What’s in a name?

Would my blog, by any other name, stink?

I have been thinking about my renaming my blog.

I’ve been thinking about it since November.

When I started this ‘thing’ I had no idea what I was doing…

User Name = Blog Name = Site Title = URL???

But now I know…  Now I am an expert at this blogging thing. (Please don’t snicker like that, it is unnerving to hear a computer snicker.)

I am happy with my URL, that can stay.  If I wasn’t afraid of confusing my followers and friends, I would change my user name from ‘jaschmehl’ to ‘Jill Ann.’  Change is hard, though… one thing at a time.  But it is time to change the Site Title.

I spent an hour scrolling through the Freshly Pressed page, reading site title’s. (It took an hour because I kept reading the posts I missed before) and I learned a few things about successful titling.  (Titling? Doesn’t that look so wrong? – but Google says I spelled it right and we all know Google is the God of Knowledge.)

First – Don’t pick something that is only meaningful you now.  This is like getting a tattoo of your first boyfriends name on your chest.  Stupid for obvious reasons, but let me spell it out in case you are sixteen:  You will change.  A lot. More quickly than you can ever believe.   The things that are important to you today will be irrelevant if not down right silly tomorrow.  (i.e. “Clean up – Aisle Seven” – a blog you start during your job at a grocery store, which lasts a month.  Or, “Achoo!”- a blog about the cold you have, right now.)

Second – Don’t commit yourself to a herculean task in your title. Life will interfere, and you will miss a deadline.  It will happen.  And every tenth post or so will start with:  “Well, so sorry readers… I know I missed a few days of my ‘10,000’ word a day goal, but you see, my neighbor’s aunt’s cat died, and well, it’s a long story, but I’m back now…” Besides, One Goal blogs get boring – quickly.

Third – Don’t just use your name – as I did, it is boring and says nothing about your blog.  Unless you are already famous – but then, if you are – you are probably not reading this.  Your fun famous life is probably jam packed with all sorts of famous-y fun things to do, all the time, right?  No time for reading silly blogs by silly people.

Fourth – I like titles that tell me about the Blogger – not the Blog.   I know that is probably against someone else rules.   The Blog title needs the flexibility to adapt to the changes in the Bloggers life.   I like a title that tells me a tiny bit about your personality.

I’m thinking about the One Word Test I blogged about recently. Is there one word to describe me?   A word to describe ALL of me and ALL of my posts?  Ok, probably not.  How about two words?  This is really hard to do.

Who am I?

A reader, a gamer, a storyteller, a PowerPoint pusher.
I am occasionally wheezing, often panicking, and easily startled.
An honest liar. A Foot-in-Mouth-er.  A wannabe writer.

Who?

My boyfriend just told me I’m over thinking it.  “You should call it ‘Mind of a Mouse’,” he says, looking over my shoulder at the screen. “You scurry all over the place – looking for something to nibble on, convinced a cat is about to attack at any moment.”

Alright – that will work for now – but I might change it again….