Blogging | velvetverbosity.com

I’ve been quoted…

Nick — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 09:22:49 +0000

Checking out my statcounter stats, I noticed several people had visited from blog.thisnext.com. I couldn’t figure out what the link was. Then I found it here http://blog.thisnext.com/blog/sweet-tea-tree.html. I was quoted.

Cool. Does this mean I’ve arrived?

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Blog O’ the Week

Nick — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 09:27:41 +0000

Velvet Verbosity thinks this blog is dope yo!

Eco Chick

Speaking of blog kudos, I’ve received two blog awards in the last couple of months, and I still have yet to put them up. Someday I’ll get around to tooting my own horn.

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Velvet Verbosity is Moving OR Velvet Verbosity is Moving if I Can Figure This Crap Out!

Nick — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 09:27:39 +0000

Well folks, in anticipation of wild fame and fortune, I’ve decided to move this site to its own domain with hosting and everything. Trouble is, now I need to actually know something about how websites make it to being live, and how templates work, and how to FTP, and how to not pull my hair out in fistfuls.

Oh, and I’ll also have to export all my entries from here and my previous blog to the new site, set up Google Analytics, Google Adsense, and Google Webmaster Tools for the new site. I’ll likely lose traffic initially, and will also lose technorati ranking, and on and on and on. That’s why I’m making the decision to move now. Before these losses would be too great. I’m sure if I was more tech-savvy I’d be able to do all this without much of a problem, but since I’m a luddite, I guess I’ll be starting from scratch in essence.

Still, I’m stoked that I now have my own email with my own domain. As the young’uns at Yale say, “That’s CLUTCH!”. Whatever that means. You’ll now be able to email me at velvetverbosity at velvetverbosity dot com.

And even though I’m going to have to start over, I’ll be able to play with the design, the font, the layout, and make my very own BANNER! Don’t ask me why this is so exciting, but I guess it’s slightly akin to buying your first piece of furniture in your very first apartment. Remember that?

Once I get past all the technical obstacles, you’ll be the first to know. I plan to be a little more focused now that I’ll have to be paying someone to write. Look for more 100 Words writing prompts and submissions (that means YOU!), more photography (now if only I can find my battery charger), more verve, and just more more more. I’m also considering starting a new blog on one of my biggest passions, neuroscience and neuroethics. THAT should be fun!

The site won’t be ready for a few days at least, a week at most. I hope to still have some hair left, and a little money left over for food for me and the children. Oh, yeah, and I’ll have a paypal bucket for donations to help me out with the hosting costs. The goal is to get enough for the first year of hosting at least. That would be a blessing!

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Velvet Verbosity Lives

Nick — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 09:27:29 +0000

I’m here. I’m alive. And kicking. I’ll be back soon with something of actual substance. Send me some love. Tell me what you want to hear about. Give me a writing prompt.

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NaBloPoMo Who?

Nick — Sun, 24 Nov 2002 09:25:41 +0000

I was out of town for Thanksgiving, and I thought I would surely find time to post, but it just didn’t happen folks. I’m re-acclimating to home and work. I’ll write soon.

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How Personal Should a Blog Be? OR "Velvet Verbosity Thinks This Blog is Dope Yo"

Nick — Thu, 21 Nov 2002 09:25:39 +0000

I asked this question of some fellow bloggers over on the NaBloPoMo forum. Like, should I tell you, dear readers, that I blog in a bowtie and striped socks…only? Or that this morning I ate a double whopper from three days ago for breakfast? Or that I live in MaryMark Pennsylvania at 204 Iron Rod Lane? Or that my boyfriend likes to wear my bowtie and striped socks on Wednesdays at 7:32 P.M.?

Just how much should I tell a bunch of strangers, any of whom could be my next great stalker?

The truth is, I think I already have some answers to this question. And the answer depends largely on what you want to accomplish by blogging.

If you want to have an audience, a real audience, there are three known formulas that seem to work. 1. Have a topic or theme, and be an authority on it. 2. Get personal. 3. Be scathingly funny. It goes without saying that all three require good writing. And good writing combined with all three of the above is bound to be a hit.

Think about it. From a reader’s perspective, you might catch them once, but what will keep them coming back is either a desire to know more about your topic, or a desire to know more about the writer. Funny is just funny and people always come back for funny.

Blogs are a form of media and it stands to reason that what has always worked through history will work for blogs. Take television. The general categories of choice are news (informational television), drama (including the bane of our century, Reality TV), and comedy. You could break it down further, like into cartoons and music television, but these really still fall into the three larger categories.

Anyone can blog, and everyone seems to. However, not everyone is being read. (Whether everyone should be blogging is a topic for another post.) Gaining an audience requires emerging, through strong writing, into one of the general media categories. Establish yourself as an authority on something, reveal the drama of your own life, or take comedy lessons from Citizen of the Month. He’s even mastered how to harness all three here. (Look, it’s about his ex, her bra, and how he mastered the art of unhooking said bra so just go read it. You’ll learn, you’ll love, you’ll laugh.)

