ON BLOGGING ~ What Your Bloggy Friends Are Saying...

What have I been doing for the past week, leaving you postless here? I've been fighting off various illnesses, trying to find ways to entertain a six month old, working part-time, trying to find more writing work and squeezing in some blog-hopping. After all, that is far more satisfying than a clean house. In the event that any of you have been strapped for time as well and haven't had a chance to get out there and visit your fellow bloggers, I thought I would share some of their posts with you to let you know what you've been missing.

• Stacy @ Stacy's Bookblog is looking for tips on how to get a toddler to eat. As a picky eater myself, my mother had to hide important food groups in my applesauce or drown it in ketchup. Maybe you have other suggestions for Stacy?

• Kathleen @ Boarding In My Forties is co-hosting the Stephen King Project which is a reading & review challenge with book and cash prizes throughout the year. Kathleen was also kind enough to compile a list of the King of Horror's non-scary works for the fraidy cats out there.

• Janet @ Fond of Snape is sharing a list of foods and spices that fight cancer. And she should know. She's a survivor. We should all include these things in our diet to keep that vicious disease away.

• Lynn @ Queen of the Castle Recipes is explaining what she thinks you should do with cognac, and has a nifty idea for turning an orange into a vessel.

• Little Ms. Blogger @ A Little Blog About Nothing is taking us on a Dinner Project. She is meal planning, smart shopping, LOOPing, and rewarding us with a giveaway of the book inspiring her efforts.

• Sheila @ ashramblings is reviewing her visit to the David Hockney Royal Academy exhibit in London. These cubist styled landscape collages look wickedly fun - and the dude even uses an iPad to sketch out his more recent work.

• The Gal Herself @ One Gal's Musings is reminding us why this country is awesome. She always finds a way to capture my thoughts exactly - in far fewer words.

• Cindy @ Cindy's Love of Books is passes along a funny video you bookies will get a chuckle out of. Starring some folks you might even know.

• Joy @ Joy's Book Blog is sharing a link to a grad student's bookish survey for her thesis. If I knew I could write a thesis on bookish behavior, I might have gone back to college for more!

• Vanita @ After Bedtime Blog is sharing an introductory tutorial on the ins and outs of the Google Plus social networking platform. I just set up a profile there within the month. Add me to your circles if you'd like!

I could go on and on, sharing the variety of things you are all posting about. It is why my Feedly reader is always overflowing. But I really should get some laundry done. Unless you've got a cool post I should know about - do tell!!!

ON BLOGGING ~ Amy Wins!!!

Well, my week off from writing blog posts and visiting yours instead was indeed a challenge. The break away from writing made me full of ideas to use for future posts. Why is it that when we need to write something, nothing comes, and when we need to not write, our thoughts become full of writing ideas?

I was spotty in my attempt to reclaim that reader however. I did get to stop by and visit with some of you - reading through a month's worth of posts and catching up on your hopes, dreams and daily dishes. I haven't yet gotten to the rest of you. I will try to do more of that this week and get back into my regular blog hopping routine.

The Reclaim Your Reader event showed me that the other half of blogging, the visiting half, requires dedication and I admire all of you who never waver in your support. I aim to be better soon and have learned a bit more about the approach I need to take to make it happen.

As for the winner of the $25 Amazon gift card, I did a very unscientific and low-tech drawing - I ripped up numbered squares of paper, shuffled them around in a hat and drew one out. The winner is Amy of The House of Seven Tails. Sounds like she could really use the card right about now too so I am very pleased she turned out to be the winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated at any level - hopefully future events will bring more attention to the visiting side of life in the blogosphere :0)

ON BLOGGING ~ Something Sticky...

Image courtesy Mahalie via Flickr

In order to explain why I will not have any fresh content appearing over the next week, I wanted a blurb to appear at the top of my blog letting visitors know. It used to be, in Blogger, if you wanted to create such a blurb, referred to as a Sticky Post, you simply wrote a post, published it, and then went and edited it for a publish date in the future. It would stay on your blog until that point in time ahead of everything else.

Blogger fixed this little loop hole so that posts scheduled for the future would actually only appear on that date in the future, even if they had been published first. Now what to do for a Sticky Post?

Simple. In fact, this way makes more sense. From your Design tab on the Dashboard, you simply click Add A Gadget, select either the Text or HTML Gadget box, type in whatever you want your Sticky Post to say and save it, drag it to the top of your Posts section and call it a day.

When you are done being Sticky, just go back in to Design and Remove that Gadget via the Edit link.

It would be even simpler if Blogger would just create a little check box in Post Options within the regular post box that said Make Sticky. It would be even better if it also had an Until When field to indicate the date you wanted the Sticky status to disappear. But hey, I'm just a Bumble. What do I know?

