I am having a hoot assisting my Mom in learning about the blogosphere, widgets, html, traffic and whatnot. I could bore or entertain you for hours with stories ... but for the moment I'm going to give you a link to her blog for today.
She tells how to get rid of springtime ants and not only is the information grand and groovy,
the manner in which she tells it is VERY entertaining!
In Today's Bird's Eye View -
Ant Infestation & Other Bugs...The Remedy That WORKS!!! -
""I'd rather just be good old blabby Granny Goose...
that gets spring ants and knows how to get rid of them...and isn't afraid to share the news....""
---
""One drip/drop of sweet tea...or coca cola...can bring in an army of ants.....or if you wipe off your kitchen counter after breakfast and leave just a teensy bit of jelly smeared on the counter that YOU can't even SEE.....some little ant that you have never even seen before...that seemed to just drop from Heaven...is going to find that teensy bit of jelly and they're going back to their colony and before they even get there....they're going to be standing up on their hind legs and tippy toes...and have their front legs cupped to make a mega phone around their mouth and they're going to be yelling..."HEY GUYS...I FOUND SUGAR...PASS THE WORD AND FOLLOW ME...WAGONS HO" And the next thing you know...you're going to have 1,000 ants ... crawling around on your kitchen counters and you're going to be trying Raid...and Terro...and every other doggone thing you can think of....and you're just gonna be spinning your wheels...because #1 ..an ant infestation is hard to kill out and you have to really know what you're doing....and #2 ..you MUST get the queen ant.""
So am I talking to you kids about my mood swings now?
I guess I am... but I think that's okay... I mean, I practically know all 139 of you like family... that's roughly how many "unique readers" I have on Nucleus of my Noggin now, according to the analytics and stats and whatnot.
I think we established a long time ago that I'm not necessarily shy about the discussion of personal things... now, ask me out on a second date and I'll clam up like there's a mafia hit against me should I make a peep, but personal questions I can handle all day long...
I'm definitely seeing improvement in my moods... I've been seeing a fabulously intelligent doctor by the name of Dr. Call in Brookport, IL. She's a chiropractor who specializes in Nutritional Response Testing. I'm cutting back on sugars as much as I can. I tried Truvia and some of the others, but they're not doing it for me... terrible aftertaste! It'll be easier for me to stick with real sugar and just cut back on it. She's added some supplements to my schedule and that seems to have helped...
I guess the reason I started chattering about that is that it pisses me off that "depression" is something to be "whispered" about. For years I've called it "a funk", "the gloomy gusses", "the blues".... but for the love of Peter, Paul and Mary... let's just call a spade a spade - it boils down to depression.
In general I'm a quantumliciously happy person ... and for years during the time that my marriage was running off in a ditch I learned to put on an Academy Award winning performance of delight and cheer... so I guess now sometimes I don't even realize I'm depressed. In fact, in the weeks following my first visit to Dr. Call, I can truly say that I've realized I was far more depressed than I ever realized... It's been an amazing journey so far and I'm going to keep you folks posted on it because (A.) I'm not shy and (B.) it's good for blog traffic... :)
NOW, about that blog traffic... I first started blogging sometime around 2006 or 2007 and if I remember correctly, my first blogs were on MySpace. I occasionally wrote silliness and a time or two I actually did a serious piece.
One of those pieces centered around the insanity of current cannabis laws in this country and went in depth regarding the astronomical amounts of money spent annually by the U.S. Government to continue the prohibition of cannabis as opposed to the astronomical amounts of revenue the U.S. Government could be profiting annually if they were to regulate and tax it.
It was that week that I made it into the top of the "MySpace" blogs. I reached #1 in News and Politics and stayed there for about 36 hours. If I recall, the MySpace blogs didn't let one embed an analytics tracker - but I do remember that I received well over 400 comments on that blog, which totally addicted me to sharing my thoughts...
So now, three or so years later I still love to write and I've learned that money can be made off of it...
No worries, it's not like Amway and whatnot...
