Friday, December 18, 2009

My Temperamental Blog

I started this blog about 15 months ago (You hear that, Blog, I made you and I can unmake you, never forget that). During those months I've been what I would call an obsessive comment checker. Yes, I love comments. They make me happy. Plus they give me something to do when taking a break from writing (or when taking a break from taking a break). So, I would guesstimate that out of the 16,000 or so hits shown on my counter thingy (to use the formal term) that 15,500 are me visiting myself.

Well, as of late, I've been thinking to myself: Really, Kasie, must you be so obsessive? My answer was: Most of the time yes, but perhaps not in this instance. So I decided to activate the device on my blog that sends me an email whenever I get a new comment. (Because we all know I obsessively check my email.)

At first the email notification worked perfectly. It told me whenever any of you left me a comment. It was brilliant. I began to wonder why I hadn't activated it months ago. The trips I made to my blog became much less frequent. I loved it. But then something strange started to happen. I would go to my blog and even though my email claimed I had no comments (this might prompt the question: If you had no comments then why were you visiting your blog? To that I answer: Leave me alone, okay? I can visit my blog whenever I want to. Maybe I was having trust issues with my blog. Maybe I suspected it was lying to me [and it was]) low and behold there would be one or two comments waiting to be read despite the claim otherwise. This went on for days (and is still going on). Sometimes my blog emailed me when I had a new comment. Sometimes it didn't. And then I found them. The missing emails. They were in my Spam folder. Spam?? They weren't all of your comments. Just a select few. And guess who was in that list? Me. Yes. When I would respond to your comments in my comments section, they ended up in my spam folder.

The only thing I can guess is that my blog is angry with me for my infrequent visits. I went from checking my blog every time I was online, to only checking on it a couple times a day. It's mad. But this still doesn't explain why it's putting some of your comments in the trash. Maybe it sorts them by which ones it likes the best. If you lack the right amount of flattery in your comment, you end up in the trash. I'm not sure. I'm analyzing this. But quite obviously, some of you are favored by my blog and others aren't (including me).

I just had a thought. Maybe it's my email that hates me for adding to its workload..........hmmmm. That reminds me of the time my email started sending blank messages. It's like it would erase them or something. I would craft beautiful messages and my email would send nothing. One of these blank emails ended up going to my agent to which she responded: ?

How embarrassing, huh?

I'm sorry, Blog, it's possible you have been wrongly accused. I'll let you and email fight it out.

32 comments:

  1. Okay, so now I'm writing to find out if I am "trashy" or not... come on, do tell. It won't hurt my feelings. And even though I've only had my blog a couple months, I totally understand about the obsessive checking and comment love. Blogs are fun. I'm so glad that I crawled out of internet anonymity and joined the cyber writing community. Otherwise, I would never be commenting here to find out if I'm trash bound.

    Love your blog, and have a wonderful Friday! I hope you triumphed in your cleaning mission! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. My blog is angry with me too! I keep writing these brilliant, hilarious posts (daily!) and my blog just eats them up the minute I post them. Crazy huh? *nervous cough*

    So . . . yeah, that's why I never have new posts. Blog is mad at me. Yep.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am exactly the same way, Kasie - freakishly obsessive. My husband teases me that I'd rather be with all of you and my blog than with him! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Really? Blogspot counts visits to your own blog? Shame on them. Can't they recognize their blog owners? Geesh. Wordpress doesn't count my visits to my blog. Otherwise my visitor count would be 1, 347, 236! :-)

    And what email client do you use? Tsk, tsk, silly Mac people!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oooh, I so want to see an email vs. blog throwdown. That would be hilarious!

    And your email sending it's own emails? That almost sounds like a premise for a weird sci fi novel or something...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I stalk my blog everyday, it's a healthy dose of self absorbsion. Is that a word, oh well.

    Seeing the comments lets me know that I've connected with someone, and that is what blogging is for me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. If it helps, I've started having the same issues with my comment email just this week. All of a sudden email alerts on blog comments became spam. I was having the email alerts sent to a yahoo email account. I changed that, and for now, things are fine again.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I prefer to check my blog. I like my blog so much I feel I must visit it obsessively. I used to have Facebook message alerts come to my e-mail, but I found that I preferred going to facebook to read them. It was an excuse to see what everyone else was doing. Love the blog Kasie and it will love you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I get a kick out of you personifying your blog and email, as if either of them can hate you...teehee.

