<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8253847648045720229</id><updated>2012-02-03T09:43:31.234-05:00</updated><category term='america'/><category term='me'/><category term='polls'/><category term='blogging'/><category term='comments'/><title type='text'>       The Smarterer Blogspot</title><subtitle type='html'>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Designed in England ● Made in Taiwan ● Exported to the U.S.A. ● Bootlegged by Mexico</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Gıgı</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08823180500630517729</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='33' height='26' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/gg2112/stephen_colbt.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>5</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8253847648045720229.post-7419258451389235836</id><published>2008-07-11T11:26:00.015-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-12T02:56:26.871-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='america'/><title type='text'>Our Game</title><content type='html'>&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbrtxF5sUI/AAAAAAAAABc/29kSOTrXLEE/s400/ourgame.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221619989487399234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;After some time of relaxation in my thinking chair, I have come to the conclusion that I need a topic to blog about. While browsing my favorite forums and news 'zines via popular on-line Web sites, I have stumbled upon a great number of articles about America's brilliance in all of her smart and sophisticated glory. That's right, there is a genius in our nation, and I'm not talking about that Asian around the corner!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I recommend that you adjust your Blackberry's volume (and take out your camcorder) because I must announce that America is screaming with happiness! This is a new "age" of America (yes, she's finally legal), and very few things will stand in our way. What we &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;need&lt;/span&gt; will satisfy &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;our &lt;/span&gt;wants, and when we find the right deal on that brand new car, we take it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How can I define &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;brilliance&lt;/span&gt;? "You'll know it when you see it."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Folks, whenever someone smart is on the subject of &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;success&lt;/span&gt;, he is referring to a direct result of action; not a mere &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;attempt&lt;/span&gt;. "Trying" something means that one can fail, while &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;doing&lt;/span&gt; something guarantees completion. My point is that simply trying, or learning, to do something will never make progress, which is why Americans just &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;do&lt;/span&gt; it.™ We know exactly what we want once we see a good ad on T.V., and by the time we finish watching that ad, we know exactly how to get it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nothing is more important than the individual which is why the world around you aims to make &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;you&lt;/span&gt; happy. We're in this together, America. Now I'm going on my lunch break. And tomorrow  is my day off; I'm booked! We'll work something out, okay?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I promise.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" &gt;Check out more pretty pictures by this photographer &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gloverbryantcommunications/"&gt;right here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8253847648045720229-7419258451389235836?l=smarterer.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/feeds/7419258451389235836/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8253847648045720229&amp;postID=7419258451389235836' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/7419258451389235836'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/7419258451389235836'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/2008/07/our-game.html' title='Our Game'/><author><name>Gıgı</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08823180500630517729</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='33' height='26' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/gg2112/stephen_colbt.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbrtxF5sUI/AAAAAAAAABc/29kSOTrXLEE/s72-c/ourgame.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8253847648045720229.post-7164197088964764473</id><published>2007-07-27T17:56:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-11T00:16:34.354-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogging'/><title type='text'>Making Choices</title><content type='html'>&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbd_-421QI/AAAAAAAAAA8/SvRzuq8tnCs/s400/makingchoices.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221604909265638658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Whew! I just got back from a week's worth vacation from blogging! My last entry had worn me out, so I decided it was time for a break. Anyway, I'm back now, and that means it's back to business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For starters, while I've been on this long break, I've been having my blog revamped, adding a third column. That's it, on the left. It should make my blog look more handsome. All this Web design has delayed my post from showing up, too!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now that I'm back on track, I am working hard on my blogging to-do list, just as any good blogger should. The first and most important item on the list is "come up with something to blog about." Choosing a blog topic can be very complicated. It requires a lot of contemplation, responsibility, and other big words. In fact, I'm feeling drowsy already!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of the many I ended up with, these are my best options:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;li&gt;Write about what I'm interested in.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Write about what the guy around the corner is interested in.