So I am new to this blog thing. There is so much I don’t know about the blog world so I am not a reliable source of information but I will give you my honest impressions. So far I am having a good time with it. Blogging does take a lot of time and I don’t even post daily. I always say I hate to write but that isn’t really true. I do like to write I just don’t like to HAVE to write because that means I am doing it for someone else and I don’t like it when people scrutinize what I have to put a pen to (so to speak) so I will spend hours on a few paragraphs. Even here I spend a large amount of time thinking about what I want to say and how I want to say it so that it doesn’t sound stupid and this is only for fun, right?
At first I just didn’t get the whole blog thing. Who wants to write something that other people can see and then dissect? Why on earth would you want to write about your life? Who cares? Who wants to read a bunch of crap other people are saying about their stupid lives. Well I have discovered I do. I think the reason I felt that way is because the people that I KNOW who blog are people I don’t want to read about. I don’t want to hear about how they got drunk and woke up in some weird place or how their newest tattoo itches. And that is because I had to hear it in real life. I don’t want to find out that they actually hate me but are nice to my face or that they think I am stupid. There are simply things I don’t need to know about the person I sit next to at work. So I found out that reading about people I don’t know IS fun.
I have found all sorts of blogs I really like for all sorts of reasons. Candy’s blog is the first blog I ever really took time to read. After that I found PW and liked that one too so I went on a search for other fun blogs. Some of them I found via links from the blogs I like and others by accident when I was searching for something else (which is how I found Candy’s blog).
Do I wish I could make tons of money just writing about junk that happens in my life? Well sure I do but I don’t think I want all the other crap that goes along with that like people bashing me for expressing myself or posting pictures of my family. I also think it would take up a large (HUGE) amount of time if I really wanted to make an income doing it. And finally I don’t think I would ever be able to make money because nothing I have to say is really that interesting but I can say it here if I want, without making money, and still have fun even if I spend hours over the smallest post.
There seems to be a section of the blogging population that likes to bash “Mommy Bloggers” posting about their daily life and pictures of their kids. You see a lot of people saying that they are “pimping” their kids and the poor darlings don’t deserve that. What about Brangelina? Or other celebs that sell their kids pictures? Aren’t they doing the same thing? I am sure there are plenty of people bashing them too. Sometimes the tone of the bashers sounds resentful, like “I have to say these ugly things because I am not making as much money as they are.” Other times it seems “holier than thou” like “look at me I am so much better than you are because I don’t post about my family.” Yet I see some of the most vulgar things on the basher’s sites. Oh wait, I forgot rule number one: it is ok to say nasty things about people you don’t know as long as you don’t involve your own family. And rule number two: no one will ever print this out for my kids to see because I didn't say anything nasty about my kids, only about other people,the WAY vulgar things I am saying won't hurt my kids because I am so much better than everyone else AND I won't reveal myself because I don't want anyont to know who I am while I say ugly things. Well let me tell you I would have been VERY embarrassed if I had seen something my mother wrote about someone else if she had been that vulgar.
One blogger I found is particularly fond of bashing The Pioneer Woman and Dooce. Personally I don’t really care for the latter but that doesn’t stop me from reading her blog (kind of like a train wreck you can’t look away from). Oh there is other bashing going on but those two seem to get the worst of it. It is sort of funny because I think the more that blogger bashes them the more traffic she sends to them. One common complaint about the blogs I mentioned above is that their kids may be scarred for life because the bloggers tell all sorts of personal stories about the kids. I am pretty sure if their kids grow up to be troubled adults it isnt JUST because their moms blogged about them. Another complaint is that the stories are not true. Some stories are hard to believe but I was not there to witness the encounter so I can’t debunk it. I think that it is funny this particular basher seems to feel like she is going to save the world from people that might really believe everything that PW and D say. Well I think if you have a modicum of intelligence you understand that not everything you read on the Internet is true and these women are running a “business.” They have a right to say whatever they want and if they choose to say their words are the truth then so what? It is supposed to be entertainment, a commentary on life as they see it.
So maybe PW and D embellish the truth. Maybe the truth isn't really that interesting. After all is said and done it is a business for them and they have to keep things fun, real, stupid, yucky etc. or people will stop reading and then they lose their business. Maybe some of these people don’t really need the extra income but so what? They need some sort of creative outlet or they would wither away.
It seems that the biggest problem people have with these bloggers is they talk about things that shouldn't be discussed in "polite company." Maybe D puts too much of herself out there for everyone to see. Maybe that is sort of cathartic for her. There are lots of women that can't relate to their children. So what? Maybe writing keeps her from killing everyone around her. I can remember times that I thought "my kids are the reason I will be put in prison" because I didn't know if I could keep from killing them (not really but you know what I mean I HOPE). I just kept thinking "this will get better" and so far it has. I will not say that my kids don't STILL drive me nuts because that would be a lie (OH MY I hope they don't read this because I would hate it if I made them bad adults because once in a while I admit my kids drive me crazy). Although this is sort of a journal for me and a way to keep up with things I am feeling at the moment I admit I will never knowingly say things that would potentially hurt someone else. This is not the place I will bitch about my husband, kids, family, friends, co-workers etc. (well maybe I will but right now I don't think so) because that is not why I wanted to start a blog. So D airs all her dirty laundry. As I said before, so what? That is why she started a blog. It works for her. It is not my cup of tea but I respect her for doing what she wants to do even if I don't agree. And about her blocking comments on some posts, maybe she can't take reading negative comments. I would hate that too.
So I won't post a comment on the basher's blogs because I don't think that anything I might say would make them "get it" and although I might waste my time reading the crap they write I don't want to waste my breath trying to convince them they are acting like teenagers because that won't change their mind. Instead I will spend hours of precious time writing about how stupid they are acting on my blog (go figure).
AMENDMENT, August 21, 2008. I did cave and post a comment. Just to rant. I know it doesn't make them understand what they are doing is just as wrong as the people they bash but I feel better. Well I have decided I have spent too much time on this way too long rant. I have looked it over and over so if my grammar is bad or I have way too many misspelled words forgive me. I won't be mad if you post a comment telling me so. >ôô<
