WARNING: Blogging May Cause Side Effects

It’s been one year since I started blogging and there have been some noticeable behavioral changes in my life.

I live like a college kid.

I stay up late writing a new post much like I wrote term papers and then wake at dawn to turn it in blog it since I live in the Mountain Time Zone and many of my friends live on the East Coast. Then I jump on my reader to catch up with my cyber friends. I power through the day fueled by coffee and sheer adrenaline. And when it’s time to party, I get down with the best of them!

My pant’s pocket is worn out.

Because I never know what blog fodder may arise during the course of my day, I always carry my camera. It has stretched out the pocket of my favorite jeans, but I am willing to sacrifice more than that for a story.

I have no shame.

I used to keep my humiliating stories on the down low, but with all the silly things that happen to me, I will never run out of subject matter.  Everyone laughed at with me when I shared my most mortifying moments, my recent ant infestation, and when admitting that my attempts at humor often get the response of nothing but crickets.

I have become a dancing vlogger.

What happened to the girl who was afraid of public speaking? Sheesh! That girl took the last train back to Timidsville and somewhere along the way became fearless!

I know a lot about pop culture. Okay so this one is on me since I am drawn to a lot of entertainment blogs. I can tell you all about the movies that are coming to the theaters, where Comic-Con is being held this weekend and the latest on the Kardashians. I know. I am so hip and cool like that now.

I lost my quadriceps somewhere.

Where the hell did they go? They used to be massive. I play tennis, bike, and ski, but I guess it is not enough to compensate for all the sitting. I am starting to run (I hate running unless I am chasing after something), to find build them up again. We’ll see how that goes when I check in a week year from now.

I can prove that avatars are not mythical creatures.

Blissful Adventurer, Juliet, Danny and I

I have actually met a couple of bloggers and found that Blissful Adventurer and Piper Bayard are REAL people and quite awesome! The best part of this whole blogging experience is the amazing community here in the blogosphere. I hope to meet more bloggers in real life. Just a heads up in case you want to change your email address meet up!

Piper Bayard at a coffee shop in Longmont, Colorado

I came up with an idea to help my cyber friends connect with each other.

Because I had such a great year here at WordPress, I decided to give back by having a virtual party on my blog and called it Use Me and Abuse Me Day. I love my cyber friends and wanted them to meet each other and follow some new writers.

They left a link to one of their posts in my comment section along with a hook (one line description), and then started mingling by clicking on their new friend’s links. My friends are amazing writers and they brought their best stories to share! There were about 75 writers who participated and almost 300 clicks out to their blogs. It’s not too late to check it out and leave a link!

I am going to host another party on Wednesday June 6^th, so be ready for another crazy vlog and virtual party!

It’s going to be another rockin’ year

for this Wild Rider!

All photos by Susie Lindau