Thirteen Things I love and hateAbout the Blog World at Large Although I created my blog at the end of 2005, I have only been a truly active member of the “blogosphere” for the last few months. In this short time, I’ve “met” some wonderful and talented people, and have really enjoyed being able to share a little bit of myself with all of you. In my travels around the blog-world, I have found blogs I love to read, memes I enjoy participating in, writers who make me laugh, some who can make me cry, and in general, a form of entertainment and communication that makes each day just a little brighter. That said, every once in a while I come across something in the blog-world that just bugs the bejeezes out of me. Like in the real world, some of these things can be minor, like someone chewing gum with their mouth open, and some major, like people leaving their shopping carriage in the middle of the aisle at the supermarket and standing next to it, blocking the passage for anyone else (I REALLY hate that). We all have pet peeves, these are just some of my blog related ones. But, because I really have a lot more likes than dislikes about blogging, this list will be cut in half. The second half being some of the things bloggers do, that I love and appreciate: The Peeves: 1. Pages that take FOREVER to load. There are a few blogs in particular that come to mind, these are blogs that I just love to visit. The authors are witty, funny, smart, and I thoroughly enjoy visiting them, but sometimes I think I might have to stop because in the process of trying to hop over to their page, my entire computer is FROZEN while their template loads. I realize this may be more of an issue with my computer than with their blog. Still…I hate that! 2. Wordless Wednesday participants who write explanations, paragraphs, stories about their WW entry. Look, I know this is minor, but it’s WORDLESS Wednesday. WORDLESS…give it a title, I always do, but then stop talking. And if you just MUST explain the photo, do it in your comments section. Yes, I know it’s picky, but it bugs me okay? 3. Spelling and grammar errors. This pet peeve spills over from my “real world” personality. I’m not talking about the random misspelled word or grammatically incorrect sentence. I’m plenty guilty of that myself. I’m talking about such disregard for the English language that it would take a code to decipher what someone is trying to say. English as a second language bloggers are exempt from this peeve. But only if you are a recent “English as a second language” member…after all, English is my second language as well, but I’ve mastered it (sort of), after 20 or 30 years, you can too. 4. Illegible font colors. Please double check to make sure that your font color and background are at least a few shades apart, otherwise, we can’t see the words. OH, and whoever thought those bright yellow, neon green colors were a good idea obviously had no regard for my sensitive eyes…good grief, I’m blinded. 5. Those stupid “secret codes” we have to enter when we enter comments. Look, I know, I have them on my blog too…I can still hate them, can’t I? I especially hate the ones that make me do math problems. Seriously? I hate math. 6. Bloggers who criticize other bloggers for the use of memes. I get it, it’s not your thing. That’s cool, but then don’t do it, and leave those who enjoy them to be. It does not make someone less of a blogger because they choose to meme, does it? It shouldn’t. After all, back to the whole “free world” thing, it’s your blog, do what you will with it. I love when bloggers: 7. Respond to all comments. I love when an author takes the time to go through their comments and individually respond to everyone who has commented. I’m working on that in here, but haven’t quite mastered it yet. 8. Offer contests (even those with “virtual” prizes), hand out awards, create “audience participation” entries. When you take the time to make me feel like I’m part of your blog, that’s pretty cool. 9. Make me laugh out loud at my desk when I should be working, instead of bloghopping. You’d think this a bad thing, but at times my job can be both stressful AND boring at the same time, and a barely contained laugh at my desk is just what the doctor ordered. 10. Tell me about the world they live in. Okay, that’s lame, I know that’s what we all do here, but I just love those bloggers who can pull me into worlds that are geographically or socially different from mine. 11. Inspire me. I’ve started writing again thanks to all the wonderful writers I’ve come across. And the photographers amongst you all inspire me to take my camera with me everywhere I go. 12. Do good things. So many bloggers are using this platform to do good. Raise money for good causes, raise awareness, share prayers and positive vibes. We have a pretty cool community in here, don’t we? 13. Leave nice comments. And no, this isn’t a hint, I’m not fishing for comments. I’m actually saying thank you here. There have been a number of comments left on my blog that have brought genuine smiles to my face and brightened my day.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!