Timing is Everything

Today is an auspicious day here at TAOBC.  This post is #400.  Yep, after 400 posts you would think I would have gotten blog writing down down to a science, wouldn't you?   You would be wrong.

Case in point, you might of noticed the absence of my Friday Weird news roundup last week.  I actually had some things going on that didn't allow me to sit and while away (waste) hours at the computer. I hear you asking "what would be more important than blogging?"  Here's what happened.


Thought Number One....Fun (**sarcasm**) Things Happen When Husbands Are Out of Town

Every "wife of a traveling man" will agree with me that if their husband travels extensively,  these two things will happen.

1.  When they are IN town, life will hum along easy-breezy and hubby will secretly wonder what you do with your time. (Actually there are a few that have been known to actually say out loud, "Don't you ever get bored?"  Some of those men learned that question isn't met with a favorable response.)

Hubby is in Paris so I can't blame him.

2.  BUT...when husbands are OUT of town, something BIG will break, someone will get sick or a natural disaster will strike. Sometimes all three will happen simultaneously...this is more likely if the traveling  husband is not able to be reached by phone.

 As far as last week goes and the reason for the missing post is....

Wait....make that  the  REASONS  for the missing post are:

A. Poor time management
B. Lack of inspiration
C. Preparing for my trip to Europe
D. Leaves plaguing me with their messy and time consuming cleanup
E.  Mother Nature is a mother-sumthin-sumthin
F.  All of the Above

Some of you might remember a post I did quite awhile ago called  Spitting in the Wind  [link]  in which my darling husband attempted to repair a sprinkler head in our irrigation system which resulted in an emergency call to the company that installed it. (sorry, honey, but those little keys that come with Hunter irrigation systems are Kryptonite to your Superman ...you know it, I know it and the Hunter repair guys know it.)

While my house isn't exactly Tara, the water spout is pretty accurate.

  Luckily for him but unluckily for me, the very same sprinkler system, didn't respond favorably to the unseasonably cold temperatures that went from 53 degrees Fahrenheit to 17 degrees  in the time span of less than 24 hours. I didn't get "wind" of this until I was picking up my grandson from school and my cell phone rang.  A very concerned neighbor wondered if I was home.   WELL...let me just say IF I was home, I might of noticed the geyser in the front yard that was shooting higher than the second story gable of my house.  What to do?  It's past 5 PM so the irrigation company is closed and the city water department is closed and my neighbors are watching the equivalent of  Old Faithful. The big difference is my geyser is  causing a frozen mess.

Did I happen to mention that just a few days prior to the big break, I had a new patio poured and there was new sod put in?  Of course, because trying to figure out how to shut off an irrigation valve isn't stressful enough without adding the component of  freezing a yard of  freshly laid  fescue sod.

Never fear, I made my way home to a crowd of onlookers that were audibly "oohing and ahhing" over how pretty iced trees look and inaudibly thanking their lucky stars it was my house and not theirs.

I paged an emergency number to both the city and the irrigation company and in slightly less than two hours, I got a response. I might mention here that two hours with two little boys watching the pretty water show along with a group of  "plumbing-challenged"  neighbors feels more like an eternity.

BTW...I don't fault either company for a slow response,  as there were irrigation system backflow valves all over town exploding. This freezing temperatures are unheard of  for this time of year and no one had winterized their irrigation systems. To enforce the lesson to take care of that earlier next year,  the city guy did mention, that I am probably going to be getting a hell of a water bill.  Evidently geysers go through a lot of water.

Thought Number Two:   Where to Go From Here

So, anyway...those were some of my excuses reasons for the Friday post being MIA.

On the occasion of this 400th post,  I just wanted to  say to all my readers how appreciative I am of you.  I know a lot of you have been here from the beginning and endured the "learning as I go" process that went with TAOBC.  You were here with inspiration and support even when the reader count didn't warrant me to continue.  I thank you for you readership and comments.  Both of those things make me very happy.

Also, a big THANK YOU to the bloggers that have always been supportive of me and have become good friends. (This is especially true of the Blogdumps group that have been here from the very first months of TAOBC.)

AND to some of the newest blog readers and blog writers that have more recently connected with me (or is it Crabby Pants that you are reaching out to?)  I am creatively renewed when I see new people visiting.

