Friday, August 28, 2009

Support, man-style

So I've started this blog, and I'm feeling pretty excited about it. I love talking to people without actually talking...to people. And I've told (well, emailed and Facebooked on account of the whole not being good at actually talking to people thing) a bunch of friends about the blog, and they're checking it out, and all's going well.

One morning earlier this week, Jason's looking over my shoulder as he gets dressed for work.

"You should change the format - it looks too cluttered, and it's hard to read."

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, I get an email from my husband at work, the content of which was:

http://www.sitemeter.com. They offer analytics that you could use on your website.

I'm intensely flattered to see that at work, with all that he has to do, he has thought of me and my little website.

When he gets home, I am pasting in the HTML code to add the Sitemeter counter to the bottom of my page. (All by myself!) I mention proudly that I got two comments on that morning's post.

"I tried to post, too, but they wanted to me to have one of those accounts and I just gave up. I was going to say, 'You ARE a douche.' "

Later, I make some reference to not knowing someone's name at early intervention playgroup, and he says,

"Yeah, I read about that on your blog. I read all of 'em."

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"You really gotta change the 'About Me' page to make it more personal. It's like, if you got into a car accident, that's what it would say in the newspaper."

I get all defensive, mumbling about how I haven't had time, and I don't know what I would say about myself, and it DOES say SOME stuff about me on there! He waves his hand at my objections.

"Nobody cares about what books you like. You need to write a narrative about yourself so that people can connect with you. Right now, it's a dud."

Now I've got my back turned to him, bottom lip out in a full-on pout.

"Oh, and that picture is terrible! You need to get a better picture. You've got a pretty face - you should show it."

I'm a little stung about all of this. It says in the manual that he is supposed to tell me that I am perfect. (Although the "pretty face" comment was alright.)

But I am Taking This Blog Seriously, so I start checking out expert tips on how to make a successful blog. And wouldn't you know it? Everything Jason said is on there.

So I fixed the format. I'm drafting an About Me bio. And Jason's going to stalk me with a camera all weekend until we get a halfway decent photo of me.

The next day I ask him, is there anything you like about my blog? And he says,

"I like that you changed the format."

6 comments:

  1. kelley! i am SO GLAD you are doing this. i have, like jason, read all of your blogs and love them. as you know, i am a fan of your writing so i think this idea is fabulous. this blog, support, man-style, made me laugh out loud! i loved it, not only bc it was true, but i could relate to your feelings as jason is helping (correcting) you (so i did connect with you, as jason, aka, blog expert said the reader should). the last line is SUPERB! i absoutely love it. =)

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  2. Wow - thanks, Lori! I am having so much fun with this blog, and I love hearing that someone else gets the funny that happens to me.

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  3. I like your current picture.

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  4. this described me a couple of years ago! you should see the bling and cool wall paper and pictures, etc. etc. on my now private blog. my current one is a bit more polished, but i blog so much less these days.

    i really like your blog--great start!

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  5. Thanks for all of the words of encouragement! I had actually purchased web space and the domain name for my blog 4 or 5 months ago, but I had NO IDEA how to set it up, so the site has nothing on it (yet!). I was getting really anxious to be writing, so I set up this Blogspot dealie so that I could just start blogging already. As I am getting a sense of what I want my blog to look like and do, I'm realizing that I really need to work that private website that I'm paying for and move away from Blogspot. I just have to teach myself some web design first...

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  6. great start! you've always been such a wonderful writer. i do love a great blog! xo

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