Blogtopia

Tim made up a French word for me: "blogeuse", a female blogger. No one has ever made up a word for me in English, let alone French. “Blogeuse”, like a chanteuse with a laptop.

After 3 months out in Blogtopia I have a few observations:

First, Blogtopia is full of a ton and a half of dreck. Boring, angry, stupid, stupid stuff that makes you question the whole human experiment. But between a combination of random accident and recommendations I have found some really fine stuff, too. And when I do I bookmark it immediately lest I forget the name. Hopefully this weekend The Spouse is going to show me how to list links to other blogs (something quite done out here in Blogtopia). I’ll be judicious about it. I read this one blog that has a list of probably 50 bazillion links on it and I just don’t think anybody has that kind of time.

Second, Blogtopia can be a very amusing place. Here's a bit that just made me glad to be alive.

Third, we’ve all been hearing for some time now how the Internet is responsible for the decline of conversation, handwritten notes and similar other relationship killing ills which will ultimately lead to us all being isolated in our individual cubicles, plugged into the matrix and lit only by the glow of our computer screens. My experience, though, is that there is a groovy little circle of connection among all these people even though we haven’t met in person.

I’ve found some blogs I really enjoy and sometimes I leave a comment. Then they look me up, come read what I’ve got going on and leave a comment. I find it oddly heartwarming. It is, as The Neighbor observed, something like a cocktail party. We only reveal what we want to about ourselves. It’s not that we necessarily develop some sort of life-lasting intimacy but it’s a connection nonetheless. And it is always comforting to find other people who are funny, who think about the same things I do, who don’t mind being honest about what they question or are learning.

Fourth, Blogtopia is full of stories, interesting stories about people living their lives, struggling with their relationships or faith or whatever. There are people into piercings and tatoos looking for a good chili recipe. One day I happened on a blog with an interesting Alice in Wonderlandy sort of name. Browsing the posts I found her asking for a good, easy chili recipe. Well, I have that (Payson's Papa's Chili, as we call it) so I sent it. She posted a thank you on my blog and said something about how much she loved crockpots. I go back to her blog and check out her profile. And she seems to have a sort of goth sensibility. Which is fine but the point is that you wouldn't necessarily peg someone like that as a fan of the crockpot. Which is to say that maybe because we can't see each other Blogtopia has the potential to break down the most fundamental of prejudices. We can't prejudge what we can't see. And there is the added advantage that if we don’t like what someone writes we don't have to waste our time with their blog, unlike the people in our lives we wish were that easy to dismiss.

Fifth, something like 6% of us have blogs. Which amounts to a bunch of people. Thousands maybe. Which is to say that the odds of ever being read are pretty high. I played it safe, giving the link to my blog to a handful of friends that I was reasonably sure would like what they read. These people are very nice about it and their encouragement is a gift. But I had a real Sally Field sort of moment when I noticed that one of my favorite blogs had a link to MY blog on his site. When someone who couldn’t pick you out of a lineup thinks you blog isn’t a complete waste of time it’s pretty flattering.

Finally, post or perish. If you have a blog and you want to be read then you better commit to regular posting. I’ve found some blogs with potential but if they don’t post regularly I lose interest and stop checking it out. But with all those blogs out there, the quest for quality continues.

My coffee has gone cold. I hate when that happens.