Showing posts with label blog improvement project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog improvement project. Show all posts

Friday, April 30, 2010

BIP Bingo Wrap Up


You know, I think I got blackout! I hope you all didn't get too sick of some "off the wall" posts and that the deviation was kinda fun for you as it was for me. Here's what I ended up with. Check them out if you missed them along the way.

A Link Post: A Few of My Favorite Links
A Short Post: Dying to Read
A List Post: Book Movies
An Opinion Post: Earth Day
A Poll Post: How Do You Read and Blog?
A How-to Post: How to Make Strawberry Jam
A Long Post: Muse Concert Review
A Review Post: The Thief
A Personal Post: What I Did on my Spring Break
A Resource Post: Attempting to List Genres
An Interview or Guest Post: Emily's Guest Post: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
A Profile (or Case Study) Post: A Reader Profile
A Contrasting Post: The End
A Collation Post: Robin Hood: Fact or Fiction?

Did you have a favorite one? Which type of post do you think should appear more often? How about one I should never try again!!?

And now.... time to catch up on reviews!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A Reader Profile: Survey Results!

I was having a bit of problem coming up with a "profile" post for BIP Bingo. Then I realized that just giving the results of the survey I did last week profiles you, my readers! Hey, that works, right? Well, I'm running with it, because after tomorrow's guest post, I will have managed every single one of the bingo posts, so I couldn't skip this one just because I was struggling a bit.

Thank you to everyone who took the survey! I had 83 responses. How cool is that! So here's what I learned:

Let's talk about our READING habits first:

The overwhelming majority of us (78%) spend 1 to 3 hours reading. 10% spend less than an hour, and 8% have a bit more time with 4 to 6 hours.

Most of us do our reading later in the day with 34% in the evening time and 27% in the night time. I know this was a hard question because when I answered it, I wanted to include both of these answers! I also sneak in a bit of afternoon reading... and lots of morning reading on the weekends. So I know for most of us it really varies.

I loved the results of this next question! It was an almost complete three way tie for how many books we read at a time, but focusing on only one book won out with 37%. Two at time came in at 26% and several at a time with 25%.

Most of you readers buy the books you read (43%) or get them from the library (28%). I know this was a hard question to pick just one, so I think nearly everyone who choose the "other" answer said it's a mixture of those too, which is totally true for me too.

So I wanted to know that when you actually find time to sit down and read, how long do you read for at one sitting. Most of us (57%) will read for at least 1/2 hour at time when reading. 22% said they can read for an hour or two at at time, and 11% for long hours at a time. Also, 11% can read for 15 minute chunks at  a time. Sometimes I do this, but usually I find it's for at least 1/2 hour. Long hours at time rarely happen now and then on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or a read-a-thon! But that's about it!

The next couple of questions dealt with HOW we like to read. I learned I should have included another choice, because most of the "other" responders said "on my side!" (That was about 22% of you.) But most of you (37%) like to sit in a reclining chair, and 22% of you sit straight up.  But when we get to the next question we learn that 42% of you do most of your reading in bed! The rest of you (27%) like the couch, and 24% like the chair.

Now let's learn about BLOGGING habits:

Just like reading half of us, about 53%,  spend 1 to 3 hours blogging, and the other half (43%) less than an hour. No one answered either question for more time than that! Interesting.

As far as when during the day do you blog, we are all over the place. Morning was most popular with 35%, and evening with 25%. Some did say that they blog all day long (must be for short short time periods though!), about 16% of you. I end up doing lots of blogging time in the afternoon, but only 10% of you answered the same.

I liked seeing how all over the place we were also when it came to how long we've been at this blogging thing.  The majority (25%) are "old" and have been at it for over three years. 19% , and 16% have been around for more than a year to 2 years or so. Then we have the newbies, 5% just started and 17% just in the last few months. Yey for newbies! Another 6% are just around their year bloggiversary. Congrats! :) And finally 11% are nearly to the 3 year mark and can join the ranks with us old timers. (Did I make the cut of for being "old" at this about the right time? I think there's really only a handful that's been going WAY longer than that, right? Let me know!)

