Wednesday, July 23, 2008

In Which She Talks of Blogging

I saw this at American Family and figured it'd give a starting point for today. I've been struggling with what to say lately, due to silly things I don't want out there for the internet to see.

Why did you start a blog?
I was a freshman at UK, my first semester, when I read an article in the Kernel about blogging. It listed several sites to try and I signed up for a Xanga account. Then Candace and Ryan got one and it became this little thing we did I guess to pass the time, keep in touch. I don't know really. After that kind of died off I began the first of many attempts to start a blogspot blog, but I never really updated consistently. Then I found Charles' myspace blog and got the bright idea to start blogging over there. Which has lead to the current situation where I cross post at myspace and blogspot.

All the while I discovered the blogging giants like Amalah, Dooce, A Little Pregnant, Mighty Girl, Joy Unexpected, Zoot...etc. and kind of became in awe of the community. It's really given women a voice, which I've always thought was incredibly cool.

Why do you continue to blog?
I've always loved writing and oversharing stories about my family and life. In 5th grade I remember standing up in the class and voluntarily reading stories about my brother from my journal to the class. I have no filter, and I guess this blogging thing is just an extention of that.

Do you have a blogmother/blogfather?
Amalah and The Sarcastic Journalist were the first blogs I ever read, which were great inspirations. But I've not had anyone take me under their wing or anything.

Any downsides to blogging?
Despite my knack for oversharing my life I will be the first to admit I'm actually a really sensitive person. I think in some cases I've taken comments the wrong way (or the right way) and gotten really down in the dumps for the rest of the day. Which is silly. And I think in some cases this has led to me censoring myself on certain topics, namely: politics, depression and religion, simply because I don't want to start something.

I also think realizing if you put it out there it can be found is a sobering idea. I've begun to write less about my parents for the simple fear of them finding this (and the fact that my Mom is begging for a myspace). And as Jon gets older I've become more sensitive to what I'm sharing about him as well, out of simple respect. Early teenage-dom is an awkward time, I don't need to add to that.

Do your 'real' world friends read your blog?
Lots of them do, obviously. Strangely enough my closest real life friend does not though which is a bit odd. And I've made closer friends with people I've met in real life, but not known that well, through blogging which is really awesome.

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So tell me, if you blog, why do you do it?

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