially on Saturdays when it was really nice out. Am I expected to sit in front of the computer on a warm spring day? I think not.

Anyway, I’m glad I did it. I suppose I’ll do it again next year—there are plenty of words left to etymologize, after all. But for now, I’m going back to my regularly scheduled programming.

How did the Challenge go for you? Or April in general? Find any cool bloggers? Anything fun going on with you? (I ask questions a lot to deflect having to end my posts with something interesting...yay laziness)

The Reader, part 2

For the record, I am still hella bummed about this and pray against all odds that it won’t disappear into cyber oblivion. I guess I like being disappointed.

This week, I tested out FeedReader.

Pros:

---The presentation of the posts is good.

Cons:

---Their claim to be able to import from Reader is kind of diminished by the fact that the slowness of the website (I’m guessing their servers weren’t prepared for the Google exodus, which does not bode well for site management). This means ninety percent of the blogs I follow don’t show up.

---Wait, you can’t alter the view at all?

---Speaking of view, there’s no lists, or adjusting order of posts, or literally anything. I’m starting to regret pledging a week to this site. For the record, I’m writing this ten minutes after I first started using it.

---You can’t even quickly jump through posts, either by a next button or clicking. You have to scroll. Seriously, I’m starting to think this whole site is an elaborate prank.

---Three days into it and it still hasn’t downloaded all of my Reader blogs. Or even most of them. Hell, not even half. Like, sixteen out of sixty, and that’s all it gets no matter how often I try to “sync” with Google. I wouldn’t care if I had to download them all manually, but they claimed I could import it from Reader. Huge fail.

Even if it worked properly, I honestly don’t see it as being useful for anyone who follows more than a few blogs, which kind of defeats the purpose of the internet. It’s not easy to navigate, you can’t group anything, hell, you can’t do anything at all to it. I might as well bookmark the sites and visit them individually for all the good FeedReader has done. Overall: STAY AWAY FROM FEEDREADER. Don’t even bother.

I gave you a week of my life, FeedReader, and now I can never get it back. Clearly the only way for me to get justice is to eliminate you entirely and make sure no one else suffers like I did.

I hate you, FeedReader. Sleep with one eye open.

I've Been Deemed Stylish

Thanks so much to Pam at SO I'M FIFTY!, who in some madness has decided I'm worthy of the Stylish Blogger Award.

Her blog really deserves this.

The thing about blogger awards is that the rules for winners seem to vary from person to person. Pam has challenged we recipients to pass on the awards to fifteen new blogs that deserve it. I've taken her up on her challenge and started combing through Blogger for new, stylish friends. And here's what I've found:

1. Nancy Williams, at N.R. Williams, Fantasy Author definitely deserves one. Her blog is chock full of interesting links.

2. Kristie Cook at A Mused Writer, who has a really nice blog and some really nice information about marketing.

3. Sharyla at A Bookish Wonderland, whose blog I found to be wonderful.

4. Mishel at P.S. I Love Books. Go ahead and scroll through the blog. I think you'll see what I mean.

5. Cheri Chesley at "From the Other Side of the Mirror." The name alone impresses me.

6. Ann Best at Long Journey Home. Actually, she just won an award yesterday, too. She definitely deserves them.

7. iggi and gabi. Hilarious, cute, and just plain great.

8. Rick Maughan at Real Life Rambles. He tells some fascinating stories on his blog and he does it well.

9. Writer, artist and teacher (wow) Kate at As We Write It, another great read.

10. Erin Schneider at A Little of This & That, a great book blog.

11. Jessica Peter at Jess Gets Creative, a writer sharing her journey with the craft and a bunch of other stuff.

12. An Again at A Writer's Block. She has a lot of great posts, so check it out.

13. Jennifer Bertman at From the Mixed-Up Files, who has a lot of interesting interviews up on her blog.

14. Mary McDonald Has The Write Stuff. Mary really does have the write stuff : ).

15. Celery Tree. This one isn't actually new to me, but they are new to the blogosphere. They're starting up a website for authors to sell their books in. Right now they have their blog and I visit often.

Whew. Anyway, thanks again, Pam. As to the recipients, I pass the challenge on to you. Can you find fifteen new blogs worthy of the award?