Book Reviews

I love to read and I like to promote literacy. Scattered throughout my blog are book reviews that range in size from one sentence up a full post several paragraphs long. I am applying the "books" label to any blog post that discusses books. Check the link to find the book reviews.

I have also created "Book Lists" which list all the books I have read in a given year. These lists are incomplete but can be useful for anyone looking for something to read.

Book Lists

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007 - coming soon.

Reading List

I added a 'Reading List' to my sidebar. I borrowed the idea from Billy.

When I finish another of the books listed I will write up some book reviews. I am not sure how detailed they will be yet.

I may keep the section in my sidebar permanently and add books I plan to read and then delete them from the list after I finish them (and possibly review them).

I might start a "Book List" for 2007 but I am not sure. The "books" label may be all that my readers need to find my reviews. I do like the idea of having all the books read in a given year listed on one page. I also like the quick impression my +/- system provides.

I will be editing my sidebar "Contents" section in the near future and may rework the way I handle books and book reviews.

Blog Feeds

Blogger has a cool widget for adding site feeds to your blog. I added the feeds for a number of my blogs to Braindance. The feed for Firemind is fixed.

Site Feed Problems

The site feed for Firemind is not updating properly. It seems stuck in June. Hopefully I can fix the problem without playing with my template.

Update: I turned off the feed and published and then turned ot on again. This post showed up. I republished the previous post and it popped up too. Things might be back on track.

I Was Tailranked

I have been exploring various websites dealing with social bookmarking and blogging. One of the sites I have been visiting is Tailrank - a site which tracks "the hottest news in the blogosphere!"

Recently I checked my visitor stats and discovered that someone had come to Firemind from there. I ended up on Tailrank because I linked to a Blogger Buzz story and it was 'notable enough' to get picked up by the site. I didn't know my blog had been 'picked up' until I checked the stats. Sometimes it pays to look at them.

The following is a composite image of the Tailrank posting:



Here is the post shown in the image.

No Dummies Here!

Dummies Cover by firemind.

Made with Dummiez Book Cover Maker 2006.

A Present From Blogger

You may have noticed some changes in this blog recently. I have upgraded to the new version of Blogger and things are going smoothly.

It took about 40 minutes to transfer my account but Blogger did all of the work. I did notice a few things:

• My old profile overwrote my new one but that was easy to fix.
• All of the group blogs I belong to but don't own were transfered - even the ones I don't want. I would like to see a 'resign from blog' button implemented at some point. Currently only administrators can remove members (guests) from blogs.
• There are new cookies being used and I accidentally blocked Firefox from accepting one. Once I got into Blogger I got signed in my browser ended up in an endless loop. I re-added the cookie and things returned to normal.

I am adding labels to my old posts as time permits. Labels are one of the nicest of the new features. They are like Flickr tags or Wordpress categories and allow searches using specific words or phrases. They can also be found by search engines. Technorati detects them as tags.

I have also upgraded 2 Lazy 4 Video. You can use labels to search for specific bands/musicians.

I will be doing some more work on the blog in the next few days.

Testing

I just upgraded my account to the new blogger and I am testing the new features.

I Was (NOT) A Teenage Spamblog

Yay!!, Firemind has been cleared. I think the problem arose because I posted several times in a row to BBD. There is another directory online with a similar name and it accepts anonymous automated listings. It may have been getting spammed a lot. In any case I don't have to use word verification EVERY time I save during editing.

Here is the email from Blogger:

Hello,

Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and cleared for regular use so that it will no longer appear as potential spam. If you sign out of Blogger and sign back in again, you should be able to post as normal. Thanks for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

Blog Cleaning

I have been doing a lot of work cleaning up Firemind and other blogs.

I removed the voice player from the Phone Me! post and the meebo me IM widget from the sidebar. Neither widget was being used and sometimes they caused the blog to load a bit slower. I may get rid of the Gcast podcast player too.

Some javascript or flash widgets are useful and I like to check them out. I do find that many of the 'cool things' you can add to blogs are either not needed, or problematic, or both.

Besides cleaning up this blog I have been deleting blogs again. One of the blogs was Fire Links and the other was a shared test blog. A few days ago I had 31 blogs and in this account and now I have 24.

Answering LJ (Unfinished Business)

In response to my last post LJ wrote:

I've never understood dropping one blog site and creating another in an effort to change "persona's" per sae. Why can't one just keep the same site, but change the style? Or is it more that you don't want all the history attached to the new way? Please help me understand.

I have wondered whether writing in another blog would really be different than writing here. I might play with more adult themes, or write less about my life, but I would still be the author of the blog. I have tons of blogs and know how hard it is to give each of them a unique style that separates them from Firemind and keeps me and my readers happy.