Blogger is the big winner on blog hosting. No surprise there, right? 60% have Blogger blogs, with 18% using Wordpress, and 14% self hosting.

Do you schedule usually, or post right away? I wanted to know! We were nearly evenly split on this one too! 28% post right away, and 29% usually schedule, but sometimes post right away. 17% schedule for later and 25% usually post right away, but sometimes schedule for later (that's my answer!) Now we know!

55% of you (us) spend more than a few minutes on a post, but less than an hour. 28% spend at least an hour. And of course that varies a lot depending on what we are writing about. Many of you brought that up... it really depends doesn't it. This post for example, is taking me forever!

Okay, Twitter. Does everyone publicize their posts on Twitter? I usually do, but sometimes I think, ah, whatever, this is a dumb one and so who cares..... but what do YOU do? 30% of you do automatically but your posts on Twitter, and 16% do it manually (like me.) 23% of you are like me and only put it out there if you want to promote it, and 8% never do. 22% of you don't have a Twitter account... yet! :)

Pretty much everyone blogs from home with a laptop (48%) or on a desk top (36%). 10% answered that it's a mixture of everything! I do use a lap top sometimes at home, but usually it's at the desk.

Now about our numbers, do you know what they are? 77% said yes and 22% said no. Interesting. And along with that, I wanted to know where we all landed as far as subscriber numbers.  A fourth (25%) have 100 something subscribers. 31% have a hundred or less.  A couple of you have more than 1000. Whoa! Then everyone else, about 26% , have between 200 and 1000. That's quite the range there.

I wondered if subscriber numbers and how long you've been blogging correlated a little, but you know, it doesn't really. That's sort of all over the place too. Interesting.

And because I'm clueless on these things, I had people list what they used to track their numbers. Here's what I got: Google Analytics, Feed Burner, Sitemeter, Statcounters, Reader, Wordpress stats page, Google Friends and followers, etc.

Anyway, so that's about it. What do you think? Did you learn anything? Do you feel like you got a decent profile of the readers and bloggers that are around in this wonderful community of book bloggers?

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Robin Hood: Fact or Fiction?

Or a mixture of both?

As part of my ongoing Robin Hood kick, I thought I'd research him just a little for yet another BIP Bingo post that's taking me out of my box and making me think.

Here's some random quotes I've found:

By 1300 at least 8 people were called Robinhood, and at least 5 of those were fugitives from the law. In 1266 the Sherrif of Nottingham, William de Grey, was in active conflict with outlaws in Sherwood Forest. It seems most likely that a number of different outlaws built upon the reputation of a fugitive in the forest, and over time, the legend grew. BritainExpress.com

Despite Robin's "legend" status, there are many reasons to believe that Robin Hood could well have been a real historical figure. Researchers into the legend have uncovered compelling evidence about this historical period here in Nottingham that points to an underlying reality for our favourite Outlaw. The Robin Hood Legend

It is at Kirklees Priory that the supposed grave of Robin Hood can still be seen to this day.Sadly, much of Kirklees Priory is now ruined but roughly 600 metres from the gatehouse a medieval gravestone was found bearing a partial inscription "here lies Robard Hude..." RobinHood.info


Stephen Knight said in an interview,
"I'm skeptical that there was a real Robin Hood. I think it is a mythic name like Santa Claus. You become Santa Claus when you put a beard on and give presents to children at Christmas. And you become Robin Hood when you're an outlaw, and live in the forest shooting the king's deer. That did happen."
Criminals weren't the only to take the name "Robin Hood". The outlaw legend became a celebrated part of the May Games. Robin was seen as a mythic summer king leading a procession. This tied Robin into other forest legends.   BoldOutlaw.com

Modern literature regarding Robin Hood begain to appear in the 1800's. Many of these authors merely collected the stories from the old ballads; others tried to link the ballads together into a single cohesive story. Still others used the ballads as a starting place for their own original interpretations. Shadows of Sherwood

Also from Shadows of Sherwood: a link to a list of Robin Hood novels and a link of a list of Robin Hood movies

Here's some images of Robin Hood. Who's your favorite?



