Blogs that pass in the night

Remember Friends? Remember how Monica was a clean freak and a totally organized? There was one episode where she was trying to prove that she could be carefree and somebody said okay, so say you don't pay your phone bill until you get the second notice or something and she tries to say okay, but then she yells "WHY would someone DO that?" (You don't even want to know how much time I just wasted trying to find the exact quote. And now I really miss Friends. And the last half hour of my life).

I was blog-surfing a little today and remembering when I was talking to FameThrowa at Blogging Out Loud Ottawa and talking about pinging around from blog to blog sithout keeping note of them so I could go back later and the look on her face was that kind of look: "WHY would someone DO that?". Then she very helpfully told me about Google Reader and RSS Feeds and how I never have to lose track of a blog I like again. Oh crap, I just realized I'm equating FameThrowa with bossy obsessive compulsive Monica which was not at all what I meant to do. Look, it's just November and my husband's not here and I'm letting my kids watch way too much TV including The Simpsons although I haven't sunk to The Family Guy yet, and my nablopomo posts are SUCKING and I have to post so I can go to bed and FameThrowa is not bossy or obsessive compulsive in the least (that I know of, I've only met her once and she was perfectly lovely).

My point, such as it is, is that sometimes I like to go to a blog I like, pick someone from their blogroll and read a post, then pick someone from their blogroll, and so on, and so on, until I have no idea where I've arrived at the blog I'm on. Sometimes I read an entire blog's archive in one night and emerge totally wrung out from someone's trials and insights. Sometimes I read a few posts and realize this person HAS to be put on my blogroll RIGHT NOW. But sometimes I just like to read a post here, a post there, and preserve the ephemeral nature of the experience. I remember camping out on one blog for a week or two while there was a sick child in the hospital, praying and hoping with everyone else. Once he was better, I let it go. Once I read a post by a woman who was afraid she was losing her husband. I wonder sometimes what happened. I've read posts by people who have it all together and people who are falling apart. There are some bloggers who consistently piss me off but who I admire nonetheless, but I can't follow them every day -- I wait and go and read a bunch of posts all at once and get pissed off and formulate my replies and don't bother to comment, and then I let it go. Sort of. Until I can't sleep and then I stack up pissy yet excruciatingly articulate retorts in my head that bring the other blogger to her figurative knees, then I usually fall asleep and dream about angry fish.

Umm...do I have to have a point? I've been trying to dip into the nablopomo blogroll every day, but in case my abundant bitching and moaning hasn't made it clear, November has been generating maximum suckage, so I haven't done it as much. And what keeps it from being overwhelming is that I know I can't possibly add all of them to my blogroll. I can just read and enjoy and then skip away merrily. Which is a big thing for me because I? do not let go of things easily.

And I love FameThrowa. In case that wasn't clear.

Comments

Wrath Of Mom said…
Paragraph 3 describes what I do on very, very boring Saturday nights. Ah, yes living in a small town w/ small children doesn't make for wild and crazy night time activities. But some people live (& blog) lives that are worthy of soap opera story lines. Or a few hours trawling thru their archives.

And I love Friends, too. It's the tv version of comfort food for me.
Mary Lynn said…
LOL, I've totally done Paragraph 3, too. Except maybe the part about dreaming about angry fish.
Pam said…
Love the title - so true of blog- hopping. and the sagas that they contain. And yes, there is no doubt that FameThrowa is awesome. And I'm sorry that fish are angry in your dreams. I'll have to analyze that.
Amber said…
Oh yes, I blog hop too, usually I find blogs via comments people leave on blogs I already frequent...which is precisely how I found yours I believe. I do have regrets. A few odd blogs I stumbled on and didn't mark and now they are lost to me. I still think of them.
Kelly Miller said…
I love the feeling of remembering a blog you read once months or years ago, but forgot. It's like unearthing a time capsule.
Gwen said…
I used to follow blogs the same way you did (now I use Google Reader)...until about a month ago. I understand why you like your way. Do what suits you!
Nicole said…
I seriously identify with Monica. There was one episode where someone put a glass on the coffee table without a coaster and she almost had a breakdown. That's me. NOT GOOD.
Lynn said…
I wish I could be so carefree. When I find a blog I like, I have to add it to my reader immediately or I'm sure the person will perish without my support. I'm there for you, 500 people in my reader!
Fame Throwa said…
Ah, don't worry about it. You're not the first person to equate me to Monica. I'm not *that* bossy nor OCD, but I am rather rules-focused and obsessed with efficiency, so you're not that far off.

What I try to tell people is that really it's all because I'm VERY LAZY and find that simplifying my life means I can do less.

If you want a lost-an-entire-evening-of-my-life-reading-blog-archives type of blog, check out Nie Nie Dialogues, which follows a beautiful woman and her family prior to August 2008 and then chronicles her recovery from a near-death plane crash from August 2008 onward. (The middle point is here: http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html Use the archives on the right to go either forward or back in time. I recommend backing up a least a bit to get some context.)

Oh and... love ya, too, babe. ;)

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