Tag: blogging

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Events

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blog birthday

they say it’s your birthday

August already? It must be, for the back-to-school flyers are arriving in multiples and the stores seem busy clearing too much summer stock to make way for the dull beiges and murky browns we are all supposed to be eager to throw on any moment. We are only half aware of the change, our concentration sadly focused almost exclusively on the seasonless virtual world of our computer screen, mindful only of the minutes that pass like seconds in the countdown to looming deadlines.

Sometimes one can work too hard, become too wrapped up in projects so that we don’t see the bigger picture clearly anymore and the details fuzz out and become lost in too much tweaking. Across the Bored was definitely suffering from a case of monitor-induced vision impairment yesterday: solution – shut it all down. Step away from the keyboard. Take a breath, indulge in a cup of coffee at a streetside table, eat Tiramisu…

Today is the 2 year anniversary of this blog – we had planned something big and shiny awhile ago but then promptly got distracted by more pressing issues only to be reminded this morning by a lovely little icon in the notifications. In a sense, we celebrated the previous afternoon playing hookie, watching the real world roll by and, as usual, gathering more material to keep on keeping on. It was, like much else for Across the Bored, a turn of – Events – that turned out to be fortuitous indeed.

This fortnight “Show us your events” – big or small, happy or sad, with balloons and streamers, blaring brass bands and thronging crowds or alone on a kayak, blue skies or grey, any kind of day that it might be…

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?

  1.  I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
  2. Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
  3. Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
  4. The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
  5. ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.

 SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post

  1. Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
  3. If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
  4. Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
  5. Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.

 

The Big 5 – “Why” did you start to blog? – Week 2

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110926_cartoon_090_a15925_p465

all depends on the day…

Throughout the last week we have been reading some great entries into this challenge and have to say that many of the reasons that other bloggers got started are ones that we can easily associate with: as a journal, a place to vent, a vehicle for artistic expression, to connect with others and to see what the rest of the blogosphere is up to are just a few of the points offered up. We had been saving Roz Chast’s cartoon for a very long time in the knowledge that one day it would be just right for that very special post and lo and behold, it is. She knows us all and must have been perched on our shoulder the day we first pressed publish for we are All of the Above, though we would like to think that subtlety plays at least a small part in getting our point across.

Did we think we could change the world? Not realistically. Did we anticipate changing ourselves? Never in a million years, but we did. Would we do it all over again? In a heartbeat and we would venture that many of you would also. This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge is curious to know “Why did you start to blog?” – forum or fancy, news or reviews, to find friend or battle foe, seek source of satisfaction or sound out discussion, to expound, extoll, expand, in song, full-colour, poetry or prose …

We would love to know why you decided to put it all out there.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – Why did you start to blog?

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ablution

ablution by keyboard

WordPress.com boasts many millions of users worldwide making it quite the community to splash around in. For every taste, hobby, interest, field of study or reflection, there is something to fit the bill. All one has to do is explore and an incredible number of tag-related blogs pop up in the reader. Across the Bored would love to have that many hours of free time to peruse the stacks as it were but real life prohibits any concerted effort at getting lost in the multiverse. We are lucky to have a wide variety of readers and usually find our way by following links and clicking on gravatars.

Blame it on Google. Our work relies on searches and it seems as though a vast number of results lead back to blogs. Although many consider this form of self-publication citation unworthy, the fact remains that there is a lot of interesting stuff floating around out there with as many attached images and opinions to fill a small community library a few times over. That was our hook, a digital dare from the ether that we had better get with it, to coin a dated phrase, or lose momentum. Our primary motivation for constructing Across the Bored was as virtual repository for all that stuff that would have just been jammed into a drawer, filed away on a CD or buried in a hard drive otherwise. We had no idea it would take on a life of its own. Many of you have probably answered this very simple yet complex question on your ABOUT page or under a nifty image widget in the sidebar but for the Big 5 Challenge this fortnight it seemed worth asking all the same:

“Why did you start to blog?” – forum or fancy, news or reviews, to find friend or battle foe, seek source of satisfaction or sound out discussion, to expound, extoll, expand, in song, full-colour, poetry or prose …

We would love to know why you decided to put it all out there.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?