Here's the trailer for the upcoming movie, to be released May 14th:



And so what do I think about Robin Hood? My conclusion is the same as what I think about King Arthur. There was someone that the ballads and stories were based on. Through the generations, things changed and perhaps several different people's stories were melded into one. But somewhere, sometime, someone existed that made these stories have a beginning. So, yes, I believe! Do you?

Saturday, April 24, 2010

How to Make Homemade Frozen Strawberry Jam


I bring you yet another off the wall topic in my ongoing quest to earn BIP Bingo blackout! This week, you never know what you're gonna get! :)

Today's "bingo square" is to post about how to do something I'm an expert at. So, what am I am expert at? Nothing is the resounding answer! BUT, just the another day I made four batches of strawberry jam in about an hour, and so I thought, hmmm.... maybe that seems "hard" to someone out there and they'd like to know just how easy it really is.

Anyone?

Well, I'll give it a shot. And too bad I hadn't thought of this before I actually made the jam, then I could have had such fascinating pictures to go along with! Oh, well.

What you'll need (to make four batches or one case of strawberries)

- one case of strawberries
- 16 containers (16 oz.) (or of course you can go with smaller containers, and get more of them)
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 4 cups light corn syrup
- 28 cups of sugar
- 4 boxes of MCP pectin
- a four cup measuring cup
- a blender
- four big bowls
- nice heavy stirring spoon

Steps:

1. Rinse (or wash) 16- 16 oz. containers. I use butter/sour cream/cottage cheese type tubs. Perfect!
2. Wash, stem and chop (in the blender) a case of strawberries, 3 3/4 cups at a time. (As I chop them in the blender, I measure out 3 3/4 cups and put that amount in a big bowl.
3. Fill up four big bowls, each with 3 3/4 cups of mashed strawberries. (As I said, this should use about a case, but not quite.)
4. Put a 1/4 cup of lemon juice in each bowl. Stir.
5. Add a box of pectin (I use MCP Pectin... which instructions these are coming from. Other pectin brands will have a slightly different method.) Stir!
6. Let it all sit for about 1/2 hour, but stirring every 5 min. or so to get that pectin all dissolved.
7. Add one cup of light corn syrup to each bowl. Stir.
8. Here's the scary step.... Add 7 cups of sugar to each bowl! That's 28 cups of sugar you'll need on hand! Stir like crazy! Get it all mixed in and dissolved!
9. Pour into your containers. The challenge, not to spill a drop! Each bowl will fill up four containers.
10. Put lids on and let sit out for 24 hours, then freeze!

You're done! There's no cooking at all. So easy and so yummy and so worth it.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

BIP Bingo!


April is the month for the latest Blogging Improvement Project Bingo Game. The idea is to try and do many different types of posts during the month. Here's the list of the suggested types. As I do them, I will add the link to my post of that particular type. 

The 14 post types (copy and pasted from the above link)

  1. A Link Post – share link (or series of links) your readers might find interesting: Favorite Links
  2. A Short Post – less than 200 words: Dying to Read
  3. A List Post – simple as it sounds, a list of some sort: Book Movies
  4. An Opinion Post – take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it: Earth Day
  5. A Poll Post – post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback: How Do You Read and Blog?
  6. A How-To Post – You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it: Strawberry Jam
  7. A Long Post – more than 700 words: Muse Concert
  8. A Review Post – self-explanatory, I think: Review: The Thief
  9. A Personal Post – something that’s going on in your life, related to your normal blog topic or not: What I Did on My Spring Break
  10. A Resource Post – you know a lot about something, share the sites/books/tutorials you go to on that topic. This is similar to a link post, except these links should be related in some way and be useful for other people who want to know about the topic
  11. An Interview or Guest Post – interview someone and post about it on your blog, solicit a guest post from someone else, or write a guest post yourself for another blog
  12. A Profile or Case Study Post — both of these types of posts involve writing about a person or group in your niche; find out what they do, how they got there, or interesting stories then share with your readers (more details from ProBlogger)
  13. A Post Contrasting Two Different Options – compare and contrast two similar items, let people know the pros and cons of each and ultimately decide which is the best. The End
  14. A Collation Post – gather quotes or opinions on a subject and place them together in a post. Then use these opinions to draw conclusions on the topic.
Can you see how this might get those creative juices going? I love it! I have a few ideas for some of them, but if you have any suggestions for me, let me know. I'd especially love to know if anyone would be willing to do a guest post. Anyone?