ON BLOGGING ~ Powerless Situation...

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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.

Maybe I don't want to live with Laura Ingalls in the Little House On The Prairie after all. This used to be my dream as a young girl. I would run home from school and sit down in front of the TV with my best friends and watch Little House. We would sit and watch with envy as precocious "Half-Pint" was well loved, independent and funny. She got to do cool things we could never dream of being able to do in our modern world. We would go tromping off into the woods behind our neighborhood and pretend to live off the land, until our parents called us in for dinner.

After spending much of the past week without power thanks to a Nor'Easter dumping wet snow on heavy branches filled with leaves not yet fallen, I hope I never have to rely on fire for warmth unless I am doing so willingly at a campsite. Sammy and I would hunker down inside while Andy went out and chopped up logs in his shed. Then I would spend all day feeding the fire to keep us warm at night. This is no way to live. When we ran out of firewood we packed up bags filled with our electronic devices and chargers and crashed at a relative's house who was out of town.

I do not have a smart phone. Maybe it would make me smarter since I discovered after Andy took his smarty pants phone with him to work that my outdated flip phone was out of juice in a powerless home. Without a car charger, Sammy and I were out of touch for an entire day. I did have a radio to listen to, but no way to communicate with others. Most of our neighbors were either working or had left for brighter and warmer pastures. Sammy decided for the first time ever that he wanted to take a nap for the entire afternoon so I was tied to the house.

I did read quite a bit. And I was able to draft up some writing on my laptop before that battery died. Other than that I spent the day stoking the fire and entertaining the cat. All I could think about was all of that blogging that I could have been doing. And how much I have missed the opportunity to do so on a more regular basis since Sammy arrived. I like being connected - virtually. Nothing against hanging out with our neighbors, but I enjoy the connections the blogosphere has brought me as well.

Now that the power is back and we have returned home, Sammy is back to boycotting naps lasting longer than 45 minutes (perhaps I should build him a fire every day?). My free moments have been spent doing laundry, washing bottles, washing the firewood smoke out of my hair and picking up wood scraps tracked throughout the house. Very little time for blogging - again. I am looking forward to my Reclaim Your Reader event in a few weeks. I hope it will bring me back to blogging by becoming inspired by reading your blogs. Sign up if you haven't already.

No, I'd rather not trade places with Laura Ingalls after all. I don't think I could put up with that Nellie Oleson. And living without power would not be as cool as it seemed when I was ten. But it would be kind of funny to see what kind of blog good ole Half-Pint would have created.

ON BLOGGING ~ A Bumble's Solution To Time Management...

I complained on Friday and brainstormed over the weekend. This is what I came up with. Visit the dedicated page for all the details and to find out how to get these ninjas to come and help you...

ON BLOGGING ~ Priority Reading...

Image courtesy Christine via Flickr

In the past, I have shared my method for reading all of your blog posts. It is a fairly simple concept that worked nicely for me until I had a baby. And then my routine disappeared. The slots of time that were nicely organized in my world now belong to an eleven pound bundle of energy. What little time I have when Andy tags in for Daddy Duty when he gets home from work is generally devoted to work, chores and writing posts. When Sammy agrees to take a nap that doesn't require me to drive or push a stroller, I pick a blogger in my Google Reader folders to visit and catch up on their posts. This happens once or twice a week. Bad baby.

So it is time for an emergency method until I get a semblance of schedule back in my life. And this is the best that I could come up with. Why not just take that time that I spend writing posts over the course of one week and use it instead to read posts that other bloggers have written? Give myself a week off from producing posts and devote my energy into reading everyone else; leisurely and with my full attention.

And wouldn't it be cool if other bloggers did the same thing at the same time? So that we were all just taking one week to visit each other, read and engage without the pressure of trying to balance the creation of posts with the reading of others - which always seems to get bumped to the bottom of the priority list.

If we knew when this week would be, we could spend time the week before putting our best foot forward so to speak on our own blogs, posting funny, cool, informative or inspiring posts for everyone to read when they went visiting the following week. That way we would all have really great writing, photos and videos to check out all week long. We would be entertained continuously. We would meet some new bloggers. We would be able to do more than scan. We would be on a vacation from blogging...in the blogosphere!

I have no creative ideas for a witty name for this idea. I have no abilities to create buttons to promote it. I don't even know if anyone else would want to join in. For all I know, it already exists somewhere out there and I just haven't found it yet. But I do know this. If I don't give this new method a try for myself pretty soon, I'll be missing out on what you have to say. And after spending all day with a baby, I could really use the adult conversation ;0)

ON BLOGGING ~ Blogging Buddies Take On Boston...

This is the story of how my tootsies above came to be so tired.

