Postcards from the Funny Farm

I had a really neat moment tonight. Recently you may have seen I put GTalk links in my sidebars on all the blogs. My intent was to connect in real time with people reading my blogs. Tonight a guy from Japan sent me a message on GTalk and we had a brief conversation where he told me he was listening to and finding inspiration from my new podcast I call D-Cast. This was so great to hear. If you are a blogger working at your craft in silence, hang in there … often people are listening! And if you are a blog reader who really gets something from a particular post, let the author know … it could make his/her day!

This week marks the anniversary of 2 years blogging. It’s been an amazing ride with ups and downs and ins and outs. I feel excited going into year three. I wanted to let all my readers know I recorded a podcast message reflecting on what I ran across in the past two years. Feel free to check it out. Thanks for reading and listening through the years.

Before I start this post I just want to give a link to a couple people who have asked me what makes up blog value these days in my opinion. I’ve actually written a series on it you can find here. Okay, now for the post …

I remember a few years ago hearing the son of the criminally insane Jim Jones discussing the mass suicides at Jonestown. The son had been away when it took place and after he returned, he learned the title of this post was the truth for him. Every family member and friend was killed and he had to call in to report the tragedy. His life changed after that with what would be a continuous string of experiences where he learned just how wrong he had been for so long. He chose to have an open mind, lucky for him.

Today teaching eighteen 8th graders I had an experience that opened my mind way up. Let me share it with you. I was explaining to the open-minded young adults about the word “pattern” with regards to sentences. I used an example from my youth (I like doing that and it often helps the lesson go better). I told them about my grandpa’s (now passed) cabinets that held his trash cans. They looked sort of like this table:

As a child I read it up and down probably because I was short then: “Keep stash, America your, beautiful trash.” That’s what my brother and I always though it was. Well, you can imagine my shock and sort of glee to find out I had been reading it wrong for decades! The student pointed out that if you read left to right is says: “Keep America beautiful, stash your trash.” Wow. I was humbled.

Another tip in keeping an open mind is that you probably think many things are true that are not. Strive to see things the way others see them and you will have a more open mind as a result. And last, remember this question from the title:

What if all You “Knew” was Wrong?

Embrace that thought and be less ordinary.

You know it’s fitting that today when I went looking for a Twain photo I found one that was under a “reusable media” license. That is kind of a metaphor for what my 9 Authors, 9 Aspects of Powerful Writing guest post is about over at Confident Writing. One commenter there, Jim Murdoch, says eloquently:

“The whole idea behind the word ‘novel’ is that it should be new and so, if we can’t think of anything brand new, we need to spruce up something old to make it feel new, to reinvigorate it with power.”

This is an exciting response to what I tried to get across in the article. Thanks to Jim for being the first to comment and also to Joanna for letting me do a guest blog for Confident Writing. I truly admire the niche and the community there. It’s an excellent place to get help and positive words about your writing.

In my article you’ll read the “secrets” of 9 classic great authors of America! These aspects of writing can revolutionize your blog article, or any other writing task for that matter.

If you are interested in reading my guest post, the url is below:

confidentwriting.com/2008/04/10-authors-and.html

My mom and I have been talking a lot lately about the book A New Earth. If you haven’t heard of it yet, you soon will. Oprah has fully endorsed its author, Eckhart Tolle, and we all know that what Oprah endorses, sells like crazy. But Tolle is a very humble guy. He claims his ideas were all around him and that he didn’t invent them. Pretty humble for a guy who’s probably going to become the next psychology writer billionairre. More and more people I talk to about the book tell me they have either read it, or want to read it. But this guy isn’t hype, he has great vision in his book. If you haven’t read it yet, you should.

I remember getting a similar feeling about a book when I read M. Scott Peck’s psychology book: The Road Less Traveled. ” When I read great books like these, so full of truth and help, it’s like relaxation comes from he page, into my eyes and throughout my body spreading calm and joy. I’m still on chapter one of A New Earth, but what I have read so far is pure genius. My goal is to write a review of it very soon, so stay tuned to Postcards from the Funny Farm for that. I want to do this to spread the news about this amazing little book. Tolle’s insights on spiritual meaning in the world around us are really revolutionary and life-changing. Whether you are going through something as simple as trying to experience life more or something as serious as working through drug rehab and the like, this book brings out a strength you didn’t know you had.

At any rate, my mom told me a story from his book the other day that really intrigued me. She also watches the author every Monday she can on Oprah’s website where he does a regular video “town hall” style class where people can participate and ask questions. She gave me some good advice from him regarding negative people. Lately I’ve been getting some bad energy from people in all areas of my life and it’s beginning to worry me. Why am I attracting this sort of energy? Is it the way I talk? Is it the things I say? How do you deal with negative people anyway? We’re supposed to stay positive ourselves but what about when we can’t control bad energy around us. As I’ve speculated on here in the past, we should ignore it but as some of you commented, that isn’t always the best option. There is an alternative to ignoring Tolle offers that I prefer. It’s a phrase to have waiting in your back pocket. When negative people spout all sorts of negative things, just tell them this:

Is that so?

