Monday, January 30, 2012

What to blog? What to say?

How do you know what to say when your blog doesn’t really have a point? Of course, Reflections on a Run is my daily running journal and occasionally has some great race reports (when I can afford to enter some races). The optimistically named The Occasional Chef clearly deals with my attempts at cooking. Urban homesteaders like Chicken Mama and Sky Minded and e-i-e-i-omg are focused on urban homesteading, of course. But, what is Giggles and Raspberries? Is it just about the amazing little men that we are lucky enough to love until the end of time? Is it political? Am I trying to chronicle my life so that the boys understand who I am (besides the lady that makes them eat green beans), or am I trying to chronicle the boys’ life so that they someday know just how adorable they really are? Am I trying to remember the good parts of my childhood or the occasional pain of my adult life?

Do I write about the first time that I saw my mom drink a beer? The last time I saw that same thing? The fact that those were the only two times I ever saw that at all? Do I blog about high school (oh, gawd), college (boring) or grad school (holy hell)? What about the fact that we have a family bed and I don’t really care? What about the night my footie-pajamas were ripped or the reason that I always stir my ice cream until it’s smooth? How I eat my sorrow and depression the way that some people use alcohol or drugs? How much I love to push the boys on the swing in the back yard and that I will cry when they don’t need me to do that anymore? How I doubt my abilities and intelligence? When did I decide to forgive my ex? What about the last quilt that I tied with my mom or the last thing that I canned with her or the reason that my dad won’t tell me about Viet Nam (or why I write Viet Nam as two words instead of one)? What about the pain I feel every year when we go to the capitol to fight for second parent adoption only to be rejected again and again and again? Does anyone really want to hear about how I how I totally do not believe in the death penalty and how one day I caught myself changing my mind? How one of my oldest friends in the world told me to leave my wife? What about how conflicted I felt when I learned from someone who grew up in South Africa that Mandela was not exactly how he is portrayed in movies? The first movie I remember seeing with my dad or the reason that my mom let me go see American Graffiti or why The Man From Snowy River has, hands down, the most awesome scene ever filmed? And, The Black Stallion – how many times did I read this book? Why can’t I seem to lose weight? Why I hate my car? The last time we saw Bub’s sisters?

Does anyone care about this stuff but me? Is this blog for me or for other people and if so, which people? What is bloggerdom, anyway? I love reading the blogs that I’ve linked to here on my site, some of them have a specific theme and some of them don’t. Why is it interesting to read about the lives of others, most of whom you’ve never met but really want to someday? Will I write about all of that stuff? Probably….

How do you choose what to say and what to keep to yourself?

1 comment:

Tom Stewart said...

Ok, This is the first time I have been to your Blog and the first post I have read here (I will be back!)
Someone told me once when I had the same question at the start of my Blog,
B
"Blog like you are talking to your sister" Now my sister is clear across the country and she doesn't even read my Blog! Her interest are in other places.
But us BLOGGERS are a tight knit group. And yes, you will have thoes that will only visit once, and deside that it's not for them. But you will have others that will come back time and again!
I'm a 58 year old man, single and alone. Trying to get my small Homestead up and running.
I do not have any intrest in running or racing, But I will be back to read each of thoes posts as you write them.
Do you have an intrest in Worms or raising them? I do,.... both!
So just keep on writing and posting, and I will be back to read and comment when ever I can! Come on over to my place, worms-a-crawlingfarrm.blogspot.com
The worms would like to hear from you!
TOM