The Lousypoet

Blog house, that is. I decided to do a few projects that have been nagging at me but I keep putting off for no particular reason. One of the big ones was to incorporate my individual poems into the actual Wordpress installation instead of the old individual HTML files that were from the original site launch. Back in those days, Wordpress didn’t allow for multiple pages, let alone having them several levels deep. With these latest builds, I’ve been able to put the whole site together using just Wordpress. This really helps with the continuity of the site, and just means that if I change the layout, that the indivudal poems will update with the new look instead of me having to manually change every single one of them! I should’ve titled the site the “Lazy Poet.” LOL!

I also took a look at the Webring code I’ve had for some time. I’ve been a member of Webring for a long time, in fact, I think every site I’ve ever done linked into a webring… Anyway, I decided I should enrol in a few more rings, so I went to the Webring home site to do just that, and lo and behold, the code I’ve had on my site for more than a year is dead, obsolete, and has apparently been doing me no good traffic wise! So, I’ve gone ahead and fixed that and signed up for the maximum pending sites that I could. When those ones approve me, I’ll add some more. I’m really sticking to the book, writing, and poetry based rings. I’ve decided that since my pagerank is going to hell because of my paid posts, I can at least not further anger the Google gods and have appropriate links to the site!

I’ve also taken a few ads out of the right sidebar and the footer. Aside from the fact that these have been up for months and no one has even clicked on the banners, let alone signed up, I just don’t think these programs are ever going to make me any money, so forget it. I figure I can put up better things to take up that prime real estate on my website.

So that’s where the projects stand tonight. I still have to get the rest of the Word of the Days added to the Archives. That is a long, boring and arduous task that I’ve just been putting off. Oh well, it’s my own fault for not doing it from the get go. I really do suffer from “jump before looking”-itis.

Well, hope all are well. I’m off for the next few days, so I hope to get a few more posts up. I’ll apologize ahead of time, some are going to be mundane paid posts, but hey, daddy’s gotta pay for Christmas somehow TTFN…

So right now, I’m choosing my Blogs of the Day from visiting links from the previous blog of the day. Okay, that makes little sense. Let’s put it this way, yesterday’s blog of the day was Jody Donnelly.com. Well, from Jody’s page I linked over to the site that will be today’s blog of the day,
Landon Porter.com.

The actual title of Landon’s blog is “Playing With Consciousness,” which I have to say really appeals to me for some reason. Maybe it’s because I’ve always had a fondness for the mystic, and this title just hits me there… Or maybe I’m just envious I didn’t think of it first. I mean, really, The Lousy Poet, what the hell was I thinking? Oh yeah, right, that my poetry sucked. I’m so good at self loathing

Anyway, back on topic. Landon writes beautifully, and fills his blog with amazing visual images. They are not always his own work, but they reveal someone with a deep appreciation for the visual medium. We have similar tastes, as I’ve liked all the works I’ve seen on his blog.

His writing is existential, searching, probing his own spiritual self. It inspires me to write more on my own blog, as opposed to the constant drone of Words of the Day and Literary Quotes. Landon’s blog demonstrates another aspect of the blog, that of internal contemplation.

It’s truly worth the visit. So go check out Playing With Consciousness.

So today for my Blog of the Day, I am featuring Jody Donnelly.com

I found this site after perusing my blog of the day that I posted yesterday. As it turns out, Ms Donnelly gave an award to Chenee, and I decided to visit her site. At first, my stiff, puritanical upbringing caused Jody’s site to feel abrasive. She is very open, very succinct, and no topic is taboo. I think after spending some time on her blog, I know more about her sex life and menstruel cycles than I do my closest friends! Is that a bad thing? I can’t say I’m entirely sure. But I do appreciate dead, open, honesty on blogs, and that is surely what you get at Jody Donnelly.com.

Jody’s a writer by trade, and it shows through her blog entries. The writing is engaging, entertaining, and whether you agree with her or not, you can’t help but become entrenched in her blog posts.

So open your mind, stroll through the life of another human being, and visit Jody Donnelly.com.

So I think I will start a Blog of the Day feature along with the daily features of Words and Quotes.

To that end, today I am featuring a blog by Affandi Yusuf. He currently resides in Malaysia where he is using his blog to not only learn english, but to make some money as well. As he states, it’s great to learn english and get paid for it! His is an eclectic travel auto health education blog. This once again fits into my interest in blogs from around the world. Oddly, it not only interests me to read about their personal experiences in another part of the world, but even the types of ads they have in their sidebar! LOL, I just can’t get enough of checking different things out on the web.

