Author Archives: george

Pools of Magic

So my plane, or rather the plane I was riding in, was coming down for what I hoped was going to be a routine landing.  I had never flown in a plane this small, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just a tad bit nervous. It was only a 8 seater, and I happened to be the last aboard, so I was sitting up front, next to the pilot. While it was really exciting while we were flying above the island.  Gliding around clouds. Able to look down and see the water as it looks really different from this angle. You can see all the way through. 

Kind of like when you fly on a commerical airline. Like when you are flying over a city, the residential part. And you can look down, and see how everything is really well organized. Especially if you compare the experience you can remember, now, of when you drove to your friends house for the first time and when you looked around. Everything seemed strange and out of place. Were you supposed to turn right at the gas station, or left? Everything seemed so difficult back before they were putting talking GPS maps in all the cars. How were we able to find your way around?

Another thing I think is really cool when you fly on a commerical plane, at least when you remeber to ask for  window seat. It sometimes is frustrating when you forget to ask for what you want, you know? But the interesting thing to me is how many people have swimming pools. When you look down, they are obvious. Which is another wierd thing. If you are still confused, and driving around looking for your friends house (assuming you took the right turn back at the gas station), you can’t tell who has a pool, and who doesn’t. You can’t even tell who has lawn furniture. But from a different perspective, things you wouldn’t have noticed before turn into things that you can’t miss.

It’s like when you meet somebody for the first time.  You can’t help but to look at the outside. Thier clothes, their speech patterns, they way they gesture with their hands.  I had a friend who told me that it was really important to keep an open mind when meeting people. She always said that although it’s really easy to judge by looks, its much more useful, if you want to be resourceful to kind of withhold judgement for a while. Give the person time to get comfortable, you know, like when you are able to express yourself without worrying about what other people think. She said that this was the best way. If you do this, you can really develop good relationships with people.  And that is important, right?

Of course the plane landed safely, and we all got off, and unpacked our bags. I had probably the most enlightening vacations of my life. At least up until now. How about you? What insights did you discover on the most enlightening vacation of your life?

Permalink

Stopping Traffic or Wandering Minds?

“Oops, sorry,” I mumble, apologizing to the woman that I’m pretty sure was out of ear shot by the time I realized I’d bumped into her. People everywhere, walking in groups, in pairs, alone. Heads busily scanning the environment searching for something, anything. Like me. Except I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. But I was supposed to get six of them. Or was it seven? Maybe in there? No, too expensive. Over there? Nope, would never fly. Wait, what’s that? I push through the crowd. Oh, no. That’s not at all I expected.

Like when I was driving down the freeway, jamming along. Radio up high. Light traffic. I’m in the number two lane. Doing about seventy. Saturday afternoon. Warm. Clear. All day to play. Good mood. I see a truck in my peripheral vision coming up slowly on my left. Dog in the back. Probably feeling the same as me about now. Able to just let go, and relax. Everything is in it’s place. Except that’s not a dog in the back of that truck.

Does that ever happen to you? You see something, you’re pretty sure you know that, and you don’t even bother to double check, you just kind of assume it’s there, the way you think it is. But it never really is, is it?Those things that you were pretty sure that you had a handle on, once you allow yourself to see from a different perspective, you begin to imagine different things. And it’s not like when you are reading something, and just following along as your mind is wandering. It’s when you see something, but you don’t really notice it. I imagine that if you recall, now, the times that has happened to you, you might begin to understand what I’m talking about.

Like when I was watching this psychologist give a lecture about the reason that thoughts which come in dreams are different from the normal order. Something with the way the lattice structure of the brain is connected. Certain thoughts are resting on top of other thoughts, and the way the brain organizes it self, sometimes things that are right next to each other, they don’t even communicate well. Like when you pull up to your house, and see your neighbor, and you think to yourself, do I really even know that guy?

