Wednesday 6 February 2008

Brain block

For those of you out there who also blog (and on that topic, are there many people out there now who don't blog??) a question: is blogging quietly and insidiously taking over your brain? Do you find yourself experiencing life through a filter of blog-worthiness? In other words, when anyone says anything interesting or when something even vaguely out of the ordinary occurs, is your first reaction "Oooh, I could blog that!" ?

The condition is contagious too. My husband and to an even greater extent my children have been known to point out when something occurs that it would make good blog fodder (or as my children put it "You could tell all those people on your website about this!" Bless them, I think they think I have a readership to rival Dooce.) First Born has even threatened to start his own blog. You see, I started this blogging lark with a mini-blog on a running website which is devoted entirely to the minutiae of how far and how slowly I have/have not run, and all the other blogs on the site are the same so we only bore other like-minded people (it was the realisation that half the time on that blog I was wittering about dog poo versus horse poo, or what my son had said or the weather that made me think perhaps I should have another proper blog to vent that stuff as it really isn't, strictly speaking, pertinent to running).

Anyway, I tend to post on that blog about the running adventures of myself and Second Born and naturally Second Born gets a lot of feedback and encouragement from veteran runners who are pleased to see a 7 year old getting into the game. First Born does not run, though he does do karate. He did not consider the fact that the other blog is a running blog and not, say, a karate blog, to be adequate excuse for my not posting about his karate achievements on there. So he wants his own blog to redress the balance. I myself am not sure the world is ready for First Born Blog - a potent mix of karate, Dr Who, Lego, Nova Scotia news (don't ask) and Why My Brother is Being Horrible To Me parts 1 to 396. The literary equivalent of a chemical weapon - guaranteed to make your brain fizz on contact.

What was I talking about again? Oh yes, blogging brain. The most annoying thing I have found is that I am always saying to myself "That's good, I think I'll write a post about that" and then within a few minutes I can remember that I had an idea for a post, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. It was always going to be a belter too, Booker prize worthy if only I had remembered to write it. Sigh. I am going to have to start carrying a notebook and pencil around with me to record these moments of inspiration. My only concern is that, knowing how rushed I am likely to be when I make notes, the book will probably resemble that time I tried to keep a dream diary: pages of inspirational stuff like "moving but not. Glue? Notes gone. Wet floor" I can just picture you all rushing to add this blog to your reader so as not to miss any posts based on that sort of gold dust!

Maybe I'll just stick with what I do now. Turn on computer, turn off filter between brain and fingers. Wait ten minutes. Hit "post".

7 comments:

  1. Ever find yourself driving down the road wondering how you can blog about the person who just cut you off? Yes, blogging is on my mind most of the time. When I'm blogging a lot (more than one post a day) it is my mind.

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  2. I say this ever so seriously. I think blogging is becoming a bit of condition in our world today that psychologists will look at and name. I am too brain dead to come up with a creative name. It is addictive. It takes me away from my real world. It allows me to find peace in the situations from my real world by writing down a different spin from them. On the other side, it takes me away from my family for unhealthy intervals. I think about it too much and find myself preoccupied quite often. My husband has actually started to tell me to be careful since he knows that I can obsess when I find a new interest. It is definitely a fine line to balance.
    KEEP BELIEVING

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  3. Yip! Blogging has taken over my life. I am constantly asking myself 'can I blog that?' I keep wishing my family would all start their own blogs so I can read about their lives. Why do they insist on phoning me for a chat?! Phoning is so behind the times! BLOG IT!!!

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  4. Yes, I agree and I'm not sure I'm happy about it. I usually have my phone, which is a Treo and has a memo function so I can quicly jot something there so I don't forget. The bad ones are when I think of somethin in the middle of the night and have no recollection in the morning. I'm convinced it was brilliant, although it probably made no sense whatsoever.

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  5. Yes. That happens to me. I write much better blog posts in my head than I ever have time to type up.

    I'm sure the world could handle a blog about Doctor Who, Lego, and Nova Scotia. If there isn't one already - there seems to be a blog about just about everything. (There's definitely a bit of Lego online already.)

    I came across one the other day that is dedicated to the misuse of quotation marks. That's all. It's quite good.

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  6. K, thank you for that link - that "quotes" website is sheer brilliance. If you can find one about apostrophes I will be your slave forever!
    Hey! Maybe we should start one! Let's!!!!!!!!

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  7. I hadn't thought about daily situations when they occur as blogging fodder... hmmm.... I do come up with good posts in my head when I'm trying to go to sleep at night though. And like K, they all sound much better in my head. I have gotten up in the middle of the night, and typed out a short outline before it leaves my brain. Oh gosh, that's really sick, isn't it?

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