Blogland

Since I missed ten on Tuesday and wordless Wednesday, I just decided to write an ordinary post--since I'm supposed to be "musing" here, not just recording events.

Blogland

What's in a blog? I read about twenty to twenty-five  blogs on a daily basis.  I started five or six years ago when I was looking at kids' clothes on E-Bay and found hand made ones with the sellers having their own blogs.  Then I looked at blogs they recommended and on and on.  I can't say I look at only one type of blog.  I like the ones by women my age about decorating.  I always love looking at pretty houses and getting decorating ideas.  I still look at ones where I get ideas for making kids clothing.   One in particular I have been following all along is a really good writer.  She no longer sews or sells stuff on E-Bay, but she knits and has an autistic daughter, and five other children (two adopted from other countries) she writes about.  Hers is one of my favorites, because it is so well written, which is probably why she only posts every couple of weeks.

I also look at a few who are grandparents and have pictures of their grandkids and tell about what they do together.  I get some good ideas from those--one idea is to have a Cousins Camp next summer where I get all of the grandkids together for a week and do crafts and outings everyday.  Hopefully I will be retired by then, and my daughter in Boston will let her two fly to St. Louis.  I'll get t-shirts made and do fun things everyday.

A few of the blogs I follow are people who are in to adopting, mostly from other countries.  Lots of the children are from Ethiopia, but some are also from Peru and China.  I like following their journeys while applying for and waiting for the adoptions to be final.  One just got back from Peru, adopting a girl and a boy and she already adopted a little girl a couple of years ago, plus she has four biological children.  Her sister adopted a little boy from Ethiopia last year and is now adopting a little girl from Ethiopia.  I think they are trying to outdo each other.

Then there are the blogs where the mothers pretend to be writing about and taking pictures of their children, but they have more pictures of themselves than their kids.  A couple have a "what I wore this week" on Fridays and tell every item of clothing, where they got it and pictures of each outfit.  One did a long post on how she fixes her hair and another on what kind of makeup she wears.  And a couple of young mothers are sickening sweet--their children are so precious and darling, and perfect, of course.

I also read a few humorous blogs.  Some of them get a bit raunchy, but that's probably because I am old and think certain things should not be said.  Most of them are pretty funny, but they direct you to other blogs on certain days of the week and that sometimes gets irritating.  Also irritating are the blogs that are overly religious and preachy.  One turns every event into a teachable moment--using bible quotes.  I have nothing against religion, but they need to cool it sometimes and not take themselves so seriously.  Most of the young southern mothers who have blogs are Christians and thank Jesus for everything and love him more than anyone.  And quite a few are Mormons, but they don't get preachy.

I arrange my blogs on my bookmark list according to how often they post and how interesting they are.  The daily ones are at the top, and the ones who post infrequently, like once every month or two, are at the bottom.  I get so irritated with some of them, that after a while I delete them and add new ones.  Then there are ones who always tell you just a little bit about something and say they'll fill you in later, but they never do.  They there are ones where the mother is having a baby, and I follow them through the pregnancy.  One just had a baby last month, her sixth, and she is forty two.  Her daughter was born the day she took her oldest to college, after getting back and fixing dinner for the others.   Another, who has five children and just turned forty, announced she is expecting.  Then the next day she wrote that she is having twins.  And the grandmothers also post about their daughters or daughters-in-law having babies.  It's fun to keep up with those blogs.

Then there are a couple of blogs I follow where the little girl has brain cancer.  I'm not sure how I happened upon those blogs, but I follow them daily and pray for their children.  Both of the ones I'm following now, one a six year old and the other eight, are clear of tumors now.  I wait anxiously when they are having MRI's and cry when they relpase and rejoice when they are clear.They both have been through a lot.  It really makes me thankful for my healthy children and grandchildren.

Obviously, I enjoy reading blogs--probably because I am nosy.  What I find most irritating about blogs, though, is the negative comments people leave.  Why even read a person's blog if you are just reading it to find fault?   I guess I believe in the old saying, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.   No one forces people to read these blogs, and the person blogging is not asking for advice, so I don't understand why people think they have to give unsolicited advice.  One of the funniest blogs I read had an entry this week on "Facebitches."  She writes about people who leave negative comments on Facebook, saying that these people hide behind the anonimity of a user name and would never say such negative things in person.  I don't understand what these commentators are trying to gain--do they feel superior criticizing others?  Do they really think the person is going to change her way of thinking due to a nasty comment?  Don't they realize it just makes them look like jerks--other readers think the ones who leave negative comments are the jerks, not the bloggers.