As for the future of The Art of Being Conflicted...I hate to say it but for the next month or so, my posts may be scattered and irregular.    Seems a bit disingenuous on my part to thank you for you loyal readership and then tell you that I am probably going to be sporadic in my writing for awhile...just know that I am terribly conflicted about that.

Fair warning...

Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments

Blogs and Bloggers

Thought Number One:  Blog, Blog, Blog

Have you noticed the proliferation of the use of the word "blog", lately?  Whether you write a blog, read blogs or just have had your ears bombarded hourly by the word blog...there seems to be a substantial increase in the use of the term. What started off as a means for people to create a weblog has become a huge presence that straddles the lines of  various categories such as social networking, journalism, e-commerce,  and news.

Recently, I  have noticed that just about every TV show, has worked a blogger or blog  into it's story line. Even the commercials are using "blogging" as a theme.  What is interesting about some of the stories/series/commercials is that the writers clearly has no knowledge of  what a real blog does or doesn't do.



Example Number One

On the Big C, a Showtime series, one of the main characters, Paul, starts a blog after a "near death" experience.  He thinks he needs to share his story with the world as he has survived a heart attack and has come back from the dead. So he starts a blog and clues his readers into the fact that his wife, Kathy, had an affair. How she made it into the blog, they don't say...perhaps Paul is blaming her for his stress..dunno. Cut to the next scene: Now the whole town, including her employer, the public school system, is aware of her indiscretions.

And if that wasn't enough, a (supposedly) famous motivational speaker named Joy (played by Susan Sarandon) is so taken by his skill as storyteller because of his excellent writing abilities evidenced by his blog,  she has asked him to tour with her.  She assures him that he is soon to be rich and famous.


Example Number Two

On Revenge there has been a murder that is being blamed on the good looking rich kid, Daniel Grayson. The plot line of Revenge is so convoluted and complex, I wouldn't be able to catch you up in less that 1000 posts but in the nutshell, the family persuades a semi-famous writer to start a blog casting doubt on Daniel's guilt and hinting that a girl that was in the area at the time of the murder, Amanda Clark is the dirty deed doer.  So now this blog is going crazy with followers and everyone is trying to find clues to who really committed the murder. AND the semi-famous writer guy is now a key witness for the defense because surely he is an expert on the case...he did, after all, start a blog. 

Another aspect to this story line was the fact that the Graysons  hired an assistant to create the web site as the hapless writer said he didn't know how to start a blog.  OK, maybe...but then the assistant started talking about some techy mumbo jumbo that was lost on me...of the things she would have to do to get a blog launched.



Thought Number Two...Starting a Blog Isn't the Hard Part

The writer guy maybe didn't know how to start a blog but unless he isn't capable of using Google and doesn't  have the intelligence of a grade schooler, he should be able to figure out how to start one.    Keeping it working properly and writing regularly is another matter. But...my point is STARTING a blog isn't a two man job.

While no one can really calculate the number of blogs currently active, most sources believe there are more than 100 million of them.  It just can't be all that difficult if over 100 MILLION people have figured it out.   The sure-fire proof would be that I have one and if it was really a difficult thing to do....I wouldn't have done it. 
Here are a couple of  my thoughts on starting and having a blog.

A. Anyone that feels the need to start one can.  You can go to any number of sites such as Blogger or WordPress and it will step you through the process. In minutes you will be pushing the publish button.

B.  The odds of the entire town reading your blog and following you the first day are very low....probably nonexistent..unless you are some notorious character in your town. If you already have the whole town looking at you maybe you would be successful right out of the gate.

C.  I noticed on several shows such as The Big Bang Theory and Two Broke Girls there were mentions of people quitting their jobs to become professional bloggers.  To that I say DON'T....don't go quitting a paying job to start a blog...well...unless someone offers to pay you to do it.  Oh sure, people are making money with blogs but it's not instantaneously and usually not lucrative enough to replace a REAL job.  (there are exceptions to this of course!)


So to the bloggers out there....why did you start your blog???  Just for fun, love of writing, sharing an interest, surely not as in the show Revenge...tracking down the murderer????

And to the non-bloggers...have you ever considered starting a blog about one of your interests or some viewpoint that you want to share?  Or does the idea of having a blog not appeal to you at all?






OK...maybe it is a two man/woman job.  I guess I had better go update my Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts. 






Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments

I've Been Tagged

Time is a peculiar thing.  There are moments in which some random memory will come to mind that nearly feels like it happened yesterday but in actuality was ...well...maybe 40 years ago.  Other times, something that happened 10 years ago seems so faint in my recollection that I am not even sure that the memory is accurate.