    It's like you're a writer or something.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful, fantastic, smart, talented.

    My insurance against your blog discarding me due to lack of adjectives to describe your wonderfulness. All true descriptions of you, of course.

    It would be nice, however, if you posted a disclaimer at the beginning of your posts to warn readers not to eat or drink while reading so not to choke or spew ingested contents all over the keyboard and/or clothing. This has happened on more than (how many posts have you made in 15 months?)one occasion and it's getting messy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ha ha ha, that is too too funny.

    I just leave my blog up all day and refresh every few minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm so glad I'm not alone in my obsession.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "..my blog is angry with me for my infrequent visits"

    I love it. Yes, I've experienced this too. I don't know what it is. I'm a former techno junkie so I tend to blame things on bottlenecked server problems, but I'm sure my blog is just upset with me too :P

    ReplyDelete
  14. Blogger must have been mad at me last week, too. I couldn't post comments on certain blogs (mine included) for a few days, but now everything's fine again.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Maybe your blog senses the blog hate and is responding accordingly. My yoga teacher told me I needed to send happy messages to my body if I wanted it to be healthy. So, applying that to you blog... Maybe if you send it more love it will work perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Julie, well, it looks like you aren't trash worthy. You were waiting in my inbox first thing. :) So now I have to figure out what you are doing differently than the 5 that have ended up in spam so far. I'm thinking I might start a list of all the things I know about myself and do a survey on Monday to see if those who are ending up in my trash match up with me on any of the aspects. :) Yes, I did conquer in cleaning last night. I cleaned and organized the toy room. (Not that you'd be able to tell today after my son got a hold of it. Sigh. Why do I bother?)

    Renee, LOL Man, you should be mad at your blog for doing that. Maybe you and your blog need to go on a break since it's choosing to treat you so poorly. :) (btw, you ended up in my normal mail, no spam folder for you)

    Shannon, my husband used to tell people that if they wanted to get a hold of me to just leave a comment on my blog. Once he even left a comment on my blog from downstairs, it said: "Kasie, come down, the timer for dinner is buzzing." Yes, he's a smart alec. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh, and Shannon, you were in my normal mail, so you must've done something right.

    Linda, it's not necessarily blogger that counts me, but the counter widget I added to my blog. So yeah, it's not very smart. And I know you're having Mac envy but you don't have to be so obvious about it. :) By the way, my blog loves you. (You're a traitor, Blog, how can you love a Wordpress girl?)

    Elana, you were the first comment of the day to end up in the trash! Wahoo, you won the blog hate prize. :) You were there yesterday too, so I know it has to do with people and not time of day. What have you done to offend my blog, Elana? LOL I like your idea of a blog, email showdown. That might just have to happen. :)

    Tamika, so true, so true, where would we be without a little self-absorption (or a lot). :) It is fun to know we're connecting with people. And in case you are curious, you ended up in normal mail.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Renee, so it's Yahoo that's the culprit. It is a yahoo account. So maybe we need an email, yahoo, blog showdown. :) Well, you ended up in normal mail so maybe my blog wanted me to know the truth.....or my email.....or yahoo. ??? :)

    Mary, I don't know what you said, but the Blog didn't like it. You went straight to spam. :) But I'm with you, when I see an email in my inbox about facebook, I usually just go straight to facebook to read it. It's so much more fun that way. :) Even if my blog has issues with you, Mary, I certainly like you. :)

    Natalie, well, you've been sent to spam. This might answer a lot of questions about my blog feeling neglected. Perhaps it knows I visit your blog more than mine. :) And are you trying to say that my blog doesn't have independent thoughts? I'm not following you there. :)

    Tricia, you must've included just the right amount of praise because you ended up in my normal mail. :) I'm sorry about the liquid on your computer, but it's just payback for when I visit your blog, or read your comments, or your book, or talk to you.....yeah, you deserve it--no disclaimer for you. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  19. Tamara, ah, another obsessive soul. I love it. :) And obviously my blog found favor in the comment too, because you were in my normal mail.

    Patti, you were in spam. :) And no, you're definitely not alone.

