Tales From My Couch: Rainy Day Musings on Pop Culture and Blogging

Well, it’s raining today – of course.  So my eagerly anticipated departure back out on to the lake has been delayed a bit.  Not that like papyrus I will dissolve and disappear into the ether at the slightest touch of rain, but because the commute via bass boat with an 80 pound rescue pooch and a weeks worth of fresh, clean, dry laundry in the rain is more hassle than it is worth.  So I find myself in the middle of my week off plopped at home, enjoying some herbal tea and catching up on my reading, having decided to head out this evening instead.

Having done not much (aside from some light tidying) the past several hours besides read through the outpouring of others minds in this little place called wordpress, my own brain is tiring from going here, there and everywhere, trying to see things through others viewpoints, finding myself encapsulated in the emotional roller coaster that are others experiences, learning things I heretofore did not know I never knew about, and reflecting others lessons and experiences back unto myself.  So time for a break and a little outpouring of my own random thoughts.

I have How To Tame Your Dragon playing in the background.  I know it is a children’s movie, but it is a pleasant, colourful, imaginative and wholesome one.  I see and hear such atrocities on a regular basis that I simply cannot stand to come home to subject myself to more – even of the fictional variety.  As my career working in court further progresses, so in turn does my appreciation of base humor (a la Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn), and my love of things happy, wholesome and fun (a la Disney and musicals).  Criminal Minds, CSI, Law and Order and even newspapers are a thing of the past for this broke girl, and the more explicit our pop culture becomes, and the more desensitized our population becomes to all of the needless violence, gore, sexual violence and gratuitous sex the more I shun it and seek out even more benign forms of entertainment.  I’m not a total prude (far from it actually), and if a comedy calls for a humorous shot of a rear end or a pair of breasts, then so be it.  If a love scene is necessary to the plot and emotional growth of the characters, then I appreciate it as much as anyone.  If the plotline is intelligent and calls for the barest amount of violence necessary to move the plot forward while the main focus is on the characters and plotline, it is understandable (because who doesn’t love Sherlock?).  But if this shock culture we live in is a phase, can it please be over already?

If I’ve confused you and lost my point, or if you disagree with me on what I’ve written, please then take the time to explain to me what value movies like Saw add to society, why prime time television requires nudity and sex to advance a 30 minute (minus commercials) plot line, and why things we used to affix R and PG 13/14 ratings to 30 years ago are now being marketed to children.  I’m going to shrug it off now, and start thinking on it for a more detailed future post.

I came across my lovely blogger friend Maria‘s site and her latest post about hitting 300 followers!  First off, I want to say that it is not ‘complete lunacy’ that she has 300 and counting followers – she is amazing!  Intelligent, insightful, friendly, caring and interactive, opinionated and a highly skilled writer she is deserving of each and every single follow she gets.  And then I thought for half a brief moment, I wonder what my reader count is at?  I checked.  Quite a few less than hers.  I got a very brief chuckle out of it, as I didn’t have to even ponder why such a difference when we started around the same time.  If you’re looking to tell me why the difference, there is no need.  I can already tell you many things I know that am doing or not doing that can make a difference in reader numbers.

