blogging — Page 16

I Can’t Take Another Picture of Snow

February 28, 2015 at 9:01 am by Claudia

2-28 riley dish garden

Here’s the challenge of the blogger in the throes of winter.

Photos.

I stand here in the morning after I’ve had my coffee, holding my camera, searching for something, anything to capture with my lens. Something that you haven’t seen before? Almost impossible after seven years of blogging. A new view of the inside of the cottage? Equally impossible. (Unless I do something like hang upside down while photographing the kitchen…)

For example, you’ve seen Riley’s Dish Garden before. Many times. The plants have changed a bit, but I’d bet money that this particular configuration is the same as the last time I took a photo of it. The morning light makes it look interesting, however, so I’m going with it.

It’s friggin’ cold out there. Unless there’s a great sunset, I’m basically looking at snow. I’ve taken hundreds of photos of snow over the years. It’s white, there’s a lot of it out there and, quite frankly, unless I tromp through the woods, I’m not going to come up with anything new. And maybe not even then. I’m sick of the snow at this point. Don is sick of the snow. Scout is sick of the snow. End of snow story.

And I’m not tromping through the woods.

We’re suffering from cabin fever here. I’d love to take some photos of little green things emerging from the ground, but I don’t think that will be happening for another month, at least.

2-28 Riley Dish Garden 2

I think I need to dust this plant. See the little cobwebs? That’s something that a camera lens can do for you – help you to see tiny details that you might miss otherwise. I cropped this photo into a close-up of the plant and there, right before my eyes…little cobwebs. Edited to add: And dog hair. No mites, don’t worry.

Maybe I should do this with all the areas in my house. It would bring a whole new level of dirt and dust awareness to my cleaning regimen.

Don has a gig tonight. I’m staying home with Miss Scout, who cannot be without either Mom or Dad for any length of time these days. I’ll treat myself to a long soak in the tub, bubble bath included.

We watched the first two episodes of House of Cards last night. We’re wondering if this season will bring the same excitement, brazen behavior and ruthless actions as the first two seasons. So far it doesn’t seem that way, but it’s early on in the 13 episode season, so we are refraining from any conclusions until we see more.

I call the Underwoods (the characters played by Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright) the Macbeths of Washington D.C. Very Shakespearean, this series.

An Octoroon received a rave review from the New York Times. Huzzah! (Don’t look for my name in the credits in the review. I didn’t come on board until the last moments in the process. I am in the program, never fear.) I’m so honored to have been a small part of this incredible production. This play is an important, powerful work. It’s heartbreaking, wildly funny, and tragic. It’s daring and beautifully written. You can read about it in the review, if you’re interested.

Happy Saturday.

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An Anniversary: Seven. On to Eight.

February 17, 2015 at 9:27 am by Claudia

2-17 anniversary

Today I start my 8th year of blogging.

What??

On February 17th, 2008, I cobbled together a very rudimentary template (remember those basic templates on Blogger?) and hit publish. I’m not sure I even had a header, other than the title of this blog. In fact, my first post didn’t have a photo because I hadn’t yet figured out the mechanics of uploading one.

Thanks to a husband who encouraged me to “Just do it!” I ventured out into the fascinating world of the blog. Those were the early days, although there are many pioneer bloggers who have been around for much longer, when the community was smaller. I blogged every few days and the first time someone left a comment was so exciting!

And now, in the blink of an eye, it’s seven years later. I’ve written over 2000 posts. If I was really industrious, I’d try to put together a photo history of all the different headers and designs I’ve used for Mockingbird Hill Cottage. Actually, I think there’s a blogiversary post somewhere in the archives that does just that. So many different looks; many of them came about as the blog platform itself grew, allowing more creativity, more possibilities.

Eventually, my little lamb with the party hat turned into the ‘look’ of MHC; in blogging and/or advertising lingo: the brand. When I moved to WordPress over two and a half years ago, I designed this simple header consisting of the name of the blog and the lamb with the party hat. And there we will stay. That header shows you, the reader, where you’ve landed – at a familiar place, a place where you can stop and linger and chat, if you’re so inclined. I like that consistency. I think it matters.

The blog has always been about our life in the country. That was the original tag line, you know – Life in Our Little Cottage in the Country. Seven years later, I’m still writing about the same things I wrote about at the beginning. And I’ve even started another blog about my love of reading.

I’ve made many friends through this adventure. (That’s what it is, you know, an adventure.) You’ve come to know me. Us. The dogs. My family. You’ve been with me through the everyday, the exciting, and the heartbreaking. You were there all through our journey with Riley, with love and support and prayers. You were there as I struggled with the slow and heartbreaking loss of my mother. You were there when we lost Don’s father and you were there when I mourned the untimely loss of dear friends. You’ve listened to Don’s music, watched us dance on a home video, cheered Don on when he filmed in Prague and read his posts about the experience. You’ve come along when I’ve worked out of town, exploring new places with me. You’ve been big fans of Dame Scout’s posts (when she deigns to write) and she has become sort of the star of the blog. (Sssh! Don’t tell her that.)

You followed me when I moved the blog to WordPress (all by myself) and found a new home that I love. You stuck with me. Without you, there wouldn’t be a blog. Or, at least, the blog wouldn’t have become what it is today. Readers come and go, that’s the nature of blogging. A few of you have been with me since the very beginning – isn’t that amazing? Whether you are a longtime reader or a newish reader, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can’t imagine life without you.

