Today’s assignment: leave comments on at least three blogs that you’ve never commented on before.
I’m not much of a commentor. Once in a while, if a certain posts speaks to me, I’ll leave a quick mention. Otherwise, I’m happy to hit the like button and move on. However, as a blogger, I’ve learned you should always reply back to (or at least acknowledge) every person who comments on a post. They’ve not only taken the time to read your thoughts, but to respond as well. So here are the last three blogs I’ve commented on:
War By Other Means – a blog on philosophy and politics. She wrote a really good piece on free will (or does it really exist?).
A New Curse Word – I happened by this post which addresses our overuse of the word “busy.” I identified with a lot of what it was saying about what it means to really be busy, or just faking it.
Whiny Baby – this is a real, raw blog of a young woman making some crazy life decisions. To quote her about page: “I am an epic mess. Total, complete, utter disaster. And I’ve never been happier. Or more convinced that the future is bright.”
Some people really obsess over how many comments they get. I really don’t care; I just love it when they happen. Each time it’s like a birthday present!
If you’re looking for a good place to start commenting, one of the best places to go searching for quality blog posts is the Freshly Pressed page. Comment away!
Today’s assignment: add and customize two widgets.
If you take a glance to the right of the page you’ll find my list of gadgets and badges and little icons of wonder. It actually took me a while to put all of that interactive stuff up. Over time, I’ve integrated my Twitter and Instagram accounts into the blog just in case people feel like seeing what other interweb mischief I get myself into. As far as social media goes, I’m pretty connected, but I still don’t have a Pinterest account and don’t do a lot of the YouTubing so maybe there’s hope for me yet.
But blogging was perhaps the first internet social media craze before we coined “social media.” Maybe some people still remember sites like Livejournal? Yeah, I had an account back in the day. This was the way we made ourselves heard and connected with other people before the facespaces and the mybooks took over. These days, it makes sense that blogs should also connect followers with other parts of the author’s social media presence. It’s called synergy baby!
Plus, social media is a great way to promote your blog to your friends and family. I have my WordPress account set up so when I publish a blog, it goes to Google+ then straight to Twitter which then syncs itself with Facebook. It’s a great benefit of the WP interface! Just make sure you set it up so each social media outlet gets ONE post… there was a brief moment where I accidentally had it set up where my Facebook page would get three posts, spamming my wall. Not very good etiquette.
What is your favorite social media platform? Let me know!
Today’s assignment: Follow five more blogs and/or topics.
I follow around 40 different blogs, some of which update daily, others only post about once a month. I organize them in Feedly based on category; so I’ll share with you the top five blogs I have in my “Web Comics” folder. Before the interwebs was created by Al Gore, it used to be almost impossible to find indie-comics unless your local comicbook shop was willing to carry some. Once the world wide web took off, artists realized it would be a great platform to self-publish their art and storyline, and so webcomics were born.
So here are five web comics I would recommend you read/follow:
Gunnerkrigg Courtis like Harry Potter meets H.P. Lovecraft with a little Blade Runner mixed in for good measure. It follows a young girl named Antimony as she navigates through a strange school and world where magic and technology are divided into mysterious camps of intrigue and danger.
Unsounded has a wonderfully crafted and detailed world of sorcerers and empires which follows the exploits of an undead wright and his frenemy Sette Frummagem, who is on a mission for her kingpin uncle. They get into all kinds of trouble with bandits, monsters, local constables, but their biggest challenges lay inside their own histories. Absolute genious!
Dar!has actually finished its webcomic run and its artist Erika Moen has moved on to cooler projects. However, the story is real, and raw, and explicit. Definitely not safe for work, Dar! follows Erika in the form of a webcomic journal as she struggles with issues of gender, sexual identity, and how to grow up as a 20-something in the real world. It is very well drawn and very well written.
PVP Onlineis one of the oldest and most celebrated webcomics on the internet. Scott Kurtz has been working on this labor of love since 1998 and over 15 years you can watch his storytelling and art evolve into a masterpiece. PVP (Player vs. Player) tells the story of a small gaming magazine and the strange people employed there. Sometimes serious, mostly hilarious, you kind of have to be a geek/gamer/computer person to get it, but it’s well worth the time to read it from beginning to now.
