I’m going to start doing something new on this blog. Not reblog. Those don’t get read very much. I’m going to respond to other people’s blog posts.
I’m going to link to the original blog post that I feel needs to be responded to, and write what I think about the topic. I will respond to anything about writing, books, science, environment, and sometimes current events. I will respond to some things I agree with, and I will tackle some posts I completely disagree with. I want to show another side of an argument or add on to a topic I think is important.
And to start things off, I’m going to take requests. If you have a blog post you’d like me to respond to, let me know in the comments below. Preferably your blog post, but I’ll take other suggestions, too. Looking forward to seeing what you want me to respond to.
I Read Encyclopedias for Fun 
You’ve already been at the Dog’s Breakfast! 😉
I sometimes reblog so I can put my long and fastidious take on whatever it is, and that way people who read my page but might not read the OP’s page will get to see what I say -and- what I’m responding to. Bonus is that it appears in the comments as a reblog for the OP and with my comments, plus it goes on my page as content.
If my comment is 2 lines long, I may not choose to reblog, but whenever I find myself typing a small book for a comment, I think, “pffft just reblog it,” and copy paste my response into a reblog response.
yes… I think from now on I’ll only re-blog real short things like a poem or whatever. very good
A long comment definitely deserves its own post. This is basically what I’ll be doing, but I won’t be doing it as a reblog. They don’t seem to draw much traffic. I find that a lot of people ignore reblogs. So, I’m linking to the original post in my post. Looks better, and most likely to get some clicks through to the original post.
Feel free to comment on any post I make. 😃
Okay! I’ll have to look through your blog 🙂
Please do. Probably nothin’ earth shattering, but I try to make it fun. Hope you like what you find. 🙂
Okay. I’ll try make the response fun, too.
Hey Jay dee, feel free to comment on my post on driving over the limit if you like. Here’s the link: https://outanabout.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/over-the-limit/ 🙂 Cheers
this is good too Miriam: could be done in a note right at top saying something like “Here is my take on this excellent …. da adadaa…. so and so posted on their blog linklinklink
I’m taking notes…
You’re quite right.
I may. I like driving, and have experience in both Canada and Japan.
That’s good. No speeding tickets for you then?
Never had any problems. In Japan, I have a gold license, which means I have a perfect record.
Good for you.
I reblog if it’s something like that really touches me, but liking and commenting will make a big difference. And don’t forget to follow anyone that follows you! Makes a big difference too!
good points… I always like to comment in some detail. LIKE is so subjective…unless it is clear that I like the writing, like the style, like the picture, like the theme, like the point of view…..there is no way I would ever like kicking animals in any context… for example 🙂
Lol I find it hard to *like* not so awesome things too . ….I try to remind myself I’m liking the author, their writing, and pov…..no, for instance, starvation or death ( boy that went dark fast lol)
the buttton should also just mean “ok, I saw it” then if they want to comment they can, it is an acknowledgement more than anything I think 🙂 I like to know who sees my stuff
true!!
That’s often what I think the like button is. However, I get many who click it in the reader without actually reading the post.
This reminds me of my mom. I’d post something negative, like bad news, on Facebook, and she’d like it. I’d ask her why she liked that, and she said the like button was her way of marking the posts as read.
Liking posts is something I don’t take very seriously at times. I know that some people will simply click on like in the reader without actually reading the post.
I almost always leave a comment, but now and then I’ll hit LIKE just to indicate that I was there and saw the post. I’d rather have likes than no response at all.
Yeah, me too. And if I don’t really have anything extra to add to a conversation in comments, I like the comment instead.
Pretty much like me. Though I used to reblog. Not so much now. I write a post and link to the post I’m talking about. Following and commenting are important. I always try to do that 🙂
Very important! I look forward to reading more of your stuff!
Thanks. I post twice a day at least, something is always coming within a few hours.
nice article and discussion point ..!
Thanks. Just something I thought could generate some discussion.
I don’t reblog either, but I do try to share on Twitter or mention great posts here or there.
