Posted by Raul on July 30, 2010
After making a comment in Lori’s Blog post “front porch: Dreams, Laughter and Comic Inspiration” about Tony’s Blog “Trottersville” Lori asked why I sleep so little, so here is the answer:
Some time ago I posted a thought called “Don’t Sleep Before You Die!” where I was talking about saving time by sleeping 6 hours instead of 8 as recommended by the experts. That was my ideal!
Today, and for the past 8 years, I had been sleeping an average of 3 hours a day, 1 at night and 2 in the morning.
What happens is that I have a delivery job at night (I wrote a short fiction tale about that in “Reunion”) so sleep one hour before going to work and two after, so not to waste too much time in the morning just sleeping.
Then work by day either fixing cars, doing several things around the house, spending time writing, blogging, reading posts in other blogs, commenting, trying to learn this computer thing and the writing craft (I want to learn to write well so more people would be interested in reading this blog, not just “Mom and the Poker Club” 
), spending time with my son and wife and so on, so not much time left really.
Sometimes I oversleep and have 2 hours instead of one before going to work and had to rush so not to be too late in order to “preserve the schedule” and not getting behind during the day.
It works fine except for a couple of things: Memory, Vision and Energy, that’s all!
Memory has become crappy, I still cannot find the control panel of my brain so to uncheck the box that say “Automatically delete thoughts when a new one appear”, although I do have problems with memory since I can remember (don’t laugh!) I believe I suffer from CRS (Can’t Remember Shit)
Vision, once very sharp, is also becoming crappy. I still can read a street sign from a block distance but now I need glasses for reading (sigh), otherwise cannot distinguish the words.
Energy is also down; it reminds me of my childhood when being “high” with medicine and no energy to move due to sickness (“Why Alien Ghost”, “Loving Life”) so it takes a while to get energized after waking up in the morning and I’ve notice that, in those rare occasions when I have the time to sleep as much as 4 hours in a row, my focus and memory get better.
Another thing with short sleeping is that I don’t dream (not enough time) It’s been many years without dreams, which is sad because several years ago I read somewhere that we can put our dreams to work.
If we concentrate very hard in a thought when going to sleep and remain in that thought until we fall asleep, with practice and time, we dream related to our thought; it works! I tried that many years ago and after several attempts I was able to “advance” thinking done over a problem; I even dreamt a short tale that as soon as woke up wrote in one stand without stopping and needing no corrections! That was so cool!
So short sleeping is nice to save time and do more things, but too short sleeping is not a good thing (duh). Now it’s about organizing things in order to get organized (see people how it can affect you?!)
But seriously, soon I should be able to get some more sleep and hope to recover some of the memory, maybe vision and definitely energy!
Life is good and the future can always be brighter!
Raul
NOTE: The picture is not me but that’s how I look like when just waking up
Posted by Raul on July 15, 2010
What would happen to blogging if we all became telepaths?
-No writing?
-No correcting the writing before publishing?
-No pictures to re-size?
-No folders to keep things organized?
-No visits to make and visitors to receive?
-No subscriber lists, everyone is kept in mind?
-No typing, computers or internet?
-No internet down! (That’s good)
-How about plug-ins?
So just sit down and send the post by brain waves
And how do we receive the posts?
-A sort of signal received that a new post is about to be released?
-Then we sit down and concentrate in the brain waves being transmitted?
-How do we go back to “read” again the post?
-Do we just keep everything in our memory?
-The blogger also keeps everything in memory?
-What about those with bad memory? (Like me)
For sure many things would change, some for good, some for bad.
-A good thing would be no more sloooow computers to fight with (like the crappy one I got)
-One of the bad things is that just the thought of telepathy gets me confused! Jeez!!
Raul
Posted by Raul on February 26, 2010
Blogging could be like the place where we live.
For a new blogger with few visitors and comments it might feel like living in the country; it could be a solitary work with lots of space around and living a slow paced life.
Sometimes someone comes around and ask questions so the blogger feels happy with the visitor and try to be nice and friendly; there could be some chatting and it’ll be a subject of conversation with friends and family.
