Archive for the ‘blogs’ Category

Communication. It’s been on my mind of late and especially in the last couple of days. Due to a couple of friends’ recent discovery and subsequent blogging about Twitter, I’d thought I’d chime in and ramble on a bit about it today.

Since the dawn of the internet and the ubiquitous chat-box, I’ve been fascinated by the ever-increasing facility of instant communication with just about anyone, anywhere, anytime.

I remember just how out of the world cool it was to type a sentence on my Mac and for it to appear – one letter at a time – on the screen of my friend’s Mac instantaneously. And I won’t even go into how jaw-droppingly awesome it was to use a modem for the first time.

Then there were the early days of AOL member chat, occasionally joining the “40-something” chat-room and actually carrying on a decent conversation with perfect strangers. That lasted only a short while before the chat-rooms became too crowded and the conversations declined to queries of one’s mode of dress, or rather, un-dress, as it were.

The bulletin boards born of the BBS and VBBS systems in the nascent days of the internet were the place to go if chat rooms weren’t your thing.

I dabbled in those only very briefly before finding the next generation of forums at the dawn of the century – one in particular that became the birthplace of my online persona of another name.

Then personal vanity websites evolved into web-logs which took about two seconds to be reduced to “blog.” I eventually and serendipitously, along with now about 6,663,642,300 other people, found a small voice in the blog universe. Well, actually two of those voices are mine.

Along with blogs we now have the rapidly growing social-networking trend with MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Linkdin, ad naseum. Internet popularity contests designed to trigger loads of anxiety in my inner, very insecure, high school self.

So all this has been swirling in my brain of late, triggered by the stream of Twitter tweets which punctuate my day. Twitter is an intriguing little communication tool that I haven’t decided whether or not I like.

On the plus side, I can – and do – use it to notify the hive of twitterers that I have new blog posts ready for the enjoyment and edification, thus driving a stampede of one or two readers to my blog door.

Some “tweets” that trickle by are interesting. Another twittering friend has a habit of sending out obscure “tweets” that seem to come from some odd corner of his mind. They are always intriguing, if not perplexing. I engaged in a Twitter haiku round there for a while which was challenging and a bit fun …

… but, I find myself wondering – to what purpose? And, yet, I’m drawn to it like a magnet to the fridge. Here is a micro-world of people, myself included, mostly sending out spontaneous thoughts to the ether just ‘cuz.

What drives the compulsion to share a thought – right now – with the universe? Are we entering an era of talking at rather than with? Are we already there?

And, intriguingly, why do I have nearly every portal open – IM, SMS, iPhone, e-mail, social-network accounts, you name it – and rarely walk through to say “hello…”

….with the exception of the blogs. And, perhaps now Twitter, which is hailed as micro-blogging, so that makes sense.

And why am I more comfortable spewing out my thoughts in a blog than tapping someone on their virtual shoulder and saying “You wanna do lunch?”

It may have something to do with lack of anonymity, shyness, fear of… whatever. I suppose that would be a few dollars spent for couch time and a brain dusting if I wanted to go that route.

Or I could point to another portal – the comments section of this blog – and invite you, dear reader, to offer your opinion.

So, I do.

Let’s do lunch and discuss this communication thing. I think we have enough for a four-top.

Welcome to yesablog.com! If you found your way here that means I did something right.

I’ve moved the blog to its own domain because, well, just ‘cuz I can. There’s a few kinks that I hope I can work out. Like the blogger nav bar up there. That’s not supposed to be there. I’m hoping it will go away with this post. So…

Stay tuned!

…and tuned….

It appears that I’ve succeeded in removing the Blogger nav bar. So…

Hi, ya’ll! After a bit of an unplanned absence I’m back. I’m in the process of launching a fun (I hope) new project and may just be tapping on a couple of friendly shoulders out there to come join the festivities.

Stay tuned… again!

Imagine my surprise when I tuned in to one of my favorite bloggers to find this little blog listed as one of these:

I rarely think that what I have to say is of interest to anyone else but me – it’s always a pleasant surprise when someone leaves a comment or I see someone’s added the blog to their feed list. So, for someone to actually point to this thing and say “It’s worth reading” is huge.