Recently I did a post “who am I” and it prompted many people to write a similar post of their own, I’d love for even more people to join in and link back to the original. Currently, I have it up as my featured post. 🙂
people always seem to like/enjoy Who Am I type articles. It took me awhile to figure out that stating who I am isn’t necessarily bragging or complaining…
Not bragging at all. Quite often, readers of blogs want to know about the person who writes it. I’ve done posts like this before, and I’ve had some great responses.
I do want to know a bit about them, very often there is some common area between strangers on blogs.
Absolutely. If I find something in common with someone, I’m more likely to be back. I find that I attract a lot of people who have tested as INTJ in personality tests.
sometimes I will follow young people or newbie bloggers just to help them get along…I’m interested in almost everything so it’s easy to mingle. I do look over the blog a bit though, as I wouldn’t want to have to unfollow someone. 🙂
Of course. I tend to not follow blogs that I have no interest in. They can follow me, but if I have nothing of value to contribute to another blog or have no interest in their content, then I don’t follow. It’s nothing against the blogger.
I agree. I like blogs that are about everything, anything…and I will follow a young writer that seems to be trying to make it and is looking for feedback. A bit of encouragement…
I follow pretty much any blog that’s about writing, photography, science, and travel. I like those kinds of things.
we have similar interests. History is one of mine, and I like poetry sites, photography, science, travel, writing… humor. I’m not into baby stuff any more…potty training and the like…and although I like looking at gardens and flowers, I really don’t get into the mechanics of it. My flowers either grow or they don’t. 🙂
I’m into the baby stuff still, although my daughter is 4 now. There’ll be another one in a couple years, I think. I may get into gardening in Canada. I want a kumquat tree.
My “baby” just turned 50! It’s not that I am not interested in reading about babies, just not as the main and only topic. 🙂 Actually I have lots of baby stories…so bring ’em on. LOL
I have daily stories. Today, my daughter is drawing a picture and keeps saying “kiss party” while making kissing sounds. Where does she get this from?
TV cartoon? Who knows where kids pick up words and thoughts…some of them will curl your hair 🙂
I’m waiting for more crazy things. Last night, she said “kiss party” again.
a picture of a valentine-party, with people kissing, logical to call it a “kiss party” she sounds like a smart little girl, did you say she is five? That’s a delightful age range up to about twelve, when they get to know more than parents. I love kids that are interested in everything! 🙂
She’s four now. She’s very curious. I doubt she’ll know more than I do on various aspects of science, unless she goes to university early and studies the same thing as I did 🙂 But I hope she’s interested in many different hings.
They do pick up a love of knowledge from their parents. I asked my youngest grand-daughter when she was about five if she was going to be an engineer like her Dad. She said “maybe when I’m grown up.” She’s 19 now.
And what is she studying now? My daughter’s said she wants to be a doctor and a toy repair person.
my granddaughter who once said she was studying Accounting because it would have a better chance of making a living than being a Rock Star. Guess what…her life is her rock band now, and working as a restaurant server. 🙂
That’s great! She’s been able to achieve what she dreamed of.
yes, she just recorded another CD this past week. She travels a lot on gigs around the US, and has a great following locally, now waiting for money to come in. LOL Isn’t everyone?
Nice to hear. My cousin is also a member of a band, and he’s done plenty of local gigs. But now he works with a choir in Victoria. He’s not really a singer, but I think he does some of the music for them.
I might post some of her u-tube productions on my blog. She taught herself to play guitar when she was about 15, writes most of her own songs…she is really very good.
Sounds good. Would be interesting to see.
she is recording a new CD now, I think its the third. I asked her if I could post her site on my blog and she said “sure.” She has a big following around here, it takes so long to catch on. Nashville, California, southwest states, NY, Cleveland, mainly Akron.
I’m sure she’s happy for a bit more publicity 🙂 I think any musician would want their website more widely-known.
yes. She has a big show in Cleveland (Ohio) tomorrow. Taught herself to play guitar at 16, and is really quite good. (I’m her grandmother, of course, but she really IS good.) 🙂 The name is timecat.com
Are you sure it’s timecat.com? It looks like a website advertising cat products.
me sure? nah….I’ll come up with it shortly…
here’s the correct url https://timecatmusic.bandcamp.com/
Guess I should read this one before answering 🙂
That sounds interesting. I may do that as my first response 🙂
IHi I recently learnt how to pingback and that has really had people stopping by, Always answer and always comment but never bite… pleased to meet you all. 😇
so true…its never necessary to be mean. There is always something positive to say even in the worst posts… like on student papers at an entry-level university… there’s always “hey, nice R’s”
Nice pockets hahaha!
yeah… there’s always something positive to say about a blog… even if its the background color or tag name.
