Breathing Life Into a Ghost Blog

It's been exactly two years since I published in True to Words. Sad! Time to bring this ghost blog back to life.

For not having published a new post in two years, traffic has been surprisingly steady. As in several days within the last month there have been traffic spikes greater than 100 visitors. That's... actually pretty incredible for a zombie blog.

So, here I am, ready to breathe new life into True to Words. I still really feel strongly about the reasons why I started this blog: To have a creative outlet all my own, to explore language, and to have a bit of fun writing. To give you a taste of what to expect in the future, these are my 5 most popular posts of all time:

5. Language Barrier: Finger Lickin' Good. Sometimes, your marketing messages don't quite translate into another language. KFC learned that the hard way.

4. Longest Words in the English Language. Yes, that word from Mary Poppins is here. And so is antidisestablishmentarianism. But you won't believe how many letters are in the longest word ever.

3. Floriography: The Language of Flowers. When a flower isn't just a flower, you have floriography. You might already know what yellow roses mean, but do you know what a yellow carnation means?

2. Friday Photography - Graffiti is Like Modern Day Cave Painting. Before I started Sam Can Shoot (another ghost blog which I may revive), I featured photos every Friday. This post was a little different from all the rest and the title speaks for itself. 

1. Dinner vs. Supper. The popularity of this post astounds me, and people still leave comments on it - more than 43,000 views at the time of this writing. Read about how dinner and supper aren't quite the same, and dinner actually started as breakfast!

Sara Duane is a freelance writer in the Twin Cities area of the great state of Minnesota.  

Fourth Anniversary ~ True to Words

Today is the fourth anniversary of the first post ever published at True to Words. Happy birthday, TTW! Have some virtual cake!

A Very Merry Unbirthday to Me

And some champagne!

Ugh, but 2012 was a rough year, as far as blogging is concerned. I barely posted! Here's hoping that I can maintain and increase the momentum of started here in 2013, as True to Words heads into its fifth year! *clink*

True to Words' Top Posts of 2012

At the start of a new year, I like to compile a list of the top 10 most popular posts  from the previous year. Considering I barely wrote a dozen posts last year on this blog, a top 10 post would basically rehash the entirety of 2012. So here is a list of the top five most popular blog posts at True to Words last year.

5. Top 10 True to "Words" of 2011. In 2011 I discovered word clouds I had some fun with Wordle - a word cloud generator. It inspired me to create a list of the most popularly repeated words on True to Words, for the entire blog and as part of a year-end review for 2011. I'm not sure I'm as curious about that for 2012, but I'll probably still explore that the next time I play with the word cloud generator. Check out Wordle if you're interested in a basic program, but if you get serious, Wordaizer seems to be the way to go.

4. Friday Photography - Make a Fleece Tie Blanket. A fine example of my slacking, this post was just published last week and it's already in the top five. I made a fleece blanket as a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law and used the photos as part of my regular Friday Photography segment. In this post I gave instructions on how to make a fleece tie blanket, while telling a story about my own experience making one. They are surprisingly easy, so you'll particularly want to check it out if you're the crafty type.

3. STOP SOPA & PIPA. In January of 2012, the U.S. Congress and Senate were going to vote on a pair of bills that would have had a fundamentally altered the internet as we know it. On January 16th, websites across the United States participated in a "blackout" to protest the legislation. Visitors to protesting sites would simply see a black screen with perhaps an explanation for why the site was black. I couldn't figure out the HTML to black out my blog and all the websites that could teach me how were already blacked out, so this was my way to protest on that day.

2. Guest Blog Posts at TopRank. I wasn't just ignoring my blogs without reason, I was busy writing other things. For about a year and a half, I worked at TopRank Online Marketing, first as a writer and then as the content marketing manager. During my time there, I had the opportunity to write several social media marketing posts that appeared on the company's prominent blog. This compilation links to my best guest posts published there.

1. 15 Quotes About Writing. I love writing. It's valuable and beloved to me in so many ways, I could hardly explain it in anything less than a novel. So instead, I assembled a list of quotes from some respected writers and other great minds that do a good job of exposing the tip of the ice berg that is the love I feel for writing (and its related topic, creativity). I am done being a nerd now, thank you.

I hope the brevity of this list, and the shortness of the corresponding photo blog post, Sam Can Shoot Top Posts of 2012, will inspire me to be a more prolific writer, blogger and photographer in 2013.

