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T.G.I.T. Thursday Rundown

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Buenos Noches mis amigos! It is time for my weekly Don’t Blink tradition…the Thursday Rundown. Here we go with my latest five topics…

Same Shirt, Same Pose – A couple months back in a previous Thursday Rundown, I wrote about wearing the exact same shirt on the same date. I had worn the same black polo on July 6, 2017, that I had worn on July 6, 2016. However, that fashion faux pas was put to complete shame this past Sunday. I wore a multi-colored polo that, thanks to Timehop, I had worn exactly five years prior. Yes, I have clothes in my closet that date back five years that I still wear.

Taste of the Town – On Tuesday night, Sidney and I left Sloan in the loving care of my in-laws and the two of us went out on a date night that has become a tradition for us. For the fourth consecutive year, we attended Taste of the Town, an event where you can sample appetizers, entrees, and desserts from restaurants in the area. This year’s Taste of the Town was the best one yet! We enjoyed delicious food, saw lots of people we knew, and chatted with both of our priests. Ah yes, I forgot to mention, the event is put on by St. Andrew. The major fundraiser for the grade school, I am always so proud to be part of the St. Andrew Catholic community when we go to Taste of the Town just because it is such a well-done event that practically all of Myrtle Beach attends. This year was once again no exception.

Sidney and I at the 2017 Taste of the Town.

The Dethroning of a Jeopardy Champion – Last week, I boldly declared that I would continue to incorporate Jeopardy phenom Austin Rogers into my Thursday Rundowns until he was knocked off. Apparently my declaration was his kiss of death. Just an hour after I published last week’s Rundown, Austin lost to a contestant named Scarlett. I was jumping around the living room with joy as he came up short in Final Jeopardy. Although he grew on me a little bit, I fiercly cheered against him throughout his entire run. Austin, you are incredibly smart and a great Jeopardy player but I am glad I no longer have to see you at 7:30 p.m. each night.

T.G.I.F…what? – Another testament to my advancing age is that apparently college students have no idea what T.G.I.F. is/was. Our Homecoming theme this year plays off of the epic 2-hour block of programming that I looked forward to each Friday during my childhood. However, Monica, my student intern, and her friend, Ethan, had absolutely no idea what T.G.I.F. was other than an acronym for the end of the work week. Other students have admitted to not knowing about ABC’s late 1990s/early 2000s ratings bonanza as well. If T.G.I.F. has indeed completely swept by this generation, perhaps I should just get a walker and retire.

Although Ethan and Monica modeled the TGIF-inspired CCU Homecoming t-shirts, they had no idea what T.G.I.F. was.

Growing, Growing, Growing – Sloan turned 7 months on Tuesday! How did she celebrate? Well, before we dropped her off with Sidney’s parents, she got four shots (poor girl) at the pediatrician’s office. However, she took them like a champ, and was back to grabbing things and clapping her hands in no time. The comment we received the most this week has been she is getting so big! It is true, she is now almost 17 pounds and she seems to be growing right in front of us. She turns 31 weeks tomorrow.

Here is this week’s photo collage of Sloan.

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I hope everyone has a great autumn weekend. Sloan has a photo shoot on Saturday so hopefully I will be sharing some professional photos of our little girl soon. As always, thanks for your support and readership. Don’t Blink.

Changing Gyms

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After over three years of attending the beautiful HTC Center for my workouts, I joined a new gym last month. The contrast between the sparkling facility we have here at Coastal Carolina University versus the place I am going to now is quite striking.

In short, the former is really nice while the latter is not. But trust me, I am completely fine with it.

Because the hours of operation for both Coastal’s gym and Sloan’s day care don’t mesh well together, I had to find a new exercise center, one that was open 24 hours and preferably close to our house. It didn’t take me long to pinpoint a location.

I am now a member of Gold’s Gym (you want to lift some iron, bro?). Before I address the stereotypes let me explain why I made this decision.

I am now a member of Gold’s Gym in Myrtle Beach.

Believe it or not, I have a history with Gold’s Gym. When I would return to Spokane for holiday and summer breaks when I was a college student, I would pull together the little money I had and use it to purchase whatever promo deal the local Gold’s Gym was offering to get me through the couple weeks or month I was home. Additionally, over the last couple years, I have frequented the Myrtle Beach Gold’s Gym on days the HTC Center was closed (on holidays and when campus shut down for weather events). Thus, because the Myrtle Beach Gold’s Gym is open 24 hours during the week and because it is within 10 minutes of my house, based on the familiarity I had already established with the brand, I went ahead and purchased an actual membership.

