a little color

 Trying out a few GIFs with color.

 

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

I just can't leave that post there on top

The last post was too holiday related to leave as the last post for very long.  I could write something seasonal such as snow sucks when it gets too deep.

Here's popular picture from a post long ago on my other blog:

I don't know the kid or the mini cow

 

You see

After two nights, the internet spun,

My eyes began to turn red.

After three nights, in the facebook fun,

I couldn’t make it to my bed.

And the story it told, of a comment that flowed,

Made me sad to think it was from Fred.

You see I've been through the internet on a blog with no name,

It felt good to be out of the same.

On the internet you can forget your name,

'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no claim.

La, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la

You can find the whole parody over at "a blog with no name".  (hey if you can sing and would be willing to do a youtube video of this, we could go viral together)

now what

The car doesn't start. The clicking chatter from under the hood sounds bad.  Damn it's always something.

More of these "somethings" when you have less of "nothings".

Recursive complaining. Complain and then complain about the feeling of complaining. Your own feedback sucking you into a downward spiral.  Pull out before you crash.

Back in a former life, I made a living coding embedded software. Recursion was a useful but tricky approach to creating applications. You had be cautious of infinite loops.

A system stuck in an infinite might never come back and in some cases could destroy itself (I believe a few windows computers died that way). Intervention by an outside observer/user hitting the power reset was needed.

To keep the software from getting too loopy in it's thinking a hardware watchdog would typically be included in the design. The watchdog needed to be feed (sent a valid signal) within a preset time frame or it would shut down the software. This approach allowed the software to ignore the aid of the watchdog by inserting a feeding within it's loopy routines. In other words ignoring the help of others. I'm fine, I told you. Now go away.

Couldn't everyone benefit from a personal watchdog?

BTW, I was reviewing recursion on wikipedia and discovered that Google included a little "Easter egg" surprise on their search page related to recursion. If you search on main search page for recursion it ask you "Did you mean: recursion." It never ends, does it?

ass u me

"Do you know what happens when you assume?"  he asked not expecting an answer.

I hesitated, "I'm not sure."

"You make an 'ass' of 'u' and 'me'."

Not only a lesson in spelling but a lesson of life was handed to me on that day back in my military career.  I don't remember any of the details of what I had assumed.  Probably some task that I screwed up.  

People will assume.  If you are not assuming at least a little you are probably not even thinking.  The trouble is not the assuming exercise but rather forgetting it is an assumption and not fact.

Back then most all interaction with each other took place in real life.  Even a phone call could provide voice cues with regards to urgency, emotions.  In the virtual world of twitter, blogs, FB, G+, chat, etc. we interact with plain raw text.

Assuming has become more dangerous. 

What would Bonzo do

I have not a clue. I don’t know anyone that goes by the name Bonzo. I did meet a Guido once and that was on a friendly terms. 

What makes good blog content?

The audience decides in the end. However how could an audience of readers decide anything if the selection of readers is very limited. There could be a tribe of unknown nomads on a west coast highway who would relish my words. How would they ever find me? 

Crazy little thing called blog 

I gotta be cool, relaxed, get hip, and get on my tracks.

Ok lets say I was hip and trendy. Do hipsters even read anything? I heard once that when a hipster was identified as a hipster, he/she was no longer hip. No really knows what a hipster is anyway. I’ll try a different angle. 

Loverboy was wrong singing, 

"...everybody’s working for the weekend..."

There are people satisfied with Monday through Friday. Weekends are often over rated and I don’t write about the weekend. Everyone is not looking. Everyone is not wondering. Everyone is not doing the same thing, they never do, diversity rules.

So I’m looking for that Bonzo tribe. Maybe I need a west coast trip or at least a new Itunes playlist.

write it and they will read

Not really.  At least I don't think so.

But if you don't write it, well it will only linger for so long in your brain cells.  You could sing it, paint it, perform it, carve it.  Writing is easier for me.

The general idea is to record it in some type of media.  Now if you are really creative you could do it in a way that a future explorer might think was done by aliens from beyond the planet.

Can you imagine the great comedy that took place around the cave back in the day.  We can only guess.  Those cave paintings are not that funny but I think the jokes were great.

The history that we know the best is the recorded history.  What evidence do I have for comedy night in the cave?  None except I can't imagine that humans were not always funny (at least some of them).


Do blogs report history?  Back in '09, I wrote about the eggo shortage.  I don't imagine there will be any historical significance to the eggo shortage but who knows?  Well it and many many bits of trivia are documented on the web.