Writing this blog has been, and continues to be, sheer pleasure. There’s simply no way I can adequately find words to say what it has meant to me. It’s changed my life. It’s that simple. I sit here, writing this post, and can’t imagine life without it. Someday I may decide to stop. Who knows? But for now, I move on to year number eight.

Happy Tuesday.

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Setting A Price: Claiming Our Worth

February 10, 2015 at 10:05 am by Claudia

2-10 lr

These photos have nothing to do with this post. Just the living room captured with my camera this morning.

I’m thinking on my feet here.

I had to do a bit of negotiating yesterday with the theater. At the end of the phone call, I brought up the daily fee for my services and I was quoted a very lowball number.

Ummm….no.

I tend to give theater companies a bit of a break because I know that budgets are tight. But this particular number was way too low. So I responded with a number that was twice what they were quoting (yet still less than I can get elsewhere) and added that I wouldn’t work for less. I was told they would get back to me. I went into the living room and told Don and he wholeheartedly agreed with me. Unlike Don, I don’t have a union representing me. It’s me, myself, and I.

Here’s the interesting thing about placing a price on your expertise: I think many of us tend to undervalue our skill set and don’t always feel comfortable in any sort of negotiating situation. I speak for myself when I say that, for years, I tended to undervalue my work. That doesn’t include those times when I accepted a low salary simply because I needed the experience and I was building my resumé. I did that deliberately because it was about beginning a career.

And it wasn’t an issue when I was teaching full-time and coaching on the side because the combination of both salaries was more than adequate. However, since I’ve been freelancing for the last 14 years, I’ve had to learn to be firm when it comes to quoting a price for my work. It hasn’t been easy. I tended to be self-effacing and insecure and that carried over sometimes into an almost apologetic price quote on my part or a willingness to accept less than I deserved. When you freelance, you are often faced with no work on the horizon, and any offer of work is all too easily grabbed like a life preserver. That can end up biting you in the tush if you’re not careful.

It took me a while, but I am now proud of where I draw the line. I’ve also come to the point where I can do it without any sort of emotional attachment. I think of it this way: I’ve been working in the theater for well over 30 years. I’ve been coaching for almost that long. I’m really good at what I do. If you want me to help you out, you have to be willing to pay.

And let’s be honest here, no job in the theater pays all that well. It’s all relative. You have to love working in that medium, you have to love working in the arts. Without that love, you’ll always be frustrated because you’re never going to earn big bucks.

The theater was doing what they have to do, trying to work within a budget. I absolutely understand that. In the end, they agreed to my figure and everyone is happy.

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I see the same thing happening in the blogging world, which, let’s face it, is a bit like the Wild West. As more and more bloggers start to do sponsored posts and/or work with certain companies, there are lots of discussions about just what to charge. Because bloggers can be taken advantage of quite easily, with the assumption that they’ll work for free just for the opportunity to attach their blog name to a product. I have turned down many, many offers like that. Are you kidding? You want me to write a post for you, for free?

Blogging takes time and energy and lots of thought and planning and quality photos, so a good camera has to be invested in, and editing and editing again. If the blogger wants to grow a readership, then time is spent on that, as well. I could go on and on and, as you know, I’m not as invested in SEO and social media outreach – those things do take time and lots of it – though I do care about ad income. I will say that bloggers need to be paid for those services mentioned above, just as I am paid for my coaching work. Since very few blogs are viewed by paid subscribers, the content is free. Imagine. The reading audience gets to read fresh content, see beautiful photos, learn new things, and all they have to do is click on the post. All of that is supplied free of charge.

Would a magazine allow that? Absolutely not, nor should they. Would I allow that when it comes to my area of expertise? No and no.

But blogs are free. And that’s really wonderful. That’s what we love about the Internet. However, we have to be aware, as readers of that lovely free content, that a blogger’s time is also to be valued and honored and compensated. So, though frowned upon not all that long ago, ads are now a matter of course. And though sometimes it seems that all we see is sponsored content, remember that bloggers are trying to wrestle with creating a living wage in the wild west of blogging. And they deserve that.

If I added up the amount of time I spend on writing posts for this blog and my book blog, the hours I put in on a daily basis – taking photos, writing posts, editing constantly, replying to comments, researching, corresponding with readers, and in the case of the book blog, buying and investing in books that I review and share with my readers – if I totaled that all up and then compared it to my ad income? I can’t even go there. Much too disheartening. Depressing, even. If I earned, on a daily basis, the same amount I can charge for my theatrical work? Goodness, I’d be thrilled. I’d be beyond thrilled. I could earn a living with this blog.

But I do this because I love it. Truly. I love blogging. And most bloggers blog because they love it, as well. It’s fascinating, watching blogging evolve, seeing how it has changed. Bloggers are coming to terms with the same issues that a freelancer, such as myself, has to deal with. What is my work worth? What is my time worth? What is all the time I spend editing photos worth? What about the gas I put in my car to travel someplace, take photos, write a post and share it with my readers? What about the photo editing software I’ve had to invest in? Or, in some cases, the cost of running a self-hosted blog? What is my name recognition worth?

I don’t have the answers, but I do know that my initial impulse in writing this post was to talk about negotiating fees and claiming my worth as a professional in the arts. And then it morphed into a realization that blogging now involves a similar claim of worth.

It’s got me thinking, that’s for sure.

Happy Tuesday.

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I Can’t Take Another Picture of Snow

An Anniversary: Seven. On to Eight.

Setting A Price: Claiming Our Worth

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Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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