Thursday, November 13, 2014

What is the one skill you see in other bloggers that you wish you had?

From Lifehacker.com
Today, I am answering one of the prompts from BlogHer. It is the first one I have answered in a long time. The prompt for today is asking about a skill that I might see in other bloggers throughout their own blogs. In true Patricia style, I have to give more than one answer, because I’m like that.
The first skill, is consistency. I know, I know, I keep on saying that I am going to blog more than once a week, and I have an answer for that. The problem is I am a yes person. I constantly say yes to people who I should be saying no to, and that is bad. I am always trying to correct this problem, but I always have people, who when I say no to, they come up with a reason why I should say yes. This is especially true with my nephew, who is 18. He has no driver’s license, refuses to take the test, and get himself a car. More on that at another time. When that happens, I get behind in my work, then I find myself going weeks without submitting a blog post, creating product, or even picking up a piece of paper off the floor. That last part is an exaggeration, but that is how I feel, sometimes. Take today for instance, I am trying to finish my work and pick something to eat, before tonight’s episode of Scandal. Yes folks, I am a diehard Scandal fan, and I do comment on a Facebook group every Thursday. Okay, it could not kill me for once, to take this man child to the movies, but is cold outside, and I am now at the moment, warm and toasty. Who wants to go out in the polar vortex’s baby brother’s weather, when you have a heater? I am just saying.
Okay, I got a little sidetracked for the moment, but the problem is consistency. My next problem, is sponsorship. I can see some eyes rolling already. One of my dreams with this blog, as well as my other blog, is to have revenue comes from it. Again, I can see the eyes rolling. Not a lot, but just enough money to pay for things like web hosting fees, and other things that are associated with monitoring a website or blog.
I am going to throw in a bonus, and say that there are some bloggers who are great with words. And I know that comes with practice, because I can see a difference from my very first blog post so now. I have been blogging since 2009, I think that is around the time that most people start blogging, but there are some people’s blogs look like they have been blogging longer. In other words, they know how to pitch their blogs to others. Another name for marketing oneself, and letting others know why you should read my blog, or sponsor me. I guess I am going to have to hire myself a blog writer, which is the same as a speechwriter for people who need someone to give them the right words to say. But then again, I would feel like that these are not the words, and they are not from the heart.

So now you know my flaws, I am getting better every time I write a blog post. And in closing, I will give you a little tip: use a speech to text software to type a little faster. It is my little gift from me to you, and I love my speech to text software.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Buyers, Beware?

This will be an antique in 2214
The year is 2214, and your computer’s dusty hard drive has just resurfaced at an antique store. Write a note to the curious buyer explaining what he or she will find there.

Dear potential Buyer:
Thank you for purchasing my hard drive.  I want to let you know before you unlock the secrets of this hard drive, what you will find on it.  I have no doubt that things are a lot sophisticated now with your new technology, I know you will wonder how people got along in 2014.
First of all, I am from the Northwest part of country (if there is still a country called the United States.) Columbus, Ohio to be exact.  You may find a lot of reference of the city and state on here.   You may also out about a company called Longaberger as well.  I am an Independent Home consultant, and I have a lot of business stuff on the hard drive.  I hope the company is still in operation.  I have good faith that the company is still striving, and that Dave Longaberger’s legacy has not gone to waste.
I like Disney, a lot, and you may find planning materials on the hard drive.  I was trying to plan a trip since 2009, and had to revise the plan several times.  We finally went in 2016, and had a blast.  I was able to scrapbook the trip in 2017, and had found memories of making the scrapbook.  I did not digitize it, I made it the traditional way, and my offspring should have the book.  I did make copies, so if you want to know what Disney was like through my eyes, you can take a look, before you erase the contents (I assume that is what you are going to do with the drive).
Scrapbooking was another hobby of mine, turned into a business, a booming business.  By the time I died, it was a billion business.  Something I never thought of happening in 1995 when I first got started.  You may have heard of the company, P. Lynne Designs.  Well now you can see the humble beginnings of this company unfold before your eyes.  There were several times that I wanted to just close the business, even a few days before I died, but my daughter, my niece and nephews, and even my parents convinced me not to do it.  I am so glad I did not close the door on a company that was my heart and soul.  You will find several files pertaining to it.
You may find that I was also spiritual and that I love inspirational pieces, especially pieces that pertain to God and His son.  I wrote for a living as well, and became an author.  I never thought in a millions years that I would being doing something like that, especially the number of marks I received from my papers in school.
Finally, you may find random stuff, like a schedule of me working at the Longaberger Homestead, birthday reminders, meetings, and other appointments.  Most of all, I hope you will find what kind of person I was, which a person who cares about people, especially her family, her customers, and life in general.  I cannot say that my life was easy, because nothing is easy in life.  You have to roll with the punches.  Don’t slouch, it makes for a bad back. 

If you really want to get to know me, the real me, you will find some personal journals as well.  You will see my entries on how I went through life in 21st century, hopefully getting alone with my 50 year old body and beyond.