As cool as I think it is to meet so many wonderful people in the blogosphere, I think it is even better to meet those same folks in person. Andy and I were lucky enough to meet up with former blogger Matty last summer (he has since stopped blogging - hope it wasn't something we said!) and I thought it would be a while before we got to cross paths with any other bloggers since our baby Bumble-to-be was keeping us from taking further vacations. Sammy was born and it was abundantly clear that we were never taking another trip again and my time in the blogosphere dwindled for a little while. But then came an e-mail from Sandy of You've GOTTA Read This! to say that she was going to be coming to Boston for a quick weekend business trip with her hubby and that she hoped to meet me!

For those of you not familiar with Sandy, she is a book blogger extraordinaire, providing kick-ass reviews, funny snippets from her life and some pretty cool photos from her travels. The fact that she has two children and actually takes vacations gives me hope that this will be possible for us again some day ;0) Sandy was also one of the first blogging friends that I found. We began blogging around the same time and neither of us knew any of the ropes. We bumbled our way through things - each having different paths and styles but sharing a love for blogging, cats, books books books and movies - especially Christmas Vacation. So to have the opportunity to meet her in person was really special.

I left little Sammy at home with his Dad for some bonding time and headed into Boston on a recent Saturday morning to show Sandy my view of Boston in a brief window of four hours. That was a tiny amount of time for the two of us to cram in personal chatter and get to know each other for real. You know what I mean? You can "know" someone through e-mail, texts, Facebook or even phone conversations, but having the same conversation face to face is an entirely different beast. True colors come out - no time to plan your thoughts and pick your words like in written form. No time to hide those knee-jerk facial expressions like you can over the phone. It can be nerve wracking meeting someone that you've already deemed to be a close friend based on virtual conversations. Sets the bar high.

Well. I am happy to report that Sandy is as terrific in person as she is sitting miles and miles away. We blabbed about our families like old friends and fit in some touristy things at a fast pace along the way. Here's a photo tour of our day:

It wouldn't be a visit with me to Boston without a trip to Fenway Park. Sandy was a good sport and took the tour of one of my favorite places on Earth...

Then we made our way over to the Freedom Trail since it was such a beautiful day and followed it along through a portion of the city, taking in some historic spots:

It wouldn't be a visit with Sandy without books involved. Look at this hole in the wall book store we stumbled across...

All of that walking around is exhausting and we still had more to see. We stopped for a few slices of Boston's best pizza when we got to Faneuil Hall...

Boston is a very picturesque city. The Italian North End is one of the prettier neighborhoods. In addition to having the best restaurants packed side by side on cobbled streets, it is also home to the Old North Church and Paul Revere's famous ride...

We noticed this memorial artwork installation honoring the victims whose lives have been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan...

We took a look at some houses of worship that are very different from the European cathedrals Sandy was more familiar with...

Finally, we stopped at Lulu's for some decadent cupcakes - a trend that apparently has not found its way to Sandy's home in Orlando...

Here's a photo of Sandy and the Bumble as proof of her visit. If you'd like to pose with the Bumble (or find out what the bumbles behind the Bumble actually look like) you'll just have to come visit us in Boston. Sammy's keeping us from getting to your neck of the world anytime soon.

ON BLOGGING ~ Like A Skipping Record...

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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.

I don't like being in a rut. That's where I am in my blogging right now though. I write about Movies each Monday. Wednesdays I expound on the 50 Lessons prompts. Fridays I dish about Blogging - vents or tips.

I have lots of random ideas for the days in between. I have things I want to update you on in our world that I just never get around to covering. I have new features that I feel excited to put into play but then I get distracted by something else. The fact of the matter is, I really only have time for 3 posts a week and each of those days is dedicated to 3 specific things.

So I'm thinking that in the near future I might shake things up a bit and ditch one or all of my rut-creating format posts. Maybe for a month. Maybe forever. It gets old thinking of movie themes. My mind goes blank thinking of blog related tips or topics to talk about sometimes. Even the open-ended prompts from 50 Lessons turns limiting and redundant at times.

Ruts will do that to you. Make you annoyed with everything and spur drastic actions. I've got lots of creative thoughts in this Bumble brain of mine waiting for a turn to express themselves. Time to start a new rut with them. To keep me interested; to keep you interested. Are you ready for the ride?

How do you escape a self-created rut? Did your actions just create a different version of the same beast? Or did it liberate and inspire? How often do you give up on following a blog because of the same-old-same-old routine lacking in excitement?

ON BLOGGING ~ Appointment Reading...

Image courtesy LittleMissPip via Flickr

A lot of bloggers, new and experienced, wonder how they could draw in more traffic or attention to their blog and capture that readership via comments. Well, aside from the standard good advice of spending time visiting other blogs to build relationships and providing quality posts for folks to read or view when they visit you, there is one suggestion I can make.