  1.  I will post some commentary such as the above on one of the five Ws (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN or WHY and sometimes HOW) and then ask you to respond on the same.
  2. Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a reply in the comment box, in a new post with a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
  3. Challenge yourself to dig deep for an answer.
  4. The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
  5. ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.

SO – Create your Big 5 Challenge post

  1. Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “The Big 5 Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
  3. If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Big 5” challenge on your own blog.
  4. Feel free to pick up your badge on The Big 5 Challenge page.
  5. Remember to Follow to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Writing – Week 2

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the-versatile-blogger-award

just pondering… not forgotten!

There aren’t enough hours in the day for Across the Bored to get even half the things we desire accomplished – and don’t even think of asking to cut back on the necessary luxury of a seven-hour beauty rest – for there are always those little ideas that need more thought, the bits and pieces that need fixing or filing, scrubbing or tossing, editing or revising. This stuff of life gets in the way of reading all those unopened novels, penning that prize-winning book and getting in shape – activities that ensure we don’t wind up as curmudgeonly as our DNA would like to have it. Would we had those extra minutes to scribe a few eloquent lines on the marvellous things we see on others’ pages and answer all their comments with more than just a “thanks!” –  so interacting with and especially thanking all those who follow and visit our little space in virtual reality comes in measured, but precious, doses.

We don’t know how some of you do it – we can barely keep our head above the bloggy waters let alone swim back to all the visitor’s corners of the world, as much as we long to. This fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme – Writing – gives us that chance to reach out and today’s post is dedicated to Fill the Empty Spaces. Ideafill has a lovely clean blog filled with little gems of music and art, bits and pieces of pretty things and neat stuff we would gladly trade our clutter for. She has nominated Across the Bored for a Versatile Blogger Award for which we are most delighted!

Here are the basic rules for this award:
1. Display the badge on your blog
2. Write a post and link back to the blogger who nominated you
3. Nominate 15 bloggers (not going to happen, sorry – I’ll spring for 6) and inform them of the nomination via comment in their site
4. State 7 interesting things about yourself

The nominees that inspire us, make us smile and think are:

Abandoned Kansai
Diplomatic Dog
Hello Fig
Life: A Scot in Norway
Nylon Daze
Paris: People, Places and Bling!

7 interesting things about Across the Bored, not necessarily in any sort of order…

I would like to learn how to ride a motorcycle;
Have lost those 40 extra baby pounds gained 18 years ago in the last 9 months;
Can now fit into Miss Z’s cast-off jeans – whoopee!
Dyed my hair red just like in 1976, probably to my mother’s chagrin;
Need to learn how to travel lighter, both metaphorically and actually;
Enjoy speed-editing iphoneography;
With that said, and as much as I hate to admit it, cannot live without my iPhone…

Why not send us something interesting in return? To come full circle, last week Across the Bored put forward – “What form does writing take for you?” – Feather and quill, a typewriter still, texts and tweets, parking tickets in the street, a child’s first scrawl or graffiti on the wall … We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

24/7/365 – One Year Later

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blogiversary

like sugar and spice

The span of a year is 365 unique days – 8760 sometimes long hours – 525,600 quickly ticking minutes and a million thoughts and ideas – in it Across the Bored has presumed and postulated, been challenged, asked to think and launched a particular view out into the megaverse to be caught up readers, friends and visitors near and far. It has been an interesting experiment, one whose results are quite different than those anticipated at the outset – one that has strayed far from the confines of its original inception, outgrown its first hesitant forays to engage happily in a full-blown dialogue between not only blog and viewer but interestingly, form and content.

To take a line from James Brown:
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
So good, so good, I got you

Happy First Blogiversary!

The 300

6 Comments

300 postsSome days we feel three hundred years old but despite that the blog calls out to be nourished, cleaned and maintained, streamlined and downsized when necessary just like so many other things in life.  Like us, it has its own peculiar morphing character, one that sometimes pushes the limits and calls into question what it would say but in the end it has the reader, its followers and casual passers-by to thank for sustaining it to this point and beyond. Stay tuned…

Don’t bother Visiting if…

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no money blogging

join society – get a job
at the least, do charity work

When we hurl something into the blogosphere it is always interesting to see what boomerangs back. One of the pleasures of logging on to our WordPress account is checking out who has been reading our latest posts, seeing the familiar gravatars of those who follow and comment, the reappearance of bloggers catching up after life has set them in a different direction and, best of all, the new reader.  We feel it is only polite to return the effort and go and have a look at the blog behind the icon – sometimes we are pleasantly surprised and other times just downright peeved.  Today was one of those days….

