What Happened to Blogging?

If Chaka's World were a celebrity, then at the end of this month it would be checking into rehab with Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan. I have no idea what happened in the month of July, but visiting traffic came to a halt. Maybe it was because it's summer and people are on vacation and foolishly think they don't need to check in on my blog.

Did I go on a racist or anti-Semitic rant that I don't remember? Did I get too political or religious and alienate readers? Did I forget to shower all month? Has Google or the CIA been redirecting web traffic? Are extra terrestrials disregarding the prime directive?

I have asked the question "is blogging dead" before, and I'm reconsidering that question again after seeing this months statistics. People used to actually comment on posts and reading their witty remarks and insightful comments was always my favorite part. Has social media replaced antiquated blogs? I've seen some blogging giants turn to other means to get their message out over the years. Should bloggers feel like a carburetor, vinyl record, or a dial up modem?

To all my blogging friends who may be experiencing the same thing, I'd like to share an emotional speech of encouragement with you. Think Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, 300, Patton, Rocky, etc.

Hearken to my words dear brothers of Blogger. We may be out numbered by an innumerable host of newer and cooler ways to communicate, but we are still strong. We may give way to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, someday, but today is not that day! We may have the stigma of being called a blog and the hassle of requiring word verification, but we will not give up. Join with me in reclaiming our readership. We will unite mommy blogs, recipe blogs, and family blogs with conspiracy theory blogs, fitness blogs, fashion and craft blogs until we once again rule the Internet. If you have even a hint of blogging ambition and desire to restore blogging to it's prior glory and splendor, then join us, for tonight we dine in Hell!

Picture of the Month July 2012

I really liked this. There are too many similarities between the walking dead and the many young people I see wandering around in a trance unaware of their surroundings. I'm not sure which one is scarier.

My Kryptonite: Scout Cheers

I have been a scout master for over 6 years for the boys in my neighborhood. Even though I am not a big fan of camping, I still enjoy serving in that position. I think the scouting program can be a very effective program to help boys learn skills, reach goals, achieve personal growth, and serve their community. I also agree with the timeless values that the Boy Scouts of America promote.

That being said, I do have one big gripe with the scouting program: WHAT'S UP WITH THE STUPID CHEERS? I can understand young cub scouts being entertained with silly cheers and songs, but once boys get to the teenage years, it just gets awkward. What really concerns me is when I go to a training meeting with other adult leaders and they still insist on doing cheers, yells, and games that were designed for 10 year olds. Sometimes I want to scream "What are you doing? There are no kids here!".

Maybe I just have a bad attitude, but I can't be the only one who feels this way. It's not that I think I'm too cool to do cheers....no wait a minute, yes I do! Some personalities like doing stuff like that, but it just makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable and I feel that they were designed to strip away any dignity I might have. I'm a 43 year old guy and I don't enjoy singing about being a teapot, or acting out actions to cute cheers in front of others.

To offset my complaining, I am going to give some practical advice to parents who have boys in scouting. Over the years I have noticed a huge correlation between how involved parents are and how likely a boy is to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. I'd recommend focusing on rank advancements as soon as a boy turns 11 and starts scouting.

With minimal consistent effort, a boy can earn his Eagle by the time he is 13 as long as he stays on top of things. I suggest parents look over their kids scout book with them each week. It only takes 5 minutes but keeps them on track and it makes a huge difference. Once a kid turns 16, it's an uphill battle to finish since they will have so many other priorities competing for their time like dating, driving, school, athletics, etc.

Handwriting: The Lost Art

I spent this last week at scout camp and sat in on several merit badge classes that my scouts took. Some of the classes required that the boys write down answers to questions or write a paragraph about their observations. While looking for a lost assignment for one of my scouts, I flipped through a large pile of papers that scouts from all over the state had turned in. I was unprepared for what I saw. I have come to the conclusion that handwriting is a lost art.

My handwriting can be pretty sloppy at times so I admit I may be a hypocrite, but I am shocked at how few kids and teenagers have good handwriting and spelling these days. I'm not just talking about bad handwriting. What I saw was not even remotely legible and was just random symbols and nonsensical scribbles. I'm pretty sure that 100 years ago kids' penmanship was better and they all knew cursive. You could probably find as many kids today who know Latin as you can those who can write in cursive. Some day archaeologists may have to decipher my old journals and school reports in order to understand the mysterious ancient script they are written in.

