Saturday, December 13, 2008

Magnifying the Mundane

So I've been trying this "daily blogging" thing, more or less, for about a week now, and I'm still not sure what to think about it.

I find that I can always write something -- sometimes it's something about something, and sometimes it's something about nothing. Sometimes it's an embedded video that I found funny or interesting. As far as I know, I have at least one person who has this blog in his reader and actually reads what I write (thanks, Jim!). But I'm still restless and uncertain about what value this whole thing has, and for whom I am writing it.

I guess it should be obvious by now that I'm an awkward, introspective and self-conscious person. Otherwise, why would I keep stopping the simple flow of daily minutiae to ponder the process, instead of just engaging in it? And I think I should make it clear that I'm not saying this in a negative way, or to be persistently self-deprecating. It is what it is, and I am what I am.

Perhaps it's the mundane and introspective nature of my life (and therefore of my subject matter), that has me constantly rethinking this process. Other than a few friends, I'm not sure who wants to read about my simple daily existence. One of the common criticisms of blogging I've seen is this very thing -- that there are millions of people creating dull and meaningless logs of their dull and meaningless lives, and trying to make it sound like they are interesting or have something important to say.

Which means that at this point, I'm a blogger whose dull and meaningless chatter includes allegedly witty observations about how other writers I've read like to make fun of the fact that most blogging is just dull and meaningless chatter.

Somebody stop me.

5 comments:

  1. Hey guess what? I'm still reading. :) Just thought I'd pop in and let you know, stranger.

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  2. Hi Amy! And your blog is still in the favorites in my reader, too. You'd never know it by my sparse commenting habits, would you? I blame Google reader for that. ;-)

    My goodness, it's been fun to watch you blossom into such a star in the blogging world, by focusing on your passion for reading. It's awesome.

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  3. So that makes two. Are you saying Amy and I aren't worth writing for? :o)

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  4. Jim - Well, alright. Since I have an audience of two, maybe I'll go ahead and start writing on one of the important subjects I've been pondering lately.

    Perhaps one of these would interest everyone:
    -Ending World Hunger in 30 Days
    -Achieving World Peace by 2010
    -My Cats Do Funny Stuff Sometimes
    -I Saw a Black Widow Spider the Other Day

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  5. Dude, you have six people reading you just through Google Reader alone:

    http://www.google.com/reader/view/#directory-search/chaotic%20hammer//0

    You were wondering about an audience, and you have one. Now, quit whining and tell us about that damned spider! :o)

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