Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Blog about Blogging

You know you've run out of things to say when you're blogging about blogging. Well okay, that's not true, words rarely fail me, and I'm actually currently working on three other blog entries, but I just haven't received the inspiration required for their completion yet. So I decided to bore the entirety of my three followers, one of them being my husband, by filling in the gap and talking about my befuddlement over this whole blogging phenomenon I decided to try out not so long ago. As stated in my first blog entry, the only reason I started writing these random essays was because of some encouragement from friend. I had written a few cheesy entries on facebook, and before that myspace, but nothing of substance really. I can't say I'm writing much more than fluff here either, but I suppose that depends on the perception of the reader. I wonder if I even have any readers out there, because other than my previously mentioned followers and handful of fb friends who have left me some personal comments, I don't have any feedback on these random thoughts I spew. So, if you are a reader, and you haven't let me know you are following, do as Eminem says and "please stand up".

While we are on the topic of blogging, what is proper blog etiquette anyway? According to Wikipedia, "A blog (a contraction of the term "web log")[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video." Thus by that definition if I am the individual maintaining the blog, it should be anything I want, right? I think so, but my husband on the other hand sees it a bit differently than I do. Despite the fact that he seems to enjoy reading my blog entries, he has told me that I'm missing the point of a blog. To him the entries should be short and sweet, and potentially ridden with random unconnected thoughts. You would think after over 11 years together he would know that I have never been privy to any such things, especially when it comes to writing. I edit, a lot! It bothers him that I want to check and recheck for errors and make smoother transitions, though I really think that has more to do with the time I spend writing and not with him, LOL. Anyway, he doesn't see the point, to him it is just a waste of time, but he doesn't get how much I hate mistakes, and if I find them after I posted, I correct them. I can't even post a blog until I've read through it entirely at least once without having to make a correction. I usually edit my emails before sending them as well. Errors just pick and pick at my brain, so it's better to fix them before rather than let my mind fixate on them later. Besides, just because I'm not writing a term paper doesn't mean that I don't want it to sound good. I mean, if I were writing an essay for a class, my verb tense would remain the same throughout paragraphs and I would check for things like dangling modifiers, but I hate dealing with those literary pains in my ass, so I don't in this format, because it's my blog damn it, and I'll do it however I want, which is pretty much how I do everything in life. J

Alright I'm done with my random rant, and its short compared to some other entries I've written, so my husband will be proud. I will bore you no longer with my meandering thoughts about what a blog should and shouldn't be, because in the end there is no real answer other than it's whatever the writer makes it to be. Instead I offer you a preview of what may come in the next week or two: Be on the lookout for guilty pleasures, jeaneologies (yes I meant to spell it that way), and Lenten journeys. I can only hope those entries will be far more interesting than this one.

5 comments:

  1. Hola Amber -- I'll stand up and let you know that I read your blog :-) Also, I totally relate to the editing/rewriting OCD. My job is as a technical/business writer, so people tend to appreciate my attention to these things, though they get a little annoyed that it sometimes take me an hour to compose an e-mail response to them about something simple. It's pretty much the reason why I can't stand instant messaging. I get made fun of for using too many words and proper punctuation in texts. I can't help it -- it's not something I can turn off. And, like you, if I do make a mistake, I usually obsess about it until I break down and correct it.

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  2. "You know you've run out of things to say when your blogging about blogging"... For being so particular about proof reading, I find it ironic that the first sentence is wrong... Did you do that on purpose? LOL

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  3. Thanks for pointing that out dear. Sure, I meant it . . . no actually I didn't, but I've fixed it now.

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  4. One of my favorite blog entries happened before there were blog entries...it was the "quiz" that you and Jon took last year about how well you know each other. Ahh priceless.

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  5. OMG, I'll have to see if I can find those quizzes and post them here. That would be fun to relive for sure. :)

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