MOVarazzi

Thursday, March 22, 2012

719. Alternatives To Blogging

I was born blogging.  Okay, that’s not true.  It’s not like the first words out of my mouth upon greeting the doc before he even had a chance to clamp my umbilical cord were “Hey, hand me that keyboard!”  No, I was actually blogging waaaaaaay before that—in utero.   
  • “Update:  it’s toasty warm in here, but I think Mom ate sardines again—yuck.” 
  • “Status:  sleepy.”
  • The Latest:  my eyelashes have started to develop, and I think I am feeling fingernails as well.” 
  • “Question:  do you think I might have a twin in here?  or is that just a weird shadow?”
No, in reality there was no blogging back in the prehistoric dinosaur days of my youth, and thank goodness for that.  Fast forward to this century.  I discovered blogging less than two years ago when my unsympathetic co-workers at the high-end kitchen store got sick of me telling farfetched stories and one of my co-workers finally mustered the courage to say what the others had been thinking all along:  “MOV, write a blog.” 

Blogging quickly became more than a fun little diversion or interesting new hobby.  Like that left-over piece of chicken with cream and broccoli sauce that you forgot for a month in the back of the frig and now it turned into an unrecognizable space creature, my blogging addiction turned into something out of my control. 
It.  Was.  Bad.    

I would come home from working a long day at the high-end kitchen store and instead of spending time with my beloved family or at least pretending to greet them, I would dash up to the study and click the computer on, chanting “Please-be-comments-please-be-comments-please-be-comments.”  I would return from my weekly Target run, and before even unloading the red and white plastic bags full of cheap treasures, I would find myself in front of the computer clicking on “Blog Statistics” to see which posts were generating the most hits.  In the middle of a quiet dinner with the family, I would make up some elaborate excuse about how I think I left a light on upstairs again and need to turn off this instant so the cat doesn’t accidentally knock it over and cause a huge fire while we’re eating but then I would zip upstairs and forget all about the lamp while I was re-reading my latest blog post and double checking for new followers.    
The Husband is, of course, on to me. 

“Checking your blog again?” he inquires in a flat tone with the identical enthusiasm of a DMV clerk greeting his 189th driver’s license renewal of the day.
“Checking your blog again?” mimic the children in the same world-weary manner, after hearing their father say it so many times. 

So what?  Yes, I am checking my blog again if you must know.  It’s not the worst habit in the world.  What if instead of checking my blog in my spare time, I went down to the animal shelter and got a puppy each time? 





Or what if, instead of checking my blog, I went to the kitchen and ate a cookie each time?






Or, what if instead of checking my blog, I went to our basement work-out room and worked out for a few minutes each time? 






The bottom line is:  if I didn’t blog, I would be a dog-collecting, cookie-gorging, obese, skinny, work-out girl. 

And who wants that? 
MOV  
(“Mistress Of Vision”)

17 comments:

  1. What a cute post (and I don't label many things as "cute," I'll have you know).

    But also very true.

    While your other examples are funny, it is true that instead of blogging (and by "blogging," I mean writing, reading other blogs, and actively thinking about life and the world) I could be doing much more mundane, antisocial, or non-thought-provoking activities.

    Despite being addicted to stats, comments, and attention (which I also am), it is a pretty healthy, awesome, self-enriching, and world-enriching habit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Youngman,

      Thanks for your great comment. The more I think about it, the more I agree with you that bloggying is a GOOD habit. I mean, if I was just watching TV, that is very passive. And computer games (in my opinion) are a waste of my time. But blogging? Blogging is writing and creativity, and hopefully touching or inspiring others.

      best,
      MOV

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    2. And if there is one thing that is good to do, it is touch others. Ow ow!

      Delete
  2. Love the illustrations! I think I totally get how addicted you are to blogging. So glad you are not out dog-collecting!

    Blogging is so much better and the dogs are safe in the shelter...well, at least for 7 days.

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    Replies
    1. I am also glad I am not out dog collecting...........

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  3. As a "newer" blogger (I've had my blog for years, but only recently actually committed to working on it) I get the obsessive checking of stats and comments. I squee with delight when I get a new follower.

    I am trying to keep my blog checking to a minimum though. "Trying" being the key word here. I've pretty much gotten it down to two maybe three times a day. Hopefully, I'll eventually get it down to just the once.

    (did you see my eyes rolling because even *I* don't believe myself!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Being a nonwriter type myself, hence not so worried about a blog or comments or any of that sort of thing, I can't stop thinking about what the chicken with cream and broccoli forgotten in the fridge looks like. Is it colorful? hairy? dried up? Ack.

    Your blog is fun. I like you. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. as for the broccoli and cream thing, let's just say: fuzzy.

      and thanks for the kind words! (about my blog, not about my frig leftovers........)

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  5. I think you just described ME! I actually had to make a point of telling myself that I was going to NOT run upstairs, or sneak away to check my blog as much. My family misses me.

    My husband says the same exact thing, so do the kids! Funny :)

    Is there a 12 step program for Stat Checking / New Follower addiction?

    Terrific Post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, J.R.! there should be a 12-step program, but most likely we would have to do it online so that might defeat the purpose?

      Delete
  6. I actually was blogging in high school--only I called it a journal and there was no inter-webby-thingy. But honestly? It's EXACTLY like I write now. No boys, no drama....just me.
    As always, way too ahead of the curve to cash in.

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  7. It's gotten much easier for me to avoid checking stuff since I started this blog and only post once a week! One day a week, everything is crazy...stats (well, crazy for me probably isn't crazy for other people...I get about 100 views on days when I put up a new post), comments, emails. And then, nothing but dead silence for days. So I only disappear from the world once a week now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hmm, once a week. Don't know if I have your discipline!

      Delete

When you write a comment, it makes me feel like I won the lottery or at the very least like I ate an ice-cream sundae. (This has nothing to do with the fact that I did just eat an ice-cream sundae.)