Blog-i-versary

Celebrating one year of blogging!

I thought I would reflect on some of things I've learned and observations I've made.   See if you identify with one or more of them.  In a way it seems like a long time ago, but in a way I look at the early posts and it seems like "just yesterday."  What I learned in Year One.

My competitive spirit lives even while blogging:

I completely removed my blog ranking gadget and moved my "guests on line" to way down at the bottom, so I wouldn't be disappointed if I'm not, say, No. 3 or 5 or 89, or I only have one guest-me.

I will never be or have:

The most followers, the most comments, be the most creative, or funny or sweet...

I adore getting my hands into html programming.

What a link party is and how to link to it.  (I had to ask another blogger if I had to do the linking separately for each party-ha, ha, so don't feel bad if these tripped you up!)

I can make on-line friends--yippee!--a favorite.

It's important to take photos without the flash.  In one of my first posts, I thought this was the best photo ever.  With flash.

Without flash.

Now, I'd prefer this one.  Plus, I love using the many Picasa options.

I will always have to take lots and lots of photos to get a few I like.  And, I'll never have a steady hand.

I will always have some miscellaneous typo in my post no matter how many times I proofread it.

Bugaboos:
Dear blogging friends, please put your names on the front page of your blog so they are easy to find.  A signature at the end of your posts is perfect or the message that comes up when you hit "comment," or at least in your "About Me" on the main page.  It drives me crazy seeing your pretty faces and saying to myself - what was her name, again??? when I want to leave a comment.

There's a pretty big consensus on this one:  I hate word verifications!  Let's say you do three posts per week and get ten comments per post.  Okay, that's thirty comments, times 50 weeks a year, we're up to fifteen hundred comments a year.  (This year I got two or three spam comments.)  So, you are making 1,498 people use word verification that don't need to.  Capeesh?

Go to Settings, Comments and make these changes.

Oh, you can see I disabled moderation, too.  There is nothing more aggravating than leaving a comment, using word verification then seeing your comment not appear, but go to moderation.

The solution?  Use Comment Notification Email - then you will see every comment in the email mail box you choose.  Phew.  'Nuff said.  (After this little rant someone will have a perfectly good reason to use one or both of these.  This post is not written for you then, okay?)  Oh, that sounds snippy, sorry.

News!  News!  I've been whining for almost a year, now I finally have a smart phone so I can use Twitter!  (You should be able to click on the "t" below to go to my page.)  I don't know what I'll have to say, but I'll have fun trying to say it.  Sharyl at The Little Brown House also initiated her Twitter account at the same time I did.  You might want to connect with her, too.

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Other stuff:  I have a busy week this week.  I'm going to be out of town for one night and two days.  The FL Worship Choir will be singing in Jacksonville.  We are recording again, too. 

I wanted to have my lamp reveal done by Friday, but that won't be happening.  I'll have the reveal one day next week.

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So what's the biggest thing you've learned so far while blogging?  Hugs and blessings to you all, my bloggy friends.  You're such a fun crowd to hang with!