A recent visit to my sisters left me thinking about writing.

Maybe a book on eggos, maybe not.

My Brother-In-Law has written a book.  (I hope he'll stop by here and leave a link to his book site in the comments)  His first book was a few years ago.  But now he working on a second one, a funny one about his childhood.


Blogs are ideas like books except blog posts are much shorter.  Ideas for books come and go.  But to actually grab one and wrestle a book out of it is something that appears to be beyond my reach for now.

I suggested to my BIL that a blog promoting his book would be a good idea.  I really enjoy the blog, "Pearl, Why You Little".  She promotes and sells her book on the sidebar of her blog.

One great thing about writing, you can fart in your writing and probably get a laugh instead of a dirty look or threatened.  Unknown Mami farts for laughs on her blog.  Actually, the rumor has been confirmed that she has been blogging around.  Check her out here.


A blog fart can linger on web and would you care?  

The delivery technology of books has changed.  I wonder as they become digital will they also become interactive?  I don't mean interactive like a video game because we have games that do role playing.  Some of them can be more complex than a mystery novel.

The vision I see is an interaction with the author as you get engrossed in the story.  It could be a blog-type-book.

A great thinker and very funny guy gave us this quote:

Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.  - George Carlin

what do you want

Go ahead I'm listening.  Don't let my facial expression distract you.  Yeah I'm a little tired and have heard much of it before but it's OK.  I still have an open mind.

When I started blogging in 2006 I had a mission.  It doesn't apply anymore.  I consider it accomplished but not to the level I thought it would be.

What?  Do you want to know about that mission?

For those new readers who don't know Lisleman read this if you like and come back.  I'll still be here.

(damn! - I can't link either now!  Sorry about that.  This is the correct link for the mission background.  Good thing I checked.)

But I can't dance, I can't jog.
The only thing about me is the way that I blog.
I can't dance, I can't sing
I'm just standing here selling

...

Oh you're back!

Don't pay any attention to that noise you heard.

Yeah this ICB blog is new compared to A Few Clowns Short.  I learned a few things about blogging over all these years.

Lesson 1 - most visitors don't bother to comment.  But you are different right?  You have a word or two to leave me.  Right?

Lesson 17 - A shoe shine boy on the beach makes more money than a blogger.

Why am I still here?  Because you are.  The interaction between regular visitors is a fun experience for all involved.

I like comment sections that have exchanges which are often called threads because they connect back to a source comment. They become conversations.

Imagine this - You attempt to start a conversation and immediately you get, “conversation will continue after approval”. A big conversation killer don’t you think?

I don’t understand why some bloggers control their comment sections in that way. Sure I get some comment spam and I need to clean it out. I don’t worry about “approving” a comment before it is visible. If blog readers have not seen comment spam then they must not have read very many blogs. You can control the spam with other techniques (DISQUS system does a good job).

Is there a secret to entice readers to share a comment and return for future posts?

I am not sure what works.  I have found the patience and many return visits to their blogs certainly help.  Most of my comment sharing readers are bloggers.  That's fine but don't any non-bloggers read blogs anymore?

Of course the content is king.  What type of content interest you?  Yeah I'm talking to you.  

If you are still reading, then I'm doing OK to have your attention this long.


I do wonder if I understand "my audience".  You can attract an audience by strange actions and loud noises.  That doesn't mean they will stick around.  After your arrest, you'll never see them again.


What do you want?


Me - 

checking everything is in place,

you never know who's looking on.

One year ago

I had an idea.

Doesn’t everyone get ideas popping in their heads?

Sure most ideas might not be better than a brain fart.

You know what? In this golden age of internet access and digital social exchanges we are offered easier ways to spread those brain farts. (would twitter be so successful if it was brain farts instead of tweets that were sent out?)

If you started reading ICB with this post, you might not know what the idea was. You don’t need to go through too many posts to find it. This is the third post of ICB.

You see the idea was to have a one post blog with many threaded comments.

It didn’t work too well. The start of it was fun with some growth, but it faded.

Can you explain the appeal of new? 

Is the new thing preference some natural human characteristic? Buzz, hype, hip, cool, new things, new places.

I think of a blog as a roadside billboard. Right now I think my blog (A Few Clowns Short) is still on a back road though. That's OK because there are really nice people traveling that back road. This ICB is more like a back alley with many roaming cats.