• I do not post on anything resembling a schedule
• I do not read and comment on enough bloggers sites (I try to get around to as many as I can while still prioritizing the ones I have established connections with, but I have real life priorities that preclude me from doing the work ‘required’ here)
• I write long posts.  I love long posts.  I’m wordy and detailed and have way too much to say.  If you don’t like my style, and my content and just general amazingness (wink wink) is not enough for you to want to stick around to read further, then I am not your taste and that is fine with me.  I am not offended if you do not like me.  I am simply not your taste and style.  But there are millions of other blogs out there that likely are, and I encourage you to not hang around, focused on not liking mine and to spend your precious time seeking out the writers that are.
• I have no real theme.  My thoughts and posts are all over the map, as is my posting style.  There is no consistency.  That is because I am not a consistent person.  I think about and am interested in many things, and I just go with what feels right for me in that moment.
• I know nothing about SEO and do not plan on learning more.  I am not a self hosted, monetized blogger.  Site traffic means nothing to me; interactions with readers and other bloggers that appreciate who I am and what I have to say mean the world.  If I was to go the monetization route or focus on the numbers I would have to compromise who I am to be successful at it, and right now I am just enjoying being who and what I am – which is a bit of a scattered mess on a good day!
• I don’t focus on pictures.  I barely know what a GIF is.  And when I do post photos, the credit is 100% all mine!  Again, I’m not monetized or worried about the numbers.  The photos I take mean more to me and I know I will never, ever have to pay for them or put myself at risk for fraud, plagiarism or copyright issues.  I also just prefer to dump the contents of my head out, and photos are usually an afterthought… something that I occasionally add to make a post more palatable, or because I think they might be fun to use.  Worse case scenario, I use them as filler when I have nothing much to say.
• I do not have a regular special feature (ie, MCM Monday, This Month’s Top 10 List, etc.).  I have considered it, because I think it might be fun.  I may get around to it at some point.
• I’m terrible at titling posts.  That plus a dearth of photos makes for some lacklustre curb appeal.  This is something I actually wouldn’t mind working on.
• Speaking of curb appeal, I picked a theme that looked clean enough that it wouldn’t confuse my already cluttered brain.  I have not worked on it or sought to improve it in any way since I clicked the start your account button three(ish) months ago.
• I’ve been doing this for only three months.  Persistence and patience is key.  Well, those are two things I have in spades, so maybe this isn’t something I am doing wrong insomuch as it is early on.
• I don’t have a specific progressing story or goal leaving you in suspense, looking and wanting for follow up to keep you returning.  As far as what you may have to look forward to from me, it could very well be a lengthy dissertation on how most best before dates can be taken with a grain of salt, or it could be a picture of my dog sleeping on my side of the bed again.  While this is not an effective blogging strategy, unpredictability is what you get with me.
• I am more clinical than emotional.  If you comment on my site I love the interaction, and value your time and thoughts.  But my reply back to you will not come across as warm and welcoming and empathic as others would.  The way I am wired prevents me from doing so, even though I want to and am finding with practice that I am getting better at it…. know that when I do, it is genuine.  But I will always seem even just a little cold or uptight.  I try to use humour and shared experiences and utilize my interest in others to balance this out.  It doesn’t always work that well.  And that might work for many, many people, except…
• I am not an expert in anything, have nothing to proffer that has never been seen and done before, and do not have a narrow niche.  I am an expert in opinion (I prefer to think educated opinion, haha), and I have learned through forensic experts that in order for opinion to be considered, one must be first qualified as an expert.  So my self declaration must make it so.
• I do not promote my blog, do not share on social media, have barely told anyone about it (because it is just another thing that I am interested in and do in my spare time, and because I only think to if I know that person would be interested), and do not engage the social media sharing/app widgets.  I know how to advertise myself, I choose not to.

And as you can see, I’m not really moving along to fixing these things I’m ‘doing wrong’.  Not out of disregard for you, my reader, but out of regard for myself.  When enough time passes and when and if I decide it’s time to pick a more narrow focus and to make my blog a more desirable one, then I will start to work on curbing the lesser attractive aspects of my personality and will grudgingly spend my money and more of my time doing so.  Until then, here I am!!

And then I went back to thinking about food.  I wonder if the leftover Chinese take out I just wolfed down will ruin my dinner.  I wonder what I should have for dinner.  Look at me, I’m still in my pyjamas.  I should probably get ready for something.  My tea is cold.

But back to more blogging randomness, I have some burning questions I need answered by you all!

I do admit to having a heck of a time trying to keep caught up on my ‘must reads’.  Some of you are superstars at it.  How do you go about keeping caught up?  Do you actively look up just the blogs you have a vested interested in?  Do you just do the newsfeed scroll and stop when titles or certain bloggie acquaintance’s sites roll around that command your interest, as I do?  Do you read each and every thing that everyone puts out?  Do you do the skim and like on just the front pages (as I hear so many do)?  Do you feel compelled to read a post you’re not interested in just because you have followed that person?

And as far as your own follows go, how do you determine who you follow and do not?  Do you follow absolutely everyone and then read your newsfeed like a magazine, as I do (only stopping for the highlights and must reads)?  Do you try to keep your follow numbers limited so you can read all blogs?  Do you clean up your follows regularly?  Is unfollowing a big faux pas?  Do you notice or care when someone unfollows you?  Those are topics I’ve looked up and read on certain pages, but usually only get that one person’s opinion, mirrored back by those of their followers.

Oh, my head is atwirl today.

P.S. My new fave addiction – aloe vera juice.  So refreshing, tasty and hydrating.  You have all GOT to try it!