Apparently, I'm doing it wrong....

So, I was perusing my e-mails and there was a link in one of them about blogging (You know, a sortve "Blogging 101: For Dummies" type post) and I read it and... I'm doing it all wrong.  And I read something the other day about intentionally posting content that will bring (artificial) traffic to your blog and I thought to myself "Well, crap.. I've been blogging since 2004 and I never would have thought of doing that..." and, well, if I am to believe the articles I am reading, my blog is way too small to ever get any recognition and the fact that I have any readers at all is, by their standards, quite the miracle.

Now, I have to tell you that I am only just starting to view blogging from more a business perspective than something I do because I like to write and having a forum where other people can read what I write appeals to me and if I can happen to enlighten someone or make their day better in some way, it strikes me as a winning proposition.  But I'm getting tired of going to blogger gatherings and having people be absolutely SHOCKED that I wasn't "monetizing" my blog.  So, I figured since everyone said Adsense was wonderful, I'd try that and ended up getting banned pretty much my first month into that and I understand that every blog I ever, ever, EVER have will be included in that ban and... well...there went that idea.

So, I found Adgetize... which, less than 2 weeks after I signed up with them they decided to call it quits and go out of business.  I made three cents with Adgitize and will give them kudos for having paid out (unlike my buddies at Adsense who arbitrarily decided I was breaking some rule but wouldn't tell me which blog was breaking the rule or any specifics really and therefore the $30+ payout I was slated to get, I didn't).  And now I am afraid to click on ads on any other blogs for fear of getting them banned (guilt by association, since I'm one of those nasty rulebreakers!)

On one of my other blogs, I am doing articles for EdenFantasys, which I really enjoy doing (and I need to do that this weekend) but I have to be careful what content I post where because it can keep you from being able to post other types of content. 

All I can tell you is that monetizing your blog seems like a lot of work for a small ROI.  I'm really happy that it works for some people and I'll continue to place ads on my blogs for things that I love/believe in (like DDP Yoga, which is a FABULOUS program which I DO use).  I love EdenFantasys, too but this blog isn't the forum for their ads.  I suppose I could use some of those "less than ethical" methods of getting tons of readers, but I'm not really wanting to skim content from other sites, which is how most of that stuff seems to work.

So, to potential advertisers... I may not be the biggest blog or have the most traffic but I'm ethical and if I like your product/service I'll talk about it.  The flip side is that if I *DON'T* like your product/service, I'm probably going to talk about it, too. But at least it will be HONEST feedback.  And, apparently, in a world of bigger, better, blingy-er blogs, that means I'm doing it wrong. And I'm fine with that.

I am not a fan of vague notices from Management

I managed to not get washed away by the rain we've been having the past few days. All of the sidewalks where I live were flooded and so I spent most of my day with soggy feet which is not at all pleasant.

I'm working on a big project at work and I'm taking a Project Management class tomorrow. Something tells me that I needed to take this class a couple of weeks ago before getting embroiled in the whole big project.

I am not sure what I am going to do this weekend. I think if I was smart I would stay home and work on whipping the apartment into shape. Apparently, my apartment management have decided that they are going to be wishy washy idiots and tell us that "over the coming weeks" the Fire Department will be "inspecting random units".

This, to me, translates to : "We've decided that on any given day, we will come in and wander around your apartment because we feel like it and we're not going to put any sort of time constraint on it so you can't ever bitch if we've been in your apartment without giving you the required 24 hours advance written notice..."

Also, they want to be notified of any pets.  I will inform them I have the same pet count I've ALWAYS had when I drop off the rent on Saturday.  I am half tempted to get out all of my stuffed animals (and I have a HUGE collection. Yes, I know how old I am. Shut up.) and stage them all so they are all staring at the front door.  Or maybe I should get out one of my critter carriers, put my stuffed Rhino in it and put a note on the carrier that says "Danger -- Attack Rhino"...

