WLBC Day 7: Things I liked about this challenge

Well, since the last post was so down, and because I'm kind of excited that I made it, this is a celebratory post.

I liked the challenge for the most part. Yeah, it was hard sometimes, and yeah I got blogger's block as I call it (see self-checkout post...Or maybe don't.) but overall it was a fun thing to do.

I think it will inspire me to try and get more readers and to blog more.
I'm not so afraid of text-only posts anymore, too! I used to be really wary of posting something if it didn't have pictures, and yeah, I usually find those sorts of posts more interesting, but if they're well written, text-only can be fantastic.
Also, I think I need (like some wise people said in the comments) to stop thinking "Okay, well, if I post about this then person A might find it funny, but I think it'll annoy person B...But what about person C? They read this blog sometimes..." and just go with what I want to say. There's nothing wrong with trying to improve the quality of my posts, but not attempting to style them to the readers.

So yeah. Congratulations to the other participants, maybe we should make this a yearly event!

WLBC Day 6: Why blogging sucks sometimes

Alright! One more day to go. And I'm blogging at a much more reasonable time today, too.

But I've been feeling a little disheartened lately.
Sometimes (to quote a friend) I feel like I'm just talking to an empty room when I blog. I try not to be too ranty, or too boring professor-ish or all pictures or no pictures or really goofy. Yet I think I still do all of things. I want to find a nice balance on my blog, I want to somehow make it so that I know that lots of people are reading it and looking forward to another post.
When I first started, it was just a way to get my rambles and rants out, I didn't really care if anyone read it. But now...It feels different.
The whole WLBC thing has made me blog more and I've enjoyed blogging every day, but what, maybe 1 other person is reading?
And I don't blame them. There are probably a lot of better blogs out there.

I'm just feeling kinda, I dunno. Unmotivated to keep up with blogging. Sorry if I sound really depressed in this post, I think it's mainly 'cause I haven't had breakfast yet.
Bye for now, empty room. See ya tomorrow.
-Dot

WLBC Day 5 (kinda): Random Acts of Kindness

So technically it's 12:22 AM in my time zone which means that I guess this is Day 6 if you want to be official. But oh well. I haven't gone to sleep yet so I'm going to count it as Day 5.

Today's (Tonight's? This morning's?) post is about Random Acts of Kindness as you probably guessed. Those little things that brighten someone's day.
It could be anything from holding the door for someone to buying them a coffee. I think it has an even more powerful effect coming from a stranger.
There's something special about letting a person that you've never met before know that you care and in a way inviting them into your life.

I recently watched a little video about a group trying to inspire people to have a better body image by leaving nice little notes like "You're worth it!", "You're perfect just the way you are!" etc. on mirrors in bathrooms, in weight loss sections of grocery stores and similar.
While a small gesture, sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

Sometimes in society we have a kind of "no touch" policy. Don't engage with anyone, don't smile, just keep walking.
And I think this can and is starting to change. We're all in the same boat here, guys, all living lives right next door to each other. So why not help each other out a little?

By the same token, some comedy can do the same thing. ImprovEverywhere is a perfect example of this. They do something fun and unusual to make someone's day special, and to give them a story to tell.

I want to do these sorts of things more often, and opportunities are everywhere, so why not? If everyone did it, just look where we'd be.


I really hope this post made some amount of sense. I think this blog is turning into the sort of "OMG my dog pooped!!1!!" kind due to my laziness and lack of brain. :/

Sleepily yours,
~Dorothy

WLBC Day 4: Self Check-Outs (AKA nothing to blog about)

You can tell I have nothing to blog about when I start rambling on about different ways to pay for your groceries. Yeah.
But to be fair, they are kinda awesome. (BTW, picture isn't mine, I just found it randomly on Google)
I love the way some of them say "Do you have any coupons?"; I always feel disappointed that I don't and it seems to be a deep metaphor for something...What, I dunno, but it seems to have a deeper meaning than just asking you for coupons, right? Like, it doesn't really expect you to, it's just searching for reassurance. Reassurance that you will indeed pay full price for the item, or maybe that it is possible for it to accept various shapes, sizes and colours of these amazing vouchers. Which could be a metaphor for diversity. You know, it can accept ALL sorts of coupons.

Okay, so I have an excuse for this post then. Self check-outs are a metaphor for diversity and therefore they are awesome and in posting this I am awesome.

Or maybe I'm just bored, had too much coffee and have nothing to blog about.

WLBC Day 3: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Today's post is about, you guessed it, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a popular internet movie.
At roughly 40 min in length this short film is basically about a wannabe villain (Neil Patrick Harris) pining for the girl of his dreams, Penny (Felicia Day). His plans go sour, however, when she is inadvertently introduced to his arch nemesis, Capitan Hammer (Nathan Fillion). Chaos ensues over 14 (including credits and reprises) very well done songs.
I've been listening to the songs all week now and they really are fantastic. It's an excellent little movie, and available free on Youtube, I would highly recommend it to anyone.

So yeah, short post, but oh well. Perhaps I'll add more later.

~Dorothy

WLBC Day 2: Geocaching

Well, it's the morning of Day 2 when I should be doing something productive, but hey, I do need to get this done.

Today's post is about a wonderful sport called Geocaching. All you need is a GPS and access to a computer. (To print of coordinates and clues.)
It's essentially a high-tech treasure hunt.

"Caches" are hidden all over the world, some urban, some more rural. They can be pretty well any size.
I've seen everything from a tiny metal capsule in a park (one I planted, actually) to a large ice cream pail hidden in the woods. Once you've found the cache, you take an item and leave an item (if it's big enough to do so) and sign your username both in the log book in the cache and online.

We've been caching on and off since 2004 and it's amazing seeing finding caches in places you've walked past hundreds of times and never noticed.
It's also really fun to place them, choosing new and challenging locations for the next geocacher to come by.

I hope this post made sense.

~Dorothy

WLBC Day 1: Business card collection

Alrighty, so my friend Nicole decided to do a blog-every-day-for-a-week challenge (which I have dubbed the Week Long Blogging Challenge, or WLBC) and I figured I should give it a shot too.


So today's post is about my business card collection. Why I started, I don't think I ever knew that, but I think I began collecting maybe 4 or 5 years ago. It's an easy thing to collect. Business cards are free and easy to grab at pretty well any store.



Thus, the above happened. The large book is almost entirely full and the smaller book probably 3/4. The tub is filled with cards I never bothered to sort, most likely collected after I really went nuts with them.
I would (and still do sometimes) take them from everywhere we went, especially if we were on holiday. Friends and family started getting them for me, too.
Nowadays I don't collect nearly as diligently, but if I spot a cool-looking one or one from a favourite store I always pick it up and usually have a few in my back pocket to empty out when laundry day comes.

Well, that's all for today, folks, hope you enjoyed reading!

~Dorothy

Possible posts coming up in the following week: Geocaching, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Sooke