Day 1323

Today was one of those "nose to the grindstone" days. I methodically worked my way through a long list of simple tasks. Articles got written, websites got updated, and bills got paid. There was even a conference call, although since only one person showed up, it wasn't really much of a conference. The dogs had nothing to bark about today, and other than the faint sound of typing, the house was quiet as a tomb.

I got an adapter in the mail this afternoon that will allow me to attach a professional matte box to my video camera. The device would be a lot more useful if I actually had a matte box to attach, but I'll worry about that later. With few upcoming video jobs on the agenda, I've got plenty of time to find that matte box.

I'm beginning to wonder if social media is worth the effort. Without the leverage and large numbers that blog sharing sites like Entrecard and Adgitize used to provide, it's getting harder and harder to attract new readers. Even during its heyday, a lot of people dismissed Entrecard as mindless widget clicking. I liked it though. It brought thousands of new eyes to the blog every day and some ended up staying to become regular readers. Sure, it's easy enough to re-share blog posts on Facebook and Google+ but it's not that same thing as having lots of people come directly to the source. Probably my main problem with social media is that I'm not a very social person. I think the only reason I'm on Facebook at all is to try to lure people back here to the blog.

Maybe declining readership is just another sign of Summer. Everything seems to go through a decline in the Summer. It's getting hard to find flowers to photograph in the park these days. The season is over and almost all the flowers have dried and turned to seed. The grass in the back yard is looking a lot thinner too. Even though the yard was professionally landscaped early in the Spring, the Summer's thick canopy of Oak leaves prevents enough sun from getting to the grass. Essentially, even after a lot of effort, the yard looks just like it always does at the end of July.

At least Dot seems to be improving. She's got another acupuncture session tomorrow. The girl's got a pretty full dance card now with the combination of water therapy and acupuncture. I think the treatments are helping though. Dot was pretty spry on her walks today, even though it was a hot day in July with very few flowers to smell.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day