I suppose I blog because it's therapeutic. The great Wiktionary describes therapy as a derivative of the Ancient Greek word therapeia: to attend, to treat, to heal, to cure, to serve. I'm not sure what I'm attending to, healing or curing. Certainly nothing of yours. Perhaps I provide an occasional piece of humor or an item to ponder.
Blogging helps organize those seemingly random thoughts that bounce between my ears into something that I've created. It's true that I plagiarize many of the thoughts that I share, but don't we all? Haven't musicians been doing that since day one? From Mozart to hip hop rifts, musicians have been borrowing ideas to fill their scores. But I digress. For me, I blog to process, create and plagiarize when necessary. It's cathartic. Still, it's ultimately a selfish thing to do and I do it solely for my own edification. Other than a handful of my most gracious readers, nobody really reads, much less thinks about this crap anyway. At least I hope not.
In writing, it's the editing that is the chore. It's easy to type away until *wallah* it's finished. I wish I could just click the publish button be done with it. Fred can probably do that and his thoughts come out cohesive and punctuated neatly. Who cares if the subject matter is vulgar. He makes perfect sense on first draft. I suppose that Bryan edits but only because he does this as a professional editor; he's probably able to write and edit simultaneously. His blog is prolific and filled with wit. Munson? I'm pretty sure that he edits because like me, he's borderline nuts. Still, Munson also produces a lot of good stuff and many of his comments are longer than almost all of Fred's blogs. How does he have time to edit?
Editing becomes a compulsive chore for me. Before hitting the easy publish button, I look back and discover a minefield of random and rough thoughts I've just scattered across the screen. Sigh. Time to polish. It's usually during the editing process when I begin to wonder if this is the best use of my time. The irony is that I've already stated that I blog for my own edification. Hence, I edit for it too. What vanity!
In the end, I could just edit everything out but for the one gem -- that 1% -- of what I set out to share in the first place. In this way, I'd save time editing and spare the reader of time spent reading all of this.
I dunno....
Perhaps I should have watched the Super Bowl.
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears
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Let's pick up the story in roughly the middle of the action.
... Goldilocks first sampled Papa Bear's porridge, "Holy shit, that's hot,"
she cried, toss...
2 years ago
Let's just say I have a lot of downtime at my job. Some days. Other days, I can barely get to a computer to check my work email.
ReplyDeleteOn a non busy day, the process goes like this:
1. Check work email and respond or plan according to new mails.
2. Check my 4 web-based email accounts and wonder why I still keep the one that only receives spam anymore.
3. Check Craigslist or Ebay if I'm browsing around for some sort of deal.
4. Check the bank account online and do any bill paying, if needed.
5. Read the blogs, starting with MTBOmaha (it was the first "web-log" I learned about and I'm a creature of habit, what can I say) then my own blog, then down the list of the blogs I have listed on mine. I usually tick through them all at first, then go back and post something new on mine if I have a story, otherwise I post ridiculously long responses to other peoples posts. Yes, I do go back and edit my posts/responses and I know I miss stuff, but don't care. I even misspell stuff if I hate the correct spelling. Honestly, why is it still Wednesday, or Colonel, or hors d'eoeruvesxj(silent xj)??? Yes, I know it's foreign(!) language influence, but come on...can't we just ghetto-fy our dictionary for simplicity sake?
Ok, I think this response is long enough now.
What I've learned so far...
ReplyDelete1. It's easier to edit than create. ("I like to watch", said Chauncey Gardner)
2. Most people live "quiet lives of editing desperation". (Wink--stole that from Pink Floyd, who stole it from HD Thoreau...)
3. Visionaries create, and are willing to fail. Editors critize from outside the arena. (Thank you Teddy R)
4. Munsoned...like my brother...and possibly me...has too much time on his hands. Do you have a craigslist link to bikes for sale? I do.
BTW--do you know Mike Filla from Kansas City? Cyclocross Racer?
What's 'editing?' My posts just come out awesome.
ReplyDeletemurphini, I can't say that I know that person. I've stayed in state the past couple years of racing so anyone new or not traveling to Nebraska is foreign to me.
ReplyDeleteBryan, you're almost as awesome as this guy.