Thursday 20 June 2013

Why Blogging is like Fight Club. No, really.

It's probably going to be quiet on The Potty Diaries this weekend.  I'm heading off to the UK for a weekend of talking about blogging rather than actually blogging, at BritMums Live!

This will make a refreshing change from my usual m.o. which - when speaking to 'real' people - is to treat blogging like Fight Club.  Remember?  First rule about Fight Club; Never speak about Fight Club.  Second rule about Fight Club?  Never speak about Fight Club.  So it generally is with blogging and me.

It's not that I'm ashamed of my blog, you understand - rather the opposite.  I'm proud of it, would shout about it from the roof tops if I could.  It's more that a) it's supposed to be anonymous  and b) very often when you tell people who don't blog that you do - if you tell them - they immediately make assumptions about you.

These are, in no particular order:

1.  You have no friends.  This is surprising because the majority of bloggers I've met face to face are some of the most gregarious and engaging people I know.  Frankly, given the opportunity, we rarely shut up.

2.  You have too much time on your hands.  That's why this morning, I'm squeezing writing a blog post in between dropping my kids at school, going into the city to pick up my new visa, sorting the house into some semblance of order, making a cake for the troops to eat whilst I'm gone - got to remind them of the benefits of having me around, obviously - doing the laundry, packing for my weekend away, and getting to the airport on time to make my flight later on.

3.  In a direct contradiction with 2. , that the housework never gets done  This may be true.  I couldn't possibly comment apart from to say, thank god for our cleaner.

4.  You must be short of things to write about, so they can expect to see themselves featured in glorious prose.  Some people are even surprised when they discover that this isn't the case...  I can only say here that since I can barely remember the content of conversations I had with my own family the day after - no, a couple of hours after - they take place, I am quite pleased that I'm able to fool other people into entirely the wrong impression about the strength of my short term memory.

5.  You must be making a fortune.  Ha!

So, anyway; I'm off to London now to talk about blogging to my heart's content for a couple of days.  And then I will return - hopefully with fewer bruises than Brad Pitt and Edward Norton sported after their weekends of Fight Club excess - to settle back into my day to day existence and undercover blogging once again...


If you have a blog, and tell people about it, do you have anything to add to this list?  And if you don't tell people, why not?

  

11 comments:

  1. Two words: call me.

    (You know my number!)

    LCM x

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  2. Going to miss not seeing you - have a fab time and remember your loud friends from past years

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  3. The 6th rule I seem to remember is no shirt, no shoes. Really hoping they don't invoke that rule at the weekend, unless we're comparing stretch marks...can't wait to see you x

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  4. Enjoy it - hopefully, I'll finally get there next year.

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  5. I do tell people about my blog if it comes up and I have to say they are usually monumentally uninterested! which is completely rude of them and when I'm rich and famous I will trample them into the ground :-)

    Have a lovely time at Britmums live!

    Pig x

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  6. B tells people about my blog, because, rather sweetly, he's proud of me.

    I don't, because I'm not. Mostly for all the reasons you list.

    And then, when I'm worrying about the numbers (dropping still further, if you're interested) I think maybe I should, just to boost them up!

    Not stooped that far yet, but it's only a matter of time...

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  7. I very rarely mention my blog, but it's always gratifying to run into people (Seoul's expat community is quite small!) who read it. Frankly, I think I'm much more interesting and amusing in print than I am in person( I have time to think about what I'll say, you see) and I always feel like they're vaguely disappointed when they meet me (another reason I keep a very low profile.)

    Have a lovely time in London!

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  8. I'll be seeing you there. I believe it will be literally like Fight Club trying to get a slot for the literary agents. Sigh

    Why not to talk about blogging? Because many people are disapproving thinking that you shouldn't put all our personal stuff online (my mother in particular.....) and this may be true. Given the subject of my last blog post and the fact that both headmasters of the school now apparently read my blog (not sure how they found out about it) I rather wish it was anonymous.

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  9. Have a great time, I'm new to blogging and only just discovered Britmums but it sounds like it should be a great event.

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  10. I don't tell people about my blog bc I want to remain anonymous and write whatever I darn well choose.....and it might be about them. Put then there was that whole "I thought I was anonymous until someone came up to me and asked point blank if I wrote the blog and figured out who potty mummy was too" episode. So, I don't think we are as anonymous as we think we are.

    But for those who know I blog, it makes me feel nice when they say an entry meant something to them, etc. it is nice to have that feedback.

    On a side note.....I find non American bloggers are a lot more concerned with numbers, ratings, etc. or are particularly concerned with having the right thing to say, whatever that is, instead of just saying it.

    I think I proved your rule anpbout having a lot to say and never at a loss for words :-)

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