Grumble ‘n’ Grin Has Relocated

Grumble ‘n’ Grin has relocated to grumbelngrin.com. It took a couple of weeks for me to get things set up and rolling — more work than I had planned on.

So… I hope you visit the new site!

Adjustments

I mentioned last week that I was starting a new job. It is now a done deal and I have a week of re-immersion behind me. My whole system is in shock! Someone gave me the good advice to just keep swimming. I did not have the heart to tell him that I had not even made it to the water yet.

This time is reminiscent of when I started to work for my former boss. I had been on a short leave of absence and had returned to work on “Special Projects”. He had assigned me a couple of tasks that I had absolutely no idea how to tackle. I remember being totally depressed, sitting at my desk and scratching my head, wondering, “Is this all there is to life?” — I always go immediately to existential angst.

That was November of 1996. I wonder if November has something to do with how I am feeling? It is cold and dark by 4:30 PM. Or maybe it is because I always go into some degree of shock when I make a major change in my life. I broke out in hives after my first date with Michael and shortly thereafter had the worst bladder infection of my life! I could have taken these things to be signs that this was not the right relationship for me… but I would have been dead wrong.

Back in November of 1996, I was thinking that I needed a career change, but that was also wrong. One of those “special projects” that I scratched my head about had been to “figure out this whole internet thingie”. That project ended up changing my life. I have always been drawn to technology, but I absolutely loved the combination of technology and visual creativity. That assignment led to career advancement and a ton of fun. I met great people and learned all sorts of things.

Why am I writing this? It is to remind myself that change can be uncomfortable. There is that moment of hanging over the precipice with no idea what is on the other side. That is where I am right now, hanging off a cliff wondering if I can fly or if I will crash onto the rocks below. Either way, there is only one direction to go. I may have to pry myself off the side of the cliff, screaming all the way, but if I can remember how well most of the other major changes have turned out, maybe this one will be a bit easier to handle.

Making Some Moves

Change is in the air! Oscar, the Wonder Cat, is improving daily. We can tell by the volume of his meeows how he is feeling. Based upon his 5:00 AM lung power today, we say he is well on his way to a full recovery.

New Job
First off, I am starting a new job on Monday. The change won’t be that drastic because my office is in LA and I’m in Boston — I’ll be working from the Cafe in Waltham as per usual. Still, it is a momentous change for me. My last full-time position was in Financial Services while now I am a bona-fide Webby! Hurray! I will be working for a great company that I know well and for whom I have tons of respect, Genex. Undoubtedly this job will affect my day-to-day focus. I still plan to write this blog, but I am not sure how it will fit in with the new schedule.

New home for Grumble ‘n’ Grin
After two months, I have decided to move this blog to my own site. That way, I can have more creative control over the visual aspects. The plan is to migrate some time this week. I have spent the last week looking at WordPress Themes. I had planned to build my own, but now I don’t have as much time for that sort of thing, so I am going to leverage one of the great Premium Themes that are available… just haven’t decided which one yet as there are many to choose from.

And did I mention…
Oscar is feeling better YEAH!

Daily Photo – Oscar

Here’s Oscar getting ready to step outside of his own volition just two short months ago. This week he has been outside a lot — going back and forth to the Cat Hospital for daily treatments.

Crazy Humans -- He seemed to say

Last year Oscar was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure. Despite the diagnosis, he was active, vocal and purring non-stop. Last week he suddenly went into decline. Now his kidneys are not working properly and the prognosis is not so good. We are picking him up later today hoping that he will have enough kidney function to be comfortable and enjoy his favorite activities for a while longer: chasing twisty ties, sitting snuggled up between me and Michael, getting brushed and petted and generally ruling his kingdom.

Regardless of how much longer he has with us, I am really grateful that Oscar has been so healthy and happy for the past year and that Michael and I have been working from home so that we have been able to spend lots of time with him.

Update: November 16, 2008
Oscar has made a marvelous recovery this weekend. He started to eat on Friday and pretty much pigged out yesterday! He is back to being his whiny, demanding self! YEAH! The only effect of his near death experience that is still in evidence is a decline in his agility. This morning he followed me upstairs, looked up at the bed, made like he was going to jump up and then said to himself, “No way I’m gonna make it.”

We are going to build him a kitty ramp so he can get up. The joy of living with a suddenly geriatric cat!

Dancing with the Stars – On to the Semis

I usually write a recap of Dancing with the Stars on performance night, but this week my favorite (and only) cat, Oscar, is really sick. He has been at the hospital all day getting fluids to see if we can get his kidneys functioning properly and then he comes home for the night.

All of this trauma did not get in the way of my watching DWTS this week… just no time, energy or inclination to write about it. We are down to the last five celebrities. Cloris is gone, not even in the audience as she had threatened to be, so there have been no shenanigans the last couple of weeks. The remaining celebrities can all dance well enough. What’s there to say?

Blogging About Blogging

Yesterday was the two-month anniversary of Grumble ‘n’ Grin – a personal blog about ? – hmmm… I’m not really sure what it’s about. My intention was to write consistently. It was about experiencing what it is like to participate in the blogosphere, to publish ideas that I might normally keep to myself and to see if and how the site received traffic.