Go check out Affandi Yusuf’s blog, Nizhama2, to help him make a few bucks while he gains greater control of the english language!

So when I saw the title of this blog, The Language of Love, and that it had to do with flower, gifts, language of love, it had me seeing a rather sappy mess in my head. But I’m always up for checking out a new blog, and since so much poetry in the world has been written about love, who am I to fight it? But I found myself rather surprised. The blogger has a multitude of different posts. It being near Halloween, she has a number of great picks of decorated pumpkins! There’s also recipes on making natural plant based products. All in all, I found some interesting articles that were far from what I had initially expected. I suppose since this blog has rarely had anything to do with poetry (though I’m looking to change that soon!) I should hardly be surprised, but hey, I am! So forget the sappy sounding title, go check out so decent content!

So in an effort to increase my pagerank (which is failing miserably because I’m now a 0 from a 1), I’ve joined a group to trade links. This is cool to me, as it directs me to blogs I might not have otherwise seen, and it also means that people come to visit my site who probably wouldn’t have otherwise been by. So today, I ask for the site I’m to give a visit and I’m sent to express yourself. Only, there’s nothing there except a big message from Wordpress stating;

This blog has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service

So what the hell do you have to do in order to get suspended by Wordpress? I guee they’re against hate and porn, but I can’t imagine this site being listed as part of the exchange if it contained those things. I’m curious, I have to say. Half the reason I’m still posting the link is so I can go back and see if the site has come back up and what all the hullabaloo was about!

So I was directed to a blog by Raghul. I really connected with the sentiment of his blog’s byline. It says;

In this changing world…. I am reading, observing and thinking a lot. All my views are written here, I am just trying to write something interesting…..

I totally get where this guy is coming from. Oh, to just be able to write something interesting. But on his blog Cacography, Raghul does manage to do just that. He has some interesting posts about technology, curses on local royal families and even what a great view he has from his office window! Go give his site a look!

When you have kids with special needs, it’s hard for both parents to have carreers that take them out of the home. That’s why it’s been so important for us to find Ways of making money at home.

There are quite a few blogs out there that can provide some really great advice and guidance. I found Lisa’s blog and she’s got lots of different means of creating income streams and traffic for websites. What I also liked about her blog was that it’s also her personal blogging space, which helped make it feel a little more personal. All too often, blogs with advice on making money at home can seem cold or too much like a gimmick filled sales pitch. Finding a blog where there are some good pieces of advice but you can also read about how Lisa’s cats gave birth to kittens just makes it all so much more real. Check this one out!

I won’t lie to you, sometimes when I post a link to a blog here, it’s because the link was suggested to me by a link exchange program. In return for my recommendation, I too receive a link to my site. I will put this into context though by telling you that I do not just mindlessly recommend every blog that is presented to me. I visit every single one; spend some time and read the entries. If there’s nothing I enjoy or think is of any worth, I refuse the link request. In the end, that might mean less reciprocal links for me, but it at least means I retain a level of integrity.

The site I’m directing you to today is NOT one of those sites. I found this while doing a Google search for making money with blogs. Reading some of the lengthy articles on this site gave me a reason to pause and evaluate what I’m doing here with the Lousy Poet. And not only that, it gave me some insight into myself and some of my motivations. This is a great site, with some very insightful content on blogging, making money with blogs, but even more than that, personal development.

The site is by Steve Pavlina and I have to say his writing is powerful, accessible and interesting. I know after reading just a few things on his site, that I’m going to be returning again and again. In the mean time, you can check out his articles on Making money with your blog and How to build a high traffic website. I don’t think either will disappoint.

So while trolling the net, I found this article that was a blogger’s entry into a Mother’s day contest. The challenge was to write about the best thing about being a Mom. I really liked her answer. She acknowledges all the usual answers as being incorrect, and in the end surmises that the greatest thing about being a mom is witnessing the evolution of a person. It was a really cool thought. You should check out her wording, it’s far more eloquent than I.

Also take a look around her blog, “The Best Is Yet To Come.” She’s obviously a very proud mom who is dedicating herself to helping other mothers as well. There’s a lot of personal and unique content that is worth giving a read.