Braindance is as much a response to the problems with Blogger as it is an 'escape' from Firemind. If I am happy with Firemind then the new blog needs something special to keep it going.

So what is 'wrong' with Firemind? Not much except that it is big and ponderous to republish when I experiment.

My problem is that I have been waffling about all of the 'unfinished business' associated with my blog. Firemind is about me and my life. I planned to write several posts about the last year but I haven't had the energy. Part of me wants to go ahead and part of me doesn't. When I think of blogging here and ask "what shall I write today?" all of the old business comes up.

Yes LJ, history is part of the problem. As I changed styles and tried new things other things were forgotten. My 'Book Lists' is an example of that. Furthermore, several of my community-building efforts like the 'Online Potluck' died this year. Firemind is a record of failures as much as it is of successes.

When I read my archives I feel like I am looking in a mirror. The past is there to help and haunt me. When I think of the future things are very different. In the blog I can finish some projects and move on or just move to a new blog. In real life things aren't as easy. There is very little unfinished business but not many plans either. I might be looking for change here because I can control it.

I am already finding myself writing posts at the other blog that I want to repost here. I will experiment and write what I want in both blogs - if Blogger behaves.

Cheers.

For The Record

I am not going to stop blogging. I like it too much.

I have been struggling with Firemind and what I want to write here. This blog started out as a place to play with ideas. I gave the blog my personal touch without sharing too much of my personal life.

Over the last year I adapted to my readers and opened up a lot. As you responded to my posts and asked questions I got ideas for more posts. Other bloggers, Shogun for example, had a big effect on my writing. By reading their blogs and chatting with some of them I was inspired to write. I also began to share more of my life. Unfortunately my blog became more reactive than proactive.

I never worried about writing too much about my life. I am a good editor. My trouble is that I like to tell a good story and this takes time and energy. In the last few months things have been hectic and painful. I would like to blog about it so that I can 'finish the story' and move on but digging up the past hurts and it keeps me from playing with new ideas.

My problem is with how I write at Firemind. It's a bit like taking on a persona and knowing what is appropriate and what isn't. The blog has mirrored my mood a lot this year and also added to my moodiness. When I couldn't come up with fresh ideas I could blog here and tap into my angst. For every wound this blog healed I'm sure it opened another. This can be a very emo blog.

What I need is change. I will blog at Braindance for a while and I may move there for good. I will also blog here. Posts at Braindance may be edgier and more adult. Posts here will be 'the usual' (whatever that is. ^__^).

I would love some feedback. Tell me what you like about this blog and what you don't. Email me if you want.

Meebo Me Test/Post 1100

I tested Meebo Me by opening Firemind in two browser windows. Each instance of Meebo Me was separate and private. Here is a screenshot of one of the conversations.



I have to be signed into Meebo to chat but that is okay. It opens up another level of communication with readers.

---

This is my 1100th post. I had hoped to finish up some post ideas and say goodbye to some aspects of the past. I even considered making this my last Firemind post. I wouldn't want to start a new blog with 'baggage' that fits this one better so I'll be posting here for a while.

Small Accomplishments

I woke up last night and didn't know what time it was or even what day it was. The only thing I knew was that I didn't feel sick.

Part of my problem with friends lately is that I haven't had much to say about myself. This combined with a lack of interest (sometimes) has left me feeling forgotten and useless. Some people have been talking to me and I appreciate that.

I was checking stats for Firemind and noticed that readership is down. I know that some people subscribe to my blog in Bloglines and other readers and they don't show up in the stats as visits. (I guess that's why I like to physically visit a blog when I read it).

Part of me just wants to stop worrying about people and live my own life. Part of me says "screw readers" and write for myself. I am doing more of that. I also don't shove people away so I am trying to find a balance. I am getting there slowly but surely.

So what are those accomplishments I mentioned in the title? "Getting there" is one of them. I also read all of Stephen King's "The Bachman Books" this week. That's four novels! I also made myself some bologna burgers this morning.

Sometimes the little things outweigh the big ones.

Cheers.

Potluck Submissions

Rules

Beverages

Leon - Coffee Float

Appetizers


Entrees

Desserts

Leon - Pina Colada Float

Updating Favourites

I am finally updating my Favourites page. I started with "On That Day" (September 2004) and I am working in the June 2005 archives.

I am managing to keep the list from getting out of hand. Most of the favourites are chosen because I like how I wrote the post. One or two deal with photo essays I liked or a post with special memories.

Some posts I didn't choose because most of their appeal is based on linked material. I laughed when I revisited "More Puppy Therapy". Check out the flash movie I linked to.

One of the side effects of doing this is seeing how much my blog has changed. I wrote a post for Mick in 2004 about the blogs I read. There are a number of changes to my Links page but there are also some familiar names.

Post 1000: A Blogger's Journey

This is my 1000th post.