I am also sorely tempted to inform them that my POSSLQ has an odd work schedule and so they may walk in on him naked since they won't be giving any sort of warning that they're coming and it is hardly fair to tell someone that they cannot enjoy nudity in their own home especially if they are not given a time period in which clothing is advised.  I'd enjoy seeing the look on their faces when I drop that little bomb. *evil grin

Of course, the worst of it is having to keep the apartment "company's coming" clean (as opposed to "lived in" clean) for an undetermined length of time and I'm still working on my big closet project, so things are... less than optimal at the moment and there's not a way for me to miraculously make things "company's coming" clean in the midst of that project.  I fully expect some sort of nastygram from the management company some day when I get home. I'm just going to do the best I can and not worry about it.

Doing Everything But What I Should Be Doing....

I had every intention of doing a blog post to close my day. I was going to post and then go to bed. But that isn't what is going to happen. Because I am going to do my blog post and then take a bath. And after my bath, I am going to hang the clothes I washed up to dry.  I can't hang the clothes up before the bath (or indeed, when I washed them) because the clothes hang in the tub so they don't drip all over the floor which would likely cause me some serious bodily harm when I shuffle into the bathroom at 3AM to get water to make the cat's fountain stop making noise and then there would be water on the floor (from the clothes, not from fetching water for the cat's fountain) and I would slip, fall and possibly crack my head open and very likely die because there's no one here but the cats and I and something tells me that my cats aren't the kind who would call 911 but more the type that would take the opportunity to get on the Internet and order several pounds of premium catnip.

I am taking a bath tonight because 1) it is cold and I can't sleep when I am cold and 2)I like baths way more than showers but I cannot train myself to get up early enough to take a bath in the morning and would probably end up falling asleep in the tub and waking up about noon and you can only do that a couple of times before people start to wonder if maybe they should call whatever professional personnel to stage an intervention. Except that my falling asleep in the tub is because I am tired, not because I'm intoxicated but people always claim "exhaustion" when they've been on a bender so it's not like anyone will buy that I am falling asleep in the tub because I stay up until midnight doing blog posts.  It's a vicious cycle, people.

I discovered today that a file I desperately need has been corrupted so, instead of being able to do the project in the allotted time and have time for things like Quality Control, I will be frantically recreating a huge data entry file which will have to be tested a half dozen times and then will do a huge merge and hope it doesn't blow up.

Also, I think I need to find a way to trim my cat's back claws because she likes to nap on my chest and now my chest is full of cat scratches which probably looks like I've been on that bender I mentioned a couple paragraphs ago AND that I have an overzealous lover. Who needs to trim his nails. Or his fangs.  So, maybe I look like I'm hooking up with a werewolf.  I will let you come up with your own off-colour innuendo there (email me if you can't come up with any on your own... I've got plenty to go around but I'm TRYING to keep this a "family friendly" place).

Well, my bathwater is getting cold and if I have to re-run it, it will cut into my bath-napping time. Goodnight Internetz!

Tuesday Case of The Mondays

I woke up 2 hours late this morning. This was a bad sign. I stepped directly in the pile of cat hork on the floor at the foot of the bed. I was starting to think that MAYBE I should just crawl back into bed and try again tomorrow. Turns out, I should have listened to my gut on that one...

It wasn't the most horrible day ever but I'm not going to lie and tell you things went well. I figured that maybe my Tuesday Wino Rhinos would help cheer me up. And there were elements to the evening that were outstanding. Like the Nutella Cupcake.  But I didn't want to get started on politics tonight and there were politicians at the Wine Bar and I just felt like, I don't know, that I probably should have just stayed in bed today.

Sometimes social things go very well for me. Tonight didn't feel like it "clicked". And the internet was in and out for me so I didn't get the things done (like this blog post) that I had hoped to get done.

I find myself feeling on one hand like it's a really good thing that I have nothing planned for the rest of the week and that I should use the opportunity to get things done and then I am also sortve... bereft at having nothing to do and knowing that I have a series of nights alone. Which is stupid because I have so much work I need to be doing.

Perhaps I am just overtired and still trying to shake off my "out of sorts" feeling that began this morning. This will be good for me. It'll be good practice for things I know are to come.  Because I know that the only constant in life is change, even if it is a reset to (as the Talking Heads so eloquently put it) "Same As It Ever Was".