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Blog Improvement Project Catch-Up

I haven't posted much about it, but this year, I am still doing, at least trying to do, the Blog Improvement Projects. Here's some of the the things I've done so far:


* added the Google Share feature to my side bar. I'm finding it fun to think, as I'm going through my Reader, about what others would find interesting. Hopefully people are noticing some of the fun things I'm sharing!


* added a label cloud! Well, first, I did clean up labels a bit. That was a project, and one I'm not sure I totally finished. But I finally understand the benefit of having labels posted on my sidebar. At first I thought it was kinda silly to share those with everyone, but I've found myself using other bloggers' labels many times to find things, so I'm assuming posting mine will come in handy to someone sometime. 


* Title Improvement. Well, I'm trying. Some titles end up pretty boring still. I don't know. It's amazing how hard thinking of a title is. What do you think?


Those are the main projects so far this year. I love the ideas these guys (Kim and Jackie) come up with. If you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to head over there and see what's up.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

To Add or Not to Add: That is the Question


The current topic over at Kim's Blog Improvement Project is about how to keep our feeds and readers under control. I have no answers. Mine's extremely out of control. The only way to maintain any sort of handle on it is to use folders like crazy.

But, this sparked another question in my mind, one that I've been pondering since BBAW a few weeks ago when many of our readers exploded, and our "add subscription" buttons went spastic.

What I'm wondering is, what makes you decide to add a blog to your reader? Do you feel like adding every new blog you come across? Do you have some sort of mental check list you use before a blog "passes" the test to get added?

I find that I make a snap judgement on the new blogs I come across, which sort of freaks me out. (And I wonder if my own blog would pass my own snap judgement, you know? Or I wonder if I'm leaving out some really cool blogs.) So, for me, a lot of it is a gut feeling that I get as soon as I click onto a blog about whether or not we would have a chance of any sort of connection.

That being said, there are some things I quickly look for, and for the most part, they are things that can be discovered with a pretty quick glance at a blog. They are:

- a good mix between reviews, personal posts, discussion posts, and posts on the blogger's other interests

- a fun approachable voice (someone who isn't intimidating or puts on a "know it all" sort of vibe)

- clean, uncluttered looking, yet not blank and boring either. Colorful, but not busy.

- pictures, but not too many... a good mix between graphics and text

- a font big enough to read and a color that's easy on the eyes

- the possibility to have similar tastes so we lots to discuss ... AND the possibility to have plenty of differences so we can learn from each other

All blogs that I add to my reader, unless I'm totally sure about them, go into a "trial run" folder, where I'll give myself some time to read them, and see if I find myself coming back and back and back for more, before I add them to a more permanent folder. If I start to comment, and they actually comment back... that's a huge plus for getting assigned a permanent folder! It simply lets me know that a blogger wants to interact, and knows I'm there.

So what about you? Do you decide in a split second whether or not to hit that add button? What goes into that decision? Do you feel it's very arbitrary and a decision made way too fast? How many blogs do you allow yourself to add?

Yes, it's something to ponder, isn't it, this reader/feed/blog reading stress we've created for ourselves!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Blog Post Bingo Take Two Wrap Up


So, I didn't do near as well as last time, but it was fun to try! Here's what I did, or didn't post:

A link post: nope, not a specific link post this time

A Short post: I had a couple, but I'm counting the BBAW Post


An Opinion Post: I gave an opinion and asked every one's opinion on Reading: Luxury or Necessity?

A Poll or Question Post – Dang! This one should have been easy. Oh, well. Next time!

