Moving?

Based off a name suggestion by a certain Brain Trepaning (big thanks!!), I secured another blog address. I googled it and there aren’t 75 million other blogs by that name – success! But now that I have a new name and address I’m overcome with feelings of nostalgia; feeling a bit sentimental towards my original name and address. I mean, I can’t just pack up and move on, can I? What will happen to hwhitey1980?

I suppose I can (somehow) transfer over my old posts, but then the dates will be all wrong. And it seems like a lot of work. And what about all the comments? It’s like I’m just going to erase everything that I’ve built over the last year and a bit. I can’t just start new either, because there will be so much left unsaid and things will seem weird without the history… things are probably weird enough with the history.

So anyway, my new address is: www.thatwhitegirlsblog.wordpress.com. There is one post, but it’s really not much of one. I’ll keep you posted (RDRR) as to what I decide to do. Suggestions? Bring ’em!

Who’s your dog wearing?

I read blogs. It’s true. I’ve been a blog-ger and a blog-reader for about a year now and throughout that time I’ve stumbled upon numerous blogs. Most of these blogs I will read a post or two and decide it’s not for me. Other blogs, I will read a post and think it’s right up my alley, but upon further perusal, I realize that that one post was for me and the rest is crap.

And every so often I stumble upon a blog that I dig immediately. After reading a few recent posts, I will go back to the beginning of their blog and read the entire thing start-to-finish over the course of days/weeks. If I still give a fuck about what they’re talking about, I’ll bookmark them and visit their site on a regular basis.

More often than not, I give up reading the blog, either because they post so infrequently that I’ve forgotten who they are and what they’re about, or else I decide that they’re not funny anymore, or I no longer have an interest in what they have to say.

There’s one blog in particular I want to bring your attention to. I have no idea how I found it, but I remember the first post I ever read. The post was practically devoted to vodka and I thought “Now this I can relate to!” I read her blog from the beginning onwards and I started visiting her site nearly everyday. (She posts nearly everyday, so I don’t feel like a stalker).

Since then, I’ve gone back to re-read her blog from the beginning at least once (but I think two more times), I’ve commented on her posts (and received comments back!), I even set up a “Blogger” account so that I can officially “follow” her.

Why? Because sometimes it’s nice to know when people are reading and they care about/enjoy what you write. Because sometimes you need to know that people like you. Because sometimes you need someone to bolster your spirits, even if you don’t know them.

And that’s why I wrote this post. In hopes that, maybe, you’ll visit her blog and like what you read. And maybe you’ll turn someone else onto her fabulous site. That maybe, just maybe, she’ll achieve her dream of being a famous blogger/writer.

Now, go to her site: http://www.whenredmeansgo.com/ and read dammit!

Just in case you’re a little gun-shy, here are a couple of my favourite posts:

http://www.whenredmeansgo.com/2010/07/celibacy-is-fun-not.html

http://www.whenredmeansgo.com/2010/07/taste-for-disaster.html

Pretty awesome, right? But please don’t stop reading my blog, m’kay?

Short Post Central

I recently took part in The Warrior Dash, which I will write a post about soon and which EliseArt will illustrate. I mentioned to her that I want pictures. She asked me for sketches (put that in the record-books). I asked incredulously “Do they actually help?!?!” (feeling hopeful) and she said “Sometimes….”

I guess all hope isn’t lost. Maybe I can draw one day if I practice enough. (Still need to buy the tablet).

The Great Turtle

I’m a pretty horrible person. I’m sure this isn’t much of a surprise to you two, but I came to the realization recently that I’m a particularly horrible person. Let me explain.

My brother’s birthday was a month ago and I swore to him that I’d cook him a birthday dinner. Which I promptly became too busy to cook and subsequently forgot about. Well, he brought it up. And even though it took him 3+ weeks to have me over for my birthday dinner, I have officially passed him; he said to me “Yay – I’m not the worst sibling anymore!”. It’s nice when you make others feel good about themselves.

Mentioning feeling good about yourself… in the same conversation, I decided to ask him if he still reads this shit I call my blog, partially because I was curious, but also because I wondered whether or not I could count him as one of my readers. You know for those times when I refer to “you two”, maybe I could say “you three”.

