They’d probably rather I watched Garfield
I thought that I would elaborate a little on what I wrote yesterday about not being motivated to blog about The View unless I am watching it live. To further explain my mentality, I thought that I would give my readers some insight into how I go about doing the recaps each day.
Most days of the week I am blessed with the opportunity to do my office job from home. The catch is that I have to put in the full eight hour day, with one hour off for lunch. I am very diligent and work hard to get all of my work completed each day. I schedule my lunch hour to fall within the hour that The View airs.
I watch the show live and type the recap as it it happens, using the commercial breaks to proofread, edit, and find links to things that they talked about that might be of interest to the readers. Although I do TiVo the show as well, the TiVo is on the television in the other room and I don’t go back and rewind any of the show, unless there is a crucial comment that I want to get right. The last thing I need is to misquote something and start a raging debate in the comments section thanks to my error.
On days that I do have to go into the office, however, I have no choice but to watch the recorded version of the show. The main problem with that is that I constantly pause the show and rewind to get every detail, making the process much longer than an hour, which is difficult when I am already exhausted from a full day at work.
When I blog it live, I catch the major points and don’t worry about getting every comment or joke. I simply do my best to present the overall tone and content of each hot topic, as well as the hosts’ different viewpoints. A lot of the jokes by the three comedians don’t get blogged because, well, they just don’t read as funny.
That is not to say, of course, that my blogging of the live version of The View is not without its problems. Sometimes the phone will ring during my one hour lunch or a delivery will be made to the house that I have to deal with. On those days, I have no choice but to head to the TiVo and watch the parts I missed.
There is another problem with trying to get the show blogged in one hour. Well, actually three problems: my cats. Whether they are choosing that time to chase each other down the hall, wrestle, or climb onto my lap, they sure don’t always make it easy to watch the show.
Take this kitty, for example. Most of the time, he is content to sleep quietly beside me on the couch. However, if he is hungry…
Then the little one. I imagine it is the warmth of the laptop that is so intriguing to her. You can imagine how difficult it is to type when this happens:
She has even turned off the computer before by stepping on the on/off button. Then if she gets comfortable, it is all over:
The third cat is usually involved in the running/chasing/knocking things over, and is, thus, not pictured.
I hope that know you have some insight into what happens each day as I blog The View. It may answer some questions about why I didn’t write down every joke or every comment. It also may explain why I would rather spend the evening curled up on the couch my husband and our cats than watching an episode of The View after a long day at work.
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This entry is the latest in the Project Blog contest. The contest has been moved to BCS Frenzy because the organizer of the contest is no longer at the Reality on Bravo blog. You will have to go there to vote this week. I will post the link to the voting page when it is available.
This week’s challenge was this:
Last week, you were asked to simply use photographs in your post. This week, dig deeper. Expert bloggers can reported time and time again that you MUST connect with your readers in order to raise your stats. Return readers and subscribers trump SEO any day! And to do that…we need that personalized touch.
So, yes, that’s right - I want to see some personalized pictures. I’m not saying that it has to be a picture of you - but we want to feel like we can enter your world as readers, so find a way to do that!
Of course, keep in mind that you can write about whatever you want. Make it work with your blog topic!
Again, as a reminder, here is what the contestants are playing for:
An autographed picture of Jackie Warner, courtesy of Sky Sport and Spa
January 10th, 2008 at 8:55 am
I definitely felt as though I understood and connected with you, Winnie. I loved how you outlined your day and explained your routine of blogging about The View. I so totally admire and respect you for creating this outlet to express our thoughts and opinions. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again (and again, and again and again!), THANK YOU!
Also, I loved seeing the pictures of your beautiful cats. How fun!
Great blog entry, Winnie. Good luck!!!!
January 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Thanks for the insight into your day and for the pictures of your cats. And thanks for doing this site!
January 10th, 2008 at 10:24 am
[...] 1. Winnie, Watching the View: “They’d probably I rather watched Garfield” [...]
January 10th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Hmm. I now wonder if cats are just as much of a problem for concentration as kids.