Top 10 Posts for True to Words' First Year
True to Words' Top 10 Posts of 2010
True to Words' Top 10 Posts of 2011

Start, Stop, Start... Again!

Starting and stopping and starting again!

Hey, remember me?

There have been many periods of stops and starts throughout the duration of True to Words existence. It is busy work being a freelance writer, especially while enduring an economic downturn, during which many businesses (including some of my clients) reduced their budgets, took the work in-house or closed up shop altogether.

As the economy got better, I started looking for a permanent position that had certain qualifications, namely that it be Creative, Compensated fairly and have a reasonable Commute. It took a while, but it finally happened! Instead of working several jobs that added up to 50-60 hour workweeks, I now have one job working a normal 40ish hour week that fulfills those three requirements - and then some!

I am the new Content Marketing Manager at TopRank Online Marketing! All day I help concept content ideas, edit copy and coach other writers to create textual works of art for incredible clients. I even got to write a post for the company blog. The whole experience has been mentally invigorating.

And though I spend all day elbow-deep in all sorts of online copy, my new job is why I'm blogging again!

Now that I'm not working insane amounts of hours, I'm resuming the True to Words and Sam Can Shoot blogs. And I've re-started writing for the Minneapolis Pet News Examiner, too. And I'll be uploading to my Flickr again. And, and, and... Oh, the happiness!

If you can't tell, I'm super excited to have my creative outlets back. And free time, exercise and sleep, not necessarily in that order.

It might take a little more time to get Sam Can Shoot started, but tonight I shall sleep happy knowing that with this post I have officially restarted this blog. But tomorrow, there will once again be Language Edition of Haiku News!

Goodnight!

Top 10 True to "Words" of 2011

Thanks to the fun of Wordle, I have discovered how word counts can be interesting when applied over periods of time or publications. For the first time, I have created my own "Top Words of 2011," based on the posts published on True to Words throughout the year. Here they are, in descending order.

1. post
2. language
3. word
4. new
5. year
6. people
7. write
8. time
9. first
10. world

These words make sense, considering this blog covers language and communication topics across geography and time. I look forward to seeing how this list might change in the coming years.

True to Words' Top 10 Posts of 2011

Gotta jump on the bandwagon for end-of-the-Old-Year/beginning-of-the-New-Year blog content. But I like doing these, so nyah! Without further ado, the top 10 most-viewed blog posts for True to Words in 2011.

10. Gender Stereotyping & Word Clouds: A Random Post

One of my attempts at a mini-post, inspired by The Achilles Effect, "Word Cloud: How Toy Ad Vocabulary Reinforces Gender Stereotypes". Eye-opening, for the informal research and for introducing me to how fun word clouds could be.

 9. Bad Ad Placement Example #2

Part of my Blogging New Year's Resolutions for 2011 included doing more "Bad Ad Placement Examples." I did exactly one last year, but it still counts as a continuation of a previous topic, right? Right. This one happened to be placing headlines about Osama Bin Laden's sea burial next to "Catch of a Lifetime" ads for Chevy and an unusually unappetizing ad for a Fish and Chips special.

 8. 27% of Congressional Communication is Taunting

I loved this post about a Harvard University analysis of Congress' language toward each other that showed nearly one-third of their communications are taunting in nature. I would love to see the results of a new analysis, as I think this percentage has gone up significantly, in inverse proportion to how little our "leaders" have accomplished in the meantime.

 7. Got Milk, Got Controversy

All I can say is that a long-running, successful ad campaign took a turn for the sexist last summer and the whole blogosphere was a buzz. Because I had written a piece on the Got Milk? campaign before, of course I had to jump on the bandwagon. If nothing else, I hope this fiasco taught some brands the importance of message testing. Seriously.

 6. Iron Age Hilltop Communication, Recreated

Another blog blurb! Probably the blurbiest one I've ever written. About an unique experiment that "shed light" on how Iron Age people communicated across distances about 2,500 years ago.

 5. Language Barrier: Finger Lickin' Good

A second installment on the Language Barrier series! Another 2011 New Year's Resolution success! This post talks briefly about KFC's 50-year-old successful ad campaign, and how the brand stumbled when it first entered the Chinese market due to a mistranslation of the famous tag line.

 4. Prairie Dogs Use Language to Describe Predators

There have been studies that show humans aren't the only species to have sophisticated language systems. This one talks about how prairie dogs communicate with each other. Really interesting to know that animals can warn each other about danger so specifically!