So I’m dead even with the truck, and I’m about ready to look over at the previosly assumed canine in the back, complete with it’s assumed tongue wagging out of it’s mouth, and even an imagined name on his hallucinated dog collar. It is a bit of an understatement to say I was shocked when I looked to see that it was a pig. Without a collar. I didn’t think to ask what it’s name was. And it didn’t seem to be at all concerned with mine.

And my eyes must have really been getting tired, because that day in the mall what I thought were some kind of new age toys, were really decorations laying around the christmas trees waiting their turn to get put up. I guess my blood sugar was lower that I had planned for it to be. But I did turn into a Sharper Image, and some shop based on the Discovery Channel, and was able to take care of everything there. And when I left, it seemed that all those people were still wandering around looking for what I assumed they would find eventually.

When this happens to you, how long does it take to realize that something really strange is going on?

Permalink

Grazing Cows or Gazing Anxiety

I was getting more and more worried. Stress was increasing with every 18 wheeler that blew past my 4 cylinder rice burner, going a bit more slowly than I should have been. HONK! Sorry, I mumble under my breath. I should see the turnoff by now, where is it? I check my watch. Still ten minutes. Look around. No turnoff. What if I missed it? I don’t know where the next one is. I’m in the middle of about a million rolling hills populated by grazing cows. They sure don’t seem stressed. Don’t they know what they’re in for? I try to peek up ahead above the speeding traffic. Is that a turn off up there? Could that be me?

Not completely unlike when I was sitting across from Cheryl. Nervous. Shaky. Eyes briefly making contact then quickly escaping into the many available distractions around us.

“So, uh, what do you like to do?”

“Um, play tennis, and uh,” deep breath, “uh, you, know, stuff.”

“Wow. That sounds cool.”

I don’t remember leaving my brain at home. I was able to talk to her ok over the phone. Can’t the waiter come any quicker? Maybe I can spend an hour pretending to thoughtfully think of something interesting, while I’m looking at the menu, or maybe he will spill something on me so I can think of a reason to bail out. It’s not like this is my first time. Why is asking one person a simple question seem so much more difficult than asking somebody else the exact same thing? It works the same way, right? Brain makes thought, thought goes to vocal cords, mouth and lips and tongue move, sound comes out. It’s not like I’m going to do something different this time, am I?

My friend never has this problem. Of course he is a firefighter, and everybody knows that firefighters attract girls like Bill Gates can attract money. He was telling me the other day about this training exercise, where they have this old building set up, and they practice going in and putting out the fire. And I asked him, “why don’t you practice on different buildings?” He told me that most buildings basically have the same structure. They might look different on the outside, but on the inside they are similar enough. And when you train frequently, you start to to realize that what something looks like on the outside doesn’t really matter. All you really need to do is be able to notice the structure. And sometimes I ask  him why he doesn’t always have girls surrounding him. He told me he was tired of having the same conversations over and over and over.  He says that he learned that when you stay with something long enough, you really start to notice the small things that make you realize that this person stands out from the rest.

So anyways, after we ordered, it got a bit easier to talk, because she asked me if I was as nervous as she was. When I gladly said yes, that kind of broke the ice a little bit. I guess we both agreed on some level that it’s ok to embrace being nervous. We actually ended up not having that much in common, but it was an enjoyable conversation anyhow. And after I arrived at my destination on time, (actually five minutes early, because I hit all the green lights after I realized the exit was indeed mine) I was able to have another enjoyable chit chat with the suprisingly cute girl that was working there.

Permalink

The Blackrock Pass of Logic

“This one!”

“What’s it about?”

“Some guy that does some crazy stuff.”

“Oh, wait dude, look, that one is here!”

 

There were three of us. At the new multiplex. Thirty screens. 6 new releases, and two blockbusters (after only one weekend) all starting within 40 minutes of each other.  If we had another two hours, maybe we could come to a decision. Too many choices. We hadn’t even gotten in line yet. I had a pretty good idea, what I’d though we’d all enjoy, but…

Kind of like when me and two of my other buddies were backpacking. We had a four day trip planned, and we were on our second day in. We had three possible routes to take, all big loops, depending on the weather and the fishing. The only problem was, we’d only agreed that those two things would determine our choices. We didn’t take the time to consider how they would affect our choices.

