Of course, it means a lot of things, and I've been working on a longer post about that that might eventually see the light of day. I started blogging as a documentation of sorts, for the change in direction my writing was taking; I also looked forward to practicing my writing skills and becoming disciplined enough to do it daily. The blog filled those purposes, certainly.But I didn't anticipate how wonderful being read would be, or how fun it is to read your comments, or to discover other bloggers and their worlds and insights and inspiration. That's been worth ten times anything else, especially after living for years isolated a hundred miles past the last outskirts of the boonies. So when Sylvia commented a few days ago to say "what a change it has made in my life", I thought I might know what she was talking about.
Which is why this news is so interesting: Blogger Buzz is asking for stories about our blogging experiences, to help celebrate Blogger's 10th anniversary. All you need to do is write a post saying how much blogging has meant to you, then follow that link up there and read the instructions. They'll be choosing their favourite stories to share.
Nifty!
Now, back to zombie-research (I cannot believe I'm researching zombies...) and fiddling with new blogger templates. Yep, the bare white's making me restless, and I'm yearning for top links and pretty things. So if the blog changes suddenly again, I'm sorry...
Again.
If I pick something you don't like, or if the print's too small or the colour unappealing or well whatever, feel free to clamour for a change back. You know how fond I am of clamour.
41 comments: join in!:
My blog adds fun to my life.
Enjoy your search for a new letterhead on which to write your tales from Stony River farm.
You know me sister. You put something up that's differnt I will comment. Me and my big mouth lol. Anyway in short blogging has introducced me to wonderful poeple even I'd they do chase zombies, wookies and aliens. I hopenits a wookie at least lol. Aloha.
Oops I'd is if lol
Grannymar, I've found the same--a LOT of fun. I think I've found the template I want; it's just facing the chore of re-entering all these links and widgets. Ugh.
Thom, I'm beginning to worry about our synchronised commenting thing--I just left a comment on your blog, and then on your lovely photo at Quilly's (you know, the one that's unique because your mouth was closed? ROFLMAO) I mean, are we in the grip of some secret mind meld that has one of us visiting the other one within seconds of the first visit? Hmmm...oh no, could it be the BORG?
And, NO WOOKIES!! Ponfo miran!
But seriously, it's a lovely shot and a very good face you've got. I'd sit next to you on the bus, so I would.
It started as a challenge, met by my eye rolling reply,"Oh yeah. Just what the world needs. Someone else writing their opinion and thrusting it upon the public. Aren't there enough of those already?"
Darn that man! He went and told me that my stories were interesting... and on a blog, I could share.
So I started out basically talking to myself on paper. After almost a year, the tone was turning dark because I was [am] so unhappy at work. Not with the public I serve but the people on the ladder which have sucked all the joy out of it. So I deleted it.
A month later, the itch was back. :)
So I tried again, deciding that there is nothing wrong with honesty as long as ALL it was not colored with woe-is-me.
Just think, if I'd given up, I'd never have found you, my twin in a parallel universe. Have I ever mentioned that my middle name is Susan? :0
Hope, that's a GOOD man! I'm glad you came 'round. Work, ugh, I know that if blogs had been so easy back in the days when I worked for a living, I would have been in trouble...and yes, it would have gotten darker. I wouldn't mind hearing more about your family searches and ninja mockingbirds however, anytime! LOL
It is hard to explain blogging and the enjoyment it brings to people who don't do it themselves.
My husband still teases me on a daily basis about what could be so interesting in reading blogs. I've given up trying to explain. I just tell him I love it and that's enough. You know, being stuck home with three children in a town with a population of 400, one yearns for a little social interaction. And not the kind I get from the toothless hillbillies at the gas station. Apologies to any toothless hillbillies reading this blog!
P.S. I want top links too!
Ashley, apology accepted.
And isn't it the truth? When I gave my blog address to a new West Virginian friend last February, he asked what it was. I told him, in basic terms, and he looked up at me and asked "Who the hell would want to read that?" I'm still laughing; I can hear his voice again whenever I remember it. But yeah, it's bewilderment or the already-converted.
Kinda like Star Trek...
You have 400 people?! Wow, honey, that's a real TOWN!! I live in a one-shop-and-pub-and-post-office type village, and the post office is IN the shop. *sigh*
thx for this susan... my reason for going on: meeting all kinds of neat folks all over the world :)
Laughingwolf, that's the best reason! I really love the people I've 'met' online here.
What does my blog mean to mean? By blog most definitely changed my life. Through blogging, I met the man I love, tossed over my career and jetted off to live in Hawaii. It is rather like an internet fairy tale. We've been together two years now, after an online relationship of about a year.
Okay, most of us will never top quilly's response! I mean, trading recipes, learning folklore, getting to know about life in all kinds of places--well, all of it pales in comparison to love and romance and Hawaii.