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Grab a newspaper, close my eyes, and point to a spot on the paper. Open eyes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;It will take me at least a week to finally decide on something; after all, I as a blogger am also a decider. But that doesn't mean you, my reader, can't help me make my decisions. Thanks for reading.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;In case you were wondering, this particular photo is courtesy of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plumpchump/"&gt;this guy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8253847648045720229-7164197088964764473?l=smarterer.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/feeds/7164197088964764473/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8253847648045720229&amp;postID=7164197088964764473' title='11 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/7164197088964764473'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/7164197088964764473'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/2007/07/making-choices.html' title='Making Choices'/><author><name>Gıgı</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08823180500630517729</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='33' height='26' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/gg2112/stephen_colbt.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://bp1.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbd_-421QI/AAAAAAAAAA8/SvRzuq8tnCs/s72-c/makingchoices.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>11</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8253847648045720229.post-6712139955196214324</id><published>2007-07-20T11:20:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-11T00:17:55.261-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='comments'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='polls'/><title type='text'>Looking Back</title><content type='html'>&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbeyiHK1kI/AAAAAAAAABE/VGk64E65tgk/s400/lookingback.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221605777714370114" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Before I blog any further, I would like for us to fold our hands together, close our eyes, and bow our heads in honor of my achievement of a grand total of three successful blog entries! Oh, the many things that have changed these past two weeks, from my first entry until now!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's reflect on my blog comments. I cannot believe how much good feedback I'm getting! It is all very positively reinforcing for me. How about we look at a couple of my favorite comments. "I love your blog. ..." said Lindsey. Thank you, Lindsey. Your feedback has been very encouraging! Ajda, to a busy blogger like me, your comment was a bit lengthy, but I have taken note of the keywords and key phrases I noticed while skimming, for example "cleverly," "you've got yourself a hit," "decide on everything," and "is." I greatly appreciate your thoughts on my blog, almost as much as I do any reader's. I promise a betterer, smarterer blog when you provide me with exactly (or the best estimate) what is on your mind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There has also been much that has changed with this blog-hosting Web site since I started! One really neat example is that &lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/"&gt;Blogger&lt;/a&gt; has officially added "polls" as a new feature for us bloggers to use! Oh, I can't wait to try this one out. It does, after all, appear that it is going to become very popular within this blogging community! Both you and I know that opinions from readers are &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;always&lt;/span&gt; very important to an online Web log on the Internet, no matter how minor or unrelated they are, which is a great reason for you to continue posting comments on my blog.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I would also like to take this time to thank &lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/"&gt;Blogger&lt;/a&gt; for allowing me (&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;me!&lt;/span&gt;) to use their blog-hosting Web site, while providing me with every basic necessity required to start and keep a blog. I couldn't ask for anything more, Blogger! Actually, a new pen set would be nice, and some shoes, if you have the time. I also give my thanks out to &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/"&gt;Flickr&lt;/a&gt;, the absolutely free photo sharing site, for the extremely talented community of photographers, and allowing all of their pretty photos to be used and shared for free!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There have, however, also been some bad times on which to reflect, although I'm sure that both you and I would rather not look back on these times. We might as well bring out the Kleenex box already! After all, everyone makes mistakes, and that is a part of what it's all about. And then you do the Hokey Pokey, and you turn yourself around... What memories! I can't go on!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This jog down memory lane has been very uplifting and encouraging. We will definitely need to to this again sometime, say, in another three weeks? A little bird told me that Kleenex has a brand new Expressions tissue out now, and it's half-price over at the supermarket around the corner!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8253847648045720229-6712139955196214324?l=smarterer.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/feeds/6712139955196214324/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8253847648045720229&amp;postID=6712139955196214324' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/6712139955196214324'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/6712139955196214324'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/2007/07/looking-back.html' title='Looking Back'/><author><name>Gıgı</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08823180500630517729</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='33' height='26' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/gg2112/stephen_colbt.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbeyiHK1kI/AAAAAAAAABE/VGk64E65tgk/s72-c/lookingback.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8253847648045720229.post-5678692055611168790</id><published>2007-07-13T22:58:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-11T00:19:15.014-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='me'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogging'/><title type='text'>To-Dos</title><content type='html'>&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbfJ3aFKRI/AAAAAAAAABM/JfiG1j2Gd00/s400/todos.