washwords

Oh, Hai (sorry reading lots of Lolcatz lately). Anywho, remember me?

So I’ve been on unapproved blog leave of absence lately. I’m sorry.

There’s a lot of excuses I could give – good ones! Really! I got engaged (and celebrated by fab pals!) I had visitors. I’m exploring interweb advertising and other commercial ventures. I’ve been sick. A moose ate my bloggy post.

But the truth is… I’ve been too mad and sad to blog. Too mad to blog? Whaaa? Blogs are for mad, right? Too sad to blog? Like that’s ever stopped me (ahh, that reminds me I really do need to post Washwords and the Single Parents Mingle Adventure! yee haw). Too scared? Well surely my bloggy friends could help.

But I’ve been struggling with this one – being scared, and mad and sad about… politics. My entire career(s) (whether as a journalist or a “govvie”) have trained me to be apolitical, non-partisan, non-personal. But now…things are changing. The political IS the personal (take abortion, feminism, religion… to name a few issues in both categories) and the stakes are higher (google “Sarah Palin and Jews for Jesus” or “equal pay for equal work, McCain” or “Sarah Palin, “I’d be AGAINST (thanks mom, for editorial correction!)  abortion even in cases of rape, even if it was my daughter” or creationism in schools or… wow, there are too many to go on, if you’re not sure this election matters.) Read the rest of this entry »

From my guest post on the fabulously on-topic, helpful and well-done Sharp Words…

So you’ve built your blog – whether for fun, for profit or “just because” — but is anyone reading it? Consider these 5 steps to bring not only readers (hits) but returning, interested, active readers to your blog time and again.

Note that is a 101 course – I’m still learning myself (and may come back when I know more) – and it is meant to help you bring readers to your blog, not necessarily to sell a product or market another service through your blog. While these tips should apply to bloggers at any level, they may be of most use to those looking to maximize their blogs on a hosted service (wordpress.com or blogger.com) for example or those new to the world of self-hosting.

Step 1: Umm, what is this blog about? Determine the purpose of your blog in 10 words or less. Duh, right? But many people (cough! cough! Me, Washwords, until a month or so ago) haven’t taken the time to answer the basic “what is this blog about?” if you don’t know, how can your readers know and how will they know if they want to stick around or post comments or subscribe? Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, maybe I am overly cynical and all for helping the people on the Gulf Coast (this time) but really, the RNC “has to” continue the convention but will conduct admin business only tomorrow and then “we’ll see” from there?? Really? Does anyone else think this was a nice way to turn this tragedy into an advertorial press conference?

Sigh.

P.S. Huffpost commenters agree. (Check out the rest of their coverage too)