At the time of checking emails, comments or visitor numbers you can hear the gently sound of crickets in the distance and contemplating the stars for a while before going to bed is a must.
Perhaps the dream of moving to the big city will show up once more and the blogger will spend some time wondering what it would feel like to be there.
For a seasoned blogger with lots of traffic and followers (I believe) it could be like living in the city with a fast paced life.
When you visit them and see the number of comments and enter to make your own you can hear the talking, the laughter and the sound of glasses all mixed up with the music in the background; it’s like going to a party!
I imagine the blogger is like the host of the party, dealing with a thousand little details one after another, making sure everyone feels at home and happy to be there.
Checking emails and comments must be like dealing with parking for all the visitors, trying to find room for everyone, coordinating the space available, while the sounds of engines revving can be heard above the voices and the chatting.
For the new blogger going to one of these seasoned blogger’s party could feel intimidating; after all somehow it is the dream to be the host one day, yet being able to deal with all the little details with such grace and efficiency while holding a smile for everyone seems to be a giant task.
So the process of moving from the country to the city has to be a slow and planned one, with a basic learning at first and then a plunge into the perpetual movement and light that is the city.
So I wonder…
Are there seasoned bloggers with lots of traffic and followers that dream of retirement in a quiet place in the country where they can slow down and enjoy the writing and the occasional chatting with friends and sporadic visitors?
Just a crazy thought!
Raul
Posted by Raul on February 15, 2010
Since this blog is fairly new (less than four months, from November 04, 2009) I visit the Pros to learn and find tips about the craft, so to learn about blogging, English, writing, etc.
One of the tips I read is about getting to be known, and for that matter a blogger was recommending to visit and leave comments (with a link) in at least 100 other blog posts everyday.
One hundred!
Then I read in another blog a complain about people leaving very insensitive comments that clearly show the commenter didn’t even read the post and showed no concern for the feelings of the blogger.
No wonder why!
I won’t deny that one of the many reasons I started this blog was about the possibility of some day making money out of it, but the main one is about communicating with other people. This blog is becoming the line that connects my mind to the outside world; I tell my thoughts with my fingers now (no, not that finger gesture! 
)
So what happens when some people, in the intention of blogging for profit, start commenting in other’s people’s blogs? No surprise there’s so much spam instead of genuine comments (so far my ratio of comments/spam is 46 to 277, or 6.02) and if it wasn’t for the spam filtering program I would be crazy by now (thank you akismet!)
At the other hand, one hundred comments? How they do that! I cannot make more that three comments per hour after reading the post a couple of times (sometimes), just to make sure I understood the concept explained (English is my second language with no formal training), then writing something that not only applies to the post, but also try to contribute to the general idea presented; then checking my spelling and grammar before clicking the “add comment” button (and I still make mistakes after that!)
So, if the idea is to be a honest commenter and blogger, then 100 comments seems a complicated number and if the idea is to make money out of the blog as soon as possible, then those 100 comments had to be insensitive (quantity over quality), but then, those 100 comments go to prison (akismet) and never see the daylight again, so what’s the point of spamming; no links left behind in other blogs anyway.
Many “comments” I receive are like: “gfstrjxvftdre tfdregysff gftrojgfs gdftr” so I believe those are not real comments, unless they are written in a language I don’t know about.
Obviously I prefer to receive comments that complement the idea presented and contribute to make it bigger, better, or give the reasons why I am wrong in my concepts, so I learn something new and have the chance to grow a little more.
Those are the principles under which I try to leave comments in other blogger’s posts; and that’s why it takes so much time, which in turn guide this blog into a personal expression and communication channel rather than a business venue.
But the problem remains with spam and the amount of people blogging for money, not for blogging.
Fortunately I’ve found many excellent blogs that I follow and comment when I have something worth to say. Reading them I’ve been learning many things about this “infecting” craft called blogging.
Now, since you are a more experienced blogger (sure you’ve been around more than four months, right?) let me ask you a couple of questions:
-What is your take in the whole comment idea?
-Do you get lots of spam? What’s your ratio comments/spam?
Raul