As I said, the HTC Center and Gold’s are worlds apart. I went from working out in a spacious, top of the line facility to sweating it out in an old, cramped gym. I went from exercising in the company of fit college students to being surrounded by extremely muscular and intimidating adults. I went from enjoying brand new equipment to lifting weights that could easily be confused with inventory meant for a prison gym.

I do get in a good sweat at Gold’s (and that is all that matters). The Myrtle Beach Gold’s Gym has an actual hardwood gym that I use at the end of my workout. I took this photo a couple weeks ago.

But hold on for one second. I am being a bit dramatic. Although the above comparisons are for the most part true, I do actually enjoy working out at Gold’s Gym. Even if it feels as if I am stepping into the 1980s each time I walk through the doors, it is the atmosphere that makes a gym. At Gold’s, people work hard and treat me with plenty of respect (even the ones who can bench press 1,000 pounds). The staff is incredible. The facility and equipment might be old but it is conducive to what I need to complete my workout and feel good about myself. Most importantly, Gold’s Gym allows me to show up before 5 a.m. so I can get in my workout and get home so my wife can go to work and I can take Sloan to day care.

And, in the end, I am not turning my back on the HTC Center. Although the majority of my workouts take place at Gold’s, I still have the pleasure of exercising with the campus community twice a week. However, I have learned one thing: although luxuries are nice, it is not the gym itself that works the magic; it is the person utilizing it. Don’t Blink.

Car Dogs

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Last night, I finished watching a movie on Netflix called “Car Dogs.” The film is about a car dealership that must sell a large number of vehicles in one day. This particular dealership has a large team of salesmen (and one saleswoman) who have to work extremely hard to meet the quota. The film focuses on many of these salespeople, including the general manager and owner, as they employ different tactics to reach the goal. There is a backstory to the madness but it is not important for this blog post.

The movie “Car Dogs” raised one big question for me.

When I was 12, I remember tagging along with my parents as they looked for a new car. My mom and dad really don’t rush into too many decisions so as you can imagine, it was a pretty exhaustive search that included multiple car dealerships and multiple salespeople. Although I didn’t know a thing about sales at the time, I quickly became acquanited with the various tricks and skills used by the dealership employees. Watching my parents test drive, turn down, negotiate, and, ultimately, purchase a vehicle, was an eye opening experience.

As I grew older, I had a couple more experiences with car salespeople. The summer of my sophomore year in college I visited several used car dealerships to find a dependable vehicle. Although my dad helped me with the negotiations, I would go on test drives with the various salespeople alone. With my dad out of the picture, they would take their best shot at me to close the deal.

Then, just earlier this year, Sidney and I leased a brand new vehicle. It just took one morning for us to drive off in a brand new RAV4 but we still went through “the process.”

Some people love buying a car and negotiating the terms. It gives them a sense of control and a shot of adrenaline. Personally, I don’t particularly enjoy it. I always feel ill-prepared to haggle with a person on his/her turf who does it for a living several times a day. To put it simply, I know I am at a major disadvantage.

But watching “Car Dogs” made me aware of another potential BIG disadvantage that I never considered or knew about. In the film, the salespeople dealt routinely with married couples and family members. When the salesperson would go off to the sales office to run a deal/price by the general manager, the customers didn’t have the privacy they probably thought. In fact, every word the customers said went right to the dealer’s office. Yes, the negotiation room was bugged! By the time the salesperson entered the room to talk to his boss, he could listen in on exactly the direction the customers were leaning.

Honestly, does this really happen?! Can my car dealership readers enlighten me? If this is the case, I am not necessarily mad. I am just angry at myself for being such a sucker. When Sidney and I leased our car, we openly talked about what we wanted to do each time our salesperson “went to the back.” To know that every word we said was transmitted crystal clear to the dealership staff is kind of crazy.

By the way, I recommend “Car Dogs.” Regardless of what you think about the car purchasing charade, it is a funny and insightful film. If you do plan to purchase a new vehicle in the near future, I think it is a must-watch. Don’t Blink.

Trick-Or-Treat Candy Moderation

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In today’s Dear Abby column, a reader offered her method for dealing with her children’s Halloween candy. Instead of letting them reach sugar highs for the next two months after October 31, she introduced the “Halloween Witch.” Shortly after her kids return from trick-or-treating, they can pick and keep a certain percentage of their candy. The remainder is then “sacrificed” to the Halloween Witch who comes in the middle of the night and swipes it. In the candy’s place, she leaves a toy.

