ShowOff ShowCase: The First One

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When I started ShowOff ShowCase it was intended to be for three weeks only with three specific themes: Most Popular Post, The One That Should Have Done Better, and Favourite Post. Some very lovely people complained at me when I said that I wasn't going to be carrying it on, and through discussions with them I decided to carry the link-up going every fortnight alternating between The One That Should Have Done Better and a changeable themed post. Loyal bloggers link up every fortnight and for that I am truly grateful.

ShowOff ShowCase is a good opportunity to give old posts an airing and gain more readers and comments. It does rely on the contributors reading each other's posts, otherwise it's all a bit pointless.

One of the aspects that I like about it is that people contribute to the themes and I feel it builds up a little community of bloggers that I respect and enjoy reading. I've just asked on twitter if anyone has any ideas for this weekend's theme and the fabulous Dometic Goddesque has come up with the idea of The First One: your first post!

So fish it out; your first rambling post. Link it up below and let's see what people think. Are you a better writer? Are you worse?!

ShowOff ShowCase

Privacy

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I've spent the weekend in Manchester, failing to see Justin Fletcher filming his new CBeebies show. After a horrendous seven hours travelling 190 miles, and missing his MBE-ness by forty minutes, I have learnt several things.

  1. I like people-watching.
  2. The Premier Inn, Trafford Centre West is a fabulous budget hotel. I'd recommend it.
  3. The Trafford Centre is just crazy.
  4. I have met some amazing friends through twitter and blogging.
  5. A rather sage piece of advice that I need to remember more often:

'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent' (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Now, I've recently been asked by someone why I had her on limited profile on Facebook but not another person. That there is why I don't tend to add twitter/blogging people to my 'real' Facebook account. People know I'm a teacher in a small-town and that I like to keep my family's anonymity. If I have added someone as a friend to my 'real' Facebook profile, I do not see why I have to explain that to someone else.

Being told that I've made someone feel really down about themselves is emotional blackmail, and instead of making me change my settings, it's only served to make me angry and want to press delete. I did that about six months ago and had to deal with the fallout from various people's insecurities then.

I've got my own insecurities and issues to deal with, without having to deal with someone else's. I'm the type of person who spends too much time worrying what other people think of me, I always have. I would never do anything to hurt anyone intentionally, and think that if people just had a few more kind words or a smile to share with people on a daily basis, then the world would be a far happier place.

However, I don't owe anybody a Facebook friendship. My work colleagues and immediate family are on there. There's photos of my brothers and sisters, mum and dad, my husband, my child and me on there. I try not to let the worlds merge too much because I like to remain, as HimUpNorth once called me, The Stig of blogging. There are some people who I have added, there are some I haven't. Deal with it.

This is my life, if I wanted everyone to know who I was, then I wouldn't have a pseudonym would I?

Guest-Post: Comments

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Today's guest-post comes from the lovely Fay over at Glass Half-Full.

I was having a chat to someone the other day about comments, or in this case the lack of them on their posts.

I'm new to this blogging lark and I am just chuffed to bunnies when I take a look and see a figure which represents more people than are in my immediate family have looked at my page. I'm at the stage in my blogging hobby, that I'm just pleased I get posts out which seem to make sense and the odd person enjoys them. But it is pretty impressive when you see a post with a lot of comments on it!

Makes me wonder how many hits it must be getting, because I'm sure there is a 'golden ratio' number.

X amount of hits = Y percentage proportion of comments left

So if I wanted to grow my blog, is this something I should be aiming for rather than figures alone? Or is it simply a 'look at me, I've a lot comments, so I must be great at this' exercise?

The conversation got me thinking too, how do I know someone has enjoyed the post by looking at the stats. Did they just look at it, or was it actually read & understood? A bit like the difference between hearing and listening!

Is there a connection between me and the reader or is it a case of speed read and move on. Is that why some people care if there are comments or not? Is this a measure of someone actually reading it, and getting it…getting what we were trying to say, the message we were sending out into the bloggersphere?

Now, I just want to point out, I always try to add a comment on a blog, but sometimes its just not possible!

  1. I can't blumming sign in properly to validate something or other.
  2. I can't read the 'type this word in so we know you aren't a bot" safety feature.
  3. I haven't got the time.
  4. The iPad messes up with the settings and won't let me physically post it.
  5. I'm using my iPhone, its just too fiddly.
  6. I literally have nothing to say or add!

But the reasons for leaving a comment?

  1. They've triggered a memory, one which means a lot to me, and I want to share it with them.
  2. I feel they need some support, some virtual hugging and/or validation of the message.
  3. I feel incredibly strongly about the message or purpose of the blog, whether I am in agreement or not.
  4. I think I can maybe add something to the debate, a new angle or clever observation.
  5. I'm offering a possible solution to a problem
  6. Just a simple, 'Well done! I liked that!'

