NaBloPoMo

I updated my sidebar on the blog this weekend. Hopefully it doesn’t add too much clutter. It’s a constant push and pull when it comes to keeping that stuff organized. There’s a lot I want you all to be aware of regarding my many activities without trying to make it look like I’m begging for attention. Trying to be tasteful about your self promotion is an interesting balancing act, and one that I’m still trying to properly navigate.

As far as what was already up there, the flickr widget links to my Diabetes365 photos. Yes, I am still going strong. Although you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget to take a picture for the day. How can someone forget a task that takes no more than 5 seconds? I guess I have a lot on my mind at times. But it’s still going strong.

I know my Blogroll is already linked in my header, but I included a link there to keep readers notified when I update the links (which I still need to do).

I have some self promo for my work over at Talking About Games. My weekly gaming posts are featured on their frontpage and I’m one of the hosts of the Post Game Report. I decided to keep the graphic as a link to the editorial segment of the news feed. There’s no point in double linking content that is already available on this blog. But there is plenty of other good content on the site, and I believe in the TAG community. If you are a gamer and you’re reading this, I highly suggest you come over to TalkingAboutGames and give us a shot. I would put our podcasts up against any community out there. And speaking of Podcasts, the other RSS widget pulls from the Post Game Report feed. I know I add in a link to the podcast whenever it comes out and try not to make an uber big deal out of it. It’s more of an awareness thing, not a “Hey! Look at me!” thing. The widget only displays the 3 most recent posts. I want to keep it current. Again, this isn’t an attempt to overwhelm you with self promotion, but we work hard and I feel like it’s worth the listen when you have the time (sometimes we run a little long).

The shiny icons are probably the most succinct form of widget use. From Left to Right you have a clickable icon linking to: Email, Twitter, the blog’s RSS feed, my YouTube Channel, the Just Talking Podcast blog, and my flickr page. I think it works. Hopefully you do too.

And of course the Disclaimer. If the search terms that find my blog are any indication, the choice of words for my title is quite the bait to get new readers. However, for people that are looking for actual “Consequences of Hypoglycemia”, I needed to update my About page and offer some proper direction for people looking for reliable information. I’m not a doctor, and I’m not the world’s best patient and my readers need to understand that upfront. In light of that “readers need to understand” piece of the previous sentence, I have a few comments about my latest additions to my sidebar.

First is “Blog with Integrity”. I have never been accused of being dishonest with my audience. I do my best to be as genuine as possible whenever I address anything within the confines of the Dark Red border of this blog. The opinions expressed are my own unless properly cited and should be treated as such. I do my best to “keep it real” because I believe my word is my bond. If people can’t trust me, then I don’t deserve to have them come back each day to read my ramblings. There are some topics I still have reservations about addressing here, mostly for personal reasons. Emotionally, I don’t think I’m mature enough to tackle them in public. But what I do post, is me. Period.

Finally, the NaBloPoMo picture. I have seen a few bloggers mention their participation in the past or remind readers that it is soon approaching. I clicked around to see what the hullaballo was about and after a little thought I’ve decided to sign up. From their front page, “National Blog Posting Month is the epicenter of daily blogging! People who want to set the habit of blogging by doing it every day for a month, including weekends, can come here for moral support, inspiration, and the camaraderie that only marathon blogging can provide.” In the grand scheme of things, I already post each weekday so continuing the routine through the weekend shouldn’t be too difficult. That being said, I’m establishing a couple of ground rules for how I plan to fulfill the month-long quota. 1. No memes. 2. Just Talking posts are allowed since I have already done 3 of them and they include more than just a link. I might have to do a little more writing, but I think that should still count. And 3. I’ll continue with my 1-self-promo-blogpost-tweet mandate on the weekends and will continue with the 9:30AM publishing time, even on weekends.

Posts for the month will include a #nablopomo hashtag in the tweet and as a post tag as well in case you want to follow along. I’m also hoping that participating in this will also give me some new blogs to read. Nothing against all of you Wilford Brimley Fan Club Members. I still read all of your posts and am seriously working on being a more diligent commenter (work in progress, I know). But I’m still looking for a little more variety in my blog consumption. Maybe this will do the trick.

So this marks Day 2. Yesterday, I started the month with a recap of my Weekly Gaming posts (in case you missed it).

And away we go!