Photo by Joey Gannon
Anybody who knows me knows that I can be a pretty lazy guy.
I’m not easily self-motivated, I don’t really work out at all (despite multiple attempts to start doing so), I go to the same places more often than I try new ones, I leave things till the last minute, and many nights, I’m happier to stay home rather than to put in the effort to go out.
All of which makes today a very important day. Continue reading
Photo credit: edenpictures/Flickr/Creative Commons
Like so many blog posts I’ve written — or tried to write — over the last couple years, this one didn’t come easy.
I had a germ of an idea, started to write, hit a wall, walked away, and didn’t finish.
But I was determined to publish something today because it’s September 1, and that date is special for me. No, not because it’s Allston Christmas. It’s the anniversary of this blog.
Nine years ago today, I started what I hoped would be a fun outlet for me to share thoughts, reviews, stuff I came across, and other random “musings” for anyone who wanted to read them. Kind of like the journals I kept in high school, except in a public venue. Thankfully, people did want to read them, and the blog grew over time: The subjects I wrote about became less random, the writing improved, the audience increased, I migrated from Blogger to WordPress, and all was well. Continue reading
On September 1, 2005, I started this blog.
Martin’s Musings was intended to be an outlet for me to share my thoughts on movies I’ve seen, music I’m listening to, my birthday, social media, and other topics I’m interested in. (Yes, even all the food I’m eating.)
And for eight years, that’s exactly what it’s been.
For a long time, blogging here has been something I’ve really enjoyed doing. Yes, Twitter has allowed me to get my “musings” out in shorter, more frequent fashion. But sometimes I want/need to write in more-than-140-character bursts.
Unfortunately, I haven’t felt much like writing these longer “musings” lately. Which is not to say I haven’t had things to write about. On the contrary, there’s been plenty. It’s just that my blogger-self needed a little bit of a break.
As I say on my “About This Blog” page, I don’t blog for money. I blog because I want to write. And I don’t blog every day. I blog when I have something I want to say.
Because this is a personal blog and not a professional one, I had the option of stepping back, and I’ve taken advantage of that.
The interwebs is a funny place — especially when you’re a blogger.
You write all kinds of posts, hoping people will read and enjoy (and share) them.
And you make them as optimized as possible, with great headlines and plenty of cross-linking, so search engines will put them at the top of the page when people go looking for related topics.
And then, when the dust settles, you look back and see which posts actually got traffic and which ones didn’t. The results are often surprising.
Such is the case for me in 2012. Continue reading
I never thought I’d be writing this blog post.
Seven years ago today, on September 1, 2005, I started a blog. I called it Martin’s Musings.
Really, I did so by accident. A friend had started a blog, and to comment on one of her posts, I had to create an account on Blogger.com. So all of a sudden I had a blog of my own.
In those early days, I had no real direction or raison d’être, and the random stuff I posted reflected that.
But over time, as I got the hang of blogging, and started to understand how it worked, Martin’s Musings got better and started to gain some legitimacy. Continue reading
My friend Todd has long threatened to start a blog called “Why Marty Is Wrong,” which he will use to refute everything I write about on my own blog.
One thing I know for sure is that Todd will never do this.
Why?
Because there’s a lot more that I’m right about than I’m wrong about. And that includes the fact that Todd has much better things to do than debate me in a point-counterpoint blog post back-and-forth.
In short, he’s all talk.
So because I have free reign to say what I want, knowing that Todd won’t ever create that blog, here’s a list of 23 things that he can’t dispute. Continue reading
Long-time readers of this blog know that I often write about needing change in my life.
Well, today I’m announcing some big changes. Three of them.
The first is the obvious one: I’ve moved my blog to a brand-new home.
After six and a half years at Blogger.com, Martin’s Musings has taken up residence at WordPress, and yes, here at martinlieberman.com.
It’s the same blog you’ve come to know and love, but better.
For example, I’ve done away with the white-text-on-black-background look that screamed “Amateur!” and I’ve chosen what I think is a cleaner look for this new iteration.
In addition, now you can subscribe to the blog, so you won’t miss anything. Just type your email address in the field at the top-right-hand corner of this blog post.
And you now can share the blog posts you like, on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and yes, on Google+ too. (All those options are at the bottom of this and every blog post.)
I’m even going to be writing more often than I have been, on some different topics than movies, so that’s something to look forward to as well.
Why is that? Well, that brings us to the second big change … Continue reading
People who can’t write well are what we in the editorial world call “job security.”
And given that more and more businesses and organizations are getting hip to the value that content can have in telling a brand’s story — and thus, attracting more customers, donations, fans, and other desired endgames — let’s just say there’s plenty of reason to feel secure in my choice of a career these days. Continue reading
Hello and welcome to the new and (hopefully) improved Martin’s Musings!
Wait, wait … Don’t run away so quickly.
I’m in the process of moving things over from my old blog, and setting up this new blog home so it looks the way I want it to. There’s lots of tinkering and fine-tuning and optimizing to do.
I’ll try and do that quickly so you’ll have something cool to see (and read) before long.
Till then, I hope you won’t judge this book by its cover.
See you soon!
September 1 means different things to different people.
I have a handful of friends who call it their birthday.
Here in Boston, it’s moving day (and holy hell, there are a lot of people moving today).
For others, it’s the start of a new school year.
But for me, September 1 will always be the anniversary of the day I started this blog.
This year marks six — count ’em, six — years I’ve been blogging, and I like to mark the day, not just to look back on what I’ve written, but to pat myself on the back for my dedication. Continue reading
Martin's Musings 