Monday, November 30, 2009

Poll Results - What Describes You?


We have reached the end of another poll, and this time the results are going to be nice, unlike last time when I pulled that dirty trick on you. I gotta admit I still get a chuckle out of that one. Uhm... Well, anyway, I'm going to try something a little different than that this time. Let's just see what I've got for you.

This happened to be the most successful poll so far. We had a grand total of 52 votes! It also proved to be one of the closest polls of all too. This is quite understandable because probably a little bit of every choice describes me, and they may have been equally hard for you. We'll need to go through them a bit to see what's what.

Let's see... I asked you, "Which best describes you?" And your answers were...


#6 Hiker - 5 votes (9%) : It's interesting that hiking came in last, especially since hiking is supposed to be a major part of this blog. I guess I really don't talk about actual hiking as much as I do some other things. What's really more important to me anyway are the things I see while I'm hiking.

I also am not even close to the best hiker in the world. My hikes only last a few hours at the most, but that's part of the point here. I am trying to show some of the things that even a beginner can do and see. If I were to hike up the side of a mountain, or something equally as awesome, this blog wouldn't be for beginners.


#5 Reader - 6 votes (11%) : When I first think of it, this one also baffles me. All of us are readers. I'm sure many of you love reading as much as I do. But then on further reflection I completely understand. None of us are just simple readers. We are much more complex than that. We are more active than that. Sure we read, but we put that reading to productive use. We use that creativity that all readers have, and we write and we go and do things. Sure we are readers, but we are all also so much more!

As for me, you won't find me without something to read in my hand or my pocket. I keep an old PDA with me wherever I go. I can fit a whole library of books on that one little device, and I always do! There are so many sources for free books on the internet, and places where you can also buy them. By the way, for any of you who are interested, my favorite by far is the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.


#4 Hamburglar - 7 votes (13%) : Wow, hamburglar actually made it to 4th place! It's a widely known secret that I try to put in a ridiculous choice in every poll, and this is obviously it this time. Either several of you were playing along with the fun or you are legitimate hamburglars. But wait, don't most of us have at least a little bit of hamburglar in us?

I myself love a good hamburger more that any kind of meat with bones in it. Maybe it's a generational thing or just the way I was brought up, but I would rather have a hamburger than most other food, except for one thing. Tacos! Yup, I love tacos! They can come in just about any form. Legitimate Mexican food is the best, but I'm willing to eat at even a fast food place if it means having tacos. Is there an equivalent word to hamburglar for that?


#3 Photographer - 8 votes (15%) : Photography is a big part of this blog, so I understand this choice very much. Many of you also use photography to tell your stories. Some of you are mainly photographers and only sometimes use words to help the photos along. Others are like me, and you use the photos to illustrate your stories. Yet still others love both equally. Photography is important to us all, isn't it?

There's perhaps a strange side to this for me. I never used a camera until a few short months before I started this blog. I discovered the fun of photography while on a vacation. I just wanted to reproduce the fun of my vacation every day. I knew that a camera would have to be a major part of that, so I went out and bought the same camera I use today. It's perhaps the best camera that exists for a beginner, and there's plenty of room to grow with it.


#2 Nature Lover - 12 votes (23%) : Now we're getting to the top! Everybody that comes here, including me, loves nature to some extent. I'd say that 99% of my posts talk about nature in some form or another. Even my poll posts like this one mention it. A lot of you come to see my goofy squirrel pictures, or to read my stories of friendly deer or how I describe the sound that the forest makes. Yes, there is a very distinct sound. What it all comes down to is that nature is the main topic here.

Another strange thing relating to the photography section above is that I didn't start here intending to focus so much on nature. I was going to write about different places to go and see in a typical city or town. I wanted to write about it as I discovered it. I started with something familiar to me, which was my nature trails. I still haven't found those other things, but my love of nature has grown maybe one million percent!


