Virginia Breeze

I received an email from HostGator this morning and it stated that my post on NewsLinkBriefs.com about John McCain caused my CPU usage to grossly exceed the limits set for it.

Here is the post at my old Wordpress.com blog Shoot The Virginia Breeze

http://davidlind.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/senator-mccain-in-good-health-this-week/

So if a post every does become truly popular around here it will never be seen because the host will shut it down. Unless, of course, you rent your own server in anticipation of that day.

It all seems like a catch-22 proposition at this point. I am hoping someone can explain it a bit better.

Update: Once again plugins are in the news. I went to my lovely friends at the Aussie Bloggers Forum

and they were quick to come up with some suggestions. They pointed me to the PluginHogDetector

and by loading it and picking out a few plugins I substantially decreased the loading time of VB. Probably it is loading at least one half to a second faster. All of that time eats up CPU.

But in their message HostGator noted that this problem has been going on for awhile now and they didn’t cut off service until now. Why not drop a note and some advice to the blissfully unaware customer?

“Say there, guy! You are using a lot of CPU! We may have to cut you off if you don’t do something. Why not take a look and see if you have some plugin hogs!”

They could clean it up a bit. But the message would be appreciated. Instead we wake up one day to find we have been disconnected from the Blogosphere! That’s like disconnecting a patient from his life support.

And I am a patient! As well as impatient! The Gator wants business and he doesn’t care if neophytes apply. The more the merrier! Why not give them a helping hand and set an example for all the others out there?

It could mean more business and bigger profits!

I have read this post several times and would like to share it with you. Because it conveys a very important idea. When we think about blog growth I don’t believe we always understand what it takes to make it happen. The author seems to contradict the notion that a blog can catch fire “go viral” and suddenly rampage thru the blogosphere. But we know that does happen right? But what happens afterwards? That’s a little beyond our thinking.

Here’s where this post kicks in I believe. The voice of experience tells us what it’s like after the party is over.

Great posts do not equal new readers in many cases.   I don’t often place other blogger’s posts here but I can’t resist in this case. It’s very good.

http://www.skelliewag.org/nomadic-growth-moving-to-greener-pastures-

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I have been wandering around Blog Land this morning wondering what to do next. It only takes a moment with the stats to realize that all those cheerful Christmas posts I wrote in the past few weeks are old news. Someone has turned out the lights on my stats and I had to laugh about it.

So I stopped in several places and found some bloggers who are doing things that I admire. And I wanted to share them with you. The first has an interesting post about women and the challenges of getting ahead on the net.

http://www.emomsathome.com/blog/2007/09/18/getting-on-the-technorati-a-list-in-a-male-dominated-blogosphere/

This post was packed with information and very enjoyable. It also led me to another blog by a woman who has managed to crack the top ranks while writing about her life. That is quite a challenge as the stat list on the prior blog notes that only 6% of traffic heads in this direction.

I’m sure I am the last person to have noticed her existence. Heather Armstrong and

http://dooce.com/

This was the passage that caught my eye.

“I suffer from chronic anxiety and depression, and I believe it started manifesting itself when I was in high school, maybe earlier. I didn’t seek treatment, however, until my sophomore year in college when I was on the brink of dropping out …”

http://dooce.com/2007/12/13/because-i-couldnt-say-it-phone

I can perhaps experience more sympathy for this person than many because I experienced Dysthymia or recurring bouts of depression from the time I was in high school until now actually. Except that I do not experience it now because of the wonderful results of taking Welbutrin. It does go away! And I only started taking it regularly a couple of years ago. So that means I was dealing with depression for about forty years. And you wonder why I am so cheerful sometimes!

It can take a long time to come to terms with the need for a medication of this kind on a regular basis. She talks about this in a post that breaks my heart. It is so well written and full of pain and honesty. Still…she has made the decision to stay with the medication forever. Or at least until we have left this shadow filled vale of tears. Because that is what it is for someone who is depressed. It starts with a bright day and you may not have a problem in the world. And suddenly there is a very dark cloud moving in on you. Can you think of a day when an afternoon storm rolled in and suddenly you were running to pick up the kids and the lawn chairs before they blew away?

I have a young son who is much like me. With my encouragement he is taking Welbutrin. Keep an eye on the kids! Mine will never experience the torments I endured.

I used to worry that I would lose my soul if I took an antidepressant. I wondered whether I would be able to meditate or experience a full range of emotions in my daily life. The verdict is that I can do this. Recently I wrote a group of poems in about two days. I don’t know where they came from because I had never done anything like this before in my life. I have always enjoyed poetry but was never able to actually focus well enough to be creative.

http://davidnotes.com/2007/12/22/men-love-their-sons-sad-poems-of-love/

Blogging actually helped me to reach the point where these were possible. Because it is a creative venture also. And it always will be for me. This is more important than any amount of money I could earn from advertisers. This blog is about redemption and a second chance. It is about life and the force that will eventually reclaim us from the prisons our brains construct for us.

Here are some blogs I enjoy a great deal. I particularly like the fact that many of these authors spend so much time putting themselves and intense creative efforts into their work. Togetherness is a wonderful thing in the blogosphere. I’m staying with these weblogs and enjoying the company.

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More Writing About Blogging

http://davidnotes.com/2007/11/16/stumbleupon-manifesto/

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You might enjoy them too.

The first link in this list is to Probloggers Matrix and his post expresses the philosophy behind this page very well.

http://www.probloggersmatrix.com/how-do-you-reward-your-commenters-and-those-who-have-backlinked-to-your-blog/#comment-222

http://gostorybooking.wordpress.com/

http://slyvisions.com/

http://eternalvalues.wordpress.com/

http://truddle.wordpress.com/

http://blog4photo.com/

http://www.susanflemming.com/index.htm

http://danawallert.com/04/34-stumbleupon-posts-that-arent-crap/

http://www.internetmarketingmind.com

http://www.therightpic.com/post

http://www.bad-neighborhood.com/text-link-tool.htm

http://worknplay.net/

http://onphilosophy.wordpress.com/

http://www.highrankings.com/advisor/why-keyword-research/

http://cecyl.over-blog.com/

http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/

http://gardengrow.wordpress.com/

http://fumblingtowardsmyself.com/

http://blog.rtd13.com/

http://helenap.wordpress.com/

http://sindianavisions.wordpress.com/

http://superbloggingtips.com/

http://www.jordin-web.net/

http://dlennis.wordpress.com/