Sunday, December 15, 2002

Blog Envy



Oh woe. Woke up this morning and did a little surfing of the www. There are a lot of Blogs out there. Many of them are too obscure or coded to be of interest to a passer-by and of course there are those that address subjects that don't hold my interest, but there are a good many that very much grab my attention. My attraction to these other sites is a reflection of common interests. Is that shallow?: Liking something because it reminds me of Me and My Universe? The second reason I like them is due to their really, really cool graphics, illustrations and photographs. A picture is worth a thousand words, and mugs and t-shirts add a certain 21st century legitimacy to the content.



And speaking of pictures, is anyone discussing the brave new world and cultural phenomenon of observing, almost anonymously, other people's lives, pets and Christmas trees, by way of the internet? It is a subject that tickles my brain. Am I eavesdropping, when I read anecdotes about other people's vacations, classes, jobs, divorces and bunny cakes? Are there really so many of us anxious to be recognized and observed, willing to risk our "deep thoughts" and baby pictures, to an unknown world? I wonder how many Blogs are sincerely meant to be an interaction between a circle of friends, and how many of them are a means to be heard on this crowded planet and perhaps esteemed by many. Fascinating.



All that aside, I would love to post chicken pictures, and even one of me standing knee deep (okay, ankle deep) in Custer snow. And also make lists of all my favorite things and preferences, links to people whose coolness will reflect favorably on me. Even the big news magazines show off their skill at publishing the trivial, or reducing information to a caption, cute graph or thumbs up. After all, who really has time to read an entire article, when one can glean fathoms from the ascending or descending arrow of Time's Conventional Wisdom chart?



Maybe words are enough. Maybe I should simply continue looking for the words that illustrate my world, phrases that capture emotions and sentiments. It isn't always easy knowing how to share a scene or depict an event. I have no editors and my grammar could really use some polish. If I threw in some pictures of our sunrise view, the cats sleeping on the presents under the tree or of me doing something skillful, it might just distract visitors from my spelling errors and switching tenses. There may be a balance to achieve; thoughtful descriptions and remarks, sparingly sprinkled with choice photographs or visual aids. Show of hands: who wants to see Luna eat a snail?

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