Day: 03/08/2018

THE UNCOMPROMISING POINTLESSNESS OF UNCOMPROMISINGNESS

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 34 Comments

I know people with extremely unsuccessful blogs that are always asking me to look at their blogs and tell them what’s wrong. I tell them that they have a very focused blog — which is what “they” tell you at Blogging Central.

Find a focus! Stick with it! NOT.

I don’t know why they say that. Especially if The World — or more to the point, your audience — is not responding. What’s the point in an uncompromising fixation on a losing format? If no one is following you, are you leading?

The snow of last evening

No matter how you slice and dice it, there is a necessary compromise between blogging for yourself and writing to attract readership. There’s no point to blogging if no one likes your work.

I’m also deeply suspicious of people who announce they don’t care whether or not anyone visits their site. If that were really true, why bother to blog? Keep a diary and save a lot of effort. Much of the joy of blogging is being part of a community, of forming relationships. If no one but you cares, it’s like spinning your wheels and going nowhere — without the added benefit of toning your muscles.

If you are rigidly uncompromising, you are probably doomed. In life, on your blog, in your relationships. A comfortable survival always requires compromise.

I try not to get blinded by my own enthusiasm. To remain mindful that  because I love it doesn’t mean others do. When I post obscure material, I know it’s probably not going to find a big audience.

Ultimately, there’s no logical explanation why one post hits big and another crashes and burns. I have run the same posts multiple times and gotten different results with each. The post hasn’t changed, but luck and timing do. Luck and timing are the wild cards when you’re a blogger.

And finally, there’s that ineffable issue of quality. If you are a very good writer and a brilliant photographer, you will find an audience. No matter what you write about or what you photograph. If you are not very good, no amount of excellent advice will save you from going nowhere. I never know what to say to young bloggers who think writing a post in mobile phone abbreviations will appeal to a bigger audience — accompanied by blurry pictures.

No matter what you do, it helps to be very good at it. 

It’s a balancing act. I write about what interests me and occasionally, make those little shifts to help other people enjoy it too. Mostly, it works reasonably well … and best of all, I get to be me and love what I do.

UP IN A TREE – ELLIN CURLEY

/ Ellin Curley / 19 Comments

The story of the cat in the tree is part of our family folk-lore. While not a major, life-altering event, it’s a good story with a happy ending.

Tom and I were scheduled to leave for London the following day. It was summer. Both of our young adult children were living at home with us. We were relaxing after dinner when we heard a cat meowing from outside the house. Our two cats — we also had three dogs — were exclusively indoor cats.

Tom, me, our kids, David and Sarah, and our three dogs at our wedding in 2002

We commented that we hadn’t realized our neighbors had cats. After a few more ‘meows’, we decided to do a head count and make sure that both of our cats were where they were supposed to be. One cat, Hillary, was missing. Shit!

So all four of us went outside and started to frantically search the fenced in backyard for our missing cat. We were worried she might be injured since she lived on the second floor of the house. The only way to get from there to the back yard, was off our bedroom deck and roof, which was pretty high up from the ground.

We searched and searched. It started to get dark so we got flashlights. When we called, she would answer us, but we couldn’t pinpoint her location. One minute she’d sound like she was off to our left. The next minute, she’d sound as if she was on our right. We got increasingly confused. We were also beginning to panic. We had to find Hillary if we wanted to leave on our trip the next day!

It eventually occurred to us that cats can climb trees. We might be looking in the wrong place for Hillary. So Tom took the flashlight up to the bedroom deck and shined it straight into the giant evergreen tree right outside our bedroom. There she was. Contentedly sitting in the tree. We figured she must have started to slide down the slanted roof and caught her fall by jumping onto the overhanging tree branch.

Tom said he’d climb the tree and get Hillary. The rest of us were afraid Tom would kill himself so we tried to dissuade him. Tom convinced us that it was an easy tree to climb and that he was an expert tree climber. So we agree and Tom climbed up to the second floor level and tried to grab Hillary. She got spooked and moved higher up the tree. After this little dance continued for a while, our daughter, Sarah, decided to step in.

Who do you call when your cat is stuck in a tree? The Fire Department. Sarah called our Volunteer Fire Department. She explained that both her cat and father were in a tree and needed help. The operator then asked Sarah if it was her father or the cat’s father who was up in the tree with Hillary.

Hillary

The Fire Department actually came. You might think firemen rescue cats from trees all the time and would know how to do it. This was true — fifty years ago. Not, however, these days. The firemen asked US what we wanted them to do. “Get a ladder.” Tom answered. So they brought out a tall ladder. But it was not tall enough.

The fireman then yelled up to Tom, “The ladder’s too short! What do you want me to do?”

What Tom did was creative and brave. He grabbed Hillary, hung upside down by his knees on a branch and handed the cat off to the fireman at the top of the ladder. Victory! Everyone gathered around the rescued cat – and completely forgot about Tom, still hanging upside down in the tree. One fireman finally went back to the tree and asked if Tom could get down on his own. Tom was hot and sweaty and exhausted, but he managed to climb down safely.

Before the firemen left, one of them phoned in a report to the office. This is what he said: “One cat and one adult male in tree. Successful recovery.”

That pretty much sums it all up!