Blog Week: Why Blog?

It's Blog Week here at Foolery!

I've been knocking this around for some time now, but it's eluded me thus far. 



Foolery, the blog, was started because I couldn't make a proper baby book if my life depended on it.  (I still have the aborted attempt, a darling book which is so NOT my style in the first place that I think I may have deliberately sabotaged my own efforts.)  Instead of writing down weight gains and taping hair samples into a book, I e-mailed my family and friends about my experiences.  Smedley's slow start, my excruciating first five months of breast-feeding (I'm nothing if not stubborn), her first solid food, the first time she called me a DUMBASS while I was on the phone with Gubby* (oh yes she did, and we DON'T use that word and couldn't figure out where she picked it up, being no more than three or four) -- you know, all the precious memories -- were typed up and e-mailed to about 60 different people.  It occurred to me that it would be nice to have them all archived somewhere, and voila! Foolery was born.

I chose Typepad for my new blog home and have been pleased with it.  I had heard there were free blog hosting sites but I never even looked for them; my reasoning was that if it were free it would be too easy to slack, or walk away altogether, and I didn't want to do either of those things.  My goal was 3-4 posts per week, and more would be a bonus, and I have exceeded that goal in the nearly 2 1/2 years I've been blogging.  I can't remember another goal in my life for which I have exceeded my own expectations.

As far as content, Foolery was entirely for me, and still is.  I set my own rules: no identifiable photos of my children, or of anyone else's children; nicknames for everyone unless I have their permission, ridiculous nicknames where possible.  I'm more than willing to make a fool of myself, and if I don't at least once a week, I'm not trying hard enough.



I try to avoid most political, religious and philosophical topics, but I will wade in once in a while.  I have deleted very few comments entirely (only SPAM and one long ago that I perceived as a kind of threat).  I edit only comments which target another of my readers in an aggressive way.  Occasionally I worry that I didn't go far enough with my editing pen, but just as often I worry that I went too far.  Freedom of commenting is something I value.

Having readers is very exciting to me -- let's face it, if I didn't want people to read what I'm writing I wouldn't pay to put it out in public, right?  Comments make my day, and I read every one (of course).  I try hard to visit the site of every blogger who bothers to stop in and say hi.  I have "met" so many interesting, funny, and wonderful people out there, and my only regret is that the more blogs I visit the less time I have to savor the favorites I've cultivated already.  It's a hard balance to achieve.

Mrs. G at Derfwad Manor wrote a great post about blogging the other day, which I encourage you to go read.  She's eminently readable, as well as smart, warm and screamingly funny.  She currently has about 350 visitors a day, though she's been doing this less than a year, I think.  Still, it takes guts to post numbers, so hats off.  My current readership is about 150-170 a day, but my average from day one is only 31 hits per day (and how many of those were ME, obsessively checking stuff?).  Sobering.

So my question for you is, tell me about your blog: why you blog, why you don't blog, what's your philosophy, or whatever you wish to talk about.  You can answer in the comments -- don't worry if it's long; I never do! -- or answer on your own blog, and be sure to drop the link here for me.  I would like to know.

The rest of the week I'll write about my blogging philosophy a bit more, plus revisit some of my favorite posts ever, which no one read because they were back in The Dark Ages: The Days Before Anyone Read Foolery.

*STOP LAUGHING, GUBBY -- YOU'RE NOT HELPING!

Comments

[KathyLikesPink]

Just to let you know, once again I have "FILCHED" a topic from you for my Filch-It Friday post!

[Kit]

I blog to keep me writing. I still don't manage it every day, but I'm doing a helluva lot better than when I tried to keep pen and paper journals. The potential audience keeps me posting more reliably.

I really enjoy it when people leave a comment, too. Though I started blogging for purely personal reasons, it's addictive to have readers. It makes me want more, more more! Ahahahahaha! ~cough, cough~ Oh, excuse me.

Actually, that's a laugh. Because I don't have time to do anything about it! So I think I should stick with my "purely personal reasons" and be fine with that. For now. :)

(I think I need a cuppa tea).