“If we go left, we can fish some more.”

“Dude, I only caught three small ones, I’m done fishing.”

“Yea, but look at the map, these lakes are bigger, there’s bound to be bigger fish here.”

“Yea, but if we go this way, we can go over Blackrock pass. It says it’s the highest in the area. Think of the views, man!”

I didn’t really care either way. I only know that I didn’t beg and plead for two extra days off over the holiday weekend so I could listen to these two fools argue.

“Just make up your minds for pete’s sake!” I exhorted.

They reminded me of a buddy I used to have in law school.  He told me that once he was in a lecture, given by this professor that was famous for never losing an argument with his students. I mean never.  And this guy was going on and on, and my friend was certain that he’d made a logical mistake in his arguement. Not a big one mind you, but a small and noticeable one that might have a big impact the outcome of his arguement. Kind of like how Amelia Earhart is widely thought to have gotten lost by a mere fraction of a degree mistake, which added up.  Amazing what happens when you can make a small change and then just stand back and watch it grow. But the funny thing is, my friend, who is normally kind of shy, and doesn’t speak out much in class, somehow was able to tap into some magical source of confidence, like when you really know exactly what it is that you want, and you know exactly how you are going to get it. How many times have you been able to experience that knowing?  So anyways, my friend waited until just the right moment when he was able to exploit the advantage, and needless to say, the class was shocked. The professor was dumbstruck. He stood there for what my friend said was almost 5 minutes, which is a long time for a law professor to stand there and not say anything. A mime, yea, but not a law professor. Then someting funny happened. When my friend spoke, up, he didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. He was able to just say it, and allow for whatever result. After the five minutes (which in reality was probably more like thirty seconds), the professor started to clap. And then so did the rest of the class. The professor said it was a pleasure and a wonderful surprise to be so skillfully out argued by an undergraduate. It does feel really good to out argue somebody, when you really know your stuff, doesn’t it?

So I made up my mind, and took the trail to the left. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t give any reason. I just made my choice. If they followed me, great. If they didn’t, well, I drove so I had the car keys.  Funny thing was, we took the path to the pass, which did have some fantastically spectacular views, AND on the other wise were some great lakes, which had some pretty decent sized trout.

And as far as which movie we picked, we decided to decide over a couple of drinks, and we met some people, and, well, that’s another story.

Permalink

The Girl and the Physics Experiment

So I was at the beach last week with a friend of mine.  It was a beach with a strange wave phenomenom. The waves come in at an angle, and then they bounce off the jetty, and then remerge with themselves. Its kind of like an interference pattern in physics.  The cool part is that the beach comes up really fast under the water, and when the waves rejoin themselves, they double in size, and at the same time, they come up on a beach that gets really shallow, really quickly, so the waves are able to transform their energy to produce this instantly huge and rideable wave.  Most people there don’t surf with boards, rather, they body surf. Because the waves come up and crash onto sand so quickly, it’s too hard to bail out if you have too much junk tied around your ankle. And we were watching this one guy, bobbing around in the water, and it didn’t really look like he knew what he was doing. Suddenly a wave pulled him up, and it looked like he was going to be pitched onto the sand. I looked around to see if there were any ambulances on hand, as people have been known to break their necks here.

Then my friend starts telling about this guy that he knows. It seems he really likes this girl, but he just can’t get up the nerve to go and talk to her.  He said that whenever he sees her, he can think of good things that he wants to say, but when he gets close, he starts to imagine all the bad things that might happen, and those overpower the good things. In his mind, at least. So I say, “Well, next time you see this guy, why don’t you..” and then my friend interrupts me, and says that he hasn’t seen this guy in like two months. And I say “Oh, so he’s one of THOSE kinds of friends.” And my friend nods and says “Yea. Low maintenance.”

