30 Comments to “Bloggy Question 45: Take a Long Look”

1. April 16th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
   Shane said

   For some reason I always feel at home when I’m at the beach. Good blogs are like that too.

   Drop by. Help yourself to the refrigerator.

2. April 16th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
   Carma Dutra said

   It is a beautiful picture.
   If the water represents the WWW and the rocks represent bloggers, then this picture may represent a blog.

   Blogs are crowded at the bottom. In other words “everybody” has a blog.

   In order to get noticed in the WWW, a blogger will have to travel and elbow through a whole crowd of aspiring bloggers just to have a small chance of being read. Work work, work.

   The dark clouds represent a downpour of conversation to be expected as one ventures out into the WWW blogosphere.

   Is this far out enough?
   You did ask “Might” represent.

3. April 16th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
   Jonathan-C. Phillips said

   umm, interesting reply Carma. Well i have to say i had to think long before commenting, and look at the picture many many times (maybe it’s getting a little late or something hehe) but yeah i do see some “blogging” in this pic. First it looks like it’s a computer generated image (made with 3d max studio or bryce 3d or something similar), so it definitely has this “www.2.0″ feel to it. I see it as us bloggers being where the rocks are (in the pic) and looking far away (in direction of the water) and wanting it to move foward and “get there” just like with a blog, you wanna get to the other shore and see how it’s like there, but there’s a huge distance to travel.

   ok, gotta get some sleep now i think

4. April 16th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
   Jonathan-C. Phillips said

   weird things happen sometimes.. Liz, Carmas’ infos were still “in the form” when i hit the submit button.. didn’t notice that, so now you have my reply 2 times. weird stuff happens in the blogosphere sometimes hehe

5. April 16th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
   ME Strauss said

   Hi Shane!
   Welcome!
   Good blogs do feel like a day at the beach or a day a friendly home, don’t they?

6. April 16th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
   ME Strauss said

   Carma!
   I love where your imagination took you into this picture. All of the rocks are the bloggers and the dark clouds are a downpour of conversation. I’m so smiling to read that.

7. April 16th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
   ME Strauss said

   Hi Jonathan!
   I like the idea of moving forward, getting there, wanting to get there. It says a lot about you.

8. April 16th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
   Jonathan-C. Phillips said

   Liz, you inside my computer again? You do know me pretty well hehe

9. April 16th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
   Carma Dutra said

   Shane I hope you keep the frig stocked with Diet Dr. Pepper.

   Also I should add that the downpour of conversation is also nourishment.

   It’s not too late on the west coast but laying my head down on my orthopedic pillow sounds good about now. Darn arthritis.

10. April 17th, 2007 at 12:03 am
    ME Strauss said

    You betcha, Jonathan!
    I’m inside everyone’s computer!

    By the way, I was wondering if you were bringing a guitar to Chicago. I was thinking about that tonight on the way home from dinner. (Maybe from Shane’s refrigerator as we walked by the lake.)

11. April 17th, 2007 at 12:06 am
    Jonathan-C. Phillips said

    Sure i am, i can’t possibly live without my guitar! hehe just the thought of spending 3-4 days without it makes me feel kinda weird! so the answer is yes

12. April 17th, 2007 at 12:06 am
    ME Strauss said

    I thought so. So maybe we’ll get you to play it.

13. April 17th, 2007 at 12:08 am
    Jonathan-C. Phillips said

    hehe, ok, sounds good to me, i’d need an amp though, mine is at the recording studio (can’t move it till the album is finished recording)

14. April 17th, 2007 at 12:10 am
    ME Strauss said

    Karin’s genie might see to that. Now, I have good night to Carma!

    Good night, Carma! Sleep well!

15. April 17th, 2007 at 3:40 am
    chase said

    A blog is like a beach. A place where one can hang out and relax.

16. April 17th, 2007 at 7:02 am
    Jesse Petersen said

    First are the rocks. You are likely to get off to a rocky start with your first blog.

    After that, you hit sand, and while it’s still slow going, you can take off your shoes and relax a bit. If you try to run, you will go faster and get a good workout, but at least you won’t cut your foot or split your head open.

    Then there is the water. It’s nice and enveloping in a soothing ebb and flow (imagining warm water because water has to be 78 degrees before I can enjoy it).

    Finally, when you work through the rocks, run across the sand, and make your way in the water, you reach clear skies. The skies can still cloud up or drop rain on you, but they stay nice most of the time.

17. April 17th, 2007 at 7:07 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Jesse!
    I can see what you see. I walked my way down the rocks with you. It wasn’t at all hard to do. I think played on the sand longer though.

    Smile. . . .

18. April 17th, 2007 at 7:18 am
    Chris Cree said

    The tide is out and it’s hard to tell if the storm clouds are brewing or breaking up.

    Blog relationships, like relationships with all people, ebb and flow. Storms are a part of blogs and life in general, but they usually bring some good with the bad so we shouldn’t overly worry about ‘em.