Reading through the two lists, I can see one is very task orientated, the other is more emotional.

So maybe this is one reason why some people care if comments are left or not. It's not only a possible validation exercise for peers; 'a lot of people read my blog and care enough to comment' but also the difference between listened to and being heard.

Do you agree or is my argument too simplistic? There has got to be lots of other reasons for comments being added or not or why we should or shouldn't be bothered by it. What do you think?

Can you see what I did there? Don't let me down!

We Went to the Animal Fair!

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When I get an idea in my head, there's no stopping me. I don't always think around the situation and sometimes the logistics of my ideas are a bit squiffy. Like going away for the weekend, having two day trips and meeting new people the day after I've broken up from school.

Teachers reading this will think "are you mental?" while everyone else is wondering what the problem is. Usually I lie low for the first week of the summer holidays, making sure that I've given my head time to adjust to the change in circumstance and the ability to stop thinking about school for a while. Only being part-time, I forgot. Whoops!

On Saturday we went to Cadbury's World which was really good. Following this we took advantage of a Groupon offer that the lovely Helen from The Crazy Kitchen had pointed out to me. So we both arranged to stay in the Park Inn in Walsall, followed by a trip to West Midlands Safari Park on the Sunday, where we planned to meet up with Wendy from Inside The Wendy House.

We had a great time and The Boy and Jack thoroughly enjoyed meeting up, even if they did only discuss the finer points of a Trunki. Helen and I consumed a rather scintillating bottle of pink fizz over dinner and we set the world to rights. However by 10pm, I was seriously flagging and had to excuse myself. What poor Helen doesn't realise is that I was having massive issues keeping my eyes open and was about to cry with tiredness. I was asleep by 10.30pm. For me, this is unheard of!

Next day Helen's clan and us three all trotted off the WMSP, and after having been accosted by a giraffe through the sun-roof we met up with our Toyologist comrade and her brood. We had a fab time and my first tweet-up wasn't anywhere near as scary as I thought it was going to be! (Before I could walk into the Park Inn on Saturday, I texted MammyWoo explaining how petrified I was and she sent a virtual kick up the arse my way. I wish she'd been able to make it as originally planned; your presence was sorely missed chick-a-dee!)

Things I Learnt From NOT Going to CyberMummy11

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  1. I am rather good at painting pirates. I've found a way of making the pink butterflies not quite so pink, and that robots are quite a challenging thing to paint onto a fidgety five-year old's face. Especially when he's got snot pouring down from his grimy nose. Yes, I was stuck at my school-fayre on the face-painting stall.
  2. All these mummy-bloggers that I tweet with regularly have faces, and more importantly bodies! Apparently, some of them have voices too.
  3. The organisers of CyberMummy11 are very clever women to pull together such a massive event and draw in so many amazing brands as sponsors. The pictures of the bloggers with all their goody-bags are tantalising.
  4. As with every group situation in life there are an awful lot of lovely people out there who are genuinely interested in meeting other people. Unfortunately, just as in the 6th form common room, there are those who think they are the 'cool crew' and therefore don't need to socialise or be polite to the remainder of the social group. In reality, these people are far from cool and are actually thought of as arses.
  5. Tissues are a prerequisite, as are Starbucks in a can and additional lunch supplements.
  6. Nearly everyone had a fantastic time in one way or another (apart from me *sob*).
  7. Actually despite my bravado crap from a few months ago where I stated that it would be too like sitting in an INSET for me, I did really want to go and was just a scaredy cat about being able to find a sponsor and meeting new people.

I'll beg on their behalf…

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I've had a brilliant week so far which is why I could be happy for others earlier when I saw the news about the finalists of the MAD Blog Awards.

I was particularly happy when I saw three names in there because I had nominated them in those categories, and it means I was right; they are fabulous.

Specifically, I am referring to:

I, amongst many others, nominated these three women because I adore their blogs for different reasons.

Thinly Spread is just amazing. I told Christine earlier on twitter that I wanted to go and live in her spare room, and it's true. The wonderful tales of family life that she tells just make me want to be the ultimate mummy; the übermummy. But I can't because she already is. I'm not telling you anymore, but if you don't know her blog then shame on you.

GhostWriterMummy is such an inspirational blogger. A primary school teacher, like Christine and myself, she speaks volumes to me on so many levels. Be it the project that she completed with her class on the Japanese earthquake, or the bravery behind her birth story, Susanne has made me confront my own inner demons and overcome them. Along with Jayne Crammond, she has established Maternity Matters, a site dedicated to raising the care that women experience before, during and after giving birth.

