Category: Blogging

An Update

Carl Setzer2 Comments

I’ve been thinking about something of a rebrand. Basically, want to align different elements of my web presence with elements of my life. The professional side, the poet, and, well, everything else. What I’ve decided is to distribute my content across three sites (I already held these domains)

CarlSetzer.com has the most SEO for my name, so I wanted recruiters and those looking for freelance talent to find me and my professional content quickly.

CarlSetzer.net started as a poetry site, so it’s really just coming back to the beginning. I just brought over all the poetry I’ve written over the past few years to get this page up-to-speed. This will tie into most of my social media accounts as that mostly been poetry.

NotJustSeattle.com fits me as someone who considers himself a lifelong Seattleite, but who was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and spent a lot of his childhood travelling the country. I’ll figure out this page soon and start updating with energy.

I’m not planning on porting my subscribers over, but am amenable if that’s what you want me to do. If I did that, I guess I would bring everyone over to CarlSetzer.net, and most of you seem to have connected with me over my haiku. Let me know what you think.

So, I’d love it if you popped over to the other accounts and subscribed. It’d mean the world to me. With all this, I’m planning on relaunching my haiku a day series on CarlSetzer.net. Come and join me there!

Some Monday morning wisdom for you

Carl Setzer1 Comment
low section of man against sky
Big thoughts ep. 16: Resilience

I’ve been meditating on things like growth, effectiveness, and what makes a good life. Elena’s post offers some great insights into resilience, which I’ve come to believe is a central component to all of those things. One key thing, for me, is staying focused when I come against obstacles. Part of me expects “the right path” to be frictionless. If there are challenges, well, I must have chosen wrong. And, though I know that’s wrong. Really, it’s a rather foolish and damaging mindset. I’m good about keeping that at bay, but, man it raises up ugly sometimes.

So, I appreciate the reminder of what resilience is and it’s importance to a well-lived life. And I recommend going and reading her post.

An uptick in Facebook & Instagram Spam Messages

Carl Setzer1 Comment
scam alert letting text on black background

Last June I wrote about a scam running through my Facebook accounts. Well, I’ve now seen this a few times over the months. However, starting overnight last night, several of the pages I managed have been inundated with the message. I think I’m up to 7 or 8 on one page alone.

Here’s a screenshot of the message:

Meta Scam message: We have detected that a Facebook page associated with your Instagram account may be violating Meta policies.

Ultimately, it’s a phishing scam. If you click on the link, it’ll either ask you for your credentials or download malware…or both. Dear friends, DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK!!!!

Part of me takes delight in reporting these…people…for spam and getting their accounts blocked. However, in the end, it’s just a game of whack-a-mole. Clearly, they are able to create new accounts as fast as they get deleted. A part of me wants to kick these folks in the gonads.

Anyway, I wanted share this ASAP and I’m sure there are some people alarmed and, thus, more likely to click on the link. Please be safe out there in cyberspace!

I’m a Word Nerd!

Carl Setzer4 Comments
person holding white ceramci be happy painted mug

Good ol’ Grammarly! I don’t generally pay attention to these updates, but this one struck me.

As I value my writing skills, this made me happy. I’m lapping the competition? Cool!

I’m more productive than average and have higher mastery, too.

And I’m more creative, or at least have a broader vocabulary, than most:

I find this satisfying as I deeply value my communication skills, especially my writing. The hard work I’ve done over the years has benefitted me. Which I find wonderful.

A Blogging Challenge

Carl Setzer4 Comments
woman using smartphone and laptop

I don’t generally do these, but I’m starting to think I should. Take the opportunity to write more, right (write?)?

Anyway, Pooja posted this challenge to everyone/anyone who read the post (here’s the post that was the challenge to her). So, let’s explore this, shall we?

How did you come up with your blog name? 

Well, this one’s pretty easy: it’s my name. And, nerd that I am, my goal was to capture the SEO surrounding my name. And I feel pretty successful. This blog is in the first position on a SERP for “carl setzer“.