[ok, where was I]

Great post. I love hearing blogger's stories about getting started.

I started totally on a whim. I wasn't reading any. I didn't really know what a blog was. And then it just hit me: I need one.

Now I keep doing it b/c I like writing something every (sort of) day, even if it turns out crappy, and I love the comments. Not b/c I want a bunch, which I totally DO, but b/c I've met people (nudge, nudge) whom I really look forward to chatting with everyday. People I wish I knew in person but who make me think, God, I'd really not get anything done if we were actually able to hang out.

And I sort of feel like I have to do it (and I mean this for me personally, not as a rule everyone must follow) in order to read others' blogs and comment. Like I have to throw my stuff out there too.

[Jenn @ Juggling Life]

I only started reading blogs last summer, then took the plunge on Christmas day. I wrote about what I loved about blogging early on.

It's crazy how addicting the writing and the comments are! I'm totally with you on the blog etiquette of visiting every commenter at least once.

http://jugglinglife.typepad.com/juggling_life/2008/02/i-blog-therefor.html

[Cactus Petunia]

Wow! Blogging about blogging. How'd you come up with that topic? It's sure to keep us all going for weeks! Since I began writing Buenos Burritos a year ago, I've actually started three other blogs, and have recently discovered that my house refuses to clean itself. I'm totally hooked. I may have to start running google ads to pay for a cleaning service. Thanks for all your sweet and funny comments, and keep writing!

[david]

I blog to keep my head above water. I blog to sneak in a joke or two to test out. I blog to keep my sanity.

[The Mom Bomb]

I blog because a writing instructor told me to write every day, and being the lazy-ass that I am, I didn't. Keeping a blog helps me to write something ALMOST every day, knowing that someone might check in to read it.

[Rick's Cafe]

Saw you sitting on the front porch sipping ice-tea and thought I'd swing by, wave and say hi....cyberwise.

Not surprising front porches were so important back in the day before telephones.

Keep up the good work - you're appreciated.

[Jason]

I blog for a creative outlet. I blog to write. I blog for those connections, too. I blog because in large groups of unknown people I get very, very shy, and figure, "What's the point?" But this way I can say what I want to say without that feeling of shyness.

I started blogging because my sister and sisters-in-law talked me into it. And I've become a bit obsessed.

[MommyTime]

I wrote about this a while ago, but I think I'm revising my answer... I blog for connections. I don't know very many people with kids the same age as my kids, except fro dear friends who live far away -- and who are thus unavailable for a Friday morning coffee-and-play-date. I needed an outlet where I could talk like a grownup and where I could bond with other mothers about parenting.

But now I also realize that my job gives me almost no "completed project" satisfaction, since the projects are never really done. Even when an article gets accepted for publication, which should make it seem "done," it can take two edits and two years to show up in print. So, blogging gives me the immediacy of conversation and response that I don't get in my work. I love that I can put ideas out there and have a conversation going within minutes.

It's also nice to have something to resort to when the wrestling over inconsequential toys gets too overwhelming...

[wrekehavoc]

i blog, therefore i am.

but seriously. i have been blogging since 2002, when a fellow geeky friend got me a one-year sub to livejournal. i think he did it because he wanted me to leave him the hell alone and just yammer online. over time, i moved over to wordpress. i like it a lot better.

why do i blog? because everyone is entitled to my opinion, as some wag once said. seriously, it started out, as yours did, as a combo joke-place and home for recording info about my then only child. but sheesh, how it has grown.

i'll have to write about this at some point after i've thought about it...

[Chesapeake Bay Woman]

I had to look up the meaning of the word "blog" just a while ago. Back in September, I did a search on "the best chocolate cake ever" because that's what I wanted to make for my little girl's birthday. That took me to The Pioneer Woman. I started commenting there, and it became a slight obsession. Then I became hooked on Bossy's site (because HER comments were always so succinct and VERY clever). Then another commenter on PW, tj (www.humbleorigins.blogspot.com), kept telling me I should start my own blog. Because of her encouragement, I gave it a try. And I liked it.

