Seven Blogs You Must Read

July 10th, 2008 § Leave a Comment

I just came across an interesting article called Seven Blogs You Must Read And Other Useful Know-How. It goes nicely with my recent post on Feed Aggregators.

In light of the Seven Blogs… article I have decided to post my own list of 7 blogs. Here they are in no particular order.

  • chrisbrogan.com – An insightful blog about social networking, community, and technology for the workplace.
  • Church Marketing Sucks – This blog calls churches to step up their marketing efforts and throws out some great marketing insights and thoughts.
  • LAist – All you could ever want to know about what’s going on in Los Angeles.
  • WebUrbanist - A cool blog with amazing photos of amazing places. It’ll bring out the explorer in you.
  • Heal Your Church Web Site – Great advice for anyone building a website, especially churches.
  • churchrelevance.com – Logos, graphic design, web design, research, and church consulting all in one place.
  • Brand New – If branding and logos are interesting to you you’ll find the side by side comparisons of new and old logos quite interesting.

Hat tip: Chris Brogan

Get Aggregated

July 9th, 2008 § Leave a Comment

If you read this blog, and any other blog for that matter, you really owe it to yourself to check out a feed aggregator. Not only will it simplify your blog reading experience, it will enable you to spend more time reading interesting thoughts from interesting people.
In its simplest form, a feed aggregator will pull the newest posts from your favorite blogs into one central location so you don’t have to visit each of those blogs individually. They’re easy to set up, and usually free. Since I began using one a while back I have been able to keep up with over 76 blogs.
There are many feed aggregators out there so choose the one that best suits your needs. I like Google Reader, because it’s easy to use along side my Gmail and Google Calendar. Many Internet browsers these days even come with feed reader functionality built in so you may not even need to look that far.
For a partial list of feed aggregators visit wikipedia.

The New EsotericallySpeaking?

July 2nd, 2008 § Leave a Comment

There are some big changes underway here at esotericallyspeaking. I’m currently working on a redesign of the whole site, which will bring a completely different look. I’m trying to take a less is more approach. We’ll see how that goes. What’s up right now is not the finished product so keep checking back.
Now, while a redesign is a pretty big change, it pales in comparison to what I am about to tell you. Brace yourself. I have moved esotericallyspeaking to brianhimes.com. Check it out. Watch your browser address bar. If you go to esotericallyspeaking.blogspot.com it’ll redirect you to brianhimes.com. Pretty cool huh? I think it is anyway.
What I have yet to decide, however, is will I drop the esotericallyspeaking name? It has served me well since this blogs inception in 2005, but as I’ve grown and changed, I’ve become less satisfied with the name. Not only is it a mouthful, and difficult to explain, but the word “esoteric” brings up unfavorable images in some circles. I’m ok defending my usage of the word, but maybe it’s time to just move on.
Whatever I decide, esotericallyspeaking.blogspot.com will redirect to the new site so all the links out there will remain active. The only troubling change is I’ll have to ask everyone to switch to a new feed. Hmm… I’ll think about it and let you know. In the mean time, check in often. There will be a lot going on.

Is a Redesign in the Future?

May 30th, 2008 § 2 Comments

I've been thinking.  My blog needs a redesign. Any thoughts or opinions?  What would help EsotericallySpeaking move on to the next level?
 
Additionally, I have no intent of changing the focus of this blog, of which there really is none; but, what topics most interest you, my readers?  Why do you keep coming back?  What drew you here initially? What would make you come back more frequently? 
 
I can't say I'm going to bend to your every whim, but I'm curious and am looking to improve.

Blog Tameness

April 3rd, 2008 § 2 Comments

There is something that has been troubling me the past few days.  Has this blog become tame?  I realize it is very different today than it was in its infancy two and a half years ago, but has it really become tame?  A friend mentioned this to me a few nights ago in one of those conversations that cover everything from theology to politics.  I agreed with him at the time, but have been wrestling with the thought ever since. 

 

Perhaps the blog’s perceived tameness can be attributed to changes in my life and lifestyle.  This has always been a place to share random thoughts, concerns, news, etcetera, and that has not changed.  However, my lot in life has changed significantly.  I am now a homeowner, a husband of three years, a friend, a brother, a son, a gardener, a mechanic, a minister, and a senior development associate, just to name a few of my roles.  My plate is increasingly full. 

 

Perhaps one of the most significant changes is that I do not have as much time as I used to.  When I began this blog I spent hours writing and editing posts.  I was out to change the world, and I had a job which didn’t keep me busy all day long.  These days I sit in front of the computer all day long but simply don’t have the time to devote to deep thought.  I am lucky when I get a little time to throw a couple short undeveloped ideas out there.  And, I certainly do not think I am going to be able to change the world, or anyone’s opinion there of, in a post or two. 

 

Thinking about it some more, and looking at my latest content, I guess my friend is probably right.  This blog has tamed.  And it is more than likely that I have tamed as well.  I guess it is just a natural progression as we get older; however, I am far from giving up the ghost and there are places that I have yet to go, so look out world.  Truthfully though, I do think I have a few more tricks up my sleeve, so if you just been hanging on hoping for something revolutionary keep your eyes and ears peeled.  I may surprise you when you lease suspect it. 

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