How Much Do Your Blog Posts Weigh?

Even scales icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        What kind of dumb unquantifiable question is this?   How much does a blog post weigh?  Who asks a question like that anyway?

          I do--who else?   When I've got a lot of other things to think about I might now and then toss out some outlandish question for readers to think about.    I've got A to Z blog posts to compose, social media to follow, family issues to be concerned about, and other fish to fry (I'm fixing tilapia for dinner tonight--that is Thursday night of the day I'm composing this blog piece).

          But concerning the weightiness of a blog post, I'm not necessarily talking about how many words it contains.  A long post can be a lightweight bunch of fluff.  A content laden post might have a lot to tickle your mind, but does it leave any lasting impressions?   A lot of pictures can make a post look heavy, but what do you take with you after you leave?

          A truly heavy post is the one that weighs you down and entices you to think about it for a while.  I'm not sure how often this happens.   Since most of us are busy with this or that we might not have that much time to ponder ideas from a blog post.  We might even need to watch TV or something.

         What I'm talking about is like the difference between lugging home a bag of gold bars and a big tote sack filled with fluffy cotton candy.  I kind of like cotton candy.  It melts in your mouth--you don't even have to chew it.   And it tastes sweet and good.   You can't eat the gold bars and it takes a lot more effort to carry them.  It can be a back-straining sweat-inducing effort.   Ultimately though the gold bars are an investment that can pay you back.

          Sometimes I enjoy some cotton candy.   Or popcorn.   Or pudding.    Such a pleasure to sit dully in front of the TV watching some mind-numbing show while pigging out on junk food.    Escapism in part I suppose.  Addiction of a sort from another perspective.

        I sometimes strive for blog posts that weigh lot.  Not long mind you, but something to chew on.   I'd like to think I'm occasionally writing blog posts that are more like the equivalent of a granola bar or a garden salad with a lot of fresh vegetables in it.   Something you have to chew on and might be getting some nutritional value from.

         Then again granola bars can be kind of like eating that composite wood stuff or maybe a cork bulletin board.   Maybe I'd rather write a Three Musketeers bar or one of those chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies they have at Easter.

            How heavy do you like your blog posts to be?   Would you rather read a cotton candy post or raw carrots and cauliflower?    Do you like a blog post that makes you think a bit and inspires you to leave a deeper comment than you typically leave?

Related articles

• Weighty Truth
• Comparing the Weight of Objects
• Sugar me senseless...
• Yes Comment
• Tobin vs. Yeager, my view

Catching Up and Clearing the Air

halloween (Photo credit: BEE FREE - PGrandicelli [the social bee])

First of all:   Happy Halloween!  A little over three years ago this blog started out as a Halloween blog so this day holds special significance in Tossing It Out history.   It didn't take long for me to change the direction of my thematic content and I'm glad I did.  Yet I must acknowledge the season and give credit to the inspiration that initially got me underway in blogging.

Bye George, By George:   As many of you are aware, I took a brief hiatus from blogging over the last couple of weeks.due to the illness and eventual passing of my stepfather George Lechelt.  I had attempted to make it back to East Tennessee in order to say my good-byes, but sadly he passed on October 13th, the day before I arrived.  He will be missed and I plan to pay a tribute to him either here on this blog or more probably on my memoir blog Wrote By Rote.

       During my stay at my mother's house I had the pleasure of sharing time with family members including my daughters and my granddaughters.   We had a good time, but there was also plenty of time for introspection and reflection on my current status of life and my future.  Many of us probably go into a similar state of mind in times of mourning.  Indeed, I've been doing much thinking and evaluating over the past year. I'm continuing to make some life changes--a good thing, eh?   If we don't change, we can get stuck in a rut and I'm trying to avoid that.

        For one thing there will be no NaNo for me this year.   I've got too many other things going on and I don't need to add writing a novel to all that I currently am trying to sort out.   I wish all the best to those of you who are taking the NaNo challenge this year.

Misunderstanding Due to Misrepresentation?:   I wanted to clear up something about the direction I had indicated my blog would be taking in the future.   It became evident to me as I read some of your comments in some of the preceding posts that some of you might be turned off by the fact that I might be dipping into the realms of controversy in some of my posts.  I may have misrepresented my intent in my explanations along the way.

         Rather than emphasizing the concept of stirring controversy, I probably should have been sticking more to the idea that my intent is to make readers think about certain issues, react to them, and add their opinions. Dissension is welcomed.  I'm not looking for heated exchange, but friendly debate.  As I mentioned somewhere along the way, I just want to figure certain things out and toss out ideas that are bouncing around my head to see what you think.  

         Don't be scared.  Don't avoid my blog because you think things might get too ugly.  I just want to have some conversations, so I hope many of you will join in.

This Ain't No Bag Of Feathers:  Sometimes I wonder if I'm trying to get too heavy in my thinking.  Maybe I'm dishing out a weighty chest of treasure when what readers really want is some light reading.  Then again some of you may think I'm laying a paper bag full of dog doo on your doorstep and setting fire to it.   If that's the case, I can understand your getting irked with my blog and avoiding the crap.  I hope that's not the case and I hope any readers who think this will honestly let me know.

           I've noticed that sometimes the topics on my blogs get very few comments.  In some cases it could be because some of my blogs are read by fewer readers, like my dream blog A Faraway View.  A recent guest post by Stephen T McCarthy--a post that I thought was beautifully written--received only three comments.  I wonder if readers found the topic too difficult or perhaps--dare I say it--too controversial?  I invite you to read the post in question, Goldenshadow, and let us know your thoughts.

           Whether you like Stephen T McCarthy's writing or not, there will be more coming on A Faraway View as Stephen has stepped up to offer me some more guest posts to help me in my time of sorting things out.  Read his stuff while you can since he has announced his plans to shut down his blog Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends after already shutting down his Stuffs blog several months ago.  This is the guy that started me blogging and I think he deserves more readers.

We Can Always Talk About the Weather:   My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by the monster storms in the eastern United States.  Three of my daughters live right in the heart of things in New Jersey.   My daughter Ada and her daughter Lillee were evacuated by bulldozer due to flooding.  Her husband stayed in their house with his father.   All three girls are now tucked away in my middle daughter Emilee's house.  With all the power out they say they are whiling away the time eating all the food in the refrigerator.   They have a houseful of people and it probably won't be long before they finish all of the food  Hopefully, the power will be on soon and the stores will be open.

            What are your Halloween plans?   Have you done a life assessment lately?   Do deep topics steer you away from blogs?   Has Frankenstorm affected you?

Related articles

• Backlash
• The Art of Writing Blog Comments
• Goldenshadow: A Guest Post from Stephen T. McCarthy