Dearest Loyal Readers,

For the past few weeks, I've been pretty whiny and irresponsible. I've been moody and lazy and feel like most of my posts have just been me rambling on about stupid things. And it's not just my blog. I've missed classes, not done homework, laid around a lot, and gotten others to do stuff for me because I couldn't be bothered. In other words, I've sucked. Admitting how much I've sucked these past few weeks is hard; I'm fighting the urge to delete this with every word.

My sucky self would like you to know that this is only because my body is sore and stiff and I have no decent way around any more. It wants you to know that this isn't how I "usually" am, that I'm "normally" a much better person, truly incredible and all.

But my sucky self makes a lot of excuses and doesn't do anything to change. I'm not a fan of my sucky self. On the surface, it's a lot easier to be my sucky self, but it always ends up being miserable. And misery leads to suckiness.

So I've decided I want to be more, be better. I'm swearing right here, up on the internet for the whole world to see, that I am going to man up and deal with the stupid "problem" I've turned into my excuse. I'm going to make a doctor's appointment, save up money, buy lights for my bike, and get used to biking around my hilly hometown in the meantime. My parents can't afford to get another car, and our insurance company is so bogged down that it'll likely be months before we see a penny, so it's on me to pay. So what if my lack-of-car is, by law, 0% my fault? It's not my parents' fault either.

Loyal readers, I promise you that I'm taking ownership of my actions over the past few weeks and I'm going to do something about me. I can't possibly think I deserve the right to lead or influence anyone when I cannot lead my own self. Please hold me to my words; I'm going to take care of myself and stop letting stupid excuses stop me from doing the things I must.

Thank God it's Friday. Only one class today, a long-needed a visit with a good friend, and then free time to write the 10-page paper due in less than a week that I haven't even started researching. And I'll set up my doctor's appointment.

Automated Blogging

This shouldn't have surprised me, but it did: automated blogging.

So I saw on some person who followed me on Twitter's little sidebar something about making a 6-figure income via blogging without doing anything. I laughed. "You call writing not doing anything? Hell, writing can get utterly exhausting." And then I clicked and realised I was having a moment of naiveté.

Apparently, automated blogging has you come up with a few keywords fro your new blog, and then it scours the internet, RSS feeds, etc. and piles content together and posts it for you. Then it also has traffic generating features like lying to Google. In other words, it takes other people's work and calls it yours and it slaps Google in the face. Funny thing about other people and Google: they like their work and dislike slaps in the face.

I don't understand how someone falls into this "automated blogging" scam. Are they so devoid of shame and creativity that automated blogging just seems like the perfect way to go? Or do they have such a lack of self-confidence that they think a computer is more interesting than themselves?

As much as I'd love more traffic, I want traffic reading my blog because what I have to say seems worth their time. I want to know that my words are reaching someone, somewhere. Whenever I write here, I try to be sure to stay 100% true to myself and exemplify what I wish the world could be. And in being honest, I try to own up to my fallings too. So when someone reads my blog and then keeps coming back, they're here for me, for the things that I believe in. I don't think my ego could stand competing with an automatic blogger. (My ego thinks it's more interesting than a computer.)

What are your thoughts?