#1 Writer - 14 votes (26%) : And finally we come to the winner! I love nature very much, but how do I express that to you? I write about it, of course! And since most of you who actively participate here are also blog owners, most of you would also be writers to some extent. I guess writing has become second nature to most of us, even if it didn't begin that way. Some of you began as writers, and found blogging as a great outlet for your creativity.

That could also describe me. I had so many ideas in my head, but I had very little experience in transferring them down in print. I had to do something that would spur me on. What better way to gain that experience and expose myself to embarrassment than to write a public blog? Writing in public can help develop a very thick skin to help get over any lingering inhibition. I now can write about almost anything without fear or shame.


Okay, there we are! That is my rundown of the poll this time. This was a long one, but I think it was well worth it. What do you think? I'll be back tomorrow with some more nature, some more writing, and a few other things listed above. Don't worry though, there will be no hamburglarizing here, at least publicly.

Update: I almost went back and scrapped this whole post because I became seriously nervous after realizing just how much I talked about myself here. That's funny.  -Tacobandito.

11 comments:

  1. I think and re-think, I shall keep hiking if I am allowed to pick only one.

    I can go away with the rest, but not hiking.

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  2. Hmm, hamburgler. I missed the pole. I'd have said photographer or maybe nature lover as that is what inspires my photography. Hiker because that's what I do to get closer to nature and take those photos. Hmmm, then again, maybe I'm just a hamburgler. I love that that came in 4th!

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  3. That was a fun poll!

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  4. This was a fun poll Ratty. Having to pick one was tough. Nature inspires me to hike, take photos and write. So that would make me a nature lover first then all else would follow.

    Looking forward to the next poll.

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  5. I had a hard time choosing in that poll, a lot of those choices could have described me. Can't wait to see the next poll

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  6. Yes, Ratty, I think I could have said yes to any of the categories you had in your poll....I love to write too. In fact, my blog started out as a blog for me to write in, but then I got addicted to nature photography and my blog turned more into that. I love that we can do whatever we want with your blogs and change it as we change, don't you? (Like Rat TV for instance!)

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  7. Sorry I mised the poll. I should probably be tied to a pole. LOL. Maybe next time

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  8. Geez... I wish more people will choose hambuglar...:(

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  9. Ratty, how did I miss this poll? I enjoyed reading your comments on it all and I really liked the picture of the stream in the woods.

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  10. I'm with rainfield- I had to choose hiker because the rest COULD go. But today I was a writer. I've now finished two short stories in two months. Not sure I'll go for three. The themes are not much to my liking, so it has forced me to be creative to find ways to write about the last two that I could tolerate. I suppose if I get a brain wave on the next one, I'll do that too! Now I'm going to go be a sleeper.

    What will you come up with for next time?

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  11. @Rainfield
    I feel the same way about hiking, but I think I like some of the others just as much. Hiking is still the main topic here, so I can't do without it either.
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    @DK Miller
    I'm some of everything from the poll, and I think maybe hamburglar is a major part.
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    @Icy BC
    I think so too, but I'm having trouble coming up with another one.
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    @SquirrelQueen
    I think I'm inspired by each choice to do some of the others. For me it's all a toss up. I hope the next poll is just as good.
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    @Ann
    It was a hard one for me too. I think that made it a little more fun.
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    @The Retired One
    I read along as your blog transformed. You had good stuff to begin with, and you were still able to improve it. I like that you were able to do that but still keep your older ideas too.
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    @Joe Todd
    But if you are tied to a pole you wouldn't be able to vote in the next poll. :)
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    @VanillaSeven
    Hamburglar was a good one, but not everyone wants to admit that they are a hamburglar.
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    @RNSane
    That stream is a place that only a few people know about. I've only ever seen one other person there.
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    @Sharkbytes
    I'm really too much of all of those choices to really pick one. I could pick hiker, but I'm not anywhere close to as good at hiking as you. I'd have to go with writer because I do feel I'm good at that. I'm still only a beginner hiker. I'm better at being a hamburglar still.

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