Like the kind of person that you can go for three or four years with out seeing this person, and then next time you happen to bump into them, you are able to instantly remember good times, like you just got off the phone, chatting and talking about remembering good experiences. And then when you see them, you can just pick up where you left off, and everything is cool. And my friend said, “yea, just like that.”  So I asked him if he knew or had met the girl, and he said he did, and I said “so is she cool?” And he said “Yea, she’s totally cool.” “So it’s all in his head?” “Yea, it’s all in his head.” And I suggested that maybe he should just relax. Because I’m sure you know that good things happen when you stay out of your own way.

So anyways, the guy takes off on the wave, and it instantly becomes clear that not only does the guy know what he’s doing, because he expertly barrel rolled himself out just at the right moment, but it turned out he was the guy we’d been talking about. And right after a great ride, he came up to his spot on the beach where his girlfriend, apparantly, was waiting. “Is that her?” “Wow, yea it is,” he said with a chuckle. He waved, she waved, then I waved. Then we went and got some tacos, which is another story.

Permalink

Once Upon a Time There Wasn’t a Chinese Donut

I dart around the corner, sure I’d get there first this time. Dropped my bag in the place where we drop our bags. Run down steps, almost losing my balance. Turn left again, slipping on the slick surface. Making sure I don’t crash, not because I don’t want to get hurt. Because I’m in the library. And if I crash, It’ll make a lot of noise, and I’ll get in a lot of trouble. I’m a kid, and the last thing I want to do is get in trouble. I see the seats. Still open. Surely I’ll get there before Tommy.  Tommy alwasy beats me. He’s the teacher’s pet. Well, not the teacher, the lady that reads us stories. He always manages to sit right in front of her. He can see the pictures the best when she turns the book around to show us. Stupid Tommy. I’m almost there. Four rows back. Two rows. Almost there. NO! Not again! That rat!

Like when I was at the donut shop the other day. I always buy the same donut from the cute Cambodian girl that works behind counter. Chocolate with chocolate frosting with pink and white sprinkles.  Cute AND delicious.  Not today, as soon as I walk in, I see another customer. He’s taking MY donut! Does he have any idea? There aren’t any left. What to do? I can’t just stand here. Maybe I’ll go talk to her. Strike up a conversation. Ask her something. Maybe about Cambodia. Then she’d wonder why I’m here. I need to buy someting. I hate this. When you don’t know what to do. Confused. Bewildered. Perplexed.

The same thing happened at the chinese restaurant last week. I drive to the shop, the whole way eating Kung Pau Chicken in my imagination. You know how you can really imagine something, right? Someting you really want. Like you can just see it in your mind?  I get there. I walk in. No Kung Pau Chicken. Only a few left over pieces of moo shoo pork that looks like it was cooked last week. In a microwave.

Why does this alwasy happen to me? Why do I alwasy get the leftovers? It seems like the more I focus on something, the more it moves out of my reach. Maybe I’m focusing too hard. Like when you really want something bad, and you can’t see all the good stuff around it. Like when you try too hard to do one thing, you neglect to do the important things.

As I contemplate this, I see the cook walk in from the back. He has a freshly made pot of Kung Pau Chicken! Lord Have Mercy!

“I’ll take the three dish combo please…uh, Kung Pau Chiken, and , uh, Kung Pau Chicken, and uh, um, yea, Kung Pau Chicken.”  All it took was a little patience.

And not only that, while I was thinking of something to say to that cute Cambodian girl, she recommended their apple fritter. “Are these new?” I ask. “No,” she said giggling. “There always here.” I try it. I like it. In fact, I’ve gotten it ever since. Who would have thought? And while Tommy was gloating because he got to be story readers pet and look at all the pictures up close, I got to sit next to the new girl. Debbie.

Funny how things work out.