We have gotten used to spam, whether in huge amounts or just a dribble, it always winds up in the same place. It can be humorous for its grammatical errors and syntax on steroids, it can complement, cajole or attempt to lure but most of the time we take it at face-value for what it is – a blatant attempt to get us to buy cheap Louboutins, NFL jerseys or unmentionable appliances and all we have to do is press delete. There is a new form of spam rearing its ugly head into our awareness, one that disguises itself in the form of a blog, has a face and name that looks legitimate enough and “likes” usually only one of our posts.  So what do we do?  In the hopes of finding a like-minded blog filled with new, interesting, insightful and educational content we put aside our cynicism and deep-rooted mistrust and click on the name lurking in our notifications.  What do we find?  The pasty, sun-glass wearing, muscle tanked, baggy shorted kid sitting with a beer and a laptop on a beach in Thailand telling us how we too can join their ranks, give up our day jobs, fulfill our wildest dreams and make thousands of dollars a week blogging. Really? Shades of virtual Jim Jones….

We have nothing against making a buck. The Western world has taken pride in its promotion of every man being able to make something of himself, to make pots of money from silly gadgets or brilliant inventions, to go out and become rich or famous or just get by but there is a caveat – you actually have to work for it, put some effort into achieving your dream. We are so sick of entitled brats from all walks of society thinking they deserve the money, the toys, vacations, cars, houses and consumer-driven trappings without actually doing anything for it.  What makes them think they are so special, so talented, so deserving that they feel they have the right to do nothing and then come and tell us we are the idiots?  Alot of us have productive, creative lives doing something constructive, giving back to society any way we can, paying our taxes and putting money back into the system so that young people will benefit from social security, health care and government programs when they do grow up. As much as we might bitch and complain, that’s life.  We have jobs and if we are able and socially responsible, we create jobs. If we are lucky enough to give others the benefit of our wisdom, we pass it along by teaching, blogging, doing charity work, building wells in Malawi and saving orang-utans before they reach extinction. We do because we can.

So, don’t bother visiting if you are trying to sell us a short-cut to paradise, get rich quick scheme that is too good to be true. Don’t like our post if you just want us to go back and like you so you can make money without being a productive member of society. Don’t tell all your friends who make tons of money by posting “make a quarter for every inspirational quote” about this blog. Don’t expect us to support you in your quest for instant gratification.

We don’t care.

200 and counting…

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200th postIt is snowing… again.  The house is quiet for the moment and we are mulling over the sequence of this last week’s events that have brought us to yet another interesting crossroads in our present adventure.  It is in our nature to lament the fact that we get into ruts with some of our routines – wishing them otherwise, weighing the possibilities, sometimes taking subtle or glaringly extreme measures to create change, all this is the stuff of daily life and yet we still have the opportunity to complain that just when we get comfortable doing things or having events, people, even furniture arranged and behaving in that certain way where it all runs smoothly like the proverbial well-oiled machine all hell breaks loose. Domestic chaos theory at its finest…. whatcha gonna do?

We like to think that we exercise a modicum of control over those initial conditions that make getting up in the morning, being productive in our work and building harmony in our home and social lives satisfyingly worthwhile but introduce random factors like, say, anyone else who is not playing by the same set of rules and you have what Edward Lorenz built an entire career upon and has had theorists scratching their heads over for the last 50 years. It is not a matter of if but when and sometime, somewhere, someone is going to bugger it all up. How dramatically horrific the reaction to this kind of stimulus is, of course, temperament and age-sensitive. Where once the resultant roller coaster ride on the learning curve of experience used to be gut-wrenching, heart palpitating and nausea inducing with explosive duck and cover repercussions, it has quiesced into more of a slow train where the conductor raises an eyebrow, holds out a hand for the fare and offers the pragmatic approach of how do we solve this and get on with it.

Granted, this is all easier said than done but it does remind us of the oft-chanted mantra “Could be worse”  – after all, we are still Masters of our own Blog Universes and all that entails…

zanetti-kongThanks to Across the Bored’s challengers, followers and visitors
for getting us to 200 and beyond.