Thirteen Thursday: The Menu
1. If my blog was a seven day menu, photographs would be appetizers, short posts would be salads, long posts would be the main entries, and poetry would be dessert.
2. Sometimes I wish the word “blog” didn’t sound so much like “blob” and remind me of the 1958 movie (The Blob) staring Steve McQueen where something falls from outer space and gets stuck on his arm and then grows and grows until it covers his body. It’s good for blogs to grow – more readers and posts everyday – right? It’s not going to take over my life – right? ~ Written in an April 05 post, just a few weeks into blogging.
3. Fred First, the “first Floyd blogger” from “Fragments from Floyd” is working on what I’m calling a laminated blog menu for the Floyd Writer’s Room at the Hotel Floyd that will provide write-ups and links to Floyd bloggers for hotel guests.
4. I’m collecting photos and local writer’s quotes for a collage that my fellow Floyd Writer’s Circle member Rosemary is making for the room. Fred sent this one: Whether he comes back with something edible in his creel or not, a man who sets out with a fishing pole and a can of worms calls himself a fisherman. And it’s not all that different with calling oneself a writer. Writing and fishing are both mostly about the sitting there–hopefully, alert and ready–not so much about your catch.
5. I was complaining to him about my recent computer break down and a dip in reader traffic during my recent trip to Asheville. He told me not to worry about it because our blogging lives are like the rise and fall of the stock market.
6. Then he typed something with the word “Yak@” in it. I emailed him back to ask what it meant and got this reply: “Yak@ is a hastily typed attempt at an expletive that one offers when bee-ing bee-deviled near the bumm by a bee!”
7. I wonder how many of my emails went out with misspelled words before I noticed that when my computer came back from the shop the email spell check wasn’t turned on.
8. My essay “Country Boy,” which is about my Asheville potter son Josh and was originally posted in a past Loose Leaf entry HERE, is being aired on WVTF radio tomorrow morning. Click HERE to hear me reading it or listen from the WVTF site HERE.
9. I got an email from blogger bluemountainmama who was in a pub in Asheville recently and recognized Josh, who was also there, from my blog. She said it was his hat that clued her in.
10. Do blog readers keep restaurant hours? On a good day in the blogsphere, it seems that you get your early-riser breakfast crowd, hopefully followed by a few readers who trickle in around lunch time. Then there’s the after-dinner rush when your chance to tempt readers is at its highest. There’s always the possibility of the occasional late night blog hopper dropping by. If the atmosphere at your site is good and the reading is appealing, your visitors might leave you a comment. Getting a comment is like getting a good tip. ~ From The After Dinner Rush, April 05.
11. The Hotel Floyd, due to open in September, is being built with eco-sustainable products and will feature 14 rooms that showcase what Floyd has to offer. You can read more about the hotel HERE.
12. I think Rosemary is going to use this quote of mine in the Floyd writers collage: I can write without the muse, but it’s like watering the garden with a hose when it really needs a soaking rain.
13. Blogging as Reefer Madness HERE. Or is it the blog blob?
Thursday headquarters is here. My other 13’s are here. View more 13 Thursday’s here.
June 14th, 2007 9:31 am
Hey, I’ve been to the movie theater in Phoenixville, PA, that was used in “The Blob.” Phoenixville has a “BlobFest” every year where they stage the famous “screaming people running out of the theatre” scene among other kitschy activities. It’s kind of cool to be able to say I’ve seen “The Blob” in the theatre where part of it was filmed. During BlobFest, you can even see a bucket containing the actual red goo that was used. Since a lot of the Blob’s scenes were filmed using miniatures, there isn’t a lot of goo. But it was neat to see it anyway.
June 14th, 2007 9:41 am
Jeanne, I was just thinking about you this morning. That’s cool about the BlobFest. I guess it’s a cult film. I saw it in real time when I was a kid and it very much scared me.
June 14th, 2007 9:52 am
That is too, too clever. Have a great TT!
June 14th, 2007 9:53 am
Another fine 13! Love the menu comparison, sounds very true. Also love the quote about the fisherman, good thought for aspiring writers. As for the after dinner rush – what about when Bloglines is down and no one visits – then all of a sudden there they are.
As always, loved your list, something to look forward to on Thursdays!
