Grubbs n Critters

January 15, 2015

#Blogging 101: Being a Good Neighbour

Yesterday’s assignment from #Blogging 101 was to be a good neighbour by leaving comments on 4 other blogs which I haven’t commented before.

Essentially, I don’t really have to do anything other than commenting, but I thought that since I had stumbled across blogs which I like, I figured that a post would be in order!

It’s like the universe has spoken. The blogs which I had recently come across are mostly Mommy Blogs; mommy-related blogs which I had not purposely look for on the day when the assignment was released, but somehow just jumped at me when I least expected it.

Each has their own unique stories which I find intriguing and these mommies completely made my day:

Happy Mama = Happy Baby

Julie runs a judgement-free site,and that’s what I like about her blog. She’s connecting all mommies from all over the world, all walks of life to share ideas without guilt or stress. Now we all know that mothers are being judged unnecessarily all.the.time and what better way is there to let your out your thoughts freely and discuss about them without fear of being judged!

Mama Pains

A seasoned mother of 2 daughters, Heather caught my eyes because she identifies herself as being goofy. Now, I love goofyness; the goofier, the better! She does vlogs, something which I personally shun away from and so I find that absolutely fascinating as she’s so comfortable doing it. She sounds pretty relaxed too, and I think there’s something for me to learn with her style of parenting.

Silver Lining Mama

The title of her blog says it all. This is one Mama who is full of positive vibes throughout her published pieces and one feels uplifted almost immediately with her scribbles. So full of energy and humility! Jan’s pictures are simple snapshots, but do say a thousand words. They are captured well in her posts. She has, in my opinion, single-handedly made her stuffed turtle famous! Whoever says you need beautifully shot photographs with DSLRs to make your point!

Celebrating Sunshine

Ana oozes love, sunshine and happiness throughout her blog. Something we all need in our lives and something we need to be reminded of often. This blog has a personal resonance to me (quote unquote) that no matter how dark things seem, there’s always going to be sunshine at the end. This is really something I want to believe and we need people like her to not only inspire, but recognise and appreciate all the blessings in our lives.

My life has just become that much richer by knowing that there are life-lines out there. I hope you take the time to check them out. Just because I think they are absolutely awesome!

#Blogging 101, #Begoodtoyourneigbours

#Blogging 101: Making “About” Page Irresistible

Category: Blogging 101

This is the one, single task that makes me shudder: Writing an “about” page.

I know from the onset I am screwed. Technically, it should be about me as the author – and, it’s already something I’m struggling with because I don’t like talking about myself; but really, it is more about the readers than it is about me.

So this is the page where I’m supposed to be beating my chest like the mighty Silverbacks, flashing out my achievements and bragging about me, me, me. Already I find that such a daunting task which was why I had preferred to refer to myself as the 3rd person in my previous “About”. I spent DAYS on end writing and re-writing that I don’t think I ever want to go into that again. I know it wasn’t perfect and less than ideal but I was sort of OK with it.

Then this assignment came. And here comes the nail in the coffin: Make it I.R.R.E.S.I.S.T.A.B.L.E.

How in the world do I do THAT? I’m terrible at such things and I cringed just thinking about it. I really, really do not want to be bragging about me!

But here’s the thing – I have to give my readers some insights about who I am, what I really blog about and the one most important criteria of why they would want to stick around. Which was why I took up #Blogging 101 anyway.

So I grit my teeth, sigh a big sigh and re-read my “about” page which I have neglected and ignored for the last one year. As I gleaned over to the 2nd paragraph, I got bored and clicked myself away. OMG. My “about” page was not only irresistible, it was irresistibly deplorable! Who in their right mind would read so much crap!

With flushed cheeks, I made my way to The Commons and asked for some feedback. I come to a conclusion that people are generally nice and tend to say nice things, which was not something I wanted at that point especially when I know I have such a crappy product.

I was seeking for pointers…constructive feedback so I have something to work on, and was half anticipating that someone would tear my “About” apart. I can take a beating pretty darn well, you know!

Response was swift and I had 2 responses within minutes with some thoughts and directions that I found to be invaluable. Something I could work with. I took their comments and spent another day and half to re-write my About several times over before heading back for more feedback.

Let me say this again: Writing “About” page is frickin’ hard. And I hated every.single.second.of.it.