 3. Body Language: Wordless Communication

A Valentine's day post about a type of communication that talks volumes, but is often overlooked. Indeed, actions truly do speak louder than words!

 2. Friday Photography - New Background Wallpaper

I revamped my blog design in 2011 to more closely reflect the subject matter, as well as my tastes and style. Unfortunately, when I did so, it suddenly looked too much like other people's blogs. So I made my first background wallpaper!

 1. Longest Words in the English Language

This post was so much fun to write, even if it was a formatting nightmare due to some words being longer than a paragraph long. One was so long, I didn't include it in the post, I only linked to it. It is also one of only two posts with the distinction of having been clicked more than any page on True to Words, even the main page! (The other is Friday Photography - Graffiti is Like Modern Day Cave Painting)

There you have it! The top posts for 2011 at True to Words. Can't wait to see what it will be next year!

Honorable Mention: New Online Toy: Scoop.It




Top 10 Posts for True to Words' First Year
True to Words' Top 10 Posts of 2010

Third Anniversary ~ True to Words

Today is the third anniversary of the first post ever published at True to Words. Happy birthday, TTW!

True to Words Cloud

Ever since "Gender Stereotyping & Word Clouds: A Random Post," I've wanted to create my own word cloud based on the text here at True to Words. I finally took the time to do it!

Though the Wordle site looks easy to use, these images took a bit longer than I expected. The instructions on the site said I could just input the address and it would figure out the rest. It only seemed to track the language of the first pages of my blog and I wanted to make a cloud that represented the words throughout the entirety of the blog. That meant I had to go the alternate route and copy/paste all of the text, including deleting anything that might have copied over that I didn't want to have counted, like all the dates, the part where it names me as the author of the post, even the social media bar that has the Twitter and Facebook buttons. All of these could have swayed my results.

Here is the first one I liked enough to save. It is vaguely the shape of Minnesota! Hey, I said vaguely. Click on the image to see a larger version on the Wordle site.

That image has all the "common" English words filtered out, but the website's idea of common and mine were vastly different, resulting in some words that didn't seem appropriate (such as "one" and so many different variations of the similar wards). So I made another word cloud using the "Advanced" option, inputting word count information the website had tabulated for me under the "Word Count" menu option. This way, I was also able to include more of the words that I feel more closely represent what this blog is about. By extension, it also is a pretty good representation of some of the things that I like or value in general.

Again, click on the image to see a larger version. All in all, Wordle was a pretty fun toy. I may consider trying to find another way to use it in the future.

Have you used Wordle before? Provide a link to your creation in the comments section!

My Blogging New Year's Resolutions for 2011

True to Words has been around for two years! In 2010, I made some blog-related New Year's resolutions. Here's a report on my progress and some new resolutions for 2011!

This year, as last year, I resolve to...  

• Write more blog posts - In 2009, I wrote 97 posts. In 2010, I wrote 108 posts. That is almost a 9% increase! For 2011, I am aiming to write at least 10% more for 119 posts! 

• Increase post variety - I think I did this, delving more into ancient tongues and scientific studies of language than my first year. Now I think I want to also move towards discussing how language shapes our world in other ways. 

• Blog more consistently - Most of the time, I was really good at being consistent, while there were periods when I was really bad about it. I have a good excuse, though: I got married! I'll do my best again this year, and if something time consuming comes up again, I'm going to try and be more pro-active about pre-posting. 

• Revisit topics more often, like Bad Ad Placements and Language Barrier - I did revisit some topics this year, but I now find it a little odd that the specific two categories I mentioned last year didn't see any action. In 2011, am going to add at least one story to each! 

• Write more reviews of music, movies, etc. - By doing two reviews last year (the awesome Donny Dirk's Zombie Den and the ill-fated, inappropriately named Taste of Minnesota), I doubled how many reviews I did in 2009. Four is what I'm aiming for this year, starting with the Winter Carnival Beer Dabbler Showcase on January 29.

Did anyone else make blogging New Year's resolutions? Share them here or let's see your link!

True to Words' Top 10 Posts of 2010

Since my last post, we welcomed the New 2011 Year and True to Words turned two years old. What to write, what to write? Oh, I know! How about highlights of the most-visited blog posts from the past year? Of course, what else would I do! Here are my Top 10 Posts of 2010!

10. Ancient Language Deciphered By Computer

The cooperative effort of two universities across several disciplines has created a computer program that can decipher "lost" languages. This program could not only speed up the translation process of ancient documents, it also could help improve online translation software.