You can respond without reacting. Reacting is the “ego” as Tolle calls it. Responding is more of the being who you are inside coming out. There are so many good energies in my life these days now too, but why is it that I allow the bad ones to bring me down? It isn’t even rational to pay the most attention to negativisim. Another book by Tolle is called simply: “Stillness Speaks.” I would agree with that, wouldn’t you?

Anyone coming into your emotional space and saying “blah blah blah (something negative - you fill in the blank here)” should never take your good energy. Simply nod your head and say “is that so?” I love this mantra and I intend to use it from now on. If you tell me the sky is falling, I can say calmly “is that so?” If you tell me something is impossible I will say “WHY?’ Then, if you tell me why I will say: “is that so?” If you make a point on a forum I don’t agree with, there is no need to argue or even debate. All I need to do is consider what you have said and then say: “is that so?” Think about it, for real life or even social internet connections, it’s a pretty good mantra! Revolutionary thoughts like these take meditation. Here is a video I ran across of Tolle talking about getting that into our daily lives.

How are you reacting to bad energy in your life?

This article is Part II of my series “Finest Hour of Social Networks” where I examine social networks and their effectiveness in raising real traffic (low bounce rate/readers who stay more than the duration of two clicks!) This goal is important for monetization and for building a following to your blog. If these ideas are something you’re interested in, this series will help you achieve those goals.

In this article I review and offer some tips on using: Facebook and Fuel My Blog. Here at the second article, I have found I am learning a lot about what a social network is and can be for me as a blogger. I am looking forward to looking at more of the leading social networks for bloggers and sharing my findings with you in future articles. Stay tuned!

Facebook started buzzing around the sphere about 2-3 years ago as I recall. It looked like a vanilla MySpace. For that reason, I never bothered with it much back then. I have a myspace music account that I barely update, how could another “buddy” system get any of my attention? Eventually about a year ago, I joined the service and found it visually slick looking, less cluttered than Myspace. But Facebook is really pointless unless you have “friends” there.   I emailed everyone in my Yahoo! address book and found that out of 30-something people, only three signed up to make me their friends. Then after a long tome of not logging in, I began to get requests from old friends from high school. Some people I only vaguely even remembered. Since gettingonlne now with friends I have found all the addon applications to be really fun. You can waste hours playing around on Facebook.  But, alas, killing time is not one of my 2008 goals, so I limit my time there to about once a week. The good news is though, the service emails you where there are new notices or emails from your friends. You don’t have to hang out there all the time.

In conclusion, I think making a FaceBook account and pimping it as much as you can will help your blog’s traffic. I’ve had at least two comments this past month from people who say they surfed in through Facebook. I recommend it! If you do decide to register, feel free to make me your first friend: I am rileycentral on Facbook.

Thumbs up for Facebook! Now, what about this other mysterious service they call “Fuel My Blog?” Let me tell you what I have found:

Fuel My Blog is a quasi social network where you can “fuel” blogs you like thereby bringing them closer to the top of the list in their category. Sort of like trying to scale Google, this process can make you feel powerless over your own success. Once you join, you can put a widget in your blog that shows your favorite blogs on the service. People can “fuel” the blogs there through a three-click process that is fairly easy. My hope is that their great idea of boosting blogs through clicks will develop further. Three clicks away is too much clicking when I am trying to make merss reading rounds. It’s also discouraging when you know that your clicks probably won’t do much to boost the blog anyway. Fuel My Blog is very new and has a small number of blogs in their system. You can’t be part of this unless you are registered with them and you have their widget. I’ve been good about fueling my 7 a day, but is time consuming. In the end with Fuel My Blog you have a great name with a marginaludea that looks like all the other social schmoozing sites. It would be fine to have it if it offered something new, but as of yet they haven’t. I’m getting a little tired of clicking 10-20 times a day just to boost sites I have only just met through the service. When I find someone I know , I get excited and fuel them immediately just because I know them but that is not the best motive for promoting a blog, it should be spectacular right? Finding blogs to fuel is very cumbersome and the blog must be a registered member of Fuel my Blog for your to fuel them. This lags in much the same way Alexa lags in requiring it’s toolbar to build rank for a site.

My final word on Fuel My Blog is a “sideways thumb”: a little up and a little down. They seem like very nice people (they asked me to guesblog as a regular contributor and I have done 2 blogs for them) and the company looks good on the screen with nice bright graphics. Because of reasons I listed, however, I haven’t found their service to produce the best blogs. Then again, neither does DIGG, SU, or any of the other netwrks I use. I’m alwasy on the lookout for that company who can create and innovate a social system that really gets the good stuff to the forefront. I think much has to evolve for Fuel My Blog to be something the masses will spend their precious online minutes on.

