Today (November 27th) would be my Dad's birthday. I think he would be 77 years old. He isn't here any more however. He died several years ago. We never got along well, he was not my best supporter in life or anything else. His theme in life seemed to be "Don't bother" and those were, in fact, his last words in this life.

There are not a lot of second chances in life. In his case, there are none at all. I don't know if he ever regretted how things were/ are in the family with him. I wonder sometimes if people do see how their families live on after they have died. I think of him watching the fallout from his actions in life. I like to think of someone telling him that he could have been a better Father, a better person. (Not that he was awful or that I blame him for everything I'm not happy about myself and my life, that would be silly). But, I do like to think that he would have some regrets. I won't ever know of course. Or, not while I'm still alive anyway, after that... maybe I will see him again when we are both deceased. That isn't something I can predict.

Write about meeting someone who disappointed or hurt you after you are both deceased. How does the meeting go, how does it start? When it is all over do you feel better or worse?

On this date, in 1932, my Dad was born in the UK. Sometimes they would say he was born in Scotland, sometimes the story would switch and he would be born in England but grew up in Scotland. Not vitally important either way. Unless you are his daughter and wonder about these things, where you came from and who you should be.

My Dad has been dead a few years now. We never got along so I can't say I feel upset. I do think of him now and then and on his birthday. All those cards I bought and made over the years. Most he barely looked at and then misplaced somewhere. My Mom kept a few and then threw out more as clutter management.

Everyone has someone gone from their life. Someone who may not have been especially beloved but had a part to play. Write about a misplaced birthday for someone who never became famous but had some small, yet vital, part to play in the grand scheme of things. What kind of birthday memorial should there be for the people that time forgets?

I've had LiveJournal for a long time. I was happy to install a new plugin (I've become a plugin window shopper) today. Live Press says I can choose to publish any of my WordPress posts to LiveJournal at the same time. That is a good thing. I am always having trouble trying to post at LiveJournal. Yesterday it would not even let me type in the screen for adding a new entry. It was pretty odd. I'm hoping this will work around that and give me the chance to keep my LiveJournal account from getting too stale. I won't be using it as a receptacle for everything I post here. Far from it! But it can have enough to look less ignored.

Blogging with discipline doesn't mean you have to blog every day or that you can't ever take a break. It means blogging regularly--whatever that means for you. It means sitting down and trying to develop a blog post idea instead of waiting until a perfectly-written post is already floating around in your brain.

Blogging with discipline isn't the only "right" way to blog. Some bloggers find that a less-structured schedule works well for them. But if the concept appeals to you, I invite you to join me. Blog with discipline...and be available for the inspiration, when it comes.

This is me! I like the structure of writing regular posts. I find daily and even weekly posts are better than trying to post once in awhile or a few times a week or anything else that leaves wiggle room. I am not the most organized and disciplined person. I'm easily distracted and get sidetracked all too quickly.

Although I use scheduled posts I still know I have to keep enough content going to make that schedule. One thing I like about writing for a blog/ site network is being accountable to stick to a schedule for posts too. You know you have readers expecting your content but the best situation is a writing network where the writers have a real community and THEY know your posting schedule too.

There are always going to be times when you have nothing to say. You're just dry.

• Quotations are good. You can find a quote that makes you laugh, makes you think or just amazes you. If you can find anything to add of your own, do so!. Although I have done so, it is not good to just post a quote and leave it there without any commentary from yourself.
• Take a break from it. Come back when your mind isn't pressured to write something. Go browsing online at other sites in your niche. See what topics others have been writing about. Anything you may have missed? Anything you can add your own slant, experience or information to?
• Read other media, like the newspaper. Don't get so caught up in your small corner of the world that you forget there is a lot out there, not all of it is online. Not all of it is even about blogging! Shocking, eh?
• Brainstorm a list of topics you could write about. Don't hold back. Write down stuff that seems stupid and offbeat even. Give yourself at least one minute to warm up. Once you start ideas tend to flow.
• Best of all, keep an idea folder, stuff it full of things you want to write about, tidbits of ideas you get when you are doing something else, and stuff that has inspired you. Don't rule out a topic just because your niche doesn't directly relate to it. Think of a way that it does. Some really interesting posts have been created when someone combined unusual topics, giving new perspective to their topic.

Go forth and write. Let me know if you find blogging with discipline works for you too. (It work won't for everyone).

What are reasons to keep an archive on your blog? We have categories and tags. An archive may seem a bit prehistoric or overkill, especially when they aren't search able and just sit there all static and growing old. Tony Briley started this discussion on the CMF Ads forum.

Reasons for keeping an archive on your blog:

• Web directories tend to list established blogs only, those which are at least six months old. An archive is where they look to find the age of your blog.
• Knowing the age of your blog establishes your credentials, your experience, especially if you are posting about web publishing related topics like SEO, blogging and making money online.
• Some readers prefer to read a blog which has some staying power, has passed the test of time and kept going.
• If people want to flip to a certain date in your blog they need an archive. For instance, to see what you were posting about a year ago, or what you posted on a holiday, or some other eventful day.
• An archive shows all the posts from the month on one page. You can do the same with categories but, not by date.
• Your readers can go back to see how you started. What your thoughts and plans and goals were right from the beginning of your blog project. Who was commenting then? How has your writing style, your way of expressing yourself changed? Also, have you changed the focus of your blog and the topics you cover?
• You may have undertaken a special project which readers would like to track back and go through the journey day by day, as it happened (through the archives). This is not just something for personal bloggers. If you post a series of posts on a topic they can also be read as an ongoing journey.
• I also keep an archive for myself. I like to skim back and see where I was, what ideas I had in the past. I don't look by topic (category or tags) cause that isn't as random as looking into your past by time machine alone. Often something I posted a couple of years ago inspires me for an update on the same topic or a completely new angle on what I was thinking then.

Reasons to get rid of the archive on your blog:

• Your blog is very new and you don't want to broadcast that.
• You want to cut down on clutter in every way you can and the archive just seems to take up more space than it is worth.

What's your opinion? Archive or not?