There are several factors contributing to the decline in penmanship but, ironically, I think technology is the big culprit. Today, kids type their reports and assignments and they frequently text and abbreviate words instead of having to write them out or spell them correctly. E-mail has completely replaced letter writing. I don't even think kids write letters to Santa Claus anymore.

On the bright side, I think we are preparing a generation of future physicians who will be confident and adept at writing prescriptions. I Googled "sloppy handwriting" and the picture of the above prescription came up. My wife is a medical transcriptionist and at a glance she told me it was a prenatal vitamin prescription and it was pretty clear what it was for. I didn't realize she knew Mandarin.

The Blog Cleanse

When I was at the store recently, I noticed several cleansing products on one of the aisles. I've always been intrigued with this concept, but at the same time I'm a little leery of the stories that 40 pounds of undigested food were found in John Wayne's colon at the time of his autopsy. I've heard similar urban legends involving Elvis. Anyway, now that we are grossed out I can move onto my topic of the blog cleanse.

I recently had a blogger friend mention that she was deleting several people from her Facebook account since she wasn't even sure who they were. I think cleaning things, de-junking, and simplifying can be a good thing. I've recently felt that my posts have been mediocre at best and they don't seem to pack the same punch they did several years ago. I think now is a good time to take a brief blog vacation to renew and cleanse so I can come back in better shape.

Coincidentally, in the morning I am taking 10 scouts to scout camp for a week so I will be away from my computer and it is the perfect time for a blog cleanse. While I am up in the mountains, I hope to clear away the clutter of my mind and hopefully I will come back refreshed and ready to unleash some new creative ideas on my blog with a vengeance....or at least have some insightful posts about tying knots and earning merit badges.

Shoes In The Blender

This afternoon while we were having lunch, my 7-year-old boy came walking into the kitchen wearing the shoes shown below. Before any of you try to report me to the Division of Child Protective Services, I have to defend myself and let you know that these were brand new shoes three months ago. I don't know if the heavy wear and tear was a result of buying cheap shoes, excessive summer play outside, or possibly putting his shoes in the blender, but I still can't believe it.

Seeing these shoes reminded me of when I was a little boy and my shoes would start to look like I should be in the cast of Oliver. My dad would take me to Sears and buy me new sneakers. He always invited us to go on errands with him. He would also take us grocery shopping on Saturdays and would buy us ice cream cones and hot dogs afterwards. 

Since it is Father's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to express my gratitude for having a Dad who did those little things for his kids. I probably didn't appreciate it as much at the time but, as an adult with children of my own, it means a lot more to me today. Happy Father's Day. It looks like I have an appointment at the shoe store.

High School Cliques

I was recently reminiscing about my high school years and was thinking about the different groups kids associate with. We all have obvious differences, preferences, and tastes, but it is kind of sad to see insecure teenagers labeled because they affiliate with a certain group. Here are the main cliques I remember

Jocks- I probably fit in this category since I enjoyed sports, but unfortunately, athletic ability was frequently accompanied by cockiness and pride.

Stuck up/mean girls-The female version of the jocks. Usually many cheerleaders were in this group. Why are good looks so frequently accompanied by so much attitude?

Stoners- These were the people who spent a good amount of their time out in the parking lot with the hacky sack and banned substances who avoided the class room whenever possible.

The Brains- The polar opposite of the stoners. These were honor students, Sterling scholars, and people who actually actually took their education seriously. I'm guessing many of these kids have PHD's as adults.

Nerds-These socially award kids were usually found in the library and often seen wearing pocket protectors with their sweater tucked into their underpants. In my day they were into dungeons and dragons.

Goths-There were only a few of these back when I was in high school and they hung out in C-Wing.. They were usually musicians or thespians who enjoyed being freaky different and dressing in black and going heavy on the makeup.

Cowboys-The FFA club members could be an intimidating group with their fleece lines Levi jackets, their CAT truck baseball caps and tight wranglers complete with the skoal ring in their back pocket.

Even though we all relate to different groups more than others, it's nice to be able to grow up and hopefully lose the labels. I guess we all become more alike once we start having kids, paying bills, and dealing with life.