After reading Maxine's zing-shot fired in Frank's direction in his post entitled "Time for . . .?" It finally hit me, why blogging is so wonderful in so many ways. It's not simply the joy of bringing it to you; nope. When you read the commentarians' remarks, it's a little like having an Advent Calendar and lifting each of the little window-cover thingies to see what goodies lurk or lurch beneath each. Maxine's comment brought it into focus as I skipped my way over to the coffee pot. It's like Christmas, each comment a wee gift, a lovely telescopic glimpse into these amazing minds of human beings I've never met; but, for some reason, feel I know so well. And? The most delightful insightful thing about all of it is that, unlike the RW, you learn a person from the inside-out; and, you make your judgments based on what they say and how they say it; in the RW, the opposite is true (and appearances can be a bitch). Thanks, IOW. I've been doing this since August (and am still a relative newbie); but, now?
My name is Judith Fitzgarbled and I'm a bloggaholic :).
Hey, Jude,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to meeting.
Yes, agreed, it is fun (I just left a little riposte there for you!).
ReplyDeleteI went through an infatuation with blogging when I first started it, and I've read many accounts from other bloggers about feeling the same. However, I think for most people (well, certainly for me) there is a plateau. I do enjoy it still, but sometimes it is a bit of a duty. The conversations are also inhibited by infuriating anti-spam devices and lack of aggregation. (one reason I enjoy FriendFeed).
Anyway, enough of all that - welcome again, Judith, you are a very lively, fresh and exciting addition to the blogosphere. You and Frank on this blog - a lovely combination!
You're right, Maxine, about reaching a plateau, and the sense of duty that sets in. That's why partnering with Judith has been such a blessing for me. It has also made for a much better blog. I have a feeling about blogging that I can't quite articulate yet. At first I thought it had something to do with "self-organization." But that's obviously off the mark, because we're talking about people freely interacting. But some sort of organizing is taking place, that's for sure, and I just feel that much good - and possibly more than a little bad as well - will come of it. It's very Teilhardian and McLuhanesque. Not Darwinian, though, at least in the Dawkinsian sense, since it is purposeful.
ReplyDeleteHey, Art :). Wanna two-step?
ReplyDeleteYour observations on blogging are a little scary to me, Maxine; I'm not the kind of person who plateaus, I guess; I either do something with enduring passion forever or drop it completely. I hope I don't hit that plateau stage because it will stop me dead in my tippy-tap tracks, I'm sure. I'm very black-and-white that way, a fact which explains my wardrobe; and, for that matter, my decor as well: It is completely black and white (including AMT, Adam My Truck, also black matching my brand-spangly new black roofing shingles on my little white house). If, someday, I can replace the windows (which are already Low-E, however), I plan to use black brickmould, then, too (with black shutters).
I assume you mean module-aggregate content from XML feeds such as RSS 2.0, ATOM 1.0, and RDF 1.0 when you refer to lack of aggregation?
I tend to agree with you; it is often frustrating not to be able to easily shift from one blog format to another without having to do a lot of exta inputting (and Google's Blogger is particularly restrictive that way, at least for me, a fact which goes against blogging's essential egalitarian nature, IMO).
Considering the sheer numbers of blogs in existence, that's something that has both puzzled and frustrated me, to be sure.
Also, since I've been online since the beginning (in one form or another), I find I tend to stick to the old models I myself know; and BION, have never subscribed to any feed; don't Twitter; don't network socially; and, don't even own a cellphone (nor notepad computer anymore; had one; but, it died after very cheerfully allowing me to bang out four or five books on it, the last Mac I could afford, in fact).
Perhaps Frank's point about partnering may make this a moot point because, when one needs to to take a break, the other's there to take up the slack? When Frank was under the weather, I was happy to up my activity because I knew my hiatus was on the horizon and I would be leaving him in the lurch, kind of, although he knew it, too.
It is, for me, being a McLuhanatic, an indispensable extension I cannot imagine abandoning, now. At the time of taking it up, I couldn't know that; but, again, I was involved with Usenet to the point that I was a regular on alt.config, the newsgroup that advised others on whether their ideas for a new group would fly or fall licketty-splat (based on a mathematical forumula,™ not on the popularity nor faddistic aspects of the medium).
I s'pose because I live alone in a very isolated environment (due as much to my physical location as my psychological condition, agoraphobia / telephobia), this is my social milieu; and, perhaps that's one of the differences between others who do plateau and you know who (who sometimes speaks to something like the coffee pot to remember that I do have a voice since, I can literally go for weeks on end in utter silence).
I don't know; it is my social "scene," so to speak; but, I'm curious to see what Frank eventually formulates in terms of what's percolating in his brain pan, I guess. It's an interesting angle, though, one I hadn't given much thought until reading you and Frank concerning those aspects salient to its main attraction for me, the interactive and spontaneous nature of it.
I especially like those blogs where comments aren't approved/rejected (which makes me feel very insecure) as well as those where the blogger actually joins in the commentaria (Nige's, e.g. and, to a more limited extent, Mary Beard, an example I try to follow, in fact); it's not the great equaliser as much as it is an indication that a given blogiter dictum is not delivered on high and the one doing the posting does care about engaging in intellectual exchanges of some worth and value. I think that's what first attracted me to Nigel Beale's blog, too, the fact he did speak with those who invested their equally precious time in terms of composing thoughtful, generally, responses, to the topic at hand).
All that said; now, *I'm* blushing because, such a lovely compliment, especially issuing from you, means the world to me (and, Frank, too, I bet). I mean, Petrona's almost mythical in its world-wide wonderments. Thank you, truly, Maxine; and, I guess, the only thing I can do is hope your day's thrice as fine as you (and world events) have made mine; and, yeah, that does require a little deciphering when it comes to the very restrained and equally diplomatic party line.