Nice R’s. Haha. That gave me a chuckle.
with some entry level students it is necessary to find something good about their papers LOL
I know. I teach some kids and adults who have little to no experience with English.
I was a tutor with ESL, and had a Korean guy who knew no English/I know no Korean. We got along fine…he was a Civil Engineer and doing projects for his company that I happened to know something about. It is amazing how much ground can be covered without verbal language.:-)
Absolutely. I saw a documentary about American and Japanese engineering students working together to make robots. The thing is, they couldn’t speak to each other. They communicated through diagrams and blueprints.
Math is the universal language. My friend’s company did land-reclamation along the coasts of Korea (just South at the time) filling in between land and little islands. I happened to recognize it because I had been secretary of our planning and zoning boards…learned all kinds of stuff I thought I would never use. 🙂 Cleveland’s little muni airport is on reclaimed land, among other things.
Lots of land-reclamation around the Tokyo area, too. I’ve spent plenty of time along the coast of Yokohama, which is mostly reclaimed land. Beautiful area, but potentially dangerous in a massive earthquake.
The corps of engineers dredged a harbor near here, out in Lake Erie, and built a park a mile out on the pier. My husband and I followed the development of the park…very interesting. I was a reporter then, and did some stories on it. I think I will blog on it…hoping my photos are not all on slides 🙂
Interesting. A park on a pier? That kind of thing I find interesting. There’s a pier for cruise ships and other international passenger ships in Yokohama that has a park on top. It has a unique design.
there was a long (one mile) pier, a fishing pier maybe, and when they dredged the harbor they needed a place to put the dredgings, so they built a huge round contraption and pumped stuff into it…for years, at least ten, maybe 15.. it was bound by huge pilings and metal drum-like things. Slowly it filled up, like a big basin, and trees and grasses, etc. started coming up. This was a mile out into the Lake (Erie.) I wrote a newspaper article about it…(I was a reporter at the time) it will make a good blog feature IF I can find the photos.
If you can write a blog post about it, I’d be very interested in reading it.
I will, it will be better if I can find photos. We took pictures over a decade; we would go out there for dinner and always walked out on the pier (I think it was some kind of breakwater thing) 🙂
So you have photos showing the change over a decade? That should be fascinating.
Yes, I do, I’m searching for them now. I know I have numerous slides, and some film strips. I’ll check my albums. Also there’s a newspaper feature around here that I wrote when I worked there. 🙂
I guess you must have a lot of things from when you wrote for the newspaper. Lots of photos?
yes, thousands of slides and pics in other forms.
I found pics in one of our albums, just from one or two outings. We used to go up there on a weekend and out onto the causeway? and always took “progress” pics. stay tuned…
Looking forward to it!
just a note…the U.S.Corps of Engineers has applied for permit to dredge the harbor again. this time depositing the silt? out in the “open lake”… I found some pictures and will post them later today or tomorrow.
I look forward to it!
I have a few snapshots which I will put out today…the slides I don’t know how to deal with, I’m consulting with my son to help me figure out how to deal. I have thousands of slides…not all the harbor, of course. 🙂
Let me know when you’ve got the post up and available.
I am having problems with the pictures. I need to make them larger so you can see details. The pics I have located are from two different times, all that I have in snapshots. 🙂
I can understand that would be difficult. Before the digital age, wasn’t it?
I have the pics scanned and in the post…but they are smaller than I wanted. There are three others that I want to get in the post. Sometimes I think I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. (I guess that’s a computer thing.) I’m going to write some brief descriptions and send it off shortly. 🙂
I checked out your blog and saw the photos. They are kind of small, aren’t they? 🙂 But very interesting.
