Renovations and Blogging

If I don't blog all that much this week it's because I'm trying to get
out of the house because of some renovations going on. Consider the
following photos before pictures:

Politico: Liberals Are Voicing Concern About Obama

Politico's headline labels the people worried about President-elect Obama's
appointments as "liberals." I would be more exact. The people who don't like
President-elect Obama's selections are not "liberals" but leftists. FDR was a
liberal. Bill Clinton is a liberal. The folks of Daily Kos and Crooks and Liars
are way to the left of FDR and Bill Clinton. So I don't think liberals are concerned
with Obama's appointments, it's the leftist that are upset.

A snippet from the Politico.com article:

Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out
angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing
them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.


Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for
the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick
drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything
but stalwarts of the left.


Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria
at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the
new boss looks like the old boss.


“He has confirmed what our suspicions were by surrounding himself
with a centrist to right cabinet. But we do hope that before it's all
over we can get at least one authentic progressive appointment,” said
Tim Carpenter, national director of the Progressive Democrats of
America.

OpenLeft blogger Chris Bowers went so far as to issue this plaintive
plea: “Isn't there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic
administration?”

Obama should just ignore them. The leftist are never going to be happy unless
America looks exactly like Canada or France. Don't get me wrong, I like Canada
and France just fine. However, America is a different animal and we must keep
our uniqueness.

In related articles: Here's a NPR segment on the same topic.

Arianna Huffington: Hey, You Know What Jobless People Can Do?

With unemployment rates rising the highest in 34 years, Arianna wants
the jobless people to blog.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Arianna Huffington

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

50,000 and 1,000

I've reached my 1,000th post today.


Yep, a lot of yapping.

Also, my Google Ad account shows that I'm closing in on 50,000 hits.
I think I signed up in Nov. or Dec. of 2006.


Here's hoping that I write a thousand more posts and get 50,000
more hits (or more).

I Hate Your Blog

Feel free to tell me you hate my blog, ok:

Trying to start a conversation

Just wrote this email to a Yahoo! video blogging group I'm involved in
(edited my typos):

Ok, I know I'm probably going to take a lot of heat for saying
this but I'm just going to do it.

This has been a particularly politically active year. Everyone is
speaking their mind about this presidential election and that is
great! One thing I've noticed while following some of my favorite
video bloggers on Twitter, Flickr, etc. it seems that most subscribe
to a particular political ideology. Basically, most are supportive of
a Democratic candidate.

Recently, I found out about a Web site called Eyeblast.tv. It's a
conservative response to Youtube. I know some will say why do
conservatives need to separate themselves and create their own
video platform. Perhaps, the question should be "Why would they
do such a thing?" Maybe, it is a symptom of not being welcomed
in the video
blogging community. The same could be said about Godtube.
Perhaps it's not Christians wanting to separate themselves but
perhaps a feeling of not being welcomed in the online video community.

I know the demographics for the internet are young, which means
that a good portion will be more liberal in thought.

Uh Oh: Most People Don't Read Political Blogs

Oh no! Again, I show an inept ability to choose a career path. Here's the bad news
from the Reuters article:

Only 22 percent of people responding to the poll said they read blogs
regularly, meaning several times a month or more, according to the
survey conducted by Harris Interactive.

Political blogs, in which writers, pundits and other participants voice
opinions in online forums, burst into the spotlight in the 2004 and 2008
presidential campaigns. Some of the most high-profile blogs are influential
on campaign strategies, media coverage and public perception of the
candidates and issues.

Unlike traditional, mainstream media, blogs often adopt a specific point of
view. Critics complain they can contain unchecked facts, are poorly edited
and use unreliable sources.

Quick! Someone tell me what's the second least lucrative career path because I'll
probably follow that path also. Hey, what do you think of a 4'11 gal like me making
it as a supermodel?

Sorry, Boys, We Got This Blogging Thing Down!

Looks like when it comes to blogging and creating content for the
web among teens, it's largely a female thing:

The prototypical computer whiz of popular imagination — pasty,
geeky, male — has failed to live up to his reputation.

Research shows that among the youngest Internet users, the
primary creators of Web content (blogs, graphics, photographs,
Web sites) are not misfits resembling the Lone Gunmen of “The
X Files.” On the contrary, the cyberpioneers of the moment are
digitally effusive teenage girls.

Here are the stats from The New York Times article:

Indeed, a study published in December by the Pew Internet
& American Life Project found that among Web users ages 12
to 17, significantly more girls than boys blog (35 percent of girls
compared with 20 percent of boys) and create or work on their
own Web pages (32 percent of girls compared with 22 percent
of boys).

Girls also eclipse boys when it comes to building or working on
Web sites for other people and creating profiles on social networking
sites (70 percent of girls 15 to 17 have one, versus 57 percent of boys
15 to 17). Video posting was the sole area in which boys outdid girls:
boys are almost twice as likely as girls to post video files.

I think it makes a great deal of sense. Teenage girls are none for being chatty
and focused on developing friendships, thus, making social networking and
blogging are appealing for girls than boys. It's like an online teenage scratch book.

Review of Quarterlife

quarterlife Part 1


Since the internet is slowly becoming more and more my place
of choice for entertainment. Movies, blah! Television, so 1950s.
Today premiered the web show Quarterlife on MySpace. It's from
the creators of 'My So-Called Life,' which I've mentioned on this blog
before. I thought I would take a break from talking about politics and
review the new web show.

