I WENT OUT BLOGHOPPING FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS LAST NIGHT and got such lovely comments back today. To "blog-hop" can mean different things to different people so let me say what I do. You CAN just press "next blog" and see what comes up but it's so very random and most of the 70,000,000 blogs have only one post or are in South American languages or nobody reads them at all so that's usually a dead loss for finding something interesting. There used to be a thing called Random Blog Button you could "press" and a blog would come up out of the ether to entertain you - and it usually WAS entertaining. No more, however. They've improved the life out of the Random Blog website so thoroughly the random feature has gone! (How typical is THAT of the modern world?? Hmmm.) The best way of bloghopping is easy: you go to someone's blog you know and click on a commentator you don't know. And you take it from there, clicking on comments upon comments friends of friends of friends and every time I see something interesting I leave my electronic calling card at least to say "hello - I coasted through, wahey!!" and on you go. (If you don't leave the callingcard you get no comments back - duh!)
I used to do that a lot. A lady called Annelisa who wears a glittery wig laughed because she'd seen me like a rash one night over every blog she knew. I DO miss the Random Blog Button... were it not for that I'd never have discovered the joys of Daniel Thompson, Microtonal Composer among many blogs of microminority interest ... nor Amazing Gracie, who seemed to pop up every seventh click!!
In answer to the queries I got last night, yes I AM a writer - as one who daily writes can call oneself but I'm not getting paid until I submit an entire manuscript to a literary agent and get my $1,000,000 advance, so until that time I remain poor and undiscovered and living (literally, yeah!) in a garett - haha! What was the other question? Oh yeah how do I find the time? Well, blogging takes an average half hour per day including replying to comments and spreading myself around a bit like herpes (you know, over the internet) not to mention posting. I always post EVERY day even though I usually have nothing to say (inherent factor of this blog, I'm afraid.) The book DOES take time... because in 4 hours I might write 2 pages. And by that I mean 2 pages in handwritten scribble on A4 33 lines per page "ruled, feint". Hmmm.
I found Clarissa Dickson Wright's memoirs (she is a former TV cook in this country, famous for the BBC show Two Fat Ladies) - in the bookshop today. Appropriately enough they are entitled, Spilling the Beans. She doesn't novelize her memories: just raconteurs them on paper the way a letter writer (or a blogger, for that matter) might do so. But Clarissa Dickson Wright is a known personality (who used to drink like a fish incidentally) who I got the strong impression really did write every word herself. She probably produced a manuscript so strong the publishers took it on as it was. I'm not known, but I still feel a bit spurious about bowing to convention and adorning my memories with novelistic dialogue that I don't REMEMBER strictly being spoken like that ...
My neighbours think I am mad. What else would YOU think if you stood at the door to hear 4am cooing, "Come out you old gremlin! Come out you swine!" (Me talking to Bashful.) Boy is she looking blobberous today, she's like a furry globe with a face racing about... Then Sergeant Itchy emerges to investigate. I'm sure Itchy really is a dwarf dwarf hamster, she hasn't grown at all since I got her - how long ago was it? Surely 2 months ago by now... Because she is smallest she still gets most washed - looks like a baby cow with wet back all prickled up. Hence title "Itchy" I thought at first she had the prickles literally...
On that note I must go. I've written no memoirs at all today and Valium Marilyn's threatening to come bellowing down my street if I don't come and shut her up first...
Wahey! Till tomorrow...
Video of the day:
REM - Losing My Religion
PS Remember I said Clarissa Dickson Wright gave great interview? Click here for her this year's Desert Island Disks transcript. Fascinating.
9 hours ago
13 comments:
What kind of world is it when a man can't call out to his pet gerbils at 4 am in the morning, from his balcony, without everyone questioning his sanity?
As Chad & Jeremy once sang, "I can't stay in a world without love."
Even if it's love for a rodent.
I really admire your will to post every day!
You are good boy!
Bye!
Zen Wizz! OR FOUR RODENTS! HAHAHAARGH!!!
Calista! I'M VERY GOOD INDEED HAHA!!
Hey Gleds,
Just checking in to see how you are doing? I liked the clips. I like to blog hop too, you never know what you will find. It's a mystery until you stumble on to something great.
Hi :D. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a couple of comments.
I used to hit the "next blog" button a lot myself, but just as you stated all the blogs that I ever came across were in languages I don't speak (well enough, anyway) or were just crappy with two posts from years back. :E.
And then I used to do the other thing, too. By going on someone's blog and just finding new blogs through them... but now I don't have much time because of school and everything so I don't do it anymore (I could, if I really wanted to except that I don't want to feel guilty after not having time to go on interesting blogs again and commenting more etc etc, the list of excuses is endless -- as is this comment, apparently).
Hee-hee, my blog comments weren't always this huge. I swear. :D.
I love blogging and writing which means I can ALWAYS (well, almost) find time for it. Not everyday, and sometimes I might not blog for weeks... but I'm just like that when it comes to writing. I write when I feel like it. And if I don't write on my blog I'm probably busy writing somewhere else, i.e. forums, notebooks, e-mails and so on.
Ok the end. xD.
Thank you for visiting Gledwood, darling!!
I do hope to see more of you in the boudoir!
Love your blog!!
I can see myself getting lost in here with all these delicious distractions!
xox
I too have wondered where the random blog button has gone. Bloghopping is a lot harder work without it. :)
Hi Gleds, just popped in to see how you going,be back soon Im having puter problems...
Hi Gledwood!
I have been reading your posts for a long time now... you keep me amused :-)
so shall look forward to your memoirs when it comes out :-)
Alexys: I get constantly surprised how good a lot of the stuff is, the writing and - especially the photographs. In fact I've learned the only difference between amateur and professional in these arts is "calling oneself" professional haha!
Spacecake: 1. you speak English like a native - how come??! 2. ooo school oer there WAS no internet when I was at school. Nearest thing to it was a network of Research Machines Nimbus computers (long extinct)... they were linked complete with data volume restrictions on each account - meaning you could only save about 10,000 words text tops (that is about 1/10 of a second of a CD) hmmm.... I used to hop blogs all the time now I only tend to do it once a week or so
Domestic Minx: your boudoir - haha! I will drop by soon I promise!!
Lonegrey: yeah what did they DO to it? At least with that you KNEW everything would be in ENGLISH... and why keep it going but WITHOUT the random facility ... what does "random blog button" MEAN then... oh as I said it is a sign of this confused world we live in !!
Jeanette: Well I hope they get sorted out, Ruth's at the Dr's too
Pining: Hopefully by autumn 2008!!
Hi Gleds ~~ You are doing well with 5000 words so far on your blockbuster. The revenue doesn't sound wonderful, but possibly wasn't current. Please keep at the writing.
I see you visited Connie who was one of my visitors last Thursday. She is in my Aussie list under Meow. And she is the dark haired lady in my photo.
I am not related to many - only my brother Peter and his son Marcus in
my family list (above the Aussies)
But quite a few are friends like Jeanette, Gwen and Margaret and Jen's family. It is Spring here, not mid Winter BTW. Take care,
Kind regards, Merle.
Actually it's memoirs... the "blockbuster" came in because that was all the bookshop had that seemed worth reading (and I'm not naive enough to believe that "writing for children" is going to make me the next JK Rowling... there will not be a next J K Rowling but there's always plenty of room for writers of adult popular books
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