Category: blogging

my relationship with my blog

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Blog

I have a confession. I am not funny.

Oops. There goes half my readership. Those of you remaining are thinking yeah, lady, we know you’re not funny. Make with the real confession already.

Serious, sensitive, intense. The most common words teachers and guidance counselors used to describe me from second grade through high school graduation. Oh, and emotional. A regular barrel of laughs.

Give me a break. I had a lot on my mind.

Faculty also described me as enthusiastic, creative and smart. And I was smart enough to befriend fun people. Surrounded by them, I looked like I knew how to have a good time.

lol

I’m still surrounded by many friends who are hilarious. At least one needs to do stand up comedy. She’s that good.

I’ve told her this repeatedly over the years. She’s in denial, but one day I expect to be sitting in her audience crying from laughing so hard. (You know who you are. It’s a gift, woman. Use it.)

I also married a funny guy and we have a quick-witted child who is funnier than both of us combined. Good-Time Charlie, my husband calls him.

Like a talent scout for humor, I can’t do it myself, but I can recognize it. And I can write about it.

Take for example, Scrabbled. It’s funny, but not because I’m funny. It’s because of all these funny people and the funny things that happen.

My blogging for public consumption is just 12 posts fresh. Already I have ascertained everyone responds best to humor. Write more, they plead.

I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. Remember who you’re reading here. Serious, sensitive, intense.

Quieter feedback has revealed the not-as-funny posts speak to people too.

Life is, after all, bittersweet.

But there’s purpose in it. There are smiles to be had. And on a very good day there are lots and lots of laughs.

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV

spring harvest

To hear Bittersweet by Big Head Todd and the Monsters, one of the best songs ever, click here for the Vimeo link. Laugh, cry, be mellow and moved.

You Baby Boomers out there expected me to link to Turn! Turn! Turn! from Pete Seeger’s album The Bitter and the Sweet made famous as a 1965 cover by The Byrds, didn’t you? Well, I’m Gen-X. But just for you, click here for the Byrds’ rendition on YouTube. You can thank me later.

Posted on by Aimee 4

Movin’ On Up

Dear Blogger,

What good times we’ve had.

Writing stories. Downloading photos. Recklessly hotlinking movie poster images and music videos. Ah, life in the fast lane.

How could I not love you?

You introduced me to blogging. I am enthralled. Enraptured. Engaged in life again.

But we have a problem. You won’t let my friends get a word in edgewise.

Only certain people can comment. Only certain people can subscribe.

Oh, I know you say they’re just doing it wrong. But I wonder. Maybe you’re doing this on purpose so they have to join your clique.

Last night I heard you mutter it doesn’t matter if anyone reads my blog because I’m doing it for the love of writing.

Theoretically that’s true, but let’s get something straight. I’m not writing so only you and I can read it. We already know what it says.

If someone, anyone, wants to read it, comment on it, subscribe to it, share it on Facebook, email it to their Aunt Cleo, their cousin Irving, their daughter Macie at college, their son Jake who works in New York, their fourth grade teacher Ms. Vanpelt, their neighbor Winston Rutherford Waterman or any one else on earth, I say have at it.

As much fun as we’ve had together, I’m leaving you for another platform.

I’m moving to WordPress today. There readers can comment, subscribe, and get updates via email. They can even click like if they want.

You can’t change my mind. Everything is in place.

I have my own domain at everydayepistle.com, along with new headshots from photographer friend Kristin Scully. And I’m taking my quirky title, my snippets of pop culture and my itty-bitty blog with me.

Come up and see me sometime.

Virtually yours,

Aimee

PS: All the original posts from Blogger are featured at everydayepistle.com too.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 NIV

To watch the 1975 opening of the sitcom The Jeffersons with its jubilant song Movin’ On Up, click here. You will be transported to TVLand.

Posted on by Aimee 2

Dangerous Liaisons: A Girl Enters the Blogosphere

A friend alerted me that my blog’s security settings won’t let her post a comment. Oh, the heartbreak of it all.

I write words, not code. This leaves me in the awkward position of being dazed and confused by social media, while madly in love with it too.

Library called. They want their books back now.

Blogger, my current platform, says they have enabled automatic spam detection. Translation: ain’t nothing getting through.

So I thought I would simply adjust my Blogger settings down to make it easier for you to come to the dance. Yeah, right.

I logged in to Blogger Dashboard. That’s IT lingo for site-that-makes-you-think-you-have-some-control-over-your-stuff. I clicked on Comments to change the settings.

Imagine my surprise to discover there is no loosen-up-so-people-can-comment-and-subscribe-without-turning-backflips option. It appears my settings are as loose as they get.

This is only my third post and already I’m considering moving the entire operation to WordPress. Several of my blogging babe heros successfully reside there. See their beautiful sites at Here’s the Diehl and Traveling with the Jones. (Since the time this was first posted, I’ve identified more friends who are blogging babe heros on WordPress like Kellogues,  Minivans Are Hot, and Quiet Gardens, Raging Seas.)

I am enamoured with Blogger’s simplicity. But truth be told, WordPress was my first choice to launch everyday epistle. Even have the name reserved.

So why didn’t I? The WordPress Dashboard looks like spaghetti.

If you can relate to this soap opera, never fear. There’s safety in numbers. We’ll overcome it together.

If on the other hand, you are a social media master, please chime in. Throw out the lifeline before the rest of us drown in RSS feeds and plug-ins.

Stay tuned. If everyday epistle moves to another platform, I hope you will come along. But for now, I’ll keep writing the words that fuel the fire.

be mine

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-3 NIV

Apologies if you have tried unsuccessfully to comment or subscribe. Thanks for staying on. At the risk of breaking blog taboo, my email address is still working last I checked. It’s not interactively ideal, but I’ll get your message. Contact me at everyday epistle dot att dot net.

This post was first published on February 16, 2011, here.

Posted on by Aimee

Maiden Flight

It was inevitable. At some point I would blog. Current atmospheric conditions are churning now, ripe for words. What’s my angle? Take your pick.

first in flight

Tormented writer ponders the future of a full but meandering career. Stay-at-home mom finds herself adrift as her only child races through kindergarten.

Southern expat living in the Midwest wilts with homesickness like a hydrangea in a Carolina summer wilts with heat.

Wait, there’s more.

Independent conservative squirms under a government hell bent on bringing the end of the world as we know it.

Bible-believing Christian struggles to keep the walk real despite discouragement, disconnection and disillusionment.

Gen-X girl turns 40, buys an iPhone and starts a blog.

This is your captain speaking. Please keep your seatbelts fastened in the likely event we encounter choppy air. Turbulence makes for quite the adventure.

maiden flight: the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord…always a historic occasion for the type…also one of the most dangerous, because the exact handling characteristics of the aircraft are generally unknown. wikipedia.org

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; He’ll always be there to help you come through it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message

This post was first published on February 12, 2011, here.

Posted on by Aimee 2