A How-to Post: I couldn't think of anything I was an expert on this time!

A Long Post : I didn't feel wordy either, so none of my recent posts were long enough

A Review Post – I'm counting my
American Idol Concert review instead a book review

A Definition post: nope, not this time

A Personal Post: how about my
TV Talk post about The Gilmore Girls

A Resource Post: I had an idea for this one, but never managed to make it happen. Oh, well.

FREE SPACE – Can I count this week's Weekly Geek with all the movie embedding about
Great Movie Adaptations as this post? I hope so.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Reading: Luxury or Necessity?


I overheard a conversation the other day about reading. One person mentioned that they don't have that luxury... to read. I instantly felt defensive. Why does this always make me so crazy?

I think it's because in my head, reading is not a luxury but a necessity. No matter how busy I am, or how crazy a day is, reading will still happen. (Well, usually. I mean, there ARE days where I do collapse dead tired in bed.)

But if it's considered a luxury to others, than I must be extravagant with my time since I read even if things get insane, right?

Wrong.

Well, at least to me. Reading IS a necessity. If a day goes by without reading, I notice it and it feels weird to me.

Really and truly, I have to have it.

So, what do you think? Luxury or necessity? I need your opinion, since this is officially my opinion post for this installment of Blog Post Bingo! :)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Blog Post Bingo Take Two


Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness is having another round of Blog Post Bingo as part of her wonderful Blog Improvement Project. Last time I had a blast with this, and even won the $10 Amazon gift certificate! So, of course, I'm doing it again. Here's the list of posts I will try to fit in during the next couple of weeks, as explained by Kim:



A Link Post – share link (or series of links) your readers might find interesting
A Short Post – less than 200 words
A List Post – simple as it sounds, a list of some sort
An Opinion Post – take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it
A Poll or Question Post – post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback
A How-To Post – You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it
A Long Post – more than 700 words
A Review Post – self-explanatory, I think :)
A Definition Post – show your expertise about a topic related to your blog
NEW: A Personal Post – something that’s going on in your life, related to your normal blog topic or not
NEW: A Resource Post – you know a lot about something, share the sites/books/tutorials you go to on that topic. This is similar to a link post, except these links should be related in some way and be useful for other people who want to know about the topic.
FREE SPACE – a type of post of your choice (that is not the same as one of the previous posts)


Wish me luck! And if you have any suggestions for me for a certain kind of post, please speak up and let me know!

Monday, April 13, 2009

A Comment or Two on Comments


The Blog Improvement Project project this week is to learn about and improve our comment situation. Or in other words, how to make our blogs more comment friendly. Kim links to a couple of great articles, full of specific advice on how to do this.

So here's the thing. I have to admit that I tend to get bouts of comment depression, even comment jealousy! And I try really hard to do much of what these articles suggest! So, what else to do to improve comments? Hmmmm....

Well, I think one of the very biggest things is that one must leave comments to get comments. And I do leave comments, but not very many really, considering how many blogs I actually read. So there's that ongoing goal! Leave more comments! (The article points out that if a post already has a lots of comments, that it scares people off. Therein lies one of my main comment problems. I won't talk if I think it's already been said, and said much better than I could ever say it besides!)

Another thing you may see me doing more to improve comments is asking questions. Sometimes this works, but I've also noticed sometimes I'll ask a question... and get ZERO comments! It's moments like this where you begin to feel like you're talking to yourself out here! But most of the time I forget about the question thing, so I'm going to try harder on that one. And hopefully sometimes you readers will answer!

Mainly, when I get down about comments, I remind myself, that blogging is fun with or without a ton of commenters. Right? Comments just make it even more fun!

My other problem about comment strategy, is that I hate to be obvious about begging for comments. (So much for that in this particular post!) Some of the suggestions in the articles border on that for me. I want to encourage comments, not beg for them.

So here's my comment situation in numbers. I can usually get a couple or three comments, sometimes five or so. Between five and ten is pretty good. Over ten and we're doing really well! Upper teens and into the twenties.... nearly unheard of around here... it's only happened a handful of times. So, to make it feel like things are improving, my specific goal would be to get over ten just a little more often. Cool!

