Blogging Advice for Beginners

When you start a blog, please don’t make the same mistake I did and tell people in your personal life of your website.

Why?

Then, you have to be careful about every single word you post, and lose the ability to write your thoughts freely.

Sucks!

Many people in my personal life have been highly offended at some of my posts.

Writing is so boring though if it isn’t from the heart!

Oh we’ll, going to keep on spuing out my odd thoughts and the people I know will just have to deal!

If I can’t write what I wish, why write?

Duh on my part!

Liz

Blogroll, Custom Menus and Widgets, Oh my!

Do you have a mixture of recipes, photos and articles on your website/blog?

Need help on website organization?

 

Timethief gave me this wonderful link about custom menus:

http://wpbtips.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/custom-menus/
If so, my suggestions are as follows:

Please see Roughseasinthemed’s website (link on my blogroll).

Note how she has her website organized?

Check out her header, and “custom menus” for different subjects?

Please note Roughseasinthemed is an expert writer, and she writes on many subjects. She has the most organized website I have ever visited, well she and Timethief (see her site on my blogroll).

*Receiving many questions about blogroll/custom menus/blog organization and appearance in e-mails (over the past month).

Step-by-Step Directions: 

Please see my blogroll on the right hand side in the “sidebar.”

If click on the link where it says, “Need help setting up your blog?”

Direct link to the WordPress Help pages, these pages contain step-by-step instructions with photos on appearance, widgets, custom menus, blogroll, etc.

Hope this helps!

Liz

 

American Youth: Research & Report

The Meeting:

Jesse was the first 21-year-old college student that I met, noticed straight away, his marked intelligence. Jesse’s listening skills are very unique, in that he doesn’t look at my boobs when i speak.

Thought this very unusual, and asked if he was a homosexual, he said, “no” and took no offence to the question. I proceeded to dish out loads of advice and stories, Jesse listened, I was astonished that a young man was listening to me, and not due to wanting something more. Been a very long time since a man has actually listened to my words, so the talking, on my part, was most likely over-talking.I feel guilty for filling Jesse’s brain with useless facts (noted in the useless facts section category – on the sidebar to the right).

My Unwanted Advice (to Jesse)

  • “Always keep a badass in your back pocket, in case you get in a bad predicament somewhere”
  • Good idea to always know a badass, your entire life, so they will help you at a moment’s notice”
  • “Love sucks, I hate love, just breaks your heart into pieces”
  • “Keep relationships separate from sex – always” “The two do not go together well”

The interview continued on all topics, mostly about dating, sex and marriage. I found a 21 year old’s views on life really interesting, as they are so different from my own. Jesse told me of his girlfriend who lives far away, and that he was madly in love with her, and he wished to marry her. Found this to be even more interesting, as young men of that age (in this area) typically are not ready for marriage.

The Roommate Introduction:

He kindly introduced me to his roommate Dorian, as I walked into their flat.

The Flat:

The flat was amazing! I believe it was above a building, like a studio apartment.The ceilings were high, with crown molding. The building was very old and had much charisma.My amazement grew of the architecture of the rooms that were surrounding me.The crown molding around the windows, doors and on walls, made the flat seem so “homey” and elegant, especially for (2) 21-year-old old college students. Immediately,  began dishing out decorating advice, as the flat really needed a woman’s touch. Even though the flat showed obvious signs of “collegeness” it was quant and I just loved it, as I feel every old building tells a story (geek here).

The Fur Coat (has much significance for this report):

The large fur coat hanging on a door, grabbed my immediate attention. I decided best to wait a bit before asking of the coat, it was obviously old and had many stories to tell.

Lineage:

Jesse has a short and stalky build, while Dorian is taller and thinner, they both are exact opposites. Jesse was obviously from the United States, and his lineage appeared to be from the U.S. Dorian’s lineage is Irish.

Discussions: 

Myself, Jesse, and Dorian continued lengthy discussions on all subjects; music, human trafficking, vampires, vampire movies, drugs, college, you name it we talked about the subject. The two handsome men’s responses were thoughtful, although I was quite surprised as to their not studying/reading much of American or world history, this surprised me as I learned such things early on in high school and college here in the United States (history nerd here). Both of their questions were intelligent and were well spoken and seem of a good & higher education (which I found refreshing).

