AliBlog

Here's What I Want

(other than a new digital camera, an mp3 player and a stove. oh, and world peace ... obviously ... but I'm talking about blogging here, ya know.)

I want to be able to create a post from Bloglines that will automatically post to AliBlog. If I find a post that I like while reading a blog's feed in Bloglines, I want to be able to link to that post, pull out a quote or two, add some of my own smashingly brilliant thoughts as context, then hit save within Bloglines & have the whole thing automatically post itself here.

I should be able to do that, right? Do I need to set up a blog in bloglines to make that happen? Or do I need to be using a different tool altogether? Maybe that de.li.cious thingy that's so popular? (Did I put the dots in the right places?) Can anyone answer these questions?

Welcome, Greetings, Hello

I've made creative pleas for comments in the past. But this time it's official. Well, as official as anything can be in the world of blogs I suppose.

They tell me it's National De-Lurking Week. And here it is Thursday already. So now that I've missed more than three whole days of de-lurking goodness, let's make up for it over the next few days. Okay? Go wild. Comment on the old posts, rip into the new ones or just say hi.

Need some incentive? My sitemeter stats tell me that - in the past 12 hours - I've had visitors from:

• Columbus, Ohio
• Lumberport, West Virginia
• Santa Clarita, California
• Mansfield, Ohio
• Warsaw, Warszawa
• San Francisco, Heredia
• West Jordan, Utah
• Terre Haute, Indiana
• Takoma Park, Maryland
• Verona, New York
• Tehran Pars, Tehran
• Downers Grove, Illinois
• Jenison, Michigan
• Bettendorf, Iowa
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Casselberry, Florida
• Dalziel, North Lanarkshire
• Anderson, South Carolina
• Dronten, Flevoland
• Chicago, Illinois
• Melrose Park, Illinois
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Hopedale, Massachussetts
• Massapequa Park, New York
• Weldon, New Brunswick

Which one are you?

Who's Blogging at YOU?

Bear with me here as I try to paint a picture. This is a bit of an inside joke, but I think you'll all see the humor in it by the time I get to the end.

Imagine a young man who's just discovered his ex-girlfriend's blog, filled with intimate details and snide remarks about their relationship.

Imagine dooce as she reads any one of the thousands of blogs that attempt to mimic her unique voice and writing style.

Imagine your boss as he inadvertently comes across your anonymous - but telling - blog filled with complaints and insults about his management style.

Imagine your daughter 15 years from now when she reads your blog archives for the very first time.

Now - imagine Robert DeNiro in the scene we all remember in front of the mirror in Taxi Driver, only instead of DeNiro and the mirror, it's all of these people staring at their computer monitors, yelling:

Are you BLOGGING at me? Are YOU blogging at me? Are you blogging at ME? ARE you blogging at me? Are you blogging AT me?

Then, SMASH, they punch their computer screens!

It's classic. I thought this up hours ago, and I'm still laughing.

AliBlog Milestones

To the right left, I've added a milestone sidebar full of favorite posts. Whose favorites? Mostly mine, since nobody bothered to vote (except Sarah). I picked some important posts, some popular posts based on comments, and a few others that I enjoyed writing. Let me know - at least - if I'm way off here.

There's also a new Michigan photo album, thanks entirely to Mich and Stan, since Jen lost her camera, and the only photos I have are of sunsets and tongues. (The yogurt - it came with tongue tattoos.)

My next self-imposed sidebar assignment? I'm making a list of the frequent commenters here, with a short description for each. If you'd like to be included, start commenting! If you already know you'll be included but are worried about your potential description, send me a two-line bio.

Blogging Pays ... But How Much?

The Zero Boss determines that time spent blogging is more lucrative than any overtime he might have spent working at his day job in an effort to win bonuses or promotions.

Dooce is upping her ad revenue so her husband can explore new career options.

The Economist is giving free subscriptions to influential bloggers.

Me? Um. I was recently offered a free copy of this book in the hopes that I'd give it a positive review on my blog. Too bad I loathe self help books. And I'm not a stay-at-home mom.

But the bigger point here is that it's cool to see some of my favorite bloggers earning rewards/cash/acclaim for doing what they love.

I predict that Dooce in particular will end up creating a lucrative franchise from her a blog. Seriously. If people can make careers out of scrapbooking (and I'm not knocking it; in fact, here's the blog of my favorite professional scrapbooker), surely they can make a career out of blogging.

I'm excited to be watching it happen.

Site Updates

I'm updating my blogroll - finally. The new additions are in the sidebar to the left, and there are many more to come.

I've also added a photo album titled Michigan Summer 2005 that I see some of you have already found. If not, go check it out now.

Finally, the TypePad people have explained how to fix the display of my archive pages, which have been out of whack since the recent TypePad upgrades. So if you're interested in any of the old posts, they're all easy to view again.

How to Judge a Blog by its Cover

Here's a half-baked theory for quickly judging how seriously a blog takes itself. Look for the pictures (or lack thereof). Listed in order from most serious to least serious, you'll find:

• Blogs that - as a rule - contain no images at all.
• Blogs whose only image is the head shot of the author offered at the top of the page.
• Blogs that include photos and images only when they are necessary to support the post.
• Blogs whose images are creatively derived from the artist's brush (either physically or digitally).
• Blogs that post photos masquerading as art.
• Blogs that offer primarily nature photos.
• Blogs that include snapshots of family, friends, dogs, cats and other pets.
• Blogs that not only include pictures within the individual posts but also offer links to multiple photo albums.