Permalink

Guitar Playing Scottish Sharks

We had just arrived at the dive site. Or the snorkeling site in my case. I wasn’t licensed or trained or certified or qualified or whatever-ified enough to strap on one of those big metal cans of air AND a weight belt to make sure you sink enough so you can go down and look at the fish. Nope, I was strictly an ameteur fish looker atter. Except we really weren’t going to look at fish. Well, if we did see any fish, which were likely as we were at the second largest reef in the world, they would be secondary.  Yep, we were big game hunters, er, lookers. We were going to swim with sharks. When we heard about this while on dry land it sounded safe enough. “Sure, everybody does it!” He said. “Yes, of course, they’re completely safe!” He said.  Funny how that seemed to be less relavent as we were suiting up to dive in. You could see the sharks just below the surface, swimming around, big dark shapes of death moving constantly. Slowly. Waiting. “Are you sure it’s safe?” I asked, suddenly wishing I had decided to attend the Aztec Ruins excursion. “Yea, just jump in!” He said. I wasn’t too sure. Sharks were bad right? They ate people, right? Jaws was a shark, right? And why was our boat captain wearing such a funny hat? It sure didn’t look like a boat captain hat, although I’m not really sure what boat captain hats are supposed to look like. It just didn’t fit the image I’d had in mind.

Kind of like when I first arrived in Scotland. It was a friday night, I had no clue where to go, what to do. And everybody was wearing these funny hats. Well not everybody, some people had on hats that looked kind of normal.  But at the time I wasn’t interested in hats. I apparantly hadn’t remembered to plan well, becaue I wasn’t supposed to meet my friends from Texas for another two days. I don’t know why it didn’t dawn on me that I should probably plan ahead and book a hotel or something. I suppose I could find a hotel, but I didn’t really know where anything was. So I wandered around, past some park that was famous for some guy doing something that helped Scotland out in their past. And on the side of the park were a bunch of people singing and drinking and playing a guitar. I guess everybody all over the world knows how to have fun. They seemed to give off a really good vibe when they asked me to join them, but I passed. I was tired, and needed a place to sleep. I’d been traveling for about twenty hours. Then I saw him. And older guy. Much older. The kind of person that you imagine hates young people for some reason.  He kept eyeing me. Maybe he wanted something? Maybe I looked like the guy that got his daughter pregnant and then left her at the alter?  Who knows. He started walking towards me. Staring. Not shifting his eyes. Not even wearing a funny hat. He kept coming closer and closer, but I was tired, I was wearing a heavy backpack, and I just didn’t have the energy to put up a fight.

Similar to times when you don’t know what’s going on, and you just give in, and trust yourself. Like once during an acting class the teacher had us stand up on a table and fall foward into the waiting arms of our clasmates. All we had to do was trust strangers to help and support us as we fell. It was a pretty cool exercise. Another similar one was wear I was at a really wierd seminar, and this guy kept saying stuff like “trust is the secret, trust is the secret,” or something like that. There we had blindfolds on, and people led us around and instructed us to fall backwards into a chair without checking to make sure there was one there before we fell.  That was a fantastic experiene. Kind of when you just let go and for some reason can allow yourself to have faith that everything will be allright.

“Son, you look lost!” the old guy said, in the best Sean Connery Impersonation I’ve EVER heard, suddenly busting out a suprisingly full toothed grin. “Uh, yea,” I responded, relieved that he didn’t follow up his Sean Connery accent with some licensed to kill techniques. “Come with me……” I didn’t catch anything of what he said after that, as it was thick with local dialect and idioms that had I understood, I never would have forgotten. Twenty minutes later he led me to a row of Bed and Breakfasts. Five minutes after that I found myself immediately slipping into a nice peaceful sleep after slipping into some wonderfully soft and inviting sheets.

Just like when I let go of the railing and slipped into the water.  Not really slipped, more like splashed. And funny thing. As I plunked into the water, it seemed to startle the sharks. It seems they were more afraid of me than I was of them. They were only Nurse Sharks, and mostly fed on crabs and other stuff off the bottom. Another cool thing was after was able to realize that my fears were false I was really able to open my mind, and really appreciate the beauty that I otherwise would have missed due to my fears.