The Aging Statement:

Jesse said, “My grandmother’s favorite music artist is Janis Joplin.” I was shocked, as my favorite artist is Janis Joplin (70′s rock singer/songwriter). In other words, this statement by Jesse made me feel very old. Like a dinosaur, the statement aged me.

My Life Odd?: 

The conversations continued on as Jesse and Dorian were asking me bountiful questions of my life. Seemed as though, they were interviewing me, found their questions intriguing, questions that made me look at my self and life. Didn’t think my life was that odd, but apparently my life is not typical whatsoever compared to other woman in suburbia, of my age. Dorian and Jesse politely guessed my age at 31, thought that was sweet, as I am 34 or 35, one of those ages, I forget which one. The conversation continued into the wee hours of the night, and the discussions went deeper and deeper into the thoughts of my own and of the two young, handsome students.

Questions and Answers:

My spuing out facts, just to see their reaction, or if they knew of such facts. I asked these questions to the two:

“Do you know the significance of the song by the band Filter, “Hey Man, Nice Shot?” Dorian and Jess responding with “no.”

“Do you know where vampire lure originated from?” They responded, “no.”

“Did you know there are many children missing in Romania for no reason?” They responded, “what are your thoughts on where the children are located?” Amazed at their thoughtful and polite questions as such a young age, I responded, “I feel the children in Romania (in my opinion) have most likely been abducted or sold into human trafficking and taken to Mexico or the United States.” I requested to change topic, as the discussion of such things makes me terribly sad (almost cry). Dorian and Jesse responded, “that’s probably right.”

Sex Topic of Interview: 

How often do you have sex and with whom?” was my next question of the two.

Jessie quickly responded, “only with my girlfriend when she is is town.” Dorian stated, “a few times a week…I go to a homosexual bar and take home the straight woman that hang out there.” (yes, I was amazed, yet again).

I then asked Dorian, “Are you a homosexual?” He responded, with an abrupt “no.” I knew he was not, due to him only looking at my chest while speaking to me, but figured a valid question, considering his above remark, and that he was wearing a rainbow bandana, which is the LGBT organizations bandana. I said to Dorian, “you are wearing the bandana.” Dorian quickly took it off and threw it across the room, and said, “my sister is a lesbian and I support the movement.” My response was, “that makes sense, I understand now.” I found Dorian’s free spirit a nice change from my normal day to day conversations.

My Website Review by the (2) College Students: 

The two decided to check out this eccentric website, and looked it up on their, what appeared to be an iPad tablet. Jesse stated, “the way your websites slides on this tablet is awesome!” Dorian said, “yes, that is really nice.”Jesse laughed at the “Does Your Blog Suck?” post.

Personality Hypothesis:

Jesse seemed more of a “hardy boys” type, and thinking of & missing his girlfriend. Awww young love, so exciting! Dorian seemed more liberal, and Jesse conservative. The two were complete opposite. They told me they have been best friends since they were little. Have no idea how two complete opposite types of personalities get along so well. Dorian, with his free spirit, is in tune with others around him. He seems to sense feelings more than Jesse. Jesse is an intellectual, Dorian seems more into others and has a high sensory on emotions and feelings (my opinions). Jesse is bold. Dorian is bold too, but Dorian is bold, and chooses his words carefully (as not to offend others most likely) as he seems to have high sensory perception.

Twilight Series Discussion: 

Dorian continued to speak with me, asking me questions, me asking him questions, as he continued to stare at my chest. This is a few hours into the discussions, Jesse began to get bored, and retreated to his room, or to watch tv. Jesse did come back out and rejoin the conversation, after a short time. ”So, what are your thoughts on the new Twilight series?” Dorian asked. “I don’t really understand how a vampire would be able to ‘twinkle” in the sun, ” Dorion stated politely. The Twilight movies are a negative 25, on a 1-10 scale, in comparison to the books (my opinion). The Twilight book series is excellent, in my opinion, although the 3rd book seems a bit like soft porn, or whichever book in the series it is where the vampire marries the young woman, and they go on a honeymoon.Dorian retreated to bed, as he had to work today. Jesse and I continued our discussions into the morning hours. Needless to say, both young men and myself were exhausted from doing so much talking.