I live in a very quirky place, one of the last frontiers before strip malls and McDonalds take over. We're unique and I wanted to be one of the first to talk about it on a blog. My friends and family love it, and I love doing it, so that's all the reason I need to continue.

Currently, blogging has distracted me from some particularly horrid details of my life I'd rather avoid. It has been a healthy distraction, one that has allowed me to make some friends, such as the author of this blog. Isn't it weird when you dare to call someone a friend whom you've never met? That's the way I feel.

Sorry for taking up so much real estate.

Great topic!

Blogging is therapeutic, whether you're writing your own blog, or commenting on someone else's.

It's the gift that keeps on giving.

[Bob Cleveland]

1) I blog because there's some stuff I want to write, and I do enjoy putting words together. Moreso when they turn out gooder than I expected.

2) I comment on others' blogs because you can say stuff and not get slapped in the face.

3) And my good looks are so overwhelming that when I say stuff in person, folks don't ever notice what I'm saying.

I have to go now. I think Peg has laughed herself into hyperventilation and it's DINNERTIME. I need to get her straightened out.

[Grandma J]

Boy, Foolery! Looks like you spent all your domestic cleaning time reading and commenting on my blog...well, that's if you're anything like me and only allot 10-20 minutes to housework a day. Yea, I hear ya a bout Jaaaaack! And hmmmmm you thought I was in my 30's? Let's just say my oldest daughter is closer to 43 than 42, and a SS check is mine for the asking. I want a bigger slice of that pie so I'm waiting. I'm so friggin' greedy!

[Kyddryn]

Come on by my place if you wanna see my long-ass answer (c'mon, you know you do - it's better than Sominex!!).

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

[Asthmagirl]

http://www.asthmagirl.com/is_my_cape_fluttering/2008/05/scattergories.html

No time for a long post, but here's my thoughts from last week.

Hugs!

[Jessica Keith]

I started mine as a record of what the boys and I do each day, because I stink at scrapbooking. I figured if I kept a fairly regular journal, after a year I could order a blurb book and have an instant scrapbook for them. I've gotten distracted along the way and gotten caught up in stats and all that. To be honest, blogging has started taking up such a large part of my day, that I have been thinking of quitting lately. Something I started so that I could keep up with the fun things we do has become a hindrance to doing those things. I think I've decided to keep at it, and switch to mostly photos, at least through the summer.

[Grandma J]

Great topic! I started blogging by accident. Way back in 2003 my oldest daughter started a Caringbridge site for my grandson who was in treatment for leukemia. That mushroomed into several Caringbridge sites of other children.

When my grandson went OT (off treatment) my daughter started a blog of her own that incorporated other aspects of her families lives. Of course this snowballed and before you know it, I was commenting on several blogs daily, using the name Grandma J because that's what my grandkids called me, and I had been using that name on CB pages way back when.

I retired last year and moved far away from a place that had been my home most of my life...to be near one of my grown children where living was way more affordable. With children and grandchildren in four different states reaching from coast to coast and north to south, it freed up more resources for travel. I started following more blogs and of course commenting! Over the last year several bloggers would subtley say "hey grandma J, quit hijacking my blog, get your own." Well, maybe they didn't put it exactly like that. So here I am, and now my family can keep track of me and know when I've gone over the edge.

[MamaMo]

I'm not very good with staying in touch with friends and family, so I thought blogging would be a fun and creative way to let everyone know what I was feeling/doing, but before I could get started, I was introduced to BOSSY and she threw me off my game plan in all sorts of ways. Now I've met awesome new women that I consider friends [pinky-shake, Laurie?!!] and sometimes I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing with a blog, but I'm enjoying it and struggling to not let it take over too much more of my day (but loving an actual reason to avoid the dishes!)

[Mental P Mama]

Love visiting! You are always a great read.

[Chesapeake Bay Woman]

What a great topic. I don't have time to answer before I have to leave for work (this one would require a little bit of thought as opposed to any of my other comments, which are shot straight frmo the hip). I'll try and get back on later tonight. I can't wait to read the other responses.