Create a recurring reason for people to stop by. Become appointment reading. Host an event, feature or meme that happens on a regular basis. This doesn't have to be something really formal like a challenge or something requiring Mr. Linky. It can just be a simple theme that you like to cover on a regular basis. Here are a few examples for you from some of my favorite bloggers.

Stacy @ Stacy's Books hosts a round of quizzes throughout the year. She comes up with mostly bookish but also movie related quizzes each week for people to stop by and leave their responses. Then at the end of each quarterly round she gives away some prizes to the overall score and a random drawing. The quizzes are in hiatus right now as she prepares for the next round but it is terrific fun put your thinking cap on and test yourself against other bloggers. I am sure Stacy would tell you that her quizzes provide a constant stream of visitors to her blog each week and have probably converted a few game players into people who come back to see what else she posts about.

Kaye @ The Road Goes Ever On is participating in a year-long read-along of Tolstoy's War & Peace. Although she is not the host of the read-along, she has turned her participatory posts into a recurring feature she calls Thursdays With Tolstoy. In addition to summarizing the plot from the week's reading, she also shares the historical tidbits of interest that she has researched, wonderful illustrations and clips bringing the story more to life while providing her opinion on the book. I am sure that many people who are not participating in the read-along make a point to stop by and read her updates each week because they are enjoyable, entertaining and educational. I know I do.

Candace @ Beth Fish Reads hosts a series called Weekend Cooking that encourages bloggers to link up each weekend to posts they have written about food - such as recipes, foodie books, cookbook reviews, photos, movies or even just food quotes. She puts up her food related post of the weekend and lets bloggers connect through this meme of sorts by sharing their links on her site so it is easy to view and visit like-minded foodies. This feature is very popular and I bet Candace will tell you that the broad range of bloggers drawn in to her through this is a big plus. I'm sure a lot of them stick around to see what she has to say about the world of books when she's not talking food.

Perhaps you have something that is of interest to you and you find yourself wanting to cover it more formally on a regular basis. Go ahead and start your own feature. It doesn't have to be anything that requires readers to join in or play along. It can just be something that you like to share, teach, vent or display. You'd be surprised how a recurring item can make you stick in readers' minds and keep them stopping by more often. It doesn't need to be a permanent fixture - just something you want to do for a few months or a year before moving on to something else. Or you can start small and build it into a more interactive idea, inviting your readers to provide their own contributions through your blog.

Rather than joining all of the wonderful challenges, memes and other events out there in the blogosphere, use your space to highlight your own set of ideas on a recurring basis. Serialize a story, give a virtual photo tour of your favorite places, lay out a collection of family recipes, review favorite movies from the past or share tips on your favorite hobby. Whatever you choose, it should be something that excites you, makes you look forward to writing about each time and injects some fun back into your blogging process. Enthusiasm is contagious. And that's a sure way to draw interest to your thoughts and your blog.

ON BLOGGING ~ Under Review...

This week's post is less about giving a blogging tip than it is about seeking helpful tips from you. Specifically, I would love input today from the reviewers out there. Those of you who review things on your blogs - be they books, products, movies or any other item.

I feel it is important that if you have a recurring review feature or format to have clear guidelines available on your blog. One set of guidelines would be for those wishing to supply you with items to review. It explains your review policy - what you do or don't accept, your time table for producing a review, what you will provide in exchange and what you won't.

Another set of guidelines would be for those reading your reviews. It explains your review process - the categories or qualities you evaluate, the definition of any ranking system and why you reviewed it to begin with.

Since the Quirky Girls and I are trying to establish some policies for books that we review I thought it best to solicit advice from those of you with experience in such matters. So tell me, what kind of review guidelines do you have in place? How did you decide what they would be? And where do you put them so that interested folks can find them?

ON BLOGGING ~ You Say Tomato...

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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.

Cathy of Kittling: Books has a favorite feature of mine called Scene of the Blog where she features a different blogger each week and lets us peek into their world behind the scenes to see where all of their blogging takes place. For me it feels like getting to snoop into someone's medicine cabinet. Secrets, gossip, tell-tale clues and some things to experiment with for when I have the blogging blues.

I find it fascinating to see all the different ways and environments that folks use for blogging. Some are very organized and have special spaces. Others don't have a plan or space at all - they just blog on the go. Some have panoramic views, some use the blog as their view into the world. But all of these different ways result in the same thing...a blog to be proud of.

I am training a new co-worker at my office. Although we are very similar, there are some skills and comfort levels that are different between us. It is important to remember as I train her that my way isn't the right way - it is just the right way for me. She has her own way of doing things. As long as each way gets us both to the same result in the same amount of time, it doesn't really matter.

Blogging is no different than my training lessons at work. The time of day that I blog, the type of equipment I use, the setting I seek and the methods I use aren't going to be the same as another blogger. But it doesn't mean my way is better or worse than another. It is all about finding the combination that works best for me to be able to accomplish the goals or desires I have for this blog.