How odd to discover this post, especially after emailing you earlier. Blogging does open up the world. I only imagine what life might be like in Ireland, but with you and your blog, I can be there and appreciate the beauty that surrounds you. I can also try and figure out WHAT those little slang terms are that you stick in here and there. North Carolina bloggers remind me of how much I miss that state. On and on I could go.
Funny, I got carried away yesterday and changed my header. Have no idea what brought that on. But it's just one more of those "fun because I can do it" things. Blogging has made such an incredible difference in my life, I'm not sure I can even recognize the person I was before and it's hard to believe that that 1 year anniversary is approaching in a couple of weeks. What fun! Wow!
The idea that I can post something and sometimes within moments have you write back from Ireland is so incredible to me. I haven't gotten over the fascination of having people from different parts of this world read and express a opinion about something I've said. How amazing is that? And we're all family. We share so much of ourselves on our blogs that I'm not so sure we'd share with our friends on a daily basis. Well... actually, my kids read my blog and feel they always know what we're up to. I just love it, so there. :-D
I think I blog because I often find I have what seem to me to be really interesting ideas - until I write them down! The act of writing, I hope, exposes triteness and helps me work out what I really think.
That other people read it is great - it's like being in a pub where you can walk round and decide which table to sit down at, which conversation to join in with.
Quilly, holy cow! WOW! I need more blogs!
Susanna, yeah, I'm just sitting here wondering where all my posts went wrong...ROFL but you're right, my hard drive is filled with ideas and great things inspired by blogs all over.
Mimi, that's another good one for me too--there are so many places and people that fascinate me, and with their blogs I can be there. I miss our years in Appalachia, and when I read the blogs of people still there, I can hear that wonderful voice in their words: it's good for my soul! And, feel free to ask about any oddities in my English--usually I go back and take the worst of them out LOL but not surprised that I miss a few.
Sylvia, wow--I do often call blogging my 'therapy' and wonder where I'd be, what I'd be now, without it. I'm going to go look at your header now: you know, it's easier to spruce up a blog than the house (and more fun! ...and cheaper... and...)
Oh Kay, I burst out laughing there--how many times have I posted something and thought I'm so glad he won't be reading this LOL Sometimes we just need to vent. Your mention of family touched me, because most of mine is gone; they've all died or scattered and so there are no more big holidays to celebrate or get-togethers. But visiting you and Mimi and Thom and others with big families and seeing the photos you take of your gatherings, somehow that fills a space inside, and reminds me to phone or write the ones I have left.
Dominic, I've been amazed too at what this blog has done for my writing. In my case what comes out of my head is rarely what I found *in* there in the first place, and what goes into other people who read it is different again! Sometimes I write something for this, and think it's clearly telling a message of ABC, only to find that half the comments are cheering about XYZ, and a few found MNO. I sit and scratch my head and wonder what happened LOL but it's opened my mind incredibly as far as expressing myself.
LOVE that pub analogy...that's very much the feeling. It's a good feeling.
Susan I ask myself this a lot too. None of my friends blog, and I don't even think I've met any of the bloggers who comment on my blog before. Its a strange one but there's something adictive about it, and something very nice about seeing people respond to somethi ng you've written. also, I can talk rubbish and nobody tells me to shut up! that doesn't happen in real life!
I started blogging as a way of keeping a diary when I trained with my first guide dog. I wanted to be able to keep a record of things that happened and how things have changed. I get a lot more from blogging than I had hoped in the beginning.
My blog gives me a chance to tell a tale, but, mostly to read all the interesting people out there in blog land.
Cann't wait for the new mast head.
I started blogging on New Years Eve 2004. A friend got me started and I ceated it just to yak about something that may have happened or to record a thought.
Then I started to have visitors who found the blog through a Search on something and came back.
I know use my blog to stay in contact with my friends. But don't be alarmed if I don't post everyday, just driving all day kind of zaps things and one's brain kind of goes to mush.
I dunno how we do it but it must be something magical :) I'm amazed that my mouth wasn't open...that was a rather rare photo I must say :)
Jennifer, I'm in the same situation: I do wish that more of my locals blogged, but maybe some day. And I found the same thing; that what I get out of blogging is beyond what I expected, and in surprising ways.
Brighid, I like the visiting a lot too; it lets me feel connected without feeling crowded or intruded on (how I felt living in a city apartment block!). I really enjoy hearing about your life and travels and family.
Bill, it's amazing how many thoughts and ideas we let pass every day--until they're written down to go back to, I don't think we realise what we've lost, or how an inspiration or insight of ours could really touch someone else if shared. Meanwhile I'm *so* understanding of the brain-going-to-mush thing! Drive safely!
Thom, yes I'll call it magical when you're involved; I'm sorry to have laughed at Quilly's "unique--his mouth was closed" comment but I'm the talker in my family too... and you won't be seeing any photos LOL.
Who else will listen to you?
BINGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Spoken like a true family man.
ROFLMAO
Like you (and many others) I was surprised (indeed amazed) to find this experience enjoyable, friendly, beneficial, revealing. You have to take a breath now and then and not let it rule your life...but as long as you do that it's OK.
x
I'm new to your blog so you may have already covered this, but as you're researching zombies there's a couple of books I can recommend that I found useful for my own zombie project.
