If you ever wondered who is writing on this blog, I have good news for you. The secret is lifted, with a pencil. I am kidding. I still like a certain degree of anonymity. But recently I discovered that the photo app of my Huawei phone has some basic effects. I messed around with them and discovered one effect that was called “pencil” and I really liked it. It turns my selfies into pencil drawings as you can only see outlines but no textures. However, then I did import the photo into Lightroom to make further adjustments to my liking. Using mouth and nose protection and my favorite sunglasses makes it possible that I am still semi-anonymous. How cool is that? So, the secret is almost lifted! Here I am…
Diary of Dennis 
You’re a young dude with ten times more hair than I have. 😂👍🏻😎 Cool pic man.
Thanks! Haha, but I already found a few grey hairs. I guess my black hair (brown, but the hair gel makes them look black) will soon turn grey. I am already 38… shit, I still feel like 20-something. Time flies. 😀
38? Wanna trade? I’m a bit older at 59 years young, and still totally feel like I am 21!! It’s just not fair man…
Right, time flies way too fast. But I guess it’s a good sign that we still feel young. I want to enjoy life with activities and stuff… I lost some friends in the past because they became couch potatoes. Sometimes I like being at home too like everyone does, and nope I don’t need a party anymore either, but what I don’t get is when people completely and forever park themselves at home. I’d understand it in the case of a disease or when kids and family are more important. I totally get that. Apart from that, I don’t get it. I even heard some old friends say “I am too old for that” when I asked them to participate in activities like going to the beach, swimming, walking, hiking, or just going to the restaurant to exchange the latest stories of our lives. So, at some point, I thought “So be it, let them feel too old for this and that” and concentrated on the friends who still like to enjoy life. I guess what I want to say is that our age is just a number and that we still feel young because we’re interested in things, be it photography or other things that we enjoy, that keep us busy and happy. All that makes us feel young, I guess. 🙂
Interesting. I have my dogs picture up for me.
I used my cat as profile pic in the past or flowers 😀 The recent years I had a profile pic where I did hide behind a camera. Works too for anonymity 😀
You are still a man of mystery Dennis but it’s good to see the top of your head. The gelled hair was a surprise!
That is good to know 🙂 I played more with the app and created some more cool pencil selfies. I might “release” some the next days without mouth nose protection. The pencil effects still give me the feeling of a certain degree of anonymity. I am ok with that. Haha, yeah, I use very strong hair gel and I like the “I just woke up” style xD
By the way, there are some bloggers including you, that I trust and like a lot. I wish I could share more private stuff with some WP friends once in a while. I recently found a solution to the whole problem. It’s possible to create subdomains on WordPress that we can set to private but integrate into our main site. We then can make that private area accessible to people we invite, while the main site basically remains public. It seemed like a perfect solution because I really would like to share some more private stuff with a small circle of WP members I like, once in a while. The only thing that pushed me away from the idea were the costs (you need a domain and premium for the second site too if you want it to be the subdomain of the main domain). Anyway, the plan is not from the table. If I ever do this, I am going to invite you too. Alternatively, the same concept might work with a second but free blog that is set to private, with invited friends. I might look into that at some point. It’s not just about selfies, it’s rather that I also noticed that I have tons of drafts that I never published because, in the end, I felt like the topics were too private to end up in Google search. That would be the whole point of a second private site too, protecting certain content from Google search, making it inaccessible to the public in general. I am flirting with that idea for a long time already.
If you ever do decide to that I’d like to be part of it and I’m flattered to be invited. Of course we have emailed each other a lot over the years but I can see where a small private group could discuss things that we don’t want to share with a wider audience.