I can post lots of tips here and complain about blogging issues that bug the crap out of me. But they are just one way of looking at things. They are not a "how to" for bloggers. They are simply something to consider. Maybe they inspire, suggest or reinforce a similar or opposing belief on how to get things done. The goal is that they create thought and lead the blogger to engage, share or act. Whether they choose to agree or disagree isn't my concern. That they find a way to blog happily in the method that works best for them is the goal.

Has anyone ever tried to force their blogging methods on you? What do you do when you have a suggestion for a blogger? What is the one thing that makes your blogging process best for you?

ON BLOGGING ~ Label Maker...

Image courtesy UNIFORM natural via Flickr

Last week, Kaye @ The Road Goes Ever On left a comment on my Blog Tips post about using labels to set the tone of your blog and inspire your posts. I mentioned that overwhelming your visitors with an endless list of labels to sort through could be counterproductive. Kaye asked "How do you display only the labels you want to and still have access to all your labels?" Good question! I can give you the simple steps to accomplish this on Blogger.

• From your Dashboard, click on the Design link.
• If you already have the Gadget in your sidebar, etc. displaying your labels, click the Edit link next to it.
• If you do not yet have it set up, click the Add A Gadget link and scroll down to find the Labels gadget, clicking the + symbol to insert it into your blog.
• On the item called Show, click the Selected Labels button.
• Click on the Edit link.
• Go through and check or uncheck the labels you do or do not want displayed in your gadget on your blog's sidebar (or wherever you choose to place it) and click Done.
• Modify any of the other settings you like and click Save.

This quick process will display your selective list of labels on your blog, while keeping all of your labels viewable and workable for you and you alone behind the scenes.

If you use a platform other than Blogger, I cannot speak specifically to the label display process, but I imagine it is just as simple to accomplish.

ON BLOGGING ~ When It Is Good To Be Labeled...

Image courtesy christmasstockimages.com

When I first sat down to start this blog, I didn't know anything about blogging. I just wanted a vehicle to interact with other bloggers about books that I had read or wanted to read. But I also knew that there were other things I wanted to share on this blog. So I made a list on a scrap of paper that went something like this:

On books

On movies

On music

On sports

On photos

On family

On travel

These were subjects that I cared about and thought it might be fun to write about, share or experience. Some were things I cared more about. Others were things Andy felt stronger about. They were a way to categorize our overall interests. In making that list I created the labels that I would use for the base of our blog. This accidental decision led to a structure that was easy for readers to work with and one that helped me to follow a framework and analyze the direction our thoughts were trending.

Over time, I have added a few more labels to capture some other topics that weren't originally part of the plan - such as On Blogging. A flexible structure keeps things from crumbling, after all. It also allows for creative freedom rather than rigid work.

The labels that I set in place became the impetus for creating the posts I wanted to write and have helped me to stay on track with my desire for this blog's overall purpose. Having a manageable set of 10-15 labels makes it easy for me to work within but it also makes it easy for visitors to find their way to the topics that interest them most. There are no guessing games or never-ending lists of labels to peruse through and interpret. They see what we offer, click on the label and check out what they want.

You can be creative with your labels and still have them work in an effective way. No one says you have to be plain vanilla like me. You can be witty if you like. I enjoy labels that crack me up. They make me want to read the posts within them. But I do feel that too many labels is counterproductive. We hear time and again that blog visitors are skimmers. Blog readers have patience and I firmly believe that a lengthy post is not a deterrent. But turning a visitor into a reader is a different matter.

I have limited time to explore the blogosphere. I want to know what your blog is all about as quickly as possible. I want a snapshot of your personality, your purpose. It helps me to see if you are a place that I want to come back to and spend more time with later. Labels help to accomplish this goal. But if there are 50 different labels to sift through in a cloud my mind turns blurry and off I go to somewhere that doesn't make me work so hard to find my way.

You can make hundreds of labels that can be useful to you behind the scenes or for your own entertainment. The beauty is that you can pick and choose the ones that get displayed publicly. I've got tons of them living behind the scenes. They help me quickly pull up an archived series or set of thoughts on a specific topic. Depending on the blog platform that you use, they could be called labels, categories, tags, etc. There are ways to keep some behind the scenes and others out front and center by modifying the settings of your tabs, widgets, sidebar, plug-ins or what have you.

Think about your blog's purpose; your goals. Use those basic ideas to set your overall labels. And let them guide you to inspiration, evaluation and clarity. Let them turn visitors into readers. And enjoy the relationships that brings.

ON BLOGGING ~ Just An Aside...

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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.