I was just over at  Really?! Wait! What? reading Jewell's post for the day.  She starts her blog post today about the game of tag and how fast she could run as a little girl. (Well, maybe she can still run that fast..not sure, I guess)  Being the "quick kid" is a great thing for winning at the game of tag but maybe not for being "the kid who is invited to play".   Being great at something can set you apart from those that wouldn't want to compete with you.  But, I digress...

I can't remember actually playing tag.  I am sure I  must have played the game at some point when I was little.  I know we played dodge ball, kick-the-can, Red Rover, hide and seek,  and a number of other child oriented games that I remember quite clearly. I don't think I excelled at any games that required speed or agility. What usually got me chosen is that everyone recognized that I would give it my best effort and I tend to get along with everyone.  In other words, I have a great positive attitude while I suck at any given sport or game. 

So, today, I find that I am in a game of "tag".  Jewell has tapped me (or my blog) and yelled "You're It!"
I didn't really see her coming.  She is gazelle-like in her approach.  FAST...right up till the moment of slamming into me, slapping the hell out of me, tagging me.

I have been given a few directions (if I  choose to accept this mission...oops wrong game)  as a result of this game of tag.

Rule #1    No tag backs.  (Frankly, I think that is a lot to ask of me)

Rule #2   Jewell, took it upon herself to change the number of people to be tagged to 6.  I can count to 6 so that should work.

Rule #3 Answer some questions.  She, being the generous person she is, has given me a set of two different questions.  Actually, Jewell has been tagged 3 times this week so she has had to figure out what set of questions to go with.  Three...really??? Who knew that she would be the equivalent of "Miss Congeniality"
of the blogger set.  

To simplify, I will tag 6 of my favorite blogs and you can answer these questions.  (again, only if you want to play)

If you could go back in time and change one thing what would it be?
I would have bought a lot of Walmart stock in 1970 instead of any of the under preforming crap that I really did buy.

What movie/TV personality do you most resemble in personality?

maybe not quite
like this.

I am told I remind people of Carol Burnette.  I am not sure if they mean when she is being herself or if she is being the lady with the mop and bucket. I would rather people say I look like Sofia Vergara but they never do.

If you could push one person over the cliff and get by with it, who would it be?

 HMMM ...so many to choose from....and keeping in mind I am a pacifist...but if I HAD to push someone over....There really are a lot on the list... There's the group of people that have committed horrible atrocities on other people, the group of narcissistic personalities that rake in cash for acting badly and  all the politicians that vote according to  their own self-serving interests and don't consider what is in the best interest of their constituents.  OK, there are probably a lot of people that never ever ever ever should stand near a cliff in my vicinity.

Name one habit you would like to change in yourself?

Not worry as much as I do.

Describe yourself in one word.

Organized

Describe the person who named you in this meme in one word.

Smart  or should I say Funny...no Smart....no Funny....let's go with smart......I got it...

Interesting...that's it ....she is interesting.

In one sentence, why do you blog?

After regularly reading a couple of interesting blogs, I thought it would be fun to learn the process of setting one up, sharing ideas and networking with interesting people that I normally wouldn't ever have an opportunity to meet in the face-to-face world.

OK now for the six that I am sneaking up on...tippy toes...tap tap on the shoulder..

TAG, YOUR IT!!!

Meleah Rebecca at Momma Mia Mea Culpa
Nicky at  We Work For Cheese
Madge at I-Madge-ine The Twaddle
Junebug at Junebug's Musings
Kelly at Writing in the Margins Bursting at the Seams
Nancy at Normalarkey

By the way, If I could reach out and tag those of you that don't have blogs but are my ever faithful readers such as Barb S. in AZ, (more than one Barb) Dale, Wayne, Tom and Larry. and all of you that have hit the FOLLOW button..I would reach out and invite you to play too.  I appreciate all of you that let me vent, rant, tease, whine, and spew nonsense to you. 

The Good for the Day...Making connections via the computer

The Bad for the Day...When there are misinterpretations or misunderstandings in this form of communication.  It is hard to know how to "take" things without hearing verbal inflections or seeing people's faces. 

The Weird for the Day...1 in 8 marriages now are people that have met on the Internet.  Weird huh?

Ahhh...when we were young and could run like a gazelle...