The weather isn't helping that low feeling one bit today. It has been overcast and cool all day. But the weatherpeople got it wrong once more. It was not windy. It just never got warm after the low of Saturday night. Combine the still, gray, overcast day with the chill and you have a great day for curling up and feeling sad. Unfortunately, I didn't do that and instead had some other stuff to work on. It would have been a great day to curl up with some hot tea, a good book, Molly the wonder dog, and some really dreary music in front of the fireplace. Oh well.
You may have noted that I added an avatar picture on the right side of the page. If you are curious, you can build your own "Mangatar" on the Face Your Manga site. It's fun and simple to do. If I can do it with no artistic ability, you certainly can. Make sure you click on the FACCEYOURMANGA tab in the toolbar on the top of the site - the create it now square in the middle of the page has a broken link. Other than the fact that the avatar is a lot more handsome than I am, it is pretty close, including the white hair and wrinkles. Here are the mangatars I made of L and I:
L came out well except for the hair color. L has almost platnum blonde hair as opposed to the flaxen hair on the mangatar. (Makes it so you can't tell that she is graying like me - her gray is almost the same as her natural color. I'm jealous!) Those of you that know L and I in real life can make your own informed judgement on the avatars.
I'm always amazed by the number of bloggers who try to be or believe they are anonymous on their blogs. That will certainly never be the case here. I know that my mom, MIL, L, the Son, some city council members, friends, and others read this blog. How do I know? They comment on what I write face to face or via email or telephone. One recent exception was that L left an anonymous comment on this post. Otherwise, I write and they respond in real life. Does that happen to you via a vis your blog? I assume it must happen for those of you that write family update sites, but what about the rest of you. Is you blog life divorced from your real life or is it an integrated part of your life? Do the two intersect?
Well, time to get back to doing something real - like letting Molly back indoors so she can continue moping over the departure of L.
I don't go out of my way to introduce my blog to people that I know in real life, because there's a lot of stuff on there that I feel that I can only really say into the void of the internet. At the same time, I don't go to great lengths to hide my identity, what with there being photos on there!
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend is the only one that I know for certain reads it for the time being, but I wouldn't mind other friends reading it. I'd feel uncomfortable with my parents reading it though.
A lot of people that I know in "real life" (lol) visit my blog. Family & friends. I wouldn't have it any other way. I couldn't imagine trying to pretend it wasn't me. That's just impossible for me to do...not be ME :) And a lot of times I'm able to say something here that I couldn't get the courage up to say in person. I've had several family members come to me and say "Why didn't you just tell us?" Well, I couldn't but I could write about it. I think that's ok too.
ReplyDeleteMy escape from my real world is here, in the bloggy world. Rarely they intersect. I have family who read but they never talk to me about it. I hadn't thought of it before - maybe they don't really believe it is me - or maybe they think that they are snooping and don't want me to know - or maybe they think what I say is a bunch of cow-pucky and don't want to embarrass me?
ReplyDeleteOh - and you, my only male blogger pal - need to visit my post, HERE!
You don't have to play along - just wanted to acknowledge you! ~Kari
When I started blogging, I wanted to be distanced from my writing. I still struggle with revealing too much, because many people I know in real life read the blog with some regularity now. Only one or two of these people occasionally comment. My husband is my biggest fan and a reliable source of blog fodder. He's a great sport and an extremely generous soul. I don't feel comfortable sharing stuff that involves others because I am afraid that it violates their privacy. Hence, poems, pictures, and little harmless tales fill many of my posts. The few times I've mentioned serious situations with family, I've gotten into trouble.
ReplyDeleteI am constantly questioning my motives for blogging. Mostly, it is the sheer joy of writing that keeps me at it. I get few enough comments to justify the effort that goes into it. I like to consider it "training wheels" for more serious writing... which at this point seems daunting and confusing at best.
The two worlds combine for me but my real life peeps don't comment on my blog for some reason. I wish they would!
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope you are feeling a bit more upbeat. I love reading how much you love your wife! It always makes me happy to read!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm going to have to try out that avatar thing! Looks like fun. You know, I really get attached to people's avatars/profile photos and begin to associate them in mind in that way. Would be weird to meet one of my bloggy friends in real life and have them look different than I imagine them.
I am always trying to get people I know to read my blog (like my parents and brothers) but they are amazingly uninterested in it. Kind of bothers me. I have some friends who I know read it religiously but never comment so I never really know. When I started blogging, a friend who had been blogging for about 2 years already told me when I started that I should be prepared for my loved ones to be indifferent to my labors of love ... and that has turned out to be true!! My husband does read it most days though so I can't complain about him. He just thinks the whole blogging thing in general is ridiculous but he has actually told me he was impressed that I got so many strangers to read what I write. So that made me happy!