9. Laughter: The Most Primitive Language

Laughter is primal, social, universal and infectious. Laughter is so unique, that it should come as no surprise that the scientific analysis and research of laughter is a quite serious matter. And laughing rats are seriously, adorably cute, so don't forget to watch the video at the end.

8. International Mother Language Day Highlights Endangered Languages

Every 14 days, one of the world's estimated 7,000 spoken languages dies. February 21 is International Mother Language Day, which has been observed annually since February 2000. The day is meant promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism throughout the world.

7. The Simpsons Contributions to the English Language

London-based translation company Today Translations polled 320 of linguists across the world to try to find the “most valuable addition to the English language” from the world’s most popular animated TV series, "The Simpsons". Here's a hint: "D'oh!" - Homer’s trademark grunt of irritation or frustration - is the top contribution, but it certainly isn't the only one.

6. Review: Donny Dirk's Zombie Den in Minneapolis

For my birthday last year, some of my closest friends and I went out for dinner at Broadway Pizza and then to Donny Dirk's Zombie Den for drinks. A great bar in Minneapolis that offers a... unique... atmosphere. It is a Zombie Den, after all!

5. The Death of Boa Sr and the Bo Language

Last year in February, one of the oldest languages in the world died when Boa Sr, the oldest member of the Great Andamanese tribe, drew her last breath. The 85-year-old was the only known fluent speaker of 70,000-year-old Bo language. According to one count, there are about 470 languages throughout the world that are on their own version of an endangered species list.

4. Text-Slang Creeping Into Academic Work

Texting language is fine for messages to friends, but when it seeps into academic work, it leaves college professors both confused and aggravated. Some have even developed official policies about it written into their syllibi. "'wut up ya I cnt make it 2 clss lol' is insanely unprofessional," reads the syllabus of Alejo Enriquez, a Cal State East Bay instructor.

3. Dinner vs. Supper

Dinner and supper. The preference for "dinner" over "supper" is both regional and generational. What are the actual differences between the meanings of these words and how they're used? And which term do you prefer to use?

2. Floriography: The Language of Flowers

The language of flowers, or floriography, was a Victorian-era means of communication in which various flowers and floral arrangements were used to send messages in code. This allowed people to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken during this particularly frigid period of history.

1. Friday Photography - Graffiti is Like Modern Day Cave Painting

Some of our most priceless works of art were painted on cave walls by ancient humans. In my opinion, some of our most overlooked creative works have been spray painted on the walls of buildings. And I have to say I am glad this post is in the top spot, because it is one of my absolute favorites.

There you have it! Check out the Top 10 Posts for True to Words' First Year while you're at it. Happy New Year!

Top 10 Posts for True to Words' First Year

Well, it has been one year since I started the True to Words blog. One year since I made the commitment to write more for myself. One year since I published the first post, but it was a concept in my mind long before it was electronic bits on a server.

Earlier this week, I made some Blogger New Year's Resolutions and talked about how I want to write more posts along the lines of themes I've already visited. I think the best way to do that is to revisit some of my more popular posts! Here are my most-visited blog posts from the past year:

10. Cursive Writing a Fading Skill. With 46 visits, this look at cursive writing and its gradual disappearance from school curriculum has been pretty popular! Apparently I'm not the only one who won't miss cursive writing.

9. Review: Slipknot Concert in Saint Paul. 51 puts this Slipknot concert review at No. 9. This was a review Slipknot's first concert in the band's All Hope Is Gone World Tour. It was a bitchin' time in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Except for Coheed and Cambria of course, but I digress. It was a shame Slipknot had to cut their tour short due to their drummer's illness, I would have loved to see them when they returned to Rochester.

8. The Word: Accountability and Friday Photography - Driftwood Sculpture. These two posts tie at 8 with 53 visits each. I really like the Driftwood Sculpture. It's a brief post and worth checking out. And Accountability? It's a damn good word. Informative and predictive.

7. Hip Hop and the English Language. After 61 visits, I am not surprised this post is popular. It comes up in all sorts of different crazy searches that sometimes thrill and often confuse me. I still think modern hip-hop in general sucks, but new-to-me Atmosphere and Brother Ali are starting to make me come around to some of it.