His response? My posts are “a bit long-winded”. Fuck. He said that they are funny and interesting, but they go on for far too long for “someone who doesn’t read”. I’m not sure if I should be angry at him for calling me boring, or if I should feel pity because he obviously has adult-onset-ADD.

And that (^) is my attempt at a short post. I feel like there’s so much left unsaid.

Also – I’ve been thinking I need a better name/address for my blog. Even though I thought I was clever when I came up with Ramdon Ranblings… a quick Google search indicated that I was not clever at all. So, I wonder if another name is more suitable. What about “Long-winded Sally”? Or “Heather Talks”? Or “I like stuff”. Or “Things are cool”. Or something else greater than or equally as cool. Think about it and let me know.

Janitors aren’t waste – they’re people

I’ve known for quite some time that my drawing skills are somewhat… lacking. Despite my lack of talent and perspective, I often try to draw, even if just to give EliseArt a little more to go on than “Me – mopey”. She has received a number of very, very bad drawings that were supposed to ‘help’.

Even though my pen and paper drawings turn out like that (and sometimes worse), I still occasionally convince myself that if I try hard enough I can draw. I’ll open up paint and start trying. When it looks like shit and/or takes far, far too long, I blame my incompetence on external factors, like the mouse. Clearly, it’s the mouse’s fault that my drawings turn out like this:

So, I started entertaining the idea of buying a drawing tablet so that I have a pen, because that will fix everything. Once I sobered up, I realized that I was kidding myself. I highly doubt that a drawing tablet will help matters. But… since I’m, like, a scientist, and stuff, I need to test this theory out. So, I’ve asked EliseArt if I can borrow her tablet for the night. When I get said tablet, I will re-create the above picture and you can judge whether or not it’s worth me spending the money on a tablet.

*Update: (July 14, 2011) – added tablet picture

 

 *Update: (July 14, 2011) – I think my drawing has improved, but not remarkably. Now I’m at the point where I convince myself that if I practice enough and try hard enough I can do it and the tablet won’t be an $80 paperweight. What’s your opinion, Mighty Reader?

Disclaimer – I do not intend to draw all pictures in this blog – that would be cruel and unusual punishment and I don’t want to lose the 3 readers I’ve managed to hold on to. EliseArt, you won’t get off that easy – you must earn your 12% cut!

Now I KNOW you’re fucking with me

Amphenicols? Really? Plus a ramdon string of words… AND “I’m on to you”!?!?! Definitely fucking with me. Definitely. I have never once blogged about Amphenicols. (I suppose I just did… but still!).

Holy Crap – I’m Old!

I just realized that my birthday is right around the corner. That’s right. In next few days my blog turns one year old.

Happy Birthday, Ramdon.

 

 

Big thanks to EliseArt for providing illustrations.

Guilt. Is there anything you can’t do? We’ll be right back.

The following excerpt is a comment on my last post:

Guess what tomorrow is? The one month anniversary of your last post.

AAAAAaaand, if you don’t post next week, there will be no posts in March!!!

Let me show you a data point of scientific data:
April 2007 (1)
February 2007 (1)
December 2006 (3)
September 2006 (1)
May 2006 (1)
April 2006 (2)
March 2006 (1)
January 2006 (2)
December 2005 (1)
October 2005 (3)
September 2005 (1)
August 2005 (4)
July 2005 (1)
June 2005 (1)
May 2005 (2)
April 2005 (3)
March 2005 (1)
February 2005 (3)
January 2005 (6)
December 2004 (2)
November 2004 (3)
October 2004 (3)
September 2004 (8)
August 2004 (2)
July 2004 (4)
June 2004 (6)
May 2004 (7)
April 2004 (12)
March 2004 (13)
February 2004 (8)
January 2004 (7)
December 2003 (7)
November 2003 (10)
October 2003 (19)
September 2003 (12)

This blog started off healthy enough – and then there were no posts in November 2005! The following months were a write-off (if there were any posts at all) and only a few entries later, it was all over!

Even if it has no illustrations, even if its not your best work, some people need to read new blog entries and not see them head down the haunted path to non-existence.

I failed on the one-month anniversary front, however, I win with a post in March. Go me. I do, however, have one issue with this comment. Let’s face it, I likely have many, many issues with this comment, but I’ll limit it to just one. This commenter is trying to convince me to post using statistics and although it appears to have worked, my issue with it is this: You can prove anything with statistics; 14% of people know that.

