There was a point in time where I was posting multiple postings in one day. Some times, as many as 6. Of course, there has also been a time when I’ve posted as often as once a month, and then again, there have been times where this site has not often been online for one reason or another. I’ve noticed here (and on other blogs as well) that blogging, like everything else has an evolutionary cycle that is followed, sometimes more closely than others.

Blogs, it seems, start out like many other “loves” in our lives. At first, the need to populate their pages with witty banter is great. Bloggers seldom go longer than 12 or 24 hours between posts (many may fire off a rapid succession of posts in a shorter amount of time. Whether or not these posts are of the caliber needed in the blogosphere is another debate for another day). Like young lovers in a new relationship, the new blogger mostly gets a sense of belonging from posting the menu from their lunch, what they think about the bitch in the cubicle next to them or what funny thing the odd looking man did on the subway this morning on their way in to work. Its almost as if blogging gives their lives meaning. A reason to exist online and try to connect with others.

Many new bloggers feel that the work their doing is important. As if Marty Kline in Podunk, IA (thats Iowa) really cares about the street musician in San Fransisco. But the truth is he doesn’t and after months of posting and checking PR and Alexa and god knows what other rankings, the new blogger is often let down.

After a while (rather quickly if the blogger is only blogging for money and not for any real reason) the process of blogging becomes something of a chore. A “yes, I must update today, but I won’t over the weekend” attitude sets in. Posts become more mundane, regular and more of a job than anything else. Its this point of blogging that most bloggers fall in to and never seem to escape from. How many posts can you find about the pizza someone had for lunch on thursday? Or about the way their boss makes them feel unappreciated (not that its a boss’ job to make you feel appreciated). Too many.

This period is perhaps the most dangerous for a blogger. For its now that the act of blogging looses its fun. If something isn’t fun, your more likely not to do it. When blogging becomes a chore, when you’re searching for that next post instead of just freely typing to get what you want, you’re more likely to stop.

I’ve noticed, among the bigger, more popular blogs, that unless you have multiple authors or contributors writing for you, content updates are sporadic. Its not a fault of the blogger (well, some of it is) so much as the fact that blogging has become a job. Its like waking up in the morning and driving to work. Punching the clock and counting the hours until you get to go home, except that in this case, you’re keeping track of word count.

Anyone can fall in to the point where they lack the desire to blog (I think I went most of February with out posting), the hard part is finding a reason to blog again. This series is going to continue with several topics on maintaining that desire to blog. Don’t ask for a schedule of when I’m going to post them, because I just don’t know.

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• Happy Easter Charlie Brown!! #

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Today’s ASMW post is from far away places and you’ll soon wonder why I even chose it. The nordic stylings of Adjágas are somewhere between chanting and plain jibberish, but they will hold you entranced none the less. (I found that its best to list to at a very low volume).

“Combining the strange beauty of Scandinavian music with the sounds of American folk, Adjágas are exposing yoik music to an international audience. Yoik is characterized by hypnotic, repetitive chanting, and has seen little mainstream production or distribution. For their self-titled debut, Adjágas enlisted the help of Jaga Jazzist producer Andreas Mjøs, who adds subtle texture and emphasizes their hauntingly melodic voices. Critics have drawn breathless comparisons to an acoustic Sigur Rós, calling the album “a thing of rare beauty… [with] a naked intimacy that stays with the listener long after the last chord has rung out” (Music Week).”

In fact, I’ve found that its a good way to mask the sound of the sales weasles who surround your workspace with the noise of endless sales calls…

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The words Play ball will begin echoing around the country in a mere two weeks and it couldn’t be any sooner. Fans of MLB all over the country are getting their fantasy picks in gear and I came across the coolest site for fantasy baseball that I’ve seen (they ran football this past season and it was pretty cool as well).