How many ways can you imagine being able to notice beauty around you when you release some of your fears?

Permalink

The Puzzling Sudoku Babe

So I was hanging out at my friends house the other day, and it was raining, and their wasn’t much on TV, and my friend busts out this jigsaw puzzle. Like the one you used to do when you were kids. Maybe not. Maybe you still do them.  Like when you try to find an easy way to put the puzzle together, you start to line up the edges, so you can see what fits where, right? How easily can you imagine that, now?  The only problem was, my friend, who has a bunch of old jigsaw puzzles, something about her sister teaching some kids before or something, didn’t have any of the boxes. She just had bags and bags of puzzle pieces. And none of the bags even had any markings on them whatsoever, they were just old crumpled bags when pieces in them. We weren’t even sure if all the pieces were there. So as we continued to put things together, we started arguing over what was what. A castle! No, a gang of horses! No, no, an aquarium with tropical fish. And on an on. We were so pathetic, that we had about twenty different ideas of what it might be when we only had completed the outer edges.

It’s like when I was in third grade. We had to do some kind of math puzzle, and I had always thought I was good at math, even in the fourth grade. Maybe it had something to do with my pyramid project.  Anyways something I was even better at in 3rd grade was I was able to generate good feelings for my teacher, since I pretty much had decided that I was going to to marry her.  But we had this puzzle, and it was like one of those Sudoku puzzles, where you have to put everything in the right order. But unfortunately, the only order I was thinking about was our pizza order for our wedding night.  Boy did my mistake hit me when somebody else was able to get the puzzle right before I did. When the other kid jumped up with the answer, she beamed at him with a look that must’ve made him feel really proud. And I was still contemplating where the 9 should go.

Like when I was hiking with my friend one summer in the mountains. This huge tree had fallen in front of the trail, and when my buddy and I got there, there was this group of hikers that looked pretty inexperienced. They were looking at their map, apparantly trying to find their way around the tree. Now normally, you just climb over the tree, but this was a really really big tree. And they were looking up the hill and trying to find a way to go up and around it. And about every five minutes or so they would stop, and moan and complain about how much time they were losing. I guess they were on a tight schedule. Maybe they had an appointment with a bear who was supposed to steal their food at a certain time, I don’t know. Anyways, while they were looking up the hill, and back to their maps (which were in these really expensive looking waterproof map cases) my buddy and I decided to try something different. We made a decision, the kind of decision that you make when you are not sure how it is going to work out, but you make it anyways, just like the one’s I’m sure you’ve been able to make alot, right? So anyways, we backtracked about a hundred meters, and then traverse lower, going under the tree, and then easily come up on the other side of tree. It’s funny what happens when you focus on solutions instead of stressing over some appointment with some bear that I’m sure will be happy to steal your food even if you were a little bit late. It’s not like bears wear watches or anything.

So we finished the hike safe and sound, got a few pictures (but not of any bears), and later I decided that Sudoku just isn’t for me. I certainly don’t want to keep chasing something that I missed out on a long time ago, right?  It’s not like if I develop super skills on some obscure math problem my second grade teacher will pop back into my life and sweep me off my feet with a pizza. Besides, she’s probably like 80 years old by now.

And the funny thing is, by the time my buddy and I finished the jigsaw puzzle (which actually turned out to be a bunch of swans standing around in some park somewhere, posing for the picture no less), it had stopped raining and we were able to go out and really focus our energies on being able to enjoy the day.