    Besides not one of us can control the weather. It’s going to be what it is, so why worry?

19. April 17th, 2007 at 8:11 am
    Ripley Norta said

    The whole image is wild and rugged. It’s a step into the unknown. Dare I make it to waters edge and dip my toe in? Look at the weather. What’s it going to do? Will my blog succeed, or will it be swept back onto the rocks?

    There’s only one way to find out.

20. April 17th, 2007 at 8:14 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Chris!
    What nice thought that you see the relationships in this photo, and that you don’t overly worry about the dark clouds on the far horizon.

    I think that we can in some ways control the weather . . . or least how react to it, but it seems that’s what you are saying too.

21. April 17th, 2007 at 9:05 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Ripley!
    Welcome!
    Wild and rugged and a step into the unknown — yeah I can see the connection.

    It is a risk, isn’t it? Bloggers are risk takers who have a certain kind of vision. Your words say so. I agree with you completely.

22. April 17th, 2007 at 9:55 am
    Chris Cree said

    Control the weather? You might as well try to stop the tide from swinging.

    I do think we agree though. While we can’t control the weather (or the flow of the tide) we can control how we respond to it.

    Knowing the good and bad will happen at some point we can prepare ahead of time and be ready to make the most of whatever opportunities are presented with the weather.

23. April 17th, 2007 at 10:28 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Chase!
    I didn’t mean to jump over you! A blog can be a lovely beach where folks hang out. I agree and I sometimes see my own blog that way, especially when the winter winds blog in Chicago!

24. April 17th, 2007 at 11:46 am
    Lorelle said

    There are so many analogies that occur to me with this image. The one that stands out most from the others is that this is most like the beginning of a blog.

    It’s a bit rough and rocky, then smooth as you hit the sand and get past the technical stuff. Then the first comment arrives (comment spam of course) and you enter rough seas dealing with real comments and comment spam while working harder to generate even more conversations with your blog.

    As you grope for something to blog about, bobbing around in the waves looking for content, there’s a point where this whole blogging thing pisses you off, thus the storm clouds. You realize you’ve spent so much time with this with little or no results. So you slap on ads to make it start paying you back, and it still doesn’t make you happy.

    Finally, you grow into your blog and your blog into you. You understand that it could be about the money, but it’s about the communication, sharing, and relationships. The blog is a reward unto itself. Then…the sky’s the limit, and it’s a big sky.

    How’s that?

25. April 17th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Lorelle,
    You came close to describing my experience, except fro the part where “the whole thing pisses you off” . . . I think I must have skipped that step. Do you think I should go back and pick it up?

26. April 18th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
    Dawud Miracle said

    I see an expanse of opportunity as wide as the horizon. That’s what I see fromt the vantage point.

    As I walking into the photo, I become instantly aware of the navigation it takes to overcome obstacles that can lead to success.

    As I approach the sandy shoreline, I find that I’m closer to the horizon, yet I see less of it because of my vantage point being lower; being ‘in it.’ This is good because it means that I’ve moved from the hillside down to be ‘in it.’

    Standing at the water’s edge, I can see vast possibilities as well as more obstacles in reaching those possibilities. The sky, while dark, shows light shining through - reminding me that behind the challenges of every stormy sky is the bright blue of warmth and ease.

    Now, how do I set out into this ocean?

27. April 18th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
    Lorelle said

    Picking up on the pissed off step…there comes a time in every blogger’s “life” when they just don’t feel like it’s worth it. The vision darkens and narrows and you’ve just taken enough crap from comment spammers, narrow-minded bigots, and thoughtless folk, along with name calling and assumptions about who you are and why you blog, it just gets tiring and makes you angry. It just doesn’t seem like it’s worth it any more.

    Then someone stops by and says “Wow, this was exactly what I needed. You saved me. Thanks so much.” And you start to remember why you did this in the first place.

    Instead of turning inwards, you begin to turn outwards, opening your mind up to more possibilities, finding value in places you didn’t before. Your blogging moves to the true next level as you move out of yourself and into the blogosphere, understanding that we are more than just specks, just bits of flotsam in the sea of blogs. We control our boat. We set the tone. We move forward with a better attitude where the sky is the limit.

    Haven’t you been there, too? And moved past it.

    We all build up callouses if we want to continue blogging. It’s hard work and we can get hard knocks. The light at the end of the tunnel is to keep on blogging in spite of them all.

28. April 18th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
    ME Strauss said

    You know, Lorelle, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten pissed off at blogging. Maybe the relief of publishing without a publishing company has been so BIG that nothing can phase me . . . or maybe my response has been a meltdown of anxiety. I had my share of that.

    Am I letting my readers down? Am I letting myself down? Am I out here by myself? Can anyone hear me?

    Those are the sounds of my meltdown happening.

29. April 20th, 2007 at 1:54 am
    Shane said

    Just to comment on what Lorelle said; Yep, it’s a big, big sky!

30. April 20th, 2007 at 8:16 am
    ME Strauss said

    A big, big, sky. I so like that!