Judeccais a dark, melancholy story of what seems to be a land of the dead, where people have forgotten who they were, but where they physically take on aspects of their downfallen personalities. It is slow to update and has only been around since 2009, but is worth the wait because the artist is brilliant! It is creepy, strange and seems like Donnie Darko got caught in a blender with Alice in Wonderland.
Happy reading! If you know of any webcomics you think I’d be interested in, let me know!
Today’s assignment: create and upload a simple header, or test out a few different backgrounds.
So, I threw together the WMAA header in Photoshop. I wanted something that pulled a number of different elements from my history. Plus, it goes along with the tagline and other curious questions. My blog has always been about random thoughts and experiences; some serious, some playful, all important. So, here’s the explanation for the image header…
not loud enough…
Captain Kirk. What can I say. Growing up, science fiction made up a huge part of my book list. Asimov, Roddenberry, Clarke, Herbert (and more) inspired me with takes of the human race far into the future. Star Trek was one of my favorite stories. It’s the hopeful future of humanity; the dream of world community that allows us to go beyond our world and explore the rest of the universe. We just need some awesome captains to lead the way.
Cherry pie. I like pie. Pie is good. What else can I say; I like dessert. Life needs something a little sweet now and again. Plus, I’m a foodie. That slice of cherry pie has most likely been soaked in bourbon and contains pieces of bacon. For some people, food just isn’t that interesting. I know a lot of people who are very picky eaters and that’s ok. It just means there is more culinary deliciousness for me to investigate!
yup, still creepy…
Rubber ducky. He’s the one. Jim Henson has made some amazing creatures over the years. Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth… these shows and movie unlocked the fantasy for my small child brain. Where my early teen self was obsessed with sci-fi, my younger self loved the stories brought to life by Henson and his colleagues. Modern CG will never be able to replace those puppets.
The universe. While I love fiction, I also love science. There is nothing cooler than learning about the mysteries of the universe. Recently, Bill Nye (the science guy) debated noted creationist Bill Ham on the origins of the universe. It really makes me sad that debate even had to happen; it’s one thing to have faith in God, it’s another to ignore confirmed evidence just because it happens to disagree with a book noted for its allegory and parables. Science is what will get us up and out there to the great unknown… it has power and mystery enough for me. I just wish it were enough for everyone.
wow…
Magneto. Comic books were a fun distraction while I was in high school. I loved the art and creativity that allowed super hero stories to come to life. I got involved in reading graphic novels too, like The Crow, Watchmen, TMNT,Black Hole and a lot of the Dark Horse series. These were more adult in nature, offering mature stories but with just as amazing artwork. These taught me that heroes can fail, the good guys don’t always win and life is not as black and white, good and evil as I used to think. That we’re all a collection of experience and we have more power than we give ourselves credit for.
Just a little trivia behind What’s My Age Again and other curious questions. What are some things that inspired your blog/header?
Today’s Assignment: publish a post that includes a new-to-you element.
The biggest rage on the facespace these days is “A Look Back” feature they’ve rolled out. It’s a video that aggregates your likes and photos into an “intelligent” 1 minute music video. I have to say, mine turned out pretty well. However, I will admit that my wife shows up more than I do. lol I suppose that’s love.
One good (or bad) aspect of being part of social media is that I can track all the insane boring happenings of my daily life in detail. Nothing is lost; just hidden in the past and waiting to be rediscovered. When Heather and I finally have kids, their whole lives will most likely be digitally stored for playback whenever they want. Baby pictures, YouTube videos, they will chronicle in 1080p the development of my kids until they create their own social media presence.
When I was younger, my parents would bust out the old photo albums (even better yet! Slide shows!) to teach us about friends and family history. Now I’ll just hand the kids a tablet with an interactive video/slide show/music video. Which is pretty cool. We’ve gone beyond the analog album and made nostalgia a multimedia experience.
But one of the downfalls of EVERYTHING being captured on social media; it’s harder to find the hidden gems of real greatness amid the big pile of crap. In the old family album, only the best of the best photos were included. Film was expensive and developing it was expensive and photoshop didn’t exist… so there was a preciousness to the picture. It was an artifact with history and power. Now the good is mixed all around with the bad and even worse, the irrelevant.
My kids will look back on my timeline years from now and most likely use it as proof of how boring dad is. “How many pictures of beer can you take?” will probably be the tween comment.
Rev Justin Almeida, MDiv 