BOOMERPDX: LOOKING UNDER THE BLOG HOOD

Every writer has comments, even the bashful types who never show anyone their work.

It’s their internal commenting that keeps them secret, a voice that says, “I suck, this isn’t good enough, why would anyone care about anything I have to say?”

Yet they keep writing and putting it away. If that’s what makes you happy, keep it up.

On the other hand are writers who won’t shut it down long enough for any words but their own to creep in.

The rest of us work somewhere in between, but all share a common goal: Be a better writer.

So we read, take classes, listen to authors read their work. You know, get involved with words and word people.

Word people and mouthy people are not the same thing, but sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

If you write, keep writing. If you’d like to write, then get started.

Writing a blog is the best thing going, but you need to be careful.

The platform you work on will make a big difference now and later.

With that in mind, this is what makes BoomerPDX click:

A properly coded them inserts your work into the internet stream and draws readers from unexpected places.

The show you’re reading runs on what’s called a parent theme. Genesis Framework is the foundation and something called a ‘child theme’ is the added interface you see on the page, the blog skin.

The comments I’ve had recently have a spammy feel, but the questions asked are legitimate.

“Your blog loads so much faster than others. Please tell me what you’re doing to make it happen?”

BoomerPDX runs on WordPress. It’s a wordpress.org free download that gets regular updates. Since the new update, “Benny” came out as WordPress 4.0, I must be running 3.9?

Genesis and the skin titled News are not free. These are Studiopress products built to work on WordPress.

Confused yet?

WordPress platform. Genesis Framework. News theme. 1, 2, 3.

You end up with a ton of features and unending choices. It’s heaven for a tech-geek, and a level of hell for others.

BoomerPDX is set up for low maintenance. I’m a writer at the core and don’t want a developer in the picture so I figured out how to make this work. You should too.

Once you find the right mix of visuals on the page, all that’s left to do it write. And write. And write. But what about?

As a Portland baby boomer in one of the most forward leaning cities in America, BoomerPDX was a natural.

You’d think I’d write advice posts to my constituency, telling my own demographic the best places to live, to invest, where to eat, drink, and be merry. And I do, but most of all I write about the world we live in from a boomer perspective.

Too many boomers feel like they need permission to live the life they want. Well, I’m giving that hall pass.

Be a sports fan with a favorite team. Be a traveler with favorite places. Celebrate the events in your life and those you love like it’s the best thing in the world. What seems small to others might be the biggest thing to you. Live it up.

Look at the categories on my header menus and you’ll see what I mean.

The BoomerPDX code of conduct is move yourself. Why?

A woman my age told me one of the most powerful, and sad, things I’ve ever heard.

“My mother is 82. Yesterday she said she wished someone had told how young she was while she was in her fifties and sixties. That’s the age she gave up and decided she was old, too old to do the things she can’t do anymore.”

Is that heartbreaking enough? Go out for a walk and think about it.