Not a bad idea! I found it to be creative and fair. It got me thinking about other ways parents can productively manage their children’s Halloween candy intake. I came up with my own five brief ways to do so.

– Special Delivery: Mom and dad can teach giving and consideration. Using extended family, kids will have to give two pieces of candy to 10-15 people such as aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. The children will have sole discretion on what to give to their family members but they must use what they know about each relative when making the decision. For example, if they know their Aunt Connie likes peanuts, they would give her a Snickers bar. The kids will hand deliver the candy or mail it off, depending on what is feasible.

– Operation Candy Bowl: Children will fill the candy bowls at the work places of both mom and dad while also stocking the candy bowl kept in the living room at the house. Also, parents will encourage their kids to reach out to a business they know has an awful selection in its candy bowl (i.e. Jolly Ranchers that are five years old) and offer to replenish it with candy that people will actually eat.

– Express Yourself: The oldest “Will you go to Homecoming with me?” trick in the book is when someone spells something out on poster board using different candy bars. How about teaching them early? Parents will have an arts and crafts night in early November where the kids will have to use no less than 10 pieces of candy to tell a story or express an important message. This will be an activity where mom and dad will have to assist quite a bit but not only will it cut down on candy consumption but it will be a great learning exercise.

– Can You Meet Me Halfway?: Okay, so your kids don’t want to give any of their candy away? Try this hack. Allow your children to keep all of their candy under one condition…they can only eat half of each piece. If it is a Baby Ruth fun size bar, they break it in half. If there are 20 Skittles in a pack, they eat 10 and throw away 10. While they do this, they must log the calories they are saving. When the Halloween candy runs out, they add up the total amount of calories they ended up not eating. For many, that number will be in the five digits.

– Treasure Hunt: After the children decide on what pieces of candy they want to keep, the rest is put in a garbage sack or a toy treasure chest and is taken out in the backyard. A parent then digs a deep hole and places the sack or chest inside it before “burying it alive!” On October 30 of the following year, the candy will be unearthed. Kids can then see how the candy decomposed all while getting excited for the following night. Also, just knowing that a load of candy is buried in the backyard is something that will keep capture the imagination of the children throughout the year.

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What ways do you have for moderating your children’s candy intake? We have an easy method for Sloan this year. It is called give all your candy to mommy and daddy. Have a great Sunday! Don’t Blink.

Reading the Rundown for the Sloan Photos

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Good evening, my friends. I hope everyone has had a great day so far. Thanks for returning to Don’t Blink. Here we go with the Thursday Rundown…

Birthday Cookie – How do you ship a cookie from one side of the country to the other and still have it taste like it just came out of the oven? Put it in a miniature pizza box of course! My mom sent me one of her homemade chocolate chip cookies this past week to mark my birthday. Sidney and I devoured it, well, I mostly devoured it, and I couldn’t have been more impressed with its quality. It tasted just like home. Thanks mom!

Thank you to my mom for sending me a delicious birthday cookie.

Brent “Trump” Reser – Out of all the birthday messages I received on Facebook (and I replied to each one), the most creative one came from Rob Wyeth, our director of creative services at Coastal. If you remember Rob from previous blog posts, he is the man behind our Festivus t-shirt exchange and our office birthday cards. Anyway, he celebrated my day of birth by “Trumping” me. I don’t really know if it is a good look for me or not. DISCLAIMER: Someone putting my face on a politician does not necessarily mean I support or endorse that person.

Rob Wyeth put this graphic together.

Deal Alert – I have written before about how good Walmart’s Great Value brand is, especially its ice cream. Heck, it beat out Ben & Jerry’s in a taste test I conducted. So when ice cream that good is on sale for a low price, I have to let my readers know about it. At our local Walmart Market this past Sunday, a tub ran just $1.84. This includes all flavors. A pint of Ben & Jerry’s runs close to $6 at some places. I had never seen the price of ice cream of this quality and quantity ever dip so low. Take advantage of it, you won’t regret it (unless you are trying to lose weight).

All those cartons of ice cream for just $1.84!!

Austin – Because I wrote an entire blog post on Jeopardy champion Austin Rogers, I feel obligated to follow up with an update on my Thursday Rundown (I will do this every Thursday until he is dethroned). The past two nights have been runaways for the champ as he continues to use the Daily Doubles to pull away. Last evening a woman from Surf Side, S.C., was a contestant and it would have been a storybook tale if she defeated Austin. Obviously, it didn’t happen. I am still punching the pillows and gritting my teeth as he sweeps categories and aces Final Jeopardy. At least I learned a cool fact last night…Austin buys all of his suits and ties at thrift shops…much respect to him!