Now, the questions for you:

Do you stress about comments? Or do you feel overwhelmed by comments? Do you do anything specific to encourage them? Do you think this blog is comment-friendly? Or is there something more I can do to encourage them?

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Blog Post Bingo and Tuesday Stuff


Hey look! What'dya know? I won the Blog Post Bingo Game! Now that makes all the posting last week worth it, right? I get to spend $10 at Amazon, and I think I'll be buying this:


Next up for Blog Improvement is to do some basic blogging updates such as the About Me page, the blogroll, contact info, picture, etc. Much of this stuff I've been doing already, but there's always more to work on.

**********************

It's Tuesday! Where am I? Back to Inkworld! Yep, and it's much more exciting this time.







Okay, another one from Inkdeath, page 423:



"The happiness in her voice moved him, and he wondered, not for the first time, how it was that the book that had told him so much about fire-elves and giants said so little about the Adderhead's daughter. To Fenoglio, Violante had been only a minor character, an ugly, unhappy little girl, nothing more."


Be sure to visit tomorrow and leave suggestions for our new word in The Bookword Game!


Friday, February 13, 2009

Blog Post Bingo Wrap-Up


Here's my wrap-up post for the Blog Improvement Blog Post Bingo game. Remember, the idea was to post the following 10 kinds of blogs during these past two weeks. Here's the list complete with my links:

1. A Link Post: Author Blogs

2. A Short Post: My Weekly Geeks Book Cover post... short on words, but long on pictures. Oh, there's another one that's quite short, Introducing the Bookword Game.

3. A List Post: My Book Fair Loot post

4. An Opinion Post: Fiction vs. Non


6. A How-to Post: How to Run a Book Fair


8. A Review Post: Review of The Princess and the Hound

9. A Definition Post: 19th Century Words Defined

10: FREE SPACE: any kind of post, NOT the same as any above: How about A Recipe post?

I must say, this was quite fun! A brain stretch here and there, but that's part of the fun. Thanks for a great idea Kim. I loved it! :)

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Stay safe!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

19th Century Words Defined



So, I have this cool book called What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool. It's very fun for learning about the life and times of all things Victorian/Regency especially where books and authors are concerned. So, I thought it would be fun, (for my Blog Post Bingo definition post of course), to share with you some of the terms in the glossary that jump out at me:


apoplexy: a stroke

barouche: a four wheel fancy carriage with a fold-up hood at the back and with two inside seats facing each other

bespeak: to order something, like a dinner. Also, to ask a favor.

boot: a place in the coach where luggage was put

brougham: the all purpose everyday vehicle

chandler: Originally, a man who dealt in candles. Later, the corner grocer in poor neighborhoods.

crown: a coin worth five shillings

dowager: the name given to a widow of rank

esquire: a title conferring no rights or privileges, but simply an intangible sort of dignity . After awhile, anyone who wanted to seem respectable, used it.

farthing: a coin worth one quarter of a penny

garret: an attic

macintosh: rubberized waterproof clothing. Slow to take on because it smelled bad.

mute: a person hired to come to a funeral and mourn

paddock: a horse pasture

plate: silverware

pomade: perfumed hair ointment made partly from apples

press: a cupboard or closet for storing clothes

rounders: a game like baseball

stile: a set of steps through or over a fence, which a human could use, but not the sheep

sugarplum: a roundish piece of flavored candy made mostly of sugar

turnkey: a jailer

Twelfth Night: January 5, the night before the twelfth day after Christmas, on which day Christmas festivities traditionally ended. January 6 was Epiphany.

waistcoat: a vest

weeds: mourning garments

yeoman: small independent farmer

You know.... I love this stuff!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Fiction vs. Non: An Opinion Post

As part of the Blog Post Bingo quest some of us have been working on these past two weeks, I must write an opinion post. This is a very hard one for me, as I'm not the most opinionated person, at least I don't think I am! So I've been struggling with what to write about. I debated arguing the fact that I think the Grammy's are fixed, but I have nothing to base that on. Besides, it would be nice to try and figure out an opinion I have on something book related.