What player is going to be hot? Who’s not? Who’s likely to be benched this season with injury after injury (Chipper )? Too many issues to think about when trying to figure out the key players to make up your line up. Fantasy Sports Prophet helps take out most of the guess work when it comes to picking a winning Fantasy Baseball team. They’ve done the math, crunched the numbers and figured out who the players to beat are this season and they want to help you maximize your game. Here are a few of the features of FSP:

• Web-based – access from anywhere
• Player rankings based on Predictive Modeling by PhD scientists
• Most advanced Draft assistance tool - all the data needed to make the right decision about any player
• Full season roster management including updated mid-season projections via artificial intelligence
• All stats, injury reports and major updates available from within software

If you really want to maximize your winnings this season, FSP is the tool to do it, and with the super secret code (BMC200) you can register with $10 off, so you’re already ahead on the track to some major league winnings.

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This weekend was a wild one in the ATL. For anyone who hasn’t looked at a TV or newspaper or um, anything of that sort, Atlanta and the surrounding area of Georgia was hit by barrage after barrage of severe thunderstorms and tornados this weekend. Friday night, a twister hit downtown Atlanta, striking in the core of the Tourism area (The GA Dome, CNN Center, Centennial Olympic Park…) causing major damage to the World Congress Center, the GA Dome, the park, CNN Center and surrounding downtown hotels and businesses. Several of the finer hotels in the area suffered damages as well loosing windows and more in the freak weather.

I happened to be lucky that night. I was up in the Hockey Press boxes at Phillips arena, getting ready to climb to the catwalk over the center of the arena floor to dismantle the propane used for the flame effects we were doing for the Atlanta Hawks (who won by the way). Not more than 100 yards away a tornado was busy destroying the GA dome, cnn center and other areas. Somehow, it managed to skip right by (over?) us and leave us unharmed. Lucky we were. Of course, it took a little longer to get home that night.

Saturday wasn’t much better, we were stuck in doors most of the day playing duck and cover every other hour as storm after storm blew through the area. Luckily no one in our area was hurt. Others weren’t so lucky. I heard on the news last night about a photograph, from a house in Rockmart, GA (where a man lost his life) that was found in Cornelia GA, 129 miles away from its home. Carried all that way by the wind. Can you imagine??

Atlanta will be rebuilding for a while, and while the economy will be hit in some areas, its good for those construction crews looking to keep their hammers going for a bit.

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So I’ve had EntreCard on the site for a while (almost since they debuted) and I have to say, at first the quality of visitor and sites from entrecard was good, however, they appear to be going the way of the BlogRush rather quickly as more and more spammy blogs join the entrecard crush.

At one point, I was dropping the maximum number of cards in a day I could and i saw a marginal bump in the numbers. Nothing to be over excited about (Nothing like a good digg or sphinn) but still some quality traffic. Lately though, those numbers have been dwindling and as I’m looking to promote my blog, those sites I’d advertise on are now costing in the 500’s for a day and have wait times of two weeks (many of them are full!) making it near impossible to get a spot on them (and these are sites that I know have quality traffic and content) while many of the splogs are open for business with lower rates.

I think entrecard is still a good tool for promoting your blog, but blog owners need to begin doing more to police the system themselves. Make use of the Report this Site link when you come across a spammy or nonfunctioning blog. Help keep the EC Clean.

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Someone finally printed a shirt with al gore’s image on it that I wouldn’t mind wearing! I’ve known for a while now that Global Warming is a piece of fiction made up by the hate mongering left, but now I can proudly convince everyone else of it too. What a wonderful shirt!!

Also, the Great State of NY should be commended for their choice of Governor as well as their wonderful Government run schools, where two four year olds were handcuffed and threatened with prison for not taking naps. When my four year old refuses to take a nap, we threaten to throw away her toys not send her to the clink for as many years as she’s been alive. Now i know what I’m doing wrong.

The part of the story that I think really gets me is that the preschool (yes, for the little ones not even in elementary school yet) has a security officer. He apparently is allowed to carry handcuffs and scare four year olds with threats that they’ll never see their parents again. Talk about building a love for school early. Them new yorkers know how to do it!

