Tag: wordpress

A Way To End The Year

I did not intend on writing another post this year. I am preparing for travel this week and getting into major promotion mode for the third installment of The Stella Trilogy. That is until I checked my email and thought, what better way to end the year than to be nominated for your 10th Blog Award?

The funny thing is that I was contemplating whether or not to go on and participate in Blog Awards in 2016. Rarely if ever do I obey the rules and they do take up a bit of time. However, when Kenyc (Ken-niece) McCoy of Soprano Musings nominated me for The Sunshine Blog Award, I remembered how timely these things always are and that maybe I can keep them going for a little while longer but we will have to see. Blog Awards do tend to keep me aware of where I stand with my followers which I think is very important. If nothing else, it is always such great timing when fellow bloggers nominate us (Us as in “The PBS Blog” so yes, that includes you). Just when I wonder what to write about next, if the posts are worth it, or if anyone is really paying attention, it is at these moments when someone comes through with a Blog Award. I take it as a personal reminder that it is not all in vain.

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So I just want to give a big thank you to Kenyc for nominating this blog for The Sunshine Blog Award!

7 Facts About Myself:

I feel like I’ve been through this sooo many times that this time around I decided to go a little more in depth about some facts about me:

  • I don’t celebrate holidays and ask to respectfully be excluded from any happy holiday wishes
  • Though my career of choice require I do a lot of public speaking, I am actually very introverted at heart.
  • I am very passionate about the state of Black America, its history, and culture
  • I have been known to behave beyond my age so its no surprise that my husband is nine years older than I am
  • I won my first poetry award when I was a freshman in High School and wrote plays performed by my High School for three years
  • People who don’t know me tend to think that I am mean. That’s because I can be forthcoming in my verbal delivery. Though it is never my intent to be offensive, I will never sugar coat the truth and try my best to keep it real with everyone, giving to each the same measure of respect
  • I would really like to visit Germany one day!

A Year in Reflection: 2015

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The winds are picking up steam, the clouds are filled to the brim, and another year is gone. North Louisiana is bracing itself for what is to be a major storm. Why does the moment feel symbolic right now? I tried to write earlier on this topic but it wasn’t until the skies growled that I felt compelled to try it now. The air is cooling as we speak while my nose attempts one final sniff of what is left of 2015. I love the rain, and how thoughtful of it to show up now; in the midst of my thoughts concerning change.

When I look over this blog, I suppose the biggest evolution for me has been the evolution of my writing and the changes taking place in my career in general. When The PBS Blog was born August of 2014, I did not set out to enhance my writing in such significant ways. Thinking back I’m sure I was subconsciously aware of the connection between blogging and writing but I did not specifically set out to do many of the things I’ve done. Surely, I did not anticipate giving Indie Author Tips, Author Interviews, or Book Reviews. I think that’s what makes anything new so exciting, the surprise factor of it all. Not knowing what’s going to happen next. This is what Blogging has been for me in 2015, the evolution of my writing in general.

I thought about how to present this post. Should I give links to the best of the best like last years poetry wrap up? Should I bore you with random pats on the back concerning things I’ve done the years past? Nay, I decided to just keep this simple. What do I look forward to in 2016?

Well, that just depends on what there is in store. What I’ve learned about life in general is never to overexcite anything because you do not know what the next day will be like. We can want things and we can be given those wants but it doesn’t mean they will come in the fashion in which we desire them. For that I have learned never to rush time; just let it roll in nice and gently, like rain drops sliding down the vibrant green petal of a rose. Like tiny crystals all fragile and delicate, and yet brave enough to trust the fragility of a tree leaf to hold them. A collection of bodies all too weak to do anything but uplift each other. So, for Blogging Year 2016 I’m just going to continue riding the tide of the unknown and see where it takes me. I hope that you will come along with me and that we can continue to grow together. At some point I’ll sit down to outline some  specific goals but for now I’ll take it one blog post at a time. Before you know it I’ll be drafting the post to close out 2016 and hopefully I’ll have you here to share those memories with me.

Author Spotlight: Yecheilyah Ysrayl

My Author Interview with Dottie Daniels.

dottiedaniels's avatarThe Write Perspective

Hey.

Here’s another author (she’s a poet as well) who also has a page here on WordPress. I consider myself and anyone else aware of her to be pretty lucky already as this author has a pretty powerful perspective and is more than capable of articulating her experiences and thought processes as it relates to the cultural upbringing of the African American experience. Her name is Yecheilyah Ysrayl and I had the pleasure of doing a Q&A session with her a few weeks ago. Below is the interview along with her social media contact info.

  1. I’ve read you were born in the South side of Chicago (so was I!), what were some of your earliest memories?

Hi Dottie. First, I want to thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. Yes, I am from Chi-Town indeed. Since I’ve been in Chicago for the better part of my…

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Be Good To Yourself

“Being good to myself allows me to be good to others. I can’t neglect myself and expect to be of service to anyone.”

I saw this quote on twitter a couple weeks ago and  its sooo true. Always remember to be good to yourself so you can be a light to others. Sometimes you just have to be a little bit selfish and it’s nothing to feel guilty about. A little neglect ain’t never hurt nobody lol. If you neglect yourself however, you can never be there to help others. How you care for your own needs and tend to the perpetual refreshening of your own mind will determine if you have what it takes to spark a revolution in others. In the words of Maya Angelou, “be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt”. How can you love me if you don’t love yourself first? Growth is the key and love is always the drive.

