Monday, January 15, 2007

Normal People Blog More

A couple of days ago, a good friend – with a completely straight face, mind you - asked me, “Hey, since you and Goof are courting like normal people these days, does this mean the two of you are gonna stop writing blog posts?”

Several things about his question amused me, most notably his use of the word ‘courting’ (a term my great-grandparents probably thought outdated); the idea that Miss Goofus and I were keeping blogs simply to woo one another (a wonderfully successful side benefit, I’ll admit, but not the reason for writing blog posts – at least not for me, and I’d guess not for Goof either); and the thought that we’re in a normal relationship (sure it’s normal - if you factor out the 2,000 miles between us and the fact that we only see each other every month and a half.)

Regardless (and most certainly NOT irregardless), his point was well taken, even if it was oddly worded. He might just as well have said, “You don’t write enough blog posts, kid.”

Now, this isn't another one of those “Sorry for the lack of posts" posts. Nor is it another "Goofus and Murky sittin' in a tree..." post. I'm tired of writing the former, then promising to write more and not backing it up. As for the latter... well, I was never one to sit in a tree and tell. But, for whatever reason, instead of feeling slightly ashamed at my friend's question, I simply wondered why it is I don't write more posts than I do. At the time, I didn't wonder very long. My infant like attention span only allows me to concentrate on topics for short periods of time before then forcing me to move on to something else - in this case, the excessively long nose hair of the gentleman standing a few feet away (we were in a semi-public area with lots of people around.) This, you would imagine, is part of the problem. You'd assume short attention spans and long blog posts don't go together very well, and you'd be right. But, to say that I have a short attention span doesn't do the issue justice. It's a cop out, and I know it.

"But wait" you say, "why are you even discussing this still? You've already admitted to forgetting about the whole thing." Fair enough, smartass, but as it happens I was reintroduced to the subject again today for a multitude of reasons:

1) It's been over a week since I last posted. I'm well aware of this, just as I'm well aware that the last sentence in my last post was, "Catch you later this week, groovemeisters." That was a fib, plain and simple. Guilt, it would seem, is not a feeling I'm immune too. No need to rub it in.

2) Goofus strikes again. This morning she forwarded me a nicely written piece by N.Y. Times columnist David Carr in which he writes at length about his own blog. In reading it, it becomes fairly obvious that despite all the work needed for it's upkeep he really enjoys writing it - as do I - and that he enjoys the fact that other people enjoy it - as do I. But there, the similarities end. In my response to Goof, I noted that I was somewhat jealous of Mr. Carr because he seems to posses two things I do not - a never ending supply of ideas and a desire to write blog entries at the expense of other tasks. I realize no one can help me with the idea part, and that ideas are all around me if I just stopped for a moment to look and blah, blah, blah... Perhaps that's true, but that still doesn't make them interesting to read. Or, perhaps that too is another cop out, because when you consider the 2nd quality - the desire to write blog posts above other tasks - I find that I have exactly the opposite. As I said before, I like writing posts (really, I do!) It's just that there are certain other things I like doing more. Video games? Check. An episode of 24, Alias or Top Chef? Screw the readers! They can wait another day! Football (the case recently - Go Patriots!)? Blog Schmog, you nitwits. Couple this with the things I ought to do (like go the gym, clean the bathroom, laundry, etc...) and you see what happens. Despite the desire to post, "things" get in the way. It's all a question of priorities and motivation, which leads me to...

3) An industrial psychologist with a brilliant mind and possibly too much time on his hands devised a mathematical equation to explain procrastination. Simply put: Desire to Complete Task (U) = Expectation of Success (E) x Value of Completion (V) / Immediacy of Task (I) x Personal Sensitivity to Delay (D), or U=ExV/IxD. Now, exactly how one quantifies these values is uncertain, but I'll try to apply this to my blog writing prowess (or lack thereof.) My desire to finish this blog post = the degree to which I think it's a well written post and your positive response to it (which by now is probably a negative integer) times the "feel good factor" for having finished it as well as the happiness that I'll feel in finally being able to post this damn thing and play Warcraft divided by the importance of having a blog that has some credibility (one which posts consistently, and well, in other words) times the pressure I feel for not having posted in over a week (larger number than you might think, but one which decreases exponentially the more you guys bitch about it.) Throw all that into the pot, mix it up, and you get... I don't know... 3. Sound about right to you? Good. Me too. After all, Three is a Magic Number, or so sayeth School House Rock and Blind Melon.

Honestly, I could analyze this all the way through until the next post and I still wouldn't be any closer to finding an answer. For now, all I know is that I enjoy writing here and will continue to do so. And, if I find I haven't written in a long time, I can always write about the fact that I haven't written in a long time and it still counts as writing. So there. I even have a list of ready made excuses (what a brilliant idea for a blog post that is. My favorite has to be 'I was busy shooting soccer teams.' Look for it in the near future.) Plus, there's something to this whole creative process, although damned if I know what it is. I can say with near certainty though, that it gets better with practice.

Is that a promise? No way, Jose. But for now, I'll just say that I'm glad to be courting normally.

Catch you later this week, groovemeisters.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Jesse Anna Bornemann said...

As I told Mr. Words yesterday, my blog was certainly NOT a cheap ploy to win his affections. It was a very time-consuming and elaborate ploy. After all that, you think I'm gonna stop posting? NEVAH!

6:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"NEVAH!" A Boston accent never sounded so sweet. Y'all keep courtin' now, you hear?

8:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So glad you are reading GE. gfmom

11:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My friend and I were recently talking about how technology has become so integrated in our day to day lives. Reading this post makes me think back to that debate we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.


I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Societal concerns aside... I just hope that as the price of memory falls, the possibility of copying our memories onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's one of the things I really wish I could experience in my lifetime.


(Posted on Nintendo DS running [url=http://knol.google.com/k/anonymous/-/9v7ff0hnkzef/1]R4 Card[/url] DS FPost)

12:27 PM  
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12:41 AM  

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