why?

There seems to be a great deal of blog neglect around the world lately. Everyone has an excuse- spring cleaning, spring break, weird readers, weird family, weird life, busted up carpals, busted down computers, wonky providers(or trying to self-host and failing miserably), attempting to withdrawl from the addiction of writing all about yourself and thinking people care, no time, no ideas, no whatever.

I’ve been backing off a bit too. I’ve been getting out of the house more, working at work more, doing stuff around the house more, and trying to see if I can actually break my own little addiction to blogging. It’s like a sickness.

I’ve been tempted to ask everyone to delurk so I could get an idea of who keeps coming back. The site meter is good for a few things, but I know way too many people in way too many cities to figure out who my readers actually are. Plus your provider can be hundreds of miles away from you if you live somewhere remote or you work for the government. I’ve been tempted to not ask everyone to delurk because I might get upset that my 50 or so hits per day are the same five people coming back ten times in a 24 hour period.
Or at least the same sixteen of you that have me on your Google Reader. Okay, okay. Fifteen. I’m on my Google Reader. For shame. Big deal. Who are you fifteen by the way? And what is this bloglines reader? Do I need one? Who has that? And which one of you in Austin keeps finding me by Googling me? We need to have a talk about feeders and readers. SO much easier. You never have to go to an un-updated website ever again. Think of all the time you’ll save! More work will get done! Your blog will be better!

You know what? Delurk. Go ahead. What’s the worst that will happen? I’ll feel unpopular? As if.

All this talk makes me think about why I’m actually blogging in the first place. Originally I wanted to keep my family up to date with what was going on in my belly and then in my house. Then this blog kinda caught on and I was making internet friends and people I never even met actually liked me. I got comments thanking me for putting an honest account of motherhood out there and I figured I’d just go with it. Husbands understood their wives. Wives understood themselves. Friends understood friends. I understood me.

Then I started to realize that I was keeping an excellent account of my life, and Jake’s life, and maybe even your life if you are involved with my little family, and maybe Jake would appreciate knowing what his mom was like way back when before she got really old and weird(er) and (more) crippled up and cranky and maybe if he ever has his own little kid someday he could relate to me a little bit better and know that I went through the same things with him that he is going thru with his brat.

Then I started to realize that some of my friends and family members were starting blogs just because I did and they were jealous that their moms were reading my blog instead of loving only them. I think that it is really nice that other people are documenting their lives for themselves, their kids, and the world just because I am.

I’ve always been a leader, you know. I have an uncanny ability to make you do things and you won’t even realize what hit you until after you’ve done it. Remember when my entire grad program cut their hair uber-short, exactly like mine? That’s when I knew I had powers that are better used for good. Some of those girls had really uncomely faces and looked terrible. You are lucky I’m nice, or I would suck you into the vortex of my being and then where would we be?

Guatemala, sipping Koolaid.

newsworthy

I boycott the media from time to time, whenever current events seem a little much for me. I focus on something that I can do locally and it makes me feel a little bit better about the state of things. Isn’t that obnoxious? That I’m so overwhelmed with OPP that I have to stop listening to the boxes and do something good to make ME feel better?

Did I ever tell you that I don’t believe in pure altruism? I am a firm believer in good deeds and compassion, however, so it all makes up for itself in the end. Things get done and turn out a little better than they were at the beginning of the day.

I am doing my reading for my work-class this afternoon, and I ran across something that Mr. Rogers’ mom told him when he was little and afraid of what he saw on the news. “Look for the helpers.”, she told him, “You will always find people who are helping”.

I’m gonna go ahead and bet Mrs. Rogers was a pretty good mom.