Post 699: Morning is dawning.

If my cats didn’t keep the blinds on my computer desk window in total disarray, I might never see the morning, or the day and night. I spend too much time here, I know, and those days – like yesterday – that I limit my time on the computer seem to just bog me down with too many new blog posts, YouTube videos, and miscellaneous e-mails to sort through and try to view.

“Oh! The sun is up!”

I hope people read my posts, yet I feel over-burdened with theirs when they add more than one a day. Several post one photo or illustration per posting several times a day. To view, review, “like” (if I do!), close, then delete a post I’ve seen is five keystrokes. If someone posts 15 individual photos or poems (and some do!) a day, that’s 75 keystrokes, where five keystrokes would do if they posted everything in one post.

The impact of the multiple postings is to minimize the amount of time I have available to enjoy the poster’s work and a severe reduction in the amount of time I have available to update my post once a day.

I confess, there are days I am over-whelmed to the point I go through the 300 or so e-mail notifications waiting for me and delete as many as I possibly can, starting with those that are from multiple posters.

I don’t feel good about it, but it seems to be the only way to get through the day without spending the whole day in front of a computer screen, missing little things. Like the sun coming up.

Post 662: I may be an ungrateful @&$^#~! What do you think?

Blogger Yvonne, for those unfamiliar with her work, does a blog featuring her experiences living in Venice.

Her insights and in-depth enthusiasm for the minutiae of life there makes for lively, informative, interesting reading. Her photos are an added bonus because they transcend that old tourist variety one might expect for such a famous touristy city. Thanks to Yvonne, you start to think of Venetians are citizens of a real place, not some Disney World recreation, all tarted up for the tourist trade.

Yvonne dates here obsession with Venice back to 1980. (Some of her early photos....)

Yvonne dates her obsession with Venice back to 1980. (Some of her early photos….)

I like Yvonne’s blog a lot, being one of those people who loves Italy but was never fortunate enough to make it closer to Venice than Pordenone. (Ugh! Almost there! Almost!) I invite you to take a look!

So, it was frustrating to me to see my name on a list of bloggers Yvonne listed after someone nominated her for a blog award: I don’t do awards! The exchange between us follows:

Uh oh…!

I have to be nice about it because the thought is appreciated. Really!

I want to be nice about it because I appreciate the thought. Really!

Graciousness abounding!

Yet I feel I owe Yvonne more than a a lame expolanation...so I write a... lame explanation!

Yet I feel I owe Yvonne more than a lame explanation, so I write a…lame explanation! [Cringe!]

This brings up a blog issue I never feel comfortable handling. No matter how I feel about these awards, when someone thinks enough of my little cat blog to encourage others to take a look at it, there should be a graceful, polite way to handle it without getting into maths. Or lame explanations…!

How about you? If you’re nominated for a blog award, what do you do? How do you feel about it? Do you check out blogs others nominate and (maybe) subscribe to some of them based on your inspection? Are you pleased or not pleased when your name appears on a list? If nominated, do you follow the standard instructions to thank the nominator, nominate x more blogs, and tell x number of things about yourself?

As Joan Rivers used to say, “Let’s talk!” 🙂

Post 657: unintended consequences…

The enthusiastic response to the Ms. Zulu/Andy and Dougy interviews…

...others in the househod to try their hand at bloggery!

…encouraged others in the household to try their hand at bloggery!

Post 635: Andy can back off now – here’s the blog list~

We had some unresolved technical problems (no avatars), but the basics are there, and Tom Kapherr and I hope you enjoy exploring this small sample of the many blogs we follow and enjoy!

"I told you they'd finish it...sort of."

“I told you it’d happen…!”

Click on the link below to view the list:

http://catsatthebar.org/2015/01/01/the-weggie-list/

Post 629: Stay tuned!

Dear Reader,

Tom von Kapherr, whose “Cats at the Bar” blog is a longtime favorite of mine, suggested he and I collaborate on a list of blogs we feel have exceptional interest and merit, maybe even create a regular “award” celebrating these blogs. At least, we’ll post one collaborative blog on New Years and see where it takes us — and you!

I had my doubts. Not that I couldn’t pull up a list of worthy blogs, but that I’d run into the dreaded realization that I really, really like a lot of blogs. My list easily can extend over several pages or be broken into several posts. Tom’s list, of course, still is to be revealed, and may be long, too! Though I’ve no doubt there will be overlaps, we may get a surprise and have that dreaded multi-part post I note above!

(Should I hide like Dougy? )

To date, I’ve buckled down and made my tentative list, made [Print Screen] images from the selected blogs that give some sense of what I like about them, and now I’ll spend a little time creating the text to e-mail off to Tom so he can see my selections and add his.

Will our first collaboration be a hit or a miss? Stay tuned!

Regards,

Doug Thomas, AKA weggieboy