I actually suggested WordPress to add it as a feature that we can mark certain posts… that only logged-in WordPress members can access the content. That alone would be enough protection. For example, I don’t mind if a few hundred WP members, even if they’re strangers, could see my personal photos or stories. I find the idea scarier that Google can actually pick the stuff up and that I lose control over where it’s shown. We can make posts private here at WP, but that means we would need to invite people, which is stupid as you give full access to site stats and what not by doing so… that’s why a second blog attached to the first one is a better idea. The password protection feature of posts is silly too, I looked into that and it seems to protect text content but not the photos, which is silly. Apart from that, who wants to make their own readers type in passwords every time lol?
I hope they took my feedback about the “only for logged-in users” feature. If not, a second blog set to private will be the alternative.
Looking good!
Thanks. I really like the pencil effect of this Huawei app. Some cool results!
They really are. Instant art!
Definitely 🙂
I first encountered your blog when I looked for WordPress users who have written a review about WordAds. After reading your review, I decided that WordAds won’t suit me for now, because I do not have enough audience. I also need to be more consistent in writing content for my own blog site.
Curious with all the other stuff you have put in your blog site, I subscribed to it. I like the contents I have seen here, so far: your videos playing the guitar, your photography, and your write-ups. I think you are very eloquent for somebody who speaks English as a second language, and that you are a very cool and nice person. However, I am still intrigued about you. You are just so mysterious, hahaha. :)))
So, I am glad to stumble upon this picture of yours, though still enigmatic. I hope we could be friends! I am looking forward to your blog entries, too. 😀
Oh cool 🙂 Hi! I really should update the WordAds review because I got more data the years after I wrote it.
Awesome that you followed my different interests and that you liked what you’ve seen. It’s for sure a very mixed blog and not everyone likes it if so many different things are put into one blog. But I am glad if I hear from people who enjoyed it 🙂
Also thanks for the compliment about my English. My English was much worse in 2011 when I started my blog but I like “learning by doing”. I thought when I just try, and when I constantly have to check vocabulary and English grammar, I might get better at it. I think that happened as I got compliments several times over recent years.
I am going to check out your blog later to see what you’re up to! I’m always open to making friends here and learn what they experience in their parts of the world. I’ve met so many good people in this community. That’s the cool thing about blogging too. Thanks for your motivating comment!
I did not expect you to reply immediately, Dennis. I will read your update about WordAds once you publish it in your blog site.
Just like yours, my blog site is also a potpourri of my personal endeavours. I write poems, essays, reviews about books and films, and anything that strikes me with inspiration. I am not that consistent in publishing entries, though, for I work a full-time office job.
I find your blog site great, because I think you are such a talented person, with your beautiful photography, musical skills, and adeptness at learning the English language. Keep up the great work! 😀
Cheers to new friendships through networks such as this! 🙂
Potpourri of my personal endeavours, that’s beautifully described. And I’ve met a lot of bloggers in this community who do it the same way as we do. They do usually have endurance, while those who attempt to blog professionally in a niche often get burned out and stop entirely, especially when they learn that it isn’t easy money due to the high competition. So, that’s where we have an advantage because it’s more about passion than anything else. Like I commented on your blog, the fact that you’ve been doing it since 2010, that’s a huge achievement. I’m similar, I’m doing it since 2011. And like I said, I hope you can achieve your wished consistency as well.
Thanks again for all the compliments. Much appreciated and very motivating 🙂 From now on I keep up with your blog too. Cheers new friend!
General bloggers like us do have a deeper well to extract our topics from compared to niche bloggers. The possibilities of ideas to cover seem to be endless, that unless we cease existing, we would never run out of things to talk about in our blogs. I also agree with you that writing in our blog sites is more about passion than anything else. In my case, I have always been passionate about literature and creative endeavours. 🙂
You’re welcome, Dennis. By the way, as a new friend, please call me Dan (my nickname). I am looking forward to read your blog entries and to know you better! 😀
Very good point. When you don’t set yourself topic limits, you can cover anything and everything and you easily find new inspiration. I once had niche blogs too and when nothing happened in that niche, I was basically forced to take a break, despite the fact that I was in the mood to write something. That wouldn’t happen with a broad or general blog.
Have a good day Dan!