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Not the Georgia Lottery game either, this is something that could be considered more valuable by many. Starting on the 12th (thats Wednesday for you people who don’t know about dates), Charter Communications is opening an auction where you can bid on High Speed Internet for LIFE!! Whats even better is the starting bid is a whopping TEN (YES 10!!) dollars. HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT??

BUT Wait! There’s more!! “what?? How can this incredible offer get any better??” Well, you can also enter to win a Wii Game console!! Thats right. A cheap bid on Internet for life and a wii game console all at the same time?? AWESOME! Why its so good, even charter can’t believe they’re doing it.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this” said an undisclosed charter insider.

What do you have to do to get in on this amazing goodness? Its easy. Its simple. If they made it any easier, Gruntled from gettinggruntled.com might even have a chance at scoring! Alls you have to do is Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™! It doesn’t get any easier than that.

And remember, the auction starts at $10 on the 12th if you qualify for service so get your bids in early!!

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“There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Oklahoma.” Apparently, the only time there are WMD’s in Iraq is when Norris is visiting. According to an article sent to me by the Retarded Fish and Rice Roll Norris is somewhat of a god when it comes to the men and women protecting and fighting for us in the middle east. Which is fine with me, I’ve known for a while that “Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.” For more Chuck facts, check out Chucknorrisfacts.com.

In other news, I managed to score two lawn seats at Jimmy Buffett’s The Year of Still Here tour this June. How freaking awesome is that?!?!?!

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One of the best things you can invest in (according to almost everyone) is real estate. I’ve been hearing commercials on the radio for a while now about deep water access lots along the Georgia, South Carolina and Florida coasts and I’ll admit, I’ve been tempted. It’d be nice to have a piece of property along the coast where we could eventually build a nice little getaway. I have to be practical though, I can’t really afford that (and if I could I would probably look for somewhere in Jamaica or the Cayman Islands). However, it doesn’t hurt to look every once in a while.

I’d like to find something near Savannah or some Downtown Charleston Real Estate with some old south charm. Something that is out of Midnight in the Garden or Gone with the wind though maybe not that big. I don’t honestly know what Amy and I would do with an old south plantation home, but a Row home in the historic district of either city would be a fun little reprieve from the hustle and bustle of every day life wouldn’t it?

Almost the opposite of a cabin in the mountains, a nice little piece of Isles of Palm Real Estate would be a perfect little getaway.

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If you’ve paid any attention to any of my ASMW posts, you’ll notice I tend to stay on the acoustic side. I like blues, bluegrass, country. I like feel good music, not often enjoyed by the majority (I’m not a freak like gruntled, but I have my preferences). This week, I’ve decided to take a completely different tact. “These United States” is an eclectic mix of almost every genera available and yet they make it come together with such ease that is kind of pleasant to listen to.

Kings and Aces is a light tune that has an interesting beat to it. I highly recommend giving them a good listen to. Tell me you don’t like it.

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While one party stands united behind a candidate (Poor Mike!) the other is decisively split on who they think will best represent them. Unfortunately for us, that means more bickering between the two Democratic (socialist) candidates for at least another month. I was looking at the math and it seems this race could go on for months, or at least right up to the DNC. It’ll be interesting to watch, but will it help or hurt the Democrats over the long haul in this election?

I could see it going either way. The good thing for the Republicans is that they can unify behind one person well before the GOP meets to formally nominate their delegate. This unity in the party can only help strengthen the resolve the GOP should have to make right the mistakes of the past 12 years (since 1996) and to forge a cohesive vision for where this country needs to be. I’d like that vision to include more personal freedom, changes to the tax structure that include less personal and business income taxes, and an overhaul of the Social Security Admin and the health care system in this country from the current system to a privitised system.

For the democrats to unify, it may be a little harder unless both Clinton and Obama end up on the party ticket (something Clinton has alluded to, but I think that Obama might have an issue with it). It seems that people either love or loath the candidates this year. If you love Clinton, you dislike Obama, if you love Obama you dislike Clinton. I feel the Dems have a longer way to go to reach party unity (no matter how hard Howard Dean tries) in this election cycle. Not to mention, that they haven’t delivered on any of their promises either…

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So there’s this talking gecko on tv trying to pimp insurance to you. He started out just with auto insurance, now he’s expanded to almost everything. Maybe he’ll be selling you insurance on your new HD LCD tv next, who knows. Personally I like the ads where he’s selling Motorcycle Insurance.