So, why haven’t I been posting? Well, I got a new guitar and although she’s really pretty, she’s quite demanding of my time. If I don’t play enough attention to her, she sits in the corner and looks sad. And, I can’t have that.

Also, school. I fear that next semester (also known as the semester from hell where I’d rather curl up under a rock than deal with all the responsibilities and deadlines) will only make things worse. I’m taking three classes. To some, that may seem like a cake walk, to me, it’s a life ruiner. Literally.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time on the outside. It’s a wonderful place with fresh air and animals and stuff. I take my brother and his dog for a walk every week. (which reminds me I should have called to remind him that’s it’s doggie day today). I’m slowly but steadily moving my way up into ‘favorite aunt’ status with his dog. That makes me ridiculously happy.

What else makes me ridiculously happy? Ice-skating. It makes me feel like a cross between a child and a divorcée. Odd combination? Not if you think about it. I feel like a child because I get super giddy when I’m skating. I glide around with (what my brother calls) my shit-eating-grin on my face. I laugh pretty much constantly. High on life – OH! That’s what those after-school-specials were talking about. I wish I discovered this before I discovered drugs and alcohol. I feel like a divorcée because even though I’m living life and having fun, I’m really truly afraid of falling and getting hurt, again.

I think that’s about it. My apologies for sucking it up in the writing arena and big thanks to Gorm for giving me the kick in the pants that I needed to post something. I suppose he’s right, illustrations are not absolutely necessary and this wasn’t my best work. Thanks for that. Happy reading. Yay – new post! 🙂

Nuttin’ but mutton

I went onto my blog page today to “moderate a comment” (I have to approve nearly every comment that people put on my page, and because I love the four of you so much, I also use that time to respond to your comments). It’s not exactly time-consuming, but it does need to be done.

So today I went to my page to moderate and respond and I saw this little thing that I’d never seen before…

SPAM! I got SPAM?! I was really curious and had to see what it was….

Tracfone?! What the hell is that? And who exactly is supposed to answer his question? It’s not like this is a forum for cell phones… Although, he was responding to “I bet it’s in the credits”, so maybe he thought it was about airtime credits. Either he didn’t read the post, or he’s a spam-bot.

I almost approved this comment just to make it seem like I have five readers, but then I thought the four of you would probably realize I don’t. So instead of approving it and attempting to fool you, I wrote a quick post about it, mocking my lack of readership and his attempt at finding Tracfone airtime. Better luck next time, Carl.

Revenge is best served with asparagus. It also makes your pee taste funny.

I mentioned a couple posts ago that I have four readers that I know of… I could probably think of a fifth, but I don’t know if he actually reads my blog, so I like to say four, just to be safe. In either case, I can definitely say with certainty that I can count all my readers on one hand. Pretty impressive.

All that aside, I was looking at my web-stats the other day and there were a few days in the last month where I had 6, 7, 8 views in one day! 8 views? Wow! The way I see it there are two options… Either every single one of you is reading the same post twice in one day, or else there may be more than four people reading.

To be honest, I find it really hard to believe that you four will all read the same post twice in one day (not just re-reading it, but actually logging back on to the internet so that the web-stat-thinga-ma-jig sees it as a new visit). If that is how the internet works…

But I find it even harder to believe that there are 4 other people in this world that read my blog. Even if it was just those 3 days, people other than you read it… I mean, where did you come from? What on Earth did you google to find me?

I just tried googling myself… Would you believe that “Are you honourable” shows up #4 on google?

I was surprised. I continued googling myself and discovered you have to write VERY specific sentences in order for me to show up. This may be the only instance where using random, out of context sentences as my titles will come in handy – example: #1 ranking below.

But “My apple tastes like parsley” isn’t even on the first page? How does that work? In fact, I looked through 5 pages and nada. And even this one (which I think is pretty unique) doesn’t yield the same #1 results.

My favorite is the porn video that showed up before my post (if my page was even there).

What I’m driving at here is: I find it highly unlikely that people are finding me on the web. So my question to you, all eight readers, is this: are there actually eight of you? If so, do I know you? You didn’t actually find me through the internet, did you? If so, how? If not, how?