What’s My Line?

A good name can get you far in life.  Apple.  Elvis.  Madonna.  Nike.  But, a great tagline can get you remembered.  I am not a crook.  You like me, you really like me!  I’m lovin’ it.   Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.

In the Blog-O-Sphere, you need to have a great title to attract readers to your sight.  Even with posts, you must be creative, witty, and informative when labeling each and every article.  “A Post About Doctors” is not nearly as fun and enticing as “Turn Your Head and Cough.” A great title can help or hinder a sight from rising to great heights.

When thinking up a moniker for your site, however, there is a sub-title which can be applied, as well.  This is called the tagline, and it serves to offer another label to define your blog.  The taglines I’ve seen have typically been humorous, or even straight to the point.  A blog about travel.  A site for mothers.  Straight from the horse’s mouth.  Over the river and through the woods. A few more words to leave you with to give the blog more character.  Simple and effective.

For the past 2 months, Miracle on 32nd Street has exhibited a very festive holiday theme, which was retired for the season this past Monday.  I also updated my blog picture, opting to also store away the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree logo until next November.  I’m beginning to take down the rest of the holiday remnants, which will be completed by the end of the week, but there is one item that leaves me scratching my head:  the tagline.

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I Want Magic

I want something magical to happen.

Do you ever find yourself wishing that the impossible wasn’t so impossible?  Do you sit at home, late at night, fantasizing about scenarios so extraordinary that they might have been penned by J.K. Rowling?

Maybe it’s because it’s the middle of January…maybe it’s because I haven’t seen lush, green grass for a few months…or maybe it’s because it’s that time of year devoid of Christmas lights or any exciting holidays approaching.  Whatever it is, I need something magical to happen.  Something wonderful…and magnificent…and positively surprising.

I want to put my faith in something inconceivable.  I need some kind of wonderful to waltz into my dance.  I crave adventure—swashbuckling pirates, ride-able dragons, magic wands, hidden worlds—something, anything to sweep me off my feet.

I want to be awed.  I want to marvel.  I want to be so caught up in the moment that I forget to breathe.  I want to be moved.

I need a taste of summer during this long, fretful winter.  I need to know that the days will speed by and the familiar breezes of spring will flit through the cherry blossoms once again.  I need to revisit the smell of the wind off the lake, and soak up the aroma after a thunderstorm.  I need to know I’ll find that summer sun once again.

I need to know that there’s a reason for enduring the bitter cold.  I need encouragement to wait out the storm, to see where the last snowflakes fly.  If braving the ice and sleet guarantees a sweet reawakening in the spring, I will gladly bare all blizzards that pass my way…because, when blizzards finish their attack, they always, always leave behind a beautiful, shining scene.

I need to believe in something wonderful.  I want to believe in the impossible.  I trust in a power no one can define.

I hope…

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A very, very happy birthday to Uncle Lewis, who turned the tender young age of 85 yesterday!  I’d personally like to dedicate the newly renovated blog theme to him, which is entitled Spring Loaded.  Uncle Lewis, you continue to amaze me, in every way shape and form.  I want to shout it to the world!

And there’s that line…

In the world of blogging, there is always a tricky line which we bloggers must choose a side on….

Pick a side...

Uncle Lewis: Do you mean choosing whether or not you’ll post nudie photos from last year’s Christmas party??  When you drank too much eggnog and lost your Depends?  ‘Cause I definitely know which side of that line I’m on!

Uncle Lewis, put down that 5th can of Yuengling!  You’re cut off for the night!  I will make you sleep on the couch again!

I, of course, was not talking about the nudity line, much to Uncle Lewis’ chagrin.  I was, in fact, referencing the delicate line of anonymity which exists in the blogging world…a line which inevitably forces all bloggers to answer the question:  will I or won’t I keep my blog a secret?

I have been commandeering the Captain’s Chair here at Miracle on 32nd Street for over a month now, and have upheld the decision to keep my blog private from friends and family members, save two people.  No one outside of these two people has any knowledge of my blog, my writing, or my RAC quest.  Trust me, it has been a decision that I’ve continually pondered over and over again.

I can obviously see the beauty of telling everyone  and anyone you know: site stats sky rocket, you have more comments than you know what to do with, and you receive recognition from those closest to you.  There have been many a web-browsing session where my mouse cursor lingered slightly longer over my Facebook status box.  It would be so easy to tell EVERYONE about my blog, I thought.  Just a few swift keystrokes, a mouse click, and boom…instant publicity.  Tempting, ain’t it?

Ohhh, Andy...