Typically, this would be the week for a Blogging Tip, rather than another BlogAnon meeting. But it seems I have maxed out my blogging learning capacity for the moment and don't have anything new to share today on that end. I get lazy with learning sometimes, despite the teacher in me. But I never seem to tire of opinions - thus another BlogAnon post for you.

As I was catching up with my Google Reader recently, I was reminded of how awesome blogs can be. They all look so different - reflecting the blogger's personality. Exuding their individuality. Even those technically challenged bloggers find a way to personalize the basic templates. I consider myself one of those folks. Some people change their blog's look often. Some never make a tweak. Others do so when they get bored or have something new to say. How you express yourself on your blog is more than just the words you write within your posts. It is in the layout you select, the visual pattern you display, the header image, the background, the font, the color scheme and the widgets that populate your sidebar.

When I visit someone's blog for the first time, I start at the top of their sidebar and scroll my way all the way to the bottom. I read their About Me blurb, see what kind of blog stats they promote, discover if they hand out blog love via the blog roll, peruse the awards they've been given, check out any links to their popular posts, browse through their Currently Reading shelves, find out what causes they support and always, always always let my eyes skip right over any ads getting in my way of learning about this blogger. Then I go and read the posts on the home page.

Once I've visited a blog and made my way through their sidebar, I rarely pay attention to it again on my return visits. Why is that? I think maybe because I put my blog blinders on and want to focus on the thoughts, the posts, the heart of the blog. Everything else is just filler. Filler that says a lot about the blogger's personality, but it becomes a personality I already know and enjoy - I don't need that refresher anymore.

That's why I try to keep our sidebar clutter to a minimum. I only put up over there to your right the things that I really care most about. The things that I hope each reader at some point will review once to get the gist. I have read that the top right spot - where most folks put the About Me widget/gadget/plugin - is the one spot that the reader's eye is drawn to on a regular basis, whether they go looking there on purpose or not. This would then lead me to believe that the farther down on the sidebar something lives, the less likely anyone will ever see it or interact with it.

I personally feel that anything coinciding with the eye level of the bottom of your lead post would also probably draw some incidental attention. But trying to gauge that consistently is a challenge. Especially for rambling Bumbles like me. Maybe my longer posts give some attention to those items farther down on the sidebar. I think they get a bit lonely and neglected down there.

From my standpoint, filling up your sidebar can be fun and expressive. Just don't count on lots of interaction with it.

What kind of sidebar do you prefer, as a visitor to a blog? Does the sidebar you have match your preference when visiting others? What kinds of things do you expect to see on a sidebar and what things do you wish would be banished from them altogether?

ON BLOGGING ~ We Like You, We Really Like You...

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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.

A couple of months ago, I discussed Guest Posts in one of our BlogAnon posts. I had intended it as a way to share my opinions on them, but also to invite any of our dear readers to volunteer for providing a guest post right here. No one took the bait that would have allowed us to be lazy and not have to come up with a post idea - smart folks, you readers!

What it did lead to however was an invite to me to provide a guest post for one of our favorite folks, Matty @ Matty Thoughts. I took one of Matty's thought provoking posts about defining one's legacy and sought to answer it through my post. You can read it now if you like - it is up over on his blog as we speak.

But this post isn't all about self-promotion - though that is what guest posts are all about. I believe strongly in their power to introduce yourself to a new audience and build new blogging relationships. However, this post is more about Matty.

I know Matty. I met him. In person. I've shared that story before here too. He is a very cool guy. He writes fun poetry in his head while he mows his lawn - that John Deere is one of his favorite escapes! He found blogging due to a softball injury that ripped up his knee and caused him to be homebound for an extended period of time. The blogosphere turned him into an adventurous cook for his just as cool wife, Mary. I got to meet her too. We have bonded over Faulkner and Matty tells me she is quite the gardening expert so I will be picking her brain about how to grow more than weeds. Matty and I have bonded over baseball and blogging. And photography - he has a photo blog too featuring his terrific visions of his part of the world.

So when Matty fell off the face of the blogosphere I was more than bummed. He just went into blogging hibernation for a while. I tapped on his e-mail door and asked him what the heck was going on. I have a habit of doing that with blogging friends that I make. It seems Matty had gotten busy with his real life and just didn't feel all that much like blogging. I had this exact same conversation just this week with another blogging buddy, Cardiogirl. She stopped posting without warning and left me without anything to chuckle about for weeks at a time. So I e-mailed her too to make sure she was doing well and simply avoiding the blogosphere for happy reasons, as was the case.

I wasn't trying to guilt either of them back into blogging for my entertainment purposes, I just wanted to be sure that my friends didn't need something from me to help them through things. Matty has returned to blogging and has found his groove again. He jump started himself by overhauling the look of his blog. This got him back into the world of blogging without actually having to blog. Then he got excited about things again and eventually made his return a short time later. Part of his new blog overhaul was a desire to incorporate the voices of those who come to visit him. Thus the guest post.

