A tale of two blogs.

It�s freezing in the house. I called the chimney sweep and he won�t be coming until December 12, so I may as well use the woodstove until then. We didn�t use it much towards the end of last winter, seeing as how we ran out of wood stacked in the garage and I hated going out to the shed to get more, and then there was no kindling. So, as a result, the chimney is not as badly sooted up as it would normally be, all considering.

Both pumpkins are by the kitchen sink. Buddy Boy will carve one, I the other, since Little Princess is in classes all day; but they were out on the front porch until 9:30 this morning, and are still really cold. I don�t relish the thought of sticking my hand into freezing-cold pumpkin guts. I asked Little Princess what sort of face I should carve on it, and she suggested something Picasso-esque. Interesting thought. Maybe something from the �rotique exhibit catalogue. The neighbourhood kids�ll love that, if they even get it. If it�s cubist-looking enough, maybe their parents, at least, won�t get it. Wow! Do I ever feel perverse.

It just occurred to me why people leave Diaryland for greener blogging pastures. It all has to do with feedback. This site is notoriously impoverished in that area. It is rare that a post generates a lot of notes and/or comments. I reposted something here about a week ago that I had originally written at my other place. It averaged nine comments per entry when first published. I got two on the whole thing here. It doesn�t mean that people are any less intelligent here, or that they don�t read with any less discernment, but they are less likely to say anything if they feel they have nothing to add. At other sites, the act of commenting is as much part of the whole blogging experience as writing the original entry. It�s taken me a while to realize this, although now it seems obvious. People actually whine over there when their comments drop off.

Part of it is that the site is set up in such a way that the more comments you get, the more perks you get. If you make �featured content� (and I don�t know how much feedback you need to get before attaining that status), no advertising will appear on your site. The rest of us, even when we are paying customers, still have to contend with banner ads at the top of our blogs, that is unless we want to sign up for something which is the equivalent of super-super-gold.

Diaryland isn�t run the same way. We don�t have to deal with commercialization marring our personal spaces, and it is not generally-speaking convenient to leave copious comments on the Notes page (since they don�t really connect up with the entry in question). Some people add guestbooks, which are cool, but it means actually going to a different site to leave your comment. The best free deal is HaI0scan, except you don�t get email alerts when someone has left you a comment.

Don�t worry. I�m not leaving Diaryland for a site where I will receive lavish ego stroking in the form of after-entry items. I think I have enough to say that I can afford two blogs. Don�t tell them over there, but this is the one that really counts.

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