I have several things in place, one of which pays me for views on the ads of their's that are placed on my page. So by going to my page and reading the blog, you're counted as a "view" and after so many "views" I get a few cents. That doesn't sound like much, but it CAN equate to a good little chunk. I've had several postings that have had enough traffic that I made 80 or so cents off of them the first day they were posted.
Now as I've continued to study this and help my mom implement it on her blog I see that the idea of making money really is a very reachable goal. She's aces about posting nearly every day of the world and that of course helps her readership to grow at a very consistent rate and it's starting to show on her analytics and monetizing counters.
I have been lacking the consistency in writing daily to grow my monetizing, but I'm really working on that among a million other things. Some of you may have caught the "superbowl day outhouse video" I uploaded recently and released in a blog. That's another thing I'm working on, "vlogging".
I feel I'd come across much better in a vlog ... and by "better", I mean funnier and easier to understand; not necessarily "more attractive" because I have to admit when I'm on my "entertainment switch" is on full tilt, I make some absolutely outlandish faces.
Exhibit A
Marking that as "public" was one of the most difficult things I've done in some time...
I truly hope you enjoyed it...
If You Liked It ~ Share It!
*** Have you ever felt as if you were absolutely,
unequivocally overcome by inertia?
...absolutely just stuck... your limbs and appendages buried in molasses ...
the wheels and gears in your brain jammed with what feels like years of rust ... overwhelmed by complete exhaustion at the thought of doing anything that needs to be done...
I hate that feeling. I have it this morning. I have so many things I feel I need to think about and take care of, that it's almost as if my body and mind are shutting down in rebellious aversion.
There's no time for that right now though...
***
I wrote that one morning a couple of weeks ago. (05/12/2011)
So often, I open up my Blogger and half-write something or
just rattle out an idea 'real quick' and then leave it to be finished another day...
Here's the problem with that though ... I'm always adding stuff to the queue, but I'm never going back and finishing anything. That's the case in a lot of situations. I have more half started projects possibly than anyone you'll ever meet and I'm abso-effing-lutely dead set on accomplishing the stuff I've stacked up for myself; anywho.. I digress...
I've been dreaming of this weekend for some time now. I like Memorial Day weekend ... I detest winter, cold and everything Winter and Cold related; so sometimes I feel like it's on this weekend that I begin to come out of hibernation...
There IS a tight window though, because although we have a few glorious months ahead of us (if we can avoid the catastrophic storms), Labor Day is just around the corner ... and you know what that means...
Womp, Womp, Waaaaaaahhh
Back under ground until acceptable weather rolls around again...
***
Over the course of this weekend I'm going to be perusing through my blog queue archives and putting the finishing touches on some of these and posting them so I can get this thing rolling again ....
Little did I know when I wrote the italicized portion above, it was ready to be posted ... :)
My brain is exploding right now. I've merged all of my blogs (except of course for the Ocho-rific Song o the Day and KCoJax Candids) into this one and I'm about to begin a secluded weekend of writing that I've been dreaming about for weeks. Enjoy!!
***
Below are some links to the Facebook pages of
a few of my projects ~ Go *Like* them ... if, in fact you do ... :)
Now, you may ask yourself ...
"What could I do to help Kim Jackson build her empire?
The economy's just so tight right now. I'd love to buy some stock in her ideas ... if she could get organized, she'd be dangerous ... and come to think of it, she just got the screen on her phone fixed - so she's really starting to crackle over there! If only we hadn't taken out that second mortgage on the house last year, we could do that now and we'd OWN HER ... I hear she only has a change jar .... "
Well, now listen .. I can't thank you enough for the offer ... I mean really that you would even think of taking out a second mortgage to invest in my empire is quite flattering to say the least; but the help I need from you folks doesn't require nearly that much effort or expense ....
I need you to (if you enjoy reading along, I should say...) I need you to be a regular reader and occasionally click "Share" to share my blog post with you Facebook friends ... or retweet it if you're a tweeter. The reason for this is that I've monetized my blogs, which means that I make money based on how much traffic I receive. I don't want you to bombard anyone! But if you know someone who might also enjoy my thoughts, please feel free to send them on over...