Myself? I don’t care if I have an audience. But if you do happen to be reading, perhaps you could say hello? You know, just a little comment so that I can see you’ve been here? Not that I care or anything.

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"Tag! You’re It!" "What? I wasn’t playing!"

Nick — Sun, 17 Nov 2002 09:25:24 +0000

I was randomly tagged by Nancy to post seven of my oddities. Since being tagged I’ve been lazily rolling the idea around my brain. You know, through the maze of belly-button lint I’ve got stored up there. I think there’s still a few neurons and dendrites left.

I’ve never been “tagged” online before. My initial reaction was the same as when a telemarketer calls my house when I’m in the middle of cooking dinner or I just sat down for the first time in 57 hours. Tagging on a blog is like sending a chain letter, only without the warnings that should I fail in my task to pass it on my nose will fall off, my hair will spontaneously catch fire, warts the size of Cleveland will pop up all over my body, and I will never ever be loved by anyone. Ever.

By the way. No offense Nancy. I know you were just doing your bloggily duty. And because I realize that, I’ll play. For a minute. Grudgingly.

I didn’t like the game of “tag” when I was a kid. I couldn’t stand the anxiety. That and other kids touching me. Who knows where their hands had been!
I did love playing Hide-N-Seek. I always won. No finding = no touching.
I like stale Peeps. In fact I don’t like fresh Peeps at all, but I love stale ones. Makes it more of a challenge to bite their heads off.
Even though I blog, I don’t enjoy revealing private things about myself to the public. There’s a distinct difference between writing and listing. The first reveals something about the author. The author is providing a window into their mind. Yet one can never be entirely sure what they are seeing. Listing is like standing on your front lawn and revealing random body parts, up close, for passersby. There’s not a lot of doubt that, “Yep, that’s a kneecap alright.” “I think the technical name is Patella dear.”
I once had an injury to my middle finger that made it stick up for months. No. I’m not joking. It’s a good thing it looked a little purplish and gnarled. (See? Body parts.)
I diligently avoid wearing pink.
If I could pick my gender when I’m 70 I would choose to be a man so I could have a mustache to stroke and a pipe to smoke as I think.

Here are the rules:

1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.

3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I won’t be tagging anyone, but feel free to pick this up voluntarily.

**Image from Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games, University of Waterloo website.

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NaBloPoMo – Say THAT 10 Times Fast

Nick — Sat, 16 Nov 2002 09:25:20 +0000

I just joined NaBloPoMo. National Blog Posting Month or something like that. I joined late. Why? Because I’ll be late for my own funeral (when I should have been late for my wedding…wait. I WAS late for my wedding.). What does it mean? It means I have to post to this blog every day for the month of November or else! Or else what? Or else the blog trolls will live under my bed and GET ME!

The most important question here is why I would do such a thing? In other words, do I have a BRAIN? Or is that just belly-button lint in my head? As if I don’t have enough to do without some arbitrary obligation to the blogosphere.

Sigh.

Truth is. I’m always looking for something to fence me in and make me write. Remember this?

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All the Excitement of Disneyworld, Only Free

Nick — Sun, 10 Nov 2002 09:40:45 +0000

Throwing myself headlong into this November write-a-palooza has been rejuvenating and exciting, but more than that, it has introduced me to some new people offline and on, and I’d like you to meet some of them.

Thanks to Twitter, Networked Blogs, and various internet serendipity, there have been some new faces around here. You’ve already met the newcomers to the 100 Word Challenge, like Gabriel Gadfly, Pattikens (turns out we’re neighbors, sorta), and Niqui. Poets, aspiring writers, each interesting in their own creative right.

LouCeel, a longstanding 100 Worder, has been up to some new creative endeavors. He is now helping to man The Inferno, where one of my word portraits was recently featured. The Inferno is an offshoot of The Artist Challenge. You should check them out, especially if you’re looking for more inspiration.

Through a TweetDeck filter following NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo participants (well at least those on Twitter, and those who know to use #hashtags) I found College English. She caught my eye when she tweeted something about 100 Words, and I found out she and all of her students are participating in NaBloPoMo to raise money for The United Way! Bravo Debbi and students. If you’d like to support them, here is the original post.

Finally, through Pattiken, I also found the social networking site, She Writes. I’m very excited about it, even though I haven’t had time to join groups, introduce myself, or spiff up my profile. Even though it’s called “She Writes”, it is open to the guys as well. You know, if you can handle all that estrogen.

ALSO, I’m participating in Citizen of the Month’s Great Interview Experiment. I’ll do an interview here on my blog of this blogger, and be interviewed by this one.

Whew. That’s a lot of links.

With love,

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