My bloglines feeds recently underwent major reduction surgery. Most of the blogs were centered on the hobby which will remain unmentioned here. That’s not to say they were unworthy – I was once at the stage many of those bloggers are in relation to that hobby and so I understand what it is they are experiencing and the need to write about it.

They were excised mainly because I was over-saturated with that content. It’d even reached a level that was also making it difficult for me to write on that topic for a site which pays me to do so. I needed to take a break – even from my own hobby-centered blog – and just concentrate on producing content for the paid gig.

My attention turned to this blog because I wanted to expand my horizon, so to speak, break away from a topic centered blog and write about, well, me, me, me, my thoughts, experiences, et al. A pure narcissistic adventure – that’s what blogs are, no?

I also turned my attention to reading blogs that were not topic-centric to the hobby that will not be mentioned here. After my subscriptions were reduced I went in search of blogs which give me pause and make me think. Who knew someone was out there doing the same and who created that little award for it!

My collection is rather sparse at the moment, but I will share with you five of the ones which warrant an immediate click in my feed list and for which I eagerly await new posts. These are not in any particular order – they bear equal weight of importance in my blogoshpere. A couple will be familiar if you’ve come here from there.

Rapid Eye Reality has been a long time favorite. I’d been reading Otis over at the hobby-centric blog he writes with two other stellar writers, when I discovered RER through a link there. I felt like I’d discovered my own secret pot of gold. Otis is nakedly honest – giving the reader the full monty, so to speak, in regards to his life, loves, frustrations, self-doubt, triumphs, defeats – the whole fruit bowl. And we get a bonus with illustrations crafted from the view through his camera lens. He’s not only an immensely talented and gifted writer, but a gifted photographer as well. He says he doesn’t easily make new friends, but what I’ve learned from reading him, if he opens the door to friendship and invites you in, you’ll no doubt have a friend for life who’d walk barefoot over broken glass for you at the drop of a hat.

And is it any wonder that the next blog I’m going to tell you about is written by his wife? It’s not because she pointed the way here, either. OK – here it is. I’m in love with those two. There. I said it, it’s out in the open… ha! Because I’m a dunce, I only recently discovered In Search of Walden. I read the entire archives in one sitting. We come from different backgrounds, are twenty-plus years apart in age, she’s married with child, I’m single with cats, and yet there is an odd kinship there. Student of Life, as she has dubbed herself, also writes honestly and without self censorship, giving us an account of her daily trials and joys with raising a child, coping with separation from her husband when he’s away on assignment, reflecting on past pain from an absent parent, pondering her raison d’etre, well, just everything.

Both of them have inspired and challenged me to put forth my most honest and best effort with this blog – so if I succeed, they are to blame!

The third blog I will mention is Waiter Rant. It’s become hugely popular – I believe the author is writing a book based on the blog and is due to be published soon. His essays are seeded by his work as a waiter in New York City upscale bistros and blossom with insight and understanding everyone can identify with. He pulls back the curtain of the restaurant world, letting us in on the politics and culture as well as holding up the mirror to us as customers. You’ll never look at that person who’s serving you quite the same after reading him and I bet you’ll be more appreciative. At the very least, he’ll give you a tasty morsel or two to chew on.

The next blog makes me think by reminding me to stop from time to time and take in my surroundings. Chiaroscuro is a photo blog created by a very talented photographer who doesn’t post very often, but when she does, it’s awesome. One of my secret ambitions is/was to be a photographer. She reminds me to hang on to that dream.

For the fifth choice, I give you Random Thoughts and Thoroughbred Selections. Written by Boy Genius, this blog spans a broken marriage, politics, epicurean delights, horse-racing, sports, dating, and much more – all at a level of intelligence and erudition that is often scary but always delectable.

I’m proud to say I’ve met the first two writers and the last one in person. The first two invited me to their home for a raucous and wonderful birthday celebration nearly two years ago, I’ve also sat across from Otis a time or two while indulging in the hobby that will not be named here, and I’ve gotten to know Boy Genius over a few gatherings in at least three different states.

So – those are my Thinking Blogger awards. If any of the authors find their way to this post, then here’s what you may do if you wish to pass on the meme:

The participation rules are simple:

• If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
• Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
• Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).