Get Your Own Blog
Given that I have another blog where I post with some frequency, and given how seldom I post here, and given how far I've strayed from this blog's mission statement (most of what I post is true, but little of it is dangerous), you may wonder, why do I still make any effort to maintain it? Why do I ever post anything here at all?
Well, there are a couple of reasons. One is that I really like the name (which comes from the Poe song "Not a Virgin"--she sings, "Tell me something dangerous and true," and it's a sentiment I like) and another is that I really like the banner: the painting is "Venus Verticordia" by Dante Gabriel Rosetti, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphael Brotherhood, and I have been an ardent fan of the Pre-Raphaelites ever since I saw an exhibit of their work at the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in 1984. (I actually saw the exhibit three times. I couldn't stay away. I even paid to see it, which was a big deal because I was a poor college students and most other museums in Britain were free. I also bought the exhibit catalogue, which is how I looked up the title of the Rosetti painting.)
But another reason is that it's a place where I can post links and photos and rants without disturbing anyone unless they want to be disturbed. As almost no one reads this blog, I don't have to worry about upsetting or inconveniencing very many people here. And I wish more of my friends would follow my lead, and acquire a blog where they publish links and photos and rants that people can visit and view as their schedules and their moods allow--or not.
See, I have friends whose email correspondence with me consists almost entirely of forwards: forwards of political commentary designed to alert me to what the opposite side of the political spectrum thinks. Forwards of photos of children who went missing thousands of miles from where I live. Forwards of thoroughly familiar statements by Nazi officials on how to get a country to go to war. Forwards of amusing cartoons. Once, back in the days when I had dial-up, someone even sent me a movie, which mucked up my email for hours.
And then I have other friends who send me interesting stuff, but I'd just as soon read it on their blogs and keep it out of my mailbox.
I'm not saying I want people to stop sending me interesting new articles or cool links. Just yesterday a friend sent me a link so wacky I had to blog about it on my other blog. But I am saying I want people to be WAY MORE SELECTIVE about what they do send.
If you regularly forward stuff to most of the people in your address book, you need a blog! If you forward something virtually every day to one or two people, you STILL need a blog! Get your own damn blog, and install the links you want people to visit along with a brief message about why this is worth someone else's time! Take some time to digest and comment on the long news stories you forward!
In other words, keep this shit (even if it's not really shit) out of my inbox unless you KNOW, with the calm, comforting certainty provided by revelation from the Holy Ghost, that it's something I'm A) unlikely to see on my own and B)vitally interested in! (A good rule of thumb: If I like the email you sent well enough to post a blog entry of my own about it, your judgment is sound.) The rest of the time, let me visit YOUR BLOG and see what you're thinking about and reading, instead of forcing this stuff on me.
Sheesh.
Really. Bloggers are so much more considerate than plain old emailers. I'm glad I joined the ranks of the former and stopped being one of the latter.
Well, there are a couple of reasons. One is that I really like the name (which comes from the Poe song "Not a Virgin"--she sings, "Tell me something dangerous and true," and it's a sentiment I like) and another is that I really like the banner: the painting is "Venus Verticordia" by Dante Gabriel Rosetti, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphael Brotherhood, and I have been an ardent fan of the Pre-Raphaelites ever since I saw an exhibit of their work at the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in 1984. (I actually saw the exhibit three times. I couldn't stay away. I even paid to see it, which was a big deal because I was a poor college students and most other museums in Britain were free. I also bought the exhibit catalogue, which is how I looked up the title of the Rosetti painting.)
But another reason is that it's a place where I can post links and photos and rants without disturbing anyone unless they want to be disturbed. As almost no one reads this blog, I don't have to worry about upsetting or inconveniencing very many people here. And I wish more of my friends would follow my lead, and acquire a blog where they publish links and photos and rants that people can visit and view as their schedules and their moods allow--or not.
See, I have friends whose email correspondence with me consists almost entirely of forwards: forwards of political commentary designed to alert me to what the opposite side of the political spectrum thinks. Forwards of photos of children who went missing thousands of miles from where I live. Forwards of thoroughly familiar statements by Nazi officials on how to get a country to go to war. Forwards of amusing cartoons. Once, back in the days when I had dial-up, someone even sent me a movie, which mucked up my email for hours.
And then I have other friends who send me interesting stuff, but I'd just as soon read it on their blogs and keep it out of my mailbox.
I'm not saying I want people to stop sending me interesting new articles or cool links. Just yesterday a friend sent me a link so wacky I had to blog about it on my other blog. But I am saying I want people to be WAY MORE SELECTIVE about what they do send.
If you regularly forward stuff to most of the people in your address book, you need a blog! If you forward something virtually every day to one or two people, you STILL need a blog! Get your own damn blog, and install the links you want people to visit along with a brief message about why this is worth someone else's time! Take some time to digest and comment on the long news stories you forward!
In other words, keep this shit (even if it's not really shit) out of my inbox unless you KNOW, with the calm, comforting certainty provided by revelation from the Holy Ghost, that it's something I'm A) unlikely to see on my own and B)vitally interested in! (A good rule of thumb: If I like the email you sent well enough to post a blog entry of my own about it, your judgment is sound.) The rest of the time, let me visit YOUR BLOG and see what you're thinking about and reading, instead of forcing this stuff on me.
Sheesh.
Really. Bloggers are so much more considerate than plain old emailers. I'm glad I joined the ranks of the former and stopped being one of the latter.
posted by bluestocking at 8:14 AM
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