Friday, March 07, 2008

Things I've discovered this first week of March

~random ramblings and reflections from the past seven days~

I still have the stamina to pull an all-nighter
I'm not sure that's a good thing. I mean, I wish I was motivated enough to finish the task during normal hours. But if I need to stay up all night to finish something and still function at work the next day, I'm capable. Let's just not make a habit of it, OK?

I'm an old-school emoticon kind of girl
Yeah, I like my emoticons built out of old-fashioned text characters. None of this flashy animation for me. :P

This photo is generating hits
Haley and J.C. at the Paintbrush Ball 2007I don't get it. This photo is horrible. It's available light using my camera phone. It's not even flattering. But my SiteMeter says at least three or four people have visited my site in the past week because of this photo. Huh?

My journalism professor was right

Way back in the late '80s, before the Internet age, my favorite journalism professor, Bob Woodward (not *the* Bob Woodward of Watergate fame), liked to tell me that my byline should be "haleyhughes, one word, lowercase." This week, as I was typing my name for the umpteenth time on some web form, I realized that the Internet has proven Professor Woodward right and, indeed, my byline is now "haleyhughes, one word, lowercase." And I like it that way.

I write at a sixth-grade level
A post I read on Bloody Computer! reminded me that Microsoft Word has a feature that allows you to judge the readability of your writing. It's through the spelling/grammar check tool. Anyway, after reading the post, I copied the text from my blog's main page into Word and ran the check. It came back as a sixth-grade readability level, which I think is great, because that means it's easily readable, like they taught me in J-school. I'm not trying to write a dissertation here. An enjoyable reading experience is the goal.

Avon Romance Blog
I've been reading romance novels since I was 13 years old. Some of the first that I read and many of my favorites have been published by Avon Books. So imagine my surprise when the Avon Romance Blog dropped an EntreCard on my site and then requested to place an ad here. OMG, Avon! I have since become a regular reader of the blog. If you like to read romance novels or if you're writing a romance novel and want to learn more about the acquiring editors, go visit this blog.

CoComment
A cool way to keep track of comments you've made on other blogs, and track followup discussions. Unfortunately, a few comments do manage to escape its tracking system, but I'm not sure how. Maybe if there's no RSS feed?

AdSense
I haven't felt the need to place advertising on this blog before, simply because I know the return would be minimal. Plus I'm not blogging for the money, although money is nice. Sometimes, though, my curiosity gets the better of me and I sign up for something just to see it from the inside. So, I signed up for AdSense (see the Google ads in the right column) and I've been discovering the inner workings. I think I've earned all of 1 cent so far. :)

Not everyone has an EntreCard widget yet
Every blog I visit now, I find myself searching for the EntreCard widget so I can drop my card. When I don't find one, I wonder: Why hasn't this person signed up yet? Are they afraid of the extra traffic and exposure? Seriously, follow the EntreCard link, take the tour, create an attractive 125-by-125 pixel calling card for your blog, sign up and see what happens. (I'm talking to you, Don M.F.H. And Wook. And Stanimal.)

8 comments:

  1. The photo: It's probably the cleavage. But as you know lately I've got sex on my mind.

    AdSense: I make peanuts on mine also, but I find it useful and interesting to see what people are advertising that is contextually relevant to my posts. It gives me an idea of which dentists feel the need to advertise around me.

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  2. Very interesting! This is the first time I've heard about entrecard. I'll give it a look. BTW, I found your site by following the blogrush link off my own blog. Just so you know how I ended up getting here. :)

    -Brady

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  3. The photo: Definitely the cleavage. I know from my PBase hits that viewers love and hint of boobage.

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  4. ... ANY hint of boobage, I meant to type ...

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  5. So, cleavage it is...

    Really? Cause this isn't even a good cleavage shot. It's all washed out and... It's just not a good photo.

    But I'll take your word, because it's the only explanation that seems to fit.

    @ameloblast -- Good point about AdSense. I hadn't thought of it being useful in that way. Oh, and for the benefit of the other readers, I'll put your sex comment in context and link to your post Is EntreCard a Metaphor For Sex? :P A very funny post, BTW, and a good segue into my next comment.

    @Brady Frost -- I'll look for you on EntreCard. And thanks for letting me know you arrived via BlogRush. I've gotten very little traffic through BlogRush, so I'm happy to see that it does work.

    @Don -- Did you take my hint and check out EntreCard? :)

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  6. Thanks for mentioning Bloody Computer!

    Also, regarding the picture. I noticed the smiles before I noticed the cleavage, and yes, I am a red-blooded heterosexual male (which rather implies that females and homosexual males have a different colour blood). Saying that, it might be the smile that catches the eye and the cleavage that moves the hand.. *ahem*

    I best sign off before I embarrass somebody, probably myself.

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  7. Anonymous3/10/2008

    I search for the Entrecard on every blog now too, hah... it's addictive but fun! I've found so many interesting blogs & people like yourself because of it! :-)

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  8. @Stepterix -- You win bonus points for the smile comment. Thanks. :)

    @Lisa -- I agree. And I've had a lot of fun monitering what new things you'll come up with *every day*. When the year is over, you'll have achieved a big accomplishment.

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