Hoping the rest of the week will be productive. Being smart and not doing what my first instinct is screaming at me to do because I KNOW it is the wrong thing. Should have had another glass of wine.

Quiet Busy Week

Last week I was very busy doing things outside the home. This week I will be very busy (after tomorrow night, when I'm going out) week in getting things done.   I have a number of projects I need to get around to and will need to get things wrapped up before the end of the month, so it'll be busy. Plus, I am taking a class on Friday so I have to cram 5 days of work into four days this week.

But, the class is on Project Management which will be good from a professional standpoint but I am also hoping to learn some things that will help me in my day-to-day life.

I have a number of things I will be posting about here. Things I have been doing lately, a couple of reviews and a look at something coming up in February.

But tonight, it's 2 and a half hours past bedtime so I am off to bed!

I Don't Know Me Anymore...

So, in the past couple of weeks, I've been to the Dallas Museum of Art....TWICE.  Since when do I go to any sort of museum, much less an art museum?  Ok, yeah, I used to sortve dig the Science Museum Up North but I went every five years or so, so it wasn't a HABIT or anything.

I've had a bunch of fun at the art museum. Even if one of the exhibits I saw made me think some very unpolitically correct (not sexual, though) thoughts about who it would be fun to share that exhibit with.  And last night was Late Night at the museum and there was music and art and a Madonna tribute artist.  Plus, we went to hear Cintra Wilson speak and I have to admit to a bit of a girl-crush on her because she's freakin' hilarious and brilliant and I envy her writing ability PLUS she wears black ALL THE TIME. I have to get ahold of her books (yes... *gasp* I am actually going to read a book instead of doing all of my reading on the Internet, although she DOES have a blog! Squee!)

Sunday (tomorrow? today? I am still a little shaky on what day it is) I am going to the art museum AGAIN and then trekking off to Teavana. Maybe I can find a tea monkey for Lisa...  then maybe she'll have lunch with me. Or dinner. Or drink a bottle of whipped cream vodka and eat bacon and Cheetos... I should check to see if she likes the puffs or the crunchy kind, though...(of Cheetos...)

So, since I have an actual agenda tomorrow, I had better get to bed now so I don't over sleep.  Get yourself some Cintra Wilson books and read!  (If you're not sure you'll like them, I will more than likely post more about the books after I have read them).

What day is it?

I notice that I last posted on Saturday and I think it is now the wee hours of Thursday and I have no idea where the week has gone. I mean, I've not been in bed sleeping since then, but the last few days have been a blur of waking up, being cold all day long, working and then off doing all the things that people who have social lives do and wondering how the heck I got a social life and then wondering if I am going to spend the whole weekend asleep because I have been getting about three hours of sleep a night because while being social is exhausting for me, it also winds me up and then I need to decompress (thank you to SJ for a reminder of that excellent term) and I am sitting here right now freezing BUT I don't want to turn on the heat too much right before bed because it's a waste of heat and heat doesn't grow on trees and if it did, I wonder if the tea-picking monkeys could also pick heat or if the kevlar gloves that would require would too greatly diminish their manual dexterity.  And THAT, my friends, is the sort of thing that my brain ponders when I am sleepy.

But, you will notice that I am not immediately logging off and going to bed. This is partially because I am pondering the pros and cons of stopping off for a nice, hot bath on the way to bed and may be because I found a couple of chocolate covered pretzels and we all know how chocolate makes sleeping so much easier (just shush about the caffeine in chocolate, this is no time for science or nutrition facts).

I have two more nights out this week. Tonight (if we are going to count right now as Thursday), I go do my volunteer work for the Cat Rescue and Friday I am going to the art museum (yes, again).

The plan for the weekend is to work on the Closet Project unless I get a better offer. Which pretty much would be any opportunity to leave the house.

Finally (and I apologize that this has been a little weird and disjointed. I blame sleep deprivation). I have found my dream purse..I want this purse but know it'll never happen because I could never justify spending that much on a purse (unless I won the lottery or something).  I may have lustful dreams about that purse. I promise I won't blog about them (I can't promise there won't be a steamy story over on Literotica, though..)