As I've grown older I've realized how exceptional writing makes
or breaks a show. This is definitely well-written. A little too
well-written. If you look at the people posting their spontaneous
ramblings on Youtube they usually don't have the depth the main
character (Dylan), who is a writer and blogger, of this show has.
So it just doesn't come off realistic.

Ok, now on to the plot. As a twenty-something I like the plot of
recent college graduates trying to find careers, love, and lasting
friendships. They are all struggling with something. However,
you can already see the underpinnings of a complicated love triangle.
I'm getting exhausted of these triangles. It reminds me of the tired
plot of the teen drama 'Dawson Creek.' Dawson loves Joey but they're
just friends. Dawson and Joey finally get together after much chatter.
Then Joey dumps Dawson because she just loves him too much. She
then dates his best friend, Pacey. Well, in the second episode of Quarterlife
we can already see an inevitable love triangle between Jed, Debra, and
Danny. I wouldn't be surprised if they dragged that plot line to the very
conclusion of the show. I hate being dragged. Also, do writers really think
that every young person secretly has feelings for their best friend's love
interest? I don't think most people in real life are as conniving as that, even
young people.

And what would a drama be without someone with a serious issue.
That is where Lisa comes in. She's an alcoholic. How do I know that?
Because in the first episode we are blatantly told by the main character,
"She drinks too much." Studies have shown that alcoholism is a serious
problem facing college aged people. It will be interesting to see how they
deal with this plot line. I don't have much hopes though. How much depth
can you give to such a complicated and hard societal ailment in a short
web show when most of the time is going to be spent on a love triangle?

I know I've been pretty negative so far but I did enjoy the show and will
probably watch it again. I just hope the writers don't continue to go for
the plot lines we often see on television. This is the web, baby. You can get
as creative as you want! Think outside the box and not inside television box.

They're Watching Us!

Looks like the presidential election campaigns are keeping an
eye on the blogosphere. Here's a quote from the Washington Post
article:

"Senator, why are you calling me?" the veteran political reporter
asked.

"I read your blog," said Clinton, who quoted from his posting while
insisting that of course she wasn't going to skip Iowa.

I hope some of my favorite political bloggers have Caller-ID or get
ready to say, "No hablo Ingles."

Taking a break

I just thought I would do a short post noting that
I will probably not be posting that much this
weekend. I'm gonna take a blogging break. Sometimes
you need to step back from the things you enjoy to
realize why you really enjoy them.

P.S.
I had a job interview yesterday and it
went well.

Which political blog is the most vicious?

Bill O'Reilly has been going after Daily Kos lately but
there are so many other vicious sites. Which do you
believe deals more in vitriol than political news?
1. DailyKos.com
2. CrooksandLiars.com
3. The Huffington Post

My web poll here.
I know there are also some vicious conservative blogs but
for some reason they don't seem to rise to the level of
these sites.

People make money off of blogs???

BusinessWeek has an article on how much some bloggers
are making. According to the Web site, Techcrunch.com
(I've never heard of this one) is making $200,000 a month.
Boingboing.net revenues reached over a $1 million.
How much is Terry Ann Online making? All this
fantasticness is brought to you free folks. Apparently,
a site with photos of silly cats is doing much better
than me. Darn cats!!! I was actually starting to believe that
bloggers don't make money so that's why we write in pajamas
in our parent's basements. Turns out it is just me.

Blog suggestions?

So I think I need new blogs to visit.
I'm mostly interested in vlogs, technology,
political, or religion blogs. But I will
take any suggestions. Hey you can
even send me your blog! Just post the
link in the comment section.

Blogosphere

I am wondering how one gets noticed in the
blogosphere when there is so much content
out there?

Something from the comments

Click To Play

Washington Post article
Sheryl Crow clears up comment

Not taking the bait

One thing I love about the internet is all the
interactivity. I enjoy leaving comments on
people's blogs.

I frequent many political blogs. Of course
these sites are going to have controversial
topics in order to start a heated debate.
I've noticed that several of the popular
political blogs and debate television shows
often come from an angry place.
Anger is not always necessarily bad.
There are so many horrible things
going on in our world and showing some
passion may get some feet moving.

But I wonder how many of these angry voices
really care about the topic they are
ranting about. Or they simply trying to create
buzz about their website or T.V. program so they
can get viewers? I don't know the answer because
I can't see into someone's intention.
Continue reading here

I use to leave comments on blogs that would
show hostility towards my beliefs. But I have
decided I will no longer do so. Even the act
of leaving a comment explaining my particular
point of view is participating in the igniting of the
fire. I am no longer going to be baited.

I have no problem in participating in discussions
on topics that are of importance. But I think it has to be done
with people are trying to solve these difficult problems
we are facing in our country and world and not with
people who are fiery and have possible ulterior motives.

I blog...

Click To Play

Two Years of Blogging!

Exactly 2 years from today
I started blogging.
Happy anniversary to
my financially unsuccessful
career in web logging!
Ironically, a few days ago
I celebrated 25 years of
life (my birthday).
Blogging and living they just
go together.

Blogging brings in the big dollars...

or in my case ten cents.
After four months of being
registered with Google Ad Sense
and I've only made a few cents.
I'm pathetic on so many levels.