WHY MUST ENTRIES HAVE TITLES
I have to admit. Getting comments on my blog and journal makes me happy. It gives me the shivers. It drives me into a fit, after which I will proceed to collapse onto the floor and then someone will have to do CPR on me. Hopefully someone that looks like Wentworth Miller.
I REFUSED TO BE REVIVED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN WENTWORTH MILLER!
There. I said it.
I find writing public blogs to be a scary, scary thing. Telling people you know about your blog even more so, but it's, also, at the same time, oddly addicting. You want people to hear your voice, but when they do you start to think all kinds of funny thoughts. Do I sound stupid? Did I make any typos? Is it time for my medicine yet? And most importantly: this. Does my opinion matter?
The answer is yes. It does matter. One thing I find most interesting about reading blogs is the variety of styles and opinions you get out of them. A similar topic approached by different people can take a vastly unpredictable turn.
Take, for example, a cat. Three people walking along Sixth Avenue sees the same cat, but all three will get different messages out of it. All three will, hopefully, have a blog.
Today, Person 1 blogs to his friends, as I was walking past Sixth Avenue I saw a cat. It was black and female and very sweet. Which reminds me, time to give Snowy a bath!!
OMG, you guys! the second person may write, I saw a stray cat along Sixth Avenue today. What's with stray cats along Sixth Avenue!? Do the people not love their pets anymore. Animal rights! Oppression by society! I refuse to be daunted by cruel human behaviour!
Dear Diary, and Person 3 writes finally, TODAY I SAW A TIGER THE SIZE OF AN AFRICAN ZOO.
As you can see, same topic and different approaches, which is what makes blogs so fun to read.
In the past, I've had many, many blogs. On Livejournal, on Blogspot, on Opendiary, on Wordpress - blogs that I created and abandoned, blogs whose usernames I got sick of after about 5 minutes after creation. If each of us only get one award in our lifetime then I should probably get the award for Wasting Most Internet Space. Sometimes, before I go to bed I think of the 50+ blognames that I've abandoned and say a silent prayer. Sometimes they will haunt my dreams and wake me up screaming in the middle of the night.
Nevertheless, no matter how many blogs I have I've never quite had a public blog. I've had private journals in which I write angsty poems, semi-private journals in which I rant about my life and hope secretly that none of my online friends will find me in real life and ask, "Are you sure you slipped on that banana peel?" and some journals exclusively for friends. There is something immensely different about writing for people than writing for yourself. It doesn't matter that only 1 or 2 friends are reading it and you are the only one refreshing the page to increase the counter hits - you have an audience. You have people (hopefully) reading what you write. You have eyes peering into your window. You are broadcasting bits of your life, and suddenly, that becomes a wholly terrifying prospect.
What I believe firmly is this, however. A blog, no matter how public, should first and foremost be for yourself. If I'm not writing the things that I'm interested in, if I'm not writing the things that amuse me, if I no longer get a high from updating my blog, then there is no point to writing it anymore. As a blog reader, I am most interested in reading entries that remain true to the blogger's personality. As a blog updater (calling myself a blogger right now sounds very pretentious) I only hope to remain true to myself.
Last but not least, if you are going to say, "Why the hell are you writing this entry it's not like your blog is read by millions of people all over the world!!" this entry is for myself. To continue writing about things the way they are, no matter how strange.
That is all. Bye-bye!
I REFUSED TO BE REVIVED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN WENTWORTH MILLER!
There. I said it.
I find writing public blogs to be a scary, scary thing. Telling people you know about your blog even more so, but it's, also, at the same time, oddly addicting. You want people to hear your voice, but when they do you start to think all kinds of funny thoughts. Do I sound stupid? Did I make any typos? Is it time for my medicine yet? And most importantly: this. Does my opinion matter?
The answer is yes. It does matter. One thing I find most interesting about reading blogs is the variety of styles and opinions you get out of them. A similar topic approached by different people can take a vastly unpredictable turn.
Take, for example, a cat. Three people walking along Sixth Avenue sees the same cat, but all three will get different messages out of it. All three will, hopefully, have a blog.
Today, Person 1 blogs to his friends, as I was walking past Sixth Avenue I saw a cat. It was black and female and very sweet. Which reminds me, time to give Snowy a bath!!
OMG, you guys! the second person may write, I saw a stray cat along Sixth Avenue today. What's with stray cats along Sixth Avenue!? Do the people not love their pets anymore. Animal rights! Oppression by society! I refuse to be daunted by cruel human behaviour!
Dear Diary, and Person 3 writes finally, TODAY I SAW A TIGER THE SIZE OF AN AFRICAN ZOO.
As you can see, same topic and different approaches, which is what makes blogs so fun to read.
In the past, I've had many, many blogs. On Livejournal, on Blogspot, on Opendiary, on Wordpress - blogs that I created and abandoned, blogs whose usernames I got sick of after about 5 minutes after creation. If each of us only get one award in our lifetime then I should probably get the award for Wasting Most Internet Space. Sometimes, before I go to bed I think of the 50+ blognames that I've abandoned and say a silent prayer. Sometimes they will haunt my dreams and wake me up screaming in the middle of the night.
Nevertheless, no matter how many blogs I have I've never quite had a public blog. I've had private journals in which I write angsty poems, semi-private journals in which I rant about my life and hope secretly that none of my online friends will find me in real life and ask, "Are you sure you slipped on that banana peel?" and some journals exclusively for friends. There is something immensely different about writing for people than writing for yourself. It doesn't matter that only 1 or 2 friends are reading it and you are the only one refreshing the page to increase the counter hits - you have an audience. You have people (hopefully) reading what you write. You have eyes peering into your window. You are broadcasting bits of your life, and suddenly, that becomes a wholly terrifying prospect.
What I believe firmly is this, however. A blog, no matter how public, should first and foremost be for yourself. If I'm not writing the things that I'm interested in, if I'm not writing the things that amuse me, if I no longer get a high from updating my blog, then there is no point to writing it anymore. As a blog reader, I am most interested in reading entries that remain true to the blogger's personality. As a blog updater (calling myself a blogger right now sounds very pretentious) I only hope to remain true to myself.
Last but not least, if you are going to say, "Why the hell are you writing this entry it's not like your blog is read by millions of people all over the world!!" this entry is for myself. To continue writing about things the way they are, no matter how strange.
That is all. Bye-bye!
posted by xinleh at
10:03 PM
2 Comments:
For some reason... your blog rawks babeh ^^
And yea it's so self-gratifying to read old posts and laugh at how n00bish we were before. *Points and laughs* TERIYAKI RABBIT!
heck yes to Wentworth Miller! and..
"Dear Diary, and Person 3 writes finally, TODAY I SAW A TIGER THE SIZE OF AN AFRICAN ZOO."
-that's totally me. hahaha. =P
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