I don’t have one, but he does a good job of introducing it and it really makes me want to run out and buy a bike just to get the insurance. Well. Not really. But its nice to know that in todays day and age you can get quotes for virtually anything online. Amy and I went through and took out some good insurance last year (I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it already) to cover both of us in case anything happens, and we’re covered on the house and the cars. As a good bonus, we get discounts on home owners for having an alarm system, the cars for our driving status, and everything because we have multiple policies with the company.

It really works out in our favor for making sure our family is protected. If you haven’t thought of protecting your family, maybe you should.

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We’re in a drought. Well, we’ve been in a drought for several years actually, but things finally got to the point this past summer where people stood up and took notice. Unfortunately, this winter it seems that every other day its been raining. Here this morning we’re already over an inch of rain in the dog bowls. Which is nice, because according to NOAA, most of the lakes in the area are where they should be at this time of year, the one exception being Lake Lanier which has no chance as long as the Corp of Engineers keeps releasing water to Alabama and Florida.

Anyway, its raining here again today. Yesterday we had nice weather (it wasn’t perfect but it was close) and today we’re in the middle of a monsoon. Could be worse, i suppose, it could be snowing.

Of course, I haven’t added rain barrels to the downspouts or anything yet so I’m not collecting the rain water even though i should be. I hope to add at least one or two rain barrels in the back yard to help out so I can water the plants this summer.

Anywho enough about the weather here, whats it like in your neck of the woods??

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Well, not exactly. But whats better than relaxing after a hard day of doing nothing with a good light beer? Why, relaxing after a hard day of doing nothing with a light beer and $300 in your wallet. Thats what. “But Mark,” you say, “How can this be? A light beer AND $300?? WTF do I have to do??”

Well my fine inebriated friend, all you have to do is answer some questions via text message on your celly (not telly) and you will be entered to win a $300 Amazon gift card. How unbelievably cool is that?? Even better is that this is only being offered to a small number of participants (say, 1500 or so) so your chances of winning are way better than of you bowling that perfect 300 game on your Wii.

Of course, if you’re like me, you prefer local brews (which tend to not be too light) but everyonce in a while you’ll kick back with a Rolling Rock Light or some other malted beverage that just seems to be right (like a corona light with lime and a bucket of peel and eat shrimp on the beach). As a matter of fact, I think the last time I had a light beer was Mardi Gras when we partied with some good friends over a big pot of homemade Jambalaya. Nothing’s better!

Here’s what you gotta do:

• To start the survey - text the word beer to 247365.
• There are 10 quick text-and-reply questions in the mobile survey.
• For contest rules please visit Sweeps

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Almost 6 months after Obama appeared in the Halloween edition of Saturday Night Live (SNL) Hillary made a stop on the set and met face to face with her twin played by Amy Poehler. Clinton was on in response to two sketches the troupe has done now based on some of the more recent debates where the anchors seem to give preferential treatment to Obama and play hardball with Clinton.

While I agree she does have a bit of a point, that it seems unfair that they’ve chosen their Golden Boy and this time around its Obama, I do think that if she really wanted to have any affect on it, she should have made an attempt earlier in the season to make an appearance (Granted, the strike took SNL off line for a while).

For instance, Huckabee is a favorite on almost all the late night talk shows, making appearances on Colbert, The Daily Show, Late Night with Conan, The Tonight Show and others. This appearance by Hillary almost seems to be a last ditch effort to gain votes coming in to the crucial Ohio and Texas primaries tomorrow. But who am I to judge??

On another note, I seem to have made up some of my PR loss from the fall when I dropped from a 4 to a big, fat zero. Now I’m sitting happy at a 3 while Gruntled is still an Oh!

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