Having a blog is cool.
Or so they tell me. I don't think I post enough to actually qualify as a blogger. But anyway...
Having a blog is cool. But it's also personal. Sometimes very personal.
I am not an open-book kind of a chick. I can talk all day about parenting or politics or whole foods, but ask me about me and I'm likely to shut up.
So having a blog where I can express emotions and frustrations that I might not otherwise voice is very therapeutic.
Now, when I first started blogging I did what many fellow bloggers did. I told everybody! I told my friends, my family and my in-laws. I told people I met and had my blog url in my personal email signature (insert big L on forehead here).
Stupid.
Within weeks I was fielding far more verbal complaints and comments than I ever read. I even took 6 months off to shake a reader or two off.
And I no longer tell anyone I know in real life about my blog.
For the most part, the friends and family who read me are great. They get who I am and understand that I express a side of me, on here, that they may not always see. I have one friend who has her own blog and we'll talk internets every once in a while.
But the random verbal comments? So, so bad!!
There is nothing worse than going to church at 8:30 in the morning only to be greeted with:
"Had any poop for breakfast this week?" or
"Blown up any chickens lately?"
And every single time Dave heads for the restroom, someone mutters "Dave, I have a story!"
Poor guy.
Okay, so it's my fault for introducing my blog to a select few friends a couple of years ago (who obviously introduced it to their friends), but when I've got middle aged men asking me about my spicy vah-jay-jay, it's just not right.
And I want to know that I can get real without fearing it coming up in conversation later. Believe me, if I duck and hide from people I know at the grocery store, I'm sure as heck going to run if I think a blog reader might start discussing my emotional state to my face.
So the new rule is, unless you comment on here, you don't get to comment at all.
And lay off Dave about his thong. That happens to be my favorite picture.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Verbal Comments are Now Closed
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28 comments:
I have the opposite problem. I can hardly get any of my RL friends and family to read my blog. I don't think they quite understand what a blog is. But just in case, I definitely have refrained from writing anything very personal and from venting too much. When I blogged on myspace many moons ago I once wrote a rant about Christmas cards, and you wouldn't believe the turmoil that created in my life.
I know what you mean. Blogging is a highly personal, one-of-a-kind, I-can-be-me kinda thing. The last thing you want to hear in church is some doofus parroting something from your blog that HE (or she) doesn't understand! BTW, thanks for visiting MY blog! We're going to have a Pop'rs giveaway this week, so keep dropping by!
I took Jay to get his haircut and the Barber Joe was all like, "Hey, I saw you on TV and popped in on your blog." WTF?
And.
Now some of my husband's patients read too. Ugh.
Loved this post. Right now, I can so relate. I am justing keeping my cool and trying to stay the same. I might have to start a secret blog. ;)
I haven't told any of my family about my blog yet. I just made mine last week and I'm not sure how personal I'm going to get. If it's going to get really personal, I don't want people like my MIL reading it! I haven't even told my husband. Even though he'll probably just roll his eyes and say "Great, something else for you to keep up with."
I guess it's one thing for strangers to know your deepest, darkest secrets, but quite another for your mom to read about them.
Oh yeah. I hear ya. I feel the same way. I wish I hadn't told a few people about my blog. I would love it if I could just say whatever pops into my head without having to edit everything for fear of it falling on the wrong eyes. Ah well.
And um, that thong picture? I'm still wiping the drool off my face.
I kind of freaked out at Christmas at my husband's aunt and uncle's house when his uncle congratulated me on my latest blog venture (ad network) and it was obvious he reads my blog and I had NO idea.
I don't tell people about my blog any more. I did tell family and friends about it in 2005 when I started it and very few actually stopped in and read. Now I just kind of lay low but I never know when someone I know is going to find it!
p.s. yeah the mud photo...WOW! ;)
Been there! And, only two family members know. That's enough. Kudos for regaining control.
Good for you getting back some control. I haven't yet learned that. While I haven't told family members, I do have it listed on my facebook account so I KNOW that lots of "friends" (aka people I went to college or even highschool with) read it but don't comment.
...that "thong" picture is amazing. :)
Aww, the church patrons always think they're being so very clever. sigh. Good thing I have no shame. But yes, I have been mildly embarrassed when I find out certain people read my blog....
