It was a pathetic joke that Barney blogged on How I Met Your Mother. And that was how many years ago?
The “actual” Barney Stinson Blog is here, and it’s fun. But I’m still mad about how that show ended. Boo, HIMYM!
From August 2008 to April 2013 I published 294 blog posts at LaFamigliaD. Today, like reading a bad 10th grade term paper, I roll my eyes at a lot of what’s there. Including the site’s title.
But Mustapha Hamoui, writer of Geek Blog, talks about Why the Blog Still Wins over the microblogging-style posts of Facebook and Twitter. His beef with Twitter – mine too – is that writing in 140 characters can be brief and disjointed. It doesn’t “leave you in a strong relationship with the source”. And regarding that life-suck that is Facebook? We all know an algorithm decides who and what we will see, all the time. I’ll get into my dysfunctional relationship with Facebook some other time, when I can stay up and rant. It’s a school night.
By contrast, the personal blog is not owned or controlled by a company. I don’t even use sidebar advertisements here. I’m so old-fashioned. Maybe someday I’ll decide to creep out my half dozen readers with banner ads for whatever product they last searched on Amazon. The difference between little status updates and a personal blog is control; your writing is your product, you control what of you is viewed, and social media just ships it out there.
Blogging is the act of writing about whatever you want, for everyone and no one but yourself. You keep in mind your audience and your own standards. You try to express yourself as artfully as possible. You accept that whatever you publish is “out there”, for every eye in the world. You also accept that NOBODY could ever read it. I used blog a lot. I wish I did more of it. I also used to write Star Wars fan fiction in 4th grade, but you don’t see me doing that any more. And this was 1990; Star Wars was not even cool again until ’99.
So… Lately I get asked, “Why are you blogging again?”
Well, to be honest, I have no concrete reason. This feels kind of dumb. Oh God. I am Barney. For a while (10 years ago…) it seemed like everybody had a blog. Then it was just that every Mommy had one, and they were all about recipes and how cute or unique their kids are.
The scary and wonderful part is that anything you write, 140 characters or 600 words, makes you vulnerable. I second-guess many of these posts, publishing and deleting them 10 minutes later. Then I have a little drink and pray that no one saw. I worry that I’ll offend somebody with an outrageous statement. Or worse, that I’ll bore them with a perfunctory one.
I actually wish more people did this. I love reading real people’s writing, when it hasn’t been edited and sanitized for mass marketing. It’s pretty easy on WordPress or Blogger, people give it a try!
So, why blog?
Remember my love of bulleted lists…
- Because I’ve always loved writing.
- Because my kid loves writing and I want to show her that you can keep enjoying it, for life.
- Because there’s some pretty cool stuff in this world, and blogging gives me the illusion that I get to share it with you.
- Because life is about the connections we make.
- Because we get “Amish TV” (no real cable, on purpose), and House of Cards doesn’t come back to Netflix until February.
- Because I’ve always loved writing.
Oops. I said that last one twice. 🙂
I’m so glad you are blogging again. I love to read it. 🙂 Sometimes I think I should give my blog a re-birth. But then I remember that there is something I need to do … and then I get sidetracked. Squirrel! Plus, as the mother of an almost teen & tween, they are just not so funny or adorable anymore. And they also would cringe, stomp and probably just outright freak out if I wrote things about them at this stage in their lives. Maybe someday …. do mothers of college kids blog?
Okay, first, I’m immune to amazon taunting me with my wish list on any site so if they’re offering you $$ in hopes it’ll entice me to spend impulsively, take it. Most of the bucks I’m spending there are mostly educational items for which I’m reimbursed so unless they have an algorithm to figure that out, they might decide either way it’s money well-spent. Neither of us are shelling it out, right?
Second, Star Wars burned off an awful lot of capital in 1999. When the smoke cleared, the stars emerged unscathed (except the ones that played Darth Vader, yuck, where are they now?). The prequel trilogy (maybe someday someone will edit all three into a three hour movie) will be mercifully forgotten and hopefully, the next generation of Disneyfied Star Wars will take note of what worked and what definitely didn’t. (Jar Jar, a lot of blahblahblah politics, trying to make Vader a cute kid and then a teen idol, ugh, give me the old egghead Luke unmasked when his dad was at death’s door, we needed to see the mortality-That’s why I will keep my VHS copy of “Jedi” forever.)
In a sound-byte world, we hunger for the simple development of thought, maybe just the acknowledgment of thought. You’re too young to experience a media led by real journalists rather than Entertainment Tonight. There used to be people in power who valued truth and stood up to their businessmen bosses (who actually in their heart of hearts thought telling the truth was more important than making money). They’re all gone. (This is why “fake-news”, ironically, is acknowledged as the true go-to source of news. We’ve really reached the point where Edward Murrow and Walter Cronkite’s true descendants are Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and John Oliver.)
What you wish for, blogs where people rave about their kids and their discoveries of recipes and ways to rear children, is totally needed. Readers get validation and reinforcement from others, miles even continents away. That’s the gift of technology. You don’t have to wonder if Ms. Swink next door thinks the same way you do, your next door may be in Wyoming. Doesn’t matter as much anymore. (Truth is, Mrs. Swink may wonder if she’s the only one who thinks that way.)
Me, I just keep reading what you write and feel a little more in touch with you. So keep it up. Thank you!
I love reading your blogs :). I miss MySpace in that blogging…or writing in more than 140 characters or less…was more mainstream. I love writing and writers and always look forward to your witty posts 🙂
THANK YOU! 🙂 I know, I’m particularly wordy. 140 is a rough total to keep to.