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221606178567825682" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;There are tons of Web sites that provide their readers with guidelines and suggestions on what kinds of topics to "blog" about. Hmmm, forget them. What am &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;I&lt;/span&gt; going to do with my blog on my &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;own&lt;/span&gt;?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is my to-do list:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;li&gt;Come up with something to blog about&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;I like where this is going. There is definitely some progress being made here. Let's start with the first item on my list: "Come up with something to blog about." The pro on that one is that coming up with ideas for things can be creative, informative, and fun, which makes this particular to-do a very appropriate task for me. The con is that when it comes to blog topics, there are so many options, for example, food, technology, or food, that I might not be able to comprehend them all. And it definitely isn't a wise idea to write about things I maybe can't understand.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How about we further analyze the first task - it is obviously the most important because it was the very first thing that came to my mind, after "Give up." (You may have noticed that I erased that one from the to-do list.) Coming up with something, also known as producing or supplying something, is generally a very important beginning task, along with supplying and producing things in order to get started in the first place. It has especially been my number one objective since I started this blog, as you can tell from the list I've composed. Good ideas for something as special as this will mean a lot to you as my reader, and to me as a blogger, which means that I better get started as soon as I feel like it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For now my plan is to write down my thoughts in the lengthiest form I can and fill each entry with pretty pictures, just like everyone else seems to do. I do not, however, expect this plan to last very long.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My brain hurts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8253847648045720229-5678692055611168790?l=smarterer.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/feeds/5678692055611168790/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8253847648045720229&amp;postID=5678692055611168790' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/5678692055611168790'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/5678692055611168790'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/2007/07/to-dos.html' title='To-Dos'/><author><name>Gıgı</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08823180500630517729</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='33' height='26' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/gg2112/stephen_colbt.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbfJ3aFKRI/AAAAAAAAABM/JfiG1j2Gd00/s72-c/todos.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8253847648045720229.post-8773492011170555718</id><published>2007-07-06T18:35:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-11T00:20:25.500-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='me'/><title type='text'>Let's Start</title><content type='html'>&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbfcrSefYI/AAAAAAAAABU/cTuI0MgXBE8/s400/letsstart.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221606501732220290" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;I am the last person you would expect to have a blog. No, scratch that - I'm probably somewhere around the third or ninth millionth person you would expect to have a blog. That is assuming you have any expectations at all. And this does not include those starving poor kids they show on the commercials, or the hobos on the big city streets, or the people who can afford $400 haircuts or $100 suits, who I bet would not even bother composing their own blog entries anyway.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Blogging is very trendy, and what other excuse should a person need to start their blog? It gives us the opportunity to have our own public virtual space where we are able to share our most personal thoughts on anything with almost anyone, just until we're flamed for it. After reading so many blogs, however, you really get to thinking:&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Gee, there are way too many pointless Web logs on these internets we have today. Guess it means I should get started on mine.&lt;/span&gt;.. So here we are, discovering new ways to write pointless blog entries and rediscovering old ones, and writing about the ways the Internet brings us together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anywho, I'm sure you've realized by now that this blog isn't so smart after all. It's smart&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;er&lt;/span&gt;er. I'm not calling myself a genius or nothin', but I'm calling you, my reader, a little on the special side - and I don't mean that as a compliment. When I talk about "smarterer," I'm referring to the potential of all of us. Like a wise man once claimed, "even if standardized tests prove that our kids aren't getting smarter, if we just change our standards, we have a hope of making them smarterer."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wonder what I'm going to blog about.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8253847648045720229-8773492011170555718?l=smarterer.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/feeds/8773492011170555718/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8253847648045720229&amp;postID=8773492011170555718' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/8773492011170555718'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8253847648045720229/posts/default/8773492011170555718'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://smarterer.blogspot.com/2007/07/lets-start.html' title='Let&apos;s Start'/><author><name>Gıgı</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08823180500630517729</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='33' height='26' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/gg2112/stephen_colbt.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://bp0.blogger.com/_i21cS6SjbUA/SHbfcrSefYI/AAAAAAAAABU/cTuI0MgXBE8/s72-c/letsstart.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry></feed>