Let’s Keep in Touch: 

Honestly, most talking (during a website interview) I have ever done in an evening. I intend to keep in touch with both (hopefully), and Dorian did send me a text message today. Cannot put the text on this page, as it was a little, lets just say,R rated. I laughed and smiled upon receiving Dorian’s text message.

Fur Coat Significance: 

Liz finally drummed up the courage to ask, “why is this giant fur coat hanging here? Dorian responded, “my mother gave the coat to me.”

The subject of Dorian’s mother and the memorabilia(fur coat) seemed to bring on sudden sadness. The coat looked really warm, almost for an arctic like cold. Most likely was really expensive when first purchased. My eyes scanned the item, trying to take in every single detail to flash it to memory, almost like scanning an image into my laptop. Thoughts wondered through my mind of Dorian running his fingers through the long furs on the coat, and thinking of his mother. Memories, emotions, and pictures of people whom I loved came rushing into my mind looking at the details of the coat, people who abruptly left my life or have moved on to a better place. The coat had a special warmth about it, as I imagined his mother being very kind, loving, caring, and a warm heart, that held no boundaries of love for Dorion.

Rare Thoughts Rushed Through My Brain:

Eccentric thoughts rushed around in my brain, and hard not to say them outloud, as I had just discovered how much a coat holds hints of the inner core of the original owner. The owner who wore the coat for comfort and to get warm again from the cold for the long winters.Winter can sometimes seem endless as can grief, when grieving begins, and we cannot seem to grasp hold of anything, due to grief pushing the fog over our eyes, as a vail that we cannot ever remove.

People say grief can be resolved, I disagree. Have yet to meet a single person that is not still grieving over a loved one, even 30 years after the separation (including myself).

Quotes for Thought:

“coat that is worn on the outside shows the essence of the inside.”

“coat that is worn to protect our bodies from the elements, is often a parody of how we guard our hearts from love…as we do not wish for love to grow cold and become a victim of life’s never ending dark and icy winters. “

–lizeccentric7

English: Knox College students at St Clair dur...

English: Knox College students at St Clair during O-Week in Dunedin, New Zealand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Liz’s Unwanted Blogging Advice: Chapter 2

Everyone hates on Eccentric for my b*tchy advice, but I know you all know that it is coming from a good place, and not because I think of myself as being so “great.”

Giving this advice out of kindness, and not out of self-love or to gain any type of notoriety.

Ok, I know you all get angry at Liz, and then you get over it.

People who follow Eccentric know for a fact that they will most likely become very pissed off at some point and time when they read one of my posts.

Thus, the name “eccentric.”

My very unwanted advice comes from kindness and wanting to help, not for any other reason.

:)

Liz’s Unwanted Blogging Advice: Chapter 1

 

Everyone  knows by now that Liz loves to give out b*tchy, and often unwanted advice, on every subject on the planet earth, well even subjects that are not of the planet earth. I have scrolled through the reader (hate it) lately, and thought I would give out some more of my lovely and unwanted blogging/writing advice.

First, I want to say to WordPress that the reader does not update nearly fast enough, and is a huge pain in my a*s, and a waste of my time. People will often edit their posts, but the reader doesn’t catch up quickly enough. I then write a comment, and the reader says, “no, cannot post comment.” What a pain?

Let’s get started, shall we?

1.  Over-posting: Meaning, if you write fifty posts per day, I and most others, will not follow your blog. We do not have time to read fifty posts per day, not to mention it is very aggravating on the WordPress Reader when your blog takes up the entire reader.

2 . Your education:  I think it is wonderful that you are furthering your education. However, the world does not need an update on the status every single day. Perhaps, once a month would be great. I have seen posts where the person is actually posting a daily update on how they are doing in college, in every class. This person is getting zero comments.

3.  Parenting posts: I am a parent. There are no “new” parenting thoughts that I have yet to read on a single blog post, not even my own, in my “parenting” category. If you do not believe me on this one, please do a poll, readers will tell you they dislike parenting posts (most of them).

4.  Crafts:  Most people enjoy craft posts. Why? Craft posts teach the reader a new technique, a cheaper way of doing something, and the photos are interesting.

