Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Poor Little Thingymablog



Poor little bloggity has been gettin no love, not from me or from anyone else. What's to love about a blog that never gets updated? Yeah. RL or meatspace or whatever you want to call it has been more enticing. I've actually been writing. Don't get to excited, I'm working on a synopsis and query. I've had more fun. At least when you've had a root canal they give you Novacaine first and people understand why you're drooling.

The enticing part? Two new donkeys.

The bad part: We lost one of our horses.

I had planned on a new kitteh last friday and had diligently worked on a bit guaranteed to roll Edgar Allen Poe over in the grave. Kitteh said, "Nevermore," and the piece was lost in the depths of cyber space. Gack! Not sure if I can recover it, but this friday...

Oh yes, there will be kittehs.

15 comments:

Ed Wyrd said...

Seems everyone has been ignoring blogs lately. It's gotten rather boring in the blogosphere.

Arachne Jericho said...

Maybe some parts, Ed.

I still actively post to mine every day (except the weekend of the awful Performance Reviews), and plenty of folks still hit the Did You Update Your Blog Today? thread in AW.

And of course my feed reader stays quite alive with new posts. Scalzi, Bear, Gaiman, SF Novelists, Stross, StoryTellers Unplugged, Ellis, yadda.... all still there.

But of course... we may not really count. ;)

Arachne Jericho said...

(G'lord, even George RR Martin has been posting updates. And he calls his blog "Not a Blog" for a reason.)

Midnight Muse said...

Aww, your donkey's are adorable! And I'm so sorry to hear about the horse, I hate when these things come out of the blue like that. I still weep over my cat Muse and his unexpected death was 3 years ago now.

As for blogs - hell, Castle Debacled is updated twice a week faithfully, sometimes 3 times. My blog gets a two-post-a-week or more diet, and my new blog is updated at least once a week, but I'm trying for 2. I haven't been to AW in a long while, other than to check and send messages, so I don't bother announcing changes to my blog there.

You have to assume, in blogging, that you're alone on the planet - then either blog for yourself and keep blogging to the audience in your mind, or not.

Ed Wyrd said...

Arachne, I was talking about our own little corner of the blog universe. Commenting was fast and furious during November when everyone was participating in the Great Tea Debacle, but since then it's sloped downhill.

Tori O. said...

I've been furiously slammed with life, but I've been lurking and reading. But I have been lurking.

Things have been nutty. I was hoping to fill in the gaps this weekend. Lots of ups and downs, but I am hoping things start to level off now.

Arachne Jericho said...

Ed,

Oh! Well, in that case, I agree. :)

November had all sorts of crazy energy attached to it; now it's sort of settled down.

Maybe people are busy writing/revising long works.

Kristine,

Actually, assuming that you're alone in the universe when blogging is not the best way to do it, nor is it the only way to do it.

Blogging is most rewarding when it *is* forging connections and conversation. I have an audience in mind when I write for my blog, as much as I do when I write "normal" stuff. That improves the hit rates and signal-to-noise ratio on my site.

Contrary to the idea of blogging being about shouting yourself out, a good blog that's visited often by people tends to be one where the audience is served above most other concerns.

Blogging that seriously, though, is a big drain on other writing resources. Which is fine with me, but not necessarily fine with people who are looking to produce plenty of novels and stories for publication.

(Though I look to do that, too.)

I was scanning Problogger the other day when Darren commented that bloggers limit themselves by calling themselves "bloggers".... for we can, and the most prolific of us often do, go beyond what many people think of when they think of "personal blogs".

Anyways, blogging: going hyper with it resembles freelancing in some ways. It's no less serious writing than anything else can be.

Peter Damien said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lori A. Basiewicz said...

I'm sorry to hear about the boys' horse, Mary. Congratulations on the donkeys.

I'm still around. This month is very hectic for me right now, but I'm here, reading all of your blogs, commenting when I have something to say.

AJ, what I hear Kristine say is akin to "dance like no one's watching." It's about doing something like you're not being observed and judged and that you don't need the feedback. You do it for the joy and pleasure, not the fame.

That's not the same thing as blogging in a "shout out loud" kind of way. It's not the same thing as not taking your audience into account or not taking blogging seriously.

I think that the two of you are actually talking about two different, if related, topics.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Mary. :( I'm so sorry about Abby. That's terrible. Even moreso when you're not expecting it. How are the boys doing?

The donkies are adorable.

Lori ~ That's how I was reading it, too.

Mary B said...

Boys are recovering. We are having a funeral for Abby on Sunday. Andrew has bonded with one of the donkeys and that has also helped. Thanks for all the well wishes. I'll post the kittehs tonight.

Promise.

Arachne Jericho said...

Lori, that's cool then.

Of course, I have found that I *do* enjoy the audience watching, and the feedback is something I think of, after a few months, as natural.

In a sense, though, Kristine and I *are* talking the same deal. Write for the audience you want to write for; don't try to please the whole world. And that applies to all sorts of writing, not just blogging.

Apologies for derailing the comment thread. I really shouldn't have.

Back to basics....

I'm glad that the boys are doing better. Give them my hugs. Unless they don't like hugs. In which case... uh... give them my curly braces.

Tori O. said...

And I totally left out my sympathies about the horse.

That's always terrible to hear.

Glad to hear the donkeys are helping.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I'm so sorry about your loss. :(

I shared your donkey pictures with my parents while they've been in town. I've also seen about 30 burros near the highway and have thought of you every time.

Mary B said...

NO apologies necessary, AJ. Derails are always welcome. And I"ve added to jennets to our stable, but they are babies and won't come here for a while. One isn't registered yet and I got to pick her name. Her sire was bred by Rock-N-Roll Miniatures in Tennessee and they all get rock names. I'm gonna register her as "Grace Slick" and call her "Grace." Yes, I've lost my mind.