I think you saw the earlier draft…please take a look again when you get a chance, the final post is much better and more finished.
I must have. I just checked, and it seems they’re much bigger now.
This is one thing I don’t like about the new wordpress editor…some posts get published before I have them ready to go. I like to “view” posts before the final, as there is always an error or omission that I want to fix. I actually did a new post with large individual photos.
I never use the new editor. Still using the old one! 🙂
I don’t like the way it posts prematurely. I like to check the posts for errors one final time before publication…and also the new editor doesn’t seem to drag in pics the way the old one did. I think I’ll go back to the old one too…
Good idea. I never went with the new one. Just lacked so many things I use.
Sometimes the old one pops up, im not sure what the criteria is.
The old one always appears for me, but I go through the old WP Admin dashboard.
ah-ha! therein lies the answer…ureka! thanks…
No problem. I just hope they don’t remove WP Admin.
they do have a way of discontinuing programs at will.
Or changing. But in all fairness, they do reverse some decisions or reincorporate features when a lot of people complain.
squeaky wheels get the grease…or however the saying goes 🙂
I’ve never been very good at sayings 🙂
I love sayings…drives my kids nuts. 🙂
Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from where the cookie crumbles.
true… 🙂
Yes, these photos were taken with an SRL Konika probably, at least thirty years ago. These have been in an album, so the fading is minimal.
Yay! I would like to rearrange the post pics, but that would take me another ages! I’ll leave well enough alone..the captions are not with the featured images. I have more photos over the years, we used to go up there fore dinner several times a year, mainly in the summer.
I think it looks fine the way it is. Not much you can do about the size.
the photos were sized ok in the published post, and also captioned.
don’t bother going back…there is something I’m doing wrong with pictures like these, I scanned them in but can’t figure out how to increase the sizes. I thought they would enlarge in the post, but I see they don’t. sorry… 🙂
They did get bigger, now that I look at them again three days later.
thanks. I scanned these pics in, something I hven’t done before. They aren’t bad for 35 years old or so. I can’t get them to enlarge though, so its hard to make out details.
Well, that’s the nature of film.
right. I have negative strips too some place.
The last time we were there was probably in 1998. The park was about 3/4 filled in…still soggy at the edges. We walked in, got pretty muddy. lol I should at least get the dimensions…
It looks better now, I assume.
In the photos the harbor dredging work was not finished yet…30 years ago. The pics show the progress of the filling-in of the park area. I haven’t been out there for about 20 years…it’s been existing city park for many years. I might drive out there to look it over in a couple of months to see what it is like.
If you do, I’d like to know what it’s like. Of course, I could probably look on Google Maps 🙂
I tried googling too but didn’t turn up much. The project literally built the landmass/island/ as the dredgings were added. I think I will drive out there again (about an hour drive) when it warms up. It is a mile long walk out to where the park is… about a mile is paved pier, but beyond that it was some pretty treacherous concrete “chunks” that formed the rest of the “causeway?” out to the small lighthouse. I haven’t been there since the late 90s, so I’m not sure of what it is now.
Hopefully it’s better. I’ve been on a few breakwaters/piers that are several hundred metres long. But I don’t think they were anything like this.
I’m going out there as soon as the weather permits. The reason it was still soggy last time was that the land of the park had not solidified all the way. The long pier from sore went out a mile, but only part of that is a finished concrete. The rest was quite treacherous pilings that formed the pier. I wish I could find the articles I wrote. That was very long ago…not digital photos.
I guess the article would be in print, wouldn’t it? Any archives if you don’t have it at home?
in theory, yes. However, the newspaper went to digital “morgue files” decades ago, and the old clipping files were discarded. There is always that god-awful microfilm. This was a Sunday Magazine feature also…I think…but with a lead-in on Page One. I’m going to drive out there in a few weeks when the Lake Erie warms up.
When I was in university, we had access to all of the major newspapers and their back issues in the basement of the library. We didn’t have microfilm, we had microfiche. Those readers looked like ancient pieces of technology.
right, I have used microfische.. I did not like it…especially searching hours on end.
