“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” - Cyril Connolly

Part of running a blog is promoting it. It is easy to cross the line from promoting into spamming. At that point most bloggers also lose track of the content in their blog, they run out of time, energy and passion for it. They can get content from other sources: free content online, guest bloggers or quick content like quotations used as a whole post. Some bloggers will also steal content. At this point there is very little of yourself in the blog. It is just a business, a means of harvesting money from the Internet. If that is what you want to do wouldn't getting a second job be a lot more effective? Why make pennies when you can make dollars?

Blog, if it is still your passion, if you still balance your writing and your promotion. Blog if you still love the creative aspect of writing, styling your blog with images and HTML. Promote your blog, but schedule your time for it. Don't lose track of the content you are promoting.

Originally written: Nov 6, 2006. I haven't gone back due to moving farther from Toronto. I'd like to make the trip for the next one this October. Is anyone else planning to go?

Last Sunday, my first weekend new to the city of Toronto, I caught the Queen Street streetcar and attended CanZine. I was far too early. Many of the tables were not set up. But, I made the mistake of thinking it would take longer to get there than it really did. Still, I paid my admission with a bit extra for the subscription to Broken Pencil. BP are the creators of the event (as far as I know) and they have done a lot to promote it.

I was really happy to meet Liz from Infiltration while I was there. She was interested in seeing my own urban (rural farmhouses) exploration photos. I have yet to email her as the moving chaos continues and I don't even have my ISP connected yet. Anyway, I bought the Access All Areas book and a few zines. I hoped there would be more geared to the old buildings and architecture as that is what I really like. I'm not very eager to trek into drains and tunnels. I'm not even hugely enthusiastic to pry my way into the old farmhouses, not a great plan when exploring alone wearing open toed shoes. I'm sure it mentions that as a rule in Access All Areas.

I looked at other zines, writers, cartoonists, illustrators and artsy types. I wish I had seen some of the people there instead of just the notes for their places at the tables. Too bad more weren't early. Torontoist was there but not there yet. Next time I will not go so foolishly early. Maybe I won't feel so out of place either if I have met a few others in between now and then. I do feel like a fish out of water in the city. Mostly everyone at CanZine was younger and thinner than I am. I still went and I will go again.

Next time I won't be too shy to take a few names, interviews and digital photos either. Good luck to me!

I wish I had time post keep posting here as well as the other blogs I keep going. Most nights I am online until 3:00 AM just trying to keep up. It doesn't work all that well. I'm tired almost all the time. I'm not writing as well as I could. Overall I just feel I'm not accomplishing anything that matters so I keep trying to do more, taking on too many things. It's kind of crazy.

Anyway, I have created a main page on my ThatGrrl.ca domain. Twitter me @thatgrrl if you want something more interactive.

Twitter is doing a Verified Account thing for celebrities using the service. Is this practical for them? Do they really want to be found? Some do I'm sure. I don't think I would. I'd like to be able to talk to friends or just use it anonymously, not being spied on and judged for every least thing I type.

It is nice for people who want to follow celebrities. I admit, I did look up Keanu Reeves this past week. Didn't find an account I thought really was his. But, how could you really know, unless it is verified. Keanu Reeves is likely to have an anonymous account, probably wouldn't even use his full name. If he was even on Twitter at all.

If he is though... he could Twitter me for a little conversation.

Celebrities on Twitter. Try the link, beware, it's kind of addicting and mind sucking. Like hearing a conversation at another table or three.

I started writing as Super Noob on Lindsay's blog, Web Design for Idiots. Tonight I wrote the following as an introduction to who I am and why I'm someone who might have a reason to be writing there.

I'm posting this from my very messy desk with the TV on to my left and my nearly cold coffee at my right hand, in danger of wrecking my faithful little scanner. I'm a real woman. I'm a real, live, 40+, divorced Canadian woman, a writing legend in my own mind.

In June of 1996 I began on the Internet. I was an IRC diva for quite a long time. It was a lot of fun and most of it I really should not write about here. That's what personal blogs are all about. I wrote for a zine first, a small print publication called The Crying Clown. From there it was all online. At one point I was producing my own newsletter for writers, InkSplatters, sent out through what is now Yahoo Groups. I was a web writer for HerPlanet, BackWash, BellaOnline, Suite 101, WZ-ard.com and other sites, forums and newsletters some still living and some not. I still write for Creative Fat Grrl on LockerGnome, a babbly blog more than anything seriously functional. Writing for a network is a different educational experience than writing for yourself. Which is one reason I keep doing it.

I've had sites and then blogs of my own. I didn't begin online in the great time of blogging, I was here before that. So my first sites were put together with just HTML code as I learned and goofed it up. I've used software and I've cut and pasted code and I've hand coded my own pages. I'm not an expert, time alone isn't enough to make you an expert at web design or development. I have learned however and as I learn I see how much more there is to be explored and discovered. But, don't look to me expecting I'm a know-it-all. If I ever say that you can be sure I'm just laughing at myself.

I love creative things. I've done so many interesting forms of art, just to try them out. I made ASCII art for a few years. I continue to take digital photos of abandoned places here in Ontario, starting in 2006 when I bought my first digi camera. I'm also teaching myself to draw cartoons, some people even like them! This week I re-learned the art of cutting out paper doll chains so I could make them into a graphic for a blog. I really think it's important to keep the creativity and free writing in blogging. It would be a real shame if the personal journal and creative element of blogging were lost in the rush for SEO and money making.

Anyway, I'm here to help the less experienced blogger with my experiences. I've got a stack of great books about web design on my bookshelf and I will be using them (finally) for more than a place to hide my dust bunnies. I seem to collect books with great good intentions and then not get very far. You can also find me writing about web writing and posting writing ideas and prompts on my blog, Word Grrls.

Completely off topic... did you know that a nail file works really well if you have an itchy spot on your back that you just can't reach? I've been rubbing my back on my chair tonight wishing for something to work. Then I had the great idea for the nail file (not one of those treacherous metal ones, just some cardboard type) and that worked great!