MammyWoo. Oh what can I say about Lexy and her sneezes? She is quite simply one of the most talented and endearing writers around on the blogs. If you don't believe me then you clearly haven't read about miming the need to purchase nappies in the middle of Spain, or about the need for mustard in her partner's sandwiches during labour. However, to experience Lexy at her very best then you must read It's only a day away! and I positively defy you not to laugh one second, cry the next, and then want to sweep her up and give her the most reassuring hug ever. I'm biased, she's my mate and I adore her, for good reason.

So while, I'm unashamedly flying the flag for these three ladies, I'll also beg for your votes for the following people. I don't want anyone else getting offended here if I don't mention you; I might not have ever come across your blogs so can't judge you. But these are my Inbox Delights. I may have to flip a coin for a couple of them…

Best MAD blog for Family Fun

Best MAD blog for family Life

Best MAD craft blog

Best MAD pregnancy blog

Most Inspiring MAD blogger

Best New MAD blog

Best MAD blog photography

Best MAD blog writer

Best MAD baby blog

Post of the Year

Please vote for whoever you see fit, don't be swayed by me.

Apart from for MammyWoo; you have to vote for her!

Igniting Passions…of Interest!

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I have been tagged in a meme created by the rather lovely Kerry, over at Multiple Mummy. The premise of this meme is that she had to go to a dinner party last week and, wait for it, wasn't allowed to talk about nappies or weaning. (I'm not sure that they actively banned her from that, but she did have to try and remember how to talk to adults about something other than her children.)

Obviously my family make my world go round, but remembering what things make me tick, ignite my passion, strive for more and give me confidence and self esteem is also very important. So what are they? What are my interests? I have found this actually quite hard. It is like writing that crappy bit of your CV when most people say things like they love climbing and then get caught out in interview, because they can’t name one other Mountain other than Snowdonia!

Ben Nevis, Sugarloaf, Scapell Fell, Mount Everest. Wahay! Go me, and I didn't need to refer to Google either!

Not the point here. What are my interests?

Ok, Here goes:

  1. Gardening: I'm pretty damn sure that the weeds in my flower bed would like to raise their leaves in protest at this point, but just because I don't have time to weed doesn't mean that I can't make things grow, because I can. My garden (when it's looking tidy) has lots of compliments from a range of people. When I look out of the back bedroom window, ours is the only garden that has had anything done to it. Other people have retained their uniform '70×30 foot rectangle of grass, concrete path to the end of the concrete washing line and nothing else' garden exactly as it was 50 years ago. The first thing we did was cut down the hedges, knock down the line and kango hammer the concrete path. I then drew a plan to scale, laminated it and within six months that garden had been produced.
  2. Photography: I know that I am not Annie Liebowitz or Lord Snowden, and that some of my photographs are a little like 'snaps', but when I whip out my Canon EOS 300D and actually concentrate then I can produce some photographs that I am really proud of. Like this one, or this one. Before The Boy, I had the time to experiment and understand the manual setting a lot more. Nowadays, I am confined to the restrictions of the automatic settings. Composition is something that doesn't take much effort though and stems from my next point.
  3. Painting: Specifically oils or silk. I did Art 'A' Level and it was my minor in my teaching degree. I get rather passionate about children being taught the correct mechanics of drawing, once they understand that, they then just have to battle with their natural ability. I used to love painting with oils and produced some decent paintings; my sister had one on her wall for years. Silk painting is something that is so effective and easy to do, everyone should try it. My number one medium though is probably pastels. My parents have still got my 'A' level exam piece on their wall, and I do feel a sense of pride when I look at it.
  4. Reading: I know, I know. It's the one thing that everyone puts on their CV and the one thing that employers groan about. I was going to say "I'm not that good at it", but that sounds wrong. I clearly can read, I mean the analysing of the text. Hence only getting a 'C' in my GCSE. However, I do enjoy a really good book be it Wuthering Heights or Divas Las Vegas.
  5. Blogging: I'm not entirely sure I'm any good at it but it's something I enjoy. My original purpose was to share a few stories and to create something for the future. However, through my reviews I've managed to gain some lovely goodies and share these with people in competitions. I've combining my love of photography in my 365 project, and I've come across some fantastic reading material (which is just as well since I've not finished my book that I started a month ago!)

This is not a tagging meme as Kerry has set up a linky on her blog for it, however I'm tagging in the hope of guilt-tripping them into taking part. Who do I want to converse with in my metaphorical dinner party? Lets go with these lovely souls:

Christine over at Thinly Spread

Garry over at The Blog Up North

Kate from The Five Fs

Helen from Jessies Crazy Kitchen

Lauren over at The Real Housewife of Suffolk County

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