Mosaic Life

Face to the book

In my Communications class last fall, we discussed the scary and wonderful world of Facebook. My professor (who, funny enough, is now one of my Facebook friends) expressed her wonder at it, since we all have a collection of selves that we present to different people. For instance, the crass yet hilarious joke I might tell to one friend might be something I’d never utter in front of, oh, say, my Communications teacher. Or the way that I boldly proclaim my political beliefs in front of my friends who I know share them, yet politely abstain from argument or disturbing the peace with those who don’t. To many of my coworkers, I’m quiet but friendly, and I probably seem fairly reserved. So I agree, I do change a bit from group to group.

My professor, at the time, found Facebook troubling. How can we reconcile the selves that we create for different reasons? I didn’t find this idea troubling at all at first. I thought it could actually be very good. It could force us to show others who we really are, and they can accept us or not. But then again, it could also force us to play down who we really are, for fear that others will be put off by what they see.

I suppose it’s also similar with blogging. When I start thinking too much about just who might be reading, I find that I tone things down, hold back with some of the honesty, and in a sense defeat the purpose of an online journal, depending on exactly what my purpose is on a given day.

I knew it wouldn’t last.

Looks like my little hiatus didn’t even last a month. Oddly enough, it’s harder for me to not write. I thought maybe taking a break would be nice, that I’d break myself from the habit of wanting to write about these random and inconsequential experiences. Not so.

So did anything come of my little break? I guess it helped me realize why I write. Throughout my life I’ve always kept a journal. It’s probably a little vain, but I really like going back to things that I’ve written a few years ago to see how I’ve changed, if my writing has improved, how my outlook on life has developed. Does my writing need to be public? Of course not. And I suppose that question is what most influenced my little hiatus. Like I said, things have changed since I first began blogging. People don’t comment like they used to, which takes a lot of the fun out of it. Like the Dane said, “…Much of the life of a good blog rests in the conversations that occur within the comments. Even comments on boring posts have the potential to offer a sort of second life to a blog.”

If I’m going to keep blogging, I must realize that things have changed. So my motive for blogging must change as well.

I blog because it’s my outlet. It’s my way of keeping in touch with people. And apparently, I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Going Away for a Little While

I’m kind of burnt out on the whole blogging thing right now. I know I’m totally the first to scold other bloggers when they whine that no one comments on their blogs, and I say that you shouldn’t be blogging just for comments, which is true. But it does get mighty dull without any feedback.

I’ve been way more busy lately. Work is getting busier, Brandon and I have actually been developing non-online friendships (I know, the idea!). We’ve also been preparing to move into our new apartment, which won’t happen until May, but planning ahead helps when you hate where you live as much as we presently do. I also took an editing/proofreading class at Emory Center for Lifelong Learning. So. All that to say I’m slowly but surely developing the semblance of a life.

Anyway. I don’t mean to get all dramatic on your behind and say that I’m giving up blogging. I’m just going on hiatus. Maybe when I come back I’ll have a new zest for blogging. I do love to write. But it kind of feels wasted in this medium. Maybe during my little hiatus I’ll figure out how to get my blogging groove back. Until then, keep it real.

Where the Blogging is Easy

Karen posted about her blogroll and happened to mention me and Brandon in it. I like reading stuff like this, not just because my ego needs a little attention every now and then, but because it’s nice to know that people who aren’t obligated to keep up with me actually read my site. Here’s what she said:

Brandon (and Wendy, for that matter) are people I don’t actually know in real life. We’re separated by the Pacific Ocean so it’s not really surprising. I started reading Brandon and Wendy back when they were sharing the same blog. Ben put me onto them (don’t know how Ben found them but maybe they were among the “famous” Christians of the blogosphere back then—or they knew famous people of the blogosphere). Anyway, I was interested in how a married couple would go at having a blog together, and certainly Mosaic Life was fun to read. Then Brandon gradually stopped posting and moved over to his own domain where he started to blog more about theological stuff (he took up studying theology) so Wendy had Mosaic Life all to herself. Wendy is a scream. Don’t believe the reviews—they don’t know what they’re talking about. If you haven’t read her blog, you certainly should.

Ah, I remember the days when Brandon and I had a blog together. Now he blogs about theological stuff, which is well and good because he has a passion for it. Plus, it tends to draw readers that are more - uh, studious? People who he would be more likely to encounter in his field of study and in his future career. And yes, generally those bloggers bore me. So it’s fine that he’s branched off in another direction. Did you notice that I changed my page description to read “Wendy’s Blog: That’s Right, All Hers” after he’d stopped blogging for about a year?

As for the “famous” Christian bloggers of the time, I’m guessing those people must have been Russ (whose blog, My Brain Hurts, has succumbed to its ailment) and Seth, whose blog is still alive, though I’d say it’s less popular due to his irregular posting and the subject matter, which has deviated from controversial, thought-provoking ideas about courtship and Calvinism to talk of comics, video games, and his vespa. I suppose he’s done argued all that he can on all the subjects that he cares to, and he’s passed the torch on to younger bloggers who still have that argumentative fire burning and can rehash the subjects that he’s already laid to rest. I also wrote for DYL, who, in its day, was perhaps a well-known Christian group blog.

There were other bloggers who we only knew online that took part in our “community.” Paulo got a fair amount of attention (Brandon finally met him in November of last year); he continues to provide interesting links and pictures of his cute kitty, Pandora. Dawn (Ladydusk) was another fairly popular blogger who Seth and Brandon first encountered, and she was around to witness the beginning of mine and Brandon’s relationship. She and her husband were nice enough to send us a crockpot when we got married (oh, and Paulo sent us a ladle). She still posts, though infrequently. Motherhood has probably taken up a lot of her time. Kristen is another blogger that commented on our blogs, and since then she has gotten married and has two children. Now she shares a blog with her husband, Mike, and her posts are mainly about motherhood and books.

Many of the sites that once were popular have lost that lovin’ feeling because of one factor: people have largely stopped commenting. Blame it on RSS, blame it on the plethora of blogs that are all alike, but whatever happened, blogs have taken a big hit due to the lack of community, feedback, and discussion that commenting provided. Sure, you’d get the occasional smackdown from a passing reader or a fellow blogger who is setting you straight, but it was worth it because of that feeling you got when you blogged something that got people talking, sharing, relating. When you have that, it’s hard to quit blogging.

Stumble Upon Some Criticism

So, I checked my site meter for the first time in a while and noticed that I had a notably larger hits per day average. I know that about once a month I get a brief flood of hits (I’ll refrain from an Aunt Flo joke) from www.stumbleupon.com, so I followed the link to the reviews of my site.

I had four times more thumbs ups than thumbs down, but the thumbs down people had taken the time to write what they didn’t like about my site. I’ll admit, I’m sensitive. Once when I was in elementary school I dropped out of gymnastics because my teacher told me not to play on the balance beam. But really, this was the first negative feedback I’d gotten about my site, and I need this stuff so that I can improve. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it feels great. Continue reading Stumble Upon Some Criticism…

Happy New Year!

Whew, it’s 2007. And with the new year, I’ve changed my blog over from Blogger to WordPress. Yay for new things. Except the new Blogger. Boo towards that.

Happy new year, everyone. Hopefully, it’ll be a good one.