*** Have a Grand and Groovy Day! If You Liked It ~ Share It!
People say that, but do they really think about what it means and implement it?
I can remember experiencing perception issues as a spouse -
"The chicken tastes different .... what'd you do to it?"
Well, that can be taken nineteen different ways - obviously for starters it could be considered a statement followed by a question - that's the way we should take it, but in homes across America it's taken as "Something's wrong with the chicken!!!
Holy, God a'mighty, what have you done to the chicken?!?! *Gasp*"
This sort of thing occasionally leads to a three day disgruntlement
regarding all things cooking and food related.
I haven't had to experience that in a while. That, I think is one of the many reasons I don't really care to ever marry again. I don't want someone so close in my proximity that they cause me question myself....be it about something as trivial as how the chicken is made or something as important as why I choose the paths I take...
Suffice it to say, that sometimes we don't hear exactly what people say. I think Dr. Phil refers to the phenomenon as the things you tell yourself about yourself.
The graphic below was taken by me this morning on my Mom's facebook page ...
When she posted that I had just called her to let her know she had some duplicate paragraphs in her post.
I point this out because when she posted that my kitchen became a whirlwind of expletives - It started with "Holy Jimminy Crickets Mother ... I did not smurfing tell you that you'd really messed up... Jimminy Crickets!!!" .... Yeah, it got pretty rowdy in here for a minute :) ..... but then I calmed down and realized I MUST say something. For one reason, I don't want all of my Mom's friends to think I'm a total sea hag ... and for another I think it's an important lesson for all of us to learn. Those are all things she said on the phone while she was trying to put her chocolate with my peanut butter and figure out what had happened. I know I wasn't saying those things because I was trying to tell her just to slowly proof read, correct and repost.
We do that - we beat ourselves up about things.
I'll be honest with you ... I really don't know why the smurf we do it. It's a preposterous thing to do really.
Imagine that your phone rings right now and you pick it up and it's your friend George... and George says, "Hey there pal, whadya doin' this morning?" ..... and YOU say, "Well George I'm just sittin' here talkin' to myself in my noggin like a no-good-cod-waddlin'-piece-of-sh*t while I drink my coffee... thinking about what I do wrong and not givin' myself any credit for the knowledge and skills I've got; what're you up to today?"
Give yourselves credit for the things you do right, people!
Give yourselves a pat on the back for knowing how to do things ...
as simple as changing the oil in a car or baking a loaf of bread.
Having said all of that, Mom posted a very informative blog today.... it very literally has information in it that could save your life. You can find it here at the
I've blogged for years. I have hundreds and hundreds of blogs that have never seen the light of day.
They sit - half done in my blogging queue, waiting for research or graphics or some other tidbit that would make a "finished product" out of them.
At one point my mother decided she was going to blog. Her lack of 2010 Technology Know-How caused her to just start blogging right there on her Facebook page in the comments... It was hard to follow for anyone who hadn't known her their entire life - and sometimes required a second read for someone who had. = )
I suggested she set up a blogger account. A short run of classes ensued to teach her how to post, a few phone calls to walk her through getting setup with Networked Blogs and instruct her on setting things up to auto post to her Facebook profile and she was on her way ...
On October 23rd, she kicked things off with an absolute blow out regarding Facebook drama - saying the things many of us think -
An Excerpt from Mom's blog - ""There's another on my list that posts about 19 times a day & she'll say things like...."SO SO BUSY...How will I ever get it all done?" And I'm thinking...just put the little mouse down...and slowly back away from your computer...put on your little apron and JUST GET BUSY YOU LAZY DRAMA QUEEN!!! :-/ ""
On October 24th she absolutely knocked it out of the park with a blog any smoker should read - including me-
An Excerpt from Mom's blog - ""But before that 3 days is up and you get the time to call...you get a call within 24hours from 'them'...and the office tells you...you need to come back in immediately, doc needs to talk to you. You get a little nervous, but 'you' feel ok...so you go in thinking it's probably high blood sugar or some little something is off whack and it will all come out in the wash...but to your horror...he tells you..."I don't know how to tell you this...but you have cancer and it looks bad...we need to put you right in the hospital and do more testing."""
