I'll show you my dog in a string bikini if you'll show me yours.


There are days—this is one—when I feel terribly guilty for not doing something (i.e. work), yet the guilt isn't sufficient to inspire action. I have a physical therapy appointment at 1:00; the dogs have to be walked; some light housework has to be completed; and supper must be planned and prepared. Other than that, nothing HAS to be done, which is why I have spent the past two hours reading other people’s blogs. Cat Woman alone could become a halftime job, and she doesn’t even follow my blog.

I say to myself, “Snow, you spend enough time reading the blogs of your followers. For god’s sakes, stop reading the blogs of people who don’t follow yours.” I have cut back, but some blogs are just too good to drop. Besides, I’ve noticed that not everyone who follows my blog appears to actually read my blog. I’m not even sure that one of my followers speaks English. It’s creepy having him there, but I can’t think of any good reason to block him (he left as I was writing this).

As a follower of other people’s blogs, I torture myself over who to drop and who to keep. Yesterday, I dropped the blog of a woman who I didn’t think would miss me. She did. She came to my blog to ask if I had been offended by pictures of her dogs wearing clothes. I was astounded that she would think I went away mad because she dresses her dogs! Why would a man who puts string bikinis, tawdry “nurses’ uniforms,” and fishnet stockings on his blue heeler care if she dresses her poodle in firemen’s hats and ski bibs? Now, I feel guilty for hurting her feelings. It’s not that I didn’t like her blog; it’s just that she never came around to mine, so I started to feel like a one-way friend. I wanted to tell her, “If you follow my blog then I’ll follow yours.” That would have been the truth, but I figure that if people don’t decide to follow me on their own, I would be amiss to ask them. It’s like a lot of situations I run into. I feel bad if I say what’s on my mind, but I also feel bad if I don’t.

Besides, how many followers do I want? I’ve visited blogs that had fifty followers. This means that every post draws maybe twenty comments followed by fifteen responses from the blogger followed by ten more comments from the readers. Jeez, talk about having your life taken over by the Internet! But too few followers aren’t good either. Prior to this blog, I had one pretty much like it for two years during which time I had zero followers and only two visitors. I concluded that I was wasting my time, and deleted it.

Then I started this blog, and I thought that, well, it’s not fair to feel bad that no one reads my blog when I don’t read anyone else’s. So, I started checking out other blogs by hitting the “Next Blog” button. You can waste a lot of time doing that because of the immense number of blogs in foreign languages as well as blogs devoted to needlework, grandchildren, and vacations. The funny thing is that, gauged by their lack of response, some bloggers don’t welcome visitors. When I say, “Hi, I’m here,” and they just sort of look the other way, I say, “Well, okay, bye.” One person closed her blog to visitors right after I found it. She apparently had no clue that someone might stumble upon her.

But back to the point I was trying to make. I visited other people’s blogs mostly to attract them to my blog, but I discovered that I enjoyed a lot of the blogs that I visited so much that I was posting less to my own. I began following them, and some of their authors followed me, and then I saw that some of them were also posting to other blogs that I was following. This made me realize that the blogosphere consists of overlapping circles (I suppose you already knew this). I also realized that some people enjoy reading blogs although they themselves are not bloggers. They’re the ones who post comments, only when you click on their link, there’s nothing there.

I debated for a long time whether to share my blog address with people I actually know (since they’re the ones I write about). I finally did and, lo and behold, only one of them ever bothered to drop by, so far as I’m aware. Now, I’m sorry I told them, because I never know whether they’re there or not. Maybe I should make up all kinds of juicy things about their sex lives in order to flush them out. Yeah, that’s a plan. Stay tuned for stories about what happened when Susan and her iguana met Barry and his pomegranate at Meagan’s Tupperware Party….

17 comments:

taitle said...

I know how you feel, best way to do it is just post on other blogs in the vain hope that someone returns the courtesy.

Thanks for posting back by the way.

I have the same guilt about work as well, coursework due in on Monday and here i am doodling on paper! :D

Kanga Jen said...

I'm glad you posted at my blog so I could find yours. You write very well and your dry sense of humor absolutely tickles me.

Me said...

You must be incredibly patient to be able to spend so much time hitting the "Next Blog" button. I try to discover new blogs in that way, but the foreign language blogs bring discouragement within a matter of minutes.

All Consuming said...

I have done my own post in response to this as my comment on your page was getting far too long! Suffice to say in this bit, I have looked at many other blogs, and enjoyed reading the odd post, but not become a follower. I know I haven’t the mental energy to comment and show interest in much more than a couple of them, and yours is the most prominent one as it’s the most entertaining and enjoyable (no offence to the others!).

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the support.

Snowbrush said...

"I try to discover new blogs in that way, but the foreign language blogs bring discouragement..."

Another way is to click on the links of people who visit blogs that you like.

A third way is to go to your profile, and click on the things you listed there. You will get a list of everyone who put that same thing in their profiles.

All Consuming said...

By the way, I like the new photo, the suede mini-skirt over jeans look suits you. And I have at least one other friend who also carries around a spirit level to make sure he's actually standing upright after a few drinks. :D

Gee said...

Great looking dog you have here

Nick James said...

I like your dog and the fact that she has a bikini! Great read, great to meet you--I plan on stopping by daily! Hope you like my page!

Natalie said...

The circles I was in were separate and I preferred it. Now everybody has met everybody and well, it annoys me for some weird reason. I find people, make friends and bam! they are then on all my friends blogs and its just too cosy for me. I'll give them a week to get here. :D

Snooty Primadona said...

I too, wish that I'd never told pople about my blog. Now I can't bitch about them in my content. Most of those who know about it could care less. They actually think I'm an idiot for blogging.

Your pooch looks like such a sweetheart.

Snowbrush said...

For more pics of sweetheart pooch, see entry for January 4.

Joe Todd said...

found a blog you might like

http://myqualityday.blogspot.com/

Reasons said...

Ooooooh, can't wait, iguanas and pomegranates - sounds juicy!

Strayer said...

Hey Snowbrush. I do follow your blog. Just haven't done so officially. It isn't important to me, if I have any official followers. I lost one today, in fact. They didn't have an English speaking blog. I don't think they spoke English either. My blog is my vent, journal. If people want to read it, that's fine. If they don't, that's fine too. If it is important to you, for me to push that "follower button", I will. in fact I'll do it right now. I followed your blog anyhow. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings by not pushing the follower button.

Strayer said...

So, I have to convert my blog to layouts and their templates before I can even add the followers gadget. I tried once to convert to their layouts, which did not allow widgets for the slideshow of adoptible cats, or manuel manipulation. So I converted back to the old template. I clicked the follower button but apparently was not added because I can't support the "follower gadget" unless I convert to their layouts.

Anonymous said...

Blogging does become a sort of tit-for-tat game it seems. Time is why I limit my choices so much, not the shortage of interesting blogs. Having a readership is exciting AND scary, yes?

(P.S. Please feel free to make up something juicy about my sex life. My ancient heart could use the stimulus!)