Blog Travels

So since I'm new to blogging and such, I have been visiting other blogs to see what's going on out there in bloggoworld. And since I base my own self-worth on how interesting other people find me, I have been commenting on those blogs that I find interesting (ok honestly -- not too many!! So if anyone is looking at my blog right now because they followed the link to my blog after I commented -- consider yourself truly special!), because Nat, who has an inspiringly popular blog, tells me this quid pro quo is one of the best ways to get people to visit your blog and comment on it. So I'm trying. I've run out of money after all this Christmas and post-Christmas shopping, broken up with my boyfriend, and don't really watch television, so I don't have anything else do and I might as well give it a shot.

Right. Now, because I don't really know anyone (other than Nat) who blogs (and yes I do actually know her; she's my best friend, we met in college, yadayada), I thought that I'd use the handydandy little "next blog" button at the top right of *most* blogs. During my travels, I have discovered the following exceptionally annoying things about certain blogs:

1. Not everyone uses the "next blog" button. I mean, WHY NOT?
2. A lot of people have "test" blogs that for some reason they allow to stay live although they NEVER bear any fruit except "test 1" "test 2" and so forth.
3. There are a lot of bloggers who simply post photos of their wedding day, their kids, or their dogs. It's kinda weird, and generally not at all entertaining, educational, or inspirational. As if my blog is any of those things either.
4. WHAT is the deal with the blogs that redirect to some weird search page -- most often preceded by a lighting-quick glimpse of a blog purportedly designed for "apartment rentals" in various cities? These are annoying for two reasons -- a) they suck, and b) I have to hit "back" not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES just to get back to the crappy blog that bored me so much that I had to hit "next blog" in the first place!
5. People that use weird popup thingies before their blogs load, or have a movie or music playing when their blogs load. You can't navigate away from the popup thingies until you've gone through the entire series. And the movies/music is most often nothing I am interested in offending my senses with.

Now, on the positive side (yes I do have one!), I have also discovered these happily interesting things during my blog travels:

1. I learned the history of why Pricans switch their Rs with Ls... goes back to the African influence on the island. I should have copied the URL to the article but of course I didn't think I'd be writing a blog about this at the time.
2. The CUTEST blog EVER is here.
3. Blogging is popular everywhere. For a well-travelled, multi-lingual girl, I was pretty shortsighted about the reach of blogging. There are people from Japan, the Phillipines, Brazil, UK, and all OVER Latin and South America (yes I know Brazil is in SA but it's different cause they speak Portuguese). Anyone reading this post probably already knows this, but I didn't so let's just let me have my moment of wonder. Thank you.

Anyway, I thought it was all kinda cool -- even the annoying stuff was a learning experience (an annoying learning experience, but nevertheless...)

By way of explanation...

Ok, so I am completely lost. I thought it would be a bright idea to get a blog, since I am forever commenting on Nat's blog with a non-bloggy username, and starting to feel like a right loser about it. So this makes sense.... BUT, with the exception of a few lame html tags that I know how to do... I am totally in-compu-tent. And yet...here I am. So here goes.

As for the title of my little bloggy space, well...actually I'm sorta lost on that one too. It all started with this great quote. I heard it some months ago and it really stuck with me. The quote is as follows:

"A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until you put her in hot water."

Cute, eh? It was credited to Eleanor Roosevelt. Who I think I played in a 4th grade play or something so you know, me and Ellie...we're tight. But when I checked Bartleby... because Bartleby knows ALL... the quote was attributed to Nancy Reagan. Also, it was a teensy bit different. To wit:

"A woman is like a teabag -- only in hot water do you realise how strong she is."

Now, me and Nancy are tight, too... she wrote me a letter when I was in the 2d grade, about how she's so proud of me for helping to keep kids off drugs and such. But now...I just don't know. Do I give the credit for that empowering quote to Eleanor, or Nancy? I mean, according to Bartleby, Nancy was quoted in the Observer, London, March 29, 1981. Which is sorta compelling evidence that it was Nancy. But Eleanor was around waaayyy before Nancy, and she's credited with the same quote. Troubling!

Perhaps it just doesn't matter WHICH first lady it was... perhaps we should all just take note of the lesson in the quote (in either permutation), sit back, and enjoy a good strong cuppa.

Wow, I am soooo cliche.