Sloan at 30 Weeks – Sloan is well over 200 days old now! She reaches for everything and she feels that a box of baby wipes is more fun to play with than any of her toys. Her newest trick is clapping her hands. She loves to show off by doing it, bringing a big smile to her mommy and daddy. She keeps getting sweeter and prettier by the day.

Our baby girl is now 30 weeks old. Here is the latest collage with photos from this past week.

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Please remember the victims and families impacted by awful events such as the shooting, the hurricanes, and the fires. We all need to realize our own good fortune. Have a nice weekend. Don’t Blink.

My Opinion on Jeopardy Champion Austin Rogers

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Now that Austin Rogers is a 10-day Jeopardy champion, I feel I can chime in with my thoughts on the way he plays the game and conducts himself. Let me start off by saying that I have watched every episode that Austin has appeared in thus far. I have joked about it before, but Sidney and I watch Jeopardy pretty religiously. In fact, with a 6-month-old and a high fatigue level at the end of the day, watching the show is usually the highlight of our night. But I get off track. All I am really trying to say is that I have become well-acquainted with Austin.

With that said, I hope he loses. You see, I fear that if he continues to win I might actually start to like him.

I am not a big fan of current Jeopardy champion Austin Rogers.

I have cheered against Austin since he was a challenger. Call me a party pooper, but I prefer old school Jeopardy players. Specifically, I root for players who don’t try to make the show all about them. I pull for the players who don’t feel the need to act goofy, crack jokes, offer commentary, and make gestures at the camera. I support the players who don’t try to stand out with what they choose to wear and how they style (or don’t style) their hair. Austin is the quintessential “look at me” Jeopardy contestant. He is the poster boy for the millennial fans of the show.

However, I will say this: Although he tries to act as eccentric as possible, he does have an underlying respect for the game. He treats Alex Trebek and his opponents with decency, a trait that was missing from the last Jeopardy champion I despised.

Besides his wild Daily Double wagering, Austin employs a Jeopardy strategy that is pretty much by the book. He doesn’t jump around the board and isn’t reckless during Final Jeopardy. He capitalizes off his opponents’ mistakes and can comeback from thousands of dollars down in a flash. Too many times I have found myself pounding the pillow after an opponent has opened up a sizeable lead only to see Austin go on a roll and turn the game into a runaway.

I would appreciate his game strategy and talent so much more if it wasn’t for his shenanigans. It is just too much. Or, should I say, for the time being it is too much?…

As I hinted at above, Austin might be growing on me a bit. Perhaps his act is starting to make me smile once or twice per episode. Maybe I am starting to look forward to his mime act during player introductions. There is a chance that lately I haven’t cringed as much during his mid-round interview with Alex.

No! This can’t be happening. Austin, please LOSE. I think tonight is the perfect time to do so. Don’t Blink.

Responding to Last Night’s 60 Minutes Episode

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Last night, Sidney and I sat down in the living room to fold clothes. We turned on the TV at 7:20 p.m. and went to CBS. We tuned in just in time to catch the second and third segments of “60 Minutes.” I wish we would have started from the beginning because if the first segment was as interesting as the other two, it was a show for the ages.

The program profiled the digital director of President Donald Trump’s campaign team, Brad Parscale. Predictably, Lesley Stahl asked the hot button questions of whether the campaign colluded digitally with Russia or whether it tried to advertise toward racists, claims strongly denied by Parscale. However, what was most interesting and relevant about the interview was just how important Parscale’s work was toward helping Trump win the presidency.

This man is Donald Trump’s digital guru.

For me, it was a testament to the power of social media advertising. It was also a really cool realization that Brad does pretty much what I do, just on a larger (okay, much larger) scale. He clearly explained that thanks to the advertising options made available by social media channels, the ability to reach audiences that are specific, yet coveted, is a new age reality. He elaborated that he pretty much learned on the job by experimenting and seeking help. Yes, even the digital advertising guru of President Trump’s campaign took advantage of Facebook’s ad development sessions.