    Voidwalker, it has to be anger, no other explanation makes sense. (Although, I am the exact opposite of a techno junkie. I know just barely enough about computers to make me dangerous enough to ruin everything) I might think it was the bottleneck thing you were talking about, but wouldn't that happen according to time or traffic level and not users. Because it always puts the same people in spam and the same in regular mail. Speaking of, you were in spam. :) It's all very confusing.

    Melissa, wow, all the blogs in the system were mad at you?? That's serious. I wonder what you did. :) BTW, you were in normal mail.

    Candice, it's true. Maybe it's sensing the bitterness I'm feeling towards it with my new 3 times a week schedule. Maybe it senses the hate rays I send out every time I stare at the blank screen that I'm supposed to fill with something you guys might actually want to read. Yes, I should try the positive thoughts (your yoga instructor really said that?) and be happy.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Don't worry, Kasie. You're not the only one obsessed over her blog. I do exactly the same thing. I also get my emails on my phone, so I check it every few minutes (okay, sometimes seconds, but who's counting, right). So don't feel bad. Love this post, by the way. Very cute.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I find it hard to think of things to write in my blog! Suddenly I have many followers and I am thinking I should honor them with something witty more often than I have been!

    elizabethmueller.blogspot.com <--this one, not my MMW one! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  22. I've only had one really bad fight with my blog and thats when it decided it would be fun to hide from me for a day and disappear altogether. Thankfully it didn't stay mad for long and showed up again.

    Now if I can find a way to simply get rid of Anonymous rude commenter's and spammers. It would be a perfect match. (Hugs)Indigo

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dear Author kasiewest.blogspot.com !
    You are not right. Let's discuss it. Write to me in PM.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Kasie's blog - "What did I ever do to you? Am I not visiting you enough either?"
    I guess I'll have to come visit your blog more often Kasie. Your blog and my blog should be friends.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ha ha! As you know, I have trust issues with 'Technology', so I can totally understand how you feel about emails being hidden from you! (Ok, Blog, Email, I know it was one of you-- there are only two of you in here, so fess up! Which one of you was it??) (I think they just pointed at each other...)
    Sigh, I missed card catalogues for a long time too. At least I'm over that now!

    Good luck disciplining Blog and Email! One of them definitely deserves a lump of coal in his stocking...

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anon, thanks. I think I feel more comfortable blogging than I used to. I used to think, 'who cares what I have to say?' Then I'd over think it. Now I just think, 'whatever, I'm just gonna write.'

    ReplyDelete
  28. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Dubai Maintaining Company, Ideal Maintaining Services is without a doubt famous for their expert store-bought cleaning expertise in Dubai AUE. You serve particular point man or woman business and even business firms with many different points. Ideal Maintaining Service supplies full product commercial maintaining solutions in every case. Our detergents are professional for store-bought cleaning services additionally they love everything that they achieve. deep cleaning services dubai

    ReplyDelete
  30. There are numerous areas on the town that ought to be properly looked after for health and sanitary good reasons, including the kitchen and bathroom. It is advisable to hold these with your high number for tasks that require done all the time. Though you should wipe decrease counters in addition to clean surfaces everyday, you could need a precise cleaning weekly or even any week. Determine how the area ought to be cleaned. [url=https://www.monthlymaids.ae//]monthly maid service dubai[/url]

    ReplyDelete
  31. Very good contractors be aware that preparation is important for longer lasting effects. Structures with no previous coloring are much easier to paint since previous coloring generally should be removed before commencing the brand-new layers. Ruthless water jets will often be used by simply industrial artwork contractors to clean surfaces ahead of applying coloring. Industrial artwork contractors in addition use harsh preparation to scrub surfaces coming from all rust along with chemicals for you to leave a new structure set for coloring. Any prep method used is important for a fairly easy painting course of action with highly rated results. [url=https://www.painters.ae//]best painting services in dubai[/url]

    ReplyDelete
  32. Are you searching for an organically grown disinfectant cleaner in your home, eatery, or other place? Consequently, Organica Biotech ThinkSafe all natural Floor Clearer Liquid will probably be your ultimate solution. This cleaner works with a plant-derived formula making it biodegradable together with vegan. At the same time, this cleaner incorporates a pH remedy and composed of natural ingredients which include eucalyptus, citronella engine oil, and pine. Besides, additionally, it is free with ammonia together with chlorine. As a result, if you will have children together with pets from home, this clearer is safe to apply. cleaning services dubai

    ReplyDelete