Blog reading habits

I got 9 hours sleep last night, and it felt GREAT (I went to bed before 10 pm). I've been having some problems sleeping lately plus it's been a more than hectic week. I generally need about eight hours a night or I start losing it at some point during the day: harder to concentrate, etc. I envy the types out there who can survive regularly on six hours or less.

If I lived alone and never needed to hang out with people, I suspect my sleeping hours would probably end up being from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Maybe even 9 pm, waking at 5 a.m. What about the rest of you? I think everyone has a natural sleep cycle, but most of us have to adjust it for other people.

According to this article, if you routinely fall asleep within 5 minutes of lying down, you probably have severe sleep deprivation. That sure describes me, but I've heard conflicting opinions on this subject. This topic has come up before, and I'm determined to do some research and find out the truth. More on this in a future Blathering!

More tea!

My brother-in-law told me about a new tea shop near Yonge and Eglinton, so I went to check it out yesterday. Say Tea has a nice selection of teas and tea-related gifts, and I picked up some Ginger Rooibos and Darjeeling Margaret's Hope when I visited.

I've gotten more curious about Rooibos (pronounced "roy-boss") recently, and not just because of the odd name. "Rooibos" is Afrikaans for "red bush," and has become more popular in Western countries because of its lack of caffeine and high level of antioxidants.

Blog-reading survey results

A while back I posted a blog-reading survey on Wufoo. Next time I do this, I'll ask about RSS. 65 people responded, many of whom don't normally post in LJ.



I already gave the raw numbers but here are a few interesting facts and comments:

Several of you (mainly on Livejournal) say that blog-reading is the easiest and most convenient way of keeping up with friends.

Most of you scan rather than read because you have too many blogs to keep up with on a regular basis, only reading the entries that interest you.

Many of you have separate groups of blogs, such as friends' blogs vs blogs of interesting people you don't know personally, and work-related blogs.

A few excerpts from comments people posted about blogs:

"I don't think blogs are a fad. I think, as we move into an ever-increasing world of digital media, we will see more and more of this dissemination of our world online (YouTube, Google services, syndicated newsfeeds, accessible media space for Joe Shmoe next door) . In ten years, most TVs will have Internet access, and most computers will be TV capable. We will be able to seamlessly integrate our desktop world with our media world. TVs will be the wireless widescreen monitors for our laptops (some already are). I don't think we will have the same attachment to paper media as we do now. Internet magazine subscriptions anyone? To-Do lists you can keep posted and update from anywhere, that can follow you from desktop to Cellphone or Treo, automatically updating on your fridge, blog..."


"I tend to read blogs of people who are interesting - which is why I haven't friended everyone who friends me. I understand that a lot of people are too busy to read everyone's blogs, and people should be under no obligation to read something if they don't want to."

"I'm not a very social person, and LJ is pretty much the only thing that makes me feel like I have friends. I rely very very heavily on it to keep me updated on what is going on in the lives of people I care about, and to get input and validation from those same people when I'm having trouble and need help and support. I also enjoy reading other blogs - news and writing blogs, blogs by crafters, just for information and fun."



"I tend to scan the LJ friends-page and light on entries that are particularly well-written or that interest me due to the subject matter or the person writing. I also visit a few additional personal blogs (friends) and a few devoted to particular interests (theology, writing, comics, regional, etc.). I try to keep my blog varied and interesting in subject matter -- yup, it's mostly for me, but I'm cognizant of the fact that there's an audience. So I'll follow, say, a political rant or religious ruminations with, say, a post about cheese, or about whatever oddball typo I came across in my copy-editing of the day. (My favorite recently: a MARITAL arts demonstration. Heehee.) I tend to enjoy blogs that do likewise (can't stand the all-angst-all-the-time blogs), unless I'm particularly looking for a narrowly focused blog."



"I find it a relaxing and interesting way to decompress and a good way to keep in touch with people I've met and whose company I've enjoyed. Yet like most "relaxing and interesting ways to decompress," it can get awfully addictive and take more time than it should; I tend to give myself time limits, particularly if I have duties I need to get to."

Some non-LJ blogs that people mention

http://randomreality.blogware.com/

http://realefun.blogspot.com/

http://justzipit.blogspot.com/ (not updated regularly.)

http://www.malville.com/ (wonderful writing and illustration, but no longer updated regularly. I think you should look over the archives here; I think you'd like this one.)

http://dishitupbaby.typepad.com/ (Again, wonderful writing but no longer updated regularly.)

Specific blogs that are everyday reads include Making Light (Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden), Firedoglake, Hullabaloo, BoingBoing, Growabrain, and Metafilter; frequent (no less than every three days) checks include Orcinus, Whatever (John Scalzi), Riba Rambles (Lis Riba), Pharyngula (PZ Myers), The Sideshow (Avedon Carol), Slashdot, and Waxy (mostly for the links; his actual entries are infrequent).

http://lleo.aha.ru/dnevnik (Leonid Kaganov's blog, completely in Russian).

Daring Fireball and Signal vs Noise

Boardgamegeek follow-up

Boardgamegeek.com photo with Jeff in it! Boardgame News editor Rick Thornquist is explaining how to play the game, Imperial.



Livejournal comments