More power to you!

I don’t want my blog to be a one-way street, I would like to think that people are comfortable enough to share a comment.  I often will reply, though you may not necessarily expect it.

So I got to wondering how I can jazz up my fairly new blog to make readers feel at ease about leaving a comment.

I came across this blog post, it’s from Liz Strauss 10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments.  I don’t know Liz, I just happened to stumble across her blog from a subscription I have on Lorell on WordPress.  And I don’t know Lorell either!  Lorell has some pretty interesting blog posts on the use of WordPress and other tools and that’s why I subscribe to her blog.

So maybe the problem isn’t so much that I don’t make my blog inviting, but that you feel like I feel when I read someone else’s blog, a bit like an invader (if you don’t know the person).

With tongue in cheek:  Build a bridge and get over it.

What’s the worse that can happen?  Some other happy wanderer comments back?  What if they say something that may ridicule you/me?

I really don’t think I have that type of readership on my blog but that doesn’t mean I can guarantee you a safe passage.  I don’t have enough trash for “them” (those that ridicule) to feast on

The upshot is that I’m giving you an open invitation to leave a comment.  I may or may not know you, but if by reading my blog you identify with me in ANY way, then you’re welcome, more than welcome to leave a comment.

Who knows, I’ll probably reply

Oh, and I can feel vulnerable too, I hope this blog post doesn’t come across as desperate or needy, I just like the interaction.

P.S:  thanks to those of you who do leave comments, it’s always nice to hear from you.

I’ve borrowed this image from here.

Why do I do it?

Ok, this is more or less a rhetorical question.

I start back training and somehow believe it’s OK to begin upping the amount of crap that’s in my diet.

I have this belief that the extra exercise makes up for the EXTRA sugary foods, or plain junk that I love to eat.

I often think I train so that I can eat the gut rot.  That the primary focus here is I want to eat the bad stuff, therefore I need to exercise.  Not that I love to exercise and a by product is I can sneak the odd piece of crap into my diet.

I look here and see that none of my descriptions paint a very attractive picture of the type of food I love to eat.  I clearly know it’s bad for me – it’s not that I eat it in moderation, or as a treat – and yet I find it too easy to open the pantry and sit there thinking for a minute about which of the junk food items I’m going to eat tonight.

Last night Mark and I ate a packet of Ginger Kisses between us.  And I’m fussy when I buy them too.  I hunt for the packet that has the cream oozing out of the biscuit.  I even hold the packet above my head to get a good look at the underside of the biscuit to make sure it didn’t all just ooze to the top and left none at the bottom.

But I didn’t stop at 1/2 a packet of Ginger Kisses, I proceeded to have two rows of Caramello Chocolate.  And I’d already had 3 pieces of it during the day.

I know the answer is to NOT buy the stuff in the first place.  I keep thinking that I have the self-control needed to eat it in moderation.  And I do.  I just don’t have the will.  Actually is self-control and will different things?  Maybe I don’t have the self-control.

Really I can go without, I’ve done it before, I just don’t want to because I’m sure I can pace myself.

I need to learn what pacing myself really means.

Arrrgh, but I love Chocolate Caramel slice.  I am weak.

Where are their lights?

It’s been bothering me for many weeks so I’ve finally found time to put this grumble down in a post.

I can not believe the number of cyclists I see (often at the last moment) who have no form or lighting on their bike.

And to make things worse, are usually wearing dark clothing, and the odd person without a helmet.

I can’t fathom what’s going through their minds.  How can they be so reckless.  Do they not value their lives?

Some of these people have what appears to be good tidy bikes and reasonable clothing standards and yet they seem not to think they need to be lit up for their own safety.

Now how would you feel if you failed to see a cyclist and injured them.  It would be the motorists fault – right?  You’d be riddled with guilt, you’d be beside yourself wondering how as a cyclist you could have harmed another.

I just don’t understand why people want to play such a dangerous game.  I’ve seen smaller children and wonder why their parents don’t love them enough to make sure they’re visible on the road.  Maybe that’s a hard judgement but I really can’t see what other reason there is for being so careless with the lives of precious ones.

How awful would family members feel if they knew the difference between life and death of their loved ones was a cheap light.  That it was something so simple that could have saved their life, or prevented a life of suffering a needless injury.

A couple of lights and you’ve increased your life expectancy.  Come on people, think about it!