But I had my focus and it was somewhat easier to work from there. I thought the hardest fact to leave out was bits of history of my life, and I realised it now, it really didn’t matter much. So here’s a shout-out to Caspar and Karyn for being such awesome, helpful classmates with my About. I hope to meet more like them.

If there are key things I have learnt on taking another stab at “About”:

“About” page is about here and now, with sneak peaks of the future. History doesn’t really matter
There are lots of inspiration out there and it’s easy to get side-tracked. So, keeping some directional focus in mind is important as in the end, I have to infuse what I have been inspired by with my personal essence and make it my own.
There is nothing more valuable than getting genuine, constructive feedback so you have something to work with. I need to remember to do the same to others looking for feedback
It is NOT EASY! And it will continue to be a work-in-progress as you go along

I’m still not sure if I have nailed it just yet and like I said, it will likely be on a continuos WIP mode. But I do think this new About is a good improvement from the crap I had before.

Here’s a checklist I found in the sea of information and with your feedback, I hope I have been able to check them all off:

About Page is actually about YOU who click the link to see it.
Talking to you, my readers , about why you should bother reading my site. (I hope that message comes through!)
Talk about the problems I solve. (I don’t claim to solve problems, but I do have anecdotes for reference)
Talk about how I can help. (I hope I can help ease some confusion whatever that relates to you)
Talk about what the readers are interested in. (I suppose you wouldn’t be here if you have no interest)

Worse assignment ever! There’s About 201 and even though I find that intimidating now, I believe it’s something I would have to do again in the near future.

Out of curiosity, how easy was it for you to write your “About” page? And what did you find most challenging about it?

#Blogging-101, #Makeyouraboutpageirresistable

#Blogging 101: Love Your Theme

Category: Blogging 101

Let me be the first to tell you that I am probably one of the most unmotivated, impatient and technically challenged individual to want to play around with themes and widgets.

Largely because, I know of how much time it takes to just settle on one and that it is so easy to get lost in the sea of themes that you forget you have a life outside as can’t stop obsessing with trying to get that perfect theme.

For a perfectionist like me who is perpetually time-starved, having to mechanically test almost every theme that is available, along with the different variations to play with, annoys the crap out of me. (I know I shouldn’t try 50 themes, but I’m way too anal retentive. I cannot help it!).

My tendency of being OCD about it, as well my paranoia that I would screw the back-end up makes matters worse; especially when I neither have the patience nor the desire or time to fuss over it. That would not be good for my mental health.

All I wanted to do was start blogging already. Simple, no! But noooo…as it turns out, trying to get to ONE theme and then figure out the technicalities is anything but simple. It’s time-consuming. Kill way too many brain cells.

So for those who have done your dues on playing with themes, I have the utmost respect for you. I really, really do salute your dedication, (time) commitment and your self-mastery for getting your theme up and running all by yourself.

Me? I’m useless. I was inflicted by a severe and incurable inertia. I got bored just looking and browsing through the themes that I just could not stand looking yet at another theme to experiment with.

I gave up on me. I then contracted a web designer kind enough customise a theme for me; saving my sanity. Even that took several previews over a few weeks – and that was with 2 heads. Imagine the amount of time I would need with just my own defunct head! Best decision ever.

Being able to connect with a gifted, patient, very knowledgeable web designer and one who works me with me as a true partner has been a blessing. Amalina, you are brilliant! And without her, I would not be able to have this amazing theme on my site. (At least I think so!)

A theme I absolutely love. A theme that works for me. A theme I’m happy with, and for now, I wouldn’t change a thing.

That being said, I also would want to make it easy and user-friendly for my readers. So, if you have any comments on anything at all – may it be the font size (I’ve had a few people telling me that – ~~working on it!~~ done!), site navigation, new widgets, categorisation or even the best way of navigating my archives , please, please holler out.

It’s not only the good stuff I want to hear, but also the bits where I can improve on to make your experience on my site a worthwhile one.

As a side note to my loyal long-time readers:

Please do bear with me on this one. I’m just taking a short break from my usual digital verbal dysentery as I am currently focusing to perfect the craft of #Blogging-101. Something which I should have done a looooong waaaaay awaaaay back. I’ll be back soon with more stories and grubs to share.

#Blogging-101, #LoveYourTheme, #ExploringThemes