bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 ::

Thoughts on (what else?) blogging
During my run yesterday (I slacked off and slept in this morning), a favorite quote from Stephen Crane came to mind. You might remember Crane from your freshman American Lit class in college. You probably had to read The Red Badge of Courage, or at least his short story, "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky." If you were one of those smart "honors" kids in high school, or you went to a magnet school, you may have read Crane in high school, even.

Anyway, here's the quote. Substitute "blogosphere" for "universe," and you'll see what I mean:

A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
(Source: Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, dead-tree edition)

Sometimes, we bloggers are like the man in Crane's universe. We post our thoughts and expect the blogosphere to take notice. When no one in the blogosphere notices our posts, we enter an existential crisis. Fellow bloggers, we shout, we exist! Take note of our thoughts, clothed in words! Is there anything more lonely, more pitiful in the blogosphere than a blog with goose-egg after goose-egg next to the comments? line? I think not.

At times, we -- or at least I -- feel a sense of performance anxiety when it comes to blogging. I feel I must post some tasty morsel of insight daily, or at least some tidbit of news, for fear of my blog becoming stale and losing precious readership. For blog readers are a fickle lot. Quit posting for a few days, and they'll soon forget you were ever there. They'll go a-whoring after some other blog.

So, we don't dare pause in our blogging for a bit of reflection. We hastily slap together a few lines -- even if it's to say, "Not much to blog about today. Busy at work," or some such tripe. Or we'll click on blogdex or DayPop's Top 40 to see what everyone else is blogging about, and then blog about the same thing, so we'll be relevant and thought well of among our peers. (Woe unto you, blogger, when they speak well of you.)

Well. So much for my existential crisis du jour. I feel much better now. Don't you?

On an unrelated note: I'm glad to see Holy Weblog! back in the fold. I knew Joyce couldn't stay away for long. But I see she is now among the ranks of commentless bloggers. Which means I'll have to send her a welcome-back email. Which requires much work on my part. And I'm so busy at work. Barely time to blog. Sighs.

:: Andrew 07:48 + ::
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