NaBloPoMo
Here’s a random photo from a recent morning walk. When Maya was little we always entered this park through a local trail, and didn’t know what it’s official name was, so we called it ‘Elmo Park’, after her favorite Sesame Street character.
I realized the other day that my blogging etiquette has gone to hell. I mentioned on November 1st that I was going to try to post every day, but at that point I didn’t know that there was anyone trying to host a group of bloggers with a list and so on. I wandered over to NGS’s blog a few days in, and found that she was participating, which brought me to another blog, that of San, who is indeed hosting a group of bloggers this year. Yay! And here I am, halfway though and just now mentioning it. Shame on me.
I will admit, I’ve enjoyed going to different blogs and meeting new people. I mean, I could do that by going to comments on my consistent blog friends, as you get a lot of comments from a variety of people, but it has been fun to meet a new group of people. One year, many years ago, I participated in a big NaBloPoMo group, perhaps through BlogHer, and I won an iPad mini! That was exciting. This year, some of San’s friends are doing a mug exchange, which feels like old school blogging to me.
Looking at my sidebar, I see a lot of blogs where no one has posted in a couple of years. I may go through that and weed some of those out, and perhaps add a few of the folks who have come by here to say hello (assuming I can figure out how to do that…Wordpress has changed a lot of things, and I am out of the habit). I’m pretty low tech when it comes to blogging, and how I go and check to see if someone has blogged recently is that I click on the link from my sidebar or a comment. So a clean up is in order. On the off chance that you are on my side bar but have been lurking and not commenting, please let me know, and I won’t remove your link.
20 Comments
nance
I had no idea that NaBlo was still A Thing, or that hosting and all that was, either. But then, I was always a sort of loner blogger who didn’t get too worky with stuff.
I love that you and Maya named a park for yourselves. Certainly you still call that place Elmo Park, and I’m willing to bet that you’ve referred to it as such in conversations with others, only to have them say, “Wait…where?”
How wonderful.
J
Nance, regarding NaBloPoMo, I had no idea either! I went looking a year or two ago for a group, but couldn’t find anyone and I guess I didn’t try very hard. I think I have posted every day in November most years, but never made it a category or tag or anything. Fun to feel part of something again.
And you’re right about Elmo park. We rarely call it by its proper name.
Ally Bean
I remember when you/we did NaBloPoMo and you/not me won the iPad. Not jealous or anything. I’m enjoy following a few new-to-me blog thanks to NaBloPoMo so even if I’m not doing it I’m feeling the joy of it.
Carry on, can’t wait to see what you talk about next.
J
Ally, it’s great that you’re participating by reading! No need to write every day if you’re not wanting to. Yours is the most active blog I know, for sure.
Suzanne
Elmo park is so cute!
I removed my blogroll a few years ago because it was so sad to me – so many bloggers just disappeared. To Twitter, I think? Maybe some will return to blogging if Twitter succeeds in imploding? But maybe starting a new blogroll is a good idea too – thanks for bringing it up!
J
Suzanne, I’m on Facebook, and have kept in touch with some of my old blog friends there. FB and Twitter certainly took a lot of the fun out of blogging, didn’t they? I mean, I enjoy FB, but it’s completely different.
NGS
Oh, I do remember when I had a blogroll. Maybe I should be like you and bring it back! Blogging is just not as popular as it once was, but I do love the easily searchable archive of my life.
Welcome to NaBloPoMo! I hope you do hop around and check out other people’s blogs – it’s fun to see how people manage to eke out a post every day. It’s only halfway through the month and I am already exhausted!
J
NGS, I’m glad that you started commenting here, I think you came over from Ally’s blog. It’s always fun to have someone new come by, and now I’m finding new blogs through NaBloPoMo, so that’s a lot of fun. Thank you!
Elisabeth
Writing daily is no joke! I’ve loved finding your space through NaBloPoMo and HUGE props to San for organizing this (also, I did the Mug exchange last year and it was so fun!).
I love Elmo Park and what that represents; one of my favourite things is to share inside stories/places/words with my family. It’s such a whimsical – yet deep – point of connection.
J
You are right on both points…writing daily can be a lot, and your posts seem to be very thoughtful, which takes even more time. Sometimes I put a lot of info in, sometimes it may just be a picture. Depends on time and inspiration both.
San
That’s so cool to hear that you did NaBloPoMo way back when (and even won a prize!). I remember the good old days… I’ve been doing NaBloPoMo every since the beginning, but yeah, after BlogHer dropped it, the participation fizzled out… I’ve been trying to drum up support over the years, but this year is the first year where we have a sizeable group of participants again. S glad you found your way to my blog and to our amazing group of (old school) bloggers 🙂
I used to have a blog roll on my blog, but a lot of people just stopped blogging over the years… so I eventually took it down, but now I think I want to put it up again with a brand-new list of blogs that are kept up! 😉
BTW, the picture of Elmo Park is gorgeous. Love the colored leaves!
J
San, thank you for keeping the faith! It’s fun to challenge myself to post every day, but even more fun to have a community that you’re in with.
Jenny
Oh, that’s interesting- you were doing NaBloPoMo on your own and then stumbled across San’s blog? This is my second year participating, through San. Last year I discovered a bunch of new blogs that I still follow, and now even more new ones this year. It’s definitely fun, but a lot of work. Oh and I also did San’s mug swap last year, and signed up again. I’ll do any “secret santa” type event!
J
Jenny, yes, exactly. I decided on the evening of the 1st I guess that I wanted to post every day. Just happend to see on NGS’s blog that there was something structured, so YAY!
Meike
I was always just a blog reader and not a writer but liked the idea. I’ve tried multiple times to get started but was never consistent and I think the commitment really helped. I’ve been having so much fun not only writing but also reading through all those new to me blogs.
J
Interesting that you were a reader and not a writer, Meike. I’m glad you’re doing NaBloPoMo and are writing now. 🙂
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Half way through NaBLoPo and I finally worked my way through blogpost and landed here. It is such an effort this year to keep track of all the participants and stop by to read and comment. I am also loving that through blogging we can find a new community. I think I still have a blogroll somewhere hidden on my blog– probably time to update…
J
Hey Tobia, welcome!
Yes, indeed. The last time I participated in an ‘official’ NaBloPoMo, there were so many participants that I just picked. This list is more manageable, and I’ve been trying to get to all of them, but it’s hard to do that and write and have my job too.
Stephany
I love that you started NaBloPoMo on your own! AND that you did it way back when and won an iPad Mini. Maybe San’s little group will keep growing and she’ll be able to give away cool prizes like that, haha. A girl can dream!
J
Welcome Stephany! I’ll tell you that the year I won the iPad mini, I was notified via email and at first I thought it was a scam. I just looked back at my blog to see what year that was, and it was 2013. I wonder if an individual would be able to manage prizes? I doubt it, I won for linking to my blog from BlogHer, which was pretty big at the time.