Some of you may appreciate this.
I got an e-mail, entitled; Your Blogs are Too Plain, from a teacher in Texas who was "despondently running a Google search for "middle aged can't get a job."
She continues....."Adding to my despondency was seeing such a plain blog as yours. And the Pegasus Blog is even worse. Sorry to have to give you such news."
She offers to help me dress up my blog, "free of charge." Insists she isn't selling anything. Apparently, my blogs "are entirely too plain."
"Honestly, your blogs need some decorations.
"Most of all, they each need a nice banner. Or SOMETHING at the top of the blog. Even a small square graphic in the sidebar. Something.
"Oh, yes, certainly you love words; after all, you own a bookstore. But you also have an appreciation for comix and graphic novels, so you should know better than to have such desolate blogs."
Gee, lady, tell me how you really feel.
Thing is, I know she's right.
I'm just the C-Span of blogs. Boring.
I told her I didn't care, that I was an accidental blogger, that it was a way for me to get my thoughts in order.
I did the same thing for 20 years before I started on the blog, only with a pencil. On paper. I have a 2 foot tall stack of notebooks that no one will ever read, probably including me, to prove it.
It helps me to get it down in writing. I like the occasional nice turn of phrase. The only difference from my notebooks is that I probably do a bit less ranting. (Believe it or not.)
I'm glad that some people feel this blog is sometimes worth reading. It has proved a bit of a socializing tool for me, who has a hard time socializing with other people. And I'm pretty good at providing content, that is, blogging everyday. What use is a pretty blog that never has anything new entered, which is what I see everywhere else?
And there is a certain calmness to the design, a easy on the eyes aspect.
Yeah, boring.
Sometimes I like watching C-Span.
I'll probably get around to dressing it up more some day. I actually add pictures once in a while.
I do hate to be adding to the despondency of someone in Texas.
But dammit, they gave us Bush! They have no right to complain!
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6 comments:
I think she's wrong. You don't need a header. You don't need fancy stuff on the side.
But I can tell you one thing you can do that would help it make it easier to read your blog.
* A subhead every 3-4 paragraphs *
A couple subheads per post would work just fine. Look at some magazine and newspaper articles to see what I mean.
A nice, simple, effective solution that lets you stay in the domain of text. You don't want to dork around with pictures, so don't.
All right, Tim. You're having me on, aren't you.
This smacks of Sally Henderson.
If not, I offended her, when I didn't really mean to.
You're good, Tim. Really good.
If you're ready to admit, we'll go ahead and post the exchange.
* A subhead every 3-4 paragraphs *
I'd rather see an Executive Summary.
Or maybe an Abstract (100 words or less, of course).
What a strange criticism. "Too plain"? I wish I had such problems.
I'm dealing with a serial-posting lunatic who has Nofollow OCD.
Count yourself lucky.
I'm not putting you on. I worked at a magazine. You put pull quotes and subheads in so that people don't lose their place. Makes it much easier to read. That's why newspapers and magazines do it.
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