On November 5th, she did a doozie onmultiple personalities and her tweaking of her writing style amid feedback and sometimes criticism. This one is actually one of my faves - she goes into a great little chatter right from the get-go about the feedback Daddy-O and I give her and how she doesn't know what to write about anymore. Happily, the Universe rewarded her with feedback from friends and readers who said, "Say it however you want, it's your blog!" .... and they're right.
Yesterday's blog (12/10) discusses the 17 Day Diet
An Excerpt from Mom's blog - All of the above was in the book...except the line I added about alternating walking/jogging in front of the tv..that's called 'interval exercise' and it's said to burn more calories than just walking OR jogging......the book was FILLED with details and info...I guess so we'd think we were getting our moneys worth..."I" would have been more content with a 5 page print off...with just the facts...but who asked 'me'?
I am definitely going to try this diet...and I'm going to begin tomorrow (Saturday)...and I hope many of you will join me and let's see what we can do by Christmas...what a gift to ourselves...to give ourselves a 10-15 pound weight loss for Christmas...if we start tomorrow...we will be finished with our 17 days on December 28th...
In yesterday's blog, she also gives an update on a local homeless boy. My Mother's nosey nature has been and continues to be a blessing for many as it causes her to go above and beyond the call of duty to help total strangers.
I called her one afternoon because I was approached by a man at a gas station in Metropolis who was looking for gas and food and had a car filled with children and a frantic looking wife. Mom came in with her own private help fund, took them to the grocery for diapers and such - gave me some money and sent me to McDonald's to get some Cokes and cheeseburgers. After two hours or so these folks were on their way and Mom was apologizing profusely that my entire afternoon had been taken up helping people. (I like to help people, but I'm not as likely to "reprioritize things" for others as my Mom is)
I told her that it was fine and it was good for me to do things like that although I was a bit peeved that the decisions that those people had made in life-leading them to be broke and stranded in Metropolis had taken up MY entire afternoon. (I'm a bit selfish that way - it comes from being the "baby sister")
A few days later, Mom found out that those folks were scheisters who travel our region scamming people. That happens, but it's still touching to me when someone's heart is in the right place. My heart is usually distracted with other things (my dreams and goals) and sometimes it takes my Mom to remind me that everyone needs someone to care about them.
Well enough of that mush-tasticness - YIKES!
Anywho, we currently have a little blogging buddies project going on over here at the Ocho - Today I've introduced you to my Mom's blog - I'll be doing a piece in the next few days to introduce you to the blog of my friend, Mary. Keep your eyes open for that!
Below is the widget for my Mom's Blog, Bird's Eye View of the Katydid - A Simple Woman's Musings.
You can find the widgetHERE if you would like to add it to your own blog or website.
One of the goals of what I'm happy to say has become "blog clean up week" was to get Journey to the Nucleus of my Noggin under control.
I guess you could say this blog began on my MySpace page. You kids remember MySpace, don't you? Sweet Fancy Moses ... that was ... like ... two years ago or something ... Anywho, that's where you'll find my earliest stabs at writing ... though I don't necessarily recommend it :)
It's a 100% true account of my first arrest. NOW, here's the part my smother mother is going to want me to explain... :) I wasn't arrested for anything "bad", I was arrested for a speeding ticket.
She also will be tickled if I let you know I don't have tattoos ...
just in case you were wondering ...
and I do know that you were not .... :)
Have you ever heard the difference between
people who have tattoos and people who don't have tattoos, by the way?
People who have tattoos
don't mind that the people who don't have tattoos,
don't have tattoos. ;)
I concur...
though I have no tattoos ...
but that's just because I'm a commitment-phobe. :)
Anywho, I told you all of that to tell you this ...
I have a blog queue that's as full as a tick
and all of my blogs are about to start rolling!
Stay tuned ...
Until next time...
Have a Grand and Groovy Day!! If you liked it, share it!!
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