How do you attract new people to your blog?

I participate in a number of things (take a look at that sidebar) which does bring more people to my blog. Unfortunately I’m a horrible commenter, so that’s not one of them.

What do you look for in the blogs you read?

Something said in a way that doesn’t annoy me. Some content. I want a diary – not a journal. IE: Don’t tell me that you had steak for dinner. Unless it’s told to me in some story about how that came to be? I don’t care. But – had an interesting trip to the grocery store to get that steak? That I want to know about. Struggles you had in cooking it? Okay. Just the fact you ate it? Not so much. The voice of the person is also important to me. I want to get to know you through your use of language – really, what else is the point?

However, a caveat – your blog is your personal diary or journal. You put it out there, but ultimately it’s yours. If all you want to write about is what you had for dinner, you absolutely should! I just may not read – and you shouldn’t care that I read.

What excites you? (In blog land, that is:)

Collaborations, special events, special events in people’s lives, personal growth.

What turns you off?

Please don’t put music on your blog. If you have something you want me to hear? Great – blog a link to it, and make sure I know. But I sometimes read from work. I sometimes read when the house is quiet, and the kids are asleep. If there’s going to be something coming out of my speakers, I want to know about it first.

Ads don’t annoy me, but the one’s that block the content do – or the ones with blinky flashing things all around do.

And neon colors or white font on a black background really really hurt my eyes. I won’t read them. If you’ve got good content, I may read through a reader instead, but I won’t come directly to your site.

I guess the bottom line is an assault on my senses is not a good thing. I live with three boys (hubby included) – I get enough of that already.

How do you discover new blogs?

All those sidebar thingies in the first question introduce me to a lot of new things. Commenters, or links via my regular reads is how I find new reads.

this has been a TITMT entry

Tell it to me Tuesday

What is something that you always wished you could do and do well and why?

I have always always always wanted to garden. Have a garden, grow flowers and plants. It is just Not me. I kill everything green. I have a black thumb.

I’ve always wanted to create that space – that fresh, colorful, full of life space. In the home, in the yard, at work. But I guess it’s just not in the cards for me. It’s one area in my life where I follow the directions, and it still doesn’t work. I don’t know how you gardeners do it. I really don’t.

It’s a running joke in my family. Don’t give Michele your plants to watch, and don’t have her make the pasta unless you’re feeding an army.

P.S. – Comments are still down – Email me instead at sparksfley at gmail dot com.

Tell it to me Tuesday

Are you a Mac lover or a PC person? Are Mac’s the “apple of your eye” or are PC’s your piece of the pie and of course…WHY?

PC – all the way. I haven’t had a lot of experience with mac. But, the small experiences I’ve had were that someone always needed to help with problems. In other words, on a PC, I feel that while not as user friendly, when you have issues, you might be able to fix them yourself. However, with a mac, the workings seem to be so hidden (so as to help with user friendliness) that you need to hire someone to help with problems. I like being able to fix my own stuff.

I’m sure that a goodly portion of the reasons behind my answer is strictly the “known vs unknown” factor.

Tell it to me Tuesday

For this week’s TITMT I am going to step away from music, trivia and list making requests. Instead, I’m going to ask you for your opinion on a scenario. The scenario itself is deliberately vague on details to see what you would do without too much information. On Sunday I will elaborate more and reveal what we actually did.

A few months ago, my boyfriend and I were on our way home from Philadelphia. On the way we spotted a man pulled over to the side of the road. Assumably his family was waiting in the car. He was flagging drivers down and my boyfriend pulled over. He told us that his car had broken down and that help was on the way, but that unfortunately he did not have all the money he needed to pay for the tow truck. So he was asking strangers, out of the kindness of their hearts, for anything up to fifteen dollars to contribute to the total cost. He also offered to pay us back if we were willing to give our address to him.

1. Would you have stopped in the first place? Why or why not?

Yes. If it wouldn’t create more of a hazard and they are flagging down. I would want to make sure they called for help – or offer my cell phone if not.

2. Are there any factors that would contribute to your stopping or not stopping that would ultimately change your answer?

Creepiness factor. Whether or not they looked like they were on top of things. Although the flagging down part kind of gives it away. Whether I’d be in a situation (as a woman alone) that I couldn’t get out of.

3. If you stopped, would you or would you not give him the money he asked for?

Well. I think I would – $15 is not a terrible lot of money in the grand scheme of things. As long as I had it – I don’t carry a lot of cash. And even if it was a scam, quite frankly, I’d rather err on the side of caution so that if he is telling the truth he has the money.

4. If you gave him the money, would you supply your address?

No. I wouldn’t consider it a loan, I’d consider it a gift.

5. Does time of year or time of day effect your answer?

Nope.

Tell It To Me Tuesday

Do you believe in ghosts?

Yes, in fact, I do.

There are those in the Christian community that would say I’m wrong to believe that. I don’t care. You see, Biblically, there’s nothing that says that they don’t – in addition – there’s nothing that says God doesn’t have work for us after we pass.

My grandma was 90 years old when she died. I was 17. In fact I sleep now in the room she died in. Her passing was difficult, as we cared for her in her home in 24 hour shifts. About 2 months after she died, I had vocabulary homework. In order to do it, I had to get out this huge dictionary. I decided that I was NOT going to do my homework. I didn’t feel like it. I put the dictionary back on to it’s shelf, and turned to go. Out of the blue I got hit in the head. By a picture of my grandma. I said, “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.” I didn’t my vocabulary homework.

My other experiences are from a time in my life that I would rather forget – but they were real none-the-less.

Yes. I absolutely believe in ghosts. I believe in lots of things.