Today, Wednesday October 15 is Blog Action Day 2008!

Bloggers are supposed to write about the social issue du jour… and then… something happens? Sounds like an Internet feel-good circle jerk to me.

This year’s theme is poverty, so to celebrate I had some Ramen noodles for dinner.

Woohoo! I’m making a difference!

From the Guppie Life

It’s Blog Action Day! Wait, huh?

Hi, friends. I owe you a lot of updates. I’ve got a notepad next to my desk just brimming with future blog post ideas.

But I’ve been having a hard time staying motivated.

What’s wrong, you ask? I can’t really complain. I love my new car. I’ve been meeting boys. I’ve even made some meaningful contributions at work.

But Google hates me. More specifically, Google hates the Guppie Life. And I don’t know why.

Want to see for yourself?

See? All the results are talking ABOUT my blog. But Google doesn’t link to the blog itself. Back in the day it used to link to my blog and even my individual posts, but not for 6 months or so.

Sometimes people say Google does this as a punishment if a website owner has done something shady in an attempt to manipulate search rankings. But I haven’t, I swear! And of course, Google is a multi-billion dollar company. They aren’t going to take the time to explain to me why they’ve gone sour on me.

Why is this a big deal to me?

Well, search engine visitors are often the number one source of traffic to a blog. Many sites and blogs get up to as much as 90% of their traffic from search engines. Without appearing in the Google search results, many normal people (i.e. people who are not themselves also bloggers) will never find the Guppie Life. And without them I can’t become internet famous. (Joke.)

Fellow bloggers, I encourage you to read Can Google Be Trusted? from SEOBook.com. It could happen to you, too.

Anyway, I don’t think there’s much I can do about this. I just wanted to vent. Thanks for listening, friends.

From the Guppie Life

What Do You Do When Google Hates You?

Quick update:

• Bought a new (used) car from a used car dealership. It’s a 2005 BMW Z4, but it had to go to the BMW dealer for repairs. Praise be to the BMW warranty. I hate the dealership folks. And I’m mad at myself for making some mistakes in the car-buying process, but whatever, it was my first time, and once the car is fixed I’ll love it. (More details later.)
• Deadlines at work. Publishers as clients means deadlines, deadlines, deadlines! Stress all around. Stress for me, stress for coworkers, stress for the clients.
• The whole dating thing continues to elude me.

From the Guppie Life

I’m Not Dead, Just Having an Anxiety Attack

Last night I upgraded my blogging software to the latest version. The process somehow restored functionality to the Guppie Life Comments feed, which had not been working for some time. (Oops.)

If you’d like, consider subscribing to the comments feed. It’ll keep you up-to-date on the conversations that happen in behind-the-scenes in the comments section.

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From the Guppie Life

A Quick Comment on Comments!

Yup, yours truly is the newest member of the Brazen Careerist blogging network.

And since they list their bloggers alphabetically, it seems I’m first for the time being. Yikes.

From the Guppie Life

I Sold My Soul to Penelope Trunk and Drank the Brazen Careerist Kool-Aid

I’ve had a great time these past few weeks getting to know my readers and fellow bloggers through my twitter profile. It’s addictive!

In fact, I’ve had such a good experience with Twitter that I’ve decided to invite you guys to IM me on a Google Talk account. The username is “guppielife” [at gmail dot com]. I don’t know yet how often I’ll be on, but if you see me signed on, say hi!

From the Guppie Life

Google Talk Just Got Gayer: Chat Me Up

I’m flattered that Nina from Queercents featured my recent post “Turning Down Easy Money: a Model’s Story” on the blog today. Check it out at Queercents, or read the original item here.

When I grow up, I hope to be power lesbian like Nina. Girl is a baller. Oh, and she’s mad connected.

This was my second guest post for Queercents— I also had a had one back in October.

From the Guppie Life

Guest Post @ Queercents

Mike from Broken Cupid is holding a contest. The prize: a free copy of the book “Gay and Single… Forever?”

Mike swears by the book, and I must admit he has piqued my curiosity. I like what I’ve read so far. Check out a free preview of “Gay and Single… Forever?” at Google Books.

One passage in particular struck a chord with me:

I had visions of walking hand in hand with my guy to the farmer’s market to pick up a loaf of blueberry bread from a local Mennonite baker, and then we’d go home to cuddle and read on a worn but comfortable sofa that screamed student chic. I was disappointed by my reality. For much of high school I sat on the sidelines and watched my straight peers date up a storm. That I could accept. After all, I was still in the closet, so who would I date? And yet, even after joining gay society, I was still on the fringe, witnessing guys coming out after me and getting into relationships before me.

Stop jumping the bloody queue! I wanted to shout.

From the Guppie Life

Win a Book from Mike @ Broken Cupid

Thanks to Queercents for sending me a 1gig USB flash drive and a free copy of H&R Block Tax Cut software!

Aw shucks, those are some nice bloggers.

From the Guppie Life

Queercents Booty

As of yesterday, you can now subscribe to comments made on the Guppie Life using your favorite feed reader, such as Google Reader. By subscribing, you’ll be able to effortlessly follow the discussions that go on in the comments section of blog posts.

Not sure what all this RSS Feed stuff is about? Start here for a really good overview.

And as always, you can also subscribe to Guppie Life posts in a reader or via email by visiting the Subscribe page.

From the Guppie Life

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