June 14th, 2007 10:23 am
Whenever I am in a crowd I wonder who may have a blog…
it’s fascinating that someone recognized your son! Your lists are so versatile and amusing, I enjoy reading them!
June 14th, 2007 10:36 am
Love # 2 – while I hope blogging isn’t taking over my life, it’s certainly become a good part of my world. And I do think, often, about whether some moment from my day is blog-worthy.
It does seem that my visitors come at regular hours too. It always makes me wonder what their days are like and happy to be part of the quieter moments with them.
June 14th, 2007 11:50 am
great list!
June 14th, 2007 11:51 am
Very cool!
June 14th, 2007 12:29 pm
My cousin, when she had to babysit her sister, my brother & me, told us a story about The Blog. You see…it washed up on the beach in Falmouth…and burrowed under the sand. If you sat on the sand during the day, or walked the beach at night…you had to be very careful to avoid slight bumps, should it be the blob, it would rise up and swallow you whole! Yeah, we slept sooooooooo peacefully thru the night when she babysat us 😉
June 14th, 2007 12:45 pm
I really dislike the word “blog”, although not because of the movie. It’s just not a pretty word for something that is often so magical!
June 14th, 2007 2:35 pm
AS always Colleen, a fascinating TT….I like that T-Shirt a lot, and love the Blog-Blob thing….I think it is a terrible name in a way…It is kind of an ugly word! Oh well, we are all stuck with it so….What are you going to do….lol…
That Hotel Room sounds like it is coming along really wonderfully. Ihope when it is finished you can take some pictures of it to show us….!
June 14th, 2007 3:14 pm
Ha! A fun list. I, too, have thought about how much the word “blog” sounds like “blob!”
Happy TT, and thanks for visiting my blob! ;-D
June 14th, 2007 5:48 pm
That is so cool that Bluemountainmama recognized Josh!!
I love dessert at your blog!
June 14th, 2007 5:59 pm
Does it follow then… that medium sized posts are low-calorie?
Reader flow is like the stock market… I must remember that… esp. on major holidays.
The writing/fishing comparison is so appropriate and appealing. And I don’t even fish. Puts anxiety to rest. 🙂
I played today.
~S
June 14th, 2007 7:59 pm
Well I do think if we spend too much time on the longer posts, we’ll get fat. Must get up and move!
June 14th, 2007 8:28 pm
Congratulations on the Country Boy! You have a nice voice. I wish I had a good (or at least workable) reading voice.
Happy TT!
June 14th, 2007 11:38 pm
Love your TT this week – the menu analogy works so well. Sounds like the Floyd Hotel and writing group have dove-tailed nicely. Congrats on the Country Boy! Each time I visit your site, I am transported to a magical realm. THANK YOU! Have a great weekend, XINE
June 14th, 2007 11:51 pm
Colleen, we need one more writer to adopt a lion, the last lion of 48, and become a member of The Shameless Lions Writing Circle. You can read about the group (and about the lion I adopted) on the sidebar of my blog Words from a Wordsmith and in the articles I’ve posted there this week. I love your writing and would like to have you as part of this group that is forming.
June 15th, 2007 12:31 am
I am the midnight, very early morning variety… but have been essentially off the air with family matters and just being plain tired. It was hot last Friday wasn’t it? Now we are cool, rain and drizzle, just the right weather to bundle up and cocoon a bit. How is it there?
June 15th, 2007 9:21 am
I have wool socks on this morning and my big terry cloth bathrobe. When I go out I’ll likely wear boots because it’s so muddy.
June 15th, 2007 9:40 am
*LOL* Fun list!!
http://debbie-mumford.blogspot.com/
June 15th, 2007 10:22 am
Blog does sound too much like “blob”, which is how I feel lately. It’s the lazy summer days that I blame. 🙂
June 16th, 2007 8:06 am
11 is exciting . Floyd’s at the forefront in quality innovation, innit?
June 16th, 2007 11:28 am
Just stopping by for some blog-brunch. The meal was delicious :).
I don’t like the word blog as a noun, but as a verb it has a cool ring to it.
June 17th, 2007 11:38 am
So many nuggets in this post. I love Fred’s quote about writers and I am a breakfast/dinner/late night blogger. Sounds like I’m blogging, or reading blogs, all day. Oh well, it’s summer!
Susan