Coming next in the series:

Part III

Twitter - What can that little light blue “t” do for ya! In addition to writing on Twitter next, some may recall I was going to write on 9Rules. I changed my mind and and instead, I’ll be writing something about IZEA and Social Spark. Stay tuned!

Now it’s your turn!

What do you think of using Facebook and Fuel My Blog to build traffic?

I see the biggest challenge to blog authors today as keeping visitors on their site long enough to have an impact through their writing. I’ve seen and heard the effective traffic brought on by games and gimmicks for shiny items like designer jewelry. I wonder if that traffic really reads their stuff though. Readers that stay is what I am always thinking about when I create and innovate my blog.

Going down my reading list of blogs today, I found that a few blog titles really stood out and urged a comment out of me without me even reading the post. As I went on to read the post my idea changed a little, but the gist of my comment came from that initial reaction to … the title.

As a teacher of writing, I have told my students for years that what sets a good article apart from a great one is its creative, thought-provoking title. Now, as a blog writer, I see that is all the more true in electronic medium. There are two types of readers among many that visit your blog:

1. Quick hoppers: These folks are looking forsomething they don’t find at your blog, or they are just trying to get EC points for Entrecard. Whatever the reason, their intention is not to stay long. These people might be the ones to consider in a creative, innovative title. Even more so if you have a SUMMATIVE title. I’ll give an example shortly.
2. The second kind are people who are looking for something and found it through a search on your blog. There are more than these two types, but when talking about summative titles, you should consider these two. So, howabout that example … okay … patience my good friend:

Imagine you have two blogs to read that you have starred for later. You look at the title of the first one and it says:

“As if …”

Then you restar that because your are not quite ready to let it go and you come across one that says:

“Songs that Stay in Your Head.”

The first title requires guessing (brain strain) and curiousity (again, brain drain). Nowadays very few readers will bother with a post like this unless they are good friends of yours or extreme fans of your personality etc. The second title is suggestive. It doesn’t even require the reader to finish the post in order to leave a comment. As Entrecard and “blog hopping” becomes more of the social norm in blogging, you should do all you can to get a comment, if not just get hoppers to stop and read the words you worked so hard on.

I think titles are something I’m going to do a series on. They are scantly addressed in the blogosphere
To Entrecard hoppers and other speed-readers: “Would that be something you’d enjoy, and stay awhile for? Wait, don’t answer that, I know you’re in a big hurry ;)

What a week! I had five articles published outside my blog! Most were guestblogs (which I hold in very high respect, thanks to all who hosted me last week). As my friends know, this is a serious goal for me right now. In between all that, and having a family of 5 and a full time job as a teacher, the jeep attacked a lot of rock mountains on the weekly Blog Safari. I dug into Blog Catalog discussions more than I ever have (see sidebar widget). Also, I started back into 9Rules which is amazing. Between that and my regular RSS reads, I found some amazing stuff and I’ll serve it up to you here. If you have an article you’d like to see featured here some week, please drop me a line and I will check it out. As always, the articles below all received a well-deserved Stumble. Enjoy the Safari this week!

Hand holding is so… yesterday
A short but great article about how a simple touch and a bit of extra effort can improve your love life and your sex life.

Lord Likely has Some Trouble with The Brown Mist
Speaking of sex, Lord Likely is at it again. His ridiculous shenanigans get him into all kinds of laugh-a-minute situations. Read this post and may it be the one that hooks you on this very entertaining columnist.

Fuelmyblog and other social networking sites, Walking the Stacks
I really like this blog. He’s written about stuff I am currently doing a series on: social networkin.... Check out this cool article and learn as I did from it.

Twitter: what are you doing right now?
I found Tyme’s blog through 9Rules. It’s a great piece of writing. I often wonder why the hell I am on Twitter. Is it ridiculous? Read her article and see what you think.

Got Traffic Blues? Remember Balance
Kimberly is my newest sponsor here at Postcards from the Funny Farm. I will be doing a full review of her site this month as well and linking her to you where I think her services can help. Watch for that, it will be valuable to your piggy bank. This article is an example of the kind of patient and yet effective money coach she is to people who want to make money online. She shows the many ways to make it: not just through ads or clicking. I endorse her stuff heartily. Go check it out, I think you will be both surprised and impressed.

Reaching Your Goals
My main man Derek wrote a great little post on reaching goals. This is like a staple to any form of success in my life. Derek is also one of my ads featured in the right hand upper area of the fold. As a side note, through using principles he has virtually learned through trial and error and through mentors, Derek manages to bring in a sizable chuck of change every month through blogging. Check out what he has to say about goals.

