Friday Five
1. Explain why you started to journal/blog.
Tiff got me started with Blogger — we were working in an organization that was lethal to our emotional well-being, and we were both having relationship issues, so it only seemed natural to vent them to the whole world. 😉 We did really well, with creating a cast of characters and never referring to actual names/places. It was fun — it was our secret little world. Charlotte joined in shortly thereafter, and it was neat to sneak a few minutes to read how the others’ days were going.
But before that, I had a journal in early 2001 with Diaryland, when I was going through severe physical and emotional trauma, but I abandoned the blog for a month or two, and all of my work was lost. I’d e-mailed Diaryland to see if they could just verify my passwords or help me in some way, but I never got an answer. That devastated me, losing that stuff. So when I re-joined the blogworld in the new millennium, I bought my own domain so I can have a backup of my work.
2. Do people you interact with day to day or family members know about your journal/blog? Why or why not?
At the last job, no, because they would’ve found a way to shut me down. Same with this job. It’s weird, because I’ve recently started telling friends and family that I have this blog. This space was once dedicated to strictly personal issues, so I could vent about the people in my life. Now I try to incorporate some pop culture references, as my number of hits jumps every month from people from oceans away from here as well as from people in my circle of friends.
Mom doesn’t have a computer, so I mail her Maddie’s page so she can keep up with her grandkitty’s exploits. I’ve sent her one or two of my own posts, but that’s about it.
Some days, I wish for a non-public blog, because when somebody scorches my s’mores and I know they read this page, well, I hold back and don’t write about it, because of the potential for a backlash. But to not write about something is like asking me to give up oxygen for an hour — I solve all of my dilemmas through writing, and it stifles my very being to have to censor myself.
3. Do you have a theme for your journal/blog?
Um, bitching?
4. What direction would you like to have your journal/blog go in over the next year?
I was thinking about warblogging, but I will always bitch about work and what not. 😉 I think I’m moving toward keeping my personal life more personal — i.e., I don’t publicize anything that I don’t want the whole world to know about. I have lots of friends — and those people as well as myself are having a lot of exciting things happening or about to happen in our lives — who don’t get a mention not because they don’t deserve it, but because my time with them is just that … it’s mine.
5. Pimp five of your favorite journals/blogs.
Da pimpz be in da hizzzouse. …
Oh god, I’m so white. 😉
If you aren’t on the short list, it doesn’t mean that I don’t send you plenty of daily hits. These are merely for interesting content as well as people who think I’m cute. LOL. Five faves, not including my own of course:
Dawn Olsen, of Up Yours & Other Helpful Tips;
Charmin, of Squeeze the Charmin;
Riti Sped, of Tard Blog;
Dave, of Interrobang;
Bill, of Bill Says This.