The internet is its own world. Hats off to you Jenni for keepin us in focus! If we're gonna read and NOT have the jiblets to leave a comment then NOTHING needs to get said in public! Its like people want to know your stuff, don't wanna share theirs, and then want to best you in public. There's a word for that...
Leaving a comment is much more fun and ahem, 'snarky!'
PS: Why would a man be reading a womens blog?
A friend and I were just discussing this. It's almost harder to have people in the middle circle of your life read your blog. Close friends and family, yes. Strangers, fine. But acquaintances? That's where it gets sticky.
I'm currently taking a hiatus from my blog exactly for that reason. My dad's sister had a canary after she read my initial post..... I'm hoping they forget soon, so I can update. BTW how is the baby brewing? I am 17 1/2 weeks and can't wait to find out what we are having :O) So very excited.
The only two family members who read my blog are my mom and my sister. My sister is really cool, but my mom...ugh! She likes to bring up my blog posts at the most inappropriate times. I seriously regret telling her about it at all. None of my IRL friends read and I don't want that to change. I like the anonymous factor that I have, ya know.
I have a few IRL people that read it, just close friends. Who are actually the reason that I post my stripper posts under another password, so that they can't access them.
Half my family can't hardly figure out the interweb, and those that can usually can't be bothered to check out my site. And I'm ok with that. Except for my mom constantly telling me not to say certain things (which is now actually a huge joke between us).
It is a little disconcerting, though, when people at my very, very, very conservative church come up to me and say, 'Oh, I loved that pancake recipe you posted last week!'
My first thought is, 'I didn't know they knew I had a blog!'
And my second is, 'Oh, crap monkeys, I hope they didn't read my confession about the totally inappropriate and borderline obsessive crush I have on Clive Owen.'
http://tinymama.blogspot.com/2008/02/friday-confessions_08.html
That would be bad. Hey, I've got a really conservative, homeschoolin', Repub bumper sticker placin' image to keep!! For real. :)
Thanks for stopping by my site. I've been lurking around here for a while, and you crack me up and I totally copied your little baby graphic. :)
~Brea
I'd frame that picture....it's classic!
Jenni: As promised, here's something to brighten your day! We've just launched Giveaway Tuesday, and it's got your name written all over it. Please drop by soon to enter the contest!
Oh you poor thing! lolol Sorry. But this was funny too!
Good for you- I like the rule: no commenting here, no commenting in RL. Good policy. I have only 2 people that know I blog besides my husband. The rest? I wanted free reign, baby, to say what I wanted.
That sounds like a fair enough rule. I have the opposite problem, though. I started the blog for family and I'm starting to wonder how many of them still read it. I know I've lost my MIL, which ticks me off because she's always complaining about not getting enough photos/visits with the grandbaby. Um, hello, daily photo. SHOOOSH!
You're braver than me. I never write personal crap on my blog. people scare me.
Humph, I know that I don't post enough to be considered a real blogger. :) And while I'm not sure who reads my blog, I pretty much stick to the rule that I won't post anything that I wouldn't say face-to-face.
Of course, I have no shame. So if my pastor really wants to know whether or not the store replaced that defective vibrator, I'm going to tell him all about it. And smile.
I'm so glad I don't have that problem. Most of my friends know I have a blog, but if they read it, they don't say anything to me about and only one or two have ever left comments. That would freak me out to have someone I barely know say something in public to me.
Oh...That is pretty bad...not to comment on your blog but to razz you about it in public. Church people don't know about my blog...not that there is anything there that I am ashamed about but...I don't know...I just am not comfortable for some reason. I think it is good that you are setting down some rules. Really...you make me laugh. I thank you for that. Keep being real.
Try writing a column for your local paper and everywhere you go -- the supermarket, the local Wally World..church...etc. everyone (including people you have no idea who they are) saying "How's that little one?" or acting like they know you and your son and pinching his cheeks for no apparent reason.
I can kind of relate -- I don't have a lot of family and friends reading mine, but boy I'd rather have them teasing me than complete strangers!
Recipe Alert! Aunt Julie bakes a Strawberry Rhubarb pie at http://poprs.blogspot.com/2008/07/tasty-therapy.html. Check it out!
Good for you. It would bother me too. I moved my blog from Spaces for that reason (and others too). I think my MIL understood me more, but I didn't feel free to post about anything and not feel like she could see right through my clothes.
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