38 TV Themes Recorded by the Actors Themselves
Malcolm … I need to high five you for this one!!! Folks, go look at the pictures and imagine the songs he lists in this post. Creative, hard work, labor of love went into this post … that is undeniable. This is another must for every blogroll.

Scared Silly by the Faeries
My writing and academic colleague 1/2 way across the world in Scotland wrote an entry for Shelly Tucker’s contest (which I happen to be judging). This is a great story and it really gives you an idea what Shelly is looking for in the contest. I am the judge. How did I attain this lofty position you ask? Good God I have no freakin’ idea. Maybe it’s because I never write “sex” or “freagin” in my posts ;) Seriously though, if you have a scary story and a blog go to her details post through the button below and get your post done before the submission deadline!

Tiny Url: rurl.org/kpm

BoozeCruise
Jessica the Rock Chick is one of the coolest people I know. She is able to admit when her angelic guitar player from Bon Jovi make s a huge boo boo. Get a fans rant at this post. Also, I just want to say as I have in the past that you really need to be reading Jessica’s blog, it makes me a cooler person (and God knows I have miles to go there).

Things I’m Learning from Blogging
The master .. mistress? well … Shelly anyway :) This lady has been a reader of mine for a long time and we have sort of a reciprocal love of storytelling. One of these days I’ll get to see her live (she does it for a living!) Suffice it to say, if this lady has a post about blogging and what she is learning, boy I’ll tell ya what … I’m there ;)

Easily Organize Post Categories
Katy is a very astute, prolific blogger who offers very practical and helpful information to her readers regarding blogging. This is one of those posts! I would add that “Batch Categories” is another very helpful and easy to use plugin to add to the one she lists in her article.

My esteemed writing colleague, fellow blogger and friend Shelly Tucker (photo at left) is hosting a writing contest on her vastly read and very popular blog, This Eclectic Life. She has very kindly asked me to be the judge and I accepted. There are some clear details listed on her site, but the general theme is called “Scared Silly.”

I am eager to hunker down and read some scary stories this month! I want to encourage my readers to go over there and get the details and then write a post for this. If you enter you get a backlink or two from both her and I, which as you recall I have been writing lately about the...! And if you win you’ll get some cash, which is always nice. Whatever happens, you’ll have a cool scary story post on your blog. And we all know your readers will love that! Also, as an added bonus, I will be posting an interview with the first prize winner here on my blog. So, until then I’ll be cuddling up with my biggest comforter sets and reading all this scary stuff!! eek.

Tiny Url: rurl.org/kpm

You may use the button to promote the contest in your neck of the woods. Thanks for your interest, once you go and read the details I hope to start reading your scary stories soon!

-Damien

I started teaching at age 27. Though I thought I was old then, I look back now and see that I was most assuredly still a very young adult. Back then I was very much a self-starter. After subbing in a district for 3 months I managed to get hired on a year’s teaching contract with NO credential based purely on my wit and candor and my ability to speak Spanish and English. In California, this is called an “emergency credential” and it’s rarely done nowadays . . . for good reason. I had absolutely no classroom management skills, apart from being a sub which is vastly different from being the only grown-up in charge of 36 ten year olds for 185 days. Those first 3 years were very tough, but I got by on the inspiration of my twenties. It seems like my thirties have required more strategy than instinct to find success.

Now, 10 years later with a full credential and a Master’s degree, I still often find myself at a loss for inspiration. I never give up though. On those days that I am discouraged and unmotivated, I try and get away from the daily routine. I put aside the lessons I had planned (as much as is possible to stay within my responsibilities) and I focus on the things that I truly enjoy: guitar, art, poetry, reading, songwriting, nature, etc. Then I tap into that wonder I have for those things and bridge it to the material I have to teach. For example: if I have to teach reading data on a graph, I make a graph about the different guitars there are.

I adapt my lessons that day to whatever is really giving me personal inspiration at that moment. All people (even small ones) are attracted to a leader or performer who is passionate about what he is doing. Kids want to emulate that energy. I remember going to see REM in concert in my 20’s and being so drawn in to what singer Michael Stipe was doing onstage. I didn’t understand the wierd symbols on the screen or the strange movements he made, like hitting a metal chair with a wooden rod on the off-beats on “World Leader Pretend,” but I tapped into his passion and energy for what he was doing, and when they left the stage I screamed for an encore. It was like a moth to a lightbulb, the lightbulb was passion. The world is so full of boring people. It’s important for leaders, teachers, writers, performers, and artists to share an influence that is NOT boring with this starved-for-passion world.

Discouragement that saps inspiration is the teacher’s biggest enemy. By tapping into and bridging my passions with my students, I am able to get through those tough days when I have to methodically put one foot in front of the other and keep remembering that I got into the profession to make a difference. With a brief look inward, it works every time. Group Project: Source Of Inspiration » Inspiratio...