If you're tempted to say that all blogs take themselves too seriously, remember that seriousness is the goal for some more than others. Me? I'm still figuring out my goal for this site, which keeps evolving.

Hey - but while it evolves, why not check out the new photos I've posted in the *Robey at 2* album. I'm partial to the Boy and His Hammer snapshot. Seriously.

Blogroll Etiquette

So. What's the proper etiquette for a blog roll? Do you inform the blogee beforehand that you're about to add her to your blog roll? Do you loudly introduce her through a post? Or do you quietly add the link to your list of favorite blogs and move along?

I ask because I'm finally getting around to creating a blog roll. In case you need a definition, a blog roll is merely a list of your favorite blogs. But it's so much more than that. Blog rolls are viral marketing. Blog rolls are cliques. Blog rolls are The Bus.

Like comments and trackbacks, blog rolls are a big part of what turns blogging into a community. I've discovered dozens of fun and interesting blogs through other blog rolls, and I'm hoping to pass them on to you as well through my blog roll. It will appear here soon, to the left of this post.

Since there aren't any rules that I'm aware of, I'm making up my own. I'm just going to start throwing the links up there, but I'll place them into two categories: Blogs That Make Me Laugh and Blogs That Make Me Think. That's not to say I don't occasionally think while reading the funny ones or laugh while reading the thought-provoking ones. And sometimes I just zone out all together. But those are the buckets I'm using as a start.

Now, for those of you who've said you'd like to have a blog of your own, here's your (itsy bitsy teeny weeny) incentive: Create one and I'll add you to my blog roll. It takes ten minutes at Blogger or TypePad. Blogger is free. TypePad has a small fee but offers a few more features. Either way, set one up and send me the URL. (I don't want to point any fingers ... but ... Mich, Stan, Beau, Gabe and Greg if he's reading ... I think you guys have lots to say. Why not say it in a blog?)

Hallucinate Off Of Household Goods

Huh? Somebody actually came across this site searching for that string of words? Would you believe AliBlog pops up as the number one result when searching for such a thing? What can we possibly say to that other than this: Really, officer, it's been like at least eight years since I've even seen anyone hallucinate off of household goods. Honest.

Camera Phone Photos

Okay, who doesn't feel all Bond-like or Inspector Gadgetish about these hip, new camera phones? Uncle Beau has one and took these pics at Grandma Nan's house on Sunday. Now if I were a real techno-geek I'd know how to download the pics straight from the phone to this site. But, alas, I'm not quite that geeky. It's taken me three whole days to get these pictures posted here after all. And you've had to wait all that time. (Note: that big, black pile of fur in the last picture is Buddy the dog, not a bear pelt.)

Let's Talk

At the risk of sounding desperate or demanding, let me explain how this works. A blog is a conversation. As much as I enjoy maintaining this site for my own selfish reasons, I would enjoy it even more if my friends would participate in the conversation.

If, while reading a post, you remember something amusing about the past, leave a comment. If you've had a similar experience, leave a comment. If you have a dissenting opinion, leave a comment. If you have an answer to a direct question that has been posed, leave a comment. If you see a picture that makes you grin or gasp, leave a comment. And so on.

Don't worry about whether you'll sound smart or funny or entertaining. I'd be happy just to hear you say hello. Besides, if I worried about those things, I'd have stopped blogging long ago. In fact, I stumble across bloggers every day who are wittier, funnier, smarter and much more creative than I'll ever be.

So here's the instructions: at the bottom of each post is a link to the comments area. You follow that link, enter your name and e-mail address and type a few words. Then click Post. It's that simple. If my mom can do it, you can too.

And I promise you won't receive any junk e-mail as a result. I never have, and my e-mail address is posted all over this site.

That's it. Lecture over. You may now resume your browsing of the World Wide Web.

Golden Age of the Blog?

While we're still on the subject of the new year (and we still are, aren't we?), I thought I'd share this link to a TIME magazine article that lists 10 things we learned about blogs in 2004.

I think one reason blogs are so popular right now is because the medium's best sites are everything that reality TV sets out to be but isn't: smart, creative, funny, stylish, self-deprecating and - most importantly - REAL. Personally, if I hit two of those descriptors within a post, I'm feeling good. But heck - even those knitting blogs are more entertaining than watching a bunch of skinny chics compete for the title of Next Top Model.

What did you learn about blogs in 2004?

New Photos

I've finally rebuilt the *Robey at 1* photo album, and I've posted more photos to the album of Robey's First Year. In the next couple of weeks, I'm planning to take lots of house & yard pictures to update the St. Louis Home album as well.

Robey's been deleted?!?!

Oh No -- we've accidently deleted the *Robey at 1* photo album. Bear with it as we try to recover the folder and its contents. Or, if we have to, re-download all the photos and re-type all the captions. Can you tell we're still getting the hang of this blogging stuff?!?! Here's a new photo of Robey to tide you over. During our boat ride Thursday, he crawled into the coleman chair, muddy shorts and all, and claimed this spot for himself.