The Outdooress
When I saw the photo below posted on a popular social media website, my first thought was, “That should be an album cover.”
The photo had 54 comments, well over 160 “likes” and at least 16 “shares” at last glance. And for good reason. After all, the composition is excellent, and what’s not to like about three friends geared up to do a bit of fly angling? Good, wholesome fun.
The fact that nearly all the comments were from men comes as little surprise, however. Men are predictable animals. Not all men, mind you, but most. Gotta be careful about generalizations. Post a photo of women fishing and the guys come out of the woodwork.
Some critics will accuse me of shamefully posting a photo of three beautiful ladies for the sole purpose of getting hits on my website, and to those I would say, “I resemble resent those remarks.”
First of all, I am a blogger of integrity and would never post any content just for the sake of increased traffic. And personally, when I look at this photo all I see are fly fishermen—just three people—period. I am gender-blind.
So let’s keep the criticism to yourselves.
Featured in the photo may or may not be in any particular order or lack thereof: Rebecca Garlock of the Outdooress blog, Rachel Morgan, and Aileen Ellis of MK Flies. (Photo taken in Idaho by Anonymous. While requested, no GPS coordinates were provided.)
It all started as a friendly joke, I think. Or maybe I lost a bet, I’m not sure. At any rate, a poorly-drawn, not-to-scale cardboard rendition of the Unaccomplished Angler first made it’s appearance a few weeks ago over at Rebecca Garlock’s Outdooress blog. I found it to be mildy amusing and wrote about it here. Like any cheezy, ill-conceived fad, I assumed it would die out and my cardboard alter ego would end up in the trash bin.
Apparently I’ve been recycled.
I’m not sure what’s in store for me, but I am now in a small town somewhere in Michigan where Jason Tucker over at the Fontinalis Rising blog has me holed up in a “guest” room all day long while he’s off at work. I don’t know what constitutes hospitality in other parts of the country, but out here in the Pacific Northwest one does not invite someone to go fishing, only to get them all jacked up on caffeine before leaving them locked inside the house all day. I want to go fishing, or at least spend a day seeing the sights.
Stay tuned for who knows what. Bloggers are an odd bunch.
I was recently informed by The Outdooress herself, a fellow blogger of all things fly fishing, that there were some things about The Unaccomplished Angler that were bothering her.
“Oh? Do tell…” I replied, standing with arms crossed and brow furrowed.
She went on to tell me that my blog was in need of some help.
Being insecure, naturally I lashed out in defense of my writing:
“Oh yeah? Well I’ve been told I write pretty good, and anyway – you’re stupider!”
After discovering that what she meant was not a frontal assault on my writing, but rather an observation from a technical standpoint that my blog had some shortcomings, I apologized for my abrupt retort. She accepted my apology and went on to calmly tell me about outdated versions of this and that and unavailable plugins and blocked permissions and broken RSS feeds and a whole laundry list of stuff that made me glaze over. As she rambled on in a manner that attested to the passion she has for tinkering under the hoods of websites, I began to go numb: I felt like a high school senior during their last week of Greek Mythology class. Admittedly I don’t have, or desire to learn about, the technical intricacies of tweaking and fine tuning the behind-the-scenes stuff that make blogs more effective in reaching their intended audience. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and all that goes into captitalizing on a blog’s performance therein is all Greek to me. In my case, ignorance may have been bliss or a while, until one day when neglect eventually caught up to me and my blog imploded, leaving me with no recourse other than to walk away from the smoldering pile, never to look back on a brief career as a blogger.
Thankfully Rebecca not only pointed out the problems brewing, but more importantly she provided solutions. After a couple of days of troubleshooting and turning wrenches, which was likely more than she bargained for, The Unaccomplished Angler is now a finely tuned, souped-up, muscle car of a blog, ready to deliver mind-bending 1/4 mile performance, and optimal efficiency.
Think of it like a ’71 Plymouth 440 Hemi Cuda…
…with the mpg’s of a Toyota Prius.
At least under the hood. On the outside, it still looks like ’76 AMC Gremlin.
So, what does this mean for you, the loyal follower of The Unaccomplished Angler? Absolutely nothing. And that’s the way it should be. But for good measure, buckle up and hold on – I’m not sure myself what to expect.
Many thanks to The Outdooress – blogger, fly angler, and blog technician extraordinaire. I recommend that if you’re at all like me insomuch as you started a blog because you like to write and don’t know or care about what’s under the hood, give Rebecca a shout-out. She’s like your blog mechanic who can improve your air intake system, install headers and a free-flow exhaust and a performance chip so you get optimal performance out of your site. Heck, your blog may only need a new set of wiper blades and a quart of oil – so why risk poor visibility and a potential meltdown when The Blog Mechanic is only a click away?