In Which I Just Keep Truckin On, Like The Do-Dah Man

“Sometimes the lights all shinin on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip its been.”

~ Truckin, Grateful Dead

~ • ~ 

If weeks had subtexts, then I’d say that this week’s subtext has been: HIPPIE-NESS.  [a word?]  Do you, gentle readers, have weeks like this when one unusual subject keeps turning up repeatedly?

I’m not kidding, every day this week I’ve been part of a conversation that has centered one way or another around topics that belong smack dab in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Sock it to me, sock it to me. 

~ • ~ 

I’ve talked about:

Birkenstocks [which are now fashion forward again, btw]

AND

senior citizens who like a little toke to start the day [former neighbors, in case you’re wondering]

AND

a slightly insane off-the-grid genius who spent most of the 60s building a castle from stones he found along a river bank [photos coming next week]

AND

Colorado vacations [where weed is now legal, like you didn’t know]

AND

mothers in the 1960s who dressed their children in brightly colored matching outfits [not sure if this is technically hippie-ness, but it was a thing back then].

~ • ~ 

Yes, it’s been a groovy week– and I’ve loved it.  I’d forgotten how the hippie culture which influenced the late 1960s and early 1970s was so much less uptight and so much more in the moment than today’s world of goals and analytics and marketing and– oh, whatever.

Like, far out, man.

So what better way to end this post than to leave you, my gentle readers, with this song by the Grateful Dead that has run through my head all week?

Guess I’ll just hang it up now and see what tomorrow brings!  😉

I’m Doing June 2014 NaBloPoMo, My Way

I’ve been in need of a blogging challenge. 

Just showing up here a few days per week isn’t cutting it for me anymore.  I need a goal to re-ignite my blogging passion.  A reason to get up each morning and share my tales, thoughts, photos, links with the world while achieving something special for myself.

And what better way to do that than to join BlogHer‘s NaBloPoMo for the month?

That being said, I know my limits. 

So I’ve decided that I’ll join in June 2014 NaBloPoMo on my own terms.  To wit, I’m going to do 20 days of the challenge instead of the entire 30 days.

In other words, I’m doing 2/3 of that which is asked of me because, to quote Margaret’s daughter’s friend: “A decent something is better than a perfect nothing.”

Is this not so?

See you tomorrow, kids.

– – • – –

NaBloPoMo_June_Comment

– – • – –

The “So, Do You Like Me More?” Experiment

• • •

This is an experiment.  You, my gentle readers, are the control group.  Below I will post a little paragraph for you to read, then you’ll be asked to answer a few easy questions.  Thank you in advance for your participation in this experiment of dubious value that is perfect for a Friday morning blog post.

• • •

The Paragraph:

Here’s what’s happening.  Sir &/or Ma’am, I appreciate that your time is limited so I can’t help but wonder: how can I help?  I ask this because I believe in you.  I’ll find out the answer to this question and then when you thank me, I’ll be able to say the best words ever: you’re welcome.

The Questions:

1) Having read the above do you inexplicably like me more than you did before?

2)  Which specific words in the above paragraph do you believe made you like me more?

3)  Is it possible that by using 19 Words That Will Make People Like You More I have become the most desperate for something to write about most well-loved & respected blogger ever?

Bonus Question – Does anyone else count only 18 words on the 19 word list?  Just wondering.

• • •

I await your answers in the comment section below.  

And For My Next Decade…

DSCN3154

• • •

This week marks 10 years since I started my first public, somewhat disjointed, totally photograph-free, poorly written blog.

I know, I’m amazed, too.

You’d think that I’d have some pithy, inspirational conclusions gleaned from my experiences along the way, but I don’t.

No, the best that I can tell you is that keeping a personal blog is lots of planning and work, some fun– and a damned good way to find out who is really on your side.

Which, for me, has been enough.  So far.

But today I find myself contemplating my blogging future, knowing way too much about how wrong things can go, and trying to decide what to do next.

To wit, here are the questions that have rattled around inside my brain during this auspicious week.

•  Do I continue doing the same things here on this blog– keeping it personal and light just like I have been for the last 3 years?

•  Do I change this blog into something more opinionated, rather like a newspaper column with an agenda to promote?  Or a niche blog devoted to one specific topic?  And if so, what would that agenda/niche be?

•  Do I start a different, private blog in which I tell more of my story to a select few people who I know will support me?  And if so, what does that get me?

•  Do I give up on blogging entirely and just walk away from it?

I have no definite answer here.  

But I suspect that you, my gentle readers, have suggestions about what I should do next concerning this blog, my blogging career, all things bloggy.

Heaven knows that you always have something to say!  And I am grateful for that.  😉