I think Brad Parscale did a good job of enlightening the American people that social media advertising is an extremely powerful technique that yields results. It isn’t something that only a few people have access to or something that is “magic.” Rather, it is something we can all take advantage of while knowing exactly how our money is spent due to superior analytics. Like it or not, it is the new way of advertising and reaching people, a method that some (cough…cough…Hillary Clinton’s campaign team) might not embrace as much as they should. As someone who does this type of marketing each day at work, I am fascinated with the creation and execution of social media ads and I appreciated the insight that someone of Parscale’s stature brought to a national television audience.

The third segment of last night’s 60 Minutes episode was a feature on restaurateur Danny Meyer. The piece explored a couple different restaurant trends that Meyer started himself. The first such trend is the “fine-casual” format that is popular with the lunch crowd. Through his Shake Shack restaurant line, people stand in line for 45 minutes on most days to order a gourmet burger. Customers receive the sophisticated taste in an atmosphere that resembles more of a fast food joint than a 5-star restaurant.

This is Danny Meyer, an innovative mind in the restaurant business.

Doesn’t appeal to me. When I eat lunch, I don’t want fine dining. As most of you know, I eat a peanut butter sandwich most days. Also, who wants to spend their lunch hour standing in a long line? I much rather eat my sandwich while surfing espn.com.

The second trend explored was Meyer’s crusade to end tipping. By raising prices in his restaurants by 25%, he can pay both his wait staff AND kitchen staff better wages. Because servers and cooks are earning much more through their base pay, the expectation to tip is eliminated.

I dislike this trend as well. I don’t want to see inflated prices on the menu. How depressing. I also prefer a wait staff that is motivated by an impending tip. What is the incentive to go above and beyond if the servers have nothing extra to work for?

Thank you to CBS for giving us some riveting television last night. With “Jeopardy” already our favorite program, nothing would make Sidney and I feel even more like a senior citizen couple than if we added 60 Minutes to our TV schedule as well. Don’t Blink.

Not Sweating Another Birthday

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Every year since I turned 25 I have marked my birthday with a blog post. Usually I would assess where I was in life and how I hated getting older. However, I changed my tune when I turned 30 last year. When I joined the “three decade club” I had come to a realization that I was happy where I was at in life and there was no longer the need to compare myself to societal benchmarks.

Sloan surprised me this morning with a special birthday wish.

Today I turn 31. My sentiment is exactly the same as it was a year ago. I am content. Did entering my thirties suddenly bring on this change in me? Well, no. My whole outlook didn’t change the second I turned 30 at 8:06 a.m. on 10-8-2016. I like to think I have just gradually matured and realized what is important in life.

As a 31-year-old geezer, I have a beautiful wife, precious daughter, great job, perfect church, strong faith, and a warm home. I am thankful and I am blessed. Honestly, what more can you ask for?

It is hard to add significance to turning 31. It sure stings a lot less than turning 30. Perhaps I can just say it is my 10 year anniversary of turning 21? I don’t think I ever had more fun than I did during that year. Perhaps that is a good omen for these next 365 days.

A photo of me from 10 years ago today on my “21 birthday run.” That year was awesome and this one will be too!

But it doesn’t matter if I don’t have half as much fun at 31 as I did at 21. Like I said, I am more than satisfied with what I have. With that said, my little family is off to mass to pray and be thankful. A little later we will join Sidney’s family for a joint celebration (my sister-in-law had a birthday on Thursday). We will then return to our home and enjoy the rest of our Sunday together. In my opinion, there is no better way to spend a birthday. Don’t Blink.

Still Thinking of Vegas Thursday Rundown

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The first Thursday Rundown of October is here! I would like to use it to first wish my sister-in-law, Stephanie, a very happy birthday. I hope it has been a great day for her so far. Let’s start the rundown…

Heroic Stories – Tears stream down my face when I watch some of these stories about people who performed courageous and selfless acts during the Las Vegas shooting. On Sunday night, that music festival had some incredibly brave men and women in the crowd. I know all of us like to say we would do the same thing but we give ourselves way too much credit. We have no idea how we would react when bullets started flying and people started dropping. All I can say is through my sadness I am also inspired by people who are much better than myself.

A Cougar Cub – So this is now “a thing.” When Sloan was born, her Uncle Glen gave her a Washington State onesie. Sloan has worn this onesie each time the Cougar football team has played this year. The team played its first four games on Saturday and won. Last Friday, the Cougs played a rare Friday night game and Sloan proudly wore her crimson to day care. The team won again. As you can imagine, my dad (a WSU alumnus) and brother are a little obsessive over her wearing a certain onesie on gameday.

