Snickerdoodles

Wow… this blogging thing is hard stuff to do. Really. I don’t know how people that know nothing about HTML do it. Wait, I know absolutely nothing about HTML, just whatever information I can find online through numerous stressed induced Google sessions. I just spent the better part of my evening looking for a new layout that was XML formatted for the “new” Blogger, but of course I didn’t find any I really liked. I did find a few I liked that were HTML based (is this even the right terminology?)… so I went for it. This might not be much to you, but what you see here is the result of a few hours of hard clicking, copying, pasting, and Googling. So yeah, I am kinda proud of myself. It’s like a baby taking its first steps, sure EVERYONE else can walk, but it’s a big thing for the kid. This was a big deal. Don’t ruin it, let me feel smart and awesome and “geeky”.

I’ve done so much reading about “successful blogs” lately, my head is going to explode. I keep reading stuff like ” don’t use the default layouts”, “submit your blog”, “write an enticing ‘About Me’ section, “be different”, “write quality content”, etc. etc. I don’t know… am I writing for me or for other people? I suppose a little bit of both. Like anyone else, I wouldn’t keep a blog if I didn’t think what I had to say was important, or that somewhere out there in cyberspace someone else might be entertained by it. So if you’re reading this, I hope you’re entertained.

Maybe it’s the headache I have right now and the way my eyes are throbbing from looking at the screen for so long, but I think for the time being I’ll just update this blog regularly with whatever I fancy and see what happens (that was the plan in the first place, of course). I’ll submit to a few more sites and hunt down some more blogs I can read regularly. But, I think that’s it for me. This is not something I expect to make money off of, I mean that would be more than awesome, but I always feel better aiming low in situations like these so I’m not terribly disappointed when it doesn’t work out.

But anywho, what I really wanted was to find a few blogs I liked (and I have) and make some connections with people. I like people, and it’s nice to hear about someones everyday life. I find that when people have a good writing voice, they could talk about paint drying and I’ll read it. So bravo to them!

I was wondering, if you’re new to a blog and you like it, do you go back and read the archives? What if they have like 3 years of stuff? Do you read it or kind of jump in wherever you enter? I plan on reading the archives of a few people because I think that would allow me to know them better. It feels strange just dropping into someones life and just talking like you’ve known them forever, I tend to do that because anything else seems to “formal” and “stiff”. Weird. I’ve read a few blogs that were started this year like mine and I read through their archives pretty quickly… I felt pretty good about that.

Well anyway, I think I’m going to stick with this layout for a bit. I like it and plus it’s too much of a pain in the ass to hunt for something I’d like as much AND deal with the HTML coding again. In the coming posts I’ll list some sites and blogs I thought were really helpful. I’d do it now, but I’m super tired and my eyes are going to explode any second. I intend to give credit where credit is due.

If you’re like me and feel kinda awkward at first about posting a comment, there is no need to feel that way here. I welcome comments, thoughts, questions, jokes, etc.

OK, I am ending this post for real.

*****

THING OF THE DAY:

In case you’ve never seen this before:

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5 Responses for "Snickerdoodles"

  1. Angry January 23rd, 2008 at 12:22 am

    Hi Jillian or is Jill okay… you’ve commented under both on my site.

    I came here after your first comment and had a quick read of your more recent posts. That usually helps me decide whether I should keep returning or not. It sometimes takes a while to get to know a new blogger accquaintance, so I tend to just go with the flow for a while and see how things pan out.

    I like what I have read here and I will be a regular visitor. I hope, after you have looked through my recent junk that you will continue to visit and comment on my site. I have added you to my reader to ensure that I don’t miss any of your posts.

    Looking forward to some interesting reading.

    Cheers.

  2. Carl Galloway January 23rd, 2008 at 1:23 am

    Well you seem to have done a great job of soting out our HTML, well done, go bask in the glory!

    If you ever need help with this sort of stuff, and you can’t find what you’re looking for, let me know. I have produced some Blogger XML templates whichI think you’ve already seen at http://www.carlgalloway.com

    Carl

  3. J.H. January 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 am

    - Angry, thanks a bunch! :-) And Jill or Jillian is fine, I answer to both.

    - Carl, thanks so much for the offer of help, I’m sure I’ll need it in the near future.

  4. Cyberpunk January 26th, 2008 at 12:35 am

    I’ve been blogging for years but I still feel like a newbie hehe I guess learning new stuffs about this whole blogging business is a continuous process.

    As for reading whole archives, I don’t usually do that since that can eat up a lot of time. But if the blog is really interesting and the number of posts isn’t overwhelming, then sure it sounds fun.

  5. J.H. January 26th, 2008 at 10:34 am

    cyberpunk: Thanks for the feedback. That’s always been a question of mine. There are a few blogs where it’s worth reading the old stuff. I said I was going to make a huge pot of coffee one day and jump right into someone’s life.

    But you’re right that CAN take up a lot of time.

    I’m new to the whole blogging thing and the amount of information out there can, at times, be really overwhelming.

    Thanks!


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