How have I fared?
First, let me just say that it is a good idea to set goals that are easy to attain. If I had set a goal of publishing prize-winning material and acquiring thousands of readers, I might be sorely disappointed. But since to be successful I only had to write something on a regular basis (and I get to define what “regular” means), I have been very successful. I have posted consistently – in fact, almost daily. Weekends don’t count because I have noticed very low traffic on Saturday and Sunday. It seems that productivity could in fact be much higher if people were working instead of surfing the net!

What has the experiment showed me to date?

1. It is FREAKING TIME-CONSUMING to write a blog every day! This is especially true on those days when you just don’t feel passionate about anything or when you have other things that need to get done.
2. While not having an agenda or focus may be freeing for the writer, it is difficult to build a readership. There are exceptions, of course, like super-star blogger, Heather Armstrong, publisher of Dooce, who writes about her daily life with edgy humor. My conclusion? You need to actually have talent to be successful writing about your life.
3. Talking to yourself in public is weird. And so is writing a blog which is very similar to talking to yourself in public knowing full well that people could be overhearing the conversation.
4. Despite numbers 1 through 3, I am going to keep blogging about nothing much — at least for a while longer.

What have I learned about blogs?
During the last couple of months, I have spent some serious time surfing the web – yes, work has been slow and yes, I probably could have been spending my time more productively but it’s still better than last fall when I played Sudoku for hours on end and mostly scored BELOW AVERAGE.

But I digress. Back to the subject of blogging. The most successful blogs seem to fall into a few categories:

1. News Blogs – with multiple authors, covering everything & anything from politics and celebrities to sports. Examples: Huffington Post & Daily Kos: State of the Nation
2. Marketing Blogs – people talking about marketing, social media and how to use it. Example:Seth’s Blog & Chris Brogan
3. Technology Blogs – geared towards technology and gadgets. Examples: Gizmodo & TechCrunch
4. Community Blogs – topical blogs on which the community creates the content. Examples: Free Travel Blog to Share your Trips TravelPod & icanhascheezburger
5. Blogs on Blogging – written for the millions of bloggers who want to know how to blog successfully. Examples:Daily Blog Tips & Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging – ProBlogger

There are also successful blogs that are a combination. The most successful one being Boing Boing. I honestly don’t understand the popularity of this blog. I have checked it out a few times mostly because it ranks as one of the most popular blogs but it just does not grab me. As much as I hate to admit it, I may just not be cool enough to get it. Here is how Boing Boing is described on Technorati

Boing Boing is a weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It’s the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com, and won the Lifetime Achievement and Best Group Blog awards at the 2006 Bloggies ceremony. – Technorati

So what does all this mean?
There are millions of blogs being written. Like anything else in life, there are a few who are successful (success being defined as attracting a huge readership and generating revenue for the author/owner) and then there are all of the others. My favorites, though, are the blogs that are about making money blogging. That’s how they make money. All the blogger wannabes read their blogs so they make money. It is like any ponzi scheme – first in reap rewards.

Since I began blogging, I have read a lot about what other bloggers say about blogging. The general consensus is that your blog should have focus… mine does not unless you consider personal viewpoints on a hodge-podge of subjects to be a FOCUS. Somehow I don’t think that’s what they are talking about.

Regardless of it all, I am going to keep blogging about WHATEVER. I may even publish on my own site so that I can play with the layouts more. I will also keep creating my own definition of success; one that is easily attainable. As many of my fellow senior managers used to say, “Redefine Success”. That’s a sure formula for publishing a successful blog.

Almost Daily Photo – Leaves, Lots of Leaves

Autumn Leaves & The Sweet Prius

I took this photo right before Michael and I raked, blew and bagged leaves for a couple of hours. That was Tuesday. Now it’s Saturday and we already have twice as many leaves on the ground. Unfortunately, I can’t bend over or move my right arm. I have also lost the use of my legs.

Here’s me going up the stairs yesterday: “Ouch, ouch, ouch, owowowowow.”

Here’s Michael after listening to me go up the stairs: “What the hell’s wrong with you?” I know, very compassionate.

You might think that these indications of infirmity would motivate me to get back on some sort of exercise regimen?

No, not so much.

The leaves look lovely. We can just let them be. If I don’t do anything too strenuous, I can keep believing that REALLY, I’M IN AWESOME SHAPE!

Denial is the best.

Daily Photo – Puppy Relaxation

No Worries!

If only we could relax the way that puppies do. Two canine rules to live by:

1. There’s nothing to worry about.
2. Live in the present moment.

Dancing with the Stars – Len is Back & He’s Grumpy

Len Goodman returned this week — hurray! He may be irascible, but he is fun. This week Dancing with the Stars got a bit complicated with the addition of a team competition. The couples were split into two groups and their group dance scores were added to their individual scores.

Massachusetts Politics

State House - Leaders Meet Here?

Here in Massachusetts we’re not sure what is going on with our local leaders. We have heard very little about governor Deval Patrick after his bid to open MA up to casinos went down in defeat- except that he was in New York promoting his book and recently campaigning for Barack Obama in Miami.