Category: Just for Fun

Creativity Consternation

As you may have noticed from my recent blog dry spell (I mean really, wasn’t there anything of consequence happening the last 2 months), ideas for interesting blog topics can be hard to come by, while reasons for not writing abound:

I won’t write today because:

  1. I’ll write tomorrow . . .
  2. I have already spent too much time on the computer . . .
  3. Date night . . .
  4. Nothing relevant to say

So recently, while I was doing some research for my boss in order to develop a “blog writing” SOP, I began to wonder where people go to get ideas for the things they write about.  I mean really, do the millions of bloggers have anything to say that hasn’t been said before?  The answer is no; however, this doesn’t seem to matter and who wants to let that stand in your way!

Now, personally, I think that the ideas that come to you organically (like when you are washing your hair in the shower or clipping your toenails) are the best.  However, when you want to increase site traffic you should post daily, the enormity of finding a topic to write about everyday can become the proverbial millstone around your neck.  Enter – the “Blog Topic Generator”.

Yes, you heard me correctly.  When you are stumped for a story, confounded for some content, or puzzled for a post . . . you can turn to a “blog topic generator” website.   I found this great article 8 Blog Topic Generators for Blog Post Idea Inspiration on the best blog topic generators and I decided to try out a few of them out.

1.HubSpot – You put in 3 nouns regarding what you would like to write about and hit the “GIVE ME BLOG TOPICS” button and out pops a week’s worth of blog titles and you take it from there. Since we are heading to Yosemite next week, I decided to use that:

hubspot california blogs1hubspot california blogs

2.Portents Content Idea Generator – This was is even easier.  Just type one word and out pops a title.  Along with quirky commentary.

portents yosemite 1

3. And for those of you who need an idea fast . . . on The Blog Post Ideas Generator you don’t even have to put in subjects or key words.  All you have to do is click the button and you get the start of a blog title.  Go ahead – do it as many times as you want.  They even have a downloadable app – pretty cool.

So, in the future, I will not let my imagination ineptitude get me down. While I’m not sure you will see a blog next week entitled “Six Things Spock Would Say About Yosemite”, you can be sure that I will be using these super simple blog topic generators to get the creative ideas flowing.

Spring Has Sprung . . . Well . . . Sort Of

Officially, the calendar says spring is here.  With it comes tons of things I love – gardening, flowers, grilling, more daylight, and best of all, warmer weather.  Even though here on the east coast we seem to be stuck in a Seattle weather pattern, I have hopes that our warm weather will return soon.

Spring is also a time when thoughts return to summer clothing.  This can come with feelings of exuberance or fear and dread.  I am currently in the fear and dread mode.  It seems this winter has been a bit Epicurean for me.  While I was eating and drinking like tomorrow I would die . . . I really should have been eating and drinking like tomorrow I would die in a cut-off tank top and daisy dukes (not a pretty site).

For a few weeks now I have been trying to get motivated to return to running, but with the weather, my attempts have been little more than sporadic.  Monday, I stepped on the scale and knew that there could be no more monkeying around.  It was time to rein in my winter habits and get moving.

So, I went out and bought a Fitbit.  I had been considering purchasing a fitness tracker for a while but I always put it off.  Too many doubts lingered.  Is this the best fitness tracker?  Do I care that there are conflicting reviews?  What features do I need or want?  Will it look good?  Then there are the pricing issues.  Trackers can run anywhere from $50 to $300 depending on what you want the device to do.  In the end, I just took the plunge.

I have spent the last few days setting it up and testing it out.  I’m not totally crazy about the look, but for the price, it will do.  What I do like is the fact that you can connect with friends and communities to get encouragement and set goals.  Right now I only have two friends, but I have hopes it will grow (consider this an open invitation).  And with it, hopefully, my motivation as well to get into my summer clothes.