We all go through blogging funks. Sometimes it is because we can't think of anything to say. Sometimes we have too much to say and it hurts to get it out. Other times we are ill, or disrupted by technical issues, or would just rather play with our pets, our kids, our friends. But don't ever stop because you don't think anyone out there cares. Whether you realize it or not, the blogosphere introduces you to people who like what you are all about. They may be too shy to look you up when you go away, but they do miss the virtual visit. On behalf of the shy bloggers, keep up the good work. Take a break, recharge, and then come back. Blogging is good for the soul. Not to mention the fact that I have nothing to read during my lunch break without you.

What do you do when blogging kicks your ass? Have you ever gone on blogging hiatus? What brought you back? What do you do when a favorite blogger stops blogging?

ON BLOGGING ~ Best Of Blogging Links...

Today marks the final day of Armchair BEA, the online event for book lovers who could not attend the Book Expo America conference happening this week in NYC. The Book Blogger Convention occurs today as well so the event coordinators have asked that we blog about blogging today. How convenient since Fridays always feature blogging topics here at The Bumbles Blog! I thought that today, since we may have some new visitors stopping by, I would feature a Best of Blogging list highlighting some of our more popular and hopefully helpful posts:

TECHNICAL TASKS

What The Hell Is HTML? - An intro. to the basics of HTML

Hitting The Links - How to create a link in text

Photo Shop - Image compression and resizing tips

Analyze This - Using Google Analytics (Part 1 of 4)

Conquering Your Feed Reader - Managing your dashboard/reader

Get Creative - How to use Creative Commons

When Short Is Truly Sweet - Keyboard shortcuts

BLOGGY THOUGHTS

How To Kick Writers Block To The Curb - Brainstorming technique for writing

My Blogging Bible - Using a blogging journal

Combatting Blogger Procrastination - The function of scheduling

When It's Okay To Be A Tease - The impact of post titles

Group Hug - Group blogging

BITCH SESSIONS

Reader Dumping - Marking "All Read"

A Major Award - Blog awards

Pet Rocks - Personal blogging pet peeves

LOL - Text speak

What's Wrong With A Following? - Promoting follower figures

It's Not You, It's...Well Actually, It's You - Deciding to dump a blog

May I Have Your Attention Please - Are lengthy posts a deterrent

Leave The Hammertoe Out Of It - Too much information

I hope you find something to enjoy from the sampling above. Stop by right here every Friday for a Blog Tips or alternating BlogAnon confessional. And if you have a post about blogging to share, please include a link in your comment!

ON BLOGGING ~ Advance Notice...

Image courtesy keso via Flickr

We have one of the best buddies a blogger could ask for in Sandy @ You've GOTTA Read This! She stops by to visit most every day, entertains and informs us with her personal and book related posts, sends us kind tokens in the mail and is always good for a Bumble Town Chat (P.S. - please see updated note about tonight's chat in the sidebar to the right) or e-mail conversation. But more than anything from a blogging support perspective, she is a loyal Monday Movie Meme participant and one of our original and enthusiastic participants. What does any of this have to do with a blogging tip? Let me explain.

Sandy is taking a little trip next month to visit family overseas and didn't want to miss out on those beloved movie posts. So she kindly came up with topics for us to use while she is away so that she could write her posts for them in advance and schedule them for while she is away. Her prepared topics will make life easy for us for a few weeks, and will give her fun posts of her own choosing to prepare and run while she is gone, keeping her blog from becoming dormant.

Sandy is the advance posting Queen. This wonder woman writes her book reviews well in advance and gets stressed out if she does not have a few weeks worth of posts all ready to go in the hopper. I don't know how she does it to be honest. I have a hard enough time writing a post the night I plan to post it, much less writing chunks of them at a time in advance. I do manage to write a couple here and there in advance for my paid restaurant reviews at the UpTake Restaurants Blog. But even that is a challenge to motivate and coordinate with my schedule.

I think that having a reserve of posts pre-written to draw from would be quite the luxury. It would be wonderful to kick back and not have to write something most every evening either for here, UpTake or Quirky Girls Read. But then again, having something to write every day keeps the creative juices flowing.  Advance posting and scheduling can be a great way to stay organized, freeing up your time to visit other bloggers, work on that blog design, learn something or catch up on your other favorite hobby (such as quality time with my DVR).  It is something worth working towards.

I'm good with plotting ideas for posts in advance. I'm just too lazy or stubborn to actually write clusters of them in advance. I would love to hear from you about your posting techniques and thoughts on advance writing and scheduling.

ON BLOGGING ~ Personally Speaking...

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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.