6. Third Annual Minnesota Garlic Festival. In 2008, I had the chance to write an article for the Wright County Drummer about the Minnesota Garlic Festival. In 2009, I got permission to post the article on my Twin Cities Freelance Writer website and highlighted it here in my blog (I also visited the festival again!). In 2010 and with 65 visits, it is on my Top 10 visited post list. I highly recommend taking a look, and then make sure you visit next year if you live in Minnesota. It is a flavorful event that supports local farmers.

5. Friday Photography - Minneapolis in Perspective. If you spend any time at True to Words, you know that photography is my second love after words (and Sam Can Shoot, if I do say so myself).  And Minneapolis has plenty to photograph. Minneapolis in Perspective has been viewed 74 times, and possibly could have even made it a contender for My Top Photos of 2009 at the Sam Can Shoot Blog, had I used this post's popularity as any sort of guide. A great photo of Minneapolis as seen from the Stone Arch Bridge.

4. In Memory of Ian Talty. 79 Views. A poem and a post I would give just about anything to not have felt the need to write. We love you and miss you, Ian, and your unique ability to find the Joy of the Mundane.

3. Language Barrier: Got Milk? This was one of the most fun posts to write. With 113 views, I'm so glad to see that other people like it, too! It's a look at how the "Got Milk?" ad campaign which was so popular in the U.S. absolutely flopped when it was taken international.

2. Friday Photography - 1953 Dodge Coronet. I get tons of page views for this from people searching for Dodge Coronets. 131 for this post. Other pictures in the full set of 1953 Dodge Coronet photos on my Flickr page are popular, too. I've seen some of the other pictures of Coronets on the 'net, and this one is a beautiful classic. The pictures were taken with my old camera, but if I see it out this summer again, I'm going to take more of this shiny red car with my shiny new camera. Yeah.

1. Ian Talty Exhibit to Open at SpotArt. My friends and I hyped this event ourselves, telling everyone we could. I was honored to write this press release and posted it here so that there was something published and accessible about the event. That’s part of why this post rose to the top with 201 page views. My friends and I were determined to be an all-out marketing team for Ian's photo exhibit and because of all the love and support for him, it was a rousing success. Hundreds of people visited the gallery and two pieces sold right away on the first night.  You can see photos of the Ian Talty’s SpotArt photo exhibit, too.

So there you have it, my Top 10 posts for the past year. It is a unique mix of content with some laughs and some tears. What a roller-coaster year 2009 has been, I'm not sorry to see it go. But I am curious to see what 2010 has in store.

My Blogger New Year's Resolutions

True to Words has been around for almost one year! And this is it's first time "seeing" the start of a new year. So I've decided that I will make myself a few Blogger New Year's Resolutions. This year, I resolve to:

1. Write more blog posts
2. Increase post variety
3. Blog more consistently
4. Revisit topics more often, like Bad Ad Placements and Language Barrier.
5. Write more reviews of music, movies, etc.

Last year I wrote just under 100 posts. This year I would like to write at least 100 posts! Anyone else making Blogger New Year's resolutions?

Bad Blogger!

Oh, I've been so naughty. Terribly neglectful of the True to Words blog. It doesn't deserve it, it didn't do anything wrong, I'm the one who has been bad. Poor blog is just starving for attention.

And it isn't alone. I've neglected my Flickr photostream and Sam Can Shoot, too. Sam can shoot, but I haven't been.

A combination of busyness, laziness, holidays, and the reality of life have been my downfall. But I committed myself to doing more writing and photography for my own enjoyment, not for clients and employers, so here I am, chugging away.

And what great motivation, as True to Words is almost a year old!

The New Look

After I created the Sam Can Shoot blog, and customized it a little bit to suit the wider format of large photos, I decided I wasn't happy with how True to Words looked and wanted to be able to make it wide, too. I couldn't make the old blog look right with the wider margins. What's more, I didn't like how it looked with the colors of my freelance writer website. So I redid them both entirely.

Instead of being varying shades of blue and brown, they are black, grey, and blue. I think they look a lot cleaner. And now the photoblog blends in, too, so if/when I link it from my website it'll all look similar.

Now that summer is winding down and my calendar is less full, I'm hoping to re-energize True to Words in the coming weeks and months. I admit my blog hasn't been the most important thing in my life this summer, but I'm okay with that. Friday Photography and Haiku News have kept me contributing and visitors coming. But now I'd like to rely on them less and start doing more installments of Bad Ad Placement, Language Barrier, The Word, and even some poetry.

So, with a new look and a rededicated spirit, be prepared for some new content in the near future. I'm excited :)