Checking in, checking up, taking this stage of life in stride

Do you ever go wandering around in BlogLand to see if any of your old favorites are still there?

I keep a few on my blogroll on the right side of the blog that have left us. I can no longer add to or delete from that list so I just leave it. WordPress would really like me to update to a paid blog, but I’m not doing it. As much as I love to write, I am not paying someone else for that privilege. I suspect there are others like me. It would feel like self-publishing a book. Something else I’m not paying for, either.

There are also those who have left this world but whose blog still stands, like an old abandoned house. The furniture is still there, but they have left it. Ronni Bennett’s blog is one such place that I seek out as she left a wonderful list of elder blogs on the site. Like a trunk in the attic. I can open that list and see things from years past. Today I spent time with a few that are still up and running. Even followed an Instagram account that appeals to me.

Judy Miller is also on my blogroll but she hadn’t posted in months. I check in every so often to see if something might be there to tell her readers what is going on. Today there was. She is in a care facility and she has now been able to post. I will warn me, the outcome is sad and I wish I could do something more than just read and post a comment.

The term elder blogger says so much, doesn’t it? Elderhood brings about a myriad of issues, and they are not all able to hit an updated blog page. I would hope that all of us in this particular station of life would be able to let our dear Readers know when we have departed, or are about to, this writing world we have come to love so much.

When friends are gone

It’s been nine years since I took up residence at this URL. I don’t post every day, but I visit other bloggers on a daily basis. A few I actually drop in on every single day, others get a visit on a less regular basis. Sometimes it’s months before I get back to a blog, especially if the blogger doesn’t write on a consistent basis. Last night I checked in on one of those writers only to find that she had died on September 1, just weeks before her 50th birthday. Her husband has taken up the task of writing on her blog, to let her readers know what happened. Helly was such a vibrant, exuberant redhead. It’s as if a light has been turned off.

It made me so sad to read of her demise. Her ending was slow and agonizing. Doctors couldn’t seem to get the right diagnosis. Medicine failed her. Helly often wrote about her husband. She adored him. They did so many things together. They had such fun living life. As you can imagine, he is bereft. The life they built is but an empty shell now that she is gone. All the the things that mattered no longer do so. He writes that it is just “stuff” now.

I never met the redheaded Helly from Atlanta in person, but I so enjoyed her writing, as I do so many of you, that I felt I knew her. You open your life’s door and let me come in for a moment. You share the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. Although we aren’t sitting at a table, across from one another, sharing a cup of coffee, you still allow my comments and thoughts to penetrate your world. I appreciate that aspect of the blogging community. You are indeed my friends and I wish you a happy, healthy life. Please keep writing. I’ll be by to see you.

I’ve been here 8 years

I got a message from WordPress this morning with greetings for my anniversary with WordPress.com. I’ve been registered on WordPress.com for 8 years. My how time has flown.

When I started this, I had little idea what a blog was and how WordPress even operated. I didn’t know what to name the thing so just went with what WordPress gave me, Dkzody Weblog. Worked for me then, guess it still works. WordPress has been a good place for my blog. It’s easy to use from the computer or from my iPhone. All I do is write, throw on a few pictures if I wish, and press publish. WordPress does the rest.

This blog was the first of my social media sites, and it’s one that I’ve stayed with and used the most. Well, Instagram is gaining as I post there almost every day, usually more than one photo. I have almost 1400 photos there and almost 1600 posts here. I have 16,000 tweets, but many of those are retweets from others, so I can’t honestly count those.

To all of you dear Readers, thank you for coming by and checking on my scribbles. I appreciate your notes to me. It’s so nice to hear from one’s audience.

Social media sharing

I take a lot of pictures. You only see a few here on the blog, but if you go over to my Instagram site you will see them. Pictures of everything. Everywhere I go. People, places, things, food. All thrown there. Some get shared on Facebook and Twitter as it only takes one click to send them to those sites. Some just reside on Instagram.

Everywhere I go, I have my iPhone and that is also my camera. I can upload a photo immediately to Facebook or Instagram, or I can edit the photo in Instagram or PhotoShop Express, an app on the phone. My friends and family all know that I will pull out my phone at any time and start taking pictures. They are all accustomed to it, knowing full well that they will probably show up on Facebook or on this blog. I’ve never had anyone say, don’t post that. Usually I hear, “when will you get that on Facebook?”

It’s fun to tag people on Facebook photos so that all of their friends and family can see the pictures, too. I’ve had one friend say it’s the only time her friends get to see her as she doesn’t post any photos of her own. One friend told me she didn’t know how to post photos so she appreciated me sharing pictures of certain events on my page so she can share with her family.

Since I am a very social animal, I like social media.  I do know, though, that one can get carried away with social media and let it overrun one’s life. I try not to do that. I read an interesting post today, written by a former employee of Twitter. Ginger Riker writes about being a social media addict. I loved these questions:

I think a lot about privacy and our desire to record and share. How much sharing is good sharing? Does it make me feel more connected to people?

I like to think my sharing is good sharing. Some of you dear Readers have commented either here or on your own blog that you don’t share pictures of family and friends. Another line from Ginger Riker’s piece that resonated with me is this:

Will kids who have been recorded since birth resent the online persona their parents have given them?

I see friends on Facebook who post EVERYTHING that their child does, good and not so good. I’m not too sure about this. How will the kids feel when they are older. Those posts are out there, and unless the originator takes them down, will be for anyone to see even though the child has grown up and gone on to other things. How will this social media sharing make a difference in our kids’ lives? How will they integrate it into their life as they get older?

