Substitute Blogger

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Don’t know about you, but a lot of the bloggers I visit are suddenly taking breaks from their computers, their writing or just turning off the Internet due to sheer boredom and disdain. Dawn announced her hiatus and shortly after seems to be experiencing technical difficulties with SQL preventing her immediate return. The Goose chimed in the following day, but left us with a “Countdown Clock” to entrance us much like the flashing “12:00AM” on our VCRs. Then Moxie followed suit by announcing she would be posting less frequently and I actually experienced the first ever “re-run” online yesterday. One of the Mad Pony girls has run off to Paris and Sarah has way too many things going on right now.

In the universe that is the blogosphere it appears I have big shoes to fill. By no means do I have the talent, vocabulary, let alone the editorial skills to pickup where these fine folks left off, but I’m willing to give it a shot. Kevin has an idea why he blogs and perhaps I know why I do, but the question is what draws YOU the reader to these various websites? (More importantly who do I have to sleep with to get more reader comments?)

Pardon me while I ponder what to write next…

Let’s start with this report that cell phones ARE NOT the leading cause of car accidents, in fact they are ranked sixth. I’ve ranted on repeatedly for a couple of years now ever since the idea of a cell phone ban in cars was put on the table. Of course, I don’t expect this bit of information to dissuade the folks that want to regulate my ability to drive.

You know what’s worse than having your credit cards stolen and used without your knowledge? Being arrested again & again because somebody stole your identity. As I am still recovering from a credit card theft that happened months ago, this particular article hit very close to home. There have been a rising number of large scale credit thefts including the 30,000 records stolen last November and most recently the 50,000 records that were recently lifted from the University of Texas. I can attest that reestablishing your credit after fraud is difficult, but from what I read fixing errors in a criminal report sounds almost impossible. Now more than ever people need to be aware of how their personal information is used and why privacy rights ARE a big deal.

Let me close this afternoon’s entry with a recent pet peeve. I’m perfectly willing to pay for online content, but not if said content is going to expire. I am slowly restoring entries from the previous version of this website (back when a blog entry was simply an individual HTML page) and I noticed many of the news story links I used are dead now. I haven’t decided whether to go back through those entries and attach updated links, but the point is I shouldn’t have to.

OK, that’s the best I could muster without an elaborate spell check. If that wasn’t quite the reader workout you expected you can go here for a survey asking why bloggers blog. (Link grabbed from the Rabbit Blog)

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4 comments

  • Katie March 14, 2003   Reply →

    Wait! There’s a person you can sleep with to get more people commenting on your blog? Really? Two questions: how cute is he? where does he live? Heh.

    I think one of the best ways to get people to comment is to bring them into the equation to begin with. Personally, I don’t know what to say when someone posts about their depression, their cat’s urinary tract problems, their recent obsession with calling their ex in the middle of the night only to hang up when he answers. I run away from those quicker than Speedy Gonzales. Erm, no thanks, nothing to add, you’ve said it all.

    But, when a post pulls me in, I always comment. Blogs are really journals, right? So you’re bound to rant about yourself, right? Good, me too, and I like it that way. But, somewhere along the line, bring me into it too. Ask generally if you’re weird (Am I the only one who calls my ex and hangs up?) and I’ll answer. If you talk about you favorite film, ask what mine is too. I’ll reply.

    Oh my frigging God. I’ll be honest. I have no idea how to get people to comment. I am an ass for even trying. Heh.

  • Charles March 14, 2003   Reply →

    A.J.–I agree with Katie, but even more so, ya gotta hit the topics that are most relevant at the time…like, for instance, this one:

    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=579&e=3&cid=638&u=/nm/20030314/en_nm/leisure_chicks_dc

    The short version: Dixie Chicks banned for criticizing Bush.

    This is absolute insanity.

    I’m not sure of where I stand on Iraq, but this has turned into something…”unsound” is the word, if I remember Apocalypse Now correctly.

    Unsound.

    (sorry, I know this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but it’s pressing on my mind this evening).

    Disturbed for the future (or, at this rate, the present),

    –Charles

  • Rick Lay March 15, 2003   Reply →

    Hey Charles….. it’s the complete opposite here in Australia, if you are seen in public supporting the war, generally you’ll incite some kind of backlash. There were even some Iraqis who were protesting AGAINST Sadam, and they incited a small riot with the peace protesters. I saw a poll recently that states that 75% of Australians are against the war….. even though the government fully supports Bush. There are posters everwhere for a huge rally the day the war starts…. I bet it will force the nation to a stand-still. A few weeks ago, thousands of high school kids stopped all traffic downtown protesting.

  • Carl March 18, 2003   Reply →

    I was just wanting to comment on Charles comment on Pres. Bush and the Dixie Chicks comment. I am not a gung ho, all for war type of American. I do feel like there is a need for war, sometimes. I can’t stand the Dixie Chicks lead singer. I used to like her until she mad the comment about Toby Keith’s song. Saying it was stupid, yea right, like goodbye Earl done this world a lot og good. Now she is slamming the president. You would think that with as much weight that she is putting on, she would be too busy filling her cake hole to talk. It seem that natalie has got the big head since they’ve gotten popular.
    Also, I’ve been to Katie’s web site (awsome I’m glad to see that some people do still have a since of humor)

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