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Blog Photos: I Scared Myself Away From My Own Post

OK, you may want to sit down for this one.

A couple weeks ago (or was it last week?? LOL), whenever it was, I had a blogger to comment on a post I wrote asking me to go into more detail concerning photos in a blog post. I never consider myself a “blogging pro” or “advice giver” so her question made me feel very positive about the post as feedback often does. Here’s her question and my response:

Q. Can you share more about your thought that sometimes pictures can take away from a post?

My response:

Sure. Pictures are a great way to compliment a blog post but photos in blog posts is about strategy and not just decoration. If the pictures don’t tie in well with the article it can take away from the written content and become a distraction. Photos chosen should have the potential to reveal something about the post even if there were no words because images set the tone for the post itself. Sometimes I decide not to include pics because I want the focus on the words and a photo in this sense can just be distracting. All in all bad image choices can have a great impact on how people see our blogs. 

This morning I did not intend on writing this post, but after scrolling through the reader I experienced something that validates just how important photos are in a blog post. I scared myself away from my own post.

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Yesterday, I wrote a post that included a picture of Flavor Flave. When I scrolled through the reader this morning I was shocked to see that photo front and center on my timeline associated with that blog post (go ahead, take a look). I startled myself because I would not have chosen for that picture to be the one used to feature the post. As I opened with “We all have our favorites…” needless to say Flavor Flave was not a good look. I do not nor have I ever been a fan. I do not take back my thoughts in the article and using the photo in the post did look good when I drafted it because it represents what I was speaking about, but it did not mix well with my opening statements or as an advertisement for the post in the reader.

Did I say advertise? Yes. It may not seem important at the time, but photos in blog posts tend to act as promotional items for our blogs before people actually click to see what the post is about. I wouldn’t say to stress out about it, but whether or not people are clicking to tune into our blogs have a lot to do with the way that people think in general and we all know by now (c’mon, say it with me) “Pictures are worth a thousand words”. Just keep in mind that the first picture used in the post will more than likely be the photo that stands front and center as representative of your post. My little experiment proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that image choices is not just about what looks good, but it is also about strategy because the photography tends to set the mood for the article itself. The photos you use in your post can have the potential to downgrade the quality of the article if it does not blend well with the written content.

Experiment: Conduct your own experiment. Write a blog post and use an image, any image. Go back to the reader and see which one shows up! If your not too chicken to risks a few likes and views, this can help you to see  how the pictures in the post shows up when people are actually scrolling through the reader.

Diversify Your TV / Movie Selections

I know we all have our favorites but it is time to upgrade. In a couple weeks we’ll be moving on into another year. As such, I would like to propose an upgrade in entertainment. Last month I wrote a post called “Before The Weeks Ends” about diversifying our bookshelves. In this post, I spoke about how dedication to only certain kinds of books can limit our perspective in life. I proposed instead a diversity in reading selections. Don’t just read Romance but have a few “How-To” sprinkled in there. Don’t just read Erotica only but throw in some African American Literature every now and again. Have something that you can go to for a little fun but also something that will educate you and give you insight beyond the norm. That said, this same logic can be applied to TV. What you put out and also what you take in is reflective in your life. Meaning that if I put positive energy out there I expect positive energy to come back to me. But if Flavor of Love, which projects a negative image of my people, is the only thing I’m giving my energy to, how can I ever expect to grow beyond that way of thought?

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We can sit back and convince ourselves that these are just shows but it would be naïve to think it has no effect on our minds. While were on the subject (*climbs soap box*) why are some of these shows even out there in the first place? Why did Flavor of Love even exist? What was its purpose? Yes,  I watched the TV show back in the day and as I look back, what did it produce for me? What did it teach the teenage me? Did it teach me how to love? Did it teach me how to take care of a man? Did it teach me how to interact with the world? Own a business? What did Flavor of Love teach me as a young woman who needed to be guided?

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And why do black people support these kinds of shows anyway? The ones that take the worst of your people and highlight it to the entire world and is popular only because you watch it. Even though they do nothing for your growth as an individuals. There is nothing profound or mentally stimulating about these shows. There is nothing that will give you an understanding of life in these shows. These shows do nothing but highlight the activity of wild women that no man would ever commit to. These shows produce all this negative energy and then we wonder why we can’t get along with our men. Why we can’t stop using profanity. Why we can’t get along with other women. It’s because of what we’re feeding our minds. In your subconscious you’re imitating the women you watch every week and mimicking their ways.

*Gets down from soapbox*

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you what to watch and what not to watch. I am not your judge and we’re all adults here. What I will say is this: use a little wisdom in your selection. Like I said  I published a post on diversifying our bookshelves and I think this same logic can be applied to every aspect of our lives. Diversify your movie  and TV selections as well.  Don’t just sit back and watch the same shows over and over again. Throw some documentaries in there, some historical films, or tune into something that is new. It may be boring at first but so is everything that is different to your way of life. You never know, it just may give you insight into something you may not have known before. We cannot possibly think that what we read or watch or make permanent parts of our lives have no bearing on our lives. It takes more than just talking about growth to actually grow as individuals. It takes some form of change, not just for black people but all people. It begins with what we give our attention to because what we give always come back. Everything around you has an effect on you in some way. Choose wisely.