Over Venting…Or Not
First of all, I want to share with you that I finally received the refund from Sears.com for the refrigerator. Whew! But, most important of all, I want to thank all who wrote in with comments and emails after I posted about what should have been a simple transaction, when it turned in to an epic fail.
There are so many things about our modern technological world that I find irksome. When I visit other websites, I am greeted with pop up windows, sometimes multiple in number, that I must close or respond to, before reading what I went there for in the first place.
My blog is purposely kept ad free. It has never been monetized, and although I could do that, and bring in some actual income for the posts you read, I chose to keep it ad free. I’m not high up in the search engine ratings because, quite honestly, I just don’t know how to play the search engine algorithm game. If you don’t know what that is, good for you.
A few years back, I gave up going to food conferences because it seemed that over half the sessions were tech related, not food related, with subjects like:
- How to Improve Your Google Rating
- How to Get More Readers
- How to Get More Ad Revenue
- How to Utilize SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- How-to Tricks to Increase the Perceived Value of Your Content
Before I push the publish button on any post to you, I often times am met with alerts like:
- Readability: Needs Improvement
- Paragraph: Over the recommended 150 words.
- One section is over 300 words. Needs Improvement.
- 13.6% of the sentences contain passive voice, which is more than the recommended maximum of 10%.
- Transition words: Only 29.3% of the sentences contain transition words, which is not enough. Use more of them.
- SEO: Not available
Sheesh! Should I worry about this stuff? I can hear my dad’s long-gone voice saying to me right now, “Life is way too short to worry about that,” and you know, his sage and simple words continue to be ones I call to mind when I get stressed about something.
What I will do, is to continue to write what I want, when I want, and how I want, not worrying about ratings and rankings, that have nothing to do with you getting to know me, and me getting to know you. The right people, A/K/A YOU, will find me, and I don’t think that you care about all that stuff either.
Here’s a lovely picture of three of my favorite 4-legged friends on the deck today. They don’t care about any of that tech stuff either. 😉
Tech-Free and Loving It!
“Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts
and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.”
―
All that matters is dogs and pie. And if those two things don’t bring good ratings, then who cares?
Thank you, Amy!
Yes, indeed ——— pie and dogs how simply marvelous 💖💕❤️
Yup! In a nutshell (or a pie pan), that’s it, Cherie.
Hi Kate! While I wouldn’t fault you if you de ided to monetize your blog, I don’t care about those things either. And I was an English teacher in another life! Want to write in passive voice? Whatever! As long as it is YOUR voice, that’s all I care about. You are the first person that comes to mind as I break out my favorite pie making supplies (beyond any conversation with family and friends about requests), so I would think your brand, your reach, and your influence are all pretty darn effective!
Wishing you the best,
Tracy
Thanks so much, Tracy! Years ago, a dear friend shared with me the first time when she actually heard my voice in my writing. I have always remembered and it bolstered my confidence to continue writing…and share that process with others. I was honored to be asked by Powell’s Books to write about how I found my voice in their blog.
Yes! I remember reading that and thinking…”just get out of the way” — exactly! While we’ve not (yet!) met, I so enjoy your books because your voice there matches your blog voice, which matches your voice on social media and email, which I imagine would match the conversations we could have over coffee or tea while the pies are in the oven. You come across as a friend — with great expertise, but also warm, funny and encouraging. Your recipes are wonderful, but it is your voice that gives them context, the stories they are embedded in. I know ironically “authentic” has become a buzzword lately, but I still think it’s one of the best compliments around. And you are. 😊
Thank you so much, Tracy! I hope we can share tea or coffee sometime.
Me too! 🥧❤
Thank heaven we can still enjoy eating a piece of pie, an old and simple joy in a good life.
Yup, and I am having one heck of a good time creating new recipes for everyone that will be in book three, Susan! My due date (sounds like a pregnancy doesn’t it? 🤪) is coming on on November 1st, and then there will be photo shoots to follow. Right now I feel like I am in the trenches, but what delicious and wonderful work to be so very lucky to do.
I found you the old fashioned way, word of mouth! We were at a performance of Willy Wonka in San Francisco when the couple next to us began talking about Pie Camp. Pie Camp? OMG, what’s that and how do I sign up? Love your blog and can’t wait to attend next year.
Word of mouth is the best kind of advertising. Many thanks to that couple at the performance in San Francisco (Thank you all for supporting the arts by attending live theater😇) who sent you my way, Linda!
P.S. I loved Gene Wilder in the Willie Wonka movie.
A favorite Mary Oliver poem that I thought you would enjoy on this lovely summer day!
The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
this grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver, 1992
One of my all time favorite poems, and especially the last question. Thank you so much for posting it, Deborah.
I love your blog. Don’t change a thing. You are a real person talking to us! Thank you for all your wonderful words.
Thank you Rosalie! I certainly have enjoyed my in person conversations with you, too.
Hi Kate,
Loved your vent post. Been there. Loved this post as well. Love your books. Pretty sure I would love you should the opportunity present itself. So impressed you have chosen to be ad free. Love you more! The pendulum clearly needs to swing the other way. Away from technology and toward the written word (especially books, even cook books!), face to face conversation and all things hearth and home.
Keep the home fires burning and a pie at the ready.
I will continue to do my best to keep them burning, both figuratively, and literally, Shellie. There’s lots of wood out back to split for this winter.
I’m with Tracy as another former high school and college English professor. I enjoy how you tell each of your stories as your honesty and “realness” are so refreshing. The Pastor of my church first introduced me to your site when he gave a sermon about pie baking after his daughter had purchased “The Art of the Pie” for him as a Christmas gift. It was one of the best sermons I ever heard. After that, I immediately purchased your pie book for each of my friends for birthdays and showers.
Know that your voice is appreciated! Continue being the wonderful person you are!
P.S. I loved the photo of your dogs; I’m also glad you received your refund. When you get all of your appliances, please share a photo on your website.
Someone wrote me years ago to share that there had been a sermon about pie baking that included a mention of Art of the Pie. I wonder if it was your church, Mary.
I have cards that I bought years ago that we hand out to folks who go “above and beyond” in their lives that say, “You make a difference!” I want you to have one and here it is:
YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Thank you for your honesty and creativity and obvious love for others including our four legged friends. Please carry on as you have been and I will be here to read and enjoy.
Dear Judy, What wonderful words to read this morning! Thank you so very much. K