Tigger, age 20, is a new Blogger in the Community of Cat Blogging, infrequently, but eloquently, posting, at Tales of Tigger and The Teach, since January of this year.
Who says you can't teach an old Pussy new tricks! ;-D
Tigger stopped by, this morning, to finally claim the Beautiful Blogger Award I had presented him back in March. ;-D
Recently he asked some questions in a post that were designed to help him, and his Human, better understand this thing we call Blogging, and determine what sort of place they want to make for themselves as they join in the fun: Help Wanted.
I wrote them an e-mail, this morning, that I want to share (Most of this has been shared, in various ways, over the years, but there are always newcommers who may not know my history.)......
Dear Tigger, & your Human Research Assisitant, and Photographer....Cat Blogging, and your place in it, is what YOU choose to make of it. I have been online since 1998, when I was but a newly adopted Kitten, and Daddy & I posted on a website message board years before Blogging existed. ;-D I Blog when Daddy is either asleep, or not at home, that way we don't get in each others way. ;-D As I also wrote that day: In April 2004 Daddy began to occasionally link to ( And submit entries to. ) the then new Carnival of the Cats, and the last such Carnival Linking was in October 2006. You see, by then a growing Community of Cat Loving Bloggers, and their Blogging Kitties, had made their considerable presense known in the Blogosphere, and there were several weekly "Events" to mention. In April 2006 a website was born, on that called itself THE CAT BLOGOSPHERE (CB) and it was purrfectly delightful! ;-D Yes... We cats were taking over the Blogosphere. It's the first step to taking over the world! ;-D I won't be the first Cat Blogger to find the inspiration to blog about, and comment on news stories, websites, and blogs, but I intend to add my unique voice to that side of our Community, as best I know how, and with the continued help, and encouragement, of Daddy behind the scenes. The websites and blogs, videos, newspaper columns, TV and Radio Shows, and Podcasts of others have a lot to teach us Felines, and our Humans, and the variety, I'm slowly learning, is truly astounding. But I made the decision, with my new blog, to try, hee, hee! In ways that many in the Cat Blogging world have no interest in doing. I cover a lot of subjects, on this blog, on a regular basis, and there are many Category Archives developing. ;-D I am sorry to have rambled on so long, but I wanted to give you just one Cat's perspective of what it has meant, and what it means, to be a part of The Cat Blogosphere Community. There are as many such stories as there are Cats, and Cat Lovers, who blog, or have Websites attached to organizations, and businesses. ;-D Sincerely yours, NIKITA CAT Proud Feline Pundit Since 2002! Offishul Repurrter of The Cat Blogosphere Website MOTTO: You Giva Me No Trouble - I Giva You No Smack! Creative writing, photos, experiences, observations, & opinions, on life, & the world around him, by an outspoken ManCat (Born 1998) taking one step at a time on the Journey of Discovery, & Enlightenment, that comes with having 9 Lives to work with. TIGGER = Wow. All of that is truly admirable, and way more than I ever even hope to be/get done. I honestly don't know how you have time to do all of that...Thanks so much for all of the info! ME = A lot? We both just love to write, and share photographs. ;-D ***END UPDATE***
Every Cat who Blogs, or Human who blogs about his/her Cat/Cats, does it their own way, with their own goals, and asperations.
Yes, there are some points of etiquette, and choice bits of popular vocabulary, and the language used to write ones blog varies from plain ordinary English, or whatever the language of the country you live in is, to LOL! Cat Style, and many ways in between.
This is my story and, if it helps you in some way, then I am glad to share it....
In May 2002 Daddy began a Blog that he ended in October 2007.
One side of that blog was a category called "Me & My Pussy (Cat)". ;-D
My first post there was Sept. 2, 2002.
My last post there was April Fool's Day 2007.
As I wrote in one post in March 2007:
I began Blogging in Sept. 2002, rather infrequently (2 times in 2002, 3 times in 2005), until Daddy bought a Digital Camera, and we could work together to show off my handsome personage to the world, but enough to know that people enjoyed reading my thoughts, and looked forward to more.
