Monday, January 12, 2009

Odd thoughts on blogging

I'm back listening to workshops again. The whole Spanish thing was making people laugh. I have a horrible accent, I know because I test out new words. If people understand me, it's good. If not...the other day I was trying for "dot". Day dot. It's a kind of label for marking food. In a--to my mind--logical progression of thought, I figured, okay--el dia is day, so if I just find out what dot is, it'd be day-dot. So I asked someone and he said (no clue, cause I can't remember it) but to me it sounded like bow-bow. Not as in bowing to someone, but the kind of bow you tie packages with.

So I went back and said, "el dia bow-bow" and the guy's jaw drops. I said, "It's a label. El dia bow-bow", no clue at all I was calling the man stupid. Turns out bow-bow means stupid. I was saying, "Day, stupid." So Emma says, "Yodi? What are you trying to say?!!" and I explained how the guy wanted to know what kind of label something needed, and what the differences were. So she goes back to the first guy (the guy I learned the word from), all loud and upset. Of course, I'd heard it wrong. It's uhm..something I can't pronounce because of the way sounds come out of me.

Like green.

There's something in a particular shade of green I simply can't say. It's sort of like a rolling e. It's the weirdest feeling in the world to open your mouth and even though you're trying--nothing comes out. I stood there and sputtered and blew breath out through my mouth, "eh, eh eh-ing", and seriously--I couldn't get it to save my life. I finally said, "green", and I thought everyone was going to die, they were laughing so hard.

And dialects. Oh my God. There are so many different ways of saying something, depending on where you come from or what part of Mexico City you grew up in.

So I'm back to the RWA lectures. Although I didn't agree with the last one. It was about blogging and how to maximize your exposure. I tried that, didn't work--finally gave up and said, "I enjoy blogging. I write about what I like, what interests me, and sometimes it might be a little dry or acid, but still--it's one hundred percent really me. I enjoy the community." And it works for me.

Recently I submitted to Romancing the Blog because I know people who are on it. I figure, what's one more in a group, and it's not so much a blog as a "portal". I'm pretty sure I got turned down, but not because of what I write, but because of how I structure my comments. It seems to be a hotspot with them.

I used to be restricted. Which means I only let comments in from people I could backtrack. After a few years and some thought, I opened Open ID, which lets people who are registered with one of the other blogging communities to post.

The woman on Romancing the Blog brought up some very good points in her post. I'm cutting myself off from people--like my mom (even though having my mom read my blog kind of makes me think twice) who might want to say something. I did it because I hate spam, but yeah--I can delete spam. So, if you want to say anything, been lurking (I lurk myself, all over the place and everywhere) or whatever, you're more than welcome to say hello. I have no expectations of being on Romancing the Blog. It's simply about time. Like changing over my pirate avatar, lol.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooo goodie! I love to use the Name/URL option because it lets me link straight to the restaurant and still have my names spaced. I'm gunna use it right now!

Unknown said...

I dunno, Alice. I sort of like calling you "aliceaudrey". Every time I do I think of your avatar.

Anonymous said...

I like your pirate avatar. I've never before tried the name/url option, hmm...

Anonymous said...

But who knows how long my avatar will remain? I could pull a jodi at any moment.

Liana Laverentz said...

Hello :)

Fresca said...

Oooh... I dub myself "caught out." I.e. guilty of occasional lurking. Or should that be a gold star for occasional lurking?
Either way, I feel I should say hi--I pop over here, following your comments on Deanna's blog sometimes.
And enjoy it!
So: Hello!

Unhinged said...

Well, not being able to pronounce words killed my interest in French. I can sound nasil-ish no problem, but I can't roll my Rs. So I'm just going to stick to massacring the English language.

So that's what the Open ID thing is...hmmm. Mebbee I'll open it up, too.

Day, stupid. (giggle)