It was irritating to search through them. I had to use them as references in research papers.
yep, me too…
There is also the public library in Huron, it well might be there. Also…my files should have it still, but I moved all that old stuff out of my cabinets when I was working on my phd dissertation, also 15 years ago or so.
http://mumbletymuse.com/2016/02/22/huron-ohio-land-reclamation-p
Jay Dee…the harbor project post is up. 🙂 http://mumbletymuse.com/2016/02/22/huron-ohio-land-reclamation-project-photos/
my back has always “gone out” my kids used to think that was hilarious…until they got back problems themselves haha
Hi,thanks for dropping by. I agree that pingbacks are great. I love to see them, and I like to link to posts.
I agree. There is something wrong in the current REBLOG system. I reblogged your post on required reading yesterday. However, I am not content with the way the attribution turned out. I did include an introduction note but it still doesn’t adequately explain that the REBLOG I posted was YOURS.
Thanks. I think so, too. The reblog system doesn’t always work the way I want it to, so I don’t reblog anymore. I just provide a link to the original post, and the post actually looks better.
good idea. I’ve been saying the reblog in the headline, too, and that I don’t like.
Sometimes hard to think about what makes it look good. With these responses, I’m trying to figure out what I’ll do with the title.
it just bothers me when the one who wrote it isn’t obvious…in effect I am saying “hey, I didn’t write this…so and so did!” That’s why I think your way is the way to go…send a link rather than the whole post. I will usually (not always) follow a link.
That’s what I’ve read. People tend to follow a link in a proper post rather than in a reblog.
I just dislike having to search for the author
Yeah, me too. Well, at least we can work around that.
the posts that I re-blog are usually distantly related to my own blog, so my readers are not necessarily apt to want some of them…but with a post of my own and a link, the option is there.
I think you are on to a great idea…I agree about reblogs, and I think your plan to do your own comments on a post instead of reblogging the whole thing…to link to the post not reblog it.
I wrote something about this yesterday…but it seems to have disappeared into cyberspace.
I wonder what happened to it. But someone else posted about this and I thought it made sense. I haven’t reblogged since.
I’m going to do it differently from now on too. Well its good because we can evolve as we go along 🙂
That’s right. I’m always looking for new ways to adapt and improve the blogging experience.
earlier I had a “like” and there hadn’t even been time to find my post, let alone read it. How can they go through so fast? I’m not trying to collect “likes,” I hope people read my stuff. LOL
Someone definitely just hit like in the reader without reading. It’s like they’re saying “I acknowledge that you made the blog post, but I’m too lazy to read it.”
I had one yesterday that I swear my finger wasn’t off of the publish button yet…and it was a relatively lengthy (for me) poem…they could not possibly have even glimpsed it.
Yesterday, I had a post with 9 views and 11 likes.
I guess a couple of them liked it so much they liked it twice. 🙂 Its the ones that must have an auto-like and just like everything.
I’m sure they just saw it in the reader and hit like. Basically, like an auto-like.
auto-like…that’s about it. At times I post a fairly long piece and presto! somebody “likes” it in a split second, literally. I always take a look at stuff before I “like” it.
I only ever like if I get to the bottom of a post. I never read posts in the reader. I like to see the design of the blog. It’s like I’m being invited into someone’s home and I get to see how they decorate.
right! I don’t read much in the reader either, same reasons as you. The theme and design are the personality of the blogger.
I don’t like the way the reader displays blog posts. All white background. It’s so sterile.
I know, it seems there are any blogs of people I know…
I can’t think of anything specific right off the top of my head, but I just wanted to say that I think this is a cool idea. ^_^
Thanks. I should be posting the first one in the next couple days.
Sounds like fun. I don’t have anything recent that would be good for response, but I’ll keep it in mind if I do an environmental post.
If I see something I want to respond to, I’ll respond to it anyway 🙂
Hi! I am very new to blogging, and I like to get some feedback on what I can do to maximize my experience (given that I am using a FREE!!!! plan) :). Cheers!
Hi there. I’d say some of the most important things to do are to reply to all comments on your blog. That’ll keep readers coming back and wanting to read more. Also, go to other blogs and comment on them. That’ll attract new readers, too. But it’s really important to do what you like to do.