Some of y’all may remember that I recently had a writing contest on my blog. It was called the This Post Blows My Dress Up Contest. You can click that link to see all the entries. The theme was “Scared Silly,” and Robin at Around the Island was the winner with her post called “Treed, or rather staircased.”

So you will know:
I’m planning on having that contest again VERY SOON, and I’m having trouble deciding on a theme. I’m torn. Stories in Texas start out with the phrase, “You ain’t gonna believe this, but.” That’s a possibility. Or, maybe the theme could be, “I’ll never do THAT again.” What about, “It Wasn’t MY Fault!” Do you have suggestions? Tell me, and I’ll put a poll on the sidebar to let y’all choose.

Damien Riley, at Postcards From The Funny Farm was the judge (it’s a pity he couldn’t participate, because he wrote an awesome post after the contest was done, called Close Encounters of The Desert Kind, that certainly scared ME silly-er). He did a fine job, and I can’t thank him enough for taking on that difficult task.

If you don’t know him, I’d like you to meet him. He’s a blogger after my own heart, because his posts are an eclectic mix. I call myself a “Blog Soup” blogger, every day something is added to the pot, so every day it’s a different flavor. Damien is like that, too.

I asked him some questions. Here they are with the answers Damien was kind enough to provide.

1. I enjoy the fact that your blog always has many topics and that it is always a surprise to see what subject you have chosen. If you could only pick one topic to blog, what would it be? What is your “niche?”

   Inspiration/Psychology (that’s two kind of …)

2. What’s your motivation for blogging? What do you hope to accomplish?

   To the first question I say: my motivation is to write things daily that inspire people. For example, a while back I wrote a post called “You’re never too old to go back to college.” It got over 100 visits in a week and I got a some kind email thanking me for the inspiring words. I hope to accomplish the same excitement in others that I feel about life (when I am up that is).

3. You are constantly tweaking your templates (it reminds me of how I like to move furniture around). Why do you do that? What look are you trying to achieve?

   I’ve been better lately haven’t I? The truth is I learn through dissection and often “destruction.” I’ll never forget the day my mom came home and I had the family television taken apart. I was trying to attach the cables to our home stereo. Remember I was 13 and this was 1983 before people did that with TV’s. Point is, I am the guy everyone calls now for help with TV and audio stuff. It’s how I learned to master things like Wordpress code, PHP, Javascript, and html. If anyone ever needs help, just ask. I enjoy helping others get excited about themes and Wordpress. One of these days, Rock Chick is gonna get me help her with her Wordpress.org install.

4. What do you look for in a blog that you are willing to put in your feed?

   My goodness, you’ll need to pay for that info LOL. Just kidding, you have paid me and my blog in so many ways! So here’s my answer:

   Remember at camp when you would sit in a circle and everyone would share something about themselves? There were a few people you connected with and said “That’s gonna be who I eat dinner next to tonight at Hormel Hall.” Well i do my RSS rounds and often I’ll see an image in the theme or a title or even a whole post that is written in a way that just invigorates me on some level. They usually go on my RSS first and if it is a consistent connection, they make the Blogroll. My blogroll is a special honor ( I think) because it is where I pull most often for my weekly Blog Safari and for reading stuff after the RSS is dry. I have about 120 on my RSS and only 25 that have made the blogroll. Also, when I add to my blogroll I also feature the latest posts from my blogroll folks in my sidebar through a plugin that shows the Technorati favorites feed. “TIS GOOD THING”

5. How do you find time for blogging with an active young family and your work? Do you ever sleep?

   Balance is really hard. I love my kids but sometimes the computer takes my attention away from them. I really need to work on this issue! I am able to close it though and sometimes do to read the Cat in the Hat to my 3 y/o Isabella or Play horsie with my 10 month old Julianna or even “go get yummies” for the family with my 10 year old Brandon riding co-pilot in between writing assignments.
   

6. Do you ever get “blogger’s block,” and if so how do you find inspiration?

   Not often these days. I have many writing purposes. I am a featured author now on 8 online publications (only 2 are paid, the rest are guestblog roles) and if you read my about page you’ll see how much writing I do for a variety of other writing transactions. I have the shortcuts to most of these on my toolbar so i can go down the line until I usually see an idea that excites me, then I start gathering links or writing or pictures, just having fun like bloggers do! It was when my blog was called “Riley Central” and my only goal was to get more readers with no focus and sometimes no motivation that the bloggers block came in. So, as I am sure you know Shelly, get many writing purposes in your pocket for those rainy days of low inspiration.
   

7. I think you’ve joined every social network on the internet. Tell us, is that worth the effort? What is the one social network we should join?

   Thank you for asking that. I am actually in the middle of a 5 part series called Finest Hour of Social Networks, if you are interested in following it the url is below:
   http://rileycentral.net/wordpress/2008/03/27/finest-hour-of-social-networks/

   Right now, the ones Introducing me to the most good blogs for my RSS are Entrecard and Blog Catalog but there are many many others I talk about in the series. You guys should all join Entrecard, you will get a lot of exposure.
   

8. What advice do you have for “newbies?”

   Since you asked
   *Do not use blogger as a platform but rather Wordpress.org with a self-paid host (mine is 6.95 /mo if you have questions ask me)
   *Get about 10 posts up with pictures before you “launch.”
   *Use Social Networks to find blogs in your category and comment comment comment … then comment more.
   *Enjoy and comment on my blog so I know you’re there. I always comment back.
   *Read my latest article at Kimberly Clay’s blog, it explains the rest If interested the url is below:
   http://rileycentral.net/wordpress/2008/03/31/my-article-master-one-thing-is-up-at-get-my-wealth-now/
   

9. What else do we need to know about Damien Riley?

   Two of my favorite quotes:
   “80% of success is showing up.” -Woody Allen
   “You only get 80 Years with luck or even less” -Pink Floyd
   

10. In the style of those random questions on the Blogger profiles: If your life were a “game,” which game would it be? (as in board game, card game, computer game, etc)

    Operation
    

So, there you have it folks. I hope you will pay Damien a visit and tell him “Hey.” He’s one of the most generous bloggers you will find.