Permalink

The Excitement of Change

So there I was, standing just off stage.  I had done this exact same thing a year ago, but I didn’t remember it being so incredibly pulse quickening. Boom. Boom. Boom. Why was my heart beating so fast? I was so calm just a minute ago, when I was safely behind the curtain, watching all the people scurrying around like caffeine infused mice readying for the performance. But now, just off stage left, waiting for my cue, I peak out into the hall. Lower level. Full. Upper level Ful. Boom. Boom. Boom. What is happening? Why is something I didn’t think was a big deal a minute ago now giving me palpatations? There is my cue, as I step out…

Kind of like I step out for my walk every morning. I usually walk a kind of a loop that looks like a figure eight. On the top part of the figure eight I stop at a convenience store and buy a a small shot of yogurt drink. Good for the digestion, you see. The digestive track is something that you don’t really pay attention to until there is something wrong.  Like a couple time’s I’ve had the unfortunate (and uncomfortable) experience of having to pay attention to my digestive track, if you can see what I’m saying. So I make it a point every morning before I actually step out, to grab enough change from my change bowl, next to my front door, so I’ll be able to have the money to pay the girl at the convenience store for my yogurt drink.

Funny thing is that when I was a kid, I hated yogurt. And when I think back to why I did, I conclude that it was only because adults told me it was good for me, and therefore I should drink it. Becuase of course I’m sure you’ve realized many times before that it is good to do what is good for you, right? Of course I later discovered that sometimes it’s not always a good strategy to reject ideas simply because they don’t belong to you. Naturally the opposite is true. I don’t think you should accept new ideas automatically. You probably already know that it’s good idea is to check them to make sure that they are good for you, first. Good for you like yogurt. And delicious too. Which is why I make it a habit to remember to grab my change before I leave, so I can pay for the yogurt when I get to the convenience store. Because no money, no yogurt. (Or honey, if you’re into that as a morning drink).

Which is why, in retrospect, I guess it was good that my heart started pounding before I walked on stage. Because as soon as I walked out there, and realized why I was there, the nervousness was somehow able to magically change into excitement.  Obviously I enjoyed my small part (the introduction), the kids enjoyed their singing (It was for a kindergarden performance) and everbody was able to relax and be happy. And thankfully my body was smart enough to automatically grab the resources  it needed before I stepped out.

It’s amazing what happens when you trust yourself enough to come up with whatever you need whenever you need to perform well, isn’t it?

Permalink

How to Write a Famous Blog

How to Write a Famous Blog

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Blogs, or web logs, are one of the fastest-growing means of mass communication. Articles about blogs, a form of online public journal, have appeared in the New York Times, Time, and Newsweek. The “blogosphere” has affected elections and corporate policy, and some blogs have thousands of readers a day. Moreover, they are fun to read, and writing them can be enjoyable too.

Steps

  1. Go to a simple blog creation site. A few common sites for blogging are: [Choseit], MuseCrafters.com, vox.com, wordpress.com, Inthewire.com, Blogger.com, livejournal.com, journalhome.com, freeopendiary.com, or the ever popular Myspace.com. You can also try using a Google search for free blog hosting sites, and you’ll easily find one that fits your needs.
  2. Choose one that appears to be “User Friendly” for you. Many bloggers don’t know how to make a good site, and, let’s face it, HTML is hard to learn, so check it out. If it looks a little too hard to create, and navigate the blog site and you’re confused, then don’t use that site. Some recommend Blogger, some recommend InTheWire, etc. Just try to find one that works for you.
  3. Choose what type of blog you want to create. Carve out a niche and pick a catchy title that captures the essence of your blog. Remember that a blog, like your clothes, is an extension of you. For most people your blog site may be the only thing they identify you with and you want to be sure that who you are on the inside is reflected in your blog.
  4. Some claim that posting at least once every day is best; Some also say that three quick posts a day are far more effective than one long post every three days. Others claim that when they update a blog every other day they get more readers than when updating two or three entries in a single day. Whatever you do remember that for most bloggers, it’s all about reading and many of them would prefer content rather than quantity. Once you get started you’ll find that you attract a certain readership, and you may have to adjust how you work your journal to appease and keep the readers you’ve obtained.
  5. Some recommend putting together about a month’s worth of material before you tell anyone about your blog. It is recommended that you just start writing and fame will come in time. Feel free to go back and rewrite entries to make everything just the way you want before or after you “go public.” You can edit any entry at any time with most blog sites. Writing a popular blog doesn’t happen overnight. The essence of the blog stems from journaling which means the blog is FOR YOU. Work it how you feel most appropriate.
  6. When you’re ready, tell close friends about your blog and ask them to tell their friends. Often if you use it as another way to network with those people around you, you’ll get a better response. If you push it too hard don’t be surprised if they ignore your blog because they feel you’re fishing for compliments and attention…remember, blogging is about you, and the more attention you put into yourself, the more people are going to notice.
  7. Look around the Internet for blogs you love. Read and post to them religiously. Leave a note that actually has something to do with their site so that they know you actually took the time for pay attention to the material posted; do not expect anything back in return. Just commenting will cause others to be more likely to visit your and do the same. Often when you make comments to sites a link to your own personal site will already be included with your comment, unless you are posting from one hosting site to the next. If you’re at ITW and you read a blog on Myspace then it would be appropriate to include such a link.
  8. Build a network with other people in the blogosphere – make friends online. This is the best way to get readers and a great way to meet people you would otherwise never know. If you get one thing from blogging, this will be it.

