Fifty's Fricking Nifty...

Wooooo Hooooooooo!
Jeepers Creepers, would ya look at that??? The FIFTIETH Blog entry. Wow, I dunno about you but I'm kind of impressed with myself.
It all started waaaaay back in the day (about 7 months ago) when I found myself reading quite a few Blogs online. They were fun, addictive, fascinating little hand made gems on the internet. Sneaky, voyeuristic glimpses in to people's lives. What people? ANY people. Whether it's the anti-me living in New York who pops pills like candy and apparently considers drinking a hobby. Or the crafty woman with the insanely pretty back yard and craft stories galore, or even better the gal with a Blog full of nothing but recipes and cooking anecdotes. Oh *sigh* so much fun. I can read about the life of a woman in Denmark, what some one in Seattle had for breakfast or about the day to day routine of a fabric designer with 5 kids. (this one is more of a horror story...FIVE KIDS....My God...I can barely handle 2 cats)
The more I read the more I wanted to make a Blog too, cause why should the world only hear about them, WHAT ABOUT ME???? Plus I figured besides the fun of creating a Blog for myself, perhaps a family member and friend or two would get a kick out of it. I could share a tiny glimpse in to my own world. Cause honestly how often do people stay in touch these days? Seriously, not much. But it doesn't mean you just wanna go "o.k., delete this person from my life." That's where a Blog comes in, you can throw a little bit of yourself and your life up on a web page in a few easy clicks and voila! If you feel like being nosy about me, there I am. And if you happen to have a Blog, OHhhhhhhhhhhhhh so much the better. Show me your laundry, your art work your gripes about the human condition. PLEASE, show me.
I think they're brilliant. Like wee little news sites about a single person or family. And since a blogger can just put up what ever they want you don't have to have the regular back and forth of conversation. Like how often do you walk up to a person in real life and say "I sure love Margaritas and curse words are damn fun." HAHAHAHA I exaggerate....sort of....But on your Blog you can do that. You can do more if you're so inclined, and if you like things anonymous. Like you don't want people to know about the pink feather boa fetish. No big deal, BLOG ANONYMOUSLY. Do I do that??? WHO CAN SAY.... IT'S ANONYMOUS.
Oh, I heart Blogs.....
I counted and there about 25 Blogs that I like to check in on and read that are written by complete strangers. I enjoy them so much, screw the news I don't want to hear the horrors of the world. I want to know what a woman named Yves did on the weekend or how Melaney enjoyed taking the bus. For a long time I was a Blog lurker. That means I was a regular reader of some Blogs but never commented. I just enjoyed anonymously and left the way I came, silent but deadly. Er...wait...I didn't mean it like that.
Anyways when I started my own Blog and started getting comments I realized something. Comments are amazing. Writing my own Blog gave me a whole new perspective on Bloggers and Blogging, an insider's perspective and ya know what? I started De-lurking. If I read a Blog and enjoyed it I'd leave a comment from time to time. Like "hey I tried your ice cream recipe and it was delish." or "I think having Japanese kids do work mentoring in a hotel sounds cool." or maybe even "Hey, cool Art." Nothing earth shattering. Just a few words to acknowledge my enjoyment of their Blog. After all it's all ORIGINAL writing, ideas, photos and thoughts being shared...FOR FREE!
To some Bloggers I know it might not make a difference but to other Bloggers it could make their day and give them a reason to keep doing it. To keep writing and sharing original material on the internet. Contributing something fresh and new and utterly fascinating!
I wish more family members would Blog. How cool would it be to have a network of Blogs by family members so you could catch up on interesting tidbits. You might be thinking "Ever hear of a phone?" Yes but I don't really phone chat, do you all? With each other? And what about family that don't even know each other, in-laws that never met or spoke, that sort of thing. The cool thing about a Blog is it doesn't have to be life altering news, it can be photos of your new shoes, a favorite recipe or a poem you wrote about your love of Survivor. It could be lists of your favorite shows, books you've read and would recommend or 32 reasons why you think pavement is better then concrete. Photos of the Grand Kids, what you dreamt last night or a detailed account of what the dog rolled in last weekend. There's a reason Blogs have gained so much popularity, besides the whole voyeurism thing with stranger's lives you got the whole passive participation in to family and friend's lives. A way to peek at what cousin Bob and Aunt Nancy are up to with out actually having to go for a visit.
Damn, Blogs are fricking awesome. Aunt Nancy can blab about her love of freeway off ramps and I don't have to stand there face to face. Cause the sort of expression I might wear whilst listening to a passionate description of an off ramp is perhaps one Aunt Nancy would take offense to. But in the comfort of my own home, in my cozy little computer chair I can roar with laughter, snort water out of my nose and gasp in uproarious delight at Aunt Nancy's fetish. Then, once the shaking and uncontrollable giggles are under control I can write a quick "interesting hobby Auntie Nan" and all is right with the world.
Oh Blogs, thank-you for existing, thank-you for providing this new creative outlet to the world where people can blab family secrets, recipes and new hairdos for the whole world to see and enjoy.