If your blog was a person (fiction or real), who would it be?

Very interesting notion and question. I’m trying to think of a character who loves writing poetry, but also writes about a slew of random stuff. I’m drawing a blank, though.

What helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?

Like Pooja, I often get inspired by other bloggers. That’s what’s going on with this post. Another who’s

good for inspiration is my friend Bill Pearse and his blog “Pink Lightsabre“.

Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?

I haven’t thought of collaborating in some time. It sounds like fun, but I’ll need to think about it further. If anyone has any ideas, I’m open.

Is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?

One of my key goals as a blogger is to become a “better writer”. I’m working on defining that better. Most of my time as a blogger has been spent, well, flailing. No real focus, nor goals. I’m working on that, though.

Do you have a specific style of blogging?

Like Pooja said in her post, my style is pretty random and chaotic. Looking over the past few years, I seem to have settled in on poetry, especially Haiku.

So, my nominees?

I’m going to start with Bill Pearse at Pink Lightsabre. He’s also a blogger who I highly recommend others read. I also recommend DavidWDon (another writer of Senrye & Haiku) and Michelle Lee at “My Inspired Life“.

I’ll add similar disclaimers as Pooja for my nominees: don’t feel any pressure. That is NOT my intent. Also, if you’re inclined to add to this challenge, please do!

Last on the Card – November 2023

Carl Setzer2 Comments

Fandango posted his response to Bushboy’s blogging prompt “Last on the Card“. The basics of the prompt: post the last photo on your phone or camera’s SD card that was shot in November.

I opted to hop on my phone and see what’s there. So, I was at an event last night, a Book/Movie Discussion for Killers of the Flower Moon. We had a table there with a few resources to learn more about the Native American experience, both in the US as well as local tribes. I took a photo of two books I did not have.

Book covers: "Living Nations, Living Words" and "How To Talk With An Indian".

These are books I hope to attain. The one on the right was written by a local author, Jay Bowen, who was at the event. I spent quite some time talking with him last night, so I have a valued connection.

Quote of the Day

Carl Setzer1 Comment

My friend and fellow blogger Pooja over at Life’s Fine Whine posted this quote yesterday. I felt this is one that strikes home, and is important to embrace if you’re living focused on growth.

Speaking for myself, it’s easy to expect that enacting positive life changes will all feel like smooth joy. No, often, it starts out HARD! Whether a diet, new exercise regime, training for a new role for work…with any of these changes, we start out needing to work hard in order to overcome our life’s inertia.

So, I recommend checking our Pooja’s blog, Life’s Fine Wine.

Descending Sunlight

Carl Setzer 
the grace of the sun 
as it descends through the leaves 
greeted by flowers

Blogging Regrets?

Carl Setzer2 Comments
crop female freelancer using laptop at table at home

So, Fandango (I’m sure you’ve seen me write about him before) posted a few days ago about regrets he had during his blogging career (is it fair to call blogging a career?).

He, like me, started his blogging on Blogger. Now, Fandango regretted not starting on WordPress. I weighed all the options back in 2005 when I launched my blog. When Blogger was acquired by Google, I thought that this would be the BEST platform. And, well, I was wrong about that. I shifted over the WordPress years ago, and haven’t really updated my Blogger site (just a few random posts here and there). But Blogger gets far more hits than the WordPress site. Last month, Blogger got 1,008 hits while WordPress got 221. I expect the Blogger stats may be misleading, but I haven’t spent any time researching that.

Anyway, be that as it may. Stats are only so valuable. I get more engagement on WordPress, like the interface better, and find the ecosystem of plugins wonderful. So, though I don’t exactly regret my time with Blogger, I am glad I made the move to WordPress.

Cellpic Sunday, March 26th Edition

Carl Setzer2 Comments

Fandango posted today about Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday, a regular feature on his blog.

This one is from a few nights ago. And, yes, this was taken with my Samsung S22. I was really delighted with it.

Crescent Moon