Tips

  • There are different types of blogs, but the majority fall into these three categories: personal/journal, collaborative (more than one author), and topical (based on a particular subject or niche). There are also photoblogs and link compilation blogs. Successful blogs find a niche and stick with it. Is there some aspect of your life you’re burning to share? Are you an expert in some field of knowledge? Are you obsessed with current events? Find your passion and your reason for starting the blog, and go for it. Again the key is: it’s for you; others will not be willing to read if they sense you’re trying too hard to be popular.
  • A personal blog is sometimes the hardest style to do. Even if you’re a brilliant writer and profoundly funny, you have to remember that people who know you “IRL” (in real life) may be accessing your journal. Some bloggers have found many quarrels have started because of information that was published in a personal blog. The key to this is: a) Only use first names if permission is given; if not, use the first initial of the person, and never use last names. b) If the information you share may get someone into trouble or hurt some feelings, then make the entry private (so only you can read it) or don’t post it at all. c) Remember that the blog is about you, not about gossip or what your mother’s uncle’s baby’s momma did to the guy across the bar last week…we don’t care, and I’m sure that person doesn’t want everyone on the world wide web to know either.
  • HTML, the language used to design websites, is your friend. Learning basic HTML is far easier than the foreign language you studied in high school. The Help section of Blogger.com can teach you all the HTML you need to learn in order to manipulate your site, add links in text and anything else you need to make your site exactly the way you want it.
  • Remember you can be anonymous to most of your readers. This is one of the best aspects of blogging. No one has to know who you are! If you prefer, you can even invent a blog personality to use. Nonetheless, always consider that you should be nice and polite so everyone has a handy-dandy time online.
  • A good way to make a popular blog is to make other blogs popular. That is, visit, read, and thoughtfully comment on other people’s blogs. On most blogger sites, a link to your own blog will be automatically included in your comment. So the more blogs you post on, the more people will be driven to visit your blog. Of course, don’t just go on and post one-word spam, because that might keep people away.
  • Linking to other established or authority websites is also a good way to network and make yourself known in your niche, and other bloggers to share the “link love” with people who link to their site.
  • For any new or advanced blogger, it would be wise to pay attention to those English classes and look for ways outside of your blog to expand your writing experience and expertise. Part of blogging is kind of like writing for a newspaper. Remember to keep your blogs well spaced, and if you can title them, be vague but attention-getting with the titles.

Warnings

  • Don’t be rude when blogging because that will make you unpopular or popular with rude people. You don’t want rude bloggers or readers participating in your site.
  • Don’t post your blog link everywhere because it can actually seem rude if you appear extremely desperate to have visitors.
  • Be careful with your identity. It’s so easy for someone to find you through the net or to find those you talk about. Protect the people you know and, unless they give you permission, don’t use their names or other personal information in your blog.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Famous Blog. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.