Then I was reminded about a sort of book argument I had with my husband awhile back. He thinks fiction and specifically fantasy, is a waste of time. He feels that non-fiction is the only type of books a person can read and still learn something. (However, sometimes I think he takes this stand just to get me all riled up. Yep, it works!)


So, then of course I start freaking out about how all reading is learning, even if it's fantasy. And that no matter what we read, we are learning something. And that even if the whole purpose of reading is to escape the real world and live for a time in a fantasy one, that's okay. And I know that non-fiction is really great for learning, and I wish I could fit more of it in, but as for me, I tend to crave the fictional, (sometimes realistic, sometimes non,) stories to immerse myself in and forget about the current world and all its too real problems.


So, there's my opinion, simple as it is. How about you? Do you see the benefit of reading fiction, even fantasy? Or do you think that non-fiction is the only way to learn from a book?

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Blog Improvement: Blog Post Bingo



Time to Improve the Blog some more! The assignment this time is to play Blog Post Bingo with the idea being going for blackout of course. Or, in other words, try to do all ten of these different types of posts in the next two weeks. Sounds fun to me.



A Link Post - share a series of links your readers might find interesting
A Short Post - less than 200 words
A List Post - simple as it sounds, a list of some sort
An Opinion Post - take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it
A Poll or Question Post - post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback
A How-To Post - You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it
A Long Post - more than 700 words
A Review Post - self-explanatory, I think
A Definition Post - show your expertise about a topic related to your blog
FREE SPACE - a type of post of your choice (that is not the same as one of the previous posts)




I've done quite a few of these types already, but we can't count pasts posts, so be looking for more of these to come, and a few kinds that I've never tried. Join us for the fun!

Speaking of blog improvement, remember a few weeks ago when the assignment was to come up with a new regular feature to our blogs? And I was moaning the fact that I couldn't think of something cool enough? Well, shortly thereafter, Raidergirl3 (An Adventure in Reading) approached me with what I think is going to be a really fun idea. It's called The Bookword Game, and she's explained it a bit here, but be sure to check out her blog tomorrow for more details and for the first round of the game. Then get your creative thinking caps on and join us for some fun word creation!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Blog Improvement Project: Weeks 1 and 2


One of the things I wanted to do this year was work in sprucing up the blog a bit. It's getting too boring or something. Anyway, the perfect way to do this is by participating in Kim's (Sophisticated Dorkiness) Blog Improvement Project. What great ideas she's dishing out to us all! A new one every week.

And of course, I'm already a week behind!

So, for the first week (which was last week), Kim suggests we think about the purpose of our blog and come up with specific goals. I did that a little bit in this post, but those were more general goals and reading goals too.

So the purpose of my blog: To have fun sharing what I'm reading with the world! To have an outlet for the enthusiasm I have for reading. And to have fun trying to be creative with it at the same time. My purpose is not to make money, not to become the most popular book blogger on the planet (though I do get jealous of you popular ones!), and not to have it take over other areas of my life.

My goals:

  • keep up with posting often, even on those days when I think there's no one reading so why try.

  • comment more, even when I feel like I have nothing to add to an already rousing discussion.

  • be less shy about advertising and promoting my blog (I love how some of you have business cards for your blog! I want to do that! Maybe....)

  • continue to participate in things, like The Blog Improvement Project, and support other bloggers and their projects

  • clean up the look of my blog (I've been working a little on this already, but it's still in progress.)
And this week, we are given ideas on what to do if we are stuck for ideas. Kim links to some great articles HERE. The point is to then keep some of those ideas handy for when we feel that blog fog setting in. Also, she suggests for us to come up with a regular feature for our blog, something that is unique to us. I love this idea! I want my own feature! :)

(.....several hours later..... )
I guess I'll have to keep pondering on what feature would work for me. So far, nothing too cool is jumping out at me. I guess it'll have to be one of those middle of the night inspirations, or something. Anyway, stay tuned.

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