Sloan wearing her Washington State University onesie.

New President at University of Montana – After a long and very necessary nationwide search, my alma mater recently hired its 18th president. Seth Bodnar will assume the top job at the University of Montana on January 1. He was labeled the “unconventional” candidate because he had no doctorate degree and little experience in higher education leadership. However, I welcome the skills and talents of the 38-year-old and I hope he does great in Missoula. Believe it or not, the biggest talking point on social media regarding his hiring has nothing to do with his background or his plan for UM. Rather, it is all about his looks. Apparently, he is very handsome. Ladies, what do you think?

President Seth Bodnar has “caught the eye” of the Missoula community.

Back on the Speaking Circuit – I gave two social media presentations this week. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of convening my 2017-18 #CCUSocialMedia Student Advisory Group. It was great to chat with this year’s students about how our social media program at CCU is structured. After I finished with my presentation, they gave me valuable feedback on new trends. Today, I had the opportunity to speak with staff on campus about social media customer service. I provided them with 10 ways they could excel at digital interactions with members of the campus community. My presentation was part of our university’s Customer Service Summit, an event closely tied with our Feel the Teal initiative.

Members of my #CCUSocialMedia Student Advisory Group (photo from @ccuchanticleers Instagram account)

Sloan at 29 Weeks – The folks at day care say “Sloan likes to eat!” They aren’t kidding. I have mentioned before that we were starting to introduce baby food but now at this point in the game she is a professional eater. Sidney “cooks” up a few different dishes for her each night and she goes to town as she feasts away on bananas, green beans, rice, peaches, squash, and more. She is also starting to sit up on her own. Her two favorite toys are a ballerina doll and a circular rattle.

This is the 29 week photo collage of Sloan.

Enjoy your Thursday evening and please pray for the people impacted by the Las Vegas shootings. Don’t Blink.

Are You A Blogger Like Me?

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It is my belief, well, actually, I know it for a fact, that there are many more bloggers out there than what some might believe. In fact, you might be one yourself.

Okay, take a deep breath.

Are you mortified that I just suggested you might fit a millennial label? Or are you more offended that I suggested you might have something in common with my nerdy self? (If I were you, I would have a bigger issue with the latter!).

Slow down for one second and let me explain.

Although some gurus from a few years back suggested that Facebook would soon fizzle and fall off the face of the earth, the opposite happened. Facebook continues to gain users and the social media giant continues to evolve.

Live video, reaction buttons, and fake news prevention measures are all examples of Facebook continuing to be proactive in delivering a positive social media experience. However, there is one thing Facebook allows its users to do better than any other social media platform or blogging site.

Simply, Facebook allows people to express themselves.

Back in the dark ages (circa 2007), people would “update their status” by writing a sentence about what they planned to eat for lunch. These days, Facebook users have the ability to write essays expressing their opinions and grievances.

Not only can people go crazy with a lot of text, but they can insert emoticons, change the color of words, and actually format their thoughts with paragraph breaks.

How is that not blogging?

In reality, people aren’t writing “essays” like I claimed above, they are writing blog posts. There is no way around it, Facebook is the most popular blogging platform in the world.

Okay, so what? Well, I went on this tangent to pose a question about my blog that I have been asked :

Brent, why don’t you just “blog” on Facebook?

I admit, it is slightly tempting. I would save time by completely bypassing WordPress, I wouldn’t have to pay hosting fees, and I would expose a higher percentage of my Facebook friends to my writing.

But you see, that last point I just brought up is exactly why I don’t “blog” on Facebook. I want my Facebook audience, which is a small fraction of my brentreser.com audience, to choose whether they want to read what I have to write. I want to spare my friends from my random, silly, uninteresting musings that come as frequent as five times per week. If someone has an interest in my teaser I post on Facebook they can click on it; if not, they can continue scrolling.

I also choose to blog on a self-proclaimed “blogging site” because of the advantages. You have specific analytics at your disposal, formatting options are much more abundant, and your work can be consumed by a wider and more diverse audience. Not to mention that building a personal brand is head and shoulders more impactful on a blogging site with your name as the URL as opposed to trying to make gains through a personal Facebook page.

However, don’t think I am looking down on people who share their expanded thoughts on Facebook. I could spend all day scrolling through my newsfeed reading how people are feeling. I learn a lot and I appreciate it. But because I have had my blogging site for several years and because there are certain perks to maintaining it, my Thursday Rundowns and food reviews will continue to live right here on brentreser.com. Don’t Blink.