ime for my end-of-the-month commentary on blogging. Early in June, I switched my posts to load automatically just after midnight.
Upsides
Audiences: I catch the international folks and the early risers when they are up & about.
Standardization: The blog comes out the same time every day. Before, I might post early with a chron job or late if I ran out of day. At an Alabama Phoenix Festival panel, Devil’s Panties artist Jennie Breeden explained that she worked this way. Her posting is so reliable that when she was late, a family member called to find out if she was okay. This struck me as a desirable level of professionalism.
Downsides
Less immediacy: When Mathilda wedged herself in the stall like Winnie-the-Pooh, the story suffered a time lag. She hurt herself on Saturday. I wrote about it on Sunday. The details saw the light of day on Monday. If I ever return to day-by-day training notes, this system will make the blog more like a prime time recap than a live broadcast.
Harder follow-through: Since the post is automatic, I forget to post on the follow-by-Facebook page, which is not automatic.
Othersides
Originally scheduled: a long blather on how my scheduling changed, why it changed, and what that means to the ultimate fate of life, the universe and everything.
Instead: another blogger’s more evocative blather:
Bippity, Boppity, Horsepoop
I was brought up by a militant feminist single mother in the height of the MS magazine era. Stories for Free Children ring bells with anyone? As a result, I never bought into the Prince-Charming-coming-to-save-me fantasy. (I ended up with one, but the point is, I wasn’t looking.) However, I have been guilty of waiting for my blog to be Charming. In her post, Bippity Boppity Bullshit: Lessons from Cinderella, Midnight & Moxie, Marissa Bracke says, “I believed that if I worked really hard and studied really hard and figured out the ‘right’ things to do, there would come a day when–Bippity Boppity Boo!–my business would be flourishing, the money would be flowing, and I’d be breezing my way through a nonstop cycle of blazing productivity followed by serene and stressless rest or recreation.” Yup, that was me. Waiting for blog nirvana. She reminds us that life doesn’t happen that way. Midnights come & go. “What you lack in glass slipper you make up for in frock, and that even if your horseman is a mouse, your hair never looked better.” So, picture me grabbing my pumpkin and stomping toward that darn ball. Blog on.
Did you notice a change in the posts? Did it make a difference?
List of previous end-of-the-month blogging posts.
Rodney’s Alphabet, to date.
Virtual Brush Box 
OK … honestly? I’m not sure what the question is. I like your blog! I subscribed, then clicked on a box that means I get each entry immediately, not weekly or monthly or some such nonsense. I look forward to your updates. I find myself saying, “Crap!” when things tank or get screwed up, I’m still waiting to hear what name you “officially” bestow on Rodney and I think there should be way more pictures of the kittens. That aside, I’m not sure what else I should have noticed? 😉
Thank you. Blogging advice says one should post at the same time every day so that readers will know when to expect. The previous plan was to post after working with the horse each day, around 4-ish. But then the day would run late and I’d post in the evening. Or I’d put up an autopost for the next day & set it for early in the am, in case it had problems. As a result my posting time was all over the clock. Not good. New plan is that I write up a post & schedule it to auto-post between midnight & 1 am. Therefore, each day’s post appears at the same time, give or take 20 minutes. Was wondering if anyone noticed. Apparently not. It’s amazing the minutiae one can get drawn into.
How are the eyes?
I noticed the difference because I always checked the blog site before I went to bed. Began to worry as it stopped appearing then. Now that I know the new schedule, I check it in the morning. No problem but I did notice.
Wonder Woman was the cover girl for the first issue of Ms magazine. I still have that issue. After going through the Wonder Woman stage, I developed this motto: “Wonder Woman is a cartoon character, I am not.”. To this, i will add that Cinderella was a fairy tale long before should was animated by Disney.
Speaking for an earlier generation, I once complained to my mother than the day-to-day crises got in the way of “life”. She responded that that is life. Don’t wait for it to come along later. This is it.
Over the years, I’ve moved from militant feminist to aspiring Buddhist. Neither philosophy encourages the hope of a Deus ex machine rescue.
However, during a recent conversation with the author while I was venting about not being able to do this or that, her comment was “what are you waiting for”? Seems relevant here.
Personally, I refuse to let my (ahem) vast readership pigeonhole me into some predictable schedule. I will remain steadfastly erratic — take that, you bastards!
But let me know if your readership swells via the new strategy. It’s possible I may reconsider. At least it will take the pressure off … you can generate several posts when inspiration strikes and have a couple in the hopper for the times when the brain cells run dry.
BTW, one of the splendid perks of being a blogger is that you get chain letters … er, blogging awards, from your peers. I nominated you for one, cuz I needed some victims. Details here: http://ridexc.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/isnt-it-loverly/ . Share and enjoy!