In December 2005 I started blogging lots more always labeling my contributions as "Meowsings of a Right Paw Puttie Tat". ;-D
Daddy, & I, continued to promote, and contribute to, the Carnivals, and I first began to slowly build my sidebar collection of links. When Daddy moved to a new Blog he calls Musings of a Mad Macedonian, in October 2007, he set me up with a section of my own called Nikita's Place.
The name of my current blog has its origins in some of the posts I wrote there under that name. ;-D
I began to blog lots more, becoming more outspoken, and opinionated, writing poetry, and humor, and more, still plugging the CB, & Carnivals.
In January 2008 I announced that I would be hosting my very first Carnival of the Cats in March. ;-D
This was a huge step for me because, even though I'd been doing little round-ups pointing readers to Cat news, and blogs, and to all the different Carnivals, I'd never hosted one of them myself.
On March 31st that ended with a bang: Carnival of the Cats #211.
There were 42, count them, 42, entries that week, and this was pretty typical in those first 4 years to that point.
I later hosted Carnival #246 which had 25 entries, and #249 with 24 entries.
I went on to host Carnival 3 times in 2009, and more pics, poems, and opinions heralded my becoming more active in The Cat Blogging Community.
Daddy even put me on YouTube!
By the end of the year Daddy had come to a decision, one he admits he should have thought of years ago.
He gave me my own place.
The fact that MY blog posts were more popular than his helped clinch the deal. ;-D
I had become a pin-up kitty in the CB Calendar, and had many friends in the Community who were always encouraging me in my blogging, and had received many links, and compliments within, and outside of, the Cat Blogosphere, the previous 3 years.
I was set to take on major roles in hosting not just the Carnival of the Cats, in 2010, but the Weekend Cat Blogging, and Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos and, by Spring, I was to be an Offishul Repurrter for the CB.
It was time for me to take the next step, appropriate for me, and my interests, as a Cat Blogger, and that's how I came to begin this blog on New Year's Day. ;-D
My sidebar evolved, and expanded, into what you see today.
As I wrote last December:
The growing number, and variety, of the links in my blogrolls will give me a lot to choose from as places to get post ideas, and as places to write about, and comment on.
Most of the contents of the sidebars are unlike those of most Blogs in our corner of the Blogosphere, and that is intentional on my part.
There is so much that is cool and wonderful about our "Community" that a Cat would need more than the alotted 9 Lives to check it all out!My Creative Writing, Street Seens, Seen and Heard, and Strolling, Series, plus my campaign on behalf of a word (Not for the Faint of Heart, Heh, heh!), are just 6 examples.
Professor of the Nikita Institute of Feline Studies: The Most Opinionated Cat in America, With Talent on Loan from THE CEILING CAT!
Compared to what many Bloggers, in all sorts of Genres, do, it's not, really.
You see, we don't have the tech skills, time, resources, and connections, to do what would make us truly successful, and bring tons of traffic, and maybe even make a little money at it. ;-D
We do what we can, and are slowly learning to do more (Business Card & Feline Flyer, Funny T-Shirt - Ask me About My Pussy! - Various "Like" Buttons at the end of each post, Amazon Ads, Google Ads, Blog Ads, Twitter, Facebook.).
Lots of people think the ONLY reason to blog is to make money, and if we felt that way we would have stopped years ago. ;-D
Daddy has the oldest Bike Blog in the USA (Begun Jan. 2003), but hardly anyone notices the place anymore, if they ever really did, hee, hee! ;-D
Mom's so embarrassed it took her so long.
She's a little sloooow (Makes me crazy.).
Anyhoo, thanks so much for all of your help!
Posted by: Tigger | July 05, 2010 at 09:04 PM
That is a lot of good information.
You have been blogging for a long time.
Very impressive.
Mom wants to know how you do it for so long?
Congrats!
You deserve your own special award.
Posted by: Harry Spotter | July 06, 2010 at 05:25 AM
Harry...
We enjoy it, we enjoy writing, and photography, that's the secret of our longevity.
As for awards, I got the Beautiful Blogger from KC, then it was my responsibility to pass it on to a number of others, and so I did. ;-D
Posted by: Nikita Cat | July 06, 2010 at 07:52 AM