WOW!

I started my first paper journal in July of 1982. I called it "Journey" and the name was appropriate because it documented my inner journey to find myself and my place in the world.

Three years ago I began another journey and started this blog. I started it at Diaryland and decided to stick to a simple and subtle design. My focus was on my words and ideas not on graphics or html tricks. I used Firemind as my online pseudonym and didn'’t write anything too personal.

I wrote over 100 posts in my Diaryland blog before moving to Blogger in April of 2004. Since then I have experimented with different blog hosts but nothing interested me enough to move this blog.

While this blog is a record of my journey through ideas and events it is also a record of the people I interacted with. The people mentioned in the blog and comments have been an important part of Firemind. They, like the timestamps, have acted like markers to set my writing in context.

Firemind has always been focused on words rather than other media. I have experimented with podcasts, and videos, and photos, but writing is what I like best.

I have certainly been writing a lot in this blog. The average length of a novel is 60000 -100000 words*. I did some calculations and estimate that I have written 120,000 words in this blog. The story may be a little disjointed but readers can learn a lot about me by reading this blog.

I called myself Firemind for a number of years because I wanted some privacy. I fixed my template so that I always posted as Firemind even if I used my real name in other blogs. I decided I didn'’t need to "hide" behind my nickname and used my real name more often. The last time I changed templates I noticed I was posting as 'Leon' and was going to fix it until a friend said I shouldn't. He thought it was better that I was posting as myself. I agreed.

I am still Firemind but I have moved beyond that nickname. So has my blog. It has become my voice on the web but it is also a place where my friends can interact. According to my latest stats over 27,000 people have visited and many have commented. Some of have become my friends. Unlike my old paper journal this journey is meant to be shared with others.

My blog is my herald. It says I am alive, that I am here, that I exist. It takes you, my readers, to prove that by reading and commenting.

Thank you for sharing my journey with me.

Countdown/Guest Posts

I will soon be writing my 1000th post here at Firemind. As I was thinking about my last few years with this blog my thoughts turned to my readers and fellow bloggers. You have inspired me and encouraged me. I want to thank you by sharing a bit of my blog with you.

Guest Posts

I invite my readers (generally people on my links page or other friends) to write a post and email it to me. I will have a look at it and if I think it is acceptable I will post it as "written by" and add the writer's name.

Topic: This is up to the blogger but I don't want loads of links, or quizzes, or content that is on every other blog. Be original and use your own material. I also don't want anything malicious or rude.

There should be at least a paragraph(?) about me or my blog. Something you liked, or even disliked, that made you remember it. This can be unrelated to your topic.

Length: This is flexible but it shouldn't be too long.

Deadline: I would like to have these posts lead up to my 1000th post. I am at 986 and post about once a day. :) Let's say July 7th at the latest.

Keeping In Touch

I always considered Firemind an idea blog rather than a personal diary. Of course my life does effect what I write and sometimes I would provide summaries of my activities. The summaries were written to provide a context for photos or to keep me writing when I was low on ideas.

I find myself writing more personal posts that my friends can read and stay informed. This saves me the hassle of repeating everything in different chats and it can lead to further discussion in private.

I have come across separate blogs written by people sharing homes as roommates or married couples. In most cases the bloggers saved a topic for their blogs and wouldn’t discuss it until after they posted. This kept them writing and provided topics for discussion.

When chatting with friends I find that we say "wait until I post" or "I'll post about it". We may provide summaries or might not. I do find that the combination of IM and blogging makes the communication richer.

I used to hate receiving a letter from a friend after I had talked to them on the phone. Sometimes everything in the letter had already been discussed. With blogs we can write our 'letters' and stay ahead of the 'phone calls' (IM).

Even if friends don’t IM each other blogs provide a way to keep in touch.

Favourites

I have decided to link all of my favourite posts here. These are posts that I remembered long after I wrote them and/or I had lots of fun writing. If you have a favourite post tell me about it and I will include it under "Your Favourite Posts".

2003

Footprints

Stoned Again

I Don't Want To Get Laid

Alone In The Night

Sunshine And Puppy Poop

Dream: The Wild Boy

Delving Into Darkness

Dreams and Dream Books

When Blankets Attack!

2004

The Reader's Prayer

Reviewing Firemind

Is Laundry A Virus?

Dear James White

No Nose Is Good Nose

My Name Is Firemind

Weird English

Chasing Wrinkles

Another White Rabbit Day

Online Friends

My First Fish

In Search Of Queen Liz

On That Day

Hug No Trees

Blogging For Luke 21 (In The River)

Learn To Blog (Revisited)

Blogging With Luke

2005

Uncle Firemind

Fire In My Mind (The Firemind Song)

Marching Bands

Roasting Lou

My Demo CD

to be continued --- from May 05.