My best friend said to me during my slightly depressed state last week . . ."You've got to get out more and stop blogging!" I think she thinks I'm one of these sad and lonely geeks looking for something online that I can't find elsewhere when in fact it couldn't be further from the truth. I'm drawn to the blogisphere . . . I’m drawn to a particular circle of bloggers who have one thing in common – they’re not lonely nerds – they’re writers and for the most part, damn good ones. Some are conversational, some are poets, some are all rounders with a wealth of novels, prose and short stories but they’re all eloquent.
I fancied myself as a bit of a writer but I’m purely in the copywriting and editorial style, catchy bi-lines and short promotional copy, usually for corporate promotion. I write much as I talk and my pragmatic personality doesn’t lend itself to flowery verbosity. I can string a sentence together although like Jonathon Swift, my spelling is atrocious. This combined with the field in which I work has stifled my creativity somewhat. I began this blog as a combination of a lazy way to chronicle things for my children, to vent my frustrations and as a form of literary expression but it took on a life of its own somehow and became a collection of random thoughts and daily grinds.
Having dropped in on the likes of Jefferson Davis, Problem ChildBride and Skint Writer among others, I’ve realised that there is a wide network of critically decent authors and poets that aren’t pretentious or posing, just talented - and for the most part undiscovered. Mind you some of them are pretentious and to my mind ingenuine but that's the way the 'real' world is as well.
So next time someone asks me what I’m reading, I won’t have to feel inadequate that I don’t have a hefty literary volume tied like some albatross around my neck . . I read online. Fantastic poetry, and I’m not a fan of poetry but some of it moves me to tears. Wonderful short stories and soon, I’ll venture further into essays and on-line novels. Blogging is more than a pastime, a cathartic representation of life or a channel for the geeky and lonely, it’s a complete escape from the idiot box and provides a rich tapestry of literary genius if only you take the time to filter through the garbage (and there's plenty of that too!) and find the little treasures buried deep within. It really is worth taking the time to find them and to become inspired, moved and pleased with the incredible wealth of experience, honesty and fine literature, not always printed on the page but right here in the ether.
3 comments:
Tell me, who among us out of your blogging peer group fits the stereotypical nerd description?
I mean, honestly, I'm not trying to be harsh here or anything, but none of us (well, unless you want to single me out) really fit the stereotypical nerdy internet-lover box.
Brush that chip off your shoulder poss. I don't think you're a nerd. Some blogs I visit are very nerdy can't name names but not the Irish contingent for sure, I'm turning into an Galophile! Lots of Aussie ones are nerdy. It's just the perception of non-bloggers aka my bestest friend that, if you sit in front of a computer for an hour,dropping in on complete strangers you're a geek. I look at it more as being a correspondent, a sort of pen pal ring and who knows, an opportunity to visit friends in far places when I can afford it. She probably thinks I'm into internet dating or something like that (ugh!)
Damian is a bit of a geek but an emotional animal and uses his blog to bleed his heart and Kahlerisms - he's a Geek and proud of it but gets too distracted to post often.
I love Because I Said So, K8 and Grandad's blogs cos they give you a little insight into their lives and I visit their links as well. Brian has become a fellow lover of vegemite and quite a confidant, Jefferson is complex but very creative and I like the podcast. Johnny Dodge and Shifty Rob are just bloody funny - you're a sweet boy with some mad wiring and I love your stuff even when it's a bit dark, you're my fave bin man.
So . . that's my little circle of commenting bloggers and you're all very special . . .
I see where you're coming from - I find most serious hardcore tech blogs a bore. No disrespect to the bloggers, but give me Scarlett Johansson over 250 extra Gigs of RAM any day.
And thank you, while I know my stuff can be dark, I appreciate people reading it, hence you became one of The Chosen Few who get to see the blog while I get over my problems.
Anyway, even though you are prettymuch the only Antipodean blogger I know of, you're a far better advertisement for Oz than my cousins!
And Brian seems to consdier vegemite a quasi-religious experience now.
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