One difference between a blog post and a billboard is the views of a billboard stay constant longer. An old blog post (old measured in days) just doesn’t grab the attention. Like farts they fade fast (good for one not so good for the other).  I’m not sure why blog readers think that way.

Recently, I had another new idea burst into my head. A flash of brilliance filling my cranium. Ok, maybe a flicker of dim hope.

Lisleman’s Left-over Laughs - LLL.

LLL will be a blog post sharing feature.  It is still in the planning stage but that’s another great thing about the digital social exchanges of today, planning is dynamic.

Look for LLL over at A Few Clowns Short soon.

rule breaking post

Do you write/run a blog?

Guess what, you can change the rules.  It is one of the great things about blogging.

I started ICB with the idea of a one post blog with lots of comments and comment threads.  That one post got well over a hundred comments but the comment activity dropped to a trickle after a few months.  The comment threads never went very deep.  I believe there is some good info in the comments but I know it doesn't jump out at you.  It was still interesting and I certainly appreciate those that joined in.

So here is a second post on my one post blog.  Below are some thoughts I have on blogging.

A comment about comments about comments or comments cubed.  I guess this comment makes it comment to the fourth power.  Ok, what I'm struggling with here is the power of comments.  Maybe 'power' not the right word.  Let's say, the effect of comments. 

Comments = sharing

Now what is being shared can be thoughtful, inspiring, hurtful, anger, humor, or any assortment of emotions and opinions.  I like the positive and/or humorous ones the best.  You probably do too.  Even if the comment is the blogosphere version of a smile or friendly glance that's better than no comment.  But we don't always want to smile.

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

No this is just a blog.   But to me it's something special.  An expression, a place to share and get some feedback.   You pop in with a quick look around.  You are free to move on and many do.  There are so many blogs and so little time.  It's OK.
 

Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low, Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me.

But if a photo, a story, or video clip grabs your attention and you stay for a bit, then I suggest you look around just a little more.  You'll probably find another post similar and maybe even better.  Hey maybe you could spare some of your feedback in a comment.

 
Blogging and sharing play together well.  So share your opinion.

So what's in a blog?

Mostly a lot of time.  Do you have any to spare?

So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye.

So you think you can love me and leave me to die.

Blogs - some people don't understand why we do it. 

I know there are many answers/reasons for blogs but most bloggers have the common goals of expression and sharing. It really makes my day if I realize that I connected with someone and especially if that connection was a laugh or smile. This is what makes the comments so important.

Any way the wind blows.
 

Hey readers and fellow bloggers do you do drive-bys?

I'm not talking guns, violence, and that trash here. I mean clicking the browser before the page even finishes loading. There is only so much time and I admit I have scanned a few blogs very quickly. But not my favorites but then I guess that's why they are my favorites.  So one thing you might miss if you are too quick with the click, is the comments. I've been lucky to get some really funny comments on some posts and I have read some great comments on other blogs.

An example of this is a comment about a blog gang.

Once a another blogger (at the time was known as Eternally Distracted but now goes by Sex, Drugs and Bacon Sandwiches ??? ) offered a suggestion that we start a blog gang in her comment.  

Remember Spanky and our gang.  I recall reruns of them.  They were almost as good as the Three Stooges.

My response to this blog gang idea -

A blog gang - do we need to wear leathers? tattoos? gang signs? how do we act tough? scare readers with big words?  thanks you got my mind racing. I'll check back with you after I take a spin on my tricycle.

Well after my failed attempt to steal a ride on the little neighbor girl's trike, I have one more thought.
 

This would be the type of gang that shares recipes for rice krispy treats and if provoked might be pushed into a food fight (but only with non-allergenic soft food items). A non-violent gang of bloggers using pictures and words to mark their territory.

Do you remember “Forrest Gump” and how he loved to run?

One morning on a whim, Forrest ran to the end of the road,

then across town,

across the state,

across the country.

One morning I started blogging about the work shutdown our group was suffering through,

then I blogged about my memories,

I connected to other bloggers,

started to get followers of my blog.

The media wanted to know why he was running. Forrest tells them,

 “I just felt like running.”

Blogging might be like that. Blog and blog, just like Forrest you turn around and find followers.

I just feel like blogging.

In the movie, while running in what looks like Utah to me, Forrest stops, slowly turns around and says to his followers:

“I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.”

Right there in the middle of another daily run he just quits. I have followed a few bloggers that just ended it like that.  As you are following along reading their regular posts, one day you read the good-bye I’m tired of blogging post.

Do you blog like Forrest Gump?

another circus