Dear Diary

To save time and space, I will completely separate my two blogs. I will no longer post duplications.

For stories and things I want to share publicly, I will continue to blog here, with links to my Twitter account.

For personal thoughts on my spiritual growth and development, I will post on Bride's Blog to Beyond.

Thanks for your continued readership.

** Image: Source unknown.

Blogging

During my Twitter hiatus, I've been reading more blogs. Not only am I catching up on my reading, as well as spending a great deal more time OFFline, I am learning what to do and not do in my own blogs. 

Narrow columns: If I want my readers to retain information, the narrower the column the better. The best retention is found reading 4-5 words across. This is the reason most newspapers and magazines have several columns on a page.

Short paragraphs. If it's more than seven (7) sentences, my readers' eyes will glaze over. I want to target humans, not zombies.

 

Keep it short, unless  sharing a story. Even a story should be less than five (5) printed pages. It's not a book. My readers have better things to do in their life, including finding their own voice and creating beautiful memories with loved ones. :D 

Use humor, where I can. Some of the best blogs I read have a sense of humor in them. A smile shared is a blessing.

Use images. For one, they help keep the columns narrow. It's also a great way for people to find your blog. Most of my traffic is from google images.

Credit images. This is a new trend, likely in response to fights for copyright law. While I've respected requests not to use some images, I've never noted where I found the rest (usually other people's blogs :P). Credit given with the image as a caption, however, leads to confused reading in RSS feeds sent by email. The best of both worlds is credits at the bottom of the post. Unfortunately, I've an extensive collection of "unknowns."

Readability. Many people read on devices other than my laptop with a Firefox browser. The less complicated the font formatting the better. White text may look cool on a dark color background, but appears blank when sent as an RSS feed. I'd wonder at all the white space in the email. :P  And some of the older bloggers like myself find micro-fonts hard to read, but the oober-giant fonts intimidating.

ALL-CAPS. In two words: please don't.

Don't Preach. I will admit, I can be guilty of this too. There is a line between sharing what we learn and observe, and telling others how to live their lives by our measures. I find consistently preachy blogs a turnoff, even when I agree with what they are saying. Blogevangelists can rub me the wrong way; it's certainly not what I want my blog to be.

Let's see how well I follow these guidelines I've established before sunrise on this morning. And for those readers who follow regularly, you have an unlimited pass for an "I told you so!" when I break any of these. :D

Share a smile

So it lasts a while

~ESA

*** All images from the internet: unknown source.

Trust of a Child

I spent the night at my sister's place visiting, but I woke up exceptionally early (before 4:30 AM) and logged online to find something to occupy my time.

I went to IM chat box first, but the only two friends "online" I knew were likely asleep, so I refrained from sending a post that may wake them, leaving them to dream in what Peace they may find.

I then wandered my way back to Twitter and skimmed through the tweets. My drive to go to Twitter every day had suddenly fallen off last weekend.

For the past week it felt as though I was tossed unanchored from wave to wave seeking more secure footing. I still had my guiding star in sight, but without secure footing, sometimes one gets a few mouthfuls of water to spit out before toes can dig into the sand and find the rock ledge beneath.

What my wandering heart and mind sought this early hour was not there. So I continued...

Instead of a gaming website (which I tended to visit when I could not find anyone I wanted to converse with online), I went to my blog and skimmed through the sites I follow.

There I found a few allegedly inspirational posts, but they seemed to fall dead at my feet this morning as I sat in the silent darkness before the first birdsong hearing only the rain pitter-patter on the walkway outside.

I also read a few humorous blogs; some made me smile, but not had me laugh nor lifted the darkness that seemed to grow more oppresive with each passing minute.

Then I came across my young niece's blog. She wrote of her 14-year-young problems with her mom, step-dad, friends and boyfriend. But she also wrote a lot about God and Jesus. Even when she did not name them, her faith shone through her words - clearly stating that no matter what she faced, God was there. She just had to put her trust in Him to see her through whatever life placed in her path.

I believe that was what my heart sought. So many times, I get so wrapped up focusing on stuff in my head, with work, with family, with discussions of what things written long ago may mean, I forget to take a still moment -- even one in the middle of the night -- and just listen to God's song in my heart, trusting Him and letting Him guide me where I need to be and with what I'm called to do. I know He is reaching out to me and to each and every one of us...

When that finally dawned on me, the first birdsong rang clear and true outside the window where I still sit. I clicked on the [New Post] button and decided to share this moment with you. It's very early morning; the sun barely kissed the sky with light and a lone bird greets the still morning outside. The song in my heart joins in it's song lifted to God.

Relive the faith of a child.
Believe He's reaching.
Trust in Him

- ESA

Twitterpated!

A friend of mine invited me to join Twitter. Like countless others, great and small, I did. In fact, I just posted a "tweet" (if that's the correct word) that I'm writing today's blog.

I also took my YouTube account (http://www.youtube.com/user/2008HLS) out of hiatus yesterday and started responding to all the PM's (personal messages) that arrived over the past week.

So now with FaceBook, YouTube, two blogs, and Twitter, I'm definately distracted from doing the work I should be doing. It makes me wonder if this is good or bad. I certainly cannot help thinking about a story I wrote last fall, The Ant and the Grasshopper.

In Disney's Bambi there was a term, "Twitterpated," which was essentially to mean "distracted to the point where the person doesn't see or hear what else is right there in front of them." It can be the result of a spring day or being newly in love. Of late, most of the world seems "Twitterpated" by all the different ways we now connect online, including "Twitter."

I really need to unplug from the internet and allocate some time back to what is really important in life - family, neighbors, friends - instead of perpetually being online and seeking more and more contacts worldwide. While this in itself isn't bad, it is bad when it's the only thing at the sacrifice of other relationships.

- ESA