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That is the question. Do I wait until I have something profound to say? I think it is possible that I will wait forever. Blogs and personal webspaces are like houseplants: no one but the owner and her confidantes really cares whether it stays or goes. And like houseplants, the routine maintenance they require is sometimes annoying. The metaphor can be extended only a bit further: some folks lavish attention on beautiful plants, and others have mostly scrubby pots but with the occasional blossom. But every so often, a post speaks to some person on the vast worldwide interwebs. It resonates sufficiently with them that they leave you a comment. Or not. No one, not even Barry Bonds, hits a home run each time at bat.
I suppose the commitment to blog is really a commitment to a public persona. There are excellent reasons for not having one. Even the most opaque blog, over time, betrays its author to the reader that cares to read between its lines. Long periods of silence speak volumes.
I for one do not buy the line that someone has nothing to say. If one is thinking at all, there is content there. Look at Terri Schiavo's blog. The question is not "what do I have today?" but rather "what am I willing to share?"
Posted by Underblog at June 20, 2005 6:37 AM
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I don't think I have nothing to say, I just think that practically nothing I have to say is interesting. I spend so much time reading what other people have written that I don't feel much need to shoot my mouth off over nothing, which is what about 99 percent of the blogs I've looked at amount to. And the element of public exposure inherent in blogging does concern me.
Posted by: Suzanne at June 20, 2005 7:10 AM
I, for one, enjoy shooting my mouth off over nothing. More than that I enjoy reading the nothing of others, the more banal the better.
Posted by: Dr. Sherman at June 20, 2005 7:50 AM
I don't think your blog or UB's fall into the category of "shooting your mouth off over nothing." You seem to use yours as a creative outlet that is completely seperate from your "regular" work, and Eric's is either thoughtful or amusing by turns. Dooce's, on the other hand, is pretty much pointless as far as I can see, and the one time in 100 when she's funny hardly make it worth the trip to her homepage.
Posted by: Suzanne at June 20, 2005 10:03 AM
hmmm..Outside plants make me happy,sometimes I feel like houseplants are some sort of human torture on plantlife. I accept everything in blogs, but I only read a few.
Posted by: heather at June 21, 2005 2:17 AM