Old habits
What brainpower I might have for blogging, I’ve been pouring into advocacy/activism on Facebook. Scott thinks I should try to archive some of that writing here, though, which is a smart thought. I might try just messily pasting it onto a page (rather than a post) and not worrying about format or anything.
Ever since I joined Twitter in 2007 (followed by FB shortly afterward), I’ve pondered how best to archive things I share on social media. I used to periodically comb both networks for any funny kid quips I’d shared—those are the things I most especially want to keep here in my forever-place. And now there’s Instagram pulling the lion’s share of my attention, social-media-wise, another archive of my work stored on someone else’s server. I never can decide how much to pull over here.
Certainly not the most pressing issue of our time, not even close to the most pressing issue regarding my time, but it’s something I think about. Scott and I recently found ourselves laughing and awwww-ing through a bunch of Bonny Glen and Left of the Dial posts from ten years ago, and those stories are golden. We wouldn’t have remembered half of them (maybe any of them) if we hadn’t written them down.
I also note that my reading life has suffered since I dropped the habit of blogging about it.
As we roll into summer here, I’m shifting the moving parts around and pondering ways to tweak my schedule. There’s room for everything—all the important things, at least—as long as I’m clever about it. But sometimes that’s a pretty big ask. 😉
Penelope says:
I would love to see a resumption of Bonny Glen writerliness … But no pressure my dear. Time turns, life changes … I love the photos you post on insta (i don’t comment because I haven’t an account) … back in the day we all put all of it on our blogs, I suppose … I confess I do still prefer that, maybe because I’m more of a diarist than a chatter, myself … but my favorite people, I do read along their tweets, and gaze at their photographs … it’s nice to be able to stay in touch that way, as so many of the blogs go silent.
On June 22, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Melissa Wiley says:
It’s true photography has become a much bigger creative outlet for me in the past year or two! I remember when I used to grumble about the shift toward beautifully photo-illustrated blog posts. Last summer’s radiation treatments had a lot to do with my move toward photography…when I was at the awful low-energy end of it, I couldn’t even read, really. But I could lie in bed and watch iPhone photo classes on Skillshare. And the bewitching Portland fall and spring pushed me over the edge into photo mania. 🙂
But in my heart of hearts I’m a blogger, not a ’grammer!
I’m glad you’re still at it, my dear. Always a treat to visit your virtual sitting room.
On June 25, 2018 at 4:55 pm
tee+d says:
It IS a question of how much one wants to put on other people’s servers, yes, yes, yes. THAT is one of the reasons why I don’t do many other social media things; I really need to be able to remember what I said when and go back to it!
But, you have kids, and so the pictures and social stuff are partially how THEY communicate, too, so I totally understand. I expect that you’ll shift all your working bits around. Maybe this will be a more writerly blog in the wintertime; I know that’s how it works for mine. When the sun goes, there’s more time indoors and more writing gets done and more internal thoughts, too — to everything there is a season, Liss. We’ll still be reading when your season turns.
On June 25, 2018 at 9:50 am
Melissa Wiley says:
Tidal blogging, now you’re talking! 🙂 Yes to weather affecting writing rhythms. And then there’s the amount of writerly energy being poured elsewhere. Novel due in September: so of course that’s what has to get the brightest part of my brain. And Scott pointed out I wrote ~5000 words last week advocating for compassionate treatment of immigrants. That’s not nothing, I suppose.
Speaking of commenting: T, I cannot for the life of me get a comment to go through on your blog. It’s a WP registration issue, I think. Been happening for a while. A whole lot of YES, THIS I’d be chiming in if I could! <3
On June 25, 2018 at 4:48 pm
Selvi says:
8th grade? Impossible.
Very nice to get an update. Kind of you to give your free hour to us. 🙂
On June 26, 2018 at 5:46 am