I do know I prefer changing diapers to litter boxes though….
January 10th, 2008 at 11:05 am
[...] Did you read my entry for this week for Project Blog? It is here and you can vote for me [...]
January 10th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Loved the blog! Makes me really appreciate how hard you ‘work’ for us all.And cute kitties! My cat also loves the warmth and lies on the top of my oversized desktop monitor and stares at me while I am on the computer. Looks somewhat like the first kitty.
Do you mind sharing what kind of work you do? (You don’t have to be specific as to what company, if you’d rather not). Just curious…
January 10th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I can’t get over how you can recap so well ESPECIALLY under a one-hour time limit, Winnie. And especially since your primary reason, Rosie, is no longer on the show.
The burning question I have for you is how on earth you restrain yourself from chiming in. How frustrating is it for you to post what happened on the show and then sit back and watch the fireworks begin without shooting off some yourself? I read your earlier contest entries and in one of them you said your reason for starting the blog was to be able to discuss the show when Rosie was on it. Do you feel cheated? I hope you know how appreciative people are of your blog. And good luck with the contest. I thought this was a great entry. I enjoyed reading all about your process and seeing your feline coworkers.
January 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
“I hope you know how appreciative people are of your blog. And good luck with the contest. I thought this was a great entry. I enjoyed reading all about your process and seeing your feline coworkers.”
I second that! I enjoyed this entry too.
January 10th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Awww, Winnie, your felines are SO cute (I’m a complete sucker when it comes to cats!) That little white one is adorable…! And yes, laptops are just so comfy…!
That said, I’m very surprised and impressed that you’re able to recap a 42mn show in one hour. Bravo!
I’d probably take me at least twice that, and even then.
I feel the same way about live show vs recorded show.
Usually, if I know I’ll miss the View, I’ll tape it. Then when I get home, I check either this blog or the IMDB board, and unless I read countless posts or comments starting with “OMG, did she REALLY say that?”, I usually don’t bother watching the show.
Last year, it would have been a different story; if I missed one show with Rosie, (which happened like 3 times over the whole season), I’d do my darnest best to try to catch as much of it as possible, via blogs, YouTube and so on, but to me the View is no longer must-see TV.
Although, I have to say, the HT have been pretty good over the last 3 days (a bit too much Babs babbling endlessly this morning, though, but I can live with that once in a while.)
January 10th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
The orange one has the “feed me” stare down pat! My boys took awhile to forgive my transition from desktop to laptop … before one would sit atop the monitor, and one on my lap. Now, all 35 lbs of the two squeeze onto my lap.
Ahhh kitties…
January 10th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Great pictures . . . and I can relate because two of my four cats look like yours! Good stuff.
January 11th, 2008 at 6:51 am
If you can’t blog The View, just post some photos of the cats instead. They are gorgeous. Hee… Watching The Cats!
January 11th, 2008 at 11:04 am
[...] Winnie, Watching the View: “They’d probably I rather watched Garfield” 2. Sally, Style Fix: “Bai Ling’s Got Nothing On Me” 3. Jodie, Gossip on Sports: “The Couple [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
[...] Winnie, Watching the View: “They’d probably I rather watched Garfield” 2. Sally, Style Fix: “Bail Ling’s Got Nothing On Me” 3. Jodie, Gossip on Sports: “The [...]
January 12th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Winnie, I tip my favorite faded baseball cap to you. You should give a blogging seminar about how to live-blog. I’d be the first to sign up.
Throwing in three cats just makes the degree of difficulty even higher.
[IMG]http://wayne-ellingworth.com/wayne2.jpghttp://wayne-ellingworth.com/wayne2.jpg[/IMG]
January 12th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I have to echo, and echo LOUDLY, how much I love and enjoy this blog, and APPRECIATE your dedication to it. I have come to think of it as “our” blog,.all of the many commenters,..and I hope you don’t mind that.
Thank you for sharing your trials in getting it done, makes me appreciate it even more.
Loved the photo’s of your cats.
And of course, hope you win.