Monday, September 1, 2014

Sunday Stealing

What kind of blog do you have?
That's a difficult question to answer...or rather it's a lengthy answer.  There is Funny the World, which is hosted by Yahoo and then Airy Persiflage, a mirror blog for people who want to subscribe.  Both are just my daily journal, my life, comments on current events, and whatever is in my mind that day (including Sunday Stealing). Then there is Bitter Hack, which is where I post my theater reviews after they have appeared in the newspaper.  There is also My Compassion Kids, where I print letters I have received from the children I sponsor through Compassion, Int'l.  And I also have Journey Through Dementia, which records the ups and downs of my mother's dementia.  That's mostly excerpts from Funny the World, for family who don't want to read my journal but who want to know what's going on with my mother. I have had others through the years, like one for my 70th year, one when I was writing a haiku a day, a letter blog when I was recording everything I sent and received, and a bunch of others, but those five are the current active ones.

How many posts do you have?
Funny the World has been written almost daily since March of 2000 and this entry will be #5,270

How many blogs do you follow?

It depends.  I have a lot on Feedly that I check almost daily, and some that don't have a feed that I check when I remember to do so.  Probably several dozen that I check on a regular basis, more that I check intermittently. On Sunday, I try to check as many entries there as I can.

How many followers do you have?

Something like 35 on Blogspot and 300-400 on Funny the World, but I almost never check stats.  It could be much lower (or much higher) than that now.  Funny the World tends to go a lot higher when I am blogging a cruise and it went through the roof when I was blogging my dieting and exercise efforts.

How often do you change your theme?

I don't really have a "theme" per se.

How often do you change your icon?
I change the look of Funny the World on the first of every month, meaning there is a new background and a new masthead.  Once I design something on Blogger, I don't change it. 

Do you have any favorite blogs?

Several.  I have been following Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords, Rob Rummel-Hudson's story of his life with his now-13 year old wordless daughter, ever since his wife was pregnant with her. I've been reading Mary's Red Nose for years and we even met once. I love my friend Sian's Life on a Small Island, though I don't seem to be part of her blog roll. Mary's Z's World is very short, but it's nice to keep up with her life. Kari Peterson is a friend here in Davis and writes a great blogCan I Drink the Water? is a wonderful travel blog, but she only writes when she and her husband are traveling, so often there is nothing for long stretches of time, but her photos and descriptions are fabulous. 100+ year old Bill Baker, who lives in California and his friend Wilma, from Canada, are having difficulties finding a good new blogging platform, but when they publish, the blog is always full of fun anectdotes. And Because of Shamin is my now-favorite blog for things pertaining to sponsored children through Compassion, Int'l

Do you ever send anonymous messages to other people?

Never.  Anonymous posters (usually dive-bombers who are there to make trouble) are cowards.  Some anonymous posters are OK.

Do you ever get anon hate?

Rarely, and then only on something I've said in a theater review.

Have you made any friends through your blog?

Oh my word yes.  My friend Steve Schalchlin's Living in the Bonus Round is, historically, the fifth journal ever published on the internet.  It was because of him that I started my own journal and his friendship made me realize how rich internet friendships could be.  I am fortunate that I have made too many friends to count as a result of this blog.  Some have stuck around and remained friends, some have faded away, and some have died (I still miss Jim Lawrence of Jim's Journal, who died last year and who also was a blogging pioneer), but my internet blogging friendships are very valuable to me.

What’s your favorite thing about blogging?

I love the discipline of it.  I started this journal to see if I could produce an 850 word column on a daily basis, like my heroine, Erma Bombeck.  I discovered I'm no Erma, but since I blog daily, unless I can't get internet access, I think have have proven that I can write a daily column, if anybody ever wants to hire me!!  I think my writing has improved over the years, and I really do love borrowing small pieces of others' lives, through their own blogs.

What’s your least favorite thing about blogging?

The nights when I sit down to a blank screen an writers block.  It's always nice when those nights fall on nights when there is a Sunday Stealing to answer!

Day 63:  Laurel posted this to Facebook.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.

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