We’ve had an old friend join The Ladies Who Lunch with the help of social media. How did she find us? She googled my name and found my phone number and called. We talked for over an hour, catching up, and then I invited her to join our next lunch group. She did. And she joined us on the road trip. She loved it and hopes to join us again and again. But, she’s not on Facebook. She asked me to text her all of the photos, though, so she can share them with another set of friends who know many of us.

“I’m sure glad you have an online presence, Delaine, and all those Google pages so I could easily find you.”

Yes, the value of social media. It does keep us connected.

I am not a robot

Those of you who write your blogs with Blogger may be seeing few comments from me. It is just too hard to leave a comment with all of the precautions that have been put in place on those blogs. I almost feel like a criminal when trying to respond to your writing.

First there is a box that says something like, Prove you’re not a robot,” which I have to check. For some blogs, that is the only requisite, but on most others I am then shown a grid of photos and asked to check all of the cakes, or hamburgers, or steak, or sushi…The grid often does not open correctly and I’m unable to finish and check another box that says I’m done so I’m left hanging. If the grid is complete, and I do my assigned check-offs, then a comment pops up that I’ve not selected enough pictures, even though the pictures don’t match what is requested. So, I try again.

By this point I am feeling pretty put out about leaving a comment, and if the captcha box won’t work, I give up and leave. So, you may not see a whole lot of comments from me, and if you do, then know that the comment was submitted after much travail. I AM NOT A ROBOT.

Writing about writing

What to write about?

When to write?

Who reads this?

All questions I am pondering this Sunday morning. Beautiful morning that it is. The sun is streaming in, lighting up the dining room wall as I eat breakfast and read the Sunday newspaper. As I read a few columns and opinion pieces, my mind wanders to this blog and those questions start rattling around in my head. Perhaps I will write this post like I do my journal entries, just throw the words on the paper (computer screen in this case) and see what lands and sticks.

What to write about…I am all over the place with this but seldom do I go very deep or allow much of my internal voice to be heard. It seems most posts are about what we are doing around here. Work, recreation, grandchildren, friends. Sometimes I will post about the anguish I’m feeling over a certain event, but I try not to get too maudlin.

When to write…many bloggers have a schedule and they stick to it. Two days a week, every other day, only on weekdays. Again, I’m all over the place. I write whenever the notion hits. Again, much like I do with my journal. Most weeks I am too busy to write every day even though ideas pop into my head. I love to read other blogs on a daily basis and leave my words on those pages rather than putting them on my own. I take so many pictures every day, thinking I’ll write about what I just photographed, but later, when looking at the picture, I decide it’s too mundane for a blog post but okay to put on Instagram or Facebook. I’m doing less and less on Facebook and more on Instagram so I can just have a place for all those photos. I figure my Facebook audience doesn’t care to see so many photos.

Which brings me to that last question…who reads this…probably my biggest question. Although I love to write about anything and everything, one is taught to write for an audience. I must be doing a very poor job of this. My numbers over the years have stayed pretty much the same. I get a few new readers yet I think others may drop away. Lots of “views,” but very few comments which makes me think I don’t do a good job of engaging the reader. I will read other blogs and be amazed at all of the comments.

Time is up. I gave myself a few minutes to get this written and now I must go put on my face and get into wardrobe for today’s “role.”

Those Blogger bloggers

I see that those of you who use Blogger are back to making me type some obscure number to get my comments to post on your blog.

So far today, so good. But, alas, many times I write a response only to have it disappear when I type in those numbers (which, by the way, look like someone’s address). So, if you don’t see my comments, please don’t think it’s because I’m not reading and loving your post, I just can’t get past the numbers.

This week’s blog will be on hiatus

…however I won’t be. I am in San Mateo taking care of tiny grandchildren while my daughter and son-in-law work at their church’s Vacation Bible School. This is hard work, but I love it.

For those of you who have been around here for awhile, this will sound familiar. We have been helping out since 2008. Terry runs the sound and video and takes photos. I take care of the kids. Leeya is now attending in the preschool class but Judah is too young so I keep him occupied.

I will return next week, probably with a few stories.

No forwarding address

You may note, dear Reader, that the blog roll list, over there on the right, has gotten shorter. I’ve taken a few of the links away since the blogs have either disappeared or not been refreshed in months. A few more may have to go, too, as my taste is changing, I guess, and what amused me at one time, may not so much now.

What would you do with your blog if you decided to quit writing? Would you just leave it hanging? Would you take in down completely? Even if one decides to take a break, it would be nice to have a little note left behind, explaining what the writer was doing.

Some of the blogs I deleted were fairly new, but one was from the beginning of time, when I started blogging. That one made me sad, but the writer has disappeared. Not only is her blog gone, but she no longer tweets. Funny thing, she was rather manic about both for awhile, daily blog posts and thousands of tweets. No notice about leaving, just gone.

Often, now, when I go out wandering around to see what is out there in blog land, I come across blogs that haven’t been refreshed in years. I ponder these. The writing was good, the comments were there, and there seemed to be a following. What happened? No explanation. No forwarding address.

If something happens to me, I have instructed Terry as to what to do with my social media. I have a lot: this blog and another WordPress blog; Facebook; Twitter; Vine; Flickr; Instagram; Cowbird; Yelp; She Writes; 365 Project; Pinterest; and I run an FB page for an organization. Should I decide to quit any of those, I would leave a note, saying goodbye. I have a Klout score, so maybe if I suddenly went quiet, they would come looking for me. Probably not.

 

More about spam

Remember my rants about Blogger and how I have to be cryptographer to just make a comment on some of the blogs? And many bloggers responded saying that if they didn’t put those captchas on their blog that they would get all kinds of obnoxious spam. I would not like that so I felt some sympathy. Then I look at this report on WordPress that shows in August alone WordPress caught 1133 pieces of spam on this little blog. Thank you WordPress. That alone should make all of you Blogger people switch over.