Grugger’s Way

So that we are on the same page here, I think Stephen King has a very distinctive, almost unique look about him–especially his eyes.

But, Nay, both of my look-alikes turned out to be ordinary, late-middle-age guys with a paunch, shaggy unkempt hair and glasses.

I don’t recall EVER, in my life, doing double takes on Stephen King look-a-likes, so twice in one day seems just exceptionally STRANGE.

Both of these guys were shopping for stuff, like me, and were intensely interested in what they were checking out. Perhaps it was the intensity that made me think of Stephen King. I haven’t read any of this stuff lately, just his how-to book On Writing that describes his craft and techniques.

There are other people who do resemble Stephen King, just in case you are now curious. One of these is the Author of the book, The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen, so here is a photo of him:

Terry Radcliffe taught Speech Communication at a small private college. He helped me get a job as a disc jockey at a local radio station. Then he taught me the “art” of sportscasting “play-by-play” for basketball. I learned the importance of the rhythm of the game and the importance of the audience and I learned how to create a picture of the game in the listeners’ minds. My career in radio and television only lasted five years but always included sportscasting play-by-play, which paid extra in talent fees. That extra skill was worth extra money.

Jules Karlin taught Constitutional History and Diplomatic History at the University of Montana. His classes were small, only six to a dozen students at a time and he challenged us face to face each day. He was a taskmaster. He required us to OUTLINE our notes from the required readings each night. His handwriting was almost unreadable. He was also the volunteer tennis coach. He never drove an automobile. He only rarely rode in one. His day would begin at 4 a.m. and by noon he was done teaching classes and was off to a myriad of other activities. It was said that his recommendation could get a student into any Law School in the country.

I chose “blogging” as a way to earn a few dollars from my writing. Writing novels didn’t pay. They just sit here on the hard drive. Oh, I sent one novel to my Mom and she printed it out–all 167 pages. I just don’t think it is ready for publication; perhaps I’m not really that creative when it comes to being a “novelist.”

So “blogging” it is. I have several blogs besides this one, and I write about politics, the 1960’s, photography, fitness, diet, other blogs and dogs.

At one time or another, I’ve run advertising from many of the popular sites. If you read a lot of blogs you know which sites I am speaking of. If you don’t read a lot of blogs, then–Google Adsense, Project Wonderful, CMF Ads, PepperJam, Adbrite, Text-Link-Ads, Widgetbucks, Share-a-Sale, Adgitize, and Amazon. I think that pretty much includes all that I have used. There are others. As you can see I have tried many; I have also cancelled many.

Some of these sites only pay if someone BUYS something after clicking on an advertisement. Some pay only if a someone “clicks” on an ad. Some pay just based on how many visitors to my sites see the ad. Some bloggers pay just to put a link on my site. I don’t see a lot of money from any of these. Nobody has ever purchased anything after clicking on an advertisement on my blogs that would trigger a commission payment to me. I wonder how many ordinary folks make any “real” money on blogs.

That’s why I say, “today I made another six dollars, maybe seven.” My wife just laughs at me. She asks how many HOURS I spent “working” on my blogs today in order to make the six or seven dollars. I say it comes out to maybe $1.75 per hour. “How wonderful,” she says, “you must be so excited about that.”

Ummm…so that makes me feel like an old geezer just being humored along. I think she hopes I will tire of blogging and go back to work in the real world. That doesn’t even sound like fun any more.