Saturday, January 20, 2007

Feel the blog love

I didn't realise how much I would love comments. Or how much I love it when I comment on someone else's blog, and then they reply to me. It makes me feel - I don't know. Like this isn't just wanking in cyberspace, you know? Not that I started a blog to be famous and well-liked, or anything (you know, apart from in my dream-land where everybody loves me anyway) I started it with only me in mind, and if other people happened accross it, that would be great.

The thing is, even when I have no personal contact with people, just reading their blogs makes me feel... special? Oh, God, this is definately leaning into pretentiousness. I suppose that was unavoidable - anything meta, any talk about connections with people over great distance, etc, is bound to. Partly I love having a personal 'in' on events elsewhere. I learn best when there's a story involved, which is why I am great at history and not so much at maths (or remembering dates in history. But I can tell you everyone's names!) So i love being able to tell people that there's still smoke over Melbourne because Jac told me so, or that there's a warm snap in (parts of America). I know. I read it on Bittersweet.

But the thing I love best is something that I think I'm making up in my head. Which doesn't make it any the less true. (right?) What I love best is that read these blogs written by (predominately) women who are intelligent and emotional and articulate and resourceful and crafty and who have real lives and who write about real things. And they let me visit their lives for a while - bits of them, anyway. I don't pretend that I know them. But I know some things about them, maybe things that their real-life friends don't. And I love reading these blogs. But what I love even more is that when I'm crafting or trying to do something I haven't done before and it's not going well, or maybe I'm just having a bad day, I know that all these faceless women out there are wishing me well, if only in an abstract kind of way. OK, that's kind of a creepy image. I hope you know what I mean. When someone whose blog I read has had a bad day, I wish them well. I wouldn't fly all the way to see them and tell them that, but I might take the time to comment or email them with the sentiment. And I like to think that there's this great well of blogging goodness, floating in the land of abstracts, this warm, fuzzy monster made up of the thoughts we send to each other.

Okay, definately crossing the line into wankerville, here. But it's true. I guess that's why something like this is so upsetting. Because if you don't want to contribute to the fuzzy-abstract monster, people, then just go away quietly and do something else.

In other news (I use that phrase a lot here, don't I? I never say it in real life. Why would I?) it's been raining on and off for two days or so, here. It was muggy as hell this morning. I don't know if hell is muggy, but it probably is. And then the rain set in, and it's like freaking June here. It's nice, actually. It's been that kind of comfy weather, where you want to stay inside and make soup and maybe bake something, or read a book next to the window, wrapped in something comfy like... oh, I don't know, a flannel quilt? *pause for dramatic effect* Pity I've only just started it, huh?

Yes, that's right. I've started my quilt. My mum's friend who quilts (let's call her A-M, shall we?) came over and helped me work out what all those words that I thought I understood meant when arranged in that order. And thay say knitting is another language! Anyway, it's not even fully cut out, and the rotary cutter is a bit scary, and there were a few minor disasters (had to live up to the name of my blog) r.e. cutting the wrong size and then not having enough fabric for the next bit, but otherwise, very exciting! It may just be finished by winter which, if this weather is anything to go by, will be stinking hot!


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a sweet post! I do agree, being able to interact with the authors of such incredible blogs makes one feel connected to an entirely different world, and close to someone that you may never even meet. Ah, the power of the internet!

I've never had such a powerful inspiration as the amazing bloggers who contact me, and I owe much of my confidence in posting to their kind comments.

sara said...

I'm in full agreement -- I love the connections I've found in the blogsphere, and I've been surprised and excited at the depth of the friendships I've developed in this medium.

I loved the Black Apple blog you referenced, and that's another cool thing -- finding other cool blogs through blogs you already know & love.

LLA said...

It's funny - I came by Craftastrophies to see if I could find an email address for you, so that I could say "thank you" for stopping by BadFortuneCookie earlier in the week!

I didn't find an address, but instead I find this beautifully written post which describes so well the feeling that I get when a comment is left!

So thank you twice! For the visit, and for this great post you've written! You've summed up quite nicely how and why a lot of us got into blogging...