5. Photo Challenges: I love photography and the photo challenges. My opinion on the challenges is as follows:  if you are going to enter into a photography challenge more than once a week, I would set up a “category” for the challenges or start a separate photography blog using one of the wonderful photography themes that WordPress.com has to offer. The photography themes have “autofocus” which enhances  the photos. There are incredible, free photography themes.  The photography blogs can be set up in no time, they are very user-friendly.   Why does Liz think this way? If I go to visit your blog, and all I see is photos, day after day, what am I able to discuss? However, if you have a specific category for the photo challenges, I often take a look at the photos and enjoy wishing people the best of luck, and enjoy looking at photography.

The logic behind the above about photo challenges (in more detail) is as follows:

  • Sometimes people like to read articles and comment
  • Sometimes people like to just look at art or photography
  • Depends on the mood of the person

Thus, the “photo challenge” category or custom menu is a good idea in Liz’s book of unwanted blogging advice.

6.Recipes - WordPress Bloggers LOVE recipes! Why? I don’t know, we just do (myself included). Recipes are just always new and fun. I love reading recipes and looking at the photos, and so do MANY other bloggers.

7.Copy-Cats: Yes, we noticed….awww, you thought no one noticed did you? We saw that  you basically copied another bloggers post and put it in your own words, but did not give the other blogger any credit. I noticed it straight away on the reader, thus your lack of followers or comments. Please keep in mind WordPress Bloggers are not the average writers. WordPress Bloggers are intelligent, meaningful readers and writers.

WordPress is NOTHING like Tumblr or Facebook, you cannot pull the “copy-cat” tricks on this site, and get any respect from other writers. Make a note that there are actually famous journalist and writers, that write here on WordPress.com. So, if you are one of “those” copy-cat people just tumble back on over to Tumblr please, and start clicking some buttons. Thank you, harsh I know. Truth? Yes?

Liking Posts: I only visit blogs that comment here on Eccentric, not likes. Why? I have been “duped” by way too many spammers that hit the “like” button. You will get much more traffic if you follow and comment on other blogs that you enjoy. However, I ‘like” the “likes.” Just do not visit sites based on people liking a post, I only visit sites if they comment or if I follow the blog, and enjoy a post.

Liz will visit and comment on your posts: if you leave a comment – not a “like.” Many other bloggers on WordPress feel the same way, due to the spammers “liking” posts.

What to do if you like a post: Comments are the best way to express if you “like” a post, in my opinion.

WordPress: (to reiterate again) Please fix the reader, so it updates more quickly when people edit their posts! I don’t enjoy writing a long comment to just get the message, “you cannot comment on this post now.” Then, I scroll down the reader only to find an updated version of the same post. What a waste of time?

That sum’s up my unwanted blogging advice for the day.

:)

 

 

 

 

Report Posts vs. Wikipedia

Problem:

Read a very long blog post the other day, the post had (5) different main ideas. The post was extremely long. Blogger put much work into the post, and was receiving no comments. The post could be five different posts.

(more…)

Quotes I Made Up

“Anger is nothing more than grief not yet exposed by tears. “Tears are the escape from anger.”
—Liz

“Depression can be cured quickly by not being depressed.”
—-Liz

“Whining only makes for others to run in the opposite direction.”
—Liz

“Complaints should be written on a 1″ by 1″ piece of paper.”
—-Liz

“People who are easily offended, need some balls.”
—Liz

“You are depressed only because you THINK you are, think you are great, and you shall be.”
–Liz

“Beware of quiet people, they have many secrets, loud mouths I never worry about, they say what they think.”
—-Liz

“Blogging is like virtual reality.”
—-Liz

“When you think you are right, you are usually wrong, when you think you are wrong – you are right.”
—-Liz

“My dog is smarter than me, so is the iPhone.”
—Liz

“Just when things are going well..God must think, “hey, let’s make this interesting.”
—-Liz

“PhD does not equal common sense.”
—Liz

“Positive changes don’t just magically happen?” “I thought that was the process.”
—-Liz

“…just because you don’t talk about it, do it, or think it, does not mean it doesn’t exist.”
—-Liz

“I think every person has a crazy side.”
—-Liz

“What?” Peeing in the woods is against the law?”
—Liz

“Ummm No” (say this fifty times a day)
—Liz

The above quotes were authored by LizEccentric7 (me). Yes, I love to make my own quotes, it’s fun! :)

More in the future.

Weekly Writing Challenge:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/passive-voice-challenge/

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