For a private person, it is a challenge to walk the personal tightrope in the blogosphere. On the one hand, I like to keep things close to the vest. As I've mentioned before, I am not comfortable in sharing certain personal details and images of ourselves, family or friends on our blog. I do not know at any given moment who might read or view what is posted here and I have no control over what they do with the information. It isn't paranoia or a skeptical nature. It is just a comfort zone that I am happy with.

However, posts that get personal are the ones that I enjoy reading and also sharing. Letting readers see the person behind the blog is far more interesting than a generic informative post without personality. So I share stories from our lives. With filtered details. Enough to give you a taste of who we are without actually telling you who we are.

I'm of the mindset that sharing personal experiences can help build relationships, give others comfort in knowing they aren't the only ones to feel a certain way or have gone through the same situation, and of course, garner trust. But I also subscribe to the school of thought that there is such a thing as Too Much Information. Use that filter, people! Not everyone is your BFF.

It is hard to decide what to share and what to keep to yourself. But the beautiful thing about the blogosphere is that unlike in real life, you can do just that. You can set your own boundaries. But you can still add a personal touch. For example, I have a post up on the group book blog, Quirky Girls Read, that is a tour of my bookshelves. There is a photo from things in our home and some insight into how certain books relate to my life. Personal background without giving away too much of my private life.

It is something I struggle with often. What to keep to myself because it is no one's business, what to keep to myself because it may not be all that interesting to the rest of the world, and what to share because it adds value.

How do you get personal while staying private?

ON BLOGGING ~ When Short Is Truly Sweet...

I'm all for shortcuts. Help me to get somewhere or do something more quickly and I am a happy Bumble. All that saved time lets me savor the extra moments doing the things I truly enjoy.

Which leads me to my blogging tip post for today. The following information may be elementary to you - old hat tricks that you know like the back of your speedy typing hand. But I am sure there are folks out there who have no idea. Or some who will appreciate the handy reminder.

What follows are a handful of keyboard shortcuts that I find most useful in my day to day typing - whether at work or in the blogosphere. I have no idea if these work in the world of Mac - probably unlikely. But in the Windows system, they do. Hold these keys down simultaneously and test them out for yourself.

COPY = Control + C
CUT = Control + X
PASTE = Control +V
PHOTO ROTATE CLOCKWISE = Control + Period
PHOTO ROTATE COUNTER CLOCKWISE = Control + Comma
REDO = Control + Y
REFRESH SCREEN = F5 Key
RENAME = F2 Key
SELECT ALL = Control + A
SELECT TEXT = Shift + Arrow Up or Arrow Down or Arrow Left or Arrow Right
START MENU = Control + Escape (or just Windows Logo Key)
TOGGLE BETWEEN OPEN WINDOWS = Control + Alt + Tab, then arrow to the one you want
UNDO = Control + Z

Do you have any favorite shortcut keys?

ON BLOGGING ~ The Giving Tree...

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Welcome to our weekly BlogAnon meeting where we confess a particular blogging sin and turn to you for support, suggestions and that blogging bond so we know we're not all alone. Don't be shy. Read along and let us know if you identify with us this week.

When I started blogging, the only gift I was looking for was the ability to talk to others around the world about books. I then discovered the gift that blogging gave to me by rekindling my love for writing and sparking those long dormant creative juices. It was also something fun for Andy and I to talk about and explore together out in the vast blogosphere. Though there are lots of blogging "sins" that I share here from time to time, today I am reflecting more on the blogging blessings.

Because of this blog, I have added a strong collection of very cool people to my circle of friends. That is the best gift by far. Many conversations have been exchanged in private through e-mail, on Google Chat or in public through comments or in our own Bumble Town Live Chats. I've even had a conversation face to face meeting up with a blogging buddy while passing through their town on vacation. On a different trip I visited another blogger's family member at their shop and talked a little Red Sox. Some day one of you will find your way to the Boston area and we'll be happy to meet you and share our fine city.

The majority of the time, these friendships remain virtual - no live meetings. But that doesn't stop the kindness from coming through. Folks are always passing along helpful solutions to the day's problems, suggestions, tasty recipes, advice and answers to any random question that I can think to throw at them. I am also forever amazed by the thoughtful tokens that have arrived in the mail. Books of course. But also hand crafted gifts, treats, fresh garden bounties, beautiful photos and presents that are best kept as inside secrets.

Sometimes gifts are the introductory step to a new friendship. Organized swaps that encourage bloggers to send gifts to each other are certainly fun and exciting. But getting to know that new blogger in the process is truly the best part of the experience.

The blogosphere can be a frustrating place sometimes. It can be scary too. But the little corner that I frequent happens to be a very generous and honest spot. And for that, I am thankful. It is what keeps me going. Whenever I can do the same for you, just let me know.

What blessings has the blogosphere provided to you?