The first is 'The Serpent and the Rainbow' by Wade Davis, which is a really good book if you're interested in the reality behind zombie myths and where they all came from.
And if you're interested in zombie films Jamie Russell's 'Book of the Dead' is a pretty much complete list of all the films that feature zombies, plus some interesting side notes on the history of the creature and how its image has changed over the years.
Rachel, your voice of reason brings back a memory from earlier this year, when I noticed the late hour to realise that I had spent the whole day (apart from dressing the kids, cooking supper, etc.) on my blog and others'. You've got a very good point that a break is necessary...real life is out there isn't it?! ...but oooo so hard to do! LOL
Chris, wow, thanks! I know very little about zombies, as I've never been interested in them, but the story is that when I joined Friday Flash 55 I put up a small story and hoped it would become a serial romance type thing. I asked my family for help with my romance, and they suggested car wrecks and zombies. I reported this on the blog, expecting/hoping for sympathy for me and derision of said family, but the comments almost unanimously ran to "Woo, zombies!!" leaving me crapping my pants (figuratively, I assure you) about how to put car-wrecking zombies into a romance about a bus driver.
Ummmm..... back to research! LOL Looking into the history you mention actually has me interested now.
Happy blogaversary, mine will be on the 30th. this past year has been a growing experience for me as well. I really came to thank you for your kind comment. Comments like that are inspirational for me. I really just threw the post together, the walk, the photo-shoot and then the drifting into memories of my grandchildren when they were little were all personal therapy after the recent death of my brother.
I typed right onto the computer, almost without thinking. I know the prose needs refining, but it was already late at night...
Arija, it was obvious that post came from something deep inside; reading it was wonderful. I was thinking of your brother right through it, and glad you were seeing such beauty and magic all around at such a time! I wouldn't 'refine' a thing in it.
I was never interested in blogging, I only started one to please a friend. Now she's stopped and I can't!!
Akelamalu---
R O F L M A O !
That's so funny!
If I didn't blog I would never had had the opportunity to read yours.
Dr. John, is that, erm, a good thing or a bad thing?
ROFL
If it's a good thing, I've been glad to find you too!
You'll be pleased to know that cranky Walter the Watch Bird [also known as Ninja Mockingbird] has taken a bride. And she has set up house in the tree next to the front porch. I don't know how she has time to nest since her favorite sport is sitting on the porch rail to yell at the dogs. If they don't move, she keeps marching down the rail toward them! After five minutes of being screeched at and dive bombed, one dog knocks on the door and the other moans pitifully.
Great question. I've only been blogging for a short time, but I've really come to enjoy it. It offers me a little getaway in my busy day. It started out as an outlet for my photography hobby, but then it sort of turned in to an opportunity to tell people about my life and to show where I live. I don't usually offer my own opinion because I have other outlets to do that. But, I do appreciate reading what others think.
I'm in Ohio right now and I can't seem to stay away from commenting...what's wrong with me.
I was talking to my sister-in-law and brother about my blog and they looked at me like I was a looney...all they really said was "why"...and then changed the subject. Oh well...who cares!
All the comments and posts make me very happy too...so to my brother and his wife...that's "why"
It's like a vegetable patch... the Blog. You can plant things and see if they flourish or die. You can add colour or try to make it pay. You can sit in it and enjoy the smells.
Or you can just enjoy listening to the vegetables talk back to you. :)
Hope, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Bird! Commiserations however to the poor dogs--are helmets made in their sizes?
Thanks, FA, that 'getaway' aspect is a good one to remember. Visiting people and having a virtual 'chat' is enjoyable, but then seeing their photos of faraway (to ourselves) places is always a bonus--I know I enjoyed following your trip to Rome, Assisi, and southern France; places I may never go myself.
Peggy, LOL! I think I know what their faces looked like as they changed the subject on you, because I've been there too. But when we enjoy something and it adds something to our lives, well, why not? I was looking for your e-mail by the way; your comment box is saying that comments are closed. Really, or is it a glitch and I should try again?
Ken, flourish or die--I'm liking this seed-and-watch analogy. I've put up some posts I'm so proud of, to see them just sit, hardly commented (or completely misunderstood!) and then toss up a quickie (like this one...ahem!) only to see it draw more response than anything else I've written yet. Always a surprise, and yes, that's part of the charm I think.
I'm going through withdrawals not being able to read ever post on every blog! I can see Saturday being spent mostly in front of the computer. . .an addiction? Not quite but I sure miss them when I can't access them! Zombies are very fashionable right now! Sorry gotta rush . . I'll comment on the layout later, just don't go reverse type please!
Baino LOL but it's good to see I mean hear I mean READ you so busy! Hopefully it will rain on Saturday and time spent in front of the computer won't seem so wasted.
Meanwhile... reverse type... hmmmm... yesss...
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