I was soooo busy. Things are winding down after a huge project, but there is still some cleanup to do, still 'phase two.' I received some disappointing news, but there are encouraging things too. I didn't get an i.t. salary - - like I thought I would...moving from my old department into i.t. I'm still in this limbo phase between departments. I do i.t. work, nerd work - I work in the i.t. department - but they're still going to pay me the rate I earned in my old department (actually, the rate from two departments ago...I've worked in three different departments there). Sucks. But. I only got into the i.t. racket last year. I was worried they were going to boot me out of i.t., but my INTENSE Ukrainian director - my boss's boss - he gave me a terrific pep talk: There's a career path and a plan for me, he said. The money will come, he said, but I still need mega-improvement. I can live with that. I'd like to be friends with him - - and the whole i.t. crew, but I've never felt like I was on equal footing with them. That will come eventually too I guess. I go to happy-hours with them and all... I guess they're not the most personable folks in the world. They're more machine-like, and that's nature of the work and the character type.
I read an article at Boing Boing, "How to Blog." Articles like this are hit and miss, I guess. This one said you shouldn't really blog about yourself. Eventually you end up boring everybody - - including yourself. This runs counter to other writing advice I've seen. Blogging is its own form and all -- with its own standards and character and quirks - - but - - you should write what you know. You know yourself best of all (unless you don't - - and if you don't - that's a real good reason to start exploring the subject of self).
Yep. I write about myself. I'm not trying to be an internet rock star necessarily. I'm thinking and hoping my problems and discoveries might be universal - - we all have them - - and if we all keep chipping away at them - - - maybe we'll do some good.
haha..your remark about the IT guys made me smile...more machine-like.. maybe some of them are....my fav IT guy in our company though has a heart of pure gold and understands what i want before i even opened my mouth...so some of them can read thoughts...smiles... so what about writing poetry..? i think poetry is the perfect "tool" to discover oneself..
ReplyDeletei disagree on writing about yourself...blogging is in many ways a personal connection you know...and if all your post dont contain you no one really connects...looks like you are hitting good company in claudia as well she is one of my best bloggy buddies...smils.
ReplyDeletehow to blog can only be answered by you, and over the long run. missteps are part of the deal, and i don't think they are truly missteps when you take a macro view. blogging is a public journal and more, and less. it's creativity and connection and other things i don't know about. it's got to be fun and worthwhile more than anything, and that doesn't mean it doesn't have rough spots. many bloggers, including myself, take breaks. great to meet you.
ReplyDeleteClaudia: I used to try my hand at poetry a lot. I went to some poetry readings and even some spoken word type events. A lot of times I would start a poem draft with a memory and work it in whatever direction it would go. Sometimes the exploration of the memory (through poetic form) would reveal more about why the memory stuck so firmly.
ReplyDeleteBrian: There's a blog called Tiny Buddha - it is a hugely popular blog where every single post starts out with somebody talking about self - and then how their experience could maybe be universal to anybody who reads it. Good writing should do that, right -- appeal to the reader because the reader identifies so firmly with what they're reading.
Ed: Great to meet you too! I hope I can post on a regular basis (for good or bad, ha). I have definitely had my starts and stops with blogging. The trouble for me, I think, was finding a focus, whether vague or not. I can't think of anything besides personal experience that I would want to blog about. I had a blog before that I changed directions on so many times...I think I needed a clean start with a good scope and aim. Hope I can keep at it.
Lookin forward to bloggin around with ya'll, thanks for stopping by.
I think it's perfectly all right to write about yourself! That's what blogs are for! =)
ReplyDeletehttp://pinkchampagnefashion.blogspot.com/
I like to hear people's thoughts that I ordinarily would not be privy to . It is a nice connection, as you say, and comforting, to know that others have similar insight or experience.
ReplyDeleteThere is an art to it though, isn't there? It lies somewhere beyond whining, complaining and a complete itinerary listing, down to the size of dental fillings and mole removals. The blogs that speak from the heart, that offer something personal but relevant (it does not have to be monumental or revolutionary) are the ones that I come back to again and again. I think your blog is sincere, and that is what I like about it.
Hope, it's all I know, haha.
ReplyDeleteWR, there is definitely a